THE House of Stone

    With a sense of apprehension rising like a tidal wave from the pit of her stomach, she slowly approached the stone mansion. She knew this place well, had traveled here repeatedly in her nightmares. 

  

    Nevertheless, she entered the macabre grand foyer, it's walls hung with a dark tapestry of malicious intent. She proceeded, as she always did, through the arched opening to the left and into the hall. To her left was a wall of windows, each opposite a door. These she could look out of and see the porte corchere from where she had just come. The windows themselves were heavily layered with decades of dust. The sparse amount of light that was permitted entrance looked as though it carried tiny inhabitants who desperately wanted to escape but were unable to leave their ethereal prison. 

    Still she marched onward, compelled by a need to reach the door at the end of the hall. To her right the first door flew open, banging against the wall behind it. Barely breathing, swallowing back the scream that was so eager to fill the silence, she stepped into the room. It was empty, as far as she could tell. Every hair on her body seemed inclined to disagree. Belatedly and to her horror, she realized the door could slam shut before she had a chance to retreat. 

     Turning on her heel, she caught sight of the door very slowly, ever so quietly, attempting to return to it's frame. Heart pounding painfully against her chest, she clenched her fists and raced to the door. With a final desperate lunge she stumbled across the threshold. 

     In order to avoid crashing completely through the window, she threw her hands out in front of her, palms hitting the walls to each side of the window. Despite her efforts, the impact sent the heretofore dormant curtains of dust billowing through the air and into her already burning lungs. It was as if the unknown presence that was hot on her heels seconds before had managed to catch her and was choking the life out of her. 

    After a fit of coughing and with monumental effort, she finally managed to calm down enough to realize she was alive, for the moment, and safe enough. The door at the end of the hall beckoned still. Fueled with adrenaline, every muscle in her body tightened in anticipation of what lay ahead. 

unpublished © 2013 JP West