A small sienna closely followed by a Toyota Camry and a moving van slowly rolled to a stop at the entrance of one of the houses enclosed in the estate, the doors open and from the first car a woman and her 4 children came out, in the second car a man came out while house movers came down from the van. As everyone got busy taking things in and arranging it, the youngest child was left unsupervised you could see him going from room to room exploring the new house with a smile on his face and no matter how many times they tell him to slow down he just laughs and runs faster. He was in the kitchen with his sister when he noticed something shining in the backyard, when he went to check it out from afar it looked like a giant piece of red cloth but on getting closer it was an alter and from the dark red liquid seen all over the place it's a sacrificial alter that looks like it has been used recently. As if transfixed he walked closer to the alter, his sister saw him walking towards the back of the house she became worried, she tried calling his name to get him to come back inside the house but it was as if he couldn't hear her, her voice sounded like a distant echo from far away all he could think about in that very moment was to reach the alter and touch it. What snapped him out of his trance like state was when his sister was finally able to reach him and held his hand, he looked up staring blankly at her then she started reprimanding him for not being careful, he was not listen her voice was like an echo in his ear but when he finally snapped out of it he looked back at the space he has been staring at but he didn't see the alter anymore he became confused he looked up at her again while pointing at the spot asked " where did it go?" she looked at where he was pointing to and saw nothing there "where did what go?" he looked at her again and replied " there was a big red cloth there just now where did it go?" she just looked at him for a while and sighed " it's not your fault I blame your brother's for this, so u decided to scare me this hot afternoon instead of helping in the house, no wonder you were not answering me when i was calling you as if acting possessed will get you out of doing work" she then pulled on his ear while dragging him back into the house " don't you know that it is dangerous to go out in the backyard when they haven't cleared it? Can't you see the tall grass, what if snake was inside that's how you will just die and nobody will know, abeg no try this rubbish again in your life, ah ah how can big boy like you be behaving senseless mtcheww".
Later that night after they were done unpacking the family had their dinner and went to sleep, but the young boy wasn't thinking of the dinner he just had or the fact that he was meant to be asleep oh no he was still thinking of the shrine he saw outside it was as if there was something pulling him to it, it was on his mind all day and well into the night that he couldn't sleep so he came down from his bed and walked to his room door and quietly opened the door and tiptoed out of it careful enough not to make any sound. He went downstairs as quietly as he could and moved towards the kitchen backdoor where he proceeded to try and open the door but was caught by his mother putting on the kitchen light "what are you doing there?" she asked, he stiffened a million thoughts running through his head "mimi, what are you even doing up by this time, it's way past your bed time" finally finding his voice he turned to his mother and smiled "i just came down to drink water I was thirsty then I thought I heard a noise by the door looks like it was just you coming downstairs. Why did you come downstairs anyways?" she smiled and while moving to the refrigerator she said "I came to get water just like you, I'm also thirsty" she poured a cup for herself and mimi " drink up and go back to bed, don't drink too much so you won't wet the bed" mortified he shouted " mummy!!! I haven't bed wetted since I was 4" "shhshh don't shout it's night don't wake the whole neighborhood plus never say never" she said laughing as she walked back up, he followed her but stopped halfway as is being stared at he looked outside through the kitchen window at the backyard and saw the red shrine with it's red cloth fluttering in the wind.
YOU ARE READING
THE BROWNS
HorrorA family of recently moved into a new house in a new town following the promotion of their father at work. But is this house all they have been hoping for or will it all come tumbling down around them at a moment's notice.
