My scream frightens the clocks into silence, and they stop their infernal ticking for the duration of the keening wail, leaving my throat as if it has a will of its own. Or perhaps I simply cannot hear them now because the noise coming from me is much louder than what they can achieve.
Whoever or whatever it is crouching in the door seems to be a little closer with each illuminating flash of lightning. Petrified, I am unable to get to my feet and run; I cannot move; all I can do is attack it with this shriek loud enough to wake the dead,... which really isn't something one wants to achieve in a spooky old house.
The sporadic lightning isn't bright enough for long enough to allow me to make out any details.
Is it David? Did he fall? Is he getting ready to attack?
It does not seem like David. The sinister figure is low to the ground and appears to be looking straight at me while it is slowly crawling in through the door. I need to get up, I need to run, but all I am able to do is stare, blinded by the dark and the rain getting into my eyes.
I hear a door slam somewhere behind me. Someone is yelling my name, and then there is the sound of running feet coming my way, but I no longer know what I'm hearing or seeing or feeling, except for the piercing wind on my face and the rain forming a puddle inside the door. And the threatening figure still crouching, crawling into the house.
The foyer light suddenly flickers back into life, weak and unstable, barely able to chase away the shadows. It is just bright enough for me to see someone streak past me, and then David is pushing the front door shut, struggling against the strong wind. It finally closes, and he turns the key, locking out the dark and the threatening figure I saw looming on the patio.
I shy away from him when he turns from the door and hurries over to crouch beside me, reaching out to touch me.
"Belle, what happened? Are you alright?"
"Why didn't you answer?! Why were you stalking me?!" I accuse, only vaguely aware that he is giving me a puzzled look, his brow furrowed with worry.
"What do you mean?" he asks, using his hands to wipe a mixture of tears and rain from my face.
"When the lights went out, I heard your shoes grinding on the floor. You were right here; why wouldn't you answer me?"
David is giving me a freaked-out look, shaking his head.
"Belle, I was outside until a minute ago, moving the truck to the back of the house to get it closer to a door... I heard you screaming when I came in through the kitchen."
His words cut through me in icy rivulets of fear, robbing me of my breath. I frantically look around us, terrified of something or someone suddenly attacking us.
"There is someone in here with us..."
"Are you sure?" he asks, his muscles tensing, every part of him alert as he scans the environment, still patting my back with one hand. "I didn't see anybody... I still don't."
Am I sure? Could I really have heard shoes scraping on the floor over the noise of the storm? I can barely hear David's voice clearly, and he is right next to me. Doubt is twisting my thoughts into knots. Nothing is making sense anymore.
"W-who or what was that on the patio?" I definitely saw something there, but David had fearlessly wrestled the door closed as if he'd been unaware of it. "It was crawling inside."
"What? I didn't see anything crawling into the house."
"No," I mutter, fear gripping my heart in a vice, weaving its white noise in my brain. "I saw... I heard..."
YOU ARE READING
The House
Mystery / ThrillerBelle, an art student in need of a place to work on the paintings for her evaluation, makes the mistake of leaving it to her bungling cousin Craig to find that place for her. And find her a place, he did... "Craig! You said this house was, and I quo...
