The Bell House

He awaits

Avery POV

As I walked down the sidewalk towards the restaurant, small gusts of wind repeatedly hit me on various places of my body. It made me shiver and I couldn't help but cross my arms over my chest, attempting to warm myself up.

When Zak had asked me to tag along on this lockdown, I had so many thoughts cross my mind. I was happy that he wanted me to see what he does for a living but at the same time, I didn't want to make contact with the ghosts of this town. I guess I was afraid of who we would make contact with and what they would say.

Entering the restaurant, I instantly felt like something was watching my every move. Being surrounded by pure darkness, I just followed Zak's lead. In a way, he made me feel safer. Up until he left me alone in the dark with Billy.

I felt cold air swirl around me, almost consuming me whole. I could sense whatever it was meant to cause harm and in a state of fear, I stood still. I did what I was told, as Billy called Zak in after mapping in figures on both sides of me. I knew from the hiss that whatever it was, wanted to hurt me; bad.

To my left I felt a presence make itself known, bringing a feeling of safety almost instantly. It felt familiar. Almost as quickly as it began, I felt the dark entity leave in a rush and with that, a hand grabbed my arm gently. I looked up, looking at what had just grabbed me and I was instantly hit with so many emotions. The main one being shock and what came after, an incredible sadness.

Her blue dress was dim, but visible to me as she stood before me, staring so deeply into my eyes that everything inside of me just shut itself off. Her long, auburn hair hung perfectly around her face and the bruising around her neck started to appear within her skin. She looked so pale, so cold. I've always been able to see her within my dreams, but this... This was too much.

I could feel tears brewing behind my eyes and I almost lost my breath as she spoke to me in a whisper,

"Go."

I took one last look at my mother, who now had started to disappear and walked out of there as fast as I could. I couldn't breathe; the memories of us dancing beneath the trees clouded my mind. We were so happy, until she changed. Until she let darkness consume her in that tower.

I could hear footsteps coming down the sidewalk and as I expected, Zak was standing beside me with concern in his eyes. I couldn't tell him about what had just happened. If I did, I would have to speak of her and my long family history. Who knows what he would think of me then. Would he think I was cursed too? Would he feel differently towards me? Based on that, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Resting my head on his shoulder, I could feel his slow, rythmic breathing. It was calming. It made me forget. When Aaron approached us and we were saying our goodbyes, I wanted to kiss his soft lips and just get lost within eachother. But I knew I couldn't, not yet. I leaned up to kiss his cheek, which was warm beneath my lips and walked away.

The next day, I tidied up the rooms and helped Ms. Moore with the upstairs room across from room 15. A desk sat at the other side of the room and I walked to it, gently brushing my fingers along the dust filled surface. I noticed the drawer was cracked open and opened it in curiosity. I instantly heard Ms. Moore speak up as she walked closer to me,

"Avery dear don't..."

By then it was too late. I grabbed the picture that lay alone; observing it and the people photographed. It was an older photo of Ms. Moore when she nannied for my family. My mother stood at her side in her favorite sky blue dress and I stood in front of them, smiling at the cameraman. In the back, secluded to himself was my father. I could see the emptiness in his eyes as he looked on.