Scorn

(Next Morning)

(Crackle … Pop)

Bacon wafted through the air, strong enough to lift Alexa straight out of the bed. She walked through the hallway across from the kitchen with a somber look.

Sit down and have some breakfast, when's the last time you ate?, I asked.

"The night before last", Alexa murmured.

Do you want pancakes and eggs too?

"Yes, please, she said.

Do you want to talk about last night?, I hesitantly questioned.

"Not really, I just want to forget everything. These past few days keep haunting me. It's all I ever think and dream about. I keep replaying when I'm running through the woods, the only things I hear are the leaves crunching and heavy breathing behind me. I felt like a rabbit being hunted. I didn't know where he was, I couldn't see anything and I could only go off of what I heard", Alexa rushed out.

I'll tell you what, relax, put your feet up on the couch and watch a movie. Meanwhile, I'll go to town and get you some clothes and snacks. Is that okay?, looking for some type of assurance.

Yeah that's okay I guess, Alexa quietly said.

I made my way to town and stopped at a small shop called Gallore, they had pants, shirts, sweatshirts. I bought just enough so she wouldn't have to worry about clothes.

I then made my way up to Leeane's Bakery. Instead was Angelica.

I froze for a second and looked at her, she looked at me and made my way to the counter; not happily though.

"I heard you were back in town, to stay at my mom's house", she creaked.

Oh yes, such a beautiful place and it's just like how I remember", I snickered back.

Can I get a few cinnamon rolls and two raspberry danishes?, I asked politely.

Angelica continued with her small talk, while packaging the pastries ...

"I heard you took in an orphan, it's the town's gossip. You know in a small town like this people just can't stay quiet about the new town whore taking in a girl when she can't even take care of hers", Angelica hissed.

Out of nowhere I whispered, at least I have a house to take one in.

A hush fell across the bakery and Angelica threw the bag of pastries on the counter and pointed abruptly at the price on the monitor.

I sat the 10 dollar bill on the counter politely, gave her a half smile and walked briskly out the door.

I was proud of myself, I made her feel embarrassed in front of all those people. That will give them something to talk about. In the back of my head I wondered why Leeane didn't say she had the bitch working for her. I continued thinking a bit while I drove back home, was she just baiting me, what is her motive here? My thoughts broke when I hit the top of the driveway.

The front door was wide open. I looked for a moment and not even taking the bags out, I rush to the door.

(Pow …)

All of the sudden i miss a stair and crash straight into the porch. My ankles color transformed into a light purple color. Thankfully, it felt like it was only a bad strain. I pushed myself off of the porch and held onto the railing and made my way up the stairs. I limped through the door and expected stuff to be broken and stuff missing, but nothing was wrong. With a short moment's notice Alexa rushes out of the basement and runs straight into me.

"Someone is here, I was taking a nap and then heard noises and I hid in the basement", Alexa yelped.

Wait outside in my car and lock the doors, I whispered.

(Creakkkkk...)

My attention shoots up to the ceiling ~ someone's up stairs.

If I walk up these stairs there's nowhere else to go. They have no choice but to see me.

I start to tip-toe up the stairs making sure they can't hear me. As I get closer to the top of my stairs, I see the doors cracked and there's a shadow. But, I recognize this shadow. The nose, the way the chin is shaped and the structure of the lips, it's all very noticeable but I can't quite put my finger on who.

I keep up with the quiet mentality and finally make my way to the door. I peer in and I don't see anything. I slowly push open the door but this shadowy figure wasn't there. I notice the bathroom light was on so, I slowly walk to the door. When I pushed the door open, there wasn't anything there either. I decide to just look around the rest of the rooms …

I ended up not seeing a thing.

(Thump… Thump…)

I suddenly look up, but that would mean the sound is coming from the attic. But here's the thing, I've never once seen an entrance to get into the attic. Thinking for a minute, I decide to look in the very same hallway that me and Alexa had originally climbed up to.

Making my way to the closet, the door is already open and the fake wall is already pushed up. I grabbed a skillet on my way up- better to be safe than sorry. Finally reaching the top, I didn't necessarily see anything out of the ordinary except a smidge of peeled wallpaper towards where Alexa had sat last night. Feeling the wall I come across a dip, I pushed the handle of the man right through and sure enough it was a hand slot. As I pull this door out, the thumps travel down from the attic and echo out like a bunch of bats screeching through a dark cave. I start to pursuit through and I look for lights. The lightswitch I found didn't work so I just continued up very, very cautiously.

When I finally got to the top and opened the door the stale air poured out of the copped out room, it smelled like a decade if it were jammed packed into a room- old.

I look around and walk towards these beautiful silky blue dresses placed on some mannequins. I then notice a few albums, DIana Ross's Mahogany Album and some Ray Charles albums I wasn't familiar with too. She always loved jazzier types of music. I look near the back of the attic and see a chest. I open it and a few photos of my Aunt were stored in there, I flipped around the photo to see when it was taken and I see the very same symbol I found in the basement with that key. The symbol was in dark purple and looked fresher, if that's a thing; it must have just been written. I shove the photo in my pocket and continue to the very back. Looking through the attic window I noticed Alexa walking inside the woods. In the same direction I spot this building, I thought it was a tree house, but it was more like a hunting roost.

(Bam)

I look over and the attic door was slammed shut.