“Why couldn’t the children leave?” I asked.
“Well no one really knows, but people speculated that once Pearl died Violet went crazy paranoid and she didn’t want to lose her other children. My dad said people could hear screams coming from the house at night. They said the screams sounded like a young girl. That only one light was on in the house and it was in the room that won’t open.”
My mouth hit the floor. She knew about the locked door. Did everyone in this town know about it?
“How…” I started.
“Everyone knows about that door, Brylee. Every locksmith in town has tried to open it and has failed. This is a small town, everyone talks.” I turned and looked out into the yard. The sun was going down and a brisk cold wind picked up, blowing right onto the porch. The leaves started to swirl around in front of us.
I had to say I was now curious about that corner room, more so than I had been the day we moved in. I wondered why people heard the screams of a little girl. It didn’t make any sense, unless it was their other daughter, Edith. Even still, why would she scream? Was she terrorized by her family members?
“So anyway Homer and Edith grew up and moved out. People said they were pale like ghosts when they finally came out. Homer stayed here and married a girl named Opal and Edith moved away and married a rich businessman, Walter something. And that’s when all the weird stuff really started.” As soon as she said that the wind stopped blowing. The leaves that once flew around us in circles dropped to the ground. Lyn slid back into her chair and her face grew pale, well paler than before. I stood up and my legs felt wobbly. Much like they had this morning when my door slammed.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Okay, right behind you,” Lyn said as we walked back inside the house. I turned to look at the porch, I don’t know why, but when I did I could swear I saw a little girl standing right in front of my chair. I quickly opened the door back up and peeked out. No one was there.
Mom stood in the kitchen holding a pot of macaroni and cheese. She made the best homemade mac and cheese I had ever had. She put that boxed stuff to shame; hers had stewed tomatoes all over the top and three different kinds of cheese.
“I better get going on home, Ephraim is probably making dinner.” He made dinner? Man, now I knew he definitely was the perfect boy after all. I can’t cook a thing. Mom says I should find a guy who can, or we will both starve.
“I’ll walk you home.” I grabbed the flashlight and we took off toward her house. I didn’t want to scare Lyn, but I was dying to tell her about the so-called curse that Kayla told me about. Especially about the little girl I saw on the porch. But if I told her she would never come over again. I wanted my new friend to come hang with me. I felt funny going to her house now that Ephraim saw me naked. I decided to talk to Kayla first before I told Lyn anything.
“You didn’t have to walk me, I know these woods well Brylee. I can usually find my way home.”
“It’s okay I wanted to walk you,” I said shyly. Mostly I wanted to catch a peak at Ephraim. Their house wasn’t a far walk thankfully because I was starting to get cold.
Sure enough Ephraim was on the porch when we walked up. He sat there with a book in his hand, but I couldn’t read the title. It didn’t matter, any guy that read was sexy. I could smell roast or something like it cooking somewhere.
“Mmm, what is that smell?” I asked Lyn.
“Ephraim, what are you making?” she asked him. He looked up and his eyes caught mine and lingered there for a minute before answering.
“Pot roast. Wanna stay Brylee?” Oh I wanted to stay alright, right in his gaze. Then the embarrassing memory of him seeing me naked came back to my mind and my cheeks blushed.
“No thanks, my mom already made dinner so I should head back. Bye Lyn, see you at school. Hopefully we have some classes together.” I silently prayed that Ephraim and I would have some sort of classes together. I took all AP classes back home, that meant that some upper classmen would be in the same class.
“Want to ride with us tomorrow?” Ephraim asked quickly. “It sure beats riding the bus.”
“Sure!” I practically shouted. My cheeks were burning red again. He made me feel shy, and that was new to me. Ethan didn’t make me feel shy, he made me feel giddy. With Ephraim I felt like I had no words, no air, and no chance. He seemed out of my league.
“Alright, be here no later than seven or I will leave without you.” He got up and walked into the house leaving his book on the table. I caught a glimpse of the title, ‘Christine’ a classic Stephen King novel. I smiled, it was a good book.
“See you tomorrow, Brylee. Don’t worry we won’t leave without you,” Lyn called.
On the walk back I was perplexed; he asked me to drive with them but then was so rude about being on time. Maybe he only asked me because I was his little sister’s friend. I crossed over the thorny bushes that lined our yard and looked up. A light was on upstairs; the light in the corner room. I had to investigate.
I ran up the stairs with Mom calling after me; I ignored her. I had to see why the light was on in the room. Had Dad opened the door somehow? Or was what Lyn had said really true?
As soon as I hit the second floor my breathing became labored, not due to the running, more so because I was nervous. I slowed to a walk and opened the door to the bathroom that led to that end of the house. I walked slowly to the corner room door, the light from the bathroom made it easier to see. The stairwell below was dark and cold. I reached out for the doorknob, willing it to be unlocked. My curiosity had the best of me now. I wanted to see what was in that room.
I would not be finding out; the door was still locked. I leaned up against the door to listen in and I heard nothing but my own heart pounding in my ears. I was so terrified of this door, of this whole house now. Light spilled out from underneath it. There was in fact a light on inside. I looked at the lock; it was intriguing that was for sure. I had never seen a lock quite like it. It looked like it had once been solid brass, but was now worn with age. The design was primitive and simple. Not intricate or beautiful in anyway. I didn’t understand how no one could open it. It had a simple keyhole, but still no one thought to kick the door down? It seemed silly really. I could kick it down, right? I was pretty strong. I took a few steps back and balanced on the step trying to be careful not to fall down the stairs below me. Then I rammed the side of my body into the door. Nothing happened except I seriously hurt my arm. I sat on the step and held my aching limb.
I felt a blast of cold air consume me. It was a feeling unlike any other I had ever had. I started to stand but my legs would not work for me. I slowly turned around, hoping to see my dad or mom behind me, but no one was there. I was alone, even though I didn’t feel it.
“No.”
A simple spoken word, sure. Except when spoken aloud into your ear when you were alone, was alarming. All the same, someone whispered the word into my ear. I managed to stand, wobbly though. I looked around the pitch-black darkness and still no one was there. My throat was dry and I was unable to speak. I coughed and cleared my throat.
“Hello,” I said in my hoarse voice, “Who is there?”
“NO!” they screamed this time. I took off down the stairs and fell at the bottom of the steps, now injuring my other arm and my legs. My adrenaline was pumping though, so I got up quickly and tore through the rooms to the living room. I stopped as my mom met my gaze.
“What’s up with you?” Mom drilled. “You are acting crazy, dinner is ready. Come and eat.” She turned and walked into the kitchen. I noticed a rocking chair in the living room as I limped past. It was new, restored, but new. I tried to calm myself by just focusing on the chair but my arms were throbbing and pins and needles of fear spread throughout my body.
“Brylee, I said come eat now.” Mom was getting mad. She had no idea what I had just encountered upstairs.
I walked to the dining table and sat across form my Dad who was blowing on his hot mac and chee
se. He looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back, my lips quivering.
“What’s wrong with you kid you’re shivering?” he asked me as he ate his spoonful. I didn’t know if I could explain what had just happened to me. I still had no clue. “Okay, so you’re going to ignore us. Anyway, your mom and I were talking about this great biking path she found today. I was thinking family outing this weekend.” I didn’t care about a bike path right now. The last thing I needed was to get on a bike.
“I was talking to Lyn today, she said this house is haunted,” I began. “At first I didn’t believe her but she told me the history on the house and how a little girl died in here. She told me all of the locksmith’s in town tried to get that lock open and they all failed. Sometimes the light goes on for no reason, and it’s on right now.” I knew it made no sense but it was all I could come up with. Dad stared at me in disbelief, here he was planning a family outing and I was talking about ghosts.
“What room?” Mom asked, staring blankly at me from the stove as she filled my bowl.
“The corner room upstairs, the one no one can unlock. I noticed a light on when I took Lyn home. So I ran upstairs to check. I tried to open the door, and then I heard someone say ‘no’ in my ear. It scared me so I ran down the steps, but I fell.” The words flew from my mouth as fast as they could. My parents took a moment to collect their thoughts.
“Brylee you fell down the stairs? Are you hurt?” Mom inspected me, finding red marks on my arms that were soon to turn into bruises. “This is an old house there may be a lamp in there that turns on due to the old wiring. But it’s really a far reach to say that it’s haunted.”
She didn’t believe me; I didn’t expect her to. To say that the house has old wiring and that is the reason a light is on, that was reaching.
“No Mom, another girl at the mall said this house is cursed. How do you explain my door slamming the other night? Or how the first night here the bathroom door opened on its own? Better yet, how about those pots that fell off the hook while you were out?” I put my hands on my hips and winced in pain.
“Brylee Marie Branson you stop it right now!” she spat. She was really pissed. I sat back in my chair. It had been so long since I heard her yell.
“We are planning on buying this house; we spoke to the landlady today. Your Dad is working very hard to make us a home and here you are trying to make up stories. You knew this move was permanent, don’t try to ruin a good thing.” She set the bowl on the table in front of me so hard that it spun around before settling in front of me.
“Brylee, your mom and I have not noticed anything weird. It’s an old house, its dark and it creeks. But haunted it is not,” Dad tried to be assuring. “We are hoping to re-grow our roots kid. This isn’t our dream home either, but it’s home now. So try to stay calm and stop freaking yourself out. You could have broken an arm running down those dark steps.”
“I am not pretending, Dad!”
“Okay Brylee maybe the light was on and sure maybe your door slammed the other night, but that hardly says ‘haunted house’ to me. That says old house with faulty wiring, like your mom said.”
Again, with the damn wiring. Maybe I needed to study old ass house wiring on the internet tonight.
I succumbed to defeat and I ate my dinner. My arms throbbing all while I listened to Mom tell Dad how the lady at the cabinet store offered her a job. She said Mom had a knack for design and they were shorthanded. Great! That meant me alone in this house more often.
Chapter Eight
My alarm buzzed from across the room. I always keep my alarm on the other side of the room, otherwise I will hit snooze too many times. This way I have to get out of bed to shut it off. Once my feet hit the cold hardwood floor I was wide awake. I grabbed my clothes and scurried to the bathroom. I ran the tub and made sure it was super-hot before climbing in.
Mom came down the stairs and I could hear the shuffle of her slippers. I had gone to bed last night without saying goodnight to them. I was sore from my fall and from their words.
“You awake?” Funny question since she heard the tub water running. Moms are really ridiculous sometimes.
“Yeah,” was all I could muster. I was not a morning person, especially at six o’clock and when it’s still dark outside. She shuffled down to the kitchen, probably to make coffee.
I stepped into the tub and the warmth spread from my feet on up. I sat down and relaxed. A girl could really get used to a bath every morning before school. I looked out the other door of the bathroom and saw the corner room door. I got up and pulled the bathroom door shut. I would keep it closed; there was no need to go to that end of the floor now. Not after last night.
My bath was great but it was time to get out and get dressed. I couldn’t be late and miss my ride. I didn’t ask my mom or dad if I could go with Ephraim and Lyn, but I figured I would tell them later. I toweled off and put on my new black shirt with the blazer and my skinny jeans. As for makeup I choose a purple today, it made my green eyes stand out. A little lip gloss and I was good on the make-up. Now for my hair. My hair was not looking so hot today, half of it was curly from the hot tub and the rest was straight. I got out my trusty flat iron and pulled it through my hair slowly. The shine was coming back since Lyn fixed it. Once it was straight it looked much better, I decided on a whim to cut bangs and I straightened them too. I looked good today. I wasn’t afraid to admit I was a pretty girl. I never really had issues with self-esteem. I was blessed with good looks, but I tried my hardest to have a good attitude as well. There was nothing worse than a pretty girl with a horrible attitude. I didn’t want to act better than anyone, because truly no one was better than anyone.
I chose my winter boots with the fur for shoes, grabbed my new bag and headed downstairs for coffee. Mom was sitting in the new rocker reading the paper.
“Nice chair,” I said.
“Dad brought it home; he thinks it will work well on the porch in the summer. But for now I like it here.”
I eyed the cup of coffee my mom set out for me, dumped too much sugar in it, and drank it down. It burned my throat, but I didn’t have much time left. My stomach gurgled and I grabbed a banana and headed for the mudroom for my coat. The coat was bulky but warm, although it didn’t go with my outfit at all.
“Bye Mom, I gotta go or I will miss my ride… bus.” I hated lying, I was terrible at it, but I knew if I told her I was riding with them she wouldn’t let me go. I would not pass up a ride with Ephraim.
“Have a nice day,” she called, never looking up from her paper.
I ran out the door with five minutes to spare. Once I got near their house I could hear the engine from his truck humming. I got nervous that they were leaving without me and I got my leg stuck in a bush. I tried to pull my leg but it tore into my boots. They were like super bushes. I had never seen anything like them.
“Don’t move it will make it worse.” Ephraim came over to help. He looked especially yummy today with a dark heather gray thermal and just baggy enough jeans. His hair was combed back but coming loose as he tugged my leg free. I could smell his cologne and it made me giddy.
“Thanks, what are these things?” I adjusted my bag and straightened out my jeans.
“Briars, they seriously suck. One time I went hunting and got my leg caught. They cut my pants and leg open in one swipe. There nasty. I’ll try to cut them back for you. But in the meantime come over through that side.” He pointed toward the front of the house. “There’s no briars up there.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said, looking into his blue eyes. They sparkled as the rising sun came up over the trees. I couldn’t imagine him as a hunter, but the thought made him hotter somehow.
He walked away from me and got into his truck honking the horn for Lyn, who came out yelling, “Relax Ephraim!” She looked adorable in a blue tank top and yellow sweater. I was in a parka, and she wore a sweater. Great, I would stand out like a sore thumb. “Move your butt girl,” Ephraim said jokingly.
“Go ahead Brylee you can sit in the middle,” Lyn said as she pushed me up into the cab. I scooted close to Ephraim and he stared straight ahead, not looking at me at all. Lyn hopped in and slammed the door.
The ride was bumpy and quiet at first, I didn’t quite know what to say. I wanted to talk about last night so badly but I knew it wasn’t the time to do so. It was Lyn who spoke first.
“I hope we have classes together. You will have to go to the front office and get your schedule as soon as we get there. I’ll wait for you if you want.” She was too nice. I was lucky to have moved next door to such a friendly girl.
“Yeah, of course. Is it okay if I sit with you guys at lunch?”
Ephraim coughed and Lyn stared out the window with no reply. Things changed in the truck from strange to uber-strange.
“We don’t sit together,” Ephraim finally said. “I sit in my history teachers class and Lyn sits in the cafeteria.”
“Why don’t you sit in the cafeteria?” I pried. It was weird that they didn’t sit together or at least in the same room together.
“I am surprised Lyn didn’t tell you. I kind of have a lot of enemies in school, so I don’t hang in the cafeteria. I sort of have to be secluded.” What! This was so not what I expected.
“What happened?” I pressed.
“Up until last year I was sort of a trouble maker. We have a lot of cousins at our school. And our family is well, trouble. They call us Mayhem Mayhew’s.” I laughed as he said it. It was crazy to think that Ephraim was a troublemaker. He didn’t look like it to me. Then again, I had just met them.
“I’d finally had enough of it and stopped hanging with their crowd. Once I broke away from them they started fighting with me instead. It was like if I didn’t fight along with them, then I was the target.” It sounded familiar to me. Just like with Leslie, I didn’t do the bullying and they didn’t care for me anymore. These were his family members though. That didn’t make a lot of sense to me. How could you turn on your family and start fights with them?
The Brown House Page 6
