Urge

Chapter 3•

It felt like they had been running for hours, Amber occasionally looking back and seeing that the figure was perpetually chasing them, before Jason yelled out that there was a house ahead.

Amber glanced up, and sure enough Jason had been right. Through a clearing in the trees, on what appeared to be its own patch of land, stood a once grand mansion. It wasn't the most appealing of places to hide from whatever was chasing them, but anything was better than staying in the woods.

The old darkly obscured place appeared with a tint of grey, and the planks of wood that it was built with were all starting to deteriorate and fall off. It was clear that it was abandoned. With no other houses in sight, the three ran quickly across the vast open field and up to the back deck of the house where there was a screen door at the back that was cracked slightly open. Derek threw the door open and shot inside with Amber and Jason following closely behind.

"Upstairs! Quick! It will have safer rooms to hide in!" Derek hissed. Amber couldn't see a lot of the house's interior as they were rushing through the house, but it was quite evident that there was a layer of dust on every surface. There were loads of cobwebs hanging amidst, and the floor was partly covered in dry old leaves from the forest outside.

Once they had all made it to second floor, the task of scouting out a safe room to hole up in for the night began. Countless doors were opened and peered into, all being found trashed, until one at the end of a long corridor appeared untouched. The three slid into a room that appeared to have previously been a study. Once inside the three crouched down behind the desk in the middle of room together. It was silent aside from a slight whistle that the wind was creating and the heavy breathing and panting the three were emitting.

"I bet this place was really nice before," Amber quietly chided while she took in the scene before her. All of the other rooms were fully decorated and had victorian furnishing, but this room was different.

Two of the walls in the room were lined with shelves that had books spilling to the floor below. The desk they were currently sat under looked untouched with an old computer and papers sprawled across the top. The main thing that captivated Amber's attention was all of the photos that covered the empty spots on the walls. There was a family, with two young children and their parents, it was a different scene in every picture but each was obviously unique.

"We should stay here until it's light enough to get back through the forest," Derek suggested. Amber glimpsed at her little brother, only to see a silent tear running down his cheek. She reached over and clasped him in her arms, wiping the tear away and cooing reassurance to the younger boy .

"Don't worry Jay, we're safe here. We just need to wait until morning so-" but she never got to finish her sentence as it was interrupted by the squeal of the knob into the room being turned in protest.

The door didn't budge, but whatever was on the other side was not giving up that easily as only mere seconds later a repetitive thud made the door shudder with the force that was being thrown at it. Until suddenly, silence.

"I think it's ove-" Derek sputtered not finishing his sentence before the first picture launched from the wall. Jason whimpered and soon all three were huddled closer together, holding each other for comfort.

"Shh, Jay it's okay, it's going to be alright. Probably just the wind." Amber grimaced at the unconvincing tone of her voice. Then the second picture flew from the wall and shattered against the floor and it was clear there was something unnatural in their presence.

One after another, every single framed photograph was flung or hurled from the wall at an increasing rate. Once the last picture had fallen to the ground, Amber lifted her eyes to view the damage. It was there. Amber let out a shriek, she was now completely petrified as the situation was obviously dangerous but she had been too stubborn to stop venturing through the forest earlier. Standing by the window was the same dark figure from the woods. Holding Jason, she tucked herself further into Derek's arms and hoped the figure would just go away.

Amber knew she had to stay composed for her little brothers sake of course. But that thought wasn't acted on as only moments later all the loose sheets of paper from the desk they were under flew off with immense force. They were high in the air before they slowly started to flutter downwards, as all the sheets were close to touching the ground and it was an almost peaceful moment. Suddenly every single book from the shelves that lined the long wall started to plummet and thud loudly against the floor heavily.

"Why won't this thing just leave us alone?" Amber whimpered "what did we ever do?"

It was silent until Jason quietly commented, "We invaded its space. That's what we did." 

Then suddenly all went silent.

Amber was snuggled up with Derek and her little brother was in her lap, she was lost in her thoughts. After a few hours where nothing happened, Amber glanced down at Jason to find him sleeping soundly. She shifted slightly to check on Derek, but he too was asleep.

"I'm sorry I brought us in here and put us through all of this," Amber murmured to the two boys, breaking the silence that surrounded them.

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