What Lies Beneath

Chapter Thirty-Five: Together Forever

Love is a strange thing. To many different people it can mean many different things. To some it can mean that you cannot live without the thing that you love, while others consider the word love to be more of a possession. In this case, we will assume that it is the latter. That is, if a house can really feel love at all.

Deep within its' walls, the house could feel its inhabitants roaming. They all seemed to be looking for something. Perhaps it was a sense of purpose, or maybe it was for someone who was lost. That wasn't what mattered though. For years, people had come and wandered its' halls, all of them searching. It was only when they found what it was that they were looking for that they would leave. Never stopping to thank the house for what it had done for them. No, nobody cared for it. Not like its' original inhabitants.

It was only after its' windows and doors had been boarded up that it had decided that enough was enough. Perhaps, they could all leave and go finish their lives, but after they were done, they would return to its' empty halls. Yes, when they had died from age or whatever life had to throw at them, they would return home to it. They would come back and stay forever.

That is the deal that it made with everyone who stepped through its' doors.

Gwyneth sighed as she closed the door behind her. She had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time. She had had good intentions when she first came back to this house, but now she knew that she had been wrong to do so. In coming back, and inviting others, she had not only doomed herself to a horrible fate, but she had unwittingly condemned innocent children as well.

She may be old in age, but she was strong in spirit, and that was all that mattered.

Joe and Bobby stood silently in an overly decorated foyer, still confused by how they had managed to talk their way in.

"What do you think he's like?" Bobby nervously fiddled with the zipper on his jacket.

"I don't know. Why are you asking me?" Joe didn't want to admit it, but he was terrified. What if this was another dead end, or perhaps, what if he finally found answers? He couldn't figure out which he dreaded more.

"I know you don't know, I just thought that you might have a guess." Bobby gave his zipper a sharp tug causing it to snap off in his hand. Mentally cursing at himself, he shoved the now broken zipper in his pocket.

"Hello, hello, hello!" Bobby and Joe both looked up at the sound of a booming voice echoing from the top of the grand staircase.

"Hello, sir." Joe had never met a rich person before, so in an awkward jumble of limbs, he bowed. In the middle of his awkward jester he caught sight of his friend smirking at him. Joe felt his face heat up almost immediately. It was in that moment for the very first time in his life, Joe found himself wishing to be anywhere except where he was.

"No need to bow, my dear boy. We are all God's children after all. Now if you would please accompany me to the sitting room, I would be very appreciative." The man looked to be only a few years older than Joe, but he had a more mature air about him. Joe wondered if he had always had that, or if it came from having an overabundance of wealth.

"Thank you, sir." Joe had to stop himself from bowing again, while mentally chastising his lack of a learning curve.

"You are so very welcome. Now, this way please. I really must sit down. You see I have an awful bunion brewing on the bottom of my left foot." Joe found himself having to force down a bit of vomit at the man's words. If he had known that he would be forced to listen to things like this, then he would have stayed home.