I pinprick almost the exact moment when I feel a hand grasp my necklace. Today has been a slow day, though it certainly doesn’t seem like that to my brain. It’s awake, more than half of my classmates were this morning.
I kick the person, yanking their hand off it. They still got it. Drats! I run down the pathway; one I’ve traveled many times. The boy is a blur, moving at what would seem to be the speed of light. How...never mind that, he must be one of the track kids, or something. Though I don’t know of any...oh well. I continue to chase him, though he seems to be not tiring, and, well, I’m...yeah. You can imagine.
The boy seems to have a raven on his shoulder...odd. Maybe he’s one of those oddball slackers...? Who knows. He takes a sharp right, and I almost fall.
“Hey! Give that back!” I try to say...only I don’t. The words come out in some language I’ve never spoken, in a voice not of my own. What the...? He drops the necklace almost immediately, though he continues to run. I grab the necklace, pocketing it as I continue to chase him. He can’t be going anywhere that far, we’re almost to the fields, by the old house...
See, that house has always had a reputation for being haunted. They say that an old woman lives there, one who feasts on squirrel gizzards and roaches. Everyone’s had that story passed down to them, it’s tradition. Though obviously it didn’t work on this kid, I guess. We run through the fields, and... I was right.
He runs directly into the old house, though I pause outside of it. It almost seems to have a new gleam, though it can’t. The house has been abandoned for centuries, right? No one goes in, no one comes out. Though he seems to go in... well, it’s worth a shot, I guess?
I go in. Only...there’s another door. A locked one, one that I don’t, and would likely never, have the key for. Well, I guess that solves that mystery...
“Girl! Girl, hello!”
I look up, around the sky, but there’s no one there. Only a bird, a bluebird. And birds can’t talk, so obviously I’m just hearing things. I set off, back through the fields, when I hear the voice again.
“Girl! Girl with the sweater! Girl that is the only girl in this field!” I look up again. There’s no one there. There can’t be...unless there’s someone in the house? That thief might be calling for me again. No, not today, Satan. I head back home, not worrying about that. Not when I have a test tomorrow.
The way home seems to change, though it might just be because I’ve never gone this way. The sky soon grows dark, and a surge of panic washes over me. I’m home alone tonight...and it’s dark...why? Why did this all have to happen today? I rush through the streets, thanking whoever might be out there that they were mostly empty. Our town was a quiet one, and for those reasons, I could stay out late.
Once I return home, however, that sense of panic does not yet leave me. There had been no one there, but there was that person yelling for me...I shake my head, just brushing it off as mind tricks. And the thing I did in the alleyway...my throat was just being weird. I brush it off, all of this just must be pure coincidence. Besides, I can’t let my mind wander, not when I have a test tomorrow, and a project due next week. No time for play while the cats are out, says my band teacher, constantly. It’s his way of trying to get us to practice, I guess.
I settle in front of the desk in the front room. It’s the quietest spot in the house, and while I don’t need to worry about that, it’s a habit. I study that night, desperately trying to knock everything out before tomorrow’s test.
In the end, it paid off, I suppose. The next day, though, there were two new girls.
The phone rang in homeroom the next morning, calling me up to the guidance counselor’s office. I hadn’t done anything, so I couldn’t tell why. But I went, not voicing my concerns. In the office, there were two girls, accompanied by the counselor. One, the shorter one, had black hair, and skin so pale she looked akin to a ghost...odd. She had a satchel, one I presumed to have books in it.
“Oh, Miss Jordan, you’re here,” our counselor spoke up. “Your job is to show these two girls around. I made sure to check, you’re all in the same classes.”
I nod. “Alright...I’m Everest Jordan, what’s your names?”
The other one, the taller one, speaks up. “I’m Caitlin Mullen, and she-”Caitlin poked the other girl-”Is Violet Jaq.”
Violet nods, and starts fiddling with something in her jacket pocket.
“Okay...well, come on. Trig starts soon, and you don’t want to be late.” The rest of the day is odd. The two follow me around, going to all my classes. They joined me at lunch in the library. But the odd thing was that they both seem entirely silent. Violet barely even looks at anyone, and she seems totally consumed in either her phone, a book, or some kind of project, it appears. Caitlin spoke a few words, introducing both them and their sister. The two seem almost as if conjoined at the hip, barely leaving each other's sides.
At the end of the day, though, I finally hear Violet speak.
"Everest?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you wanna come home with us? Our mother would be really quite pleased if she saw that we had already made friends, and she'd love to meet you."
I nod, and smile. " 'course. You guys seem really nice, actually..and I'm sure your mother is nice, as well. Sure, why not. My parent's won't be home for a while."
So I go with them. The walk is quiet, and solitary. It fits the siblings well, in my opinion. Though they do talk, it's in a language I vaguely recognize. Russian, maybe? We soon reach the house. My blood runs cold. It's the same house the boy led me to yesterday...I can't go there.
"Uh, is this a short cut, or something..?" I speak up, in a voice not quite my own.
Violet nods. "Uh, kind of?" Caitlin nods along, to agree with her. Well...it can't be too bad, I guess. We go through the fields, and the two race ahead of me. What is it with people and running in fields? Sure, it's Vermont, but...why? You always get to the same place, whether running or walking. I follow, nevertheless, running close behind.
The next time I look up, the world has changed. Gone is the dark, drab, dreariness of the house and fields before. Now, it's almost...magical. The sun is bright, the sky is clear. The two lead me into the house.
"Where are we? Did I die?" I trip over my words.
Caitlin laughs. "No, though that is often the thoughts of people. No, we're merely at our house."
"But-but this isn't where we were? Are you guys witches? Please don't hurt me or anything!" I panic, stumbling.
Just then, a woman comes out of the house. She's a redhead, seemingly smaller than even the children. "Marie! Lucia! I thought we agreed on 4. It's almost 5!" Her accent isn't one I've heard around these parts...maybe she's from some foreign country. And who is Marie and Lucia? She smiles once she sees me. "Oh, hello, dear. I'm Evelyn Jowkyn. You must be Everest Jordan."
I nod. "Yeah...uh, sorry to bother, Miss Jowkyn, but I should, uh, be getting home pretty soon."
She shakes her head. "No, you really don't need to. Your parents won't be home until eleven tonight, and your grandparents are currently in Europe. As well as you have no homework or studying to do, you have all the time in the world to spend with us here. Now, where should you like to go first? I'm sure these two have already told you everything you need to know." She looks at the two, who look down at their feet. "...they didn't tell you, did they?"
I shake my head. "No, ma'am, they didn't...uh, how'd you know that? If I'm allowed to ask, that is..."
"Oh, of course you're allowed to ask! You are apart of our little world now, ask whatever questions may come to your mind. Now, I knew that because dear little Marie-" She points to Violet-"And dear little Lucia-" She points to Caitlin- "Kept me updated throughout the day. Now, of course, you know them as Caitlin and Violet, but Violet is just a pseudonym of Marie's, and Caitlin is merely Lucia's middle name. If you should like to join us in the house, I shall be able to further explain."
Marie waves me into the house, almost as if ushering me inside. "C'mon, Everest, Mom's much better at explaining when she's in the menagerie. Plus, you can meet Calliope!"
Evelyn nods. "Yes, come along. Liam should have our coffee brewing."
And with that, I'm swept inside the house.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
