Dark Keys of Uncomplacency

Chapter 11: The "Steiff"-ling Slasher

Connor's eyes widened at the sight of the marks. It confirmed that he wasn't the only 'crazy' on the block. For years he had detached himself from people, fearing he couldn't relate to anyone after all that had happened to him and his family. He felt relieved, despite the fact that he'd confirmed that his house was haunted by an antique piano.

"Shall we head down then?", Allison asked, sliding the phone back in front of her. She was un-phased by the sight of the torn friendship band. She had forgotten she was wearing it last night and all throughout the summer. Though the friendship with Lisa had turned rotten, the band became a part of her and she never really acknowledged its presence until now.

Julian sat next to Allison with his trembling hands deep in his pockets. "S-so you said you left the door downstairs open last night?"

"Yeah I forgot to close it", said Connor, as if he were being reprimanded. "Was a little shaken up after helping my 'crippled' grandmother back up the basement stairs, she shouldn't be able to climb down in the first place".

"Well did you hear anything last night—like Allison walking right in?"

"I already told you, I went into my closet and came out in his basement", she spoke up.

Julian snickered. "That sounds like the first line of an EMO, 'coming out' song. You got something else to confess, sis?"

She punched him in the arm and showed herself down the creaky wooden steps that led to the basement. She pushed the door on the left open and poked her face in, instantly taken aback. Like a burn victim returning to a place once engulfed in flames she took in the sulfur, cardboard-infused scent of the room. Just as she did in her dream, she wandered in darkness, searching for the piano. It was dead quiet in the basement. Not even the rustling of chairs could be heard overhead. She had returned to the space between spaces—the "dimension" she had dreamt about. The only difference was the scant beams of light coming in from the flood windows. For the first time, she saw the medium-sized hole in the window, undoubtedly made by Julian's baseball.

Allison placed her right arm on a nearby shelf and in the sunlight she saw the same sentence on her wrist that she saw when Connor answered the door. But after a second glance she realized that whatever was inscribed on her wrist was now in English. She lifted her arm further into the sunlight and read, Blonde hair so vast and bosom so plentiful enough to cause man to weep just the same. She read the passage three times before concluding that it might as well be written in German again. She walked on until she stumbled on the flimsy piano stool. The cushion was in decent shape, but as she remembered, the legs were unstable and caused the whole seat to sway left and right.

Allison looked down at the stool and realized the seat could be lifted. Sprawled out on the basement floor now was pages and pages of sheet music. She knelt down and picked up a pile of them, only able to make out the notes on the old parchment. At the top of the particular piece she was holding, the names of the composers' names were listed: Klaus Planck & Heinrich Schröder. She placed it on the piano stand and continued fishing for the rest of the sheets. After straightening them in her hands she lifted the stool and shoved the music back into it. Up until that point she hadn't even thought about the repulsive creature that had showed itself in her dream. She stared cautiously at the lid of the piano half-expecting the monster to re-emerge and attack her once more. In the midst of her circumspection, the piece she had placed on the piano had caught her eye in an inviting fashion. She sat down and lifted the piano cover and like the Titanic re-emerging from its watery grave, the piano, in her mind's eye, was restored to his original working condition. Her fingertips were drawn to the keys and with not a second more sitting idle, she played the piece she had placed on the stand. Not an ounce of her being questioned how fluent her skills were, after over a year of not playing the piano. She basked in her moment hearing the applause for an encore. Her heart began to beat with the fury and swiftness that comes upon a virtuoso returning to their respective area of expertise.