When I Stared Death in the Face

Face to Face with Death.

The old couple that lived down the street. I had never run across them or even met their gaze. Stories would circulate around town that conjugated thoughts into our minds. Confusion would strike me everytime, I didn't understand how such a normal old couple could cause so much trouble. They did everything as the others did. Their lights shut down at night and relit during the day. They ate breakfast in the morning, lunch in the afternoon, and dinner toward the end of the day. Every story that spun around their poor souls made it sound like the Devil himself had risen up and took pity on weary souls that drowned in loneliness; as if they had implanted a curse on the town with poisoned air. Each neighbor would quiver within their bones whenever they ran to my side to inform me on the next tormenting rumor. Their mouths spoke of possession, demons, and sights that would require an exorcism. It was morbid what the townspeople would speak of. The words they threw at this senior couple, would ache my heart.
I never once believed what they spat out, until just recently.  There was his one experience that shook me to my core.   A couple days ago, I was outside enjoying the cooling weather as summer was soon to give birth to autumn. I went on a walk as the sun put its hands on my back and breathed its warmth onto the back of my neck. As I drew nearer to the old couple's house its gaze appeared to have a gravitational pull that pulled at my very soul.. Even though my feet had ceased to move; my forward momentum continued to increase against my will.
My eyes were tormented by the overbearing demonic nature of the house.   I wanted to look away despite my curiosity.  A part of me wondered what had sparked the rumors, were they true?  Also, did the miles of wrinkles running across the old couple's foreheads hold more facts to a more elusive underlying truth.
My legs began to move without informing my mind of their intention. I had walked closer to the house, their front door blocking me. Without much of a thought, I knocked. The knock echoed down the halls of the house, coming back to me soon after. There was no response. A disoriented haze had come over me, their cars were both parked. I peeked over the porch's railing to hopefully catch a glimpse of their backyard. It was empty apart from two lawn chairs and a deteriorating umbrella. The grass wore a brown coat with  patches scattered like polka-dots.
I moved back to face the door once again. Still not receiving an answer. Thinking that maybe they had not heard me, I knocked again. Just as it did before, the sound echoed from within the aged home. Out of pure curiosity I took a glance in the window. The dust had just barely clouded the surface, meaning I could still see through.
At first, I noticed a ragged couch where pieces of the cloth had been ripped away and the stuffing was escaping like that of a decapitated teddy bear that was the evidence of a tragic and tormented childhood never forgotten.  Next to it stood a nightstand where dusty book had slept on its surface and a candlestick stood watch beside it. What I hadn't noticed was the lump under the colorful floral rug. If i hadnt  looked closer, i would have simply ignored it. The thought of what was stashed  under it took chunks from my brain and held them hostage, forcing my mind to run rampant.. I needed to know.
My fingers wrapped themselves around  the doorknob, it was cold and rough due to the paint peeling like that of dried sunburnt skin. As the handle took a turn, the door creaked open. Why was it unlocked? Should I really be entering a stranger's house? With these thoughts in my mind, I walked in. the smell of rotting floorboards and molding food filled me, suffocating my every breath. The smell was foul, like a dead corpse was standing before me. I couldn't move. Curiosity had begun to blend with fear. I should've left, it was wrong of me to trespass on others private business.
Despite that, I knelt down in front of the rug. The lump much more prominent and large when face to face. The threads from the rug shooting out and grabbing my wrist, I couldn't help but lift it up. So that's exactly what I did. I pulled up the rug as the loose threads hung and swayed in the stagnant air.. I felt my entire body grow hotter, my temperature probably rising above 100 degrees. Disgusted and terror-stricken, i was paralyzed; not even a breathe escaped my lips. Bronze splotches spread underneath it. In this very moment, Death had collided with Life.
Eyes that didnt move ,skin like leather, hair that laid tangled strangling the other strands. A corpse laid  before me. The aroma reached out and tore  at my throat like barbed wire as I gasped for air.
While  nausea punched my stomach, I let go of the rug and ran out of the house, my legs cramping as I bolted through the door.. I refused to stop, not even when my lunch from earlier today clawed its way up my throat. I approached my house and before even proceeding to the door, I collapsed.
My muscles gave out on me and as I  cried out for help. I couldn't hold down what had come up to my mouth, so it had now laid itself out on the sidewalk in front of me. Curiosity had mortified me. Her lifeless, soulless corpse etched into my eyes. It had only been four  days since that happened, and even so I haven't been able to sleep since. Any time my eyes gave into the tiredness  the horrid image would broadcast on the insides of my eyelids. The stories were not made up.  The rumors  that I once thought were used to tarnish the reputation of that old couple were actual  warnings. Ones that I now wish I hadn't kept ignoring.I wish I didn't let my inquisitiveness take hold on me. I should have just stayed home. For there I wouldn't have been forced to memorize that gruesome scene. Although it does make me wonder. Where was the old man?