The Wind Blows

Dreams flutter behind my eyelids on a quiet November evening disturbed only by the whisk and whirr of the wind against the old house. How picturesque of a setting: curled up on the sofa warmed by the fire and a crime novel. I love Thursday evenings. Thursday signifies the near end of the week. It is a moment of calm and comfort before the busy entertainment of the weekend. I yawn and stretch, curling my toes in thick, green socks that I think goes nicely with my sweater. Now where was I before I started dozing... I muse as I scan the page. Ahh, the serial killer is observing his next victim. I continued reading until a sudden rush of wind disturbed the fire and scared the heck out of me. I jumped up, my book forgotten, and hurried to the tall glass windows that look out over my garden behind the house. Maybe they weren't closed tightly, I thought, pushing down on each. Now time for a snack I thought. "Sharon," I yelled upstairs to my cousin," do you want anything out of the kitchen. "How about an apple", she replied. After grabbing a couple of apples, I headed up the spiral wooden staircase. The hallway was lit up by the row of chandeliers sparking from the ceiling. The hallway is long and wide with four doorways to bedrooms on each side. Three were closed. "Sharon where are you?" I called. No answer. 1

"Sharon?" What is it this time, I sighed. Might as well play along and get it over with I thought. I opened the first door to my right. It was dark with sheets draped over the seldomly-used furniture. The next door was the third to my left. I jiggled the doorknob but it was locked. I opened the last door on the left slowly. Candlelight shadowed the walls and I heard a mocking laugh as a knife whizzed by my head and stabbed the wall behind me. 2

"Nice try, Sharon. Better work on that aim." 3

"Yeah,well you can't blame me for trying," she replied, laughing normally now. I opened the door completely and walked in. Black lace shrouded the lamps and canopy bed. Dark red candles dripped waxy blood into miniature black coffins. Pitchforks and knives hung from the walls as well as huge black and white paintings of people screaming in fear. A bookcase covered two of the walls. It held voodoo dolls and books on dark magic. Sharon, herself sat on the bed her face hidden in the folds of lace.  I shivered, " Ohh! why do you come in here? Daron's room always gives me the creeps." 4

"I come in here and think about him sometimes. I wonder about all this stuff. I want to know about it. It is part of him and I want to know everything about him, even his dark side." 5

"You aren't lying about his dark side. I expect the devil to walk in any moment now."6

"Our whole family is Christian, Bria, what happened to him?" I shrugged as I sat down beside her. "I just don't know, Sharon."7

"Come on, let's get out of here," Sharon said, pulling me out into the hallway. We went downstairs, munching on our apples.8