My demons (book 1)

Ghost of the past

The only sound was the howling wind as they walked down the fractured asphalt through the maze of houses. They seemed to be the only ones disturbing the empty road and there was no sign of human life left in this ghost town. The clock on the church tower had stopped at the half past eleven.

Lucas stopped at the old building and it looked as if a special effects team had worked an extra hour for some Halloween movie set. Its façade had lost more paint than it held. The velvet curtains moved along with the wind that blew through shattered windows. Doors were hanging on the few threads of their hinges. Lucas pushed them open and walked into the hallway.

The house lay under the blanket of silence, and even the spider web on the nearby wall seemed to be empty. Darkness was draped over the walls like tapestry and Aisha felt a shiver running down her spine as she took the first careful step over the rotting oak floors.

"Welcome home." Lucas said grimly, turning to look at her.

"That's your place?" she asked, not knowing how to feel about it. It seemed to her as if the house had been empty for decades and she couldn't imagine it being filled with life just a few years ago.

"Yes, we moved out after...well, see for yourself," he said, leading her towards the crumbling staircase which screeched and groaned in complaint as they made their way up the ageing stairs.

"My room is on the left," he remarked, belittlingly pointing in the direction of the place which he had once slept in. The doors were half open and I take a glance of a timeworn crib and some kid's toys that were laying on the ground.

"How old were you when you moved?" she asked, practically running to catch up with him.

"I don't know around 3 or 4 perhaps? I kept running back, playing at our local playground. But as you can see there is not much left. We were one of the last residents that ever lived in this town."

Looking at the empty walls of the hall they were in, she couldn't find a single reason as to why he would want to come back. She remained silent, walking right behind him like a shadow as the fear started creeping in.

"In that part of the house, my uncle had his place. And be warned, if you think my dad is crazy...my uncle was mad."

She simply nodded as she was way too anxious to form any words.

The doors opened with a creak showing her the seemingly empty room behind them. A simple bad that was crushed by the time was standing in one corner, some wardrobes with broken doors were standing in the other, a broken mirror glass still scattered around the floor; nothing special to see there.

As she was looking around she spotted Lucas next to the seemingly empty wall, which was hiding the door that was blended in with the colour of the grey wallpaper.

"That's where hekept them," he murmured, pushing the door open.