Is This Safe?

Chapter 19

Somewhere safe?

Samantha, or whoever she really was, kept quiet and remained to herself as she led us deeper and deeper inside the wooded area. Her pace was quick and sometimes, I had to run to keep up with her, but since Chelsea couldn't walk, Ann had to carry her which allowed us to fall further behind. Maggie remained halfway though between us all as I did my best to follow Samantha. She'd periodically turn her head to see if we were following, but she'd turn right back around as soon as she saw that I was close behind her. I didn't even know where on earth she was taking us inside these deep woods. She had just said earlier,

"Somewhere safe."

Wherever safe was.

"We're almost there."
Samantha stops shortly to watch all of us slowly catch up. Ann, on the other hand, seemed exhausted by the long walk since she was carrying Chelsea. I felt bad for her.

Marching onward, thunder continued to rumble as my head stretched upward towards the sky. It grew dark, the clouds starting to roll together into one gigantic mass. It looked terrifying. No wonder Samantha was anxious to get to her home. Or was she leading us into a trap? Thunder clapped again, cutting off my thoughts.

Samantha then led us into a clearing where we were greeted by a black entrance gate. She looked to and fro before grabbing a key from out of her jacket pocket to unlock the gate. It swings open just as the key turned to the right, allowing all of us to step through. Past the gate, the path we were on grew clear and more visible, but on our either side, we were surrounded by hedges. This kind of reminded me of rich houses in England, honestly, with the hedges and graveled paths. I just expected a lovely Victorian to appear in front of us with a large water fountain in the front yard and golf course in the back.

But I did see a Victorian except for the fact that there was indeed no golf course nor water fountain.
The sight though, nearly took my breath away.

The house was dark, tall, still, and lifeless. Long vertical painted white fences surrounded the area of the Victorian allowing no passerby to get in.

Except for us.

It was three stories, two windows up top which I assumed was the attic or either two special rooms, a small porch, and two pointy chimneys indicating there were two fireplaces on opposite sides of the house. The white paint was fading fast, pieces peeling just like the skin of an onion. The wooden boards of the porch appeared so frail, they looked as if they'd collapse if anyone regardless of their weight, stood on them. I wasn't completely sure if this was the correct terminology for this house.

Safe?

"We're here."
Samantha calls over the roaring wind, turning to look at us again.
"Come in inside! Before the storm gets worse!"
She places her hand on the top of her head to stop the wind from blowing her hair everywhere when I do the same. The wind was growing unbearable, the temperature continuing to feel as if it were dropping considerably.

She unlocks the next gate and lets us slide right through before locking it back again, placing the key back into her jacket pocket. Just as I thought the wind was going to take us away just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Samantha opened the creaky door to her house as we all rushed inside.

Shutting it behind us, it banged with an echo and with a final click, we were latched inside of this place with no assurance we'd ever get out of here. Who knows what this place was crawling with.

"Welcome to my home."
Samantha swept her jacket off with one sweep as she extended her arm to the rest of the house. The house was dark since it was dark outside, but it looked as if there was no running electricity. It just looked--old. Not in an old way, but in an old fashionable way.