Silent Possession (1)

The door opened silently, illuminating a path through the dark room with light from the hall. 1

“Melinda?” a deep voice whispered into the shadows. The mass that lay atop the bed, covered with cotton sheets, rustled and stretched out. A girl’s head of black hair sprouted from the top of the sheet, accompanied by two thin, pale arms. A stifled yawn escaped her heart-shaped mouth, and her black eyes fluttered open.2

“Harry?” she asked, rubbing at her eyes with the palm of one of her delicate hands. “Harry, is that you?”3

“Don’t worry about who it is, Melinda,” the voice came again, changed. It was no longer the deep quasi-baritone it was before; now it sounded vaguely female. The light glinted off of an object in the hands of the walking shadow. Melinda glared, trying to see who had awakened her, though it was to no avail. The light was behind them and their face was nothing but ebony. The uncharacteristically small hand raised the object – Melinda now realized that it was a knife, resembling one from the set in her kitchen – and brought it down with a quick, sharp accuracy.4

Jessica sat straight up in bed, covered in a cold sweat. 'What was that all about?' she asked herself. She glanced over at her alarm clock. The blue numbers glared '3:13 A.M.' Jessica groaned and fell back on her pillow. She closed her eyes tight, willing herself to go back to sleep. Just as she was drifting back into unconsciousness, Jessica’s door creaked open nearly halfway, letting the light filter in from the hall. Jessica opened one eye, then the other, in a sort of frown. Without warning, the door slammed shut and Jessica yelped, burying herself in her blankets and waiting for the first tendrils of sunlight to drift through her window.5

“Sleep well, Jessica?” Charon asked as Jessica stumbled into the kitchen. Jessica looked at her aunt with a slight contempt in her hazel eyes. Charon noticed two slight dark spots beneath her niece’s eyes and frowned. “What’s wrong?”6

'What isn’t wrong?' Jessica thought. Aloud, she replied, “Nothing; I had a bad dream last night.” 'And my door opened and slammed without any cause,' she added silently.7

“Oh,” Charon replied, turning her attentions back to the task of making breakfast. “We need to get started with the unpacking. I’ll call the school today and set up an appointment for you to get registered and stuff.” She gathered the remaining bacon from her iron skillet and dumped it onto a napkin-covered plate. “Bacon?” she asked, bringing the platter to the small bar that currently served as a table. Jessica shrugged and grabbed a few pieces.8

“Do we have any orange juice?” she asked. Charon shook her head and pulled the refrigerator open, retrieving a half-gallon of white milk. “That’ll work.” The duo spent the next half-hour eating bacon and drinking milk, admiring the unique layout of the rooms they could see from their seats.9

“Do you have the box of figurines that went in my bathroom?” Charon yelled from upstairs. Jessica put down the decorative plates she’d been unwrapping and glanced at the boxes surrounding her. Plates, plates, she thought as she read the labels.10

“No!” Jessica shouted, turning back to her task. Jessica nearly jumped back as she saw that the glossy blue ceramic had been completely exposed, the newspaper wrapping cast in a crumpled heap next to the platter. A small piece of yellowed paper lay face up on the floor with a sort of picture scrawled on it. Jessica frowned and leaned down to take a look. The picture image scrambled and rearranged itself in Jessica’s mind and she fell to her knees, unconscious.11