Never-ending Short Stories

Corridor Of Voices

Corridor of Voices

"Here we are!" Mom says to me. I peer out the car window into the blackness of night. I can make out the vague outline of a giant house. My giant house.

"Creepy." I say and look back at my phone.

"Valerie! This is our new home! You have to accept that. Besides, you're going to love it here! Now come on, I need help with the boxes." Mom orders and pushes open her door. I watch her go. I swear I see something move behind her. This really is awful! First I have to leave all my friends and my old home (In the middle of the school year, to make things worse.) but now I'm seeing things. I am going to go insane here.

Tossing my phone onto the seat, I stumble into the night.

"Mom! The powers off!" I holler out from the porch. I'd beaten her Mom up the stairs. This house is creepier than I expected. I know it's old because the steps creak beneath my feet, the door nearly fell off its hinges when I pulled it open and the paint is peeling off the walls.

"Coming." She replies and walks swiftly up the stairs. Mom places her box on the moldy wood and walks into the house, feeling for a fuse box. She finds it and the lights flicker to life.

"You have got to be kidding me." I groan. Everything is coated in dust. The roof looks as though it will cave in at any second. This place is a mess. That's when I see a tiny grey body shove itself into the base boards. "That's it. We're leaving." I say and spin so fast, I hit Mom with my hair.

"We are not going anywhere. Valerie, you know I need this job, and come on the house isn't that bad! It just needs a few touch ups."

Yeah, with a wrecking ball. I think sarcastically. Too bad she's right. Mom needs this teaching job. The new University is in town, a measly half-hour drive from here. It's the only school looking for a history professor.

Sighing, I nod. "I'm going to bed. Night Mom." I say with a yawn. I walk up the winding staircase and am met with two corridors. Turning right, I pick the first room I see. There's a large bed and that's all I need.

I lie down and sink into the mattress. Nothing like my old bed, but it will have to do. Slowly, my eyes close and I drift into a dreamless sleep.

A scream rips out of my mouth as I jerk my head in an attempt to break free.

"Honey what's... Oh my goodness!" Mom shrieks at the sight of me. My long brown hair is knotted to the headboard of the bed.

I can see my face, drained of its colour, in a mirror across the room. "Help me!" I cry and tears stream down my face.

"Valerie, shhh. Shhh don't cry. I'll be right back with scissors." Mom says reassuringly and I stop trying to escape. Wait, SCISSORS!

A bucket full of hair and a river of tears later, I'm sitting at the kitchen table, running my hands through ear length hair.

This moving thing keeps getting better and better. My silky hair had been so knotted, almost all o it had to come off. What will the people at my new school think?

Mom is rushing around me, swirling dust into mini tornados. "Where are my keys?" She murmurs. I hold up the keys and continue eating my cereal. "Thank you! I'll be back for dinner. Love you!" Then she's out the door. I hear the car start and grind into the gravel as she pulls out of the driveway.

Yanking my drained body up, I trudge to bed. Though I know I won't be able to sleep. No way am I letting my guard down again.

Lying motionless doesn't make my reflection any less repulsive. I'm staring at myself in the mirror across the room again. Suddenly, my image is not longer in the mirror. A small girl has taken my place. The child smirks then disappears.