Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Fault ❯ Night ( Chapter 4 )

You don't know a thing about my sins…

 

 

Leily was hell bent on making me miserable for being late that day. Not only did I have to vacuum, scrub the kitchen floor, and clean the oven, but I had to clean out the attic. The attic! Of all things! Years and years of dust and spiders and silverfish were sure to be waiting for me.

 

I carefully climbed the stairs, a dust buster my choice of weapon against the evil creatures waiting for me in the terrors ahead.

 

I reached the top, snatching the brass door knob in my hand and throwing it open. I flicked the lights on in a flash, becoming temporarily blinded by the florescent lights humming above me.

 

Note to self, Leily is a freak.

 

The attic was nearly spotless and hardly could be considered an attic at all. There were bookshelves lining the walls, chairs placed here and there, a coffee table or two. So where was the muck I was told that I'd be facing?

 

I cautiously stepped into the room, my feet hitting carpet instead of hardwood like on the stairs. I clenched the dust buster in my hand, half expecting a spider like in Miss Muppet to fall from the ceiling.

 

That's when I saw it: a wooden door to the west side of the room.

 

I charged at it, throwing open the door and finding the horrors I had been expecting in the first place.

 

Piles of cardboard boxes stacked to the ceiling, looking as if they could topple over if you so much as breathed. I turned on the lights, finding that it hardly changed the brightness in the room at all.

 

This was going to be an interesting morning.

 

Off to the side were stacks of plastic tubs that I was supposed to move everything to.

 

All of it.

 

Before I leave.

 

Today.

 

Damn.

 

I sighed, tossing my weapon onto a pile of old curtains, watching in horror as a large puff of dust shot out. I crinkled my freckled nose, shying away from the flecks that floated my way.

 

I wasn't going to make it through the day, it just wasn't possible.

 

I sighed again, shoving my hand into my pocket and pulling out my green iPod mini, glaring at the screen as I picked a band to listen to and stuffed the headphones into my ears. Placing the device on lock, I shoved it back in my pocket and got to work.

 

It was the most aggravating job that Leily could have given me. The majority of the boxes were filled with old books, photo albums, and things that had belonged to her daughter, Ana Lucia, when she was a child.

 

The hours dragged on and on with no end in sight. As the day progressed, the heat increased and I was forced to open the windows.

 

Or attempt, I should say.

 

The old paint around the edge of the pains made it difficult to budge, and I strained against them with all the strength that I had. My patience was thin today and my temper flared. I jerked the ear buds out, ignoring the slight sting they left behind. I pulled out my iPod, turning it off and tossing it onto a box at my left. I snatched the bottom of my sweatshirt, pulling it off and flopping it down on top of the box as well.

 

That window was going down! Err…up, that is.

 

I grabbed the bottom of the window, jerking it up as hard as I could, hearing a small crack. I laughed quietly, I was going to win!

 

Within a few more minutes, the window shot open and I shouted in victory.

 

“Take that!” I yelled, pointing at the window with a smug look on my face.

 

It was then that I realized I was talking to an object. I blinked, my arms falling limp at my sides as I wondered vaguely if I was loosing my mind. I merely shrugged it off and began my battle with the three other windows in the room.

 

They all, of course, opened just fine.

 

I returned to retrieve my things, putting my sweatshirt in an old rocking chair and started listening to music again. I decided to open up the box that everything had been resting on.

 

I peeled off the packing tape and unfolded the flaps, revealing a stack of old newspapers yellowed with age. I scooped them up in my arms, but I stumbled once I stood and bumped into a tower of cardboard.

 

Three boxes came down with a crash, the one that had been at the top busting open and shooting out photo albums. I sighed, setting the newspapers in their proper plastic container and made my way over to the mess I had created.

 

One thick photo album had fallen open and had pictures of woods in it. I furrowed my brow in curiosity, flopping down on the floor and pulling the heavy album onto my lap.

 

There was only one picture on each page, a series of letters and numbers scrawled in black ink beneath.

 

C6512185942 read the first, the woods dark and slightly eerie with a broken path running down the center.

 

The next picture had C6512185943 beneath it, only in this picture there was a foot stepping out from behind a tree.

 

I flipped the page, this time half a body was out. C6512185944.

 

C6512185945, a man stood in the path, his head turned the other way.

 

I flipped the page again. C651218946 showed him in mid turn towards wherever the camera was placed.

 

The next photo startled me, the man's blue-gray eyes contrasted severely with the surroundings. His hair was black and a snarl curled his lips in C6512185947.

 

I hastily turned the page.

 

In C6512185948 he was reaching for something at his side.

 

C6512185949, a gun was in his hand and he appeared to be laughing.

 

I turned another page.

 

C651218950, he pointed the gun at the camera.

C651218951 was nothing but black and white feedback.

 

My brows were pulled tightly as I clutched at the book, flipping to the next page and recognizing it as a newspaper clipping. The headline read Local Girl, Evalynn Ander, Goes Missing. It was dated September 5th, 2003. I blinked, remembering the uproar it had caused when it happened. Those things were unheard of in this town. Beneath it was a black and white photo of her smiling and under that an article, reading:

 

15 year-old Evalynn Ander, better known as Eva, was last seen on Friday, September 3rd at roughly 8 p.m. She was—

 

I stopped reading at the sound of footsteps approaching quickly, glancing up at the doorway.

 

“AJ?” called Leily, dashing towards the room. “I heard a crash! Is everything alright?” She stepped in, her eyes darting from the fallen boxes to me, to the album in my hands and back to me again. Her nostrils flared and her lips became a thin line.

 

“Yeah, it's fine,” I said, taking out my headphones. “I lost my balance is all.” I gestured towards the album I held.

 

“Hey Leily, what's with all of this? Did you know Eva or something?”

 

She glared at me, the skin around her knuckles white as she clenched her fists. “Where did you find that?” she bit out, her voice a harsh whisper.

 

I frowned slightly. “It fell open out of one of the boxes,” I said, cocking my head to the side. “Are you okay?”

 

In an instant, Leily was bent in front of me, snatching away the album and snapping it shut, clutching it beneath her arms as she glared at me. “Leave!” she screamed, startling me.

 

“But I haven't--“

 

“NOW!”

 

I jumped to my feet, grabbing my sweatshirt and scrambling out the door and down the stairs, followed by Leily with that album still in her grasp.

 

She followed me all the way out the front door where she slammed it in my face when I turned around to say something.

 

I blinked, standing dumbly on the porch. What on earth had just happened?

 

I turned around, frowning slightly at the area around me. Lucky for me, the rain had stopped a few hours ago and the sun was drying the wet that covered everything. I sighed lightly, folding my sweatshirt over my arm and pulling out my cell, finding that it was only 2:00 in the afternoon. I scoffed, shoving it back in my pocket and hurriedly made my way down the front steps.

 

I crossed the yard, moving back onto the hard gravel that mushed beneath my feet. There was a pile of roofing tiles over to the side of the road, right next to a black truck. My eyes widened before narrowing a second later. As if I needed to face him again today. I kept on walking, hoping that maybe I could make it to the long drive before he saw me.

 

But I guess God didn't like me that day.

 

“Well, if it isn't Amanda Joy!” called Chase from where he stood at the back of his truck, pulling off a pair of brown leather gloves.

 

I glared over at him. “It's AJ!” I yelled, never breaking stride.

 

“Aww, c'mon now,” he said, jogging up to me and falling into step next to me. “Can I not joke with you a little bit?”

 

I instantly stopped, eyeing him suspiciously. Hadn't he been sending me death glares since the moment he laid eyes on me? I stared at his smiling face, noticing the guarded look in his eyes and slightly clenched forms of his hands.

 

“No,” I said slowly, my eyes narrowing. “Are you bipolar or something?”

 

Chase chuckled softly, a deep and musical sound that infuriated me. “Why would you ask something as absurd as that?”

 

I blinked. “I think I'm going to go now.” I began making my way down the drive again, hearing him fall into step next to me.

 

“You aren't mad at me, are you?” he questioned.

 

“I hardly know you!” I said in an exasperated tone. “And yet, for some strange reason, you seem to feel the need to act like you hate me. You give me god-awful looks and then suddenly you decide that you want to tease me?”

 

He scowled. “What on earth are you talking about?”

 

I glared at him. “You're absolutely unbelievable, I hope you realize that.”

 

He rolled his eyes. “Well, I'm sorry I was not aware that I was giving you nasty looks.”

 

“Oh, yes, I'm sure you were quite unaware. Would you care to explain why it is that you're completely tensed up then?”

 

He didn't respond.

 

I shook my head. “Unbelievable,” I muttered. I picked up my pace, slowly fading into a steady run.

 

This time, he did not follow.

 

 

 

…How the misery begins