Kari's Drabbles

Eliza's Nightmare

Eliza sat in darkness. She didn't know where she was, and was confused on what was going on. She started to walk around. A light shone through the black depths she was captured in. She went to it. Soon she was in a driveway. She followed it to huge iron gates that were rusty, and had the name Killington engraved on it. The gates were locked, but the rust on the chain was wearing it away, making it easy for Eliza to pry it open and go through the huge gate.
As soon as Eliza was on the other side of the gates, they closed behind her, locking again. In her panic, Eliza faced the gates again and started shaking them. They responded by electrocuting her, even though there was no electrical outlet to be found, and no switch either. She turned back to the mansion that was on the hill ahead of her.
The path she was treading was all dirt and gravel. Trees that lined the path were slowly dying, despite the fact it was springtime. The trunks of the trees had horrible, twisted faces in them, and the branches were like hands, constantly trying to trip her and grab at her. Eliza swore she could see eyes in the trunks as well, watching her, waiting to see her stumble just so they could snatch her up.
The sky was dark and threatened a storm, but no rain fell, even though lighting flashed, and the sound of thunder made Eliza jump. She felt gooseflesh go up her arms as she slowly neared the mansion. Not realizing that she was doing it, she turned back to see that the iron gates had turned into a tiny speck in her sight. She turned back to the mansion, choking back scared tears. She held herself as the wind started to pick up. It blew her hair into her face, and grabbed at her dress as if trying to rip it off of her. She looked back at the mansion. It reminded her of ones she'd seen in horror films at the theatre. It was huge, decaying, and made of wood. She feared what would await her once she got there. Eliza let out a breath, and her breath turned into vapor.
It must have been about below zero, and her hair was still being blown in her face. The cold bit at her cheeks like tiny needles, and her feet had lost all feeling. She soon stopped and took of her heels, and made her dress a little shorter. She knew it was wrong for a woman to show their feet or legs, but she did not want to trip. The wind soon undid her bow, and blew it away
Eliza pulled her shawl closer to her, feeling all her body heat fading. She was relieved and frightened at the same time to be on the porch of the mansion. She was about to knock on the door, when the door opened, though there was no one to greet her. Forgetting her fear, and longing for heat, Eliza stepped into the house. As the gate did, the door closed and locked.
Much to Eliza's dismay, the house was no warmer than the weather outside. Out of nowhere, a light turned on, illuminating the foyer she was in. A grand,-at least at one time it was-staircase led to an upstairs. Some stairs were missing, and others were broken, and would probably fall apart under Eliza's feet. Out of curiosity, she turned into another room to the left. It was a sitting room.
It was filled with furniture, although, most of the furniture was moth-eaten and growing mold. The wallpaper was slowly peeling off the walls. Portraits of past homeowners, Eliza guessed, were hanging crookedly and the paint was fading. The fireplace had a dying fire in it's depths, and as soon as Eliza neared it to grasp some warmth, it died completely.
Eliza stared at the fireplace with a frown. She then sighed, letting out more vapor, and rubbed her hands together, blowing on them. What a horrid place. She left the sitting room, and opened a door that led to a kitchen. It was covered in what looked like flour, and some left out food was molding much like the furniture in the sitting room.
From behind her, Eliza heard a crash of pans. She turned around to see who was there, but no one was behind her. She turned back the way she was going, greeted only by some piano music. It was coming from an upper room. Eliza ended up back in the foyer. The music grew louder. She was entranced in how beautiful and ominous it was.
She followed the alluring sound, and headed up the stairway, watching out for the missing stairs. Soon she was at the top, but it was split in two more stairwells, one to the left, and the other to the right. The music was louder on the right, so Eliza decided to go that way. There was a hallway with many rooms aligning it, but most of them were empty except for a bed.
Eliza knew she was getting closer to the music by how loud it was. Soon, she came to one door that was closed. She was not ready for what was inside. She opened the door to see a grand white piano. The music was still playing, but no one was at the piano. Eliza held back a scream, and slowly backed away from the room with the piano. She held a hand to her heart to keep it from jumping out of her chest.