Abandon House
She kicked a rock as she walked silently down the middle of the street with her hands in her pocket and head down following the path the rock took her. She had been walking this unknown path since the sun began to set and now the full moon hung itself above her.
She had never taken this route home before and was surprised by her decision to do so but she needed the time to herself and knew that this was the only road in Asheville that would have no life on it for most of the houses were abandoned along ago. The road looped around the surrounding neighborhoods and would take her twice the amount of time to get home. She had just left volleyball practice at the high school and decided to walk instead of catching a ride with her friends who lately seemed foreign to her. This, she needed to think about, so after practice without a word, she put her pink plaid hoodie on and let her dark straight brown hair fall from its tight bun just past her shoulder and ventured off across the football field, through the thick maple woods and onto the railroad tracks that lead her to the road that she now followed.
The road was still and washed with the kiss of moonlight that peeked through the limbs of the trees that stood in a line at its side. She kicked the rock again, even harder and it took flight into the sky, swallowed by the darkness to the left of her. She looked up for the first time since starting her journey to follow its path and watched it reach its destination, smashing through a window belonging to a large, clearly worn down house. It was hard to make out in the darkness but with what moonlight that shined through the dense trees that surround it, the house was a three-story farm house with a front porch greeted by a stone path that ends at her feet.
“Oh, no.” She said as she heard the glass smash to a thousand pieces and the rock land inside the home.
She debated on whether or not to just leave and pretend that it did not happen. Walking a few steps towards it, she examined the house. The front porch was barely holding itself together with mostly rotten wood and the front door hung by one rusty hinge. The yard was not kept and overgrown with weeds and bushes. No visible light shined through any of the windows and spider webs hung from every beam that protrudes out of the house. ‘No one could live here’ she thought to herself but was quickly proven wrong when she heard the sound of something stirring on the third floor. She sighed with defeat and tried to run away but her feet stayed glued to the stone walkway, preventing her from escaping. She looked up to the place from where the sound came from and saw a soft light begin to glow in the distance through a window.
Someone did live here and they knew she was here; she thought to herself and released her plan of escaping from her mind. Slowly she walked to the front porch and cautiously placed her foot on the first step. It cracked a bit below her weight but held in place as she placed another foot down. When she reached the door she scanned around it for a doorbell but found that there was none. Taking a hand out of her pocket she formed it into a fist and hesitantly knocked on the soften wood. It swung a bit from her force but no one answered her call. She knocked again with a bit more force and found the same results. Impatient by this, she knocked with so much force that the door fell from its last hinge, crashing down in front of her causing an echo throughout the house and dust to fly everywhere. She coughed when the rush of dust hit her face and brought her arms up to shield it.
“Hello?” She chokingly let out as she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her straight dark hair.
Again, no one answered but she continued anyway.
“Is anyone here? I’m sorry about the window. Well, and the door.” She added looking down at the once standing door and began to walk over it, entering the house.
Silence is all that greeted her as she walked into what looked to be a living room. All the furniture was covered with a thick layer of dust and spider webs. Even the floorboards showed no sign of life besides the foot prints that trailed behind her. She stopped just a few feet from the entrance and called out again. This time she heard a soft sound from above and looked over to a set of stairs to her right that lead to the second floor. She walked over to the stairs and looked up but could only see as far as the fifth step to where the protruding moonlight reached. Again the noise maked its way to where she stood.
“Hello? Is someone up there?” She said looking into the darkness above.
“Yeessss.” Answered a hissing humbles voice from behind her.
It caused her to jump and spin around to see that there was nothing but the dust dancing in the moonlight.
“Hello?” She questioned, looking all around her, getting nothing but the sound from above echoing down the stairs.
Slowly she began her pursuit up the creaking stairs until she reached the fifth step in which she debated her decision as to whether she should continue or run out the front door and never look back. What am I doing? She thought to herself while she grabbed the dusty handrail. She knew this wasn’t a good idea. The house looked and felt as if it would fall apart any moment but something pulled her forward and beckoned for her to continue and she could not resist. She began to make her way up the stairs again into the darkness. With one hand on the railing she put the other in front of her to feel for anything that might be waiting for her at the top. Every now and then her hand would brush a thickly woven web which startled her, but she would merely shake it off and continued her search. Each step, she took with caution but stopped once she felt her foot hit air when she went to take another. Adjusted to the darkness she looked around to see that she was in a long narrow hallway with 3 doors on each side all of which was closed. At her right was the stairs that led up to the next floor.
“Hello?” Came out of her mouth at barely a whisper.
She turned her head to look up the next set of stairs and waited for an answer. Seeing the small soft light at the top of the stairs laminating the walls she listened, but still no one replied. Her feet began to move her towards the stairs but stopped short when the light quickly died out. Her heart pulsed as she peeked above the stairs to see where it went. She stepped on the first stair and the light reappeared at the top, quickly rushing down towards her. She jumped out of the way and slammed her body against the wall as she watched it fly past her, turning down the first flight of stairs and to the floor from which she started. A giant flash coated her eyes causing her to bring her hands to them. Tears form as she rubbed them and brought them to focus. When she opened them, her jar dropped from the sigh in front of her.
The hallway was now lit up with the warm glow from the gleaming golden ceiling lamp. The beautiful wooden floor showed a polished tone to its spotless shine. The walls were painted a deep vicious red that was layered with rich oak doors. A crackling of a fire could be heard from below followed by the soft sound of music. The staircase’s walls were all aligned with family photos from past generations.
Her body followed the sound and she began to walk back down the now beautifully craved stairs. She looked around the room and saw the entrance door was painted in white and hung from all its silver hinges. The living room was dust free with a strongly lit fire flaring from the fireplace in the adjutant wall with all the furniture facing it. There was one brown leather couch and a matching loveseat with two side tables, both holding golden lamps that beamed an amber aura in to the room.
She looked at the pictures on the wall at she walked down each step. The people wore strange clothing and were posed in places she had never seen before. Some pictures held bizarre plants that were brightly colored and looked like they had a life of their own. Others held building and houses in shapes and styles not familiar to any she had seen. Some of the buildings grew wider as they extended up like a ‘V ‘shape while some were as narrow as her waist, looking impossible to live in. Then one picture stopped her in motion as she stared in disbelief. There, she saw a group of children standing in a row, all around 2 to 3 years old, and each holding onto the reign that was attached to a baby horse. No, not a horse, an unicorn. Each child was holding onto an unicorn. She leaned in to look closely at these ‘unicorns’ and tried to find a string that held the horn in place or any signs of the picture being altered with, but would not find one. The only thing she found was writing in the bottom right