Goosebumps: An Unnatural Curiosity Chapter 1 Prologue
POV: Josh
My legs were killing me. We'd been walking for six hours with no food or water and barely any sleep. I'm sure I looked like a zombie by now. My hair was a mess, my clothes were full of grime and dust, my sneakers were wet from the rain and stained with dark gooey mud.
Just a bit further. I thought, blowing some of my curly brown hair from my eyes.
"Are we almost there?" My sister whined, looking just as bad as me, if not worse.
"Yeah, it should be about a mile or two from here." I said, taking a look at the map that picked up at the last rest stop.
"Did we have have to walk all the way there?" It was a hot and humid mid-summers day. I was wearing long black sweat pants and a light red t-shirt while my sister wore a sleeveless purple t-shirt with navy blue jeans.
"Not unless you have magic powers or the ability to hotwire cars." I said sarcastically. "You know as well as I do that, we don't have any money."
She looked at me, and then looked away. I instantly regretted what I said. For a split second, I caught a glimpse of her dark brown eyes and it was like stabbing my heart with a knife. She looked so broken and helpless, when not that long ago she was happy and free. Where did those days go.
I bit down on my lip, hard enough to taste blood. Maybe I should say something. Our interactions since the...incident have been minimal. I'm afraid that I'm losing my sister but I don't know what I could say to make it feel better.
I let out a long sigh. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, in a very serious tone.
"It's not like it matters anymore." She said in a low voice, staring off into the distance and rubbing her arm.
"We made it." It looked just like how I remembered it. A haunted house made of dark wood, with two windows on the second floor and a porch that made me afraid of what lies inside. I could still feel the chill that seemed to radiate off the old house.
"It's quiet." Amanda said, dropping her backpack and resting on the steps.
"For now." I added.
It won't be long now.
"You stay here while I check the place out." I said, creeping my way up to the front door.
"Why can't I come with you?! We work better together." I knew the real reason she didn't want me to go. But I didn't want to put her in harms way.
"You know what to do if you see them skulking about." I said, giving her an encouraging smile.
"Fine." She said sulkily.
"Love you, sis." I said, giving her a kiss on the forehead and leaving her to her demons.
The door creaked loudly as I opened it slowly, the resulting sound echoed throughout the empty house. With the light coming in from outside, I could see little particles of dust swirling about like leafs in the wind. To the left of the door, was the kitchen, to the right was the living room and straight ahead was the narrow stairwell that we used to get to our old rooms.
The air in the dead house was exactly how I remembered it to be. Cold and full ominous tension. As if the house concealed devils in every dark crevice, ready to grabbing you and take you back into the shadows, never to be seen again.
I guess some of that is true.
Currently, the house felt as old and abandoned as when we moved here. Although, I knew better. I had my guard up but if I was honest with myself, I didn't have the strength to fight anything.
The kitchen like most of the house was covered in cobwebs and thick layers of dust. I remembered the long days with all of us sitting in those chairs Amanda and I teasing each other and playing games to keep busy.
I traced the edge of the table with my hand and came out with dust all over my fingers. I hated this house before but now it provides a cold comfort with it's lost and forgotten aesthetic.
"Are you lost?" A voice asked. I spun around, just in time to see a pale creature step out of the shadows.
"N-no." I stuttered, terrified of the all too familiar figure.
"You don't look too good. Here let me help you." He said, taking two long deliberate steps towards me and holding out his hand.
I started to back away but accidentally tripped on a chair and landed on my back. Momentarily dazed, I took a second to regain my senses and upon seeing my doom encroaching on me, I backed up until my back hit the counter.
He stepped ever closer, his hand just inches away from my skin. "Mr. Dawes, please just stay where you are!" I shouted, my voice cracking half way through.
Mr. Dawes stopped for a moment and retracted his hand. He just stood there, staring at me until his eyes glowed with recognition. "Joshua Benson?" I nodded. "It's been-"
"Four years, two days, seven minutes and twenty-six seconds." I blurted out without a second thought.
"You have quite the memory there, my boy." He said with admiration and an amused smile.
Unsurprisingly, Mr. Dawes hadn't aged a single day. He looked to be in his 40s or 50s. He wore a tan business suit atop two layers of shirts and had a tan fedora on his head. His eyes were gray and his hair was brown. He looked like your stereotypical real estate agent from the 90s.
"Its not exactly something you forget about." Mr. Dawes seemed almost normal, like when they pretended to be nice to us. I couldn't see the same animalistic hunger that drove him to try to taste our blood. "You seem quite tame. I'm assuming you had your yearly meal."
"Yes, we had a nice dinner with the last family that moved here. It was quite delicious." I shivered at the thought. "However, there seemed to be some side effects."
I could feel the fear fading away, replaced by a growing sense of curiosity. "Side effects?"
"Yes, something about the blood made some of our children age a few years."
"That's...odd." I said.
"Yes, it is." He muttered, staring off into space.
His words hung in the air for a good minute or two. Feeling uncomfortable with the silence, I cleared my throat. "Mr. Dawes?"
"Yes?"
"Aren't you curious as to why we came back?" I asked, hoping to get his attention.
"I was but I didn't want to intrude." He said, smiling slyly.
"After we escaped Dark Falls, things as you can imagine, changed. I grew up and matured quite a bit. I took school seriously, played some sports, and reconnected with my sister." I smiled nostalgically. "Amanda learned a lot of handy things from her books and took up singing as a hobby. Everything felt normal-ish."
"What happened?" Mr. Dawes asked, taking a seat on one of the old rusted chairs.
"One night I was going to sleep like I usually did when I smelled smoke. The house had caught fire. I went to get my sister when the floor beneath me collapsed. I don't remember exactly what happened after that but when I woke up, I was in a hospital. That's when I found out, our parents...didn't make it."
"I'm sorry, son." Mr. Dawes said, holding his hat in his hands. I don't know why but his sympathy seemed comforting.
"We came back because we had nowhere else to go." I said in low voice, getting off of the ground and dusting myself off. "Can we stay here, at least for the night?"
Mr. Dawes gained a thoughtful expression and started pacing to and fro and hitting his index finger against his chin...until finally he stopped. "I'll have to talk to the other folk before I can make my decision."
"I thought YOU were the leader." I said confused.
"I am but this is a rather unorthodox request and this effects the whole of Dark Falls. I can't just accept your request without gather all their votes."
"Fair enough." I didn't want to argue, this was HIS town. I have no authority here. "I have to admit your quite nice for a dead man." I said smiling gratefully.
"I'll take that as a compliment." He said, putting on his hat and walking out the door.