Tuesday, July 9, 2013

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Walking up to the creaky old front porch, Emma felt a strange sense of concern.  This house had been vacant for years, until about a month ago, when somebody bought it.  Emma knew the price must have been right, for who would want to live in an old, broken down, nineteenth century gothic Victorian? Certainly not her.  She went up to the front door, knocked on the splitting mahogany, and waited, feeling the cold winter wind rush up under her jacket.  Emma was hoping no one would answer, but sure enough, a woman, probably in her early 20’s showed her into the main living room.  It was all Emma could do to keep her cool.  She knew all she had to do was interview the creepy woman, the leave and forget this ever happened.  The old rotting wood floor creaked with every step.  The room was huge with a high ceiling, making Emma feel like an ant.  The walls were painted a dark vampy blood red, and an old iron chandelier hung above her head.  To her left, Emma saw an ancient crumbling stone fireplace, and inside, a roaring fire, crackling and popping all over.  A shiny black leather couch sat in front of the fireplace, with a glass coffee table almost touching the open flames.  Emma took in a deep breath, the air smelled musty, as if no one had opened the windows in hundreds of years.  Directly in front of Emma, there were five, tall, pressed glass windows, and all had their curtains drawn.  Emma did not understand this, if she had huge windows, she would let all the light in.  Under the windows covering the window seat, was a pile of miscellaneous pillows.  On each end beside the window seat, was a lit candelabra.  Wax dripped down the sides as if the candles had been burning for a decade.  The flickering flame gave the room an eerie glow.  On Emma’s right were two more candelabras, almost identical to the others.  A massive, built in bookshelf covered the entire right side of the wall, from the floor to the ceiling.  Half the shelves were missing, and it desperately needed some TLC, but it had a strange, inadequate, beauty to it.  Two shiny leather chairs on each end were place right by the two candelabras, perfect for reading by candlelight.  Walking a few steps closer across the dusty throw rug, Emma could see the details in the bookshelf.  It truly was the focal point of the room.  Decorated intricately with antique books and iron knickknacks, it had almost a calming effect, until she saw the last shelf.  On the bottom right, hiding behind one of the chairs, the shelf was covered by a small navy curtain.  It was odd, as if it did not belong.  Emma pulled back the curtain, unsure what she was going to see before her.  There was a wooden mallet and stake, a few rounds of garlic, a hand mirror, and matches.  Emma heard the floors cracking and knew she was not making the noise.  She quickly pulled back the curtain and pretended to act interested in an old copy of Pride and Prejudice.  The woman was back and as she rounded the corner, something inside Emma told her to run, but fear caused her feet to be locked in place.  Emma knew from the way the woman looked at her with a menacing growl, that she had stumbled upon something she was not supposed to see.

1 comment:

  1. The detail helped me picture the image of the scene. Great job =)

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