Lies Behind the Door

He watched as she dragged garbage cans down to the curb and thought he should go over and see if she needs help. Would she think he was stalking her? Smothering her? Should he wait until she asks him to come over? Jesus, he thought, when had he turned thirteen again? God, she was driving him crazy, making him doubt himself, question his judgment and feel like the world’s biggest idiot.
  He sipped his coffee while he paced his kitchen. He peered out the window again to see her staring into the pool.
  Without second guessing himself he slipped out the door. She heard him approach and turned to him with a smile. As he got closer he saw that the smile she offered took quite an effort. She had dark circles under her eyes. It looked as if she had been up all night. She knew he noticed and she looked quickly away, back to the pool. She self consciously smoothed her hair back and wished she had taken time to put on some concealer or at the very least, sunglasses.
He vaulted the fence and stood beside her waiting for her to speak.
“Can I tell you something?” She asked quietly.
“You can tell me anything.” He answered. She didn’t face him; she stood staring into the pool, her arms tightly crossed. He saw her take some deep breaths before she turned toward him. He waited patiently. “I don’t know how to say this because I don’t understand it myself.” He began to worry and wonder what was wrong. “I trust you and I know you’re not going to laugh at me. At least not to my face.”
“Laugh at you? What is it, Anna, what’s the matter?”
“Landon, I think my mom’s still here.” She paused. “And I think she’s trying to tell me something.” She looked into his face trying to determine how he would react to what she had just said.
  The furrow between his brows deepened and his lips pressed tightly together to form a harsh line. He stared at her and she began to fidget.
“You’re supposed to say something now.” She said.
“Like a ghost, you mean?” He asked quietly, the furrow in his brow deepening. She laughed nervously and nodded. “I know this sounds crazy. I hear the words coming out of my mouth and I cringe but I have no other way to explain it. Things keep happening and I am seeing things. Did you feel anything strange when you were here?”
He shook his head and her shoulders slumped. “Stop looking at me like that.” She said.
“Like what?”
“Like I’ve lost it. I haven’t, I’m serious. Something is so weird.”
“Anna.” He said putting his hands on her shoulders, “I’m here, ok? Whatever you need me to do just tell me.” She looked relieved as she nodded and an actual smile appeared on her face.
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. She closed her eyes; her face pressed against his chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed. She wished she could stay like this forever, safe and protected in his arms.
“What can I do?” He asked.
She sighed and reluctantly raised her head off his chest. “I have no idea. Would you come inside with me?”
“Sure.”
  They walked inside together and Anna collapsed at the table. She rubbed her eyes and said, “I keep having these dreams about my mom. In the first one she was angry, more like enraged about something. She was screaming at me but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. It was so disturbing. I don’t ever remember my mom yelling at me. I don’t ever remember seeing her angry like that.”
“The one I had last night was weird too. She woke me up and I followed her to her bedroom. I asked her what she wanted to show me and she said no. She disappeared then.”
Landon leaned on the counter. “Maybe it’s just stress, you know? Your mom died recently and the stress is getting to you.” She nodded. “I thought that at first but I just have this feeling all the time now, like someone else is here in the house.
“The basement door opens and closes all by itself. It can be completely latched and the knob turns and it opens. Usually a second or two later it will slam.”
“The knob turns?” He asked, his eyebrows shooting up.
“I’ve seen it. I looked up ghosts on the internet and I found a lot of different sites stating that if a spirit is here it is because it has unfinished business and it can’t cross over until it is resolved. The marks all over the pictures I took are a sign of ghost presence also.”
“Ghosts.” He said quietly.
“If you don’t believe me I will understand.” She purposely left out hearing her mother calling for her from the basement and the huge puddle of blood at the bottom of the steps.
“It’s not that I don’t believe you. I mean you saw what you saw and if you think it is the ghost of your mother than I will help you do whatever needs to be done.”
He was silent a moment before saying, “What is it, exactly that needs to be done?”
She shrugged and smiled at his confused expression. “That’s a good question. I have no idea.”
“Maybe it would do you some good to get out of this house for a little while. It might help you clear your head. Go out and have dinner maybe catch a movie.” Her smile widened. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
He grinned and shrugged becoming the awkward boy that he was when he was around her.
“You could think of it that way or maybe I am just looking out for your mental health.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “My mental health? Do you think I’m crazy?”
“No, no I don’t. That came out all wrong. I think you are under a huge amount of stress and I would like to ease that stress.” She smirked. “Really?”
He laughed and turned away from her eyes, running his hand through his hair. “That didn’t come out right either what I meant was I would love to take you out anywhere you want to go.”
She leaned back in her chair studying him. She was beginning to relax now that he was here. “You’re right. That would probably help. Ok, it’s a date but no pizza.” She grinned at him.
“You’ve got yourself a deal.” He smiled at her. “I know this great little place and they don’t even serve pizza.”
                                           
  As he watched her the smile froze on her face then disappeared completely. She sat up straight in her chair and her eyes widened at something behind him and he froze. Then he felt it too. He stared into her frightened eyes and felt a gust of freezing air wrap around him.
All the flesh on his body tightened and goose bumps broke out all over him. The hair on the back of his neck rose and even though he didn’t want to he turned slowly around.
In front of the open basement door stood Anna’s mother, Anna’s dead mother. She looked just as she had in life, it wasn’t a hazy apparition or a horror movie monster, it was her mom.
Landon blinked his eyes and stared at her in disbelief while his heart thundered in his chest. Anna whispered, “Oh my god. Do you see her?”
  He nodded unable to speak, unable to move. She stood there a moment more her eyes bouncing back and forth between them before disappearing completely leaving no trace what so ever that she had been there.
  The basement door slammed shut with a jarring thud causing them both to jump. After a moment Landon walked over to it on feet that felt numb. He felt like he was in a dream, his movements too slow and jerky. The walk from the counter to the door seemed to stretch on for a mile.
“What are you doing?” Anna asked. Panic made her voice too shrill in the quiet. He turned to her and said, “I’m new at this whole ghost thing but I would say she wants to show us something down there. She wants us to follow her.”
As if for emphasis the door creaked open a few inches. He held his hand out to her. “Come on.”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No.”
“Come on.” He said again. “Nothing will happen to you.”
“No.” She shook her head emphatically.
“I’m going down there so you can either come with me or sit here by yourself.”
She stood up quickly and walked over to clutch his outstretched hand.

  They crept down the steep steps into the basement with Anna hanging onto Landon’s arm for dear life. At the bottom of the stairs they stopped and stood looking around the dim room. Landon placed his hand over Anna’s and gently pried her fingers from his bicep. He held her hand in his. To the left was the laundry room and to the right was her father’s office. The door to that room stood open.