THE FACE THAT WATCHES
CHAPTER 1 - MOVING IN
A New Beginning
Greystone was the town where people went through but hardly ever stayed. Its edges were encircled by dense trees, and its winding roadways were constantly covered in a thin mist. Age and neglect have caused the walls of some of the old houses here to bow and fall into ruin. Greystone House, like a forgotten tombstone, sat lonesomely on a hill beyond the town's border. The people in the town stayed away. Everyone knew that mothers went crazy inside, but they never discussed it.
When Thomas and Eva Collins and their four children purchased the house, they were unaware of its past. A spacious mansion with five bedrooms, lofty open spaces, and acres of untamed nature surrounding it was too lovely to pass up.
The house represented a new beginning for Thomas, a chance to put his family's situation right. Life could calm down here, he thought, despite their hardships, which included Eva's hours of work at the fashion store, financial troubles, and the continual tug of restless kids. Everything would be simpler in Greystone.
As the aging SUV rumbled along the cracked road toward the home, the kids Ethan (13), David (11), Simon (8), and Lily (5) were packed into the backseat. Slowly, Greystone House emerged from the fog like a black stone monolith, its steep roof angular against the overcast sky. There was no indication of what awaited within as the windows gleamed like dark glass eyes. The walls were clogged with vines that climbed the stone like green veins, and the iron gate they had passed through groaned with age as if warning them to turn back.
Wide-eyed, Lily placed her tiny fists on the car window. "Daddy, it's big."
Ethan leaned forward from his seat and whispered, "Big and old." "Do people still reside in homes like these? It appears... eerie.
Thomas smiled. It's simply character. You'll see. It will be ideal after we clean it up.
With a gentle and comforting grin, Eva turned to face the backseat. "It will be an adventure, even though it's a little strange, okay? New spaces to discover and new experiences to create. Despite their disarray, she always had the proper words to say.
With his eyes fixed on the shadowed windows, David shuffled uneasily in his seat. There was something... strange about the house. Something huge and empty, like nothingness, was observing them from within.
"It appears to be haunted," David muttered to himself. He went unheard. However, the idea persisted, shivering in his breast.
During the first few hours, they unloaded the car and filled the house with furniture and boxes, their voices resonating off the stark walls and high ceilings. The floors groaned underfoot, as though they were moaning with the burden of life coming to them, and the home had a slight smell of mildew and wood decay.
Ethan triumphantly dragged his suitcase upstairs and shouted dibs on the largest room. Simon trailed following, asking him incessant questions about whether ghosts existed and about the Wi-Fi.
Lily joyfully hugged a dusty doll she had discovered hidden in a nook close to the fireplace and named it Rose. With her large, confident eyes, Lily stated, "She was waiting for me."
David said nothing. He strolled around the hallways, admiring the odd angles of the mansion, the unusual curves of the stairs, and the heavy, motionless shadows that hung to the corners. The air tasted old, as if the residence had been locked in time, and areas of the wallpaper were peeling, exposing faded floral designs underneath.
Eva later ran into some locals as she went into town to get groceries. The villagers were courteous but aloof; their eyes never quite met their smiles. They were silent and looked at one another as though Eva had cursed out loud when she proposed moving into Greystone House.
One old woman slowly shook her head. "That home," she whispered. "Families are not welcome here."
Eva scowled. "Why not?"
However, the woman only turned aside with a tight, uncomfortable smile.
David first noticed the bird's presence on the window three days following the transfer. He awoke just after sunrise, with his room's drapes letting in the pale morning light. Something pulled him to the window, even if his eyelids were gritted from sleep.
On the ledge, a blackbird lay still, its feathers smooth and gleaming in the dim sunlight. There were no indications of impact; it had not struck the glass. The little body of the bird was undamaged, and its wings were gently tucked to its sides, giving the impression that it had just fallen asleep and never woken up.
David stared into the bird's glassy black eyes while pressing the nose to the glass. They were too astute, too wise, as though the bird had noticed something and brought
Inside David, a curious tug stirred. A strange hunger constricted in his tummy.
The ancient hinges squealed in protest as he cautiously unlatched the window. The curls of hair on his arms stood on edge as a blast of frigid air entered the room.
David's hand hovered over the bird as he reached out. It was warm, as though it had just passed away. There was a glimmer of discomfort in the middle of his consciousness, but it was overpowered by the odd impulse that was growing within him. Take it up. You own it.
David's fingers coiled around the bird's tiny body suddenly he could stop himself. It was light and delicate, like an early-stopped heartbeat.
Then he took a bite out of it.
The feathers scratched against his mouth, and the flavor was nasty and metallic, yet he continued. He was unable to stop. His thoughts numb from the awfulness that he was doing, he devoured bits of the bird in a terrible, mechanical cadence.
David sat back, shaking, when it was gone, bones and beak and feathers. The hunger was still there, waiting, coiled tightly inside him, even as his stomach roiled with a terrible sensation of satisfaction.
David had a dream about the house that night.
There were no windows or doors in the dream, only walls that murmured as he moved along the infinite hallways that extended in all directions. He was followed by a hardly visible figure, its steps deliberate and delicate.
It was consistently far enough away to see properly when he gazed at a shadow that suggested a face but he couldn't quite make it out.
"I can demonstrate to you things that nobody else can see," the figure said in a soft, low murmur that was woven into David's thoughts.
With a cry, David awoke, the whisper echoing in his ears. The bird was gone, like it had never been there, as he looked toward the window.
The room was warm, but he felt cold. From the shadows, he sensed something was following him out of the dream.
When it happened, it was beyond midnight. The low hum, a deep, vibrating sound that seemed to originate inside the walls, reached David as he lay in bed, half asleep.
He froze, opening his eyes.
Something was motionless at the end of the bed. It was only a shadow covered in darkness, with the faintest trace of a horrible visage visible behind the darkness, and it lacked a distinct shape.
David's breath was stuck in his throat as his heart raced. He wanted to scream, but he was unable to produce the sound. The figure remained still. It merely watched, silently standing there.
Then it vanished.
The hum was still there, pulsing faintly through the walls, but the room was empty once more.
With a hard thump in his heart, David drew the blanket over his head.