Darkness becomes her //JackxElsa

Eight

The Crypt

I STEPPED ONTO THE BROKEN SIDEWALK AND CRANED MY HEAD BACK AT THE TALL SHADOW LOOMING ABOVE US. WOW.

The house on the corner of First and Coliseum was set in a jungle of trees and overgrown lawn, surrounded by a black iron fence. It was tall and rectangular, two stories high with faded mauve paint, lacy wrought-iron railings and scrollwork along the double porches, and black plantation shutters framing the large windows. A few dim lights shone through the panes, muted by dark curtains, dirt, and grime.

I loved it immediately-the beauty shadowed by time and decay, but still standing proud. Yeah, this was my kind of place.

Feeling a little better about my spontaneous decision to come to New 2, I followed Vennolope through the main gate, which supported a thick, climbing tangle of small, fragrant white flowers-the same kind that wound up the side of the house and twined through the second-floor railing. A black lantern hung suspended from the roof of the second-story porch above us.

''Cool, huh?'' Vennolope said over her shoulder as she opened the front door.

"You live here?"

"Yup. Well, we don't technically own it, but no one ever came back to claim it, so now it's ours. There's a bunch of empty ones in the GD-that's what we call the Garden District. The better ones have all been snagged by squatters, but this one ain't half bad. Some rooms are worse than others, but otherwise it's good." She held out her hand. "Twenty for the ride and forty for the room."

"Oh, right." I set my backpack on the porch and fished for my wallet, pulling out three twenties and placing them in Vennolope's open hand.

We entered into a large hardwood foyer with a wide staircase along one wall, the bottom half of it curving gently toward the front door. The base fanned out like honey spilled from a jar. Hanging on a long chain attached to the second-floor ceiling was a large wrought-iron chandelier, so fine and detailed it looked like it had been spun from some magical metalworking spider. The walls on either side of the foyer had wide openings leading to the other rooms.

To the right was a massive dining room with a long, stately table and ten high-backed chairs. There was a faded mural on the ceiling, burgundy-and-gold wallpaper that was faded and peeling in places. Black sconces burned, minus the two that didn't work, in spaced intervals around the room, and two tall windows were framed with cornices and heavy old burgundy curtains.

"Neat, huh?" Vennolope stood beside me. "We call it The Crypt 'cause it look looks like something from a vampire movie."

"Nice, I murmured.

Some of the floorboards were rotting. I avoided those as we headed for the stairs. The wallpaper in the foyer was missing or peeling in places just like in the dining room, but, like Vennolope said, it wasn't half bad. In fact, I thought it was just as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside.

"I'll show you your room first."

Across the foyer from the dining room was the living room. It ran the entire-side length of the house. Tall ceilings. Two dusty chandeliers. And two fireplaces along the far wall, with glided mirrors over each mantel. Like the dining room, and probably every other room in the house, the room was framed with serious crown moldings and plasterwork. One of the windows had been boarded up with random pieces of lumber and nails.

"You can stay in the room across from mine," Vennolope said, already on the stairs. "Oh, and be careful on the sixteenth step."

I counted, making sure to skip number sixteen, and then followed Vennolope down a wide hallway. She stopped at the first door on the left and then stood back to let me through first. "Here you go."