cmjfoxfyre

The House



The door opened and slammed, with a young girl bounding forward, onto the darkened landing. Her breath came out in ragged gasps. She'd been running for what felt like hours. There seemed to be dead ends, behind every door. She didn't know what, but Something was following her. Moonlight spilled in through the broken windows, as she ran down yet another hallway. Her feet pounded over the glass; if she cut them, she didn't feel them.
There! There it was! Something over her shoulder, behind her in the shadows. She caught a glimmering, just as she rounded the corner. The hall stretched out before her. So many doors, looking exactly the same as the ones she had just run by, in the opposite direction. Time was slipping, slowing down to a snail's crawl. The girl's eyes darted behind, once more. There was nothing there, but she could still feel eyes on her back. What was going on here?
She paused, skidding to a halt, causing the decrepit rug to bunch up, slightly under toes. Her pale hair hung limply around her face, nearly dripping with perspiration. Something wasn't right. Either the lack of light was confusing her, or she was in the exact same place as she had been, before making the turn in the hallway. There was a mirror to her right, positioned between the two windows on her left. A chair, next to a side table, was less than ten feet away, with dead flowers sitting in the vase. She remembered how sickly sweet they had smelled the first time she had passed them. She hadn't been running, that time.
How long ago was that? How long has she been running? When did she start? Her heart began to race, as panicky feelings of flight rose in her chest, once more. Her stomach rolled suddenly, and an icy wave passed over her. The floor seemed to roll with it, bucking upwards, tossing her to the ground. She lay still for a moment, trying to get her bearings. Placing her hands on the floor in front of her, she pushed upwards, crouching. Her eyes flew from the rug, to the furthest reaches of the hall ahead of her. A cry rose in her throat, as the scene came into focus.
The hall went on forever_like two mirrors facing each other, she could see it repeating itself, on & on & on. And in the shadows, beyond the chairs and the doors and the flowersshe could see shapes. Shapes that looked like they had once been people. They reached out to her, racing towards her, as she stood frozen in fear. Suddenly, an icy talon gripped her shoulder
The buzz of Sarah's alarm clocked drowned out her sharp scream, as she fell out of bed. The blankets were wrapped around her knees, as she kicked and tried to stand up at the same time. With a thud, Sarah promptly fell back down again, bruising her tailbone in the process. Her heart hammered hard in her chest, and she felt like she hadn't slept for days. Maybe she hadn't_it was the third time this week alone, that she'd had the same dream.
The same nightmare, actually, that she'd had since childhood. Constantly running down one hallway, to another that looked exactly the same. She was escaping from someone or something, but only for a moment. Then, suddenly! It finds herand she wakes up. She was always alone, at night, and it felt so real. The house felt alive, almost. It had a personality of its own. Like it remembered her, and wanted her to stay. Always.
Sarah shuddered as she stood, turning off the alarm, and began to remake her bed. She'd have to put it out of her mind, for now. Time to get the day started; she was going to be late for work, if she didn't hurry up and get dressed. In a few minutes, with her mind firmly planted in the realities of earning a living, Sarah had recovered from her nightmare. She wandered from room to room, in her small one bedroom apartment, getting her coffee, feeding her cats_settled and relaxed.
.............................................
to be continued, maybe.