He brought the mug to his lips and took a sip. Tiny black woodbugs fell from his lips, spilling onto the table where they squirmed. “You don’t want to go through that door,” he said. “I was brought there once.” He wiped his lips with his pajama sleeve, leaving the bodies of insects behind. He looked like he wanted to continue but he shut his mouth.
This had to be a dream. This couldn’t be happening. Nothing was making any sense at all and the longer we stood in that kitchen, talking to a little boy in a house full of dust, the more the outside world seemed to darken beyond the blinds.
This isn’t a house, I thought to myself. This is nowhere. This is where we were led.
The boy smiled at me. “I can hear your thoughts, you know.” He said this with pride and a wicked look came over his empty eyes. “You are opening the door wider, just by being here. That’s what he told me.”
“What who told you?” Ada asked.
“The man in the suit,” he said simply. “The more you stay, the wider the door gets. He says you need to stay here with me.”
“What is your name?” my mother asked in a harsh voice.
He turned the mug so we could read it. “Michael,” he said, pointing at the name on the mug. “My brother is upstairs. We’ve been waiting for him for a long time to come home.”
“Why?” I whispered. I found myself clutching onto my mother’s arm with my good hand.
Little Michael smiled at me. “Do you want me to show you?” He looked past me at Ada and my mother. “You’ll have to come too. Then I’ll show you how to get out.”
I wanted to find Dex and Maximus. I wanted a way for Ada and my mom to leave. We really didn’t have a choice.
“Okay,” I said. “Can you promise no harm will come to any of us, including Dex?”
Despite his eyes, he looked crestfallen. “I would never hurt my brother. I wouldn’t hurt any of you either.” He got out of his chair and started toward the hallway. He said over his shoulder. “But the man in the suit…” He raised his finger to his lips. “Stay quiet so he won’t know you’re here.”
But the man in the suit already knew we were here. That was the man in the living room. And when we crept down the darkened hallway, my eyes were drawn to the painting on the wall. What used to be a watercolor of people sitting around and talking and eating was now a scene of utter destruction, dismembered bodies being engulfed by flames. I could almost hear their screams and feel the heat of the fire.
There was a laugh from the living room and I could just see someone long legs as they sat in a chair, the wall blocking me from the sight of their body. A glass of scotch was on the table beside them. Silent night was humming softly from the speakers while the fireplace was now lit. The perfect scene on a cold winter’s night. Even though I knew I would see a cloven hoof if he reached for his scotch, and then maybe a face of unimaginable horror, I couldn’t do anything but stare.
But little Michael reached for my hand, tugging it, his finger still at his lips. His eyes implored me to follow him and to not go into living room.
He led us up the stairs, his ice cold hand in mind, and down the darkened hallway. All the doors we passed were closed and I couldn’t help but wonder which one Dex was in. Everything was so quiet, so, so quiet, that it was hard to imagine anyone being up here at all. But both Dex and Maximus had to be, unless the both escaped the way Michael was about to show us.
At the end of the hallway there was one door open and I got the impression that the inside of the house was a lot larger and longer than it should have been, as if it was existing in its own dimension.
“In here,” Michael whispered and pointed inside his room. We stepped in. There was a small lamp lit in the corner, casting the room in shadow. There were trophies and ribbons and pictures of cars and trucks on the walls. There was also a window that was slightly ajar, showcasing the brick wall of the neighbor’s house.
I walked right over to it and was shocked to see that it was now dark outside. In the span of an hour it had gone from eleven AM to eleven PM. That couldn’t be right. But regardless of how time was spinning, there was a little ladder hanging outside of the window. Either Michael had an escape route growing up or it was put here just for us.
I turned to say something to my mother and sister but just saw Michael leaving the room, closing it behind him. He never looked back at us.
“Mom,” I whispered, turning to her. “Call dad.”
She nodded and brought out her phone. The three of us huddled by the window while she tried to dial.
Ada was staring at me with a blank look in her eyes. “I’m dreaming, right? Totally dreams. Totes.”
My brows furrowed in sympathy. “I wish we were. All I know is this isn’t a house and you guys need to get out of here right now.”
“Damn,” my mother swore, hanging up the phone. “No service at all. No nothing. The phone doesn’t even work.”
We quickly tried Ada’s and mine but the same thing happened. They were useless electronics.
There was a polite knock at the door and a shadow spilling out from under the frame. It looked far too large to be little Michael’s. Shadowy fingers trailed down my spine.
I turned back to Ada and my mom, making sure they were looking at me. “Listen, you have to go now. I’ll hold the ladder and make sure it’s steady. But I don’t think the kid was joking when he said this was the only way out. We don’t know what’s downstairs but I know we all know it’s not of this world.” I made sure to look at my mother long and hard. “Mom, I know you see it. I know you can’t explain this away, so don’t even try.”
To my surprise her eyes started watering, from sadness or from fear I didn’t know. I had forgotten how terrifying all of this could be if you weren’t used to. Hell, I had never been in a situation like this before. Ghosts I could handle, but this was something so beyond my understanding that I didn’t even know how to combat it or if it was even possible. It was larger, and deadlier, than anything I’d known.
She sniffed and it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen my mother cry in a long time. With a thin, shaking hand she wiped away a tear and said. “I’m sorry, Perry. For everything.”
Oh, and now she was going to make me cry. Of all moments, she was choosing this one.
“Mom, it’s okay,” I said, my eyes imploring her to stay calm and focused. “I just need you to leave and go find dad. Bring help, bring someone, but you have to get out of here and now.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you,” she said, her voice cracking, more tears spilling down her cheek. In the shadows of the room they looked like they were rivers carving out her skin. “More than that, I am so sorry I didn’t believe my mother.”
I softened, feeling a pain in my gut. Pippa.
“I wish she was here right now,” she whispered. “I would tell her so many things. I keep waiting for her to show up but she hasn’t.”
“I know,” I said gently, rubbing her back with the butt of my palm. “I do too. But I think she’s gone to a better place. It’s what she wanted and what we wanted for her.”
The knock resounded again on the door. I didn’t want to turn around and look. It was far too solid and coming from a higher place on the door for it to be Michael.
At least, not Michael as a kid.
“Guys,” Ada said. “Seriously, let’s go.”
I nodded and ushered them to the window. Ada pushed up the bottom with ease and it rose soundlessly. Even though the roped ladder was attached to two solid hooks, I still held the end while Ada climbed over the edge.
“Take care of mom, okay?” I whispered to her.
She nodded and looked down beneath her. It wasn’t a far drop and unlike the garbage cans under another window, there was nothing beneath us but the brick path between this house and the neighbours. “You’re coming right after, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “Hell yes I am. As soon as I get Dex and Maximus, we’ll be right behind you.”
Ada raised her brow, as if she didn’t believe me. Or maybe it wasn’t that, it was that it seemed impossible at this point. Then she dropped the five feet to the ground, landing on her two feet with ease.
“You’re next,” I whispered urgently to my mom.