Knock Knock

It was three in the morning. Moonlight filtered in through the window, casting shadows across the kitchen. The floorboards creaked as Marianna entered the room, and Peter jerked awake.

Marianna grinned. "I take it you haven't found anything either?"

Peter stretched and yawned. "As usual, not so much."

"Neil and Jonathan took the basement. Want to see what they're up to?"

Peter grabbed his camera and straightened his baseball cap. "Yes, I suppose we need to make sure they weren't eaten. Safety and all that."

They walked into the living room, then paused. Faint voices seemed to be coming from the floor. Marianna motioned toward a vent on the floor, and Peter put his ear on it.

"Is there anyone here? Do you have anything to say to us?" Peter recognized Jonathan's voice. Impulsively, he knocked on the floor.

"Wait, did you hear that?" asked Neil loudly.

Jonathan said, "Is there someone here? Two knocks mean yes. One means no."

Peter hit the floor twice. Marianna covered her mouth so she wouldn't laugh.

The next round of speech was faint; neither Peter nor Marianna could tell who was talking. "That was two." "I can count, thank you!" "Who do you think it was?" "Pipe down so we can ask."

Finally Neil said, "Are you someone who lived here?" Two knocks. "Can you appear? Show us a sign?"

Peter looked up, and Marianna shook her head. One knock. Then she grinned widely and started tap dancing.

"What's going on? Do you want something?" Marianna stopped dancing and hit the floor twice. "What do you want?"

Marianna and Peter met each other's eyes and smiled with immediate comprehension. Peter turned to the vent and shouted in a deep voice, "GET OUT!" They silently moved toward the door of the living room, enjoying the shouts and screams coming from below.

Neil and Jonathan burst through the basement door. Marianna and Peter walked up to them. Marianna asked, "What's going on? We heard shouting."

Jonathan replied, "We need to leave! Now! Grab your stuff and go!" Then he and Neil ran for the front door.

Marianna and Peter waited for them to leave, then burst out laughing. Finally Peter asked, "So when do you want to tell them?"

"How about two weeks from never?"

And for the rest of their careers, Jonathan and Neil would never go near that house.