Fade: Chapter IV

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Chapter IV2

Melissa followed the hallway all the way back to a large oak door; it seemed larger and more sturdy than some of the other doors and had two large pictures on either side. She reached for the doorknob without looking at the pictures, and slowly turned it to her right. 3

The room seemed to be in almost worse disarray than Maggie’s room had been. There were aging stuffed animals on a tattered off-white bed and the Unicorn-print wallpaper was peeling off the walls in almost tentacle-like strips. A foul smell was emanating from something, but Melissa walked in anyhow . . . hoping to find someone. She stepped forward and closed the door behind herself, hoping it would stop her from hearing the small girl’s cries.4

The room was heavy with warm, sticky air, and the musky smell overpowered everything else. The blinds in the window were tightly closed even though the curtains had fallen down in a heap, but the room was still light enough to see in. Melissa walked forwards toward the tattered bed and then suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.5

Blood.6

The dusty white bed was covered in blood, saturated in it; seemingly fresh blood. It seemed to start in the middle and then flowered to the sides in a burst of dark crimson. Melissa was shocked and took several steps back; in the process she tripped in the darkness and knocked over several nicknacks and boxes.7

She turned back around after recovering from the stumble and noticed that the bed was perfectly fine now, aside from some dust and aged stains. I just . . . Melissa took a few steps toward the bed and stared at it. It was covered in blood . . . I saw it. Suddenly she remembered what Maggie had said about her father and how strange it had seemed. “Under the mattress where he hides all your toys.” She looked at the now perfectly white bed and decided to look under the mattress.8

She slipped her hands under the end and slowly lifted up, afraid of what she might find; using most of her strength she was able to shove the mattress off and onto the heap of curtains behind the bed. 9

“Penthouse?” Melissa said in a shocked tone, obviously expecting something more than dirty magazines. She pushed the magazines around as she looked for anything that might be worth finding when a strange piece of paper fell out of a copy of Hustler. 10

12-29-6-1211

“What’s that?” Melissa asked out loud. She had no clue what the small piece of note paper had been used for, but she decided to keep it simply because it looked like a phone number or something like that. She sighed as she continued to look around the room, obviously Maggie had been wrong when she thought her father had come home already. Melissa began to walk toward the door when her foot brushed up against a nicknack she had knocked over earlier. She bent down to pick up the toy when she heard the unmistakable sound of glass being shattered. 12

Melissa quickly stepped back and saw that she had stepped right on top of a small framed photograph. She knelt down and looked at the picture, trying to make out its subjects in the dim light. The picture was of two little girls, one with blonde hair and one with black. Behind them were what Melissa assumed to be their parents, and behind them stood a large church that she recognized from the neighborhood. That little girl . . . She thought, looking at the blonde girl. It looks like Maggie. Melissa picked up the photo from under the broke frame and turned it around.13

Maggie 9, Melissa 10.14

Melissa swallowed nervously. Was that picture really implying that she was Maggie’s sister? She shook her head, even if the girl’s name was Melissa . . . it surely wasn’t her. She placed the picture back on the broken frame and then looked around the other nicknacks and toys. Under the frame was a small pink bulletin paper.15

Church family picnic, Sunday 17th! Everyone is invited, bring your kids and your friends along for a day or worship and fun. 16

11:00—3:45pm at Silkwood Baptist Church on 59 Acre Street, feel free to bring snacks or dishes for the picnic!17

That must be when that was taken . . . Melissa thought as she glanced back at the picture. It seemed so odd, and for some reason it made Melissa angry. She stood up and walked out of the room, tightly shutting the door behind herself.18

She had to talk with someone; she had to find out just what was going on. She walked down the hall and noticed that everything was quiet, even the sound of Maggie crying had ceased. Melissa walked toward the room she had been in earlier and peeked her head in, Maggie was no wear to be seen.19

The room seemed exactly as it had been, although Melissa noticed that the bed sheets had been pushed around as if Maggie had tried to sleep in them. “Maggie?” she called, hoping the little girl would answer; she didn’t. Melissa knelt down and peered under the bed again, this time she didn’t even see a cobweb much less a little girl. She stood up and glanced around the room until the child’s closet caught her eye.20

Melissa walked over to the closet and peered in through the slotted door’s openings. “Maggie?” she called, again no one answered. She pulled the door open which sent a flurry of dust and dirty throughout the room; Melissa sneezed in spite of attempts to stifle it. As the dust settled she dropped to her knees again and looked through the closet, she found nothing but a few dresses shoes. On the floor however, was a strange doll which caught her eye. It had button eyes–one was undoubtedly bigger than the other–and shaggy black hair. 21

Melissa picked the doll up and looked at it, for some reason it gave her comfort. It was old and poorly made, but had a strange appeal to it. She turned it over and noticed something was written on its foot.22

Maggie Thatcher23

“It . . . can’t be . . . ” Melissa said as she clutched the doll to her chest. “Where am I?” she actually began to cry as the confusing world around her became too much to bare. The dark room seemed to sense her pain as the ripped wallpaper slowly peeled itself further from the yellow-stained walls. Something was wrong and Melissa couldn’t deny it any longer, there was something wrong with the house. 24

Melissa got up and took a deep breath. She looked down at the doll, Maggie’s doll, and decided to take it with her for some reason . . . mostly for comfort. She took another look around the dilapidating room and decided the only way to know what exactly was going on would be to get out of the house. She had to get home. She walked out the doors and down the aging steps, hearing their now familiar wails and moans; when she landed on the final step however, she heard a guttural moan that definitely did not come from the staircase. It came from outside.25