I walked toward the door, reaching out to grab the handle. All my senses were heightened. I couldn’t see a damn thing, so I relied on everything else to do the seeing for me.
I got to the door and opened it, suddenly trying to act brave like I wasn’t scared at all. I peeked my head out and saw nothing, just like earlier. This house was definitely strange, that was for sure.
I tip-toed to the bathroom, the one room with a light switch. I flicked it on and looked around. After a quick inspection of the other half of the floor it showed no signs of anyone. I went back to the bay window room. I felt a bit more secure in here, and after how freezing the other room was I was not spending the rest of the night in there. I curled up into the bed and pulled the covers over me tightly. As I felt myself going to sleep, a strange tingling sensation crept up my feet. I pulled them closer to my body. I shut my eyes tighter and the bed felt as if someone had let weight off of it, or as if someone sitting on it had gotten up.
The morning came too quickly. I was not too sure if I ever went back to sleep after being woken up. My head hurt, I needed caffeine. I felt hung over, although I wasn’t at all sure what that even felt like since I’d never drank before. But I was sure this is what it felt like.
I could hear Dad upstairs getting ready for work. I glanced at the clock, which read six-thirty. Way too early! I rolled over and fell back asleep until Mom woke me up.
“What are you doing in here?” She held a plate of food in her hand. She was awesome!
“It got cold and weird in the other room so I came here in the middle of the night. That food is for me, right?” She handed me the plate and I started eating.
“Weird?” she inquired.
“Yeah, weird as in the door opened on its own and then slammed in the middle of the night waking me up.”
She put her hands on her hips, “Come on really? Brylee you must have been dreaming. Doors don’t slam all by themselves.”
“Well then why do they open by themselves?” I retorted.
“I must not have shut it all the way last night. Now get up and get ready. We are going to the mall early.” I finished my plate and headed for the bathroom to get ready for my first New Jersey mall excursion. I brushed my hair and tied it back into a low ponytail. I didn’t feel like being bothered with it today. I applied my make-up, which made me think of Lyn. I hoped she was doing well in school and that her new look was a success. She was a good person and deserved to be treated as such. I stared at myself in the mirror and noticed dark circles forming under my eyes. I was exhausted and it was starting to show on my face. Last nights events were strange, so strange in fact that I didn’t want to think about it right now. If I thought too hard on the subject I would freak myself out.
Once we left the house Mom and I hopped into the car. Luckily Dad drove with my uncle to work, so Mom still had the car to take out. Otherwise, we would be stuck here all day. Outside it was drizzling and everything looked very gloomy. I had hoped for a sunny day on my last day before school, but no luck.
Mom didn’t have trouble finding the shopping mall. It was in fact huge, not like the one back home, but it was pretty big. I hoped they had all the same stores. I needed my Abercrombie and my Hollister. If school started tomorrow you bet that I would be in the best clothes possible. No way would I show up looking totally drab. We ran to the entrance to get out of the now pouring rain. Mom giggled and I realized she was happy to be doing something with me. I grabbed her hand as we walked inside. I was not ashamed to hold her hand sometimes.
She deserved a little mommy daughter time. The Macy’s was three stories high and we checked out all floors to no avail. I found no clothes that I wanted. It seemed all the clothes were very preppy. I was not going to show up in this garb. Mom said she wanted to look around in the women’s department, so I went in search of my favorite stores.
I walked all through the mall. It was surprisingly packed. Didn’t people work? I guessed not because they were all here. It seemed like the older women didn’t take care of themselves very well. Most of them had ninety’s haircuts and wore sweatpants with Uggs. It was a shame that some of them dressed so plain; they had figures that should be shown off. I wasn’t one of those girls that showed off my body too much, but I did know that if you had a body you should flaunt it. I still kept myself respectfully covered up. With this weather I would be forced to pile on the clothes.
I finally found an interesting store at the end of the mall. The music blared out of the doors, which drew me in. When I entered I was a bit taken back by all the black clothes. I wouldn’t consider it gothic but more like dark and sexy. A black bodice type shirt caught my attention immediately; I grabbed it and asked the girl at the register if I could try it on. She eyed me up and down, probably wondering why this blonde haired girl was even in the store. All her piercings glimmered in the stores lights as she led me to the dressing room.
“This shirt would go great with these jeggings,” she said as she grabbed a black pair of faded jeggings. She was right they would go great.
“Thanks, you’re so right.” I took them and walked into the dressing room. Once the outfit was on I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked incredibly sexy. I also looked about five years older and I knew my mom would not approve. But this shirt was so adorable that I could not pass it up. I stepped out of the dressing room to ask the sales girl her opinion and I ran into a girl in the hallway.
“Oh crap sorry,” she said as she tried to balance us both.
I noticed her blue hair almost immediately. How could I forget the girl with the electric blue hair from the pizza place?
“Hi,” I said shyly. “You were at the pizza place a few days ago right?”
“Yeah I was. Nice outfit, I love that top. But those jeggings are a little too punk rock for you, doll.” Doll? Really, was she calling me a doll? I didn’t know whether this was a compliment or not. I took a step back and gave her an inquisitive look.
“I think a pair of jeans would work well. Plus, hold on right quick.” She ran out and grabbed a black blazer from one of the racks. Man these Jersey girls sure talked funny.
“Try this with your other jeans.” I took her advice and changed. She was so right, it worked well. I still looked sexy and stylish, but a little less punk rock like she said.
“Yeah, this looks so much better,” I admitted.
“I knew you would like it. Hey, what’s your name?” she asked.
“Brylee Branson, I just moved here from California.” I had no idea why I felt the need to tell her this but I did anyway. She stood back and eyed me up and down.
“Southern California right?” she asked.
“Yeah, how did you know?” She didn’t answer she just smirked and set her clothes down on a bench behind her.
“You’re super tan and blonde. It’s not hard to tell you’re a beach girl. My name is Kayla. I am a Jersey girl through and through.” She stuck her hand out, I took it and shook. “Welcome to Jersey, what the hell are you doing here?”
“Fresh start I guess. My dad got a new job here,” I admitted.
“Fresh start in Jersey? Huh, that’s weird. I would have stayed in Cali, you guys are crazy.”
We both laughed at the honest truth she spoke. It was strange that we moved here. If I had my way I would have stayed there too. She grabbed some more clothes off racks and handed them to me. I looked through them; they were really cute.
“Try these on, you will like them. I think they will suit your style. I gotta go take these one’s off and get changed back to my own clothes. I am just trying on clothes for fun today, no money yet. Just killing time.” Then she disappeared into her dressing room, just as the sales girl came around.
“How is everything fitting?” she asked. I could tell she thought I didn’t belong in a store like this.
“Good I think I will get these.” I changed quickly and then walked to the register. I chose the blazer, the black bodice shirt, and another shirt Kayla picke
d out for me. As I checked out Kayla didn’t come out of her dressing room. I liked her, she was honest. I liked honest people.
“You’re all set,” the sales girl said as she handed me my bag.
“Okay thanks, have a good day.” I left the shop before Kayla came out of the room.
I met Mom in the food court and we sat and had another great slice of pizza. I wanted to talk to Kayla more. I wanted to know if she went to my school or not. There was no sign of her though. Just people milling around, killing time like Kayla was.
Mom liked my outfits although she winced when she saw my black top. Once I showed her the blazer she calmed down a lot. We did find a Hollister and to my surprise there were tons of sweatshirts that read ‘Laguna Beach’ or ‘Cali’ so I really stocked up. I had to represent my hometown.
We left the mall with bags filled with new clothes, something Dad told us to do since money was coming in. It did feel good to do a little shopping, and it was therapeutic. Mom even looked a lot happier. As we walked out I saw Kayla on the other side of the mall.
“Hey Mom, can I meet you in the car?”
“Brylee no more clothes, we have spent enough today,” she informed me.
“No more clothes. I just want to talk to this girl that helped me in a store and thank her.” Mom smiled proudly at her daughter being polite and told me to meet her in fifteen minutes. I ran to catch up with Kayla who walked into another crazy store. This one was filled with gag gifts and funny shirts. She saw me immediately and smiled.
“Hey, thanks for the help earlier.”
“No problem! Did you get some cool outfits?” she asked.
“Yep I did, at least I think I did. Where do you go to school?” I instantly felt stupid. Maybe she didn’t go to school; she was at the mall today. Upon better inspection of her I noticed she did look a lot older than me. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and underneath almost bruised. She was shorter than me and a little more plump. She was pretty, she just looked tired. Her clothes were very gothic, although very neatly put together.
“I don’t go to school anymore,” she replied, and her answer was very matter of fact.
“Oh okay, well where do you live?” I felt like I was struggling to have a conversation with her now. Maybe she didn’t want to talk to me.
“I live not far from Wilson Lake. Do you know where that is?”
I shook my head, I had no clue. “There’s a lake by my house but I don’t know what it’s called.”
She laughed and turned around to look at some earrings. They were pretty and sparkly. Not something I could see her buying.
“Where is your house?” she asked, as she continued to put the earrings up to her ears.
“I live on Williams Road in a house everyone calls ‘The Brown house.’ ” I didn’t expect her to know where my house was but she dropped the earrings and turned to face me. Her complexion was completely pale. She looked so ghastly that it sort of scared me.
“Tell me you’re joking with me. There is no way anyone lives in that house.”
“I am not kidding, that’s where I live…” She cut me off mid-sentence and grabbed my shoulders.
“Brylee, I don’t know you very well, but I can tell you are a good kid. If you know what’s good for you, you will get the hell out of that house. It’s not a place you can live in. Trust me!” She squeezed my shoulders tightly. The fear on her face evident and I suddenly lost my voice, finding it hard to talk.
“Why? Why does everyone say that? What is so wrong with my house?” I asked her, almost crying. She was scaring me and I wasn’t used to being made to feel this way.
“That’s the thing; it’s not your house. It will never be your house. That house belongs to the Brown’s and they will not let anyone live in their home. So many bad things have happened in that house.” She pulled me around to a quieter corner of the store. “People have died there. I know for a fact that that house is cursed.”
“Cursed! What does that even mean?”
“Is there somewhere you can meet me another time?” She released my shoulders and backed up.
I didn’t want to meet somewhere else, I wanted to talk about this right now. Mom was still waiting for me and I was sure my fifteen minutes were close to being up, but I didn’t care.
“The lake by my house I guess, but I don’t know what it’s called though,” I suggested. It was apparent she didn’t want to further our discussion right now.
“That’s Wilson Lake; I live right on the lake. Come by tomorrow I will wait for you by the park bench.”
“Can I help you find something?” a woman from behind me asked. I turned to look at her; she looked a lot like Kayla, but with green hair instead.
“No I am okay,” I answered and she walked away. I turned back around to tell Kayla I would meet her after school but she was gone. I scanned the whole store and she was nowhere to be found.
I rushed out of the store and searched the mall with my eyes; she couldn’t have gone too far. But I didn’t see her.
I met Mom in the car and she greeted me with a smile. I slumped into the seat and looked out of the window. She didn’t ask what was wrong until we got home.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I exclaimed as I practically ran up the stairs to my room. It was really getting to me that people thought our house was so terrible. Even though weird things were happening I wouldn’t say it was cursed. I thought Kayla was nice, but now I was thinking she was a bit bonkers. Another thing about her that bugged me, she disappeared a lot.
Chapter Seven
Lyn showed up on time, right after school let out. She walked into my room as I lay there sulking over my house that everyone totally hates.
“What’s wrong?” she asked kindly.
“Ugh, I don’t even want to get into it. Tell me about school.”
“Well no one really cared about my hair. They still ignored me like always. I love it though and so does Ephraim. He says it makes me look studious.” She raised her head high, mocking herself. It was the first time I laughed all day. The one thing I learned about Lyn was that she was good at lifting my spirits.
“What did you do today? Lay around?” I threw my pillow at her and hit her right in the face.
“No smarty, I went to the mall and shopped. I got some really awesome outfits for school. Wanna see?” She jumped up as I brought the bag over. I pulled out the black top and blazer and set them on the bed.
“I love it, it’s so daring.”
“Yeah that’s what I thought,” I agreed.
After looking over my new clothes we talked about her day a bit more. I was not excited about going to a new school, but hanging with Lyn would be fun. She was proving to be a good friend. One I needed badly.
“What was that?” Lyn asked. I didn’t hear anything. I listened closer to maybe get a better idea of what she heard.
“I don’t hear anything Lyn. You have yourself so spooked out about this house that your mind is playing tricks on you.”
“No, I heard something, it sounded like a door slamming.”
I laughed, “Lyn, my Mom probably closed a door upstairs. Calm down. Let’s go to the kitchen and get some cocoa.”
“Okay, but it did sound like it was on this floor.” She still didn’t believe me. Not that slamming doors didn’t happen around here, but, I wasn’t going to get freaked over nothing.
“Come on downstairs Lyn.” I pulled her up off my bed and we went downstairs. Mom was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee and she smiled when we walked by. I grabbed the Swiss Miss packets and made our cocoa. This stuff was a staple in my diet. I never went too long without a cup of it. Once our cocoa was a rich brown, I dragged Lyn to the porch. We sat in the chairs and she seemed to calm down a bit more.
“Why are you so afraid of my house?” I didn’t want to tell Lyn what Kayla had said because I felt that it would scare her even more. I would tell her later, now I wanted to know what Lyn had heard. This way I could make my own co
nclusion.
“Well, do you want to hear the history of this house? Because that is really the reason everyone is so afraid.” Bingo, just what I wanted to hear. I nodded and sat back in my armchair.
“This is the story I heard from my dad. The house was built in the early nineteen hundreds, nineteen eleven I think, by William and Violet Brown. They had money, back then this was one of the first homes with a bathtub. Something very uncommon in those times. Our house was built right around the same time by my ancestors, Oscar and Mabel Mayhew.” She sipped her cocoa.
“Wait, so your last name is Mayhew?” She nodded and returned to her story.
“William Brown and Oscar Mayhew were bitter rivals. They hated each other and always had to one up each other. I am not even sure why they hated each other, Dad never told me. So naturally Violet and Mabel disliked each other as well. If one bought a dress, the other went out and bought an even better dress.” She paused and took another sip of cocoa. It was good, I had made it extra chocolaty this time. “Once this house was finally built people marveled at the way it was built, with all the extra rooms and everything. The Brown’s had a lot of parties here where people stayed over. They had three children; Homer, Pearl, and Edith. Dad says that Pearl was struck very ill with influenza at ten or twelve years old, I can’t remember exactly. News spread fast that she was sick and then people stopped hanging out with them. So then the parties were at the Mayhew’s instead.”
“Wow very Capulet and Montague,” I added.
“Yeah, without the Romeo and Juliet romance. After their daughter died William and Violet became like recluses and never left this house. No one came out, not even the children. They had teachers come in to teach them and doctors came in to do their check-ups. Those children never saw the light of day.”
I got very sad when I heard this. How could a child not go outside to play? That was wrong. I played outside all the time as a kid; at the beach, in our backyard, and at the park. Mud pies were my favorite thing to make as a child. I could not imagine not being able to leave my own house.
The Brown House Page 5
