There was a slight pain in my head and when I sat up I felt really dizzy. The room was dark and when I looked out the small window the sun had already set. I had no clue of the time since I had no watch and my phone was discharged. I got up slowly and fumbled for a light switch. My hand pressed a button ad immediately the room was flooded with yellow light. The room was spacious with a mattress, cupboard and a small washroom. I walked to the door opposite the bathroom and opened it. Thankfully it was not locked.
At the end of the corridor, there was a staircase. It was like the old staircases with huge steps. It was covered in dust. When I was half way down the step I was standing on made a creaking sound. I hurriedly went onto the next step, just in time too, as the wood in the middle gave way and left a gaping hole in its place.
There was a light shining at the end of the hall. I heard the sound of a door closing and when I cautiously stepped in I saw it was a kitchen and there was a young lady maybe in her early twenties, making a sandwich.
“Oh you’re awake. How are you feeling now?” She asked me.
“I…um…I don’t remember what happened to me.” I said hesitantly.
“Yes, when I found you, there was a big branch lying beside you and you were knocked out cold.” She explained.
“That’s why you have a nasty bruise there.” She handed me an ice pack.
Fuzzy bits and pieces were coming back to me now. I remember telling my mum that I was going for a walk. I had wandered quite far and there was a strong gale blowing. A branch had fallen on my head knocking me out. My gaze wandered to the tiled floor and with a jolt I realised that she didn’t have a shadow. Now it wasn’t that there wasn’t enough lighting. The kitchen was well lit. I couldn’t resist so I went for it.
“Why don’t you have a shadow?”
She froze and there was a tense silence that surrounded us. Suddenly I regretted asking anything.
“Are you hungry?” she asked he tone crisp as though she was trying to control herself.
“Yeah….”
“Good thing I already made a sandwich then isn’t it?” She whirled around so fast I couldn’t keep up and thrust the plate in my hands, I barely held onto it. She picked up her own plate and when she turned back around we made eye contact for two seconds. Her eyes were pitch black. I shivered at the coldness in them.
She led the way to the hall and to the table. It was covered in dust. Like the rest of things in the house.
There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and it was broken in some places.
“Where am I?” I asked her.
“At the haunted house of the village” She said simply.
“Wait what?! Are you serious?!” I nearly choked on my sandwich, it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen it ever before, but only from the outside.
“What’s the time?”
“Around five in the morning.” She answered.
“Well I got to go…” I was frightened now! And oh my god my parents! They must be freaking out by now. She suddenly reached across to grab my hand. It was ice cold. Her dark eyes seemed like they could see into my soul. “Listen,” she whispered in icy tones.
“No one can know about me and no one should know what happened here, okay?” I gulped and nodded my head too scared to say a word.
She seemed unearthly in the yellow light. I turned one last time before I left but she had already vanished and the sandwich on her plate lay uneaten.
forteofwords 