The haunted house

This prompt made me remember a story my grandaunt told me and my friend some time ago when we went to her house for the weekend. She is my grandmother's younger sister, so we do call her grandaunt.

On Friday night, after dinner, we sat in her living room, and we heard birds chirping and flying around. Then my friend said, "Some birds can be scary.".

My grandaunt laughed and said, "Let me share a story with you about a haunted house. This is a true-life story that happened while I was still working and living in the eastern part of the country. I happened to be one of their neighbors, but in another compound.".

"Mercy and Tayo are a young couple; they got married recently, and everyone in their compound and neighborhood can tell that the two are loved birds. Anywhere you see Mercy, you will see her husband Tayo, and vice versa," grand aunt started.

"These two have so much in common that their neighbors envy their type of love. You will always see Tayo assisting his wife where needed, pampering and caring for her with so much love," the grand aunt continued.

"The couple continued living in peace until September 1st, when they started hearing some strange voices echoing at about 1 a.m. Mercy was the first to hear the sound, which looked like a woman crying for her baby, because Mercy isn't a deep sleeper like Tayo, her husband," my grand aunt explained further.

"Mercy freaked out as the sound persisted, and she woke her husband, who was deeply asleep. "Babe, I'm hearing a strange voice," Mercy said to her husband, who wasn't fully awake," Grand Aunt said.

"Babe, strange voice as to how to let me sleep please; I was so stressed at work today," Tayo replied to his wife, who now looked worried," grand aunt continued.

"Will you stop this and listen carefully?" Mercy snaps at her husband by tapping his hands, and immediately Tayo can hear the voice too"," Grandaunt narrated.

"Wait, it sounds like a woman crying for help or something; is this a joke or someone is watching a movie?" Tayo said as he jumped off the bed," Grandaunt said.

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"What can be scarier than hearing a strange voice in the middle of the night?" I said to my friend.

"Are you getting scared already?" my grand aunt asked, looking at myself and my friend.

"Let me continue my story before you fall asleep," my grandma said as she smiled.

"At exactly 2 a.m., the couple stopped hearing the voice, and throughout the night, they couldn't sleep. In the morning, they contacted the caretaker whom they rented the apartment from to explain their ordeal," my grandaunt continued.

"I'm sure the man would have no idea since he wasn't living there," my friend said.

"So what did the caretaker say?" I asked anxiously.

"After narrating all that happened to him, he pleaded with the couple for the inconvenience and promised to do something about it, as there had been no report of that before," Grandaunt further explained.

"At exactly 1 am the next morning, the voice came back again; it was then that the couple knew they were in the wrong house, being haunted by an unknown spirit," Grand Aunt continued.

"That is serious, very serious," I said.

"The couple contacted the caretaker again and explained what they witnessed overnight to him, then the couple asked who was the former residence of that house," Grand Aunt continued.

"The problem might be from the past residence," my friend said, nodding her head like she was there and knew what happened.

"The caretaker told them a couple just like Mercy and Tayo were the past residences; although they had a son of about three years old who lost his life through electrical shock in one of the appliances in the kitchen, the news of the death of this little boy caused cardiac arrest to the mother, which made her lose her life," the grand-aunt said, nodding her head in pity.

"I knew it," my friend shouted.

"That's so bad, so, grand aunt, the woman's spirit is still in that house crying for her son?" I asked.

"Exactly. This made Mercy and Tayo pack out of the haunted house because, as long as they remain there, they will continue to hear the strange voice," Grand Aunt said.

"And that may delay their childbearing because the spirit would want to avenge her son's death," I added.

"This is why it is important to make inquiries about the house one wants to rent in order not to be a victim of a haunted house," Grand Aunt concluded.

It was a great weekend with my grandaunt. I always enjoy her cooking and stories, and there is this hilarious side to her that makes me get attached to her.

We left there on Sunday because we had to resume school on Monday, but I kept her story in mind, and I always asked in detail about the past residents of any house I wanted to rent to live in.

Thanks for your time and your comments will be appreciated.