CHAPTER 23
Under the faint moonlight, Jimmy and Eddie stood at the foot of a staircase that led to the front porch of a big, white mansion. The mansion with the same roof and American flag. It took the pair an hour and a half of walking through dense grass and trudging through a foot of snow to reach their destination. The mansion in question was a simple one by their first impressions. The frame of the mansion was rectangular except for the domed roof. A set of decoratively carved wooden doors was installed perfectly center of the front wall. The all Seeing Eye was engraved into each door with vertical lines that ran behind the odd symbol. Four windows on each side of the doors were perfectly spaced out and split between the first and second floors.
Jimmy and Eddie stood in awe; a house like this was very odd to see out in the forest, especially one that was deep in the mountains of Utah. However, the once grand estate appeared to be long forgotten. Nature was taking it's course on the property. Vines climbed up the walls and constricted the columns around the main entrance, the walls were losing it's pristine white color in exchange for an eggshell color, and the wireframe of the dome was, in many places, exposed and rusted. Overall, the house was exceedingly seedy.
An especially creepy feeling emanated from the house. A feeling that made Edie sick to his stomach and caused Jimmy's mind to tingle with suspicion. His danger radar was like a monkey jumping up and down, screaming and screeching at the top of it's lungs. So noticeable and chaotic, that it was alarming.
The two looked at each other, exchanging looks of anxiety and fear, and then returning their gaze up at the haunting building.
Eddie shrugged and looked back down at the snowy ground, digging his foot into the snow. "Oh, what the hell." Eddie said, depositing his hands into the pockets of his khakis and stumbling towards the stairs. He quickly became encompassed by the shadow cast by the third floor balcony. The balcony was a crescent shaped and curved outwards in the middle. Eddie continued to stroll up the stairs until he noticed something hanging above his head.
Hanging off the railing above him, there were several threaded metal bars that seemed to be flexible because they slightly bent as the brisk winter wind blew. With his mouth agape, Eddie backed down the stairs and back to Jimmy's side.
"Well..." Jimmy said with a sharp exhale. "That's not creepy at all. Definitely normal." said Jimmy as he started up the stairs before stopping and waving for Eddie to follow. "It's time to stop being afraid, right?" he said with a smile.
Eddie stood his ground, with a weird look on his face. He was so on edge that he became suspicious of his best friend.
Jimmy returned his oddball look with a more dramatic and mocking look to mimic his face, then flashing a Cheshire grin. "Yes, Sensei?" he said mockingly, Eddie's suspicious look retained. "Oh yes, I heard that mantra of yours. And allow me let you in on mine," Jimmy leaned towards Eddie almost falling off the step; he put a hand to the side as if he were about to disclose a confidential piece of information. "I heard that after I hung out to see if anyone would follow. And honestly, I wasn't about to go out there by myself." he said in a raspy and barely audible whisper, before removing his hand and mouthing. "Eff. That." He rolled his eyes and continued to stroll up the stairs, turning a blind eye to the metal rods hanging above.
Eddie ran to catch up with Jimmy. Jimmy, despite looking and acting cool and contained, was walking unusually fast. Eddie barely managed to keep up. The two approached the chocolate colored doors with the all seeing eye carved into them.
Eddie looked at Jimmy; both of them were standing at the front door. "So, knock?" asked Eddie, he was really unsure of what to do or expect. While Jimmy's mind forced him to unwillingly and unwontedly ran through all of the worst possibilities and things that could've been lurking behind those intricate doors.
Jimmy scoffed and chuckled. "No." he said dismissively, cracking his knuckles. He backed up a bit and shoulder charged the door, knocking it off it's hinges. He looked back, flashing another impossibly wide Cheshire grin. "That's not necessary." Jimmy turned to the side and motioned Eddie in, like an usher in a really fancy movie theater.
"Guess not." said Eddie, impressed, as he walked into the house. The inside was largely dark, the only sources of light were the small bars of light that appeared on the floor through the tightly closed blinds. The atmosphere was dusty and hauntingly in disorder, only their footsteps seemed to linger in the air before fading out. The air smelled of dust and Jimmy's grandparents' house.
The two cautiously stalked on the light colored hardwood floor while bouncing and homing their flashlights on various features of the foyer. The foyer was, by no means, a big one; it was shaped like the state of Utah. There was the main area that was decorated with a rug designed after Britain's flag, a short and narrow hallway that led to an adjacent room, to the right of said hallway was a staircase that turned left after a landing that was placed about four steps up. The staircase was the same light hardwood that the poor was, a royal red rush ran down the middle of the staircase and landing; it created a beautiful and regal contrast against the baby blue colored walls. On the wall adjacent to eh staircase, an arch opening led into what appeared to be a waiting room.
"Suave..." whispered Jimmy to himself, scanning the light blue walls that seemed to emanate an almost drug like feeling of calmness and serenity. As he scanned the walls, the walls were pretty plain until he noticed a painted portrait framed in a golden frame that glimmered in the light of a pair of small lamps that shone down on the painting. It was a portrait of an extremely light complexioned man, who's skin was like that of an expensive porcelain doll with blushed cheeks and all. The man in the painting was wearing a powdered wig and a furry white collar with black spots around his neck that was clasped by an oversized, blue bow. Then it struck him, he face palmed himself in his head for not figuring it out sooner, and it was King Henry the Third. The same infamous British monarch who oppressed colonial America and controlled it with an iron grip, only to lose it by way of an unprecedented and star spangled revolution.
Beneath the portrait of the tyrannical king was a small table made of significantly darker wood that was ornate and intricately decorated with carved swirls. The small table was standing on four legs that were fashioned as swirls. On top of the table there were three red candles that were mysteriously lit. This was an immediate and apparent error in Jimmy's head, he wondered why the candles were lit, and to make the case more suspicious, the candles were far from being done burning. The three candles held an ominous light to the portrait, making it creepier than it needed to be.
Jimmy's eyes widened as red flags immediately started popping up immediately in his head like his mind was a mini East Germany. And to think that it couldn't get more disturbing was horribly wrong and misguided.
The candles were placed on golden plates that matched the frame of the portrait. But amongst the gold, Jimmy was a glint of silver. Jimmy put down his rifle and picked up the silver object. It was a quarter; just an average quarter, that's it. That is, before he turned it over. On the head side' George Washington's head was scratched out, leaving just an area of uneven mounds of copper.
Jimmy put down the quarter and started turning over multiple quarters, all with the same scarred face. There were six quarters in each of the plates. He gathered them up and showed Eddie, who was equally disturbed as Jimmy was. Both of them knew that their little midnight venture in that house was about to get much more interesting... and they were only in the foyer.
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