Haunted

Sightings

We didn’t have to wait long for the water guys to show up, which is the only good thing. We ended up finding out that we had a major water leak underneath our house, so instead of turning the water on they just told us to call them when we get the leak fixed and they will turn it on. That’s when things went from bad to worse with this house. Jack went out the next day to see if he could find and fix the leak underneath the house, except to find out that the entryway to get under the house was slowly falling in, so there was no way we could get under the house to fix anything. “Let’s just head back to Mom's for the night and start fresh tomorrow, besides, it’s going to be too cold to sleep here tonight,” Jack decided after accepting defeat on getting into the hole. I went inside to gather up our three little Chihuahuas when I see out the corner of my eye a man dressed in old dirty clothes with a metal hat that had a lamp on it. I shake my head thinking I was seeing things. As I look back to where he was nobody was there. I turn around and calmly but swiftly walked out of the house. Jack already had the car started and warmed up when I came out of the house. I didn’t bother locking it because it didn’t have a lock on it plus we hadn’t even unloaded anything but the car. “Are you okay,” He asked, noticing that I was being unusually quiet. I looked over at him deciding whether or not to tell him what I thought I had seen in the house “Yep, I’m fine,” I lied after deciding I didn’t even know if I had really seen the ghost or my mind was just messing with me, so there was no reason to include him until I knew for sure. We make it to Diane’s house just before nightfall. Thankfully she was still awake when we pulled up since we didn’t have a key to her house, plus I just don’t care to wake people up after they have gone to bed it just seems rude to me. While I’m letting the dogs in her backyard, Jack is explaining the problem with the water. “I still say you should have come up and checked the house out before you moved all your things up here,” Diane was saying yet again as I came inside. “I agree plus I had suggested that, but he refused my suggestion,” I declared glaring at him. “I was just going by what I was told, and they did say it needed some work on the water pipes,” Jack said trying to defend himself against his mom and me. “Yeah a little work, not that we had to risk a collapse while fixing it,” I pointed out hotly. I shake my head while I storm off to the guest room. I suddenly felt exhausted. I lay in the bed listening to Jack and his mom talk in the living room about how we should move back to Oklahoma while we still have money left. The only word I hear before I fall asleep was Jack saying “No,” When I wake the next morning Colton wasn’t in bed. I wondered to myself as I get dressed if he had even come to bed or had he stayed up all night stressing over everything (which he does quite often). As I walked into the living room, I see that he is still asleep on the couch. His long legs are hanging off one of the armrests while his arms are crossed over his chest. While I’m outside tending to my little dogs I hear Diane coming through the front door. I head inside to see her carrying a drink carrier with three coffee cups. “Emily, can you be a dear and go get the IHOP bag off the passenger seat of my car,” She asks sweetly. I nod my head and head out the front door to her little SUV that’s parked in the driveway. As I’m heading up to the front door I hear her talking to Jack. I guess she woke him up with the smell of the coffee. But as I enter I hear my little Chihuahuas yapping at each other. I look over at Diane and then at Colton with a questioning look. Diane is the one who answered me first. “These guys are actually good for something.” She laughs as Jack sits up. “She threw them on me,” Jack laughed. “I’ve got to remember that,” I told him as he was trying to get up off the couch. “I bet you will,” He replied sarcastically with a smirk on his face. “While you get up and around,  I figured I’ll call the electric and gas company to see when we can get them turned on,” 

“Okay, that’s a good idea at least we will be able to stay there at the house, and with winter setting in, the sooner the better,” I headed back to the bedroom where it was a little bit quieter to call the utility companies. As I dialed the electric company, I let my mind wander to what it would be like to have an off-the-grid house with no utility companies overcharging for their services, then I’m interrupted by a voice on the other end of the phone. “Hello, Black Mountain Electric how may I help you today,” A sweet older voice asks. “I was needing my electric turned on,” 

“Okay, I can help you with that, I just need your name and the address where the services will be turned on.” 

“Emily Johnson and the address is two zero three North Clark street Grand Mountain, Montana eight two three two seven,” 

“Okay, I will get one of the guys over there today, just make sure someone is there, and the service fee will be added to your first bill,” 

“That’s great thank you, I’m in Longmont right now, but I will be there in a couple of hours,” 

“Okay, I’ll let them know, thank you,” She says before she hangs up the phone. “Good first one down now onto the gas company,” I say aloud as I dial their number. On the second ring. “Hello, Billings Gas Company what can I do for you,” 

“My name is Emily Johnson and I was needing my gas turned on here in Grand Mountain,” 

“Of course Ms. Johnson we can do that for you, just give me your address and I’ll get the service call started,” 

“It’s at two zero three North Clark St. Grand Mountain, Montana eight two three two seven,” 

“Great and what is the Post Office Box number,” 

“A box number,”  

“Yes, the mail doesn’t get sent to your house there in Grand Mountain you have to have a mailbox,” 

“I didn’t know that I’m sorry I don’t have one,” 

“It’s okay, you can just go into our website and update it there when you get it,” 

“I’ll be sure to do that thanks for telling me,” I hear her typing in the background then she says “Okay Ms. Johnson I put your service order in and one of the guys will be out today to get you hooked up, they should be there between twelve and three,” 

“That sounds good to me thank you very much,” 

“You are welcome is there anything else I can help you with,” 

“No, that’s all I needed,” 

“We will add a twenty-five dollar service fee on your first bill and welcome to Montana Ms. Johnson”  “Okay, sound good and again thank you,” I say as I hang up the phone. I sit back and breathe a sigh of relief that everything was getting turned on today, plus I didn’t have to put up a deposit on anything. I start doing my happy dance with everything being taken care of, I was in a good mood. I don’t know how long I was dancing, but as I turned around, I saw Jack standing in the doorway with a big grin on his face. “Ah!” I screamed. “How long have you been standing there,” 

“Long enough to see your dance moves,” He teased me while mocking my dancing. “I just got off the phone with the electric and gas companies they will be out today to get us all hooked up, so I’m happy,” “That’s great, I guess we need to head back that way, then,” We drive the two and a half hour trip back to our house in Grand Mountain and hopefully make it there before anyone shows up. Finally, we make it back to the house just in time for the electric people to show up. “Nice timing don’t you think,” Jack said in his know-it-all voice. He gets out of the car to start talking to the electrician guy while I sit in the car where it was warm. They walked to the side of the house where the meter was and stood there talking for what seemed like hours. After a while, the electrician headed for his truck, and Jack walked toward me. “Well, that didn’t go well he won’t turn the electric on until we get the house rewired plus we have to move the box or do something with the bathroom window,” Jack groaned slightly irritated that there was something else he was going to have to fix before the temperatures dropped even more. We sat in the car for about an hour in silence until we saw the gas man pull up. He looked over and me and said “Oh goody let’s see what news he has for us,” before we got out of the car. He went to the back of the house to where he would have to put in the meter, then asked to check out our heating source. We showed him our furnaces. I had decided to sit on the couch to let the guys do what they do when I saw something looking at us from the kitchen. It looked like the same figure I had seen the other day. Except when he noticed that I was staring at him he just smiled at me then disappeared before my eyes.