Josh

Vanessa was terrified.

She didn't want to scare Nicole, so she kept it to herself.

But soon the activity became too strong to ignore.

A few days later, Vanessa returned home from work and walked into the kitchen.

And on the counter was a pristine piece of paper.

There was no crease or tear, almost as if it were just printed.

When she slowly picked it up, she realized with a sinking feeling that it was the death certificate of the last owner, the man who had hanged himself in the house she was now standing in.

When Nicole got home, Vanessa asked her if she had placed the death certificate in the kitchen but Nicole only stared at it confused and said she had never seen it before.

Years later, Vanessa spoke with the widow of the previous owner and she told her there had only ever been one copy of the death certificate and it had never left her possession.

Strange occurrences only grew more frequent after that.

Objects would disappear without a trace only to turn up in odd places neither of them remembered putting them.

The sinks would turn on when no one was around them, water running as if unseen hands had turned the handles.

Doors would slowly creak open and slam shut with intense force, even though no one had stepped into the room.

The tea kettle would start boiling on the stove when neither of them had touched it.

The fireplace brushes and poker swayed against the chimney with no wind to move them, and sometimes the TV would blast to full volume, and CD players would turn on by themselves playing music neither had chosen.

Soon the haunting began to take a physical form.

One day, Vanessa walked into the living room and froze when she saw that every single electrical item had somehow switched on at the same time, and as she nervously began to turn the lights off, a low growl instantly echoed through the room.

She turned around, her heart racing, but there was nothing there with her.

A few days later, Nicole was sitting alone in the living room when she noticed the rug shifting as if something was crawling underneath it.

She cautiously lifted the corner of it and found a thick infestation of maggots twisting and writhing over one another.