The House Guests

Stepping over tree roots and pushing branches out of her way, Claudia hollered over her shoulder, “It’s just a little further, guys!” “You’ve said that 10 times now.” A voice called back, slightly irritated. She looked back at Jason and Olivia stumbling behind her as they tried to keep up without falling flat on their faces. “It’s going to be worth it, trust me.” “You said that already, too,” mumbled Jason. The three of them had been best friends since the fourth grade, and Jason and Olivia had become used to Claudia’s adventurous spirit. But sometimes she went a little too far, and this was starting to feel like one of those times. Claudia insisted that trekking out into the woods to explore an old condemned house would be the highlight of their Halloween, especially since it would be the last one they’d have together. The three of them were going their separate ways for university, and it was going to be the first time they’d been separated for longer than a weekend. Claudia was adamant on making it the most memorable Halloween they would have together. And it was keeping her mind off of the fact that she was devastated the three would be ripped apart. “Fucking life,” Claudia said under her breath as she thought about the future. “At least we have right now.”

“There it is! I told you!” Claudia shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down like a small child. “Come on!” She ran off ahead, disappearing in the brush. Jason and Olivia jogged up to where she had been standing and pushed through the branches. There it was, the old house they had heard so many stories about. Tragic stories, ones that would make your blood run cold. The house was massive, like an old Colonial mansion. It was visibly falling apart, and leaning precariously to one side. Nobody really knew how old it was, or who lived in it before. It’s like it has always been here, along with its reputation. Claudia was nowhere to be seen. “She must be inside already. She shouldn’t be in there alone,” Jason said. “She might get hurt or something.” “You know Claudia,” Olivia replied, rolling her eyes.

Claudia was on the second floor already. She could hear her friends’ footsteps downstairs. “I’m up here,” she yelled out. “This place is CRAZY. Don’t you love it?” She clicked on her flashlight as the light level outside quickly dropped. “We probably should’ve come earlier,” she thought to herself, “but this just makes it all the more fun.” The hallway seemed endless, with more doors in a house than she had ever seen before. Paintings lined the hall on both sides, and wallpaper peeled from the walls. You could tell that a wealthy family lived here before. But who? Why did nobody know? Where did they go? Claudia made her way down the hall, taking in everything she saw. “They must be exploring downstairs,” she thought to herself when she realized her friends weren’t with her yet. She imagined what it must have been like to live there when the house was in its youthful glory. Just then she thought she saw a flicker of light up ahead. She turned and shined the flashlight behind her to see if it was her friends messing around. She was alone. She turned back to the direction of the light and she saw it again. “What the heck?” She said quietly. She made her way towards a door at the end of the hall and could see the doorframe was softly illuminated. The floor creaked under her footsteps as she walked. She stopped at the doorframe and slowly leaned her head around to find the source of the light. There, on the windowsill, was a lit candle. Claudia stood there for a minute, trying to process what she was seeing and to make sense of it. Had someone been here earlier? That must be it. Why else would there be a burning candle in an abandoned house? She didn’t really want to entertain any other possibilities, so she went with that. “Jason! Liv! Someone was here before us today! Get up here!” She yelled. She didn't get a response.

She cautiously approached the candle, a little nervous that maybe whoever had been here was still here. “Wouldn’t they have said something to us by now?” She said out loud. She looked out the window and could see the stars appearing in the sky. “We really should’ve left earlier. Now we’re going to have to hike back in the dark. Or maybe we could stay the night.” A smirk curled on her lips as she imagined how scared they would all be, but also how great the story would be that they’d talk about for years. She looked down at the candle and playfully passed her finger through the flame, like she’s always done with candles. She had always been mesmerized by them. But as soon as her finger passed through, she froze. Something wasn’t right. “Did I just imagine that?” She thought. “The flame is ... cold.” She passed her finger through again, this time a little quicker. “No, no, no, no. That’s not right. What the hell is going on?!” One more time she put her finger through the flame, but this time she kept her finger in the middle of it. After a few seconds she quickly pulled her finger out because she couldn’t handle the cold any longer. “GUYS!!! Get up here now!!!” She rushed towards the door of the room as it slammed shut right before she got to it. She heard a scream from downstairs and a loud thud that was felt through the floor. A cold draft covered the room and the candle went out. The room was pitch black. Claudia frantically clicked the button on her flashlight but it wouldn’t turn on. She began banging on the door, screaming for help, tears rolling down her face. “Olivia!! Jason!! Please!! I’m trapped in here, I need help!” She stopped pounding on the door for a second to listen, hopeful she’d hear the footsteps of her friends running to her aid. She didn’t want to entertain the idea that the scream she’d heard sounded just like Olivia. But it couldn’t be. It couldn’t be.

Claudia turned around with her back against the door, facing the darkness in the room. She quietly sobbed as her body shook. The fear was setting in deep. She tried to calm herself and think rationally, think of a way she could get out of here. But her mind kept going to all the dark places that fear likes to take you. Suddenly she felt something icy grip her neck. She quickly put her hand there to feel if something was on her. Nothing. “We’ve been waiting for you,” an icy voice whispered in her ear. Claudia suddenly felt a jarring bolt of pain on the side of her head and she fell to the floor. She tried to keep her eyes open, but she was losing the battle. The pain in her head was unbearable. And everything went black.

She came to some time later, a pool of blood underneath her head. Her head was throbbing, and she didn’t know where she was right away. After a few minutes, she started to remember and she slowly got to her feet. She tried the door again. Nothing. She was still trapped. She staggered over to the window to see if she could figure out what time it was. It looked the same outside as when she first entered the room. She looked down at the unlit candle on the windowsill. She quietly started crying as she thought about her friends. She couldn’t hear any sounds. “This is all my fault.” She rubbed her neck and remembered the voice she had heard before she was knocked out. “Did that really happen?” She tried opening the windows but they were sealed shut. There was no other way out. “How long will I be here? How long have I been here?” She put her hand on her head to try to ease the throbbing but it didn’t help. She heard a faint voice calling out. “Olivia!” She ran over to the door and pressed her ear against it. “Claudia!” She knew she’d heard his voice. “Jason!!! Jason, it’s Claudia! Where are you??” No response. “Jason!! Can you hear me?? I’m still trapped in this room. It’s the last room in the hallway on the second floor, I think. I can’t believe I got locked in here!” She laughed. “Jason?” The silence lasted for what seemed to be forever. “Where is he?! At least he’s alive, thank God. But he can’t find Olivia. Please be okay, Livy. I’ll make it up to you, I swear. I’m so sorry.” Claudia started to sob and slid down the wall to the floor.

She was startled awake some time later to the sound of voices. She didn’t realize she had passed out again. It was daylight. She rubbed her eyes and tried to stand up. Her legs weren’t cooperating well with her. The voices were coming from outside. She clumsily made her way to the window and frantically looked around. Near the front door below her were two police officers, talking to each other. Claudia began banging on the window to get their attention. “Hello!! Up here, please help me! My friends and I need help! Why can’t they hear me? Why aren’t they looking at me?” She continued to bang on the window while tears streamed down her face. She pressed her forehead against the glass, defeated in her attempts to get the officers’ attention. “I’m going to radio it in. This is really going to upset the community.” Claudia opened her eyes and watched them. One officer picked up his radio. “We’ve got three bodies here. Yeah, it’s them.” Claudia’s mouth dropped open. “Three bodies ... here? How is that ...” Her words caught in her throat as she began to realize what she had just heard. “No. No.” Just then the candle lit and Claudia jumped back. Shocked, she stared at the flame, trying to make sense of everything. The room grew very, very cold and she started to feel the cold grasp on her neck once again. She started to step backwards, away from the candle. “What is happening??” “I told you we’ve been waiting for you. Now we have company.” The icy voice pierced her eardrum once again as Claudia slammed her hands against her ears. “NO!! Stop it!!! Please stop.” The door to the room slowly creaked open as Claudia began to understand what was happening. She could hear the footsteps of the police officers in the house, their flashlight beams bouncing against walls. The reality of what took place had started to set in. The house had taken her and her friends as its victims. They were trapped within its walls forever. But the house wasn’t done yet. “Hey, check this out. Do you see a light down there? Isn’t that the room that ...” The officer trailed off. “NOOOOO!!!” Claudia screamed. “Don’t come in here!! GET OUT!!” “Did you hear something?” One of the officers said. “I don’t know. Old houses make noises. Let’s check out that light though. I know it wasn’t there before.” They made their way closer and closer to the room that was now the tomb of Claudia, and she was helpless to stop them. She sobbed uncontrollably as they entered the room. “Do you hear ... crying?” One of them said, as the door slammed shut behind them.