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Miss Jefferson and her old white house have sort of been a mystery in town. Nobody in the neighborhood has taken a peek inside the house because the old woman does not welcome guests and has chosen to live as a hermit.
Source: MisterStory
Years have passed and the town has been left speculating about Miss Jefferson and whatever she was hiding in her old house. That is until some new neighbors moved in next door. When the truth is revealed, nobody could look at Miss Jefferson the same way again.
A fresh start for the newlyweds
In 2018, newlyweds Taylor and Joe moved into their new house. They had come from the city and decided to move into the neighborhood because they wanted to start their family in a more quiet and peaceful community.
Source: MisterStory
On the day that they moved in, Taylor had a strange feeling that she was being watched. She paused from carrying boxes and looked around. All that was in sight was the old white house that was about 80 meters away from their place.
The village hermit
Taylor thought that the house looked very old and badly needed some repairs and maintenance. Eventually, Taylor asked other people in the neighborhood about it and asked if anyone was living there.
Source: MisterStory
One of the neighbors told them that there was a 96-year-old lady called Anne Jefferson who stayed there all by herself. She has been there for 50 years and nobody has entered the house since her husband mysteriously disappeared about 20 years ago.
Meeting the neighbor
Taylor hated the thought of an old woman living by herself in a very old house. She and Joe decided to meet their old neighbor despite the warnings of others. One day, they walked towards the mysterious-looking house, and the closer they got, for some reason, the more nervous they became.
Source: MisterStory
Joe knocked on the old wooden door. At first, there was complete silence. Then, they heard someone approaching. A small hatch in the door opened and they saw a pair of old eyes looking at them. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” the old lady asked.
She did not let them in
Taylor smiled cheerfully. “Hi! We are your new neighbors. We just recently moved in and we would love to get to know you better.” The old woman looked them over once more. “Okay but you are not coming in. I will come to your house. I’ll be there in 15 minutes.” she said in an irritated voice.
Source: MisterStory
Taylor and Joe walked back to their own home. Joe thought that it was strange how she would not invite anyone into the house. Perhaps the neighbors were right when they warned them to just leave the old lady alone.
An unexpected conversation
After a while, they could see Miss Jefferson approaching their house from the driveway. She had on dark clothes and her face looked so grim that it looked like she had not smiled in years. Taylor and Joe immediately got scared of how this conversation could go.
Source: MisterStory
They let Miss Jefferson enter the house and to their surprise, they actually had a decent and nice conversation. She insisted on letting them call her Anne and they found that she was very polite. She even told them stories about the neighborhood when she first moved in.
A change in mood
However, the pleasantry was gone when Taylor asked if they could come and see Anne’s house sometime – she and Joe could do some quick repairs for her if she’d like. Anne did not even bother to look for an excuse.
Source: MisterStory
“No! Never! And I don’t want you to ever ask me that again!” She instantly stood up, clearly done with the conversation. Taylor and Joe stood up as Anne made her way to the front door. They watched her walk back to her house.
Disappointed but curious
They were shocked and confused. Why did Anne have to be so angry all of a sudden? Was she hiding something in her house? Taylor was disappointed. She wanted to have good relationships with her neighbors. After all, it would be nice to have a neighbor that can look after you and your place in case of emergencies.
Source: MisterStory
But it looked like any relationship they could have with Anne was ruined from that point.
One thing was for sure – Anne’s strange behavior made Taylor more curious about her and whatever was going on inside the old white house. Taylor decided to start keeping an eye out on their strange neighbor.
The mysterious black van
Taylor noticed that whenever Anne left her house, she quickly closed the door and looked around as if making sure no one is catches her leaving the house. And the weird thing is that a black van always dropped by her house every Saturday.
Source: MisterStory
Anne would retrieve some bags and boxes from it and also put them in some boxes of her own. Taylor could not see who drove the van since the driver never went out. Taylor found everything strange and told Joe that something fishy was going on with Anne.
Looking for answers
She told Joe about the black van that came every Saturday and wondered if Anne was involved in something sketchy. That could be the reason why she won’t let anyone in her house. Joe assured Taylor that he would try to look into it.
Source: MisterStory
He started asking around town about Anne and the house. He even tried to look up its history. Taylor, on the other hand, tried a more direct approach and it was something she knew Joe would never approve of.
Breaking in
One day, when Taylor noticed Anne leave the house and Joe was also out running errands, Taylor did the unthinkable. She decided to break into the old white house. Taylor figured she had about two to three hours before Anne would come back home.
Source: MisterStory
Of course, someone as secretive as Anne had all the doors locked. Taylor was about to give up when she saw that a window was left open. It was a small window but Taylor figured that she could squeeze into it.
A strange surprise
Taylor found herself in an old, dusty room. She looked around and saw nothing strange about it. She might have expected things to look worse on the inside but after all, this was just the first room she saw. The room looked like it has not been used for a long time.
Source: MisterStory
Taylor walked out of the room and into the next room. It was a huge bathroom and it was one of the most luxurious bathrooms that she has ever laid her eyes on. It was a sharp contrast to the dusty room she came from. The old house turned out to have its own surprises after all.
Something strange
Taylor was about to explore the next room when something strange caught her eye. There were two of everything in the bathroom – two toothbrushes, two bathrobes, two towels, and more. Did Anne keep all her husband’s things after all these years?
Source: MisterStory
It then occurred to Taylor the scary realization that she may not be alone in the house. This sent a shiver all over her body. She made sure every move she made from that point on would be made with extra caution.
Getting answers
Meanwhile, Joe found himself in the library. The librarian was an old man and Joe figured out that he might know something about Anne. It turned out he was right. The librarian told Joe that Anne’s husband, Harold, was a very successful banker.
Source: MisterStory
Harold had earned his fortune by working hard but there was also a point where he broke the rules. He made deals with the wrong people. The authorities could not even touch him because he was too powerful. Soon, Anne and Harold had a bad reputation.
Converting a lost soul
A few years later, Jack, a new pastor, took over the church in the village and learned about Harold. Jack made it his personal mission to deal with Harold. He visited Harold regularly and because he was a charming man, he quickly befriended Harold.
Source: MisterStory
An unusual friendship started between the two. Every time Harold invited Jack out, Jack would take every opportunity he got to tell Harold about the Bible. Harold did not like this at first but he had a soft spot for Jack and eventually, Jack was able to convert Harold.
A change for good
Harold became calmer and decided to leave all his bad work behind. He and Anne started becoming active members of the church and used their wealth and power to conduct community projects that helped the village a lot.
Source: MisterStory
But not everyone was happy with Harold’s change of heart. The criminals Harold used to work with were upset that Harold stopped working for them – it ruined a lot of plans. They wanted to have revenge and came up with a plan to frame Harold for large-scale fraud. Harold ended up in prison for 45 years.
Prison break
Anne’s heart was broken. Ever since Harold went to jail, she was no longer the cheerful, generous woman that the villagers knew. She started to live like a hermit and nobody has ever entered their house since then.
Source: MisterStory
After staying in prison for five years, news came out that Harold had escaped from prison. Rumors said that he had crossed the border and was probably living in South America since then.
Meeting Harold
Meanwhile, Taylor walked from one room to the next in Anne’s house. When she opened the door to the next room, she came face to face with a strange man. Taylor let out a scream in surprise. The man immediately tried to calm her down. “Please sit down. I can explain everything.”
Source: MisterStory
Taylor realized the man had difficulty walking and that he would not be able to do much harm if he planned to hurt her. The man introduced himself as Harold, Anne’s husband. And proceeded to tell her his story. He told her he came back a few years ago knowing that he would not be able to leave the house once he returned.
Jumping into action
Taylor listened to Harold, who looked relieved to be sharing his story with somebody else. But at the back of her mind, Taylor was worried about how Anne would react to her intrusion. But she was more relieved that Anne was not into some shady business as she had suspected.
Source: MisterStory
Joe came home to an empty house. He saw a note from Taylor informing him about her plans to break into the house. Joe was shocked and things got worse. As he looked up, he caught Anne arriving and approaching her house. Joe dropped everything to intervene – Taylor must not be caught.
Caught in the act
But it was too late. Anne reached the front door before he did and saw Harold and Taylor talking in the living room. Joe, who was close to her heels, also stopped in his tracks. Anne dropped the bags she was carrying in shock. Fortunately, Harold came to their defense.
Source: MisterStory
He told Anne that he had signaled Taylor to come in the house and apologized for it. He explained that he needed more human contact. Since then, Taylor and Joe dropped by Anne’s house regularly to chat and play board games with them. They kept Anne’s secret and remained to be good friends with their neighbors.
