Chapter Two: I'll Believe It When I See It

Seeing nothing but dirty clothes, a stuffed clown marionette doll, reached out her hands and grabbed hold of Mom around her neck. I dropped the flashlight. Everything went pitch dark. Mom was still screaming and struggling to free herself from the grasp of the evil stuffed marionette clown doll in the laundry chute.

There was a flash of lightning out the basement window. I turned around and gasped in the light. The deadly phantom crept closer to us! His arms were outstretched and he was moaning and beckoning us to get him under his power.

I screamed and tried to get the clown marionette doll to release his grip around my Mom's neck. But it was super strong and it was squeezing harder around Mom's neck. The more I tried to unwrap the clown's stuffed white arms, around Mom's neck. The harder it got to free Mom of its strong grasp on her.

I grabbed hold of the clown marionette doll again. But it used his strength and broke my hands, trying to grab it off Mom's neck. I cried in pain. I fell back and landed on my butt on the ground. Both of my hands were throbbing in agony. 

Mom was about to turn and help me get me to my feet. 

"What do you want from us?!" Mom yelled at the ghostly creature floating toward us. Mom kept backing up against the laundry chute. Where we turned our attention to the sound of eerie laughing and whistling. We turned to look inside the laundry suddenly, the evil stuffed clown marionette doll jumped out of the laundry chute. It was laughing hysterically. And grabbing hold of Mom around her neck. Trying hard to strangle Mom to death.

I got to my feet quickly. "Mom!" Before I could do anything to help Mom, the scary cloaked phantom waved his arms and forced himself to fly across the side of the basement wall. I landed on my side next to the furnace.

Looking up, the phantom had vanished again. In the stormy lightning from the basement window, I saw Mom being stuffed into the laundry chute. The phantom and the clown marionette doll were both attacking my poor Mom. Who was struggling to fight off those hateful, evil creatures of darkness, ruining our lives.

Mom screamed and as she got cut off, I watched in horror. As a flash of lightning from the thunderstorm made Mom disappear under the pile of dirty clothes in our laundry chute. Hearing the sinister laughing of the stuffed clown marionette doll, fade away, Mom was gone! And so was the scary looking ghost snatcher!

Lightning flashed out by my basement window again. I couldn't understand what happened to my Mom! I'm all alone, by myself in a house I don't know how to live on my own without my Mom. I started to feel sad and afraid of losing everything I ever loved in my life will be lost.

"What do I do?" I cried to myself out loud. I turned to the circuit breaker by the basement furnace next to the stairs. I walked over to it. I didn't know what to do. I'm not smart enough to figure out how to use electricity in a house. I'm afraid I might break the shortage even worse.

I opened the circuit breaker. All the black switches seemed confusing. I could barely read the markings and labels next to the switches without a flashlight. I looked around the basement where I last dropped the spare flashlight.

In a flash of lightning, the basement lights up the shadows in the dark corners of the stairs. I spotted the flashlight under the stairs. I quickly ran over to the basement stairs. And grabbed the flashlight before the lightning took me back into the shadows again.

Turning on the flashlight, I hurried back over to our circuit breaker by the furnace. Opening the gray, metal box, I studied the labels on the circuit breaker. I noticed one of the switches was the only one pushed to its side than the others. So, I pushed the switch aside. And a spark of electricity sparked light back into our little house again, thankfully.

I heard the faint distance of laughter coming from somewhere inside the laundry chute where the evil stuffed marionette clown doll disappeared with Mom under a pile of dirty clothes. It couldn't have been real. Clowns don't come to life and make mischief worse for those who don't believe in the supernatural occult.

It didn't happen…it couldn't have been real! But here I was alone in my Mom's house. I looked through the dirty clothes in our laundry chute…nothing but dirty underwear. Mom was taken against her will and never to be seen again. It took her from me, and I know she must have been so scared when she disappeared too.

I didn't have anybody to call. No cellphone…no Dad to help me get through this without losing my mind. I didn't know how to explain to someone about losing a loved one without a logical explanation or proof she was taking away from me without a reasonable excuse to believe it happened myself.

Looking around in the dirty clothes chute again, there was no sign Mom ever existed. It didn't happen so fast, could it? I was breathing hard and feeling nervous and wanted my Mom to come to me. I was so lost without her in my life. 

Suddenly, as I was rummaging my hands through the pile of dirty laundry, the sneaky clown marionette doll popped its head out at me! I screamed and dropped my flashlight. And landed on my back on the hard ground.

When the flashlight went out, the clown stopped laughing. I forced my heartbeat to normal. As I looked back up at my laundry chute, the stuffed clown was nowhere to be seen. "What do you want from us?" I screamed at the clown who had disappeared again. 

I started to get up and grab hold of my flashlight. I quickly ran up the basement stairs. Taking the steps two at a time. I noticed the basement door was already open halfway. Letting in the kitchen light. 

I raced up the top of the stairs finally. I grabbed hold of the doorknob, when suddenly the door slammed shut on my face! I lost my balance on the basement steps. And started to stumble backwards down the flight of stairs.

I landed on my back with a hard thud. The flashlight fell out of my hand. And went under the laundry chute next to me. I started to sit up. I was feeling beaten and sore all over. I limped on my left leg and tried to figure out what was going on here.

"You are to never leave this basement ever again, Wesley Bones!" a voice echoed somewhere within the walls behind the basement. Startling me, I didn't understand or know what to believe who was talking to me. I don't believe in ghosts except as a firm believer in the one and only Lord Jesus Christ Almighty who would never let anything bad happen to me.

"Did you do something to my Mother?" I asked out loud to the spooky ghost. I didn't expect him to answer or respond the right way. I heard him laughing. He wasn't going to give me any straight answers. "She didn't do anything wrong! Why did you take it out on my Mom?!" I shouted angrily at the unfriendly ghost who didn't seem interested in anything I said.

I waited for a moment of silence. Then, the scary phantom laughed. I started to back away from the chute. Afraid the evil stuffed clown marionette doll could still be hiding under the dirty clothes. 

"What is your purpose for being here?" I asked the ghost. Again, there was only eerie dead silence. Lightning flashed outside the basement window. The tree branches outside the window were blowing against it. Making a scrape and tapping sound as the wind hit the window. Making my ears hear an unpleasant noise

Carrying the flashlight in my hand, I started to slowly walk away from the chute. Turning my attention to the basement door up the stairs. I started to walk toward them. When suddenly, I heard the ghostly phantom's voice in my head come back to haunt me.

"I wouldn't think about it, little boy," the phantom said, laughing. I almost slipped on the basement steps. But I quickly caught my balance.

"Please leave me alone," I begged, politely in a nervous voice. I started to walk to look out the window. When suddenly the evil stuffed clown marionette doll popped its head outside the basement window. It's balls on his clown hat started jingling and ringing as it laughed at me.

I let out a startled scream and fell to the ground with a hard thud.