Short Stories

Hidden Eyes

   The sound of a car pulling into the driveway cut through the silence like a sharp knife, and it disturbed everyone within hearing distance. Out of the car came a plump man with peach colored skin and greying hair, wearing blue jeans and a plain white top. A woman came out of the driver's seat, tall and thin with an unamused expression set on her face. Her eyes showed boredom. She brushed off some lint from her grey sweater, the knees of her black jeans showing pale skin as she walked to the trunk. Out last came a small child, maybe 13. Her hair was black and in a ponytail that swayed when she walked and her black sweater had some cat hair on it from the white kitten in her thin arms. As white as snow. She had the same black jeans as her mother, but her eyes glinted with curiosity and mischievous thoughts. She walked up to the house (Which she had said earlier reminded her of the haunted house on her TV show; Ghouls and Haunts.) And opened the creaky door.

    The house seemed to be in decent shape, and it wasn't dusty at all yet still gave off a musty smell and would send shivers down your spine at night if you went downstairs at night to get a glass of water. It had four floors if you counted the attic and basement which included 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, and a office. The basement was almost completely empty and the attic would probably be filled with things they no longer needed or wanted, or items that the previous owners didn't want anymore and were too lazy to sell, give away, or take with them. "Lazy." she muttered. That's what she of every human being on this planet. Lazy and useless. Despite her.....cute appearance, she was pessimistic and had a dark sense of humor. She wasn't scared easily either, gore nor jump scares could get her to move out of her seat. "Abigail! Come on. Grab your case and start unpacking."

    They didn't have many belongings. Just clothes, things for the cat, the child's father's paperwork, and photos. They spent all day unpacking their things into their rooms, and the child quietly put her things into her own room. The darkness of night soon settled in the house and mostly everyone was asleep. Except the girl. She was exploring the old house, a new found curiosity was in her and she was determined to find out it's secrets. Armed with a flashlight and her trusty cat, they wandered its halls. But Abigail could not shake the feeling of someone watching her from the shadows, but when she looked there was no one to be seen. "Odd." She mumbled to herself as she brushed away some dust on an oak table. She turned around, looking up at the cream colored ceiling. "The attic." She whispered, walking to the end of the hall and reaching up, slowly pulling on the string to open up the attic. Surprisingly, it made no noise. She pulled down the stairs and picked up her cat and walked slowly up the dusty stairs, her brown eyes scanning across the dark room. She took a deep breath, breathing in thick air before reaching up and pulling a chain, and the room lit up, revealing a mostly empty room with a few boxes here and there. She set down her cat, and turned her flashlight to face one of the boxes. She rummaged around and was about to stop after only seeing old ripped up clothes when she saw a speck of white. She reaches up and pulled it out, revealing a white, shiney stone with swirls of black metal around it, connected to a black chain. "A necklace.... A beautiful one at that." She looked down at her cat which had a curious gaze in its eyes. She stuffed it into her pocket and continued wandering around until sleepiness fell upon her, and she went back downstairs after closing the door and getting the dust out of her cat's fur, and went to her bedroom, setting the necklace on her bed stand.

    The next morning, Abigail was surprised to not feel the sun upon her face. She walked over to her window and looked out, pleased to see it was a gloomy, misty day. "Good." she muttered, closing the curtain. She strolled over to her closet and put on black leggings, a grey shirt and put a black hoodie on and, after some consideration, she put on the necklace. She looked around and was disappointed to see that her companion wasn't there. She walked out of her room and down the stairs to see a couple of McDonald's breakfast bags. She grabbed a hashbrown and headed to the door. Her parents didn't question where she went, mostly because they were just busy with their work... and she liked it like that. She never liked people who questioned her and where she went. It annoyed her extremely. She walked outside and walked around to the back of the house, surprised to find a forested area on their backyard, along with a small rusted slide. She walked across the grass, still wet with morning dew into the forest. She walked slowly, eyes analyzing everything she saw until she came upon a clearing, a well in the middle. But it wasn't a normal well. It didn't have a short stone wall with the little wooden roof. It was just a hole in the ground, surrounded by stone. Abigail picked up a small white rock and threw it down and listened, expecting to hear the water after a few seconds. But she didn't.. It was completely silent. She stood up and nearly screamed and almost fell into the hole when she heard a grating voice. "You really shouldn't be standing that close to that."

    Abigail did not like to be surprised in any way. She made this clear to the boy by spinning around and slapping him in his head, face, and anywhere she could reach. "You idiot! You almost made me fall in!" She landed the last smack on his shoulder, and then he burst out laughing! "Why are you laughing?! It isn't funny you little rat!" Yet, even though she continued yelling insults, he continued to laugh. Holding his stomach and leaning against a tree, snorting quite a few times. Abigail crosses her arms, gritting her teeth and glaring at him. He slowly calmed down, breathing heavily. "That.... That was awesome! You should have seen the look on your face!" She rolled her eyes, her arms still crossed tightly across her chest. "You're an idiot." She muttered. "I know." He gave her a toothy smile, and then she started to actually look at him. He had messy brown hair that matched his eyes and a grey hoodie with a black zipper and blue jeans with beat up sneakers. "You are an imbecile." Again, he answered with "I know." After a few minutes  of them staring at each other, he jumped up. "I haven't introduced myself, have I? My names Mason."  "I don't care what your name is.." The boy raised an eyebrow. "Jeez. You have an attitude." "I know I do," She replied, uncrossing her arms. "And I really, really don't care." Mason raised his hands in defeat. "Whatever. Just wanted to say hi." He waved, and then disappeared back into the shadows of the trees.

    "I went into the forest today. I found a well." Abigail said as she filled her glass with tap water. "Uh huh..." Her mother replied, obviously not paying attention as she typed on her laptop. "I threw a rock down and couldn't even hear it hit the bottom." She turned around, looking at her mother as she sipped her water. Her mother didn't respond. "I almost fell in." She didn't respond again, and Abigail raised one eyebrow. "I could have died." "That's nice, dear." Her mom said in a fake caring voice. Abigail sighed, annoyed and bored and she didn't know where her cat was, either! That was what was really making her upset. But, the darkness was soon settling upon her house again and she decided she wanted to wake up early so she wouldn't have to deal with the other members of the household for a few hours. She finished her water in three gulps and set it on the counter and walked up the stairway in her usual, almost cat-like way. She walked upstairs and changed into her black PJ's and settled into her bed, now slightly worried about her furry companion. After about 35 minutes she heard a slight rustling under her bed. She wasn't scared, no. Just annoyed. Extremely annoyed. She slowly got off her bed and looked under it, her eyes widening to see a trap door. Her eyes widened, and then she smirked. "Yes!" She whisper yelled as she very slowly and carefully moved the bed so it wasn't covering the trap door. She pulled her hair back into a tight pony tail and lifted up the trap door, and her eyes widened. Peering down, the ground below was maybe about 200 feet below, and there was a rickety ladder attached to her floor (Which was probably the sky from the people down below, if there was any people.) which led to the ground. Now she wasn't annoyed. She was fascinated. She started to climb down the latter, feelings of curiosity and excitement spreading through her as her bare feet touched the ground. The place was a paradise! The ground was so soft, and the sky was a deep shade of purple, and there wasn't a living soul in sight. She laughed quietly, running around for a few feet. But, slowly, she become.. Confused. She began questioning how long she was there. But she knew she had only been there for minutes. Only minutes, and soon she would go back up and go to bed and nobody would know about her little adventure. Slowly, she wandered more and more away from the ladder.

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May, 2015.

"Please! She's been missing for months! You need to do something! Send out search groups! Please!" The woman starting sobbing uncontrollably as her husband attempted to console her. "I'm sorry ma'am. We've already done everything we can. We have to assume the worst. I'm sorry." The police officer said, a grim expression on his face as he drove away.

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June, 2017.

Abigail Tiller is pronounced dead. Her body was found mangled with the limbs torn off under her bed.

We are not afraid of the darkness. We are scared of what lurks within it... and we have every right to be afraid.