Night of Terror

2

When Sarah entered her new bedroom she blindly flopped down on her mattress, giving herself a few minutes to pretend like this was all a bad dream before she discovered how bad her new surroundings were.

Opening her eyes Sarah was met with a ceiling full of cobwebs. Both her mother and the boyfriend - Sarah was still refusing to call him by name - must have bought this dump sight unseen or the realtor had somehow hid the wispy web remains dangling from the ceiling. Shivering in disgust Sarah resolved to unearth the box of cleaning supplies and give the room a good cleansing before unpacking the boxes covering almost every inch of the floor. The last thing she needed was a black widow spider landing on her Telecaster and spinning a web on the fretboard.

Placated for the moment and propping herself up on her elbows Sarah peers out the bay window that overlooks the backyard. The setting sun spotlighted the orange, red, and gold leaves of the gnarly trees encroaching into the backyard like squatters.

The house was eerily silent. Oh sure, somewhere on the first floor she could hear her mother and the others moving around but the sounds of life were muffled like Sarah was encased in a bubble.

The silence was welcome as Sarah leaned her head against the chilled glass of the bay window. As soon as Cayne set up his computer the ongoing battle between Cayne and Pricilla over the music Cayne chose to kill all of their eardrums with would resume.

Speaking of music, treble clefs and music notes began forming in Sarah's head as her mind wandered to the song she'd been composing with Ric before the move. If she closed her eyes Sarah could almost feel Ric's arms around her, adjusting her fingering on the fret of her guitar as they argued over chord changes. Sarah was content in that thought lost in the sea of her mind and the music filling it until the air shifted in her room and the door flew open, banging against the wall with a THWACK.

"Holy shit," Sarah jumped back and clasped her chest as if to still her now-racing heart. Her widened eyes landed on her brother's beefy form leaning casually against the doorframe.

"Jumpy much?" Cayne asks sardonically as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Sarah glares at him.

"I did, twice," Cayne narrows his eyes. "It's not my fault you were daydreaming about Dic."

"Ric," Sarah corrects her brother automatically.

"Whatever," Cayne shakes his head. Ric's name doesn't matter to him; he's already forgotten it a second later. "Mom needs help setting the table."

"So?" Sarah tilts her head to the side. "You do it."

"Ah, but she asked for you, sister dearest," Cayne smirks.

"Please tell me she didn't actually try to cook," Sarah groans as she rises from the window seat and follows Cayne into the hall.

"Looks like piles of black mush are in our futures," Cayne confirms grimly as they disappear into the hall.

The second floor is silent once more, the house is holding its' breath and waiting; watching sightlessly, hopeful for the first time in decades. Yes, the house thinks, this time it will all work out for they have been delivered the perfect vessel. Upstairs in the crawlspace, the house's power source glows with energy, ready to be discovered by its' unwitting host. All in good time, the house whispers to its' source, all in good, good time.

***

"Shit, did someone leave a window open?" Sarah grumbles aloud when she reenters her new room later that night. The entire second floor feels like an ice palace.