The Window

Rose settled at the old Victorian house on the outskirts of town late fall. The real estate agent had cautioned her the house had a reputation even though it had been empty for years. But Rose was lured to the location because of its appeal and inexpensive cost. She had always appreciated old houses and felt excitement about the idea of bringing one back to its original splendor.

Rose couldn't get rid of the impression she was being watched while she sorted her possessions. She attributed it to the novelty of the relocation and the terrible quiet that encompassed the house. An antique wooden frame apparently belonging to a big window had been left behind by the former owners. Interested, Rose looked at it. The frame was finely carved, with floral designs and a little plaque at the bottom that said, "For those who seek."

Rose discovered a window she had not seen before that evening as she relaxed into her new bedroom. Thick curtains covering it obviously have been there for decades. The window was in what Rose soon discovered to be an empty room at the rear of the house. She felt a sudden cold when she pulled back the curtains, even if the thought of looking about the room excited her. Grime had blackened the window, therefore hiding the view.

Rose started to become unsettled over the next few days by unusual events. Objects would change locations, faint whispers would abound, and shadows appeared to slink just past her view. Still, the window that really bothered her was The grime on the window would be clearer every morning, as though someone had been trying to glance in. Rose would wash it down only to discover it once again soiled by dark.

Rose found a little latch buried in the frame one evening while wiping the window. She unlatched it and gingerly opened the window, curious yet also nervous. Her astonishment was that the window revealed a small balcony not seen from the inside. Rose saw a worn-out old tree with bent limbs on the balcony across the overgrown yard under low light.

Rose struggled to fall asleep that evening and heard clearly clawing at the glass. She sprang forward and discovered nothing outside. The sporadic scratching got louder and more agitated. Rose resolved herself to look, desperate for solutions.

Her illumination showed a terrifying sight as she slipped out onto the balcony: the tree's limbs were moving on their own, scuffing against the glass. Rose thought the tree seemed almost alive and started to shiver. She reached for it. She rushed back inside, locked and slammed the window shut.

The scratching ceased right away. Rose woke up struggling to slow her pounding heart. She then heard the whispers once more, more precisely. They talked of a "traffic," of a "way out," and of a "window that watches." She felt a presence in the room observing every movement, and terror seized her.

Rose looked into the past of the house, resolved to discover what was happening. She discovered that once in an earlier experiment carried out by a reclusive inventor, the window had been a focal point. The window was meant to be a portal into another world, one allegedly to contain secrets and horrors beyond human comprehension.

Rose decided to totally remove the window early the next morning. The air within the frame seemed frigid than ice as she pained it open. Rose was dragged into a terrible void as soon as she took off the last screw; a bright light burst from inside.

Weeks later the house proved uninhabited. Now cracked and broken, the window frame rested on the floor of the vacant room. One word scrawled in the dust on the floor— "For those who seek... beware"—was the sole indication Rose vanished from.

And thus the old Victorian house stayed, a place where whispers persisted and the dark secrets of the window waited for the next inquisitive individual to discover.