Passing Afternoon
Chapter 1: The House
"There are times that walk from you, like some passing afternoon."
- Iron and Wine, Passing Afternoon
Adam walked down the street holding Fiona's hand. They walked slowly and in synch with each other. They had no destination other than to find something to do.
Eli and Clare were in front of them walking at a more quickened pace. They were closer to each other, Eli's arm wrapped around her shoulder and Clare's around his waist.
They'd decided to skip school that day for no reason other than to do something fun for a change. The four friends decided to roam the streets of Toronto hoping to find something worth their while. If they didn't, then they'd go back to their respective homes and try to occupy themselves with something else.
So they walked. And walked. And walked.
No words were said and no sounds were made. The only thing they could hear were cars passing by and feet shuffling on the hard cement.
It wasn't exactly a bright day, either. There were storm clouds above them threatening to let itself loose any minute. Yet, they still walked. If it did storm, they figured that they could just hide under some sort of shelter and wait for it to pass.
As expected, the rain commenced.
Clare noticed an old seemingly abandoned house down the street, so upon telling the group, they agreed on taking refuge there. So all four of them ran down the street to the house.
Fiona took a nervous glance inside the window when they reached the porch and saw that it was furnished and not as run-down as it seemed from the outside. They decided not to go inside, though just in case someone was living there.
The storm was loud and the thunder shook the ceiling enough to make dust fall from the porch ceiling. Although they were covered from above, the rain still came in from the sides soaking them all.
"I say we just go inside. We're just going to get even wetter than we already are sitting here." Adam mutters shivering. "It doesn't look like anyone is there."
"But what if someone lives here? I don't want to go sneaking around in some stranger's house! We could get arrested!" Clare says even though she'd like to go in just as much as he does.
"I have to agree with Adam. It seems a lot better in there than out here." Fiona sighs.
"Let's ring the doorbell and if no one answers then we'll leave." Eli gets up and presses the small circular button quickly. They wait in anticipation for minutes. "Well, let's go in." he says as he opens the unlocked door and steps inside.
Adam and Fiona walk right in but Clare slightly hesitates. "If we get into any sort of trouble for this, I'm blaming all of you." She says before stepping inside and closing the door behind her.
Caught up in exploring the house, none of them realize the door locking itself behind them.
Fiona wandered around the house aimlessly. Although the décor was impeccably distasteful, she still thought it was fun to explore it. The rest of the group was off doing something else anyway. It seemed as if the house went on forever. Every room she walked into was completely different from another.
She eventually found a bedroom and laid down on the bed. It was much more comfortable than she thought it'd be.
The house was almost too good to be true.
Clare and Eli laid together on a long sofa talking about nothing in particular when they noticed that the rain and thunder had stopped. Clare got up and went to a nearby window to look outside. What she saw confused her.
Everything was completely dry. There was nothing even suggesting that there had been a storm no less than five minutes ago. "Eli, come look at this." She says warily.
He gets up and walks over to her gingerly. He follows her gaze to see no source of water anywhere. He takes a step back and grabs her hand. "Let's get out of here." She nods and calls out to Adam and Fiona. "GUYS WE'RE LEAVING! THE STORM PASSED." She shouted her voice echoing throughout the house.
"Be right there!" Adam shouted back. They heard their footsteps moving closer and closer until both Adam and Fiona came through a doorway in the hallway. They all walked rather quickly to the front door.
When they reached it, Fiona turned the knob and pushed. The door didn't move. She tried again but it didn't move an inch. "It's not opening."
Eli stepped forward and pushed more while turning it. He put all the force he could into it but it still didn't budge. He had been slightly creeped out before but now he'd reached his limit.
"Why isn't it opening? It opened just fine when we came in. We've even tried to unlock the damn thing!" Adam muttered angrily. Everyone had been thinking of logical reasons that the door wouldn't open. But- there were none. Doors don't just do that.
"It will never open." A voice said eerily behind them.
All four misfits jumped and clung pathetically to each other. "Who- who are you?"
END OF CH 1
So… did you like it? It's not too horrorish at the moment but I'm not the best writer in the world. I really don't see how this can even creep anyone out let alone scare them but, whatever. This is based on a dream I had last night. I'm putting down whatever I can remember, elaborating here and there. I'd like to know if you think it's well written or not. Please review. I'll have the next chapter up soon if I can. I really do hope this at least creeped you out just a little bit.
~Em