The House Next Door (8 page)

“You look like you've seen a ghost,” the taller boy said to Alyssa with a smirk. He walked over, extending his hand for a shake.

Alyssa quickly shook his hand.

It was warm. Not ghostly at all.

She could feel her face begin to regain its color. Despite herself, she blushed.

“We're really sorry,” the boy said. “We didn't mean to scare you! I'm John.”

“And I'm his brother, Michael,” the other boy introduced himself.

John was about an inch taller than Amanda. Amanda quickly looked him over from head to toe, hoping he didn't catch her doing so. Her first thought was how neatly he was dressed. His blond hair was perfectly combed, not a strand out of place. His button-down shirt looked crisply ironed and was tucked into his dark jeans that he had rolled up to show his shiny, black penny loafers. Michael, on the other hand, had the same precisely coiffed hair, but it was dark. He was wearing a clean white T-shirt tucked into his dark jeans and similar shiny shoes. Alyssa couldn't help but notice how different they looked from Paul and Steve, who were wearing their sloppy, faded jeans, flannel shirts, and dirty, old sneakers.

Alyssa introduced herself and Amanda to John and Michael. She gave Paul a little push. He got her hint and introduced himself and Steve. Paul, the tallest of the boys, stood straight as a board, showing every inch of his height. He crossed his arms over his chest and
began interrogating John and Michael.

“You guys from around here?” Paul asked.

“Nah, we're just visiting,” Michael explained. “I'm glad we don't live here. This town is so boring. No offense.”

Paul winced. He had complained about how there was nothing to do in Glory plenty of times, but he'd never heard it put so bluntly by strangers.

John stepped forward in an attempt to cover up for his brother.

“We thought we'd take the afternoon to explore,” he said. “I guess we got carried away.”

“Who are you visiting?” Steve asked.

“Our aunt,” Michael replied. “She lives about a mile from here. We're here over the school break.”

“What's her name?” asked Paul. “I know just about everyone in this town.”

“I don't think you'd know our aunt,” John replied quickly. “She pretty much keeps to herself.”

“How come we've never seen you around before?” Paul asked.

“This is our first time in Glory,” John explained.

Amanda was getting annoyed with Paul and Steve.
“What's with the twenty questions?” she asked. “I'm sorry about my friends. They're used to being the only good-looking guys in town.”

Michael smiled at her.

As soon as she realized what she had blurted out, Amanda thought that she might actually melt into the floor. She looked around, trying to find an escape from the four sets of guys' eyes that turned on her.

“Amanda!” Alyssa said. “Check this out!”

Alyssa grabbed her sister's sleeve and walked toward a table, pointing to a small, dusty stained-glass lamp. She turned around to see Paul and Steve still giving John and Michael the third degree.

“What was that?” Alyssa asked. She had pulled her sister so awkwardly that Amanda nearly stumbled over her own feet.

“I don't know!” Amanda replied. “It just came out.” Placing her hand on the grimy lamp, Amanda pretended to be admiring it. She dragged her finger along the glass shade, leaving a clean squiggly line in the dust.

“That's gross,” Alyssa told her.

When Amanda didn't reply, Alyssa continued, “All
right. It's time to get Paul and Steve and leave. We've got to get back to our party.”

“But what about John and Michael?” Amanda asked.

“What about them?” Alyssa replied. “They seem nice, but we really don't have time to get to know them. We have to get back before midnight. Before anyone notices we're gone!”

“That's still like forty minutes away,” Amanda said. “Let's just hang out for a few minutes with John and Michael, and get to know them. Maybe they'll want to come back to our house to hang out. We need to play it cool.”

“Have you forgotten that we're not allowed in this house?” Alyssa reminded her sister. And then she realized what was going on. Amanda thought John and Michael were cute! Alyssa frowned. “Come on, Amanda. Not now.”

“Please, let's just stay a few minutes longer,” she begged.

But Alyssa only shook her head. From the moment she had decided to come here to find Paul and Steve, the memory of the shadow that she'd seen in the attic window years earlier was tugging at her.

She didn't want to spend an extra second in this house.

Alyssa took her sister's hand and led her back to where the boys were still talking. Amanda pouted. Now that she was in the house, she didn't really find it spooky at all.

Her sister was being totally unreasonable.

As the girls neared the four boys, they heard Paul and Steve still grilling John and Michael.

“So, have you been here all afternoon?” Paul asked.

“We have,” said John. “We didn't even realize how late it had gotten until you reminded us it was almost midnight. What a way to spend New Year's Eve.”

Amanda immediately perked up. The boys had admitted to being in the house since that afternoon.

Of course! The slamming of the door. The flickering of lights.

It had been John and Michael! She felt incredibly childish for being so easily spooked. Now all she had to do was convince Alyssa of the same. Maybe her older sister would let them stay.

“Paul said he saw lights flickering in this house earlier,” Amanda said. “Was that you? And did you
also open the front door? We thought the house was haunted!”

Amanda noticed that John and Michael shot each other a pointed look, but then they burst out laughing.

Michael held up his flashlight. “You must have seen us going through the house using these,” he explained.

“Do you believe in haunted houses?” John teased.

Amanda turned to Alyssa. “I guess not!” Amanda said. “Alyssa, do you believe in haunted houses?”

John playfully nudged Alyssa's arm. “You're not afraid of this old house, are you?” he asked her.

Alyssa looked down at her feet as she felt her face burn. “No,” she replied. “Of course not.”

“Good,” he said. “So you won't mind coming with us for a tour.” And then he grabbed Alyssa's hand.

Alyssa's cheeks turned bright red, but not from embarrassment. It was more from excitement. She relaxed and looked at her sister.

“Okay,” she replied. “But let's do it fast. We have a party waiting for us at home!”

“All right!” John said.

“This way,” said Michael.

Alyssa, Amanda, Paul, and Steve followed John
and Michael through each room of the house.

In the small kitchen that sat off of the living room, old pots and pans hung from an iron rack fixed to the ceiling. A nearby china cabinet housed dainty plates and cups.

“At least the rumors were true,” Amanda said, looking at the corroded cutlery.

“What rumors?” John quickly asked.

“That nothing has changed about this house in the past century,” she replied.

“Let's go upstairs,” Michael suggested.

They walked through a room lined with shelves that were filled with tattered books. Amanda picked one up and blew the dust from the cover. Alyssa sneezed, and Amanda quickly placed the book back on the shelf.

The sisters trailed behind the four boys up the wooden stairs to the second floor. Amanda hung to the banister tightly, just in case the stairs were as rickety as the porch steps. She really didn't want to crash through them. At the landing, they all followed John and Michael down a very narrow hallway.

The first room they went into was a bedroom. The
solid four-poster bed that sat in the middle of the room, accompanied by nightstands on each side of it, reminded Alyssa of the one in her parents' bedroom—but this bed smelled like mildew.

An old, open wardrobe displayed dresses that hung from rusty hangers. Most of them were made out of thick, heavy fabric. Their skirts hit the floor and their collars were stiff and high. Alyssa twitched when she saw how drastically the waistlines had been tucked in and wondered how anyone could actually wear something like that. Some of them were adorned with lace, but it had been yellowed through years of accumulating filth and grime. The dresses also smelled awful, like vinegar.

They then went into a second bedroom. A once-colorful knitted blanket was folded over the side of a crib and a set of children's books sat on a table next to a rocking chair.

When Alyssa spotted the wardrobe filled with small clothing, a chill went down her spine. She very carefully picked up a petite jumper, which was something that may have belonged to a child of about two to three years old. She searched through more of the clothes to
discover some dresses, too, that may have fit a girl of about six or seven. Returning the clothes to their place, she gave the room one last glance and pictured a woman rocking a baby in the chair. She started to leave but then stopped so abruptly that Amanda, walking close behind, bumped into her.

“What's wrong?” Amanda asked.

“I thought I saw that chair move,” Alyssa replied. “Like someone was rocking in it.”

Amanda glanced at the chair, but it wasn't moving. She pushed Alyssa down the hallway and walked to the next room. It was a tiny bathroom. A porcelain bathtub that sat on ornate claw-feet almost filled the entire room.

Amanda grimaced, thinking about having to soak in a bathtub instead of taking a long, hot shower.

They moved along to the very end of the hallway and turned a small, sharp corner.

By the time Alyssa and Amanda arrived, the boys had already ascended the little staircase that led to the attic.

Alyssa shuddered. This was the moment of truth. She was finally heading up to the attic where she had
seen the shadow many months ago.

“I can't go up there,” she told Amanda.

“I know it's creepy,” Amanda replied. “But it's creepier staying down here by yourself.”

Alyssa exhaled, gathering her courage, and nodded. She let Amanda slip by her to lead the way, and they both climbed the steps to the attic. When Alyssa arrived, she saw the boys crammed in the tiny room. The ceiling was so low that Paul had to bend down so he wouldn't bump his head.

“It's insane,” Paul said. “Right?”

Alyssa was speechless. She glanced at Amanda, also not able to find the words to explain how she felt. Everything about the attic was how Paul had described it earlier.

It was exactly what his aunt saw in the pictures many, many years ago—down to the bed, the desk, and the harmonica on the table.

“Paul,” Alyssa said, “you tricked us.”

“I've never been here,” Paul pleaded, but Alyssa just glared at him.

It was at that moment that a slamming sound came
up from the basement. Alyssa reached for Amanda and clung to her tightly. No one moved—frozen by fear—as they listened to the thunderous crash of hundreds of objects being shattered below.

“What was that?” Steve shrieked. Alyssa had never heard one of her guy friends sound so scared. He spun around, swiveling his head in every direction. He pointed rapidly to the floor with a shaking finger. “There's something down there!”

Alyssa's heart jumped in her chest. It sounded like glass had been broken. But now it was silent. With wide eyes, she looked from Paul and Steve to John and Michael.

“This is getting way too weird for me!” Paul said nervously. “I'm out of here.”

Paul flew down the attic steps with the crew chasing him down the hallway. When he reached the second
staircase, he took the steps two at a time until he landed at the bottom. Alyssa was breathing deeply from exertion and fright when she caught up to everyone in the foyer.

“Wait,” John said. “This is an old house. It was probably just something that fell over.”

But Steve's hand was already on the doorknob.

“You're both leaving?” Amanda asked. Confused, she looked to Paul and then back to Steve.

Paul pushed past her, making his way out of the living room. But when he reached the foyer, the rubber sole of his shoe snagged the corner of an old, tattered rug. He tried to steady himself, but he tripped over his feet and started to tumble toward the floor. As he reached out to break his fall, he grabbed on to a grimy cloth that covered a small table. The tablecloth slid off the table, causing all its contents to come crashing to the floor.

Amanda walked over to where Paul was sprawled out on the rug. The springs and cogs of a small broken clock were scattered about the floor. A vase had shattered. And several yellow-tinged papers floated about until gently settling around him.

“Are you okay?” Amanda asked, stifling a laugh. The sight of Paul grappling on the floor made her completely forget just how spooked she had been only a few seconds earlier.