The Spirited

Chapter Two *Elvira*

The first few days passed quickly, but the nights dragged along. I couldn’t sleep. I felt like I was being watched the whole time… But I knew that I was probably just adjusting to this new house. It was huge, and haunting. In fact, I had wondered a few times if it was haunted. It was just one of those places where it seemed like that.

    I pulled the blankets over my head in attempt to hide from the lack of light, but in return only got more of it. I shut my eyes. I have a highly irrational fear of the dark, and since I wasn’t in my own room, it wasn’t exactly any better than normal.

    I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. I traced the lines I could see with my eyes. I thought about my family, then about the new people I would be living with. I hadn’t gone to dinner tonight. No one had come to get me, anyway, so I had just stayed instead of going there by myself. But I could feel myself paying for that now as my stomach grumbled hungrily. 

    I gave a restless sigh, and sat up, scanning the dark room. I pulled the blankets off of myself. At this moment in time, I was wearing penguin pyjamas, and it only made me feel even more out of place.

    I hopped off my bed and headed to the door. I opened it up and ran my hands along the old walls, using them for guidance as I headed through the twists and turns of the mansion. 

    “I can only hope I don’t get lost…” I whispered to myself quietly. 

    The air whipped around outside, and my blood curdled every time creaking could be heard from the house. A flash followed by a boom sounded from outside, and my feet stopped working. My eyelids shut and the breath escaped from my mouth. The wallpaper felt dry and scratchy on my hand, and the strong wall supported me as I started to hobble through the hallways again.

    The continuing pitter-patter on the side of the house helped to steady my heartbeat, and every time I passed a window I couldn’t even see outside from the water beaded on the glass.

    I padded softly, light on my feet as I crept through the dark. I was barefoot and the wooden floor beneath my feet was cold and unwelcoming.

I stopped at another window and looked outside. I don’t know why I did it, especially with my fear, the looming shadows and lack of moon weren’t exactly comforting. Either way, I felt myself somehow compelled to stop moving right then and there, and take a peek outside.    

    I wiped some of the condensation off of the window with my hand. My eyes squinted as I gazed out into the darkness, towards the garden. It was so big, it looked like it went on forever, though I knew that couldn’t be true. Either way, it was large. The gates seemed to erupt roughly from the ground, and I couldn’t really look inside of it. What the point of that was, I didn’t know. Weren’t gardens usually supposed to be for show?    

    Even so, it was crumbling in some places. It didn’t look all that sturdy, so my guess was that it hadn’t really been looked after. I studied the inside as best as I could.. And that’s when I saw it. There were eyes, staring back at me. I couldn’t tell what color they were, they were simply a flash in the garden. I felt a shiver of fear go down my spine, until I realized that they most certainly belonged to an animal.. But not a small one. Which meant two things. First, there were larger animals in this area, and second, there was a way to get in.     I rested my elbows on the windowsill and stared back at the creature. I was sure it probably wasn’t looking at me, exactly, but just in this general direction. I found myself entranced by it’s gaze.

    Flash.    

    I jumped back as the unexpected happened. With a flash and a boom, lightning hit the tree nearest to the fences surrounding the garden. The eyes darted and were quickly gone. The tree fell backwards, landing on the weak spot where the animal had been, and quickly broke through it.     The sound of one of my Uncle’s dogs barked from somewhere else in the house, followed by a multitude of different curses. I gasped quickly then headed back towards my room, not wanting to be found up and awake.  

I shut the door behind me as quickly as I could, but as quietly, too. Rushed footsteps could be heard throughout the house, and the mumbling of Ms. Westerly and Uncle Tom. I slipped into my bed, the sounds getting closer and closer to my room.    

    Someone began fumbling with the door handle. I stilled my breath and closed my eyes. I could hear it turning slowly, and whoever was there opened the door slowly. They seemed to glance around the room, deciding as to whether or not everything was well.    

    When the door shut, I released a sigh that I hadn’t realised I’d been keeping. The rain and thunder were both consistent still. The air was cold, and the whole mansion was tense. A few shadows passed by my window. Something felt quite off, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly was wrong. And there was a certain feeling I had at that time, one that I can’t quite explain. It wasn’t a good feeling, but it wasn’t a bad one, either. But it seemed somehow… familiar. Though I knew, I’d never felt it before. It was quite an unsettling emotion, I can tell you that much.    

    I sat up and looked out the window. The two were by the window, I could hear them yelling, even over the weather, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. The house was still creaking. My breathing was loud, and the dogs were still baking.    

    I wish that all would just be quiet.    

    As I stared outside, I could tell they were talking about something important, something for their ears only, that regarded the gate. Though it seemed to me the gate was still there. It was just invisible, and the physical one was broken. There was something about this garden. I could tell.     I jumped and shrieked quietly. Ms. Westerly had turned her head sharply, and was looking straight at me through the window. I couldn’t look away, her gaze was locked onto mine. I could’ve sworn, that for just a second, her eyes flashed red.    

    Screw the garden. There was something wrong with this place on a whole.

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hiya guys. ^^ Here's another chapter, as promised! Sorry, it's short. :( But there'll either be a much longer one next week, or a bit of a cliff-hanger/intriguer. Not sure yet. ;)  

The one with all the weapons, xXSilverXx