Mysterious Attic

Word count: 2,121

Mysterious Attic

Sadie turns onto the long drive way. Perfect manicured grass with a scattering of red, yellow, and pink rosebushes have set the perfect welcome committee in this rich neighborhood. The house is magnificent in size and splendor with everything up to the standards of perfection. As Sadie drives closer to the house she sees the grey brick of the house which creates a solid and stable feeling of relief from a chaotic world. Feeling like she stepped into another time zone leaving behind the life she already knows into something unknown. She parks her car at the sparkling six feet white pillars on either side of the entry way. Mumbling to herself while looking at all the splendor around her she says to herself, “This feels like walking into a fairy tale. Mrs Voortman really know how to live in style.”

Taking off her sunglasses from the perch on top of her head she grabs her purse, continues toward the front door. Pushing the doorbell she hears a calming jingle of bells which will probably echo throughout this monstrosity of a house. Sadie is greeted at the door by a bleach blond woman, who looks like she could be a model for Vogue magazine, “Hello, dear. Come in. Sorry about having to answer my own door, I was supposed to be gone by now and I have given the help some vacation time and of course they all took off.”

Sadie walks in to the foyer which took her breathe away. All of this was broken with an assault of being soaked in the face. Looking around for the culprits of the act of soaking her with water made her look like a drenched rat.

“Richard and Sammual, come out here this instant! I am so sorry Sadie my boys are a handful at times.”

With a sound of a herd of buffalo, two boys came racing through one of the entry ways, saying in unison, “Yes mother!”

“Now, which one of you boys squirted Sadie with the water gun?”

Both boys looked at each other without saying a word. This went on for a minute or two when their mother looked at each boy and said, “Since neither of you will step forward, I will punish both of you. Now, I want you both to give me your water guns, all of them.”

Both of the boys look at each other with a confused look about what to do. Richard decides to take off with Sammual following him in the rear, screaming over and over again, “Nnoooo! Nnooooo!”

Mrs Vorrtman looks in the direction boys left with a helpless look on her face and says to Sadie, “I hope you have better luck with those boys. I am running late and have to go. There is a list of numbers and the address for the hotel where I will be staying if you need to contact me and the keys to the house. To be honest my cell number will most times, be the best way to get in touch with me. Thank you so much, for watching my boys for the weekend.” Mrs Voortman picks up her luggage by the front door and with a smile says, “Have fun. Cya in a few days.” Out the door she left in a limo which has been waiting for her departure.

Watching Mrs Voortman gracefully leave the house, Sadie mumbles to herself, “This may be a mistake. I have no idea what I have gotten myself into.” Sighing she looks around for any sign of life from the boys. Walking towards the entry way they used as their escape, she calls out, “Boys, your mom is gone. What do you guys want to do?”

Wondering around this huge mansion looking for the boys with no luck. A black curly haired head turned around the corner with sparkling blue eyes and says to Sadie, “You should not have come here. This house is haunted and does not like new people.”

“Really, Richard. Is it?”

The boy shakes his head up and down in response. “It is true. It is the reason why no likes to come here. It is why my mom had to put an ad on line to a service to find someone to watch us. No one wants to be here.”

“I think you have been watching too many movies with an imagination like that. So, where is your brother, hiding?”

“I dunno.”

“Well, let’s go find him. Your mom will not be happy if I loose one of you guys especially when I have only been here twenty minutes or so.”

Richard, crosses his arms in defiance and looks Sadie right in the face and says, “I don’t wanna. If he looses himself than he deserves to be lost.”

“That is not a nice thing to say about your brother. Come, now, help me find him. You know this house better that I do. Show me some of your hiding spots.”

“Yes, I do know this house better than you. I am still not helping, to find Sam. Find him yourself.” Richard walked away further into the house.

Walking through what looks like a living room except everything is so immaculate, it had museum written all over it. Sadie decides to call out, “Sammual! Sammual! Where are you?”

Sadie waits a moment for a response and none comes. She proceeds to walk up the staircase and exploring upstairs. Opening a door she walks in and looks in the closet, nothing there. The door to the room slams shut, hard on it’s own and Sadie whirls around at the sound. “It is ok, the door just shut itself. Must be the wind.”

“It is not the wind. It is I, Santos the great one who walks the halls here. This is my house and I want you to leave.” There is a mischievous giggle followed after this speech. “If you do not leave now there will be consequences.”

“Very funny. Is that you, Richard? I heard you giggle. Word of advice when pretending to be a ghost, do not giggle and your voice is still squeaky, which gives you away.” Sadie walks toward the bed, gets down on her knees and looks under it. “Got ya! Come out Richard. Good job trying to scare me...”

There is a clang with a pause, then another clang. Looking at each other Sadie asks, Richard, “What is that?”

“I dunno.”

“Well let’s go find out.” The pair take off through the door into the hallway and the sound is heard again. Clang with a pause, then another clang followed it, the sound seemed louder out here in the hall. “Sadie, says to Richard it sounds like it is coming from above us. Is there an attic here in the house?”

“Yeah. You do not want to go up there.”

“Why?”

“I have been told that is not a place for me or my brother to play in. I overheard my uncle telling my mom that my dad found a dead body up there once.”

“Really?”

Shaking his head with a serious look on his face, Richard says, “Yes. I was hiding in my dad’s study because Sam and I were playing hide and seek. I am not aloud in the study so I had to continue hiding till they left. That is when my mom and uncle talked about the dead body.”

“Well, if you show me where the attic is I will just have a look, you do not have to come with me.”

With a look of relief, Richard, says, “Thank you. I would not have gone up there, anyways.”

Richard led the way down the hall to the end and pointed up where the ladder is folded neatly out of sight. Sadie grabs it and pulls it down, takes a deep breathe and says, “Here I go. You stay here and yell up to me if you see Sammual.”

“Yes I will.”

Sadie proceeds with climbing up the ladder and is taken back by how beautiful the attic looks. Usually, an attic is full of junk and a mess, this attic looks like a very expensive collection of art, statues, and racks of clothes with odds and ends strewn in an organized way. Adjusting to the dim light which is coming through a window Sadie starts to check out hiding places, where Sammual might be. Walking past an eight foot mirror, with an intricate silver pattern on the frame, she hears, “Why are you here? No one is supposed to be here. This is my room.”

Sadie looks around and couldn’t find where the voice came from and said out loud, “Who are you?”

With a chuckle the voice replies, “I live here in this room. I do not want you here. You must leave, now.”

“I was not told by Mrs Voortman that some lives here in her attic. So, I do not believe what you are saying. Please show yourself to me.”

The mirror rose up a few feet then dropped back down on the ground. Sadie is now shaking with fear about the mirror and sees a white figure in the mirror. This figure, in an angry voice says, “There will be consequences since you will not leave! I was told since I could not have this house anymore that I would be at peace here in this room. You are making me angry.”

Sadie runs toward the only way out and the ladder is pulled up on it’s own with the door slamming shut. Every attempt to pull it open, is unsuccessful. “I am sorry. Let me out.”

The voice says, “You are not sorry. There are things in this world that you do not understand. You will pay for upsetting me.”

Random bits in the attic started rising off the floor and flying through the air toward Sadie. She felt like playing dodge ball in grade school which she was good at and still is with not a scratch on her. “So, little girl you want to play rough.”

Sadie starts rising off the ground and her body was forced to move in a lying down position, while rising towards the ceiling. Sadie screams, “Stop! Put me down! Richard, help me!”

“No one can help you. No one can hear you. You are mine to do with, as I please.”

Sadie is crying and shaking with fear. She feels helpless and alone which causes her to cry even more. At first she did not realize what was happening till she fell on the ground with a painful, thud.

“What kind of sorcery do you practice, girl? No one has been able to ever, get out of my hold on them, except you. Why? Tell me!”

Dazed and confused about what has just happened and the accusations seemed absurd. Sadie responds, “I am not sure. All I want is to get away from you. You are not very nice either.”

“No one has ever been nice to me...” The image in the mirror disappeared and walked over to the mirror to inspect it.

Sadie calls out, “Are you gone, now?”

No response to the question ever came. Sadie walked over to where the trapdoor is and heard the clank with a pause, then clank again. Walking towards the noise it seemed to be coming from a six foot trunk. Bending down to open the three clasps which held it locked, a blond hair boy poked his head out and said, “Thank you for saving me. Richard locked me in here. I thought I was gonna die here.”

“Come here Sammual. I have been looking everywhere for you.” Sadie picks up Sammual and walks over to the trapdoor and opens it up bring Sammual down with her. Looking Richard right in the eye, she questions, “Richard, can you, explain to me, why your brother was locked in a trunk upstairs?”

“Well, we were playing a game.”

Sammual speaks up and says, “No, you tricked me into getting in the trunk. Then you closed the lid and locked me in there. I have been calling for help for hours.”

“Looks like you are trying to lie to me. I want you to go to your room for while to think about what you have done and we can talk about this again, later. I am going to make us something to eat. Sammual, do you want to come help me in the kitchen?”

Sammual, enthusiastically puts his hands in the air and says, “Yeah!”

“Please lead the way, since I still do not know where the kitchen is.”