Don't Go In There By Ella713 Rated PG

[Ella713]

A new Gabriel and Zoe story. Our two lovebirds buy a haunted house!

Moonlight Fanfiction
Don’t Go in There!
By Ella713
Rated PG

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.




“Do you really think we’re ready for this Gabe?” Zoe asked as she looked around the room. It was a lovely old Victorian house. Upstairs had 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms; downstairs had 1 spare bedroom, a den, and a sleeping porch. It also had 4 large fireplaces!
“Do you really want to continue living in the condo? I don’t know about you but I like the idea of coming home and sitting on my back porch surrounded by trees.” Gabriel said wistfully. Zoe thought about it and it did sound good.
She had always wanted a garden and the back yard had plenty of room for roses, and lilies and what ever else she wanted to plant. The Iron Gate surrounding the property was an added bonus. But the house did need a lot of work.
“It will be a lot of work” she said slowly. Gabriel came towards her and wrapped his arms around her.
“Zoe, I think we should do it. We both know that money isn’t the problem, and yeah, the house needs some work, but we could do it together and truly make this house our own. And who knows, if we're lucky maybe you will get pregnant.” He said with a twinkle in his eye.
“I think those kind of miracles are a one time deal Gabe” she said hoping ihe wouldn’t keep pushing the whole baby thing. Zoe had never wanted to have children. She was however thinking about the very large basement. She could use that for the archives. She looked around once more and decided what the heck!
“Ok Gabe! Let’s buy this house!” she said excitedly. Gabriel picked her up and swung her around.
“Yes!!! A house of our own!” he screamed out.

Gabriel could barely contain his excitement when he told his parents the news.
“That’s great Gabe!” Mick said giving him a hug “Tell me about it”
“Dad it’s a great old Victorian home on Portland Street. It has 4 bedrooms a den, a cellar and a huge backyard! It’s amazing! It’s been empty for a long while so it needs a lot of work, but Zoe and I will do what we can and hire people for what we can’t do” Brian said.
“It sounds wonderful! But I hope it’s not 2346 Portland St.” Mick said looking at his son. Gabriel looked up at his father in surprise.
“Dad, that is the address of the house. How did you know?”
“Because a family was murdered there” Mick said quietly.

[jen]

Uh oh.

Sometimes places are perceived as ''haunted" because of their association with traumatic events, and his sounds like a prime example. Then again, there are cases when particular locations seem to retain a type of memory of it.

Check for cold spots and call ghostbusters...wonder if vampires get a special rate?

[Ella713]

Mick remembered it like it was yesterday even though it had to have been over 50 years ago. Everyone said after the crime that they were a happy couple. But neighbors never know the whole story. They had three children. Two boys and a little girl. James went through the large house while they were all sleeping and shot each of them. Then after making himself a sandwich in the kitchen, he took his own life. Mick remembered being shocked by what had happened. How could a man murder his own family in cold blood like that? Then people started saying that the house was cursed. A few families had moved into the house only to move out a short time later. Mick didn’t believe in curses or ghosts, but he knew that there was something not right about that house and he didn’t want Gabriel and Zoe to move there.

“Dad, it’s an old house. You know lots of people have most likely died in the house.”
“But the real estate agent didn’t tell you about it?” Mick asked.
“Well no she didn’t” Gabriel said.
“Then she broke the law. A real estate agent has to let a potential buyer know if there have been any crimes in the house, especially murders” Mick said.
“When did this murder happen?”
“Over 50 years ago at least” Mick said.
“Come on dad! The real estate agent couldn’t have been more than 29 years old. Maybe she didn’t have access to the information. Or maybe it was lost” Gabriel said.
“I don’t like it Gabe.” Mick said seriously.
“Well, come and take a look at it with us. You’ll see there’s nothing wrong with it.” Gabriel said finally.

Zoe squealed with glee when Gabriel told her about the murders in the house.
“A real live haunted house!” she said clapping her hands.
“You’re a little too excited about this honey” Gabriel said. The more Zoe worked with Julian the more fascinated by the macabre she became.
“We’ll definitely have to have a blessing ceremony!” Zoe said.
“What’s that?”
“It’s an ancient Hmong ceremony where you bless the house and help the spirits move on to heaven. It been done since the 3rd century” she said
Gabriel laughed.
“Sure honey. Whatever you say”

[jen]

Zoe is a wise woman. Sounds like a good idea to me, too.

[jen]

Zoe is a wise woman. Sounds like a good idea to me, too.

[Ella713]

Zoe and Gabriel spent the next week moving into their new home. It took a full month for all the work to be completed but it looked amazing and finally they were moving in. Brian and Nicole were coming over later to help them unpack. A few neighbors stopped by to welcome them to the street. They brought plates of cookies and lots of pies which they would give to Nicole when she came over.

“Oh My God! This house is amazing!” Nicole yelled out. She and Brian walked around commenting on the hardwood floors and the stained glass windows.
“This is really something” Brian said thinking that perhaps he and Nicole should take that plunge into home ownership, but knew that Josef liked for employees to be close. “Dad told me about the tragedy” Brian said.
“Yeah. He was pretty upset about us moving in” Gabriel said. “Of course “spooky Zoe” is in heaven!” he chuckled
“I heard that!” Zoe said coming down the stairs. “Nicole! You gotta see the claw foot tub!” Nicole ran upstairs with Zoe.
“What is it with women and claw foot bath tubs?” Gabriel asked.
“Really? You’re asking me?” Brian said.


Martin Kramer looked out of his window at the old Marsh home. The new owners looked kind of young to be buying a large house like that. They must be rich, he thought. He got really scared when he saw all the workmen coming by over the past month. He was afraid they might discover what he was after……but new owners or not, he would find it!

Zoe, Gabriel, Nicole and Brian all stood in a circle holding hands. Zoe had lit candles and sprinkled basil in all the doorways which she said was a spirit cleanser. They all closed their eyes while Zoe chanted the words.
They all toasted to the house with champagne when the blessing ceremony was over.
“Where did you learn about that?” Nicole asked.
“I came across it in some ancient text from China. Apparently sometimes an entire village would have a blessing ceremony for just one household. So you’re talking about a hundred thousand people blessing one house.” Zoe said impressed as she always was when talking about something she had fond in the archives.
“Our numbers were infinitely smaller” Brian said
“Well it’s not the number of people involved that makes a successful blessing. It is the love and passion of those people” Zoe explained.
“I’ll drink to that!” Nicole said enthusiastically.


Over the next three weeks Martin watched the house intently. He wrote down when they left the house and when they returned. He followed their daily habits. He never used his telescope to pry into their personal lives. He simply wanted to know their routine. So he could plan what he needed to do.

[jen]

This Martin is human, I assume, so it is unlikely that he was around when the original (well, at this point I'm assuming it was the original Killings) at that location, let alone have had any role in them.

Looking forward to seeing where you take this!

[Ella713]

Gabriel woke up suddenly. He had heard a noise very much like someone walking up his stairs. He sprang out of bed and very quietly out the bedroom door ready to lunge on the intruder. He waited but saw no one come up the stairs. He turned on the lights and looked through every inch of the house and saw nothing. Thinking it was his imagination; he turned out the lights and returned to their bedroom. After lying down quietly next to Zoe, he had just closed his eyes when he heard the noise again. This time he decided to stay in the room and wait for the thief to come to him. And he would be ready. Zoe heard the noise and immediately woke up.
“What’s wrong? Is someone out there?” she asked in a panicked voice.
“I don’t know. I went out to check it before and saw nothing”
The creaking continued. Becoming very excited at the prospect of seeing a ghost, Zoe leaped out of bed and ran into the hallway. She looked around but saw nothing. Then she heard a loud crash.
“Gabriel come here!” she yelled as she ran down the stairs.
‘Zoe! Wait for me!” Gabriel called after her. Zoe walked around on the first floor looking for some evidence of paranormal activity.
She was frowning when Gabriel made it to her.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing, that’s what, but you heard that crash right?” she asked.
“Yeah, I heard it. It sounded like it was coming from the dining room”
“That’s what I thought, but there’s nothing there. Nothing broken and nothing disturbed” Zoe said.
“Well, it’s 5am, I might as well get ready for work. I don’t think this ghost is going to let us get any sleep” Gabriel said kissing his wife on the cheek.

Gabriel was exhausted all day long. Ted Ferguson knocked on his office door.
“Jeez Gabriel, you look like hell!” he said. Gabriel looked up at his former nemesis now friend. Gabriel had hired Ted as a researcher which he had a real talent for. If he could find an obscure vampire expert from the Czech Republic of all places then he could find anything!
“I’m not getting much sleep. It appears Zoe and I have moved into a haunted house” Gabriel explained. Ted laughed.
“You’re kidding right?”
“I wish I were. Early this morning Zoe and I were awaken to creaking on the stairs to something crashing in the dining room”
“Whoa! Did someone die there or something?”
“Yeah, a whole family was murdered there according to my dad”
“You want me to find some info on it for you?”
“You know what Ted, that’s a great idea. Would you please?”
“Give me a couple of hours” ted said and walked out.

Zoe was elated. She told Julian everything that had happened. They went over history books of hauntings in Los Angeles.
“Did you feel any cold spots in the house?” Julian asked.
“No”
“No shift in temperature whatsoever?”
“Not that I could tell. Gabriel and I keep the house pretty frigid as it is, but it didn’t feel any more cold”
“That is unusual in a haunting. The presence of ghosts or spirits are always accompanied by the drop in the temperature especially when causing disturbances like the ones you described” Julian explained.
“What about demon activity?” Zoe asked.
“Demon activity is violent. You and Gabriel would have been attacked. Your house would have been wrecked.”
“Could it be perhaps a new spirit?”
“Remember what you have learned Zoe”
“Spirit activity is always the actions of people once associated with the dwelling” she rattled off.
“Correct. I suggest you set up video surveillance to uncover the truth” Julian suggested.
Zoe agreed. It might be the only way to prove if they really had a ghost haunting them. She was excited about getting actual proof on video!

[jen]

Julian is an absolutel wealth of information. No surprise there.

So Ted is a researcher. That sounds great. I like the idea of him being an ally rather than a nemesis, anyway.

[Ella713]

Ted was very good at his job. He was quick, efficient and thorough. For the first time in……..well forever he was surrounded by people who respected him and actually sought out his opinion. His dad certainly never thought Ted would amount to anything, having trashed his visions of having a star athlete in the family. His younger brother had tried to fulfill that vision and died from a steroid related condition. Now however his father was always bragging to his friends about his brainy son who worked for Danvers, Mitchell & Roy.

“Gabriel, I have the information about the house for you” Ted said peeking his head inside the door of Gabriel’s office. He sat the manila folder on his lap and opened it up.
“James Marsh and his wife Sally. They had three children 2 boys Marcus age 7, Christopher age 6 and a little girl Margaret age 3. James was an executive at Connor Steel Industries. They were upper middle class. Everyone said he loved his wife and family very much. On December 2, 1959 he shot everyone in his family while they were sleeping then shot himself. The police recovered the gun, and ballistics matched.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much what my dad told me”
“But look at what else I found! The house had a long history of violent deaths going back to the 1920’s! The house was built by Jonathan Walker!”
“Who’s Jonathan Walker?” Gabriel asked.
“I see you’re not a whiskey drinker Gabe” Ted joked. “Johnnie Walker Whiskey! The fortune is huge and I mean huge! The legend goes something like this. When Alexander Walker moved from Scotland to the States with his family, he had with him his entire fortune in a chest.”
“What like pirate chest?” Gabriel asked in surprise.
“Yeah exactly like a pirate chest. He had the house on Portland St. built and hid his booty somewhere in the house. Now over the years the house had changed hands numerous times. The first family who bought the house died from smoke inhalation from a fire. Nothing suspicious there. It was the 1920’s. There were no housing codes in place at that time. The next family gets interesting. Walter Grimes his wife Helen and their two boys. Everyone in the family was shot while sleeping and just like the most recent family the father shot himself. The house stays empty for close to 20 years. Then another family with children dies the exact same way. By the 1970’s the house had the reputation of being cursed and no one would buy the house. The last family to purchase the house were The Marshes’ but a family by the name of Henderson moved into house as a rental by the real estate company handling the property. Since they couldn’t sell it they leased it out as a rental property. The Hendersons lived in the house for just 30 days and moved out leaving most of their belongings behind.” Gabriel was astounded.
“Wow!”
“If you like I can try and find out where the Henderson’s are and see if they would like to tell us what happened?” Ted asked becoming really curious about this house that seemed to really hate families.
“Us?”
“Yeah! You don’t think I’m going to let something like this go!” Ted said with enthusiasm.
“You’re worse then Zoe. Yes, see if you can find them. If they’re not in California, tell them I’d like to fly them out personally and put them up in the Hotel Bel Air” Gabriel said.
“Will do” Ted said and ran out the door.

[jen]

Interesting.

Ted's research is quite thorough. Could there be relatives of the original owner living nearby who know of the treasure? Why would they not just buy the house and take it apart, board by board until they found what they were after?

There is more here...

Looking forward to the next chapter!

[Ella713]

Martin was in the cellar of the Marsh home. He had been extremely lucky that the contractors that the St. John’s had hired had not uncovered the old underground tunnel connecting his house next door to theirs. If old Alexander had hidden anything, he was sure he would have hidden it below the house.

Deborah Henderson was nervous when she hung up the phone. She never wanted to go back to Los Angeles, but the man said that an attorney wanted to ask them questions about the Marsh house. He said she and Doug would be placed in the Hotel Bel Air! She wrung her hands trying to decide. Her husband Doug came through the door and kissed her on the cheek.
“Hey baby, what’s for dinner?” he said laying his tool box down by the door.
“Uh……I just got a phone call from someone at a law firm in Los Angeles,
They want us to come to their office and tell them about the Marsh house”
Doug’s face went white and small beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.
“NO!” He said shaking with fear. “No way am I ever going back to Los Angeles or any other part of California! You call them and tell them no!” he said taking the stairs two at a time.

Zoe worked with a security expert on the camera system they would use. They installed a camera in the dining room which is where the crash came from, on the ceiling above the staircase and one by the front door. She felt like she was prepared if this didn’t work she would propose the idea of a séance with Julian!

Ted was disappointed that the Hendersons had turned down his offer.
“No can do Gabe. They are terrified! They won’t step foot in the state not just Los Angeles!” Gabriel closed his eyes and thought for a moment.
“Ted, where do they live?” Gabriel asked.
“A small town right outside Portland Oregon”
“Care to make a trip?” Gabriel said with a smile.
“I was hoping you would say that!”

Happy Valley Oregon looked exactly like it’s name Ted thought as he drove through. It was like Mayberry. Ted parked his car in front of modest blue two story home. He rang the doorbell which played a familiar tune he recognized but couldn’t name. The woman who opened the door was pretty for her age which had to be around 50 years or so.
“Hello” she said.
“Hello mam. I spoke to you on the phone about the old Marsh house. I figured since you wouldn’t come to California, I’d come to you.”
“You have to understand that my husband and I don’t want to re live that nightmare. Please go away!” she said trying to shut the door. Ted placed his hand inside the door.
“Mam, my friends just bought that house! All I want is information” Ted pleaded. Deborah saw that the young man was very worried about his friends.
“Please come in" she said quietly.


Deborah poured Ted a cup of coffee and sat down across from him.
“What would you like to know?” she asked.
“I’d like to start with the realty company. Did they tell you anything about the house? It’s history?” Ted asked.
“No. Only that it had been vacant for sometime and they were interested in turning it into a rental property. At first Doug, that’s my husband, we couldn’t believe our luck. It was such a beautiful old home and in a nice neighborhood. But after we moved in all sorts of things started to happen.” She said her breathing becoming harried.
“What happened?” Ted asked leaning forward.
“At first it was just little things. Noises we couldn’t explain. Like someone was walking up the stairs. The lights repeatedly went out for no reason. We called an electrician and there was nothing wrong with the wiring. Then there were loud noises and screams……..and sometimes we would come home and everything furniture and all would be turned over. Then one night. The actual day we left, we woke up and there was blood all over the walls! Doug said we were leaving that day! Deborah said with hand over her heart.
“Do you really think it was a ghost of some kind?”
“I don’t know what it was and I don’t care. We just had to get out”
“Did you ever talk to anyone about the things that happened?”
“Well everyone on the block knew about the house’s history. We didn’t find that out until the disturbances started to happen. The neighbor next door to us Martin something, said that the house was cursed because of all the blood that had been spilled there.”
“Thank you so much for telling me the whole story”
“You welcome. Get your friends out of that house before it too late!”
“Mrs. Henderson, I’m not an attorney, but you can sue the realtor for compensation of your belonging because they failed to disclose information. They broke the law and it cost you money and peace of mind. If you ever wish to pursue the matter, here’s the card of my friend Gabriel. He’s a great attorney.” Ted said handing her the card.
“Thank you. Your friend…the one living in the house…what is his name?”
Ted pointed to the card.
“You’re looking at it. Gabriel St. John and his wife Zoe. I’ve known them since junior high” Ted said. Deborah reached over and gripped his hand tightly.
“Get them out of that house!” she said with tears in her eyes.

Ted flew back to Los Angeles armed with an arsenal of information. Personally he didn’t believe it. Ghosts, spirits what have you, it was nothing more than made up Hollywood stuff. Even that Amityville Horror haunting in New York was uncovered as a fraud. But the murders were tragic and he definitely thought that some deranged serial killer got away with murder, but he no more believed in ghosts than he did in……vampires.

Gabriel and Zoe were getting ready for bed Zoe had thought of nothing but this house. She was meeting with Julian the following day to go over what the security cameras captured.

[jen]

I really like Ted now. Gabe's influence has made a huge difference in his life and now, Ted has a chance at being happy himself and making a positive contribution in the world.

There is more going on in that old house that I can figure out so far.

This is very interesting!

Thank you!

[Ella713]

As all the nights before Gabriel and Zoe were awaken by strange noises. There was even the loud shriek of a woman’s voice from somewhere in the house. They walked through all the rooms once again and like the nights before found nothing.

More nights passed and the disturbances continued with greater frequency. At first they would happen in the wee hours of the morning. Now they began as soon as either of them were actually in the house.
Gabriel noticed however, that when they had guests the sounds didn’t occur until after the guests left the house.

Zoe and Julian viewed the tapes and continued to be baffled.
“There’s nothing. Not even a hint of something. But the noises are crystal clear.”
“Have you checked the scrolls?” Julian asked.
“I checked them last night. There isn’t one single entity that communicates of sound alone.”

“It would be safe to assume then that someone is trying very hard to scare you out of the house” Julian said.

Ted looked up the records on the architect who built Alexander Walker’s house. Then he found the original blueprints of the house on record at the City Planner’s Office. There was nothing unusual about house itself, although the land surrounding the house was rather odd. There was a large tunnel underneath the house that led to the end of the street. It could be for plumbing or something like that, but he already had the prints on the piping of that street. Possible bomb shelter left over from the cold war? Ted thought. Then something struck him. Although the state of California was a free state that had abolished slavery in 1850, this was probably something along the lines of the underground railroad helping blacks to northern territories! It’s the only thing that made sense since the tunnels aren’t on the later blueprints. He left the planner’s office and drove straight to the office to speak with Gabriel!

Brian was in Gabriel’s.
“So how are thing going with Ted?” He asked
“Brian, the guy is one of the best researchers I’ve ever seen.”
“Really? I’m surprised.” He said casually.
“You should give him chance. You’d really like him” Gabriel urged.

Ted came flying into the office.
“Gabe! You gotta see this!” he said out of breath. He walked over to Gabriel and put the files on his desk.

“I think someone wants you out of that house and it isn’t ghosts!”
“What do you mean?” Brian asked standing up.

“Ok, Deborah Henderson told me that the realtor never disclosed the murders to her or her husband when they moved in which they are required to do to by law. Even if the murders happened 100 years ago! Then I find out that there is an old slave tunnel underneath your house. It runs from the beginning of the street to the end of the street. I think someone is intent on keeping people out of the Marsh house so they can look for Alexander Walker’s money. It could be any one of your neighbors, so I checked them all out. And guess who’ great grandfather founded the realty company that was handling the sale of the house? Martin Kramer!” Ted said pushing the document forward.
“You’re saying that old man killed those families?” Gabriel said in astonishment.
“Him, his father and most likely his grandfather as well. Gabe you got to understand, if there is money hidden somewhere in that tunnel, you’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. I can’t think of too many people who wouldn’t kill for that kind of money!”
Brian looked at Ted then looked to Gabriel.
“What do you want to do Gabe?” Brian asked.
“Let’s go find the money” Gabriel said.

[jen]

Now we're talkin'

So the roots of this particular haunting is in the pursuit of that treasure and it is firmly on this side of the mortal coil.

Or at least part of it is...