Behind That Door

Chapter 1

4 Years Back

She was so excited! 

Kristen.

My best friend and the niece of Mrs. Claymont. She had been eating my head since last week when they announced about Prom. She was a sucker for parties. A perfect definition of party animal whereas, I was a nerd. She always complained that I always had my nose buried in books. That I was wasting away my youth. But I always smiled her harmless laments away. For her books were boring but for me, these books meant my freedom from poverty. My Mom had a lot of expectations from me. She wanted me to study hard and rise on my own feet. To not study was an option for Kris but not for me. 

But despite our poles apart personalities, we were best friends. And today we were going to attend our Prom night. Kristen was quite popular in our school so it was no surprise that many boys asked her to be their date. And I was also asked by a few boys but I chose my second best friend, Justin. I met Justin in sixth grade and we hit it off instantly. The reason being his interest in books. On an unrelatable note, Justin had a big massive crush on Kristen. He never confided in me but I just knew.

Kris had asked me to get ready with her. I lived in the outhouse of the mansion with my mom and she lived in the mansion with her family that included her parents; Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, her older brother, Oliver, and Mrs. Claymont. There was one more person who was living in that mansion but he had become a forgetful memory for everyone. No one had seen him or heard him. 

The only knowledge I and everyone had about him was that he was there behind that door.  

The only times I felt his presence was when the sound of him playing piano would reach my ears. The melody sound floating through the air in the evening. That too not always but just sometimes. 

Coming back to the present, I picked up my blue dress along with my make-up box that consisted only of a comb, liner, moisturizer, and a lip balm, to head out to the mansion. I don't know when and how but I had made it a habit of peeking at his always closed window while stepping out of my house. The window was modeled above the wall of the mansion as his room was on the top floor. The floor no one was allowed to trespass on except for a few people. Kris had told me that the window belonged to his room. Since then I had often caught myself stealing numerous glances at the tinted window every now and then. 

I always felt an undeniable yet unexplainable pull to that window. I saw the window glowing with a faint light. He was awake. I was curious about his life but at the same, I felt pity for him too. He had never been outside his entire life. A cold shudder would pass through my spine every time I would think about it. How can someone spend his entire life locked inside a room? This was an abnormal situation but again he wasn't normal either. I had grown up seeing exorcists frequenting the mansion. At least twice every month. The evil spirit had taken a root inside him and was refusing to leave. 

Kris was taking shower when I entered her room. Her teal color gown was laid out on the bed. A smile tugged on my lips when I saw the dress. She was really going to shine today. 

After a minute or so, she came out of the shower in her bathrobe.

"Oh great you are here," she beamed excitedly at me. I smiled at her and that is how we started getting ready for the night. 

Whereas I got ready in twenty minutes, Kris took almost an hour to perfect her already perfect look. Kris's date Fred was going to pick us up from here. I didn't like Fred, not in the least. He was basically a jerk who was tagged as the hottest guy in our school for some weird reason. I had seen him lusting after every girl. Justin was going to meet us here too. I wondered how would he react when he would see her. He was bone-deep in love with her.