The Old House

Alana had only been in her new place a matter of hours, everything she owned was still in boxes scattered through the house in each appropriate room. Her twelve year marriage had been destroyed by abuse and alcohol and she was looking for a new start away from her abuser. She had spent most of the day carrying in the few boxes that contained everything she owned. She placed the boxes that contained what was left of her past life, still packed, on the floor of the various rooms. Thankfully there were no children to contend with, and only she had endured the abuse for way too long.

The day had been long and tiring and she wasted no time slipping into the world of slumber as soon as her head hit the pillow. She had slept soundly through the night and woke refreshed, although feeling a bit strange. When she glanced at the bedroom door, it was wide open. She distinctively remembered she had closed it before she went to sleep. She was a little uneasy in a new place and she had deliberately closed the door to feel more secure, although she wasn’t feeling all that secure at the moment. She wasn’t sure what the reason was that it was wide open. She assumed that the door handle mechanism may be faulty and require some maintenance.

She had placed empty boxes in the bedroom but they were nowhere to be seen. She did notice her closet door was wide open and all of her clothes were hanging neatly in there. She opened a drawer in her dresser and found night clothes and underwear neatly folded. She felt a little creeped out about someone handling her underwear, she only knew she hadn’t put them away.

She had been so tired and slept so soundly, she worried that someone had come into her house while she was sleeping. Maybe Luke had followed her, although she knew he couldn’t have, not in his condition.

She got up and wandered into the kitchen knowing there would be boxes she would have to navigate around when she got there, but when she entered the room she noticed a stack of empty boxes placed in the corner and her coffeemaker out and on the counter, with coffee brewing. She looked at all of the doors and windows for signs of someone breaking in but there was nothing that showed up. All of the latches, doors and windows were secure. When she opened what was supposed to be an empty cabinet she discovered her dishes and serving bowls all neatly placed on the shelves.

She was completely confused and not totally awake yet. She carried all of the now empty boxes out to the trash dumpster and would have come back in to start work in her bedroom, putting away her clothes, but someone had already done that. But when she tried to get back into the house the door was closed and locked.

She had unlocked the door to get out with the boxes and left the door open because she knew she was coming back. Was something wrong with the door or was she just getting forgetful? She knew there were always explanations for things that happen and she would find that explanation. She was lucky, she had a key in her pocket and was able to get back in and she made a note to keep a key with her until she found out what was wrong with the door.

She felt jittery with all of the unusual things that had happened, but thought some coffee might help her get awake. She thought her mind was just fuzzy from being overtired. Alana assumed she must have put away the dishes and forgotten with all of the stress she had been under. She worked hard that day and then ran a hot bath to soak in some bubbles for a while.

Right after she had settled into the tub, she remembered she had forgotten to get a towel from the linen closet she had just unloaded from a box earlier. She decided she would have to traipse across the floor dripping wet, like she had done many times in the past at other homes. When she glanced up at a towel holder by the door she noticed a towel neatly hanging there. She didn’t put it there, or did she? She had just unloaded that box of towels and there was no way it could have already been there. It certainly had to be one of those she had just taken from the packed box.

She started questioning her sanity. Impossible things were happening, at least impossible in her world. Her bath water had cooled and she lost her desire to stay in it. She was somewhat shaken and needed some normal for a few minutes. She stood up and reached for the towel and quickly wrapped it around her. The appearance of the towel made her uneasy and she again made the rounds of doors and windows to ensure they hadn’t been breached. She even climbed up through the attic entrance with a bright flashlight to have a look around. Nothing was there except some old scrap boxes left by the previous owners. There were a few papers and some old books she would have to take a look at later but she had a lot to do and exploration of the house would have to wait..

She worked diligently the rest of the day cleaning and organizing things. The dishes had been put on the shelf in a manner consistent with the way she would have done it, which made her think she had been sleepwalking or sleep working in this case. That didn’t explain the towel but she was certain she would figure out an answer for how it was hung up while she was in the tub. It had been a long day but she got a lot of things cleaned and organized. When she went to clean the coffee pot, it had already been cleaned and her dishes from a quick breakfast had been put away, including the coffee cup that had been waiting for her when she got up that morning.

The sun was officially down and the warm yellow glow from tungsten bulbs filled each room, until she had a chance to go through and turn off the ones she wasn’t using. She came back into her bedroom to get ready to call it a night, then she noticed a glow of light coming from a room she had just turned out the lights in. “Damn”, she thought, “I guess I will have to call an electrician tomorrow and see if we can get him out here. She thought, “I will try it again.” She flipped the switch one more time and it went out, she was completely sure of that this time. She turned and deliberately walked back to her bedroom but couldn’t help but notice the glow that came from behind her and the shadow it cast out front.

She made it inside her bedroom and quickly shut the door behind her, locking it as soon as it was firmly in place. She scooted the long dresser that was on the wall by the door, right in front of the bedroom door, she hoped for added security. Alana had never lived alone in her entire life. She started in the home of her parents, and then she married at only nineteen and lived in the home of her husband, in the house he had inherited from his parents. When his parents died, Luke changed for the worse. He had been close with his father and took his father’s passing hard. Everything in their life changed at that moment and the drinking started right after.

Alana put on her pajamas and decided she would read for a while before falling asleep. She had a good selection of books but decided against the Mystery-Horror novels for the moment and would read a light romance novel instead. The thoughts about the things that had happened in the old house kept her on edge and she wasn’t sure how much rest she would get that evening.

She would read a page in her book and then hear a creaky sound out in the hallway. It wasn’t the creaky sounds you hear from the wind blowing, but more like actual footsteps walking one after the other. She had no plans to go out and investigate but she did have the 9mm pistol her dad had left her when he died. She kept it on her nightstand and she would use it if she had to. No one had a reason to be in her house. Her reasoning was that someone coming into her bedroom door would have to scoot the dresser away and she would hear that and wake up. She was so tired that she fell asleep in spite of her fears.

The next morning came and the sunlight shining through the window woke her. The book she was reading lay upside down on the floor and the pistol she had on the nightstand was still there, except the clip was pulled out and the shells removed and laying beside the gun. That was a shock and when she looked at her bedroom door, the dresser was still there blocking the path. She got up, moved the dresser out of the way and carefully walked down the hallway to another bedroom. When she got there, she saw the boxes she had placed in there all emptied and the items put on shelves or on tables and all of the empty boxes were stacked neatly in the corner. She didn’t need the additional room as a bedroom and was planning on making it a study or office.

Alana had no idea what was going on in this house, perhaps she had just been under so much stress with the approaching divorce her mind was slipping. Maybe she was sleepwalking and working on the house while still sleeping. At least things were getting done and she could mark those jobs off of her to do list. She went to the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee, but it was already brewing. She could see no use in looking at all of the doors and windows again, since she had done that the day before. She poured a cup of the fresh brewed liquid and took a seat at the table to sit and plan her day. The living room was the only room left and all of the boxes she had set in there hadn’t been touched. She made a mental note that she had never seen or heard any unusual things happen in that room.

The old house had been just what she was looking for. It was a roof over her head at a price she could afford. She had a job that didn’t pay very much and most of the other places she found were at least twice as much. The appliances were old, but they worked and the house had plenty of space; she would put the attic space to use soon. It was her next plan, to put the boxes of keepsakes she had accumulated out of sight but still available. It was a perfect space. It was advertised as another room, but since she only had herself she didn’t need it for a room. The old house had been part of a master plan to get out of a bad situation.

Her husband had gone on a long drinking binge and lost yet another job. Her salary couldn’t pay the utilities on the house he had inherited and they shared as a married couple. Alana was tired of being slapped around when she came in from work and finally executed the plan, the one she had worked out so many times in her head. She had bought this house by phone and used the only credit card they had left for a payment of earnest money for the owner to hold it. She was sure she would be gone before the bill came due. Instead of paying the bills on the house she shared with her husband, she decided it was time to use that money to extract her freedom.

She was counting on him coming home drunk and he didn’t let her down. He had staggered through the front door and she knew she could dodge him easily, she doubted he could focus enough to even see her. He collapsed on the bed and she managed to get his feet moved up on the end of the bed. He was dead to the world, but she couldn’t take any chances of him following her, so she took out the rope she had been hiding in the top of her closet and tied his hands to the headboard and legs to the foot of the bed, spread apart. If anyone found him they would just assume he was drunk and got involved with some rough sex play that got out of hand. She figured he would wake up needing to pee but unable to get out of bed. She grinned momentarily but she had too much work to do to spend time gloating on what she had managed to do to him.

She had bags packed for days and hidden in the front room closet, just waiting for the opportunity. She dragged them out onto the driveway, until she got the hatch open on her old Gremlin that had as many miles on it as she had on herself. It was loud when she started it but she doubted the noise would wake him and if it did he couldn’t get loose anyway. She had put her luggage in the back and since she had put gas in it before her husband had come home she could make it all the way to her new life.

She had the boxes of linens, books and the rest of her belongings already packed, knowing he would be too drunk to notice when he came in. She had carried everything out by herself, she had become used to doing things by herself for the last couple of years and doing things for her husband too. She worked, paid the bills, kept the house and all he did was drink, and he even did that with her money. She decided she would use her money for her new life. Her new life was the old house, it was standing there welcoming her like a lighthouse welcomes ships to its shore.

The lighthouse helps to protect passing ships from dangers that may be lurking in the water by lighting the way. This old house protects her from her past life by giving her shelter and refuge from the dangers she had endured too often. She hoped the old house gave her a place that would be hard to track down. Her husband wouldn’t suspect she would be buying a place since he would assume she couldn’t afford to do that. She had checked on renting some places but this house was cheaper than she could rent anywhere and the seller helped finance it.

She figured that the seller had to help with financing because this house wouldn’t pass any inspection for most loans. She didn’t care, she just wanted a place she could call her own and the old house fit all of her requirements. It was cheap and it was out of the way and private.

Alana had gone back to using her maiden name and as soon as she could afford it she was going to get a name change from the courts to help protect her from being found by her ex-husband. She wasn’t sure her ex would even follow her but it didn’t hurt to be safe and try to obscure access to her information.