Afraid Of The Dark ✔️

4: The Other House

Katya opened the heavy door with force and was suddenly faced with a thick cloud of dust. She coughed and waved it away. When she stepped over the threshold she felt a chill creep down her spine. The place felt strangely familiar. She stood in a fairly large hall with several rooms leading off of it and a black staircase in the centre. It smelt of an old antique shop with a hint of mold. From the outside the house didn't look as big as the inside.

The door slammed shut behind her and the sound made her jump. She looked around and walked into the lounge. She guessed that the whole place had been abandoned a decade or so ago. Dirt and debris littered the floor and dust covered the peeling walls and remains of old furniture. The windows were completely broken and stained tattered curtains hung limply from the wall.

A broken but once grand looking armchair sat in the centre facing a blackened fireplace in the wall. It was covered by a white blanket in the shape of someone sitting beneath.

She approached it slowly and saw the indentation of a small figure but when her hand reached out to touch it she heard the sound of footsteps running behind her. When she quickly turned around no one was there. She looked back at the chair but the blanket was flat and there was nothing underneath it. It spooked her. She walked out of the lounge and back into the hall.

Am I imagining things?

It eerily felt cooler than before. She saw something out of the corner of her eye at the top of the staircase. When she focused she saw a small silouhette dart into the shadows.
She froze. Why would there be a person in here let alone a child all on their own? She couldn't leave without making sure person was safe so she walked up the stairs.

With each step she took the stairs groaned under her weight. When she reached the top she looked from her left to her right. Both corridors looked the same. She felt the urge to turn left so she followed the worn out red carpet which seemed to squelch under her feet.

It smelt of sweet perfume upstairs which she thought was unusual. She opened the door to the first room and a cluster of insects scattered across the floorboards. It was clearly an old bedroom. All that was in there was a large metal bed and a wooden chest of drawers. The curtains let little light through them so she decided not to enter that room.

The next room was what looked to be a nursery and was much lighter than the bedroom so she went inside. An aged cot sat in the centre. It looked so lonely. She then spotted a small toy box below the window. It was a faded pink with white clouds painted on it. She was sure that she had seen it somewhere before but she couldn't quite place it.

As soon as she bent down to touch it memories from her childhood came flooding back to her. She was always close to her mother and older sister Ida. She missed them both dearly. But she also had a younger sister called Elsa who died when Katya was seven. She had very little memories about her. Their mother lived in Gothenburg with her toy boy of a boyfriend whilst Ida resided in Stockholm with her husband and child.

She was expecting a visit from them all soon when she told them where she now lived and she looked forward to that but her father they never spoke of. Half of her memories as a child which were bad were blocked out out whilst the good ones were crystal clear.

Her psychiatrist that she used to visit once a month when she was twenty thought it was remarkable how she managed to do so. But Katya didn't always enjoy it. She couldn't remember the first house she lived in when she was a child or the day her sister got married. Something terrible must have happened on those two occasions that she didn't want to remember.

But one memory always stuck in her mind like a thorn. The reason why she hated her father and why she would always be scared of the darkness.

A high pitched giggle brought her back to reality.

She could feel a presence in the room. Someone was lurking behind her and she knew it. She turned around and saw the end of a piece of white lace drift around the corner of the door.

It sounded like a child so she left the room to find where he or most likely she by the sounds of the voice had gone.

"Hello?" Katya called out.

She walked further up the corridor and saw all of the doors were shut apart from one at the end. The child must have gone in there.

"Don't be scared. Are you in here?"

The room was empty apart from a wooden wardrobe. A light bulb hung from the ceiling and the curtains were closed. If the light wasn't on she wouldn't have entered. The room gave off a bad vibe and Katya wanted to leave but she had to find the child which must be hiding inside of the wardrobe. Maybe she thought it was a game of hide and seek.

As she approached it the door slammed shut behind her. She began to panic but continued to open the wardrobe. Her hands shook with fear as the doors opened and a little girl of about four was crouched down inside. Her face was concealed by a white lace veil. Katya's heart thumped fast against her rib cage.

"Hey there. What are you doing in here all alone?" Katya bent down so that she was eye level with the girl.

She couldn't make out her features but saw she had dark eyes. Neither of them said anything because Katya realised this wasn't normal and that she was scared.

Then the little girl gave a sinister smile.

Suddenly the only light in the room turned off. Darkness fell upon her and Katya screamed and ran over to where the curtains were. She tried to pull them open but they wouldn't move. It was as if some unseen force was holding them shut.

Her heart pounded and her breathing grew faster. She ran to the wall and felt along it until she found the door but it wouldn't open.

"Let me out!" She cried.

She felt a little tug on her jumper and knew that it was the child.

"Help me."

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