The Accursed

House Warming Gift

The house seemed quiet and quaint as I unpacked for the second time this year. 

 It's a good thing the real estate business has been on a decline in the city since that whole debacle with the Nuclear Plant closing just last month; prices had plunged and many families up and left with little to no warning as to their departure.

There's always the pondering of why leave so abruptly; then again... best not to open that possibly hellish door. 

I hummed it off as good fortune as I equally managed to get lost in thought as to how I survived another bullet; with him losing that supervising job and subsequently wanting out of this town so badly that he up and left within hours of learning him and his crews fate. 

 So much for, being together forever.  Even in a town such as this, no one is particularly safe when it comes to finding anything meaningful; equal rights be accursed.

Leaving a tormented and toxic relationship like that can really place anyone's self-esteem down a messy pipe. 

 Lessons are truly learned even when not asked, but I couldn't shake away the feeling that maybe I was cursed to never get that pipe dream to full fruition.  Of course, being with another doesn't necessarily make a soul whole, but it does help with beginning to heal.  

I rolled my eyes, as I couldn't believe I had returned to the hushed topic, I had promised myself not a few hours ago.  I winced at my own thought.  I popped my forehead with an open palm.  

Let it go. 

Hanging the last shirt by the plastic hanger into the small master closet, a sudden draft whipped by my bare arm.  

I pulled my arm back in quick protest, sure it had been done by some critter-winged anomaly.  Seeing as I was incredibly wrong with no signs of any small squeaking mammals nor fluttering insects seen.   

I pushed back into the doorframe, and shuddered, as I began rummaging through the hung clothes to find a trapped door within the wooded panel floor, blending so well that only the latch itself gave way to its secretive placement.

Of course, that dreaded curiosity (the eventually main culprit; the seemingly single reason behind the blame for all that lie beyond lights reach; an insatiable menace that led to a cursed soul ) rattled more than the fear itself, as I reached for the door. 

My fingers firmly gripped the handle, ready and steadying my inner joy or more accurately... scream.  If I don't satiate  for whatever may be waiting in secret treasure or come spewing out and attaching itself to my eternally chubby cheeks.  

The anticipation became a heavy weight on my shoulders as I still contemplated both plausible sides.  That gnawing what if won out the war.  

What if there was some great treasure just behind this tiny door... and I left it to be undisturbed; unfound; or by my unlucky luck, for another to find in some plausible future and read about their fortune, while simultaneously being disgusted by my own misfortune.  

That hurling punch into the gut has happened way too often.  

Not this time!   

I sighed heavily, just about to pull my weight into the lift, as a small pale hand beckoned from the left shadows of the closet, resting it's drastically cold limb onto my rounded knuckles.

I shrieked an unimaginable howl, falling backwards onto the floor now surrounded in a pool of crimson.  I followed the ghastly hand back to its origins, not quite making out the darkened silhouette crouching .  Only it's whimpering could be heard. 

"Please, don't..." it sputtered.

Suddenly, the pool of colored wine slurped backwards and down into the cracks of the latched door.  A slight giddy laughter began, as the flat panel began to pop up then down wildly.   

"...or you'll regret it..." it whispered. 

I huffed... barely another squeal, as I focused more on pulling farther away from the closet. 

I puffed out a few hoots and whoops with an obscured amount of air being swallowed, whipping wet fingers around.

Slipping all over the bedroom floor.

My loafers were drenched; discolored.  Finally, my rubber sole seizing a part of the laminate not completely swimming underneath the watery slim, which allowed an opportunity to get up and through the door.  

I didn't stop until my feet had planted themselves firmly against the paved driveway outside. 

Good for me, as I was thankful I usually kept the car keys on me.  

I pulled a calf muscle with the lunging move, as I cranked the Sonata, barely letting it come to life as I placed it in reverse. 

I tried several composing pants, my chest taxed in yearning more breath than I had as I stared at the stoplight blankly.  Barely able to comprehend.  A sudden fiery ache began.   Rising my right hand, where the dorsal side showcased burn marks where the apparition had skimmed. 

Hope that is all it gave! 

The light still red, I retreated to staring again, but an eerie awareness rattled up my spine.  That intuitive recognition carried my eyes up!  My eyes shifting over. 

My body stifled in my bucket seat.  

A striking disgruntled shape sat in my back seat.  His face crackled and skin muted, some blotches even missing, other patches hung on by the thinnest sheets of tissue.
Though, the eyes are what galloped a terror upon my chest and tightened around my heart. 
Some devilish raven eyes only differentiated by orange slits, leered back at me through the rear-view mirror.

'You can't leave me now..." he cackled. 

I gasped in terror.