I felt the cold wind whipping and flaring my hair as I walked home, though I couldn’t acknowledge what it was, but I knew that I didn’t like it. The leaves were crimson and tanned, and they crunched beneath my toes as I walked. I saw a swirl of leaves in front of me, leaving the ground as a mini-tornado of color, the only color around. The trees were bare and the sky was listless with only shades of grey streaking across it aimlessly. I stared at the white squares, curving down the slope; and splattered with blacks and dark browns from the mini cherries that had fallen off of the tree and smashed under countless numbers of feet. As I looked up I redirected my attention towards the baron yards, and admired the Halloween decorations. They were the only life on the stupid street I had to call my own, but still somehow they too seemed lifeless and bored, just as I was. The air was cold and bitter on Oakview that day, with the smell of old people and death resting in it, almost ready to break through with snow. It definitely felt like an autumn day rushing all too fast to pass up the 'trick r' treats' and become winter jingles. I took in a big breath of air and it felt cold, and my nose became hard at the end like ice. The wind blowing harder I tightened my jacket, ready to just get home and have a sandwich. It was an especially eerie day.
I got up to the big black driveway that I walked next to as I crossed the street to get home. As I looked up at the tree, I noticed that the plastic black ghost that had been hanging in it was lighting up bright with red eyes. Those red eyes had been broken for years; it was weird to see them light up again. I shook my head and kept going for the stairs to the door.
Creek, slam! My door shut closed violently being pushed by the wind, with this noise it became apparent that I was home.
“Hello,” I yelled out to the house and anybody that might be inside, “anyone home?” I announced. No answer came from down the hall, so I kicked off my shoes and walked into the kitchen. I dropped my jacket on the back of a chair; and I looked at my favorite table in the kitchen, all set up with Halloween leaves and ghosts. But something was missing; the big orange pumpkin in the middle of the table was gone, and nothing else was knocked over. I assumed it was my cats, but if they had jumped up they would have knocked everything else down with it.
‘Strange,’ I thought to myself. “Did somebody move the pumpkin,” I asked but no answer came to me. I shook my head and went to the living room, where I saw the pumpkin sitting upright in the center of my living room chair, resting by the ottoman. So I picked it up and brought it back to its proper resting place. I was feeling a little odd now, like someone was home with me, but I knew no one was.
I walked over to my fridge and pulled out the milk jug, ‘Almost out of milk,’ I thought to myself as I shook the jug. I opened up the cabinet door and took out a clear glass for my milk. Drip, drip, drip, drip, my glass was very noisy as I poured the white liquid into it. After poring it I grabbed the pre-made sandwich from the fridge shelf, and walked back into the living room and turned on the T.V. “Wow.” I said to myself as I giggled, I had the milk jug in my hand and not my glass. I heard a strange noise as I was getting up to exchange the two. And suddenly I felt very cold.
“Kelly! Kelly!” I heard somebody calling my name.
“Hello?” I answered, but nothing. I scanned the room hoping to see someone but nobody was there. I walked back into the kitchen and the cabinet door was open again, so I shut it and got my glass of milk from the counter. As I was walking back to the living room I got really hot, I looked up and saw that I was right beneath the attic door. I just couldn't shake this eerie feeling. As I sat back down and turned on the T.V., I heard the small noise again, and then one more time. I ignored it as I did last time and tried to turn the volume of the T.V. up but it wouldn’t go. I hit the remote a few times against my leg but still nothing. I put my leg on the floor to stand up when, “WHAT!” I screamed and jumped back flailing my legs, then as I looked down I was hesitant, but I checked anyway and only to see it was my cat about to lick me.
“Meow,” said my cat as she walked back and forth by the couch, her tail rubbing against it softly.
“You scared me half to death, Oreo.” After informing her in an attitude manor that she had given me the creeps I got up to turn up the T.V. by the button on the screen, and this time it finally worked.
As I was making my way back to the couch I got cold again, so I re-routed and went to check the thermostat. “Eighty degrees,” I said to myself, “that can’t be right it feels twenty In here.” I shook my head and shuffled back to the couch. I leaped onto the couch and got settled with my food and a blanket ready to chill with some T.V. time.
“Meow, purr!” Said Oreo to me as she jumped onto the couch to snuggle.
“Not now Oreo, Keeping up with the Kardashians’ is on. Let me see the screen and move.” I pushed her over and she lay at my feet. She just wouldn’t stop meowing and pawing me like something was wrong. “What are you out of food or something?” I got up and checked her food, “It’s full stupid.” I said with annoyance in my voice and then went to walk back to the living room. But something caught my eye. Two of the cabinet doors were open. “Now I know I shut that, and I didn’t even open up the other one.” I said to myself and Oreo. “UGH!” I announced as I walked to shut it.
“Okay who turned off the T.V.?” I yelled when I walked back to the living room. “Ryan was that you!?” I waited for an answer but he didn’t give me one, he wasn’t even home. “This isn’t funny you guys, stop messing with me!” Still nobody popped out to yell ‘got you,’ and not even Ashton Kutcher came to say ‘you have been punked. ’ “Okay I’m really freaked out so if that is what you wanted to do, good work it’s been done!” I yelled. “AH! When did the T.V. turn on again!? Really what is going on?” I jumped back and began to sweet and shiver.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BOOM!
“AH!” I sat there screaming for a minute while the channels changed themselves and the banging noise from the unknown kept happening. Tears started to fall down my cheeks like steams of water. When it hit the ground I heard a huge banging noise and an echo ringing in my ears. I sprinted down to my room to see if the noise was coming from there. When I got there the bang wasn’t coming from my room; but I heard my name again as I stepped into my bed room. “HELLO!?” I yelled absolutely terrified now. My knees began to go weak and the banging and name calling continued. The room started to spin and all of my pictures and posters started to shake and dance on my walls. As I regained my composer I began to run back up the stairs to the living room, where the T.V. was turning on and off. I made my way to the kitchen, griping the walls the whole time so I didn’t fall to my jelly knees. Five the cabinets where opened up. “No!”I screamed and slammed them all shut. The banging noise persisted. “STOP IT! Just stop!” I screamed as I began to fall. As I was falling, the ground got further and further away from me. BOOM! My body hit the ground and my eyes raced around trying to find the voices. BANG! I looked up and it was coming from the attic. "Stop it, just stop." I said as I began to hyperventilate. “Just... stop. Please....." I could hear my voice trailing away and I couldn’t find it anymore.
"KELLY!" A deep voice tempted me to hear my name and his words, and I felt hot hands raping around my throat.
"Ugh," I tried to get out words but nothing. Just a lame noise of hard breathing as I tried to push away the hands, but nothing was there to push on. My body scooted across the kitchen floor as I kept trying to push.
"Kelly, listen to me!" The voice was calling and getting closer. I just couldn't make it stop, I couldn't make them stop. "Kelly follow the heat; follow the warmth of the hands." The voice kept speaking to me and I couldn't say no. "One, two, three, four, five SIX!" He repeated these words a few times. I kept shaking my head but as I resisted more the voice got more persistent.
"NO!" Finally I got my voice back. I looked up at the banging attic door. BOOM! BOOM, went the attic door a few more times. I looked a little harder and the attic door locked in place now about two inches open. I saw the eyes, the eyes o f the attic. The big red eyes that matched the face that matched the hands which matched the voice of the man calling my name. They stared me down and I stared back because my body wouldn't let me do anything else.
"HAHAHA!" His laughter boomed through the whole house, shaking every cabinet door and all of the windows, and shaking me deep down into my soul.
Bang, bang, boom, bam! The room stopped spinning and the T.V. stop clicking; my body got feeling back and the attic... SLAM! It shut and I felt my body become mine again as I felt the hands leave my throat.
Creek! Slam! The front door shut violently being pushed by the wind, it became apparent that my mother was home, standing there seeing me sitting on the floor.
"Kelly, why are all of the cabinet doors open?" My mother asked awkwardly. All I could do was shake my head.