Behind The Walls

Chapter 3

I didn't think I could hate mornings even more, but with Mrs. Faun, mornings were the worst. She made us wake up at seven for no reason. It was raining outside, I believe there was a hailstorm that day, so we couldn't go outside.

She gave us permission that morning to explore the house, which we were going to do anyway. My friends and I went to the girls' dorm which, of course, was empty. We knew Alison and her so-called-friends would be looking for clues as we were the day before. "What did you find yesterday?" I questioned Zac and Kai.

"Sadly, nothing," Kai answered, "what did you find in Tom Reinn's journal?"

I opened the journal, I had not looked inside until now. Most of the pages had illegible writing on them, the book was so old most of the ink had faded. Thankfully, Tom Reinn had left a map. It didn't look as old as the rest of the diary which was strange.

It was a map of the house. A line separated the house into two parts, each part was entitled as "the left part" and "the right part" A door was drawn in red and an arrow linked it to a title, "door to mom and dad" right underneath was written "door to freedom". I didn't know the kid or his story, but somehow I could feel his sorrow through his shaky handwriting.

After a few minutes of arguing where we were on the map, we finally figured out where the door was: on the first floor, near the stairs, behind a table. "Let's go!" Zac said.

"What if someone sees us?" Luke responded.

"Don't worry! The other girls will probably be in the library and the guys, finding a way to piss off the girls while they're busy. Maybe one or two are in the dorm," Zac explained.

We went downstairs, turned left and walked toward the table. I brushed my fingers against it, scanning the details in the wood. As I lifted my head up, there she was, standing right in front of me. She stared into my eyes with her blue violet eyes. I tried to analyze every detail of her face in the brief encounter we had, despite my blurry vision. Her face, except for her eyes looked nothing like Kai's. She was lean and frail. Her cheeks and the shadows under her eyes were sunken in. Her voice was soothing and soft, which took away from the eerie atmosphere. She told me to wait until dark. For some reason, I listened to her and said, "we should come back tonight." Zac who was crouching down, his head under the table, looked up at me. "I should have told you this sooner, but I've been having visions...of this girl. I think she knows where the kid is. She told me we should wait until dark, I think she also mentioned something about the door not appearing in daylight or something. My visions are blurry and rapid. And, I know this sounds absolutely crazy, but I have the feeling that we can trust her."

"I think it's worth a shot," Zac said standing up, which I didn't expect, "there's no sign of a door here. If what you say is true then it should appear tonight."

"How are you all so calm and acting like everything here is totally normal?!" Silver said. Now that was the answer I was expecting. "Our friend here has visions, the legend is probably true, this house is haunted and--." She cut herself.

Luke chuckled, he looked so cute when he smiled like that, his face looking down like he was embarrassed or-- Yup, I've had a crush on him since the 6th grade. He's so sweet and cute and nice and--anyway, back to the story-- "You're right, this is strange--all this, it seems like we all got sucked into a book or a movie, but all this might be real. Tonight, we might find out the truth about this legend and this house. Wasn't that what we were looking for?" he said.

My chest felt heavy again. I sighed, "But are you sure we should do this?"

"Charles, what do you mean?" Kai questioned.

"Are you sure we should walk through that door? Remember the rumors, some said people have been to this house and have never come back. What if the rumors are telling the truth and warning people not to come here." I explained.

"But you said we should listen to the girl in your vision." Kai reminded me.

"I know, but I also have this lingering nauseous feeling that something awful might happen."

"Charlie," Luke placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "this is our last year in middle school. Let's make it interesting. No one knows what's going to happen. This might all just be a legend, a story, nothing much. But it might also be an incredible discovery, a once in a lifetime experience." He said. "And, to be honest, I'm a bit scared too." He paused for an instant. "Remember the reason your mother gave you your name. Let this help you live up to it," he said with a reassuring smile. At first, I didn't recall ever telling him about it. I don't talk a lot about my real name wishing people would never know it or forget about it and just call me Charlie. Then, I remembered telling him when we went to Kai's birthday party that year. Kai, Silver, and Zac were dancing with a bunch of people from school when Luke and I stepped outside to get some fresh air. We talked. I revealed to him that Charlie was actually a nickname. I was a bit surprised that he didn't say anything when I told him my real name. He just smiled and told me I should keep acting like my mother always wanted me to, the reason why she named me Charlisa, whatever happens. I think I had gone red and tried to hide in my redder hair. My mother had also told me something along those lines before she passed, I think it was more something along the lines of: "I named you Charlisa for a reason. Hate the name all you want but never forget its meaning, nor whom you were named after." My name-- Charlisa, I've always hated it, but I never forgot its meaning, "brave", nor the woman I was named after: my grandmother. During World War II, she helped five Jewish children plus her two daughters, escape Germany and managed to make it to the US, where she raised them all as her own. She was an incredible woman, and I wish I were as brave and badass as her.

"I guess you're right," I said, trying to fake an enthusiastic smile. "Thanks, Luke." Still, fear and guilt filled my gut, I knew this was a bad idea, but I knew I couldn't convince them not to go, so I had to go with them and make sure they were okay.

"Okay! Great! Now, let's go annoy Alison," Silver proposed, a machiavellian smile on her face as she clapped her hands, definitely giving me psychopath vibes.

I looked up at Luke who looked down at me--yes, I'm 5', and he's about 5'8. "We'll stay here, we're not quite in the mood," he said.

"Suit yourselves," Silver replied, before skipping away.

"See you later," Kai started, "lovebirds," she mouthed while making a heart with her hands and grinning. I blushed and ran my thumb across my neck. She laughed. 

"Race you to the library," Zac laughed, messing up Kai's short hair before sprinting away.