The House

It was around midnight when they came across it. In the middle of nowhere, a house, surrounded by long, dead grass. The house had obviously been empty for a long time, and yet, it was in pristine condition. They started towards it, wading their way through the grass, which was almost as tall as them.

‘I don’t like this Daniela. Maybe we should go back.’ Axel said from behind her, his voice echoing around them.

‘Feel free to turn around Axel, but I’m exploring.’ She replied, not turning to look at him.

He sighed in response but kept following behind her, he’d never leave her behind. Axel has never been one for adventure or exploring, but Daniela loved it, she thrived on the adrenaline rush that comes from the unknown. Axel and Daniela were as different as you can be, but that’s what made them the best friends, he kept her grounded, and she helped him live dangerously and take risks.

It felt like an age before they got to the wrap-around porch that encompassed the house, and once they did, they saw how truly beautiful it was.

There was a porch swing just by the oak double doors, and it looked like it had been made by whoever lived here previously. There were Barbie dolls scattered around, along with accessories and other children’s toys. A family had obviously lived here.

‘Why would they just leave all this stuff here?’ Axel asked, bending down to look at the toys. ‘I mean, if I moved, I’d at least give the stuff I didn’t want to take with me to charity or something’

‘I don’t know Axel, maybe we’ll find out when we get inside.’

Opening the front door, they were greeted with a dusty, yet stunning, open plan house, with stairs in the middle of the room, a kitchen at the back, and the lounge to the right. They walked through the house, which was fully furnished. Whoever lived here before must have left in a rush, because they really didn’t take anything with them. The house was filled with toys, family photos, there were even still dishes in the sink waiting to be washed, although they were covered in mold now.

It was eery, and Daniela felt a cold shiver go up her spine as she was looking around, it felt as if she was invading their privacy somehow, even if there had obviously been nobody here for years.

‘Hey, look at this.’ Axel said from the lounge.

When Daniela got to him, he was inspecting one of the family photos, two children, one with black hair, the other blonde, and their parents, also with black and blonde hair. They looked like they were laughing, and they were completely unaware that someone was taking their picture, it was taken by someone else. They looked happy like they didn’t have a care in the world.

‘Cute. I wonder where they are now.’

‘That’s just it Daniela, no one knows.’ He said, looking at her like she ought to know what he was talking about.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘This is the Taylor family, Daniela. They vanished without a trace six years ago, just before you moved here. The police found no leads, no evidence, nothing. It’s like they just dropped off the face of the earth. That’s why everything they own is still here.’

‘Hang on; if the police investigated then why is everything still here? Surely they would have taken it as evidence or something?’ She replied, starting to feel like they were standing in a graveyard.

‘No, ‘ Axel shook his head ‘I remember my dad saying that when they searched the house, there was nothing that they could take as evidence. Everything in the house was spotless, scrubbed with bleach. Nothing could be used as evidence to find them because there was no evidence. Not so much as a used tissue for DNA’ He explains.

‘Axel, that can’t possibly be true.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because there’s a bunch of moldy plates in the sink. If everything was spotless and unusable, then how did they get there?’

Axel didn’t say anything, but it was clear what he was thinking, that they needed to leave as soon as possible. And for the first time, Daniela agreed, the adrenaline that was coursing through her veins was no longer from excitement, it was fear.

Axel gently put the photo back on the top of the fireplace where he found it, and they quickly left the house, running home.

The next day

There was a knock at Daniela’s door, and when she answered it, Axel was standing behind it, looking even more terrified than he had last night, she didn’t think that was possible.

‘What’s wrong?’ She asked him once they were sat down.

‘I spoke to my dad about last night. I told him how we came across the house and the dirty plates that were there.’

‘And? What did he say?’

‘He said that the Taylor house was demolished six months ago.’

‘He was obviously wrong Axel, we were there, and as creepy as it was, it was definitely real.’

‘I looked it up, Daniela. The Taylor’s address was never made public so I had to steal some of my dad’s police files from the investigation, but their house was the opposite side of town from where we were last night; and it was demolished six months ago.’

Axel opens up his bag and pulls out the file on the disappearance, inside are pictures of the house, and the address. He’s right, we were on the opposite side of town, and the outside of the house looks completely different.

But the interior is exactly the same. Minus the dishes.

What the hell was that place? And what happened there?