My Haunted House

Things were hard when Kayla's mom

first started to unravel.

Kayla?

There was obviously something going on

that I couldn't explain.

The blood, the scratches,

I knew I had to do something.

Kayla!

He killed families in their sleep...

like our very own Son of Sam.

You're not welcome here. I want you to leave.

I've never felt so out of control

in my entire life.

The last thing I wanted was to be in there alone.

Here, kitty-kitty-kitty.

Here, kitty-kitty-kitty.

Kitty?

When I was 12, my parents got divorced,

and my dad and I relocated to Virginia for his job.

I was just starting junior high.

It was hard, leaving my friends and my school.

But my dad said it was for the best,

and that my mom couldn't take care of me anymore.

Here, kitty-kitty-kitty.

Here, kitty.

You okay with pizza for dinner?

Kayla?

Was that you?

Was what me?

Pizza's fine, again.

All right, well, we eat in...15 minutes.

Things were hard when Kayla's mom

first started to unravel.

Father of the year.

By the end, it was so bad

that our lives actually improved after she left.

The biggest problem was Kayla spent too much time

reading about mental illness.

Poor kid was worried that what happened to her mother

would happen to her.

Here, kitty.

Hello?

Kayla, come on in.

Is someone in here?

Hey, Kayla, time to come in.

Kayla?

Kayla?

Kayla?

She saw a couple of dead animals under the porch,

and I thought she was making it a bigger deal

than it actually was.

Cats do that, you know?

They find somewhere dark and quiet to die,

and probably the same with squirrels.

It's not a graveyard, okay? I promise.

So go under there and look.

I'm not gonna go poking around

under the house, and neither will you.

Got it?

Do I need to put a lock on the door?

All right. Pizza's gonna be cold by now.

That's okay.

Come on.

Come on, we're gonna be late.

Here, kitty-kitty-kitty.

It sounded like the voice was inside our house.

What?

Who grabbed me?

Kayla, quit playing around. We got to go.

Did you hear that?

A boy?

Don't look at me like that.

I'm not like mom.

I just dropped it.

I guess I was afraid to sound crazy

and end up locked away like my mother.

After our divorce was finalized,

Kayla's mom was admitted to a psychiatric hospital

near the town where we lived.

It wasn't voluntary.

I wanted to get Kayla away from all that and start fresh,

so when the opportunity for relocating

to my hometown in Virginia came along, I jumped at it.

- Ha! -

- Okay, your turn. - Okay.

One, two, three, four, five,

six, seven, eight, nine...

Kayla hadn't made a ton of friends at her new school,

but she and Alicia seemed like they were becoming really close.

16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22...

Alicia was a little strange at times,

but she was a good kid.

Alicia was into scary movies

and kind of had a dark imagination.

I thought that was really cool,

but my dad always found it a little weird.

Aah!

You shouldn't have come under here.

Kayla, what?

We're gonna get in trouble. My dad--

Cool.

Kayla, time to come in.

We got to go. He'll be real mad

if he finds us in here.

Why do you think he was under the porch?

Alicia, your mom's waiting outside.

Did you finish all your homework for tomorrow?

Yeah.

Huh. It's not storming out.

What is that?

I found it outside.

I-I'm gonna make sure I saved the file I was working on.

Be right back.

I know I didn't bring that doll to the table.

Or at least I didn't remember bringing it.

I should have thrown that doll away that night,

but for some reason, I didn't.

What?

What?

It's not a graveyard, okay? I promise.

So go under there and look.

I'm not gonna go poking around

under the house, and neither will you.

Got it?

It's not storming out.

What is that?

I found it outside.

What?

What?

I looked up for just a second,

and the document I was working on had been deleted,

replaced with the word "guilty" for hundreds of pages.

It made no sense.

Oh, my...

I thought my daughter had been exaggerating,

but she was right. It was an animal graveyard.

With bones all arranged in these weird patterns.

Then wre'd it go?

I don't know.

He crawled out of your toy box?

23-39-23.

Thanks.

Alicia thought that putting a lock on my toy chest

might help me sleep better at night.

Who do you think killed the animals?

I don't know.

I've been watching you go back and forth.

What was under there?

Just, uh, lots of trash.

Fire hazard, you know?

Hey, you been getting any surges in your electric?

No.

Shoot.