The Family Ring

The ring by Kristoff N Chester

It had been so long sense I stood on my family's property. I was the only one left after my mother passed away and so the responsibility of taking care of the two story house close to the tiger mountain national park fell on me. It loomed among the trees dwarfed only by Tiger mountain which stood only a few miles away.
It was an old building constructed in the fashion of a southern plantation, some what odd compared to most of the architecture of the state. It's paint was faded and dull though I was slightly surprised it was not cracked and flaking away. From what I knew no one had been here sense my great grandfather had died in the bed of the master bed room.
He was a strange man. The rest of the family feared him most of all my mother. Even when I was a child I noticed how he looked at her with contempt, looking back he never called her my mom. He always referred to her simply as 'her' or called her by her name, June. My mother kept me aware from the place as much as possible. I think the reason for their animosity was a ring, of all things.
My great grandfather had a ring with a small black jewel embedded in it. I noticed once at a family reunion that two of my uncles also had rings just like them, and my grandmother also I assumed that many in our family tree had one and that something had happen to my mother's which offended my great grandfathers old values.
After the old man passed away, in a fit of hysteria there was no reason for anyone to go there. Least of all my mother, But the place was full of antique artifacts and family documents that needed to be taken care of before the house itself could be sold. My great grandfather, Arthur was his name as I recall. Was a collector of the strange and morbid. Supposedly it was a taste he got from my great grandmother whom had passed away before I was born. I recall hearing my great grandfather mention her often though. I remembered the times he spoke of her for her odd name 'Shllist.' Inside the house I found everything from shrunken heads to jars with embalmed organs.
The lights, like I figured didn't work but oddly everything else was in good order there wasn't even dust or cob webs. One would think the house had been lived in the whole time. It was at this time I realized my situation. The house was miles from town and or even from another home. If someone could easily hide out here and hardly have to worry about anyone stumbling upon them.
I stood in the entry way of the house, before me was a wide stair case and halls going to the left and right. I thought about going back to town and requesting the aid of a local police officer. My mind wondered to thoughts of demented bums or drug crazed manics. I jumped when I heard something in the hall to my right. It moved to quickly for me to see it but I hear it and the sound of the door crashing close somewhere in the darkness of the hall. I didn't need to think about it any longer, I turned and raced to my car.
I was turning the car on when by chance I looked up at the building and caught a glimpse of something in a window looking down at me. I froze and looked at it, a shadowy figure that looked down at me. It looked small, a child? It wasn't possible. Why would a child be off in an isolated place like this?
I got back out of the car and slowly made my way back to the house. My mind was screaming at me to turn back but there was just something too odd about this picture. The figure had been in a window on the second floor so I carefully made my way up the stair case and when I was at the top I called out. There was no answer.
I took a lighter from my pocket and sparked it, with it's dim glow ahead of me I walked to the door I believed led to the room with the window in question. I reached for the door knob and opened it. Inside it seemed to be a child's bed room. There were toys and books in shelves and a crib in the corner. What really got my attention was a photo album laying on the floor.
I opened it and looked through it's pages. I was disturbed to find some of the pictures were of a baby and pieces of paper, they seemed to be letters talking about a child with the same name as me. The more I read the more dark the content became. The child was taken away by someone, a trusted house servant. My heart stopped when I read the servant’s name... June. I dropped the book. It couldn't be possible. I was kidnapped? By my mother? I decided to address this later.
I realized I was alone in the room and started to wonder. What if it was some animal, possibly a raccoon? It couldn't have been a child. No one would have had time to hide or flee the house before I got to the stairs from my car. I decided it would be best to contact animal control then search the house more carfully.
I was about to go back down to my car when I felt like someone was watching me. I slowly turned and looked down the dark hall. I could see something in the darkness, a short thing possible three or four feet tall. It was just out of the reach of my flame's light. I called to it and just as quickly it seemed to dart into a room. It couldn't have been an animal.
I backed away slowly inching to the stairs when I could see movement in the shadows. I stopped moving and watched. It was... peeking. Poking it's head out from a room and looking at me. Then it ducked back into the room when it realized I was looking at it. I watched it do this a few times and may have heard it giggle at one point.
I nervously told what ever it was that I had to go and slowly started going down the stairs. I was half way down when I heard house from a room in the left hall. I remembered the left hall led to the kitchen. There had to be people inside the house, a family of squatters ducking debt collectors. I can't say why but I felt more brave now that I could clearly assume what I was dealing with. So I marched down the hall way and into the hall.
Just like I guessed, the sound was coming from the kitchen. I pushed open the door and stormed in. I instantly regretted that choice. Standing on the other side of the kitchen counter was a creature. It was huge, looming on it's hind legs it easily surpassed twelve feet tall.
It was feline like in form with long slanted ears pointing to each side and tipped downward with tendrils of hair or rather long fur hanging at the tips. Two dominating fangs peeked out from it's upper lip and between it's two purple eyes was a vertical eye, though it was green as opposed to the purple ones. It's fur was a faded yellow shade and odd marks were scattered among it's hide.
I screamed and turned out the door only to come face to face with a hoard of creatures, hunched forward covered in fur with fang filled mouths and pointed ears. I held my lighter in front of me and ordered the creatures to stay back but they simply looked at me. They seemed... confused...
the door behind me opened and I knew that should I turn around I would look into the eyes, or perhaps the maw of that large feline beast. I felt a heavy breath on the back of my neck. Then a heavy weight on my back, the beast's front legs wrapped around my chest and I struggled to keep from falling to the ground.
I am not sure why, but I begged to not be harmed. I felt stupid but slowly the creature let go of me. I stumbled forward and turned to look at it. The creature just looked at me. Looking at the creature more made me feel like I had see it before it reminded me of something... comfortable. Like a memory from my baby crib huddled up with a stuffed animal. It rose a paw up to it's chest and spoke in an all too human voice. At that point I screamed, not only at the voice which spoke one, mind crushing word. Nor only at the human gesture of pointing to itself to clarify it's name. But rather even while it spoke that word... that name I saw a gold ring, and embedded with a black gem stone! It introduced itself as “Shllist.”