What Lies Beneath

Chapter Fifteen: Shadows

Quiet surrounds the house and its guests during the night. All except one has retired. Up in the Attic a soft light is glowing as the shadowy figure of a woman searches through dust ridden boxes.

Earlier in the evening, the fourth guest had arrived and along with her a surprise. It had been Gwyneth who had greeted Sophie and the strange taxi driver. She hadn't expected him. Normally, the myth about the house was enough to keep people away, but sometimes an onlooker's curiosity tended to override their need for self-preservation. Though she suspected that that was not the case tonight.

The man had many questions but left with few answers. However, it wasn't the things that he had asked that had her burning an old oil lamp in the attic. No, it was who he reminded her of.

From the moment that she first laid eyes on him she felt a connection. There was something familiar about him. Perhaps it was the way he spoke or maybe the way that he held himself, but she couldn't figure out how she recognized him.

There weren't many people in the world who could befuddle her like that. After he left, she was quick to show their new guest to her room. She made small talk with Agatha before pretending to retire to her room for the evening. When she was sure that everyone was sleeping, she made her way to the Attic.

She had had a couple of hours to think over how she knew the man when it finally occurred to her that even if she didn't remember, the house would.

The previous owner of the house loved taking pictures of all their guests, and having seen most of them upon arrival, she knew that she would find her answer amongst them.

She gently lifted each photograph and wiped away the dirt and grime that covered the glass until she could see the faces of the people. She had gone through at least twenty until she found the one that she was looking for.

As her small dirt covered hand wiped the glass of yet another photograph, it revealed the images of a young boy and two men. She recognized the men as soon as she saw them. They had been a part of the group of the last guests who stayed in the house before the owner's daughter disappeared.

The picture was of the two farm hands and the young boy was one of their sons. They were all smiling as they stood in front of the steps that led up to the house. If only they knew what awaited them, she thought to herself.

She brought the photograph up closer to her face so that she could get a better look at the young boy. Yes, that was it. She sighed with relief. She finally had an answer to the question that had been pestering her all evening.

She didn't know how it was possible, but the young man in the photograph must be related to the taxi driver who dropped off the girl.

The house watched her as she searched through all its secrets to unveil the truth. Like Gwyneth, it too had recognized the taxi driver from that evening. Though unlike her it knew exactly who he was the moment his feet stepped onto its porch.

Though it accepted the fact that the two women who were now living within its walls had plans of their own, it did not stop the house from plotting.

Deep within the recesses of the house, something stirred. Upon the latest guest's arrival, something awoke inside of its walls. It felt the power of those who resided within. The more that arrived, the more powerful the house felt.

It had already had fun with some of its new-found power. Yes, it accepted the fact that they had to be there, but that didn't mean that it had to like it. So, like anyone about to enjoy their meal, the house was having pleasure playing with its food. 

Charlie sat on his new king-sized bed as he fondled his present as thoughts of murder ran through his mind. He had planned on simply storing the gift where he had originally found it, but the pull was too strong. He longed for its blade and murderous intentions. So instead of leaving it in the dank musty closet, he felt it more appropriate to keep it close under his pillow.

A new guest had arrived in time for them to retire for the night, but that didn't mean that he didn't peek at the fresh meat. At the sound of the lesser old hag's feet on the footsteps he had opened his door just enough to catch a glimpse of the new arrival.

She was small and scrawny with long blond hair tied up into obnoxious braids. She reminded him of some of his earlier victims. She certainly looked about their age. She was wearing a prep school uniform that looked like the kind he had seen on the multiple American shows that would not stop showing on his blood-stained television.

He couldn't help but think about all the different ways that he could kill her as she turned and walked down the hall with the shriveled old bag who escorted her. When she was out of sight, he had closed the door. It was then that he made the decision to go and fetch his axe.

He wasn't planning on using it just yet, but it didn't hurt to have it in his hands. He now had five potential victims to choose from. Not that it mattered much, he had already chosen who he was going to kill first. He didn't know when, but he was going to kill that nasty old witch who had first greeted him upon his arrival.

Karen sat up on her bed thinking about everything that had transpired that evening. She too had taken a peek at their new guest as Gwyneth showed her to her room, which just so happened to be the room between Karen and Wyatt.

The girl was tiny and was certainly not here to learn how to live on her own, after all she couldn't have been more than fifteen. Karen supposed that it was more evidence to prove that something very strange was happening. When Charlie had arrived earlier in the day, Agatha had kept him close. It was almost like she didn't want him near her and Wyatt.

So many weird and unexplainable things had happened since she first arrived. Before coming to this house, she would have laughed at the thought of ghosts existing and creepy old ladies with secret agendas, but now it was all she could think about.

She felt bad about the way that she had treated Wyatt that morning when he told her what had happened to him, but for some reason she just couldn't believe him. Deep down she knew that he was probably telling the truth, and yet her logical mind kept telling her that he was pretending or that he had suffered a mental breakdown.

Then there was Charlie. From the first moment that she saw him, he gave her the creeps. Perhaps it was the way that he had looked at her. Never had someone looked at her like he did. It was almost as if he was deciding how he wanted to cook her.

She supposed that all of it could have just been in her head, but after everything she had been through in her life, she had learned to trust her gut. He was bad news.

Karen knew that she needed to get some sleep, after all, she hadn't really gotten any the night before, not the mention the one before that. Her brain, however, was determined to keep her up with hundreds of different scenarios running through her mind. She had so many questions and no one to ask for answers.

Like the night before, Karen figured that she wasn't going to get any sleep.