What Lies Beneath

Chapter Six: The Photograph

Karen had almost finished unpacking her duffel bag when she remembered the polaroid that she had found. She carefully reached into the back pocket of her jeans and slid the yellowed photograph out.

There was a name scribbled in old lettering on the back of the folded paper. The ink was so faded that she was barely make out the first name, but by some miracle she was able to read it. The name was Cassie something. Unfortunately, the rest of the words were indecipherable

Karen unfolded the picture gently to reveal an old black and white photograph of a young girl playing in the yard. She looked about four years old in the picture and there was a huge smile on her face.

Still staring at the photo, Karen sat back on the huge four poster bed that sat in the middle of her new, haunted, bedroom. She didn't know why she kept staring at the girl's face, but there was just something about her that looked so familiar. Though she knew that she had never seen her before, after all, the picture was taken a very long time ago.

Though, with everything that had happened since she had received a letter in the mail inviting her to this strange place, she was unwilling to rule anything out.

Karen stared at the photograph until she fell asleep.

It was a lot harder for Karen to sleep with the lights on, than she had originally thought. All throughout the night she tossed and turned dreaming of ghostly figures chasing her through the maze of the house she was in. Every time she thought that she had found a way out, she would end up right back where she had started.

She did not get very much sleep.

Karen woke up covered in sweat shortly before five o'clock in the morning. The old clock on the wall across from her very large four poster bed was happy to let her know that she only got four hours of sleep, if you could call it that. She still held the old photograph in her hand from before she had fallen into her nightmares.

The room was still bright from the lights that she left on during the night after she had been attacked. Karen gently pushed herself up from the very large mattress. Her new room was beautiful and yet was falling apart at the same time. The entire house looked like it had just been brought back from the brink of death.

After the incident the night before Karen wasn't really up to staying in this room any longer than she had to. Since it was only a little after five and breakfast was at seven, she had a little bit of time to find her way to the dining room. Maybe even a little time to do some snooping around.

Karen was quick to get a change of clothes from her duffle bag. She had fallen asleep with her bag half unpacked on the bed and still wearing her clothes from the day before.

As she pulled her new clean shirt over her head, she heard a faint tapping sound coming from the window. Curious, she tentatively made her way over to the old window. The painted white frame was chipping and the latch that was supposed to open the window was broken. The curtains that surrounded the window were a crimson red color and made of silk.

Karen placed her hands on the window's ledge so that she could look out the water stained glass. The only thing that she saw was what looked like a pond with an old fountain about a mile away from the house. Karen squinted to see if she had missed something. That's when she saw a figure moving by the pond. She leaned in closer to the glass to get a better look. Her face was practically pressed up against the cool surface when something slammed into it.

Karen jumped back from the window in surprise. A huge black bird was on the other side flapping its ginormous wings against the glass. She jumped again at the sound of the bird's loud squawk.