“Nice try Romeo. But really,”-Jami leaned close to Luke’s face-“flattery and chivalry are good and all but all I need from you is a simple ‘I love you’.”

Luke then leaned in forward and kissed her.

“I love you.”

Excitement, surprise, and stun showed in Jami’s face. It had been a long time since anything like that had happened to her “I-I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything.”

Luke then brought her head toward his and kissed her again, this time longer. Jami couldn’t help but feel a rush of excitement as she felt his soft lips on hers. It was almost like heaven to her. Time seemed to stand still that night. As they broke apart Luke let out a long sigh as he stared into her eyes. Those beautiful brown-green eyes. “You don’t know how long I’ve wished for that to happen,” She told him. He smiled. Then brought his hand up and ran it through her hair. So soft and smooth, “You’re so beautiful”-Jami took his hand and placed it on her cheek-“sometimes I wonder how I can even think about Theo when you’re around.”

Jami smiled, she tried to not let his comment of Theo make her angry. But as she did she felt this coldness rush over her body. Then, as she closed her eyes, a picture came into view. It was of Nell and Theo, trapped in a room. There was something banging on one of the doors, a loud roar rising throughout the house. As she opened her eyes, everything disappeared. She looked over at Luke, he could see the fear in her face, “Nell and Theo are in trouble. We need to hurry over there!” Luke grabbed her arm before she could get up. “What are you talking about?”

“Something’s trying to get to them!” a roar began to rise through the halls, “Don’t you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Next came a scream, one from Theo. “Now you’ve convinced me,” Luke told her. They then busted through Luke’s room doors and ran through the halls. As they reached the room Luke began pounding on the door, “Hey guys! It’s Luke! Is everything ok?” Theo quickly opened the door. “Luke? Jami? Did you hear it?” She asked.

“That roaring noise? Yeah.” Jami answered.

“No. All I heard was Luke! Help me! Please!” Luke also replied.

Theo looked at him in disgust, “I wasn’t calling you.”

Jami and Luke continued to walk in. Seeing Nell she rushed over to her. “Nell, are you ok? What happened?”

“There was this banging on the door, more like someone crashing up against it, and this loud roar…but now whatever it is is in my room!” Nell replied, fear in her tired voice.

“Here, let me check it out,” Luke announced, his urge to sound and act heroic was noticeable. So he began to unlock the door connecting Theo’s and Nell’s room. “Are there any lights?” He questioned as he opened the door into the dark room, as in reply Nell turned on a switch. But even when the room was full of light, you could tell nothing had been there. The room looked exactly the same as when Nell left it to go to Theo’s room. He studied the area, nothing broken and nothing was harmed, and it defiantly didn’t look like anything had entered the room. “I don’t see anything, I don’t hear anything,” Luke confirmed.

Well, something had to have entered the room, Jami thought though afraid to announce it, otherwise, why would we have heard that noise? A silence spread throughout the room as the group tried to put together what happened. Luke though began to get distracted by something else. As he looked around the room he broke the silence by saying, “Wow, I sorta got screwed on the old bedroom selection. Everybody’s room is like four times as big as mine!”


Luke turned on the faucet to the sink in the Hill House’s old kitchen. A loud roar began to run through the house. It sounded exactly like the same noise the girls heard. “Was that the noise you heard?” He questioned.

“It could’ve been,” Theo replied, “I had just finished taking a bath.”

Luke turned off the water, the roaring ceased. Theo seemed to gladly except the faucet was the noise that she heard but not Nell, and defiantly not Jami. She knew the noise wasn’t a faucet, it couldn’t have been. It just couldn’t. It made no sense. Dr. Marrow had gathered everybody here to the kitchen to review what had just happened. And to Jami it didn’t seem like they should meet if it was something that small. “When you were done taking your shower did you completely turn off the water?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Jami began to feel reassurance to her hypothesis. “Well then it couldn’t have been the faucet. You showed that Luke, as soon as you turned it off the roaring stopped. But when they were being attacked it didn’t. I’m telling you, it has to be a ghost!”

Dr. Marrow hid his pleasure in this discussion. He was defiantly glad he let Jami stay. Her believing in ghost has brought a great amount of fear into her, and maybe she can bring some of that fear into everybody else. Although he had nothing to do with tonight’s scare, he was proud of the coincidence that something did happen; after all, he was planning something of the same to do tonight.

“Now come on Jami,” Luke said annoyed, “It can’t be a ghost. Maybe she didn’t completely turn off the faucet. But all I know it can’t be a ghost, they’re not real!”

“They’re not real?!? Have you ever watched those shows on haunted houses? How do you explain that?” Jami asked full of rage, “And if the faucet was the reason for the roaring, what about the banging on the doors?”

Luke gave Dr. Marrow a look saying, are you listening to her? She won’t believe a word I say! Give me some help here! As in reply to Luke’s need for help Dr. Marrow said, “I have to agree with Luke. It couldn’t be a ghost. As for the banging on the doors, Nell and Theo could’ve heard Luke when he and you reached their room.”-He turned to Nell and Theo-“The cold, which one of you felt it first?”

“I think I did,” Theo softly admitted.

“What difference does it make who felt it first?” Nell snapped.

“Oh, Eleanor if it was you who felt it first or did you say Theo did?” Dr. Marrow asked.

As this went on Luke thoughtfully listened to the conversation while contently chewing on his sandwich. “Look, I don’t need anyone to tell me I’m cold,” Theo strongly announced, though it looked more like she announced it to Luke. Almost as a reply Luke showed a surprised yet intrigued face. Jami rolled her eyes, sometimes she wished Theo hadn’t have come.

“Y’know? Don’t you hate it when nobody listens to you just because they’re too afraid to admit they’re wrong?” Jami randomly asked. Nell glanced over at Jami, glad that one person could believe what she said. She couldn’t help but feel also like there was something more to Hugh Kraine’s story. Although, she didn’t quite feel so strongly about the haunting as Jami did, she still felt like there was something strange about what had happened.

“Well, let’s just blame it on the old pluming then. What else could it be?” Dr. Marrow concluded ignoring what Jami said; he didn’t feel like going into a deep argument over this right now.

“Yeah, I can agree with that,” Theo agreed and then walked over to Nell and placed her arm on her shoulder, “Come on Nell, let’s get to bed.”

Jami watched the two exit the room; she could still feel the anger as she turned to Dr. Marrow, “So you didn’t hear the noise?”

“No.” Dr. Marrow replied.

“Maybe it’s just a ‘girl thing ’,” Luke jokingly said. Dr. Marrow chuckled; Jami just gave a glare of anger at Luke. Sometimes his jokes could be more of an annoyance than funny. When he noticed that Jami didn’t enjoy his joke he then stated, “Well, looks like my work here is done.”

He then began to walk off, rather slowly. As he did Jami soon figured out that he was hinting for her to follow. “Jami, I know you’re upset that I don’t believe you about your vision or that it was ghosts trying to get Nell and Theo, but, there’s a logical explanation for everything and I’m sorry but there’s no way it could’ve been a ghost. All you need is a good sleep, I’m sure by tomorrow everything will be ok and you’ll stop having those hallucinations of yours.” Dr. Marrow told Jami. She stayed quiet, a dead straight glare on her face.

The kitchen door slowly opened, Luke casually glanced back. Even though he tried to hide his beckoning for Jami, Dr. Marrow was still able to tell his attraction toward her. Without saying anything Jami turned and began to leave the room. Luke continued on, obviously waiting behind the door so Dr. Marrow couldn’t see him.

As she reached the door though, she glanced back at Dr. Marrow, a glare still on her face, “Before this experiment is over you’ll believe me David Marrow. You’ll believe me.”

She then left the room, soon met by Luke. Dr. Marrow smiled at her threatening comment. Silly girl, how can she make me believe a ghost did my own tricks?


“Come on Jami, just forget about it. There’s no way you can get a good night’s sleep unless you stop worrying about it,” Luke comforted Jami.

“Easy for you to say, I don’t see none of this happening to you.”

“That’s the point! It’s not! All it is is your imagination.”

“I wish it were that simple.” Jami sighed looking out the window, the dark night sky towering over them with the full moon. Luke lied down on the bed, beginning to tuck himself in.

“Well, I guess the bed’s gonna be cold tonight,” He told himself.

Jami turned to Luke, a smile growing on her face. She felt her fear and worry escape from her mind. Anyways, the window began to fog up from the cold night’s air. “Now I didn’t say I was leaving,” She replied leaving the window to be with him. What she didn’t notice though was that as she walked over to the bed two menacing eyes appeared out of the fog.

It felt good to Jami to get into the bed. The coolness of an unused bed seemed to stop her pain along with the soft silk pillows and sheets. All she wanted was a good night’s sleep, that’s what she had come for. As she began to relax her mind she felt the warmness of an arm wrap around her waist. She smiled and once again looked out of the window, but what she saw surprised her-

The fog had cleared up very quickly, like it had gotten cold and then got warm again. Looking out the window she found the night so beautiful, with the beams of the moonlight shining through and rested themselves on the floor of Luke’s room. Jami wondered if life could get any better. She closed her eyes and scooted closer to Luke. That, she though, would be a question for tomorrow.


Jami Vance awoke that morning feeling, for once, rested. As she lay there in bed she felt Luke’s arm still resting on her and found herself wishing she could relive last night. She closed her eyes hoping that time could stand still, but it was useless, day was upon them and was not something you could ignore. She then rolled over to where she was facing Luke placing her back against the sun. Watching him sleep made her smile. He looked so content, so happy.

As Jami lay there she realized something. I’m falling in love with him, sure it was just a thought in the beginning but I think I could spend the rest of my life with him. Jami knew of how there are crushes and then there’s true love. But she knew as she stared at Luke that this was no silly crush. She couldn’t help but also wonder; did Luke feel the same way?

Lost in thought she didn’t realize Luke was waking up. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled. “Good morning,” He said rather sleepily.

“Good morning to you too Sleeping Beauty,” Jami replied clearing all her thoughts from her head, “Sleep good?”

“Yea, for once I was wrong about being a tosser turner.”

“I can tell.” She glanced down at his arms wrapped around her waist.

“How about you?”

“Surprisingly I’ve had the best sleep since I can remember. Even if this house is haunted.”

“Maybe we should do this more often. I think this is our cure for insomnia.”

Jami smiled at his offer.

“Would that mean that I’ll be staying here for tonight?”

“Well, if you want to get a good night’s sleep I would think so.”

She sat up and placed her feet on the cold floor. Then she looked out the widow again, the sun wasn’t as bright today. It seemed to only peek its head over the large dark clouds covering the sky. She realized by how low they hung over the house that it would probably rain any second. “Looks like there will be a chance of scattered showers today, and not a light shower I might add,” Jami said imitating a weatherman.

“You do watch TV too much.” Luke replied with a smile.

Jami felt so relaxed sitting there on the bed; in fact she began to lie back down when a thought crossed her mind. “What time is it?” She asked. That was a good question Luke was wondering as well. He looked up at an old grandfather clock resting in one of the corners of his room. “Looks like nine-thirty.” He answered without thinking that they’d be late for breakfast.

Jami seemed almost freeze as she heard those words. She distinctly remembered Mrs. Dudley saying that breakfast was ready at nine and she didn’t wait on anybody. She quickly jumped out of bed and began to hurry for the door. “What’s the rush?” Luke asked.

“Don’t you remember? Breakfast starts at nine! Who knows, we could’ve missed it. And I’m pretty hungry. I’ll see you later, I gotta go get dressed.”

Before Luke could say anything else Jami left. He slowly got up from the bed and went over to his clothes. He didn’t really feel hungry. In fact, he didn’t even care if he missed breakfast. He’d had a wonderful night with a beautiful girl. For him, things like this weren’t often, and to have something like that happen to him made it where he couldn’t even think about breakfast.


As Luke walked down into the living room he looked over at the banisters. He smiled remembering their time of sliding down them. As he stared at it he almost felt another urge to do it again. But he quickly erased it from his mind. It would seem almost foolish to do it now.

When he reached the bottom he noticed Eleanor sitting on the couch working on one of the tests. He began to walk over to her, passing by a wooden chair with the carvings of children on the back. “How you coming along on those?” He inquired; soon feeling like someone was watching him.

“Good, I can’t figure this one out though.” She replied.

Luke quickly turned around to spot who was watching him but saw nothing. Just the wooden chair with the carvings. Curiosity soon overcame him and he walked over and began to inspect the chair. As he stared deeply into the child’s faces he announced, “This place sure is creepy.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Nell told him. Luke didn’t seem to pay attention to her comment though; he was busy staring at the fireplace with its lions and skeletons. “Especially with all these fat little cherubs and angels with furry animals. It’s really bizarre I think.”

“I think they’re the children Hugh Kraine built this house for.”

“I don’t buy that for a second” Nell looked back down at her papers, not sure if she wanted to hear what Luke thought-“that Hugh Kraine was this lovable tycoon with a soft spot for children. The guy’s obviously working a sweat shop, got children working sixteen hours a day, then he builds all this crap as propaganda. It’s like those teletubbies. Those things freak me out also and they sing so there actually even kinda scarier if you think about it.”

Nell quietly laughed. “You and Jami,” She sighed. Sometimes it seemed like she was the only one who saw the house’s true beauty. Luke sat down next to her and frowned deep in thought about the old house. Something wasn’t right to him about even staying in this house. And Dr. Marrow, there was something odd about him too.

“Have you ever noticed how when something weird happens Dr. Marrow seems to be excited about it more than worried?” He asked her.

Nell confusingly shook her head no.

“Well I have and I don’t like it. Especially the way he treats Jami when she comes to him telling him what she thinks happened. It makes me wonder why we’re even here.”

Nell smiled when he mentioned Jami. Even if he tries to hide it she could tell he cared for her. But even as she thought about Luke’s crush she still felt confused with what he had said. Weren’t they here to cure their insomnia?

“Y’know what I think? I think that Dr. Marrow’s up to something. And I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”-Luke paused. Another thought crossed his mind-“Right after I check on Jami that is.”

Nell looked up at Luke as he began to leave the room. She hadn’t noticed how much time they had spent together. All she knew was that Jami never came back into their room after she left to explore the house, and that was good enough for Nell. She smiled over at Luke, “You really do care for her don’t you?”

Luke could feel his face almost blushing. He didn’t want it to be that obvious. “Uh…what do you mean?”

“I mean that you like her. You’re not doing a very good job at hiding it.”

Luke gave in at playing idiot. He decided that since Nell was her cousin and all that it would be ok to tell her. “Of course I like her! She’s so beautiful and funny. I mean, you can’t have a bad time around her!”

“I’m glad,” she said warmly, “that Jami has at least someone who appreciates her. She’s had boyfriends before that have treated her horrible. They wouldn’t listen to her when she would confide into them about seeing a ghost and many would leave her as soon as they found out about her being superstitious.”

Luke felt a slight pain in his chest as he heard this. Not only did he feel sorry for Jami but also, he’d been treating her almost the same way with her stories about ghost. He faked a smile, and continued to walk out the door as he realized something, “Yep, I defiantly have a soft spot for Jami.”

Nell smiled again as she realized the romance that was growing in this old house. It needed some. She then went back to working on her tests. Luke peeked his head out from behind the door and said, “I’m gonna close the doors now. Y’know, just so you can get some privacy.” She then heard the satisfying clunk of the stone doors closing shut.


Jami rested behind a large plant in the Hill House Garden enjoying the outdoor noises as she worked on her tests. The greenhouse wasn’t actually outside; it was just enclosed by several frames of glass windows. But the sounds of the birds chirping and the soft blow of the wind were still hearable from where she was. It was so relaxing to hear the sounds of the outdoors.

After staying inside that old mansion for a night was good enough to make you want to walk outside and enjoy the pleasures of more lively, bright, and happy things. Even the greenhouse was dark and gothic. Every plant was dead and withering and there was two rusty stairs that intertwined like a sample of DNA. Also, there was a large fountain in the middle of it all that probably would’ve brought more beauty to the room if it hadn’t fallen giving the look that it was more likely lounging in a large hot tub.

As Jami finished her second tests she paused staring out the blurred windows. She felt more like a lab rat than a volunteer for an experiment. A lab rat set into a giant maze where your goal hasn’t even been mentioned. She looked back on the past two tests she had finished. They reminded her of the puzzles you might see in the Sunday papers. She sighed as she placed them back into her folder and started on the third one.

As she placed her pencil on the paper she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the greenhouse. She paused, not sure whether to greet the newcomer or hide. “Jami, are you in here?” it called out. She recognized the voice, it was Luke. As she began to leave from her hiding spot she had another idea come into her mind. She regained her position behind the plant and waited till Luke walked past her. “Jami?” He called out again.

She quietly snuck out from behind the large plant. Her arms ready for an attack she tiptoed toward the unaware Luke. She couldn’t help but let a smile of pleasure cross her face as she drew nearer to Luke. She enjoyed jokes like this. They were her specialty.

Finally she was at arms’ length to Luke. She quickly placed her hands on his shoulders and let out a roar. Luke jumped and let out a yell as he quickly turned around. Unfortunately he lost his balance and tumbled backwards onto the hard floor. Jami began laugh as he stared up at her. It amazed him that Jami would’ve scared him like that. He felt a bit of anger watching her pleasure in his fall. After all, he came to tell her that he was sorry for being so tough on her about ghosts.

“I’m sorry,” She told him in between laughs, “I couldn’t resist. You just looked so vulnerable.”

Luke gave a fake laugh showing he didn’t find it too funny. “You know I don’t like to be scared.”

She was soon able to control her laughter. “Lighten up! It’s just a joke. Here, need a hand?” She then stretched her arm out to him.

He grabbed it, “Thanks.”

“But really, you sure are an easy person to scare.”

“So, what are you doing here?”

“Just working on these tests. I don’t really see why we have to take them. They’re mostly just mazes that you have to find the end to. A lot of times it seems like Dr. Marrow isn’t even trying to find a cure for our insomnia.”

“I know. I wish I could just find one hint on what he was up to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve done these insomnia things before and this has got to be the oddest one yet. It’s nothing like the rest.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Don’t you get it? Dr. Marrow’s most likely is doing a different experiment on us. But what I’m not sure.”

“Maybe you’re just jumping to conclusions. I’m sure Dr. Marrow means his best intentions for us. He’s just…doing things a little differently.”

Luke was quiet for a moment as he looked around. He rested his eyes on the fallen fountain. “What happened to this guy?” He asked walking over to it watching the water flow out of its mouth.

“I don’t know. When I got here he was like that. Must’ve fallen a long time ago.” Luke looked down in front of him and noticed four flowerpots filled with faded wilted flowers. “Violets,” He told himself as he stared at them. “Yeah, they’re usually planted when someone’s died.” Jami added with an odd interest.

She reached out her hand and rubbed her fingers on the papery petals. All of a sudden her vision turned black and the view of a fireplace showed up. A face came up toward the small chains that hung down from the front. She saw Nell quickly back up against a couch in fear.

“Jami,” Luke’s voice broke through her vision and noticed he was waving his hand in front of her face. “Earth to Jami.”

She thoroughly shook her head. Then looked up at Luke, “I’m sure you won’t believe me but, I’ve had another vision.”

Luke stopped himself from making any comments. He remembered what Nell had said and he didn’t want to become like another one of Jami’s old boyfriends. He thoughtfully stared into Jami’s eyes. “What happened?”

He noticed Jami showed a bit of shock about his concern for her, “Well, this face appeared behind the chains of the fireplace in the living room and I saw Nell get scared and back up against the couch she was doing her tests on.”

Luke paused trying to decide if they should go and see how Nell’s doing. After all, Jami was right about the last scare. Almost to answer his decision they heard a scream rise up through the house. “I think we should go and check on Nell now.” Luke announced.