HOME

PART II

The woman rubs her stomach and says, "Maybe we should leave." The young man thinks for a moment and goes to speak, but Richard returns scratching his facial hair. A long, unkept beard.

"Let me show you the place." he says. The woman hovers near the door, but her fiancée takes her hand.

"Please." He says. The man leads them down a dim lit hallway. The whole house appears this way. They pass open doors of dark rooms, each room filled with dolls of variation. Piles and piles of the things. The woman's arms erupt in bumps, never before made so uncomfortable by inanimate objects. "Big collector, huh?" Campbell asks.

"Ah well, those were my mothers. She left them with me. I just can't seem to part with them." The man turns to look at Campbell. "She had her treasures and I have mine." Campbell appears curious, so he adds, "My book." and continues guiding them down a somewhat unleveled hallway towards a kitchen. He stops at the entrance to let them enter first. The woman tights her grip on her fiancée's hand.

The appliances are dated for the 60's and assumedly far too weathered to actually still function.

"Is everything original?" Campbell asks as he bends down to peak into the oven.

"Everything down to the paint color." A cucumber green. He nods. Campbell looks to his fiancée, she looks back. They share a non-reassuring look. They knew their options were limited. But they had nowhere near the amount of money they needed to fix this place up.

"What you're asking for the house is cheap, but we couldn't afford renovations." Campbell regretfully informs him. Richard shifts in his spot, visually upset.

"What's wrong with my home?" He asks as if some deviant energy climbed into his body.

Campbell's fiancé, for the first time speaks up, "There's nothing wrong with your home, it just needs some updates." The man still appears offended.

"Donna, that's alright, just let me." Campbell says to his pregnant fiancée.

"No, I apologize. I shouldn't have reacted with such anger." Richard apologizes. "At least let me show you the rest of my home."

"I think it's our time to go, actually." Donna says, uncomfortable. A terrible sinking feeling sets in her stomach. He can pretend to be as nice as he wants, but his true vile self showed through his eyes just a moment ago. And again, as if to share in her discomfort, the baby kicks around as if fighting off invisible harm.

"No, please let me show you the upstairs." Richard insists. "It's where all the bedrooms are. There's a perfect one up there for a nursery. There's less work to be done up there." Convinced, thinking of the baby, Campbell nods. Richard smiles, an over-exerted one.

A terrible feeling runs through Donna. She knows nothing good is going to be found upstairs, but she follows her fiancée regardless. Richard leads them down a different dark hall. Donna glances through open doorways, again catching the eyes of countless dolls; some too real to be porcelain. As if there were people hiding within the massive piles of tiny artificial bodies. Or maybe not hiding, but hidden. Finally, they approach a closed door. He opens it to a flight of stairs; going down. Quicker than any movement the young couple could have ever expected from an old man, Richard grabs hold of Donna wrist and jerks her forward. She tumbles down the steep steps, mostly on her back, but briefly on her stomach as well. From the top of the stairs, the door slams. She hears her name being called desperately. A commotion is hear from behind the door.

Donna rolls onto her back and breathes. Her senses, already enhanced, pick up a pungent strong odor. As she takes in her dark surroundings, she's aware she's now beneath the house, in the basement. As her eyes adjust, she can see the culprit of the foul smell; tar covers the walls. Her stomach does flips and she keels over to vomit. The door opens from the top of the steps and Richard dumps her fiancée and he topples down, unconscious. His face is bloody and swollen. Donna cries as she crawls towards him, desperate.