Jenny took a deep breath in an attempt to calm the butterflies swarming in her stomach. Both her and Matilda stood in front of Jenny's childhood home the following Saturday, buckets of cleaning supplies in hand. She hadn't been inside in years, save the one time Matilda had dragged her inside and gotten themselves stuck in a closet all evening. Already the childhood memories she wished to burn from her mind began to pour in.
"Ready?" Matilda asked. Jenny felt a small hand wrap itself around hers and squeeze.
"Ready." Jenny said, reassured by the reminder that she wasn't alone. She pushed the door open, surprised vandals and squatters hadn't had their way with the place as they walked inside and set the buckets down. "What do you think?" Jenny asked as they slowly walked from room to room checking the place out.
"There are a lot of rooms, it's even bigger than my parent's house." Matilda said wide-eyed.
"I wonder what she did with my old room." Jenny said as they went upstairs. "Probably tore it to pieces when I said I wasn't coming back home." She led Matilda down the hall and stopped at a closed door. "Let's see what disaster awaits behind door number one." She opened the door and let out a gasp of surprise.
"It's…" Matilda started to say but stopped.
"In one piece." Jenny said. She slowly walked around the room taking it all in. The bookcases, the desk, her old white bed frame. It was all still here and…Lucy! She went to the bed and picked up a doll wearing a white dress and hugged it for a moment before setting it back down. She stared fondly at the other knickknacks placed neatly on the shelves. "This would be perfect for you."
"It doesn't look like anyone's been in here in years." Matilda said, running a hand along the bed frame before wiping the dust on her pants before perking up, "Let's look at the master bedroom."
They left the room, leaving the door open behind them as they made their way to the master bedroom.
"That's umm… well, it's.." Matilda said staring ahead at a complete loss for words.
"It's coming down is what it is!" Jenny said with a grimace as they both stared at the large tapestry of The Trunchbull hanging over the large four-poster bed.
"Do we throw it away or burn it?" Matilda asked as she looked around. "She really liked pictures of herself."
"No kidding." Jenny said with a wince as she looked around. "I haven't been in this room since I was your age." She pressed down on the mattress a few times. "I used to sneak in early Sunday mornings before the Trunchbull would wake up, and sit in my father's lap while he read the paper. He was the one who taught me how to read. He loved reading, and always instilled in me the value of education. He would have loved you. I'm sure of it."
Matilda didn't know how to respond, so she stood by fidgeting awkwardly as Jennifer seemed to stare off into space. She wasn't sure if Jenny was thinking of happy memories or sad. The emotions were too complex to pull apart and decipher. Whatever it was, it was overwhelming to Matilda. Just as Matilda figured she should leave her, she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in.
"Of course, once he died, I was never allowed in here again. Along with a long list of other things." She said more under her breath than to Matilda.
"Can I?" Matilda asked, pointing up to the tapestry. She made a ripping motion with her hands as Jennifer stared blankly at her.
"No, I'll just throw it out later. I don't want you hurting yourself trying."
Matilda scowled. Ever since the incident with the glass door, Jennifer had been reluctant, almost even fearful of letting her use her powers. Matilda had even started wondering if Jennifer thought by not letting it out, they would go away on their own. Matilda didn't want it to go away. They had become a part of her, and not using them made her feel trapped inside her skin. She could feel the power inside of her bouncing around, begging for release. It was like an itch she couldn't scratch. She imagined it akin to something like having wings that were bound or perfectly good legs and never being allowed to walk. Matilda wanted little more than to give it fresh air, but it was always the same.
"No, you'll hurt yourself"
"No, you'll make yourself too tired."
She needed to get her mind off it, or the pressure building inside her would drive her insane. It had been nearly a week since she had tormented Mr. Larson and made the lights blow. They were here to clean and snoop, so that's what she would do. Matilda got on her hands and knees and peered underneath the large bed. Jackpot! She crawled underneath.
"Matilda, what are you doing under there?" Jennifer called.
"Looking for secrets." came the reply.
"I don't think you're going to find anything under there but dust bunnies."
"Then what's this?" Matilda asked triumphantly, shoving the shoebox out by Jennifer's feet before crawling out herself.
"Look at you, you're covered in dust. When I said we were going to sweep, I meant with a broom, not with you." Matilda ignored her while Jennifer smacked the dirt off the girl's clothes. "So what's in the box?"
"I'm not sure." Matilda stared blankly at the contents. There were several strangle shaped things inside. Some twisted into odd shapes, some had bumps and some were smooth. She was about to reach for one when the cover of the shoebox slammed down. She looked up at Jennifer confused, who was now sporting a grimace before letting out a nervous laugh.
"I think that's enough snooping in here for you."
"What? Why?" Matilda said indignantly.
"There are things in here that are too inappropriate. Why don't you go start emptying the fridge?"
"But Je-"
"Out! Out out out."
"Okay, okay stop pushing!"
"I'm just going to do a quick sweep of the room, then I'll help you downstairs. Oh, and Mrs. Rodger's will be here soon anyway. Why don't you let her in once she gets here. "
"Fine." Matilda grumbled, before leaving the room.
Once Jennifer was sure Matilda was gone, she looked under the bed to make sure nothing else was underneath. She felt dismayed when she saw there was. Wasn't one box enough? She tried to crawl underneath the bed, but found she wouldn't fit. Then she got on top of the bed and tried reaching down between the wall and the headboard. She could just reach the tip, but couldn't quite bring it up without squishing her arm. So she slid it forward as much as she could. Now lying on her stomach over the edge of the mattress, she reached as far as she could, just touching the edge once again. Oh, c'mon! Just a little farther!
Jennifer was vaguely aware of Matilda yelling something up to her, but all her focus was on disposing of any evidence of her aunts extracurricular activities, she hadn't heard the footsteps working their way up the stairs.
Just a little more! She inched her body further over the side of the bed, hands now connecting with the shoebox underneath. She dragged it out, but when she tried to pull herself back up, she found she couldn't. Instead of pulling herself up, she found herself sliding further down. She let out a frightened yell, dropping the second box and spilling its contents while she tried desperately to grasp onto the comforter. Too late.
Jennifer felt herself somersaulting over the side of the bed and onto the floor with a loud crash. Now dazed and sore, she clutched the blankets and tried to pull herself up once again, only now to slip on a pile of magazines and send the first shoebox, which had been resting only a foot from the side, down on top of her.
"Jennifer, are you alright? I heard a crash. Do you need he-" Mrs. Rodger's stopped mid-sentence as she took in the sight. Jennifer sat there looking stunned.
"Mom, are you okay? Did you-" Matilda froze too. She looked down at her feet where a purple phallic shaped cylinder had come to rest.
"Don't touch that!" Miss Honey cried. Instead, Matilda pointed at it and wordlessly commanded it to rise in the air. She looked from it back to Jennifer sitting in a pile of various shaped objects and raised an eyebrow.
"Mom, if you wanted some alone time, you could have just said so." Matilda watched with some amusement at Jenny's ever-changing face. It seemed to change color like a flickering Christmas light, going from white, to bright red, before finally settling on a ghostly gray.
"I-I'm not- I wasn't!" Jennifer babbled.
"You're sitting in a pile of dirty magazines and adult toys." Matilda said, mentally flipping the switch and making it vibrate loudly before turning it off and letting it fall to the floor. She saw the dismayed and disappointed look on Miss Honey's face. She hated when Matilda knew what adult things were for. "Zinnia left hers out on her dresser once and caught me using it as a back massager." Matilda frowned for a moment. "I don't know why they're only made for adult backs though. When I asked her she said it was because Daddy's hands were too small to satisfy her, so sometimes she needed something extra."
Miss Rodger's let out a snort before quickly stifling it at the scathing look she received from Jennifer.
"Yes, well, Miss Trunchbull must have had a lot of kinks in her back." Jennifer said before clearing her throat. "Please go back downstairs and get started in the kitchen while we clean this up."
"Well, she certainly had a lot of kinks, but I'm not sure about them being in her back." Miss Rodger's said once Matilda was out of earshot.
Jennifer shuddered as she began shoving magazines blindly back into the box. The less she saw the better. She didn't want to know what her aunt had been into. Miss Rodger's on the other hand seemed amused flipping through the pages.
"Bondage, that doesn't surprise me one bit. You notice they're all women?"
"I'm trying not to notice anything." Jennifer replied. She had scooped up the last of the pile when a few Polaroids fell to the floor. She bent down, picked them up and froze. Jennifer could feel the color begin to drain from her face. The room began to sway. Her throat constricted. No! No! No! No! No! No! She let out a strangled whimper.
Mrs. Rodger's looked up and frowned.
"Jennifer, what is it?" but all the woman could do was shake her head as a silent tear began to fall. Mrs. Rodger's came over and stared at the pictures still clutched in Jenny's hand. "Oh shit." she muttered.
…
When Matilda opened the fridge, she let out a dry, involuntary retch. The food inside had long since spoiled and bugs were crawling in and out. If there was ever an excuse to use her powers, this was it. She held the trash bag open and one by one, sent the contents of the fridge hovering into the bag. See, her powers could be useful! It felt so good to let them out. Sure, she was growing tired alarmingly quick, but that was just because she was out of practice. By the time the fridge was empty, Matilda had filled three gallon trash bags and felt like she had just run a marathon. She felt very weak as she stumbled out of the kitchen and towards the couch. She just needed to sit down, and she'd be fine.
Matilda was just about to collapse onto the sofa when she felt an alarming pang in her chest. Her legs began to wobble. She quickly sat and gripped the sofa. What was this? Was this from over using her powers? There was another feeling. Terror. No, sadness. No, hate! She wanted to yell. It was too much! This had Jennifer written all over it. She wanted to go to her, but found she couldn't move. Just when Matilda thought she couldn't take it anymore, the feeling all but disappeared. Matilda sat there, panting and shaking as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
She tried to put on a smile, but dropped it when she saw the serious look on the two women's faces.
"What happened?" Matilda asked Mrs. Rodger's as she busied herself in the kitchen making everyone tea. All Matilda knew was Jenny was nearly catatonic, and Mrs. Rodger's had called the police.
Mrs. Rodger's bit her lip before peeking out into the hallway. "We found some things we thought we should hand over to the police."
"What? Like a gun?" Matilda asked.
"No, not a gun."
"Matilda! Would you come over here?" they heard from the living room. Matilda perked up as she rushed to Jenny's side.
"Mom, are you okay?" Matilda asked. Miss Honey smiled weakly. She still looked very pale and shaken. "What happened?"
"Sweetie, would you do me a favor?" Matilda nodded her head eagerly. What did she need? A blanket? Some water? Tea? A snack? "Would you go up to my old room and lie down for a nap?" Matilda scowled. A nap? She was telling her to go take a nap?
"Mom, really?"
"Please?" Miss Honey asked. Matilda sighed. She looked desperate. "I'll come wake you up later, so please, just stay up there. You don't even have to take a nap if you really don't want to. You can read a book, I have several."
"Okay." Matilda sighed.
"Thank you." Miss Honey gave her a tight embrace. Matilda was halfway to the stairs when she stopped and stared at the wall.
"That's a big spider." She could see Jenny flinch and turn around. Matilda took a step closer to examine it. "It has a cotton ball just like Charlotte."
"Matilda, get away from that! That's not a cotton ball, that's an egg sac." Matilda's eyes went wide. She took it the white fluffy ball. If that was an egg sac… She sucked in a breath and jumped back.
"I think I'm going to go lie down after all." Matilda said in a monotonous tone. She numbly climbed the stairs, her brain refusing to quiet. If it wasn't a cotton ball she had put in the backseat of the Trunchbull's car. No, she couldn't think about this right now! She pinched her eyes shut as she imagined hundreds of legs emerging from their white fluffy prison. Legs that were scurrying and climbing over the backseat. Legs that had caused their victim to panic.
When Matilda reached Jennifer's old room she stopped and stared at the door. She hadn't noticed the deadbolt before. She frowned. It was on the wrong side. She stared up at it as realization dawned on her. It wasn't for keeping someone out. It was for keeping someone in.