DRIPPING DARKNESS

Ch-9: Amy?

(PART-1)

I closed the main door of our house, and stepped outside, being extremely cautious, not to make a sound.

The wind howled searingly - like the tormented cries of a tortured man. It blew across me and chilled the tips of my bones; I had no gloves and it was a freezing winter night.

Towering in front of me stood Amy's house. That derelict, repugnant, and moldy house.

The decrepit house let out a negative vibe, engulfing my excitement. I could feel evilness oozing out of every crack and crevice of the dismal stone walls of the house. Gargoyles hung from the walls and the tenebrous sky added to the frightening atmosphere.

Only fear anchored my feet in the darkness. An immense storm could be heard in the distance, echoing through the lightly rainy night. Lighting ripped the inky sky. The silver hues of clouds became molten silver, swirling, ripples radiating. I crept to the paint-crumbling door amid low struggling trees.

Suddenly, flashbacks of Mrs. Jones' words came rumbling through my mind.

"Don't you ever dare to get inside that house. People say...that there were numerous murders there. They say...that there was a cruel lady who ran away from Eichen House and cursed her girl child, for being born as her heir. Her father, an abusive drunkard would beat her up every night, making her believe that she had no worth, no value in life. The broken girl...Karen, who was abused by both her parents all her life, turned the curse into evil sorcery and demonic powers from the Nemeton. Since then, the curse was christened by her neighbors... as the curse of Nu Karenui. To know what actually is inside is a mystery. So, if you really wanna unveil the mystery with the price of you being disappeared from existence, I'm not the one to stop you boy."

As I started reckoning about those words I remembered how shocked I was with these irrelevant stories when I heard them for the first time.

It sounded really weird to me at first when she told me about that curse, as I knew that Amy Addison, my friend, my classmate, used to live in that house. The story almost seemed like an old myth, or probably just some typical neighborhood rumors.

The next moment, I was standing just opposite the main entrance of that house.

"Amy?"

I yelled her name in a not-so-loud voice. After no answer, I grasped the intricately carved brass door-knocker and banged three times.

To my great shock, the door receded from view and it was fully open to let me in. I tried hard to walk away from it, although it was as if another force was controlling me.

"Amy? Are you here?"

I asked to the dark and black room with no lights on.

Still no reply.

'I should've listened to Mason...I should've just kept studying! Why did I come here?' But what if Amy is in trouble? what if someone's trying to do something to her. Whose scream did I hear?' Those voices inside my mind played themselves like they had no pause or stop button.

That fear was my challenge and my demon to slay, for it would come until I did, unannounced and gnarly.

The only way out was to order that brain to function, to demand solutions instead of that crazy-making circling anxiety. So, though it felt as if my bones had no more strength and my muscles were all out of power, I still had the option to choose how to fight.

The door creaked open.

The sound becoming whispers.... that filled the room, urging me to run lest I end up as lost and lonely as them. One moment I was outside, the next I was within, despite never taking a step.