One of Nine

CHAPTER 6: Junius Gridley

CHAPTER 6: Junius Gridley

After the food incident, Eli was tortured and put to death by everyone in the house. Just kidding, but how badass would that have been? In all honesty, food came the next day as if nothing had happened. And Rhody and Eli were no longer speaking to each other which made mealtimes a lot more relaxing.

It was mid afternoon and Opal and I were in the sitting room. She was in one of the chairs and I was sitting in the door frame, my legs outstretched and cigarette between my teeth. If the smell of cigarettes bothered Opal, she never said anything.

I had a book on my lap titled The Trees Leaned In but it lay forgotten as I stared at the door directly across the entry hall.

Whatever lay in that room was a mystery to everyone. The door was locked and no one had even bothered to try getting in. Locked rooms in spooky houses didn't sit right with me. And maybe, there were some clues to why we were here hidden in that room.

I glared at it and decided I was going to take matters into my own hands, even if it meant kicking the door down.

I slammed the book shut and stood up quickly, my head rushing slightly from the nicotine. As I walked over to the door, I heard Opal's chair creak as she shifted to see what I was doing.

"Junius?" she called.

"Go back to your reading love," I say, waving a dismissing hand.

The door was painted white but the paint was chipping off the wood and it was cracked just like the ceilings.

In one swift motion I kicked the door with all my force. To my delighted surprise it swung open with a bang.

"What the hell Junius?" Opal yelled from the other room.

I chuckled and turned to look at her. "I did what had to be done."

As I turned back to look at the room I was shocked and delighted. Boxes were piled high and I couldn't wait to dig through each and every single one of them. Big, heavy looking trunks were pushed against one of the walls. Random pieces of furniture like side tables, lamps and chairs were all piled up in the far left corner. Extra blankets spilled out of a big wicker basket. Clothes hung off of a makeshift clothing rack and a glittering low neck evening gown caught my attention at once. I sighed as I looked at it, because I was reminded of the woman who wore a dress just like that. She was as clear in my mind as if I had seen her yesterday.

"What's going on?" I turned and saw all the other members of the house peering into the door, trying to get a look.

"I kicked the door open," I said proudly.

"Why?" Eli asked, his eyes scanning the room.

"The reason is twofold. One, because I was bored. Two, why the fuck not? No one was gonna stop me."

I didn't know I felt about Eli still. There were times when I could tolerate him and his overbearing attitude, but there were other times I wanted to fling myself off of a small cliff just so I wouldn't have to deal with him ever again. Oh, wait. Yeah I just realized that me saying that, means that I don't like him. Alright cool, glad we got that out of the way.

With the help of Asher, Opal, Rhody, Kira and Ben, every box was gone through, every trunk was unpacked, and each piece of furniture found a new room to be in, except for a couch and a rug which stayed in the room.

The trunks were re-filled with the clothes that were inside. Evening dresses, out of style suits, high heels, costume like getups, and so much more. Some boxes were filled with little statues, others filled with pillows, a few were filled with art supplies which were quickly snatched up by Ben. In fact a lot of the stuff we found got claimed by someone and was promptly taken up to their room.