- One -
I stood in the frame of the window, using the broken hole where a ball once shattered the glass, to listen to the group outside. When I spent all my days here, I had to get creative. Eavesdropping was not excluded from my list of interests.
“Here they say the legend happened over a hundred years ago,” the short man said. He was short compared to his friends, a male and a female who were much taller than he.
“It’s a legend for a reason,” the other guy replied. “A legend meant to stay buried.”
The girl shrugged her shoulders, moving her gaze between both of them. “What if this legend wants us to know the truth? Maybe they got it wrong. Ever play Telephone? The words get passed on so many times that eventually the original message is lost. It happened a century ago and I can guarantee that somewhere along the way, that legend was twisted around based on who heard it and how it was told.”
“She’s right. What part of the legend do you think was mixed up?” the short man asked them.
“Depends on how the legend goes,” she said.
The short man sat and leaned back. “Let me remind you of what we are here to prove.”
His friends began listening to the stories and fables told to outsiders.
“And just when life was looking up, her father cut off her head and she fell to the floor that consumed her fate,” he finished with the story.
The girl walked up to the porch. “Alright, now we are ready to explore. Ready?” She looked at back the boys. “Carlos? Ethan?”
“Coming,” they said in unison as they followed her into the house.
The house was still standing after a century but it was not in any kind of inhabitable condition. The living room was filled with dust bunnies and cobwebs just as every other area was, too.
Wood was rotting and split, waiting for just the right moment to give someone the splinter of a lifetime. The electricity and plumbing had been cut off long before these adults were even a concept.
“What do you guys think?” Carlos or Ethan asked. I couldn’t tell who was who yet. I sat at the top of the stairs, keeping an eye on these poor souls. They had no idea what they were getting into.
“I think it’s a boring old house and we just wasted our time,” the tall guy told them.
The girl patted his shoulder. “That is why we explore every inch of this house. There is more than one room. Besides, this is a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Legends aren’t made out of thin air. They come from some kind of truth.”
He looked back at her and put his hands in his pocket. “Alright, Mila, you win. We’ll go check out the creepy basement.”
“Found it!” the other guy yelled.
They went into the kitchen and stopped. All eyes were focused on the wooden door with too many locks on it.
“What do you think happened down there?” Mila asked them.
The tall guy shrugged. “I don’t want to find out. Creepy basements are never a good place to go.”
“Ethan, stop being a wimp. You just said we should find the basement and I did. We have to explore. We are here to make or break a legend and there’s no turning back,” the man who I assumed to be Carlos said.
Mila crossed her arms. “Fine, Ethan, you can stay up here.”
He nodded. “Good, I’ll keep a lookout.”
Carlos unlocked the first bolt, the sound echoing throughout the house. Jumping off the stairs, I rushed into the kitchen and gripped the counter. “Do not open that door.”
Everyone faced me and swallowed their surprise.
Carlos was the only one brave enough to speak. “Who the hell are you?”
“You’d never believe me if I told you.” I took a deep breath.
He folded his arms and tried to stand up tall but he was barely taller than I was. “Try me.”
My eyes darted between the group and the door. I was always the one protecting them from the monster in that basement. “Elena Winchester.”
Mila looked at Carlos, waiting for his reaction.
His eyebrow shot up. “Yeah, and I’m Elvis Presley. How long have you been spying on us, kid?”
I fixed my posture before answering. “I’m a lot older than you are. You asked me a question and I answered with honesty. I apologize if that wasn’t the answer you wanted but it’s the one you get.”
Ethan chuckled. “Damn, she is savage.”
“Pardon? I don’t believe that is what that word means.” I turned my attention to Ethan.
“Savage? It’s another way of saying you’re sassy. You’re feisty. You’re telling Carlos like it is.” He glanced at his friend.
I furrowed my brows. “Savage. Is that the slang for kids now?”
Mila narrowed her eyes at me and stepped closer, reaching for my arm. She failed as her hand passed through the soul of what I once was. She gasped and stepped back, covering her mouth. “You...”
“...don’t lie about who I am? That is correct. I don’t. When I told you who I was, I was telling the truth.” I smiled a little. “I’m not proud of the name but we don’t choose where we come from. I’m a Winchester.”
Carlos came closer, inspecting me. “Elena Winchester, huh? The original family to live here?”
“In a way, if you want to say that.” I smoothed out my dress.
Ethan watched me with curious intentions. “Is it true? Did your father murder you?”
“Father? Heavens, no. My fiance’s boss murdered me. The daughter he killed was Maria. She was his only child. I was like a mother to her.” I remembered the way her hair blew behind her while she ran away from me in laughter. I tickled her until she couldn’t breathe, and together we had laid in the field under the sunshine. I’d loved her with everything I had.
