The Room at the End of the Hall

Characters: Hinata, Neji, Hanabi, Kakashi

It wouldn't be called a FANfiction if I as the creator, now would it?

Hinata's mom shook her head and pointing out of the car window. "Will you look at that?"

Hinata saw that her mom was indicating the weather worn mailbox at the edge of the overgrown front yard, which was leaning at a crazy angle.

Her dad pulled the family car into the dirty driveway and slowed to a stop. "Movers must have run into it," he speculated as he opened his car door, stepped out, and walked over for a better look. Grabbing the slightly dented post with both hands, he pulled the mailbox back into its proper position, then headed back to the car.

"Check it out, Dad," Hinata's eight-year-old brother, Neji, snickered as the post slowly keeled over again.

Her father looked back, shrugged, then slid back into the driver's seat. "I'll take care of it later," he said as he started the engine. "We have plenty to do already if we're going to transform this place into our home."

Hinata turned her attention to the old house at the end of the driveway. Even though the summer morning was clear and sunny, the two-story house looked dreary, as if a cloud hung over it. Something about the place definitely made her feel uneasy. The once white walls had grayed with age, and a few shingles were missing from the roof, but that wasn't all. No, the old house had an eerie feeling about it, so much so that Hinata actually shivered slightly as her dad pulled the car up alongside the white wooden porch.

"It may not look too great yet, but we'll whip it into shape," her mom said brightly, helping Hinata's four-year-old sister, Hanabi, out of her seat belt. "They just don't have houses like this in California---not ones we can afford, anyway." She smiled. "You kids are going to be surprised at how big it is inside."

"Don't mention California," Neji said with a pout. "I still don't understand why Dad can't be a doctor there."

Hinata watched her mother stiffen slightly as a frown tugged at the corners of her mouth. "We live in Iowa now, Neji," she said firmly, as she adjusted Hanabi's pigtails. "You'll have to make the best of it."

Their dad pulled open the screen door, fumbled with his keys for a moment, then unlocked the front door. "Voila," he said, pushing it open with a flourish. "Our new home."

Hinata's footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor as she stepped inside. She was surprised at the size of the entryway that led into the huge main room. "wow, this is great!" she said sincerely. "Are the bedrooms upstairs?" Then she glanced sideways at her brother. "I get first pick since I'm the oldest."

Neji started to protest, but their dad cut him off.

"That sounds fair to me," he said.

"Cool!" Hinata exclaimed as she worked her way around the stacks of cardboard boxes to a wide staircase that rose along the wall to the right of the front door. "I'm going to pick out my room right now!"

Gripping the smooth, curved banister, Hinata counted the stairs one by one as she went up. At the twenty-second step she found herself in a long hallway with several doors on either side all opened...except for the one at the end.

Making her way down the hall, she stopped and stared at the door. Suddenly a weird feeling passed over her, and for a moment she felt drawn to the room. She swayed slightly as if she might lose her balance.

"Whoa," she said aloud, thinking that maybe she had run up the stairs a little too quickly.

The uncomfortable feeling passed. Hinata turned and went back down the hall to inspect each room...until she found herself at the closed door. An unsettling notion flickered through her mind. I know this room, she thought, I've been her before,

"That's crazy," she mumbled under her breath, then reached for the nob and turned it. "I've never been to Iowa before."

The door opened with a light click and swung silently inward. Hinata carefully studied the room. Larger than any others except the one their mom and dad had chosen, it was painted a pale blue, and it had two large, wood-framed windows that looked down onto the backyard.

"All right, this looks cool," Hinata said and moved to step inside. But all at once the muscles in her stomach inexplicably tightened, and she felt a freakish surge of heat flood through her body. As a bolt of terror raced up her spine, she stumbled backward...right into a pair of hands that broke her fall.

"NEJI!" she yelled half in fear and half in relief.

"Who'd you expect? I live her now, too, remember?" he said sarcastically. "Now get off my foot. Your not exactly weightless, you know."

Hinata moved her foot and scowled at her brother. "Look," she shot back. "It's not my fault we had to move. So don't take it out on me."

"Of course not," he said with a smirk. "I wouldn't do anything to upset the family favorite. I suppose you've already picked out the biggest bedroom for yourself, right?"

Hinata looked back at the blue room. Something about it gave her the creeps, and she didn't want to even step across the threshold. "No. I want the room right at the top of the stairs. You can have this one if you want. It's the biggest besides Mom and Dad's."

Neji narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing," Hinata lied. "I just like the other one better." She tried to cover up her nervousness by changing the subject. "Come on, let's go check out the backyard."

By the time she got ready for bed that night, Hinata was exhausted. For hours the entire family had moved furniture around and distributed boxes to the proper rooms. Even Hanabi had dragged a small box of stairs clumsily up the stairs...thump...thump...thump.

Too busy to think of much else but where to put everything, Hinata hadn't thought about the room at the end of the hall the entire day. But now in the quiet of her new room, she recalled the creepy feeling she'd had that somehow it had been familiar to her. In fact, just thinking about it made her stomach feel a little queasy, and she tried to calm herself by listening to the sounds of the crickets outside in the tall, dry grass.

Then she heard another sound. It was very soft, so Hinata had to strain her ears to figure out what it was. Finally she realized that someone was crying, and it was coming from the room at the end of the hall.

"Neji?" Hinata sat up and listened again. Yes, the crying was definitely coming from her brother's room. Shaking her head, she climbed out of bed. "He really is being a baby about this move," she whispered to herself.

After tiptoeing down the hall, she stood in front of Neji's closed door and carefully put her ear up against it.

The sound was much fainter now, as if it were coming from somewhere else. She was about to call out to Neji to see if she could make him feel any better---she was his older sister, after all, and it was kind of her duty---when she remembered his "weightless" crack earlier in the day.

He'll be OK by tomorrow, she thought, yawning, as she walked back to her room. Stretching out on her bed, she made a promise to herself to try to be nicer to Neji until he felt better about the move. Then just before she drifted off to sleep, she noticed the crying had stopped.

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"Morning, honey," her mom said, smiling, as Hinata entered the kitchen the next morning. "There's fresh-squeezed orange juice in the refrigerator. Would you mind pouring some for everyone and putting it on the table?"

"No problem," Hinata answered, as she took five glasses from the cupboard and started to put one at each place. Then stopped.

"Mom, who isn't eating breakfast with us?" she asked.

"What do you mean, dear?" her mom asked responded while buttering toast.

"There're only four places," Hinata pointed out.

Her father walked into the kitchen carrying a giggling Hanabi.

"Of course there're only four places," he said with a smile. "Why? Were you expecting company?"

Hinata frowned. "What about Neji?"

"Neji who?" her dad said as he situated Hanabi in her chair and then sat down himself.

Hinata looked at both of her parents, then started to laugh. "OK, what's the joke? I'll admit that sometimes I wish we could send Neji to the moon, but we're stuck with him."

Hinata's mom and dad gave each other a quizzical look.

"C'mon, you guys." Hinata felt her smile fade. "This isn't funny anymore. I'm talking about Neji...my brother? You know...your son? The weird kid in the room at the end of the hall?"

Her mom shook her head. "Hinata," she said slowly. "You're right. This isn't funny. We don't have a son named Neji. We don't have a son at all. And the room at the end of the hall is Hanabi's. It has been for months, ever since we moved here."

For a moment everyone sat in complete silence. Hinata tried to make some sort of sense out of what her parents were saying.

Finally Hanabi broke the stillness. "I know a boy named Neji at school," she offered in a childish whisper. "He pushed me off the swings last week."

Speechless and about to break into tears, Hinata jumped up from the table and raced from the kitchen. As she ran to the stairs she could see that there were no longer any boxes in the living room. Everything was neatly in it's place as if it had been that way for some time.

At the top of the stairs she stopped. He head was spinning. She lurched to the end of the hall and opened the door to the room. Inside she saw Hanabi's small bed with a sky blue comforter on it. At the windows were ruffly blue curtains, and a shelf unit on the opposite wall was lined with dolls and stuffed animals. Her parents were right; this was definitely Hanabi's room.

"But how can this be?" she whispered, noticing that there was something else, too: a faint smell of charred wood and ash.

"You see?" Hinata's dad said softly as her walked up behind her and placed his hands gently on her shoulders.

Hinata didn't even try to wipe away the tears that were running down her cheeks. "This is crazy," she moaned. "I don't understand what's happening."

Her father smiled and gently turned her face towards his. "It isn't crazy, honey," he said. "You're obviously upset about something." He paused, then wiped a tear from her eye. "I tell you what. Maybe you're just tired. You've been working very hard at school. Why not just take the day off and stay in bed? Once you're rested up everything will be fine." He gave her a warm hug. "Listen, I've got plenty of work that I can do here, so you won't be alone. My partner can se my patients today, OK? So should I go call my office?"

Hinata didn't answer, and she didn't resist her father guiding her back to her room. She suddenly felt really tired. It's just a dream, she thought as he tucked her into bed. I'll wake up soon and everything will be back to normal.

It was early afternoon when Hinata awoke. She slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the top of the stairs. She could hear her father's voice. He was in the den downstairs talking on the phone to someone at his office.

Turning, she moved cautiously to the room at the end of the hall and peeked inside. Everything was as it had been that morning. Next she slipped into her parents' room. Against one wall stood a large oak chest of drawers. On the chest was a handmade lace runner, three cut-crystal perfume bottles, a small wooden bowl where her dad kept the change he emptied from his pockets, and a collection of family photographs in pretty frames. She looked at one photo after another and saw smiling faces of her mom, dad, Hanabi, and herself. But there were no photos of Neji.

Returning to her own room, she dressed quickly and hurried downstairs. When she opened the kitchen door it was remarkably cold outside for summer, but then she remembered that if several months had really gone by it could be fall or even winter. She grabbed her jacket from a hook by the door and slipped out.

Running to the garage, Hinata looked inside. Well, at least her dad's car was there, along with her bicycle and Hanabi's old tricycle. Surely Neji's bike would be there too...or his skateboard...or something to prove that he had ever existed. But there was nothing.

"What is happening?" she groaned. "Have I lost my mind?"

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That night at dinner, Hinata told her mom and dad that she felt much better, then chose to be silent. It wouldn't help to have them thinking that she was nuts, so keeping quiet until she figured things out seemed like the answer.

Hanabi chattered about her busy day at preschool, and her mom talked about the new project she was planning at the university. Every once in a while Hinata noticed her parents glance at her and then look worriedly at each other. Trying to appear as normal as possible, Hinata helped with the dishes after supper. Then claiming to be tired, she asked to be excused.

As she trudged up the stairs, Hinata noticed that she actually was exhausted. In fact, she had a little trouble breathing, and what she did take into her lungs had the scent of something burnt. She looked around for signs of smoke, but there were none.

Trying to shrug everything off as just her imagination, she climbed wearily into bed. But there was no way she could fall asleep. Instead, Hinata lay awake for a long time, listening as her parents put Hanabi to bed in the blue room at the end of the hall---Neji's old room. She heard the television go on for a while, and soon all was quiet. After a few more minuets of staring into the darkness, Brenda finally drifted off into a light, troublesome sleep.

But just a few hours later, after a lot of tossing and turning, Hinata opened her eyes. Once again she heard someone crying softly down the hall. She looked at the glowing numbers on her digital clock. It was three minuets past midnight.

"Hanabi?" she whispered, sitting up as she heard the cries growing slightly louder.

It sounded as if her sister was sobbing...just like Neji once did. A shudder ran through her and she leapt out of bed.

Quickly running down the hall, she threw open what was now her sister's door. The smell of smoke and soot stung her nostrils, and she recoiled in terror.

"Hanabi!" she screamed. But somehow she couldn't force herself to cross the threshold into the darkened room. Deep inside she knew she had to---her little sister was in danger---but instead she reeled back against the wall, helpless.

Suddenly the light in the room snapped on, and both of her parents were beside her.

"Hinata!" her mother cried, trying to hold her as Hinata squirmed away. "What's wrong honey?"

"It's Hanabi!" Hinata screamed. "You've got to help her. Didn't you hear her? She needs help!"

Her father grabbed her by the shoulders and gripped her hard.

"Brenda! Calm down! What are you talking about? Who is Hanabi?"

Hinata stopped. Her mouth dropped open and she stared at her parents as if they were total strangers.

"My sister," she finally whimpered. "My sister, Hanabi. Don't you remember? Don't you care? What's wrong with you? It's just like what happened with Neji. He disappeared from that room," she sobbed, pointing over the threshold into the awful place. "And you act like he never existed. Well, he was my brother. And Hanabi was my sister. And..." But Hinata couldn't go on. She broke into hysterical tears and let her father rock her gently in his arms.

"Hinata, sweetheart," her mother whispered. She was crying too. "You don't have a brother or a sister. You are an only child and you always have been. This is our room. It has been ever since we moved here."

Hinata twisted away, turned toward the open door, and caught her breath. Inside the room she could see her parents' bed and the big oak chest of drawers. From where she was, Brenda could see the photographs in their pretty frames, photos of her with mom and dad...and no one else.

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The sound of a car pulling up in the driveway woke Hinata. Slowly she opened her eyes and gazed at the early morning sunlight pooled on the rug beside her bed. With great effort, she drew herself up and walked groggily to the window. There was an old pickup truck in the driveway, and a small sedan that she didn't recognize was parked behind it. For a moment she just stood looking out, thinking that there was something she should know, but she couldn't quite figure out what. Something had happened, she was sure of it...but what?

Turning from the window, she called for her parents, but there was no answer. Then she heard the front door open and close downstairs.

"Mom?" she called tentatively. "Dad? Is that you?"

But there was no answer.

Thinking that they just hadn't heard her, she started to go downstairs when she felt a stab of fear. The voices downstairs were those of strangers! Where are my parents? Her mind raced. Did they decide I was crazy and call these people to come get me?

The door to the room at the end of the hall was closed. Cautiously Hinata eased to the head of the stairs. With her trembling hand just barely touching the rail, she leaned over to see who were there.

The foyer was still in shadow, but Hinata could make out two men standing just inside the front door.

"As you can see," the taller of the two said, "the fire didn't do much damage to the lower floor. The upper floor got the worst of it, and it was the smoke that got the family. Nice people, too," he added, shaking his head sadly. "They hadn't lived here all that long. Moved out from California."

Hinata felt her heart pounding. She glanced down at the railing under her shaking fingers and for the first time saw that it was charred and disintegrating. The wall behind her was scorched, and the smell of burnt wood hung in the damp air.

"Anyone know how the fire stared, Kakashi?" the smaller man asked.

"Looks like it started in the big room at the end of the upstairs hall," the man named Kakashi responded. "You'll see for yourself when we go up. Nothing's been touched since it happened, and that was about five years ago."

"Why hasn't anyone been in to clean the place up?" The smaller man looked around. "Looks like it was a nice place."

"Oh, superstition," Kakashi answered. "Anybody who's been in here claimed to have heard crying coming from that room. Some say the place is haunted." He laughed. "My wife believes it, too. She says that when people die suddenly like that, sometimes the spirits can't accept what has happened. They stay on until something makes them realize that they're really dead."

It was as if a weight had been lifted. Suddenly aware of all she needed to know, Hinata turned and looked toward the room at the end of the hall. Now the door was standing open. Slowly she walked toward it.

Neji had been first to accept it...then little Hanabi...and finally her parents. Now it was her turn to stop fighting it and accept what had happened. She stepped across the threshold---sad, but no longer afraid---and stood in the center of the room. Then Hinata took one last look at the faded blue flame-scarred walls and began to weep softly. She raised her hands to wipe the tears from her face and watched as she slowly disappeared.

Downstairs, the small man held up his hand for the other to be quiet. "did you hear that?" he said. "For a second I thought I heard someone crying."

"Oh, come on now. Don't tell me you're hearing things, too." Kakashi strained for a moment, then shook his head. "Nope. It's dead quiet."