story created by and read by Julia D.
Part 1
Louis dreaded going to garage sales with his mother. They would go for what seemed like hours while his mother sifted through stacks of books, clothes, and DVDs, hoping to find a hidden gem. She usually walked away with a pile of junk that would eventually be stuffed into the basement.
But this morning, they came across an unusual garage sale. It was tucked away on a small rural block. The house nearby looked abandoned. There weren’t any neighbors for miles.
As they pulled up the long dusty driveway, Louis noticed that there were no books or clothes lined up on tables. No holiday specific knick-knacks spilling out of a cardboard box. Instead, there was just a stack of paintings. Sitting nearby was a witchy looking woman in a long dress, a long scarf, and a long shawl. Her curly gray hair stuck out in several directions, as if she were recently struck by lightning.
She greeted them as they exited the car. Her eyes were wild and excited.
There was an odd stench in the air. One Louis couldn’t quite figure out, but it was unpleasant.
His mother quickly engaged the woman in a conversation about art and asked a million questions about what was for sale.
The woman held up one painting in particular. It was of a screaming man, his hands against his face, deep wrinkles in his forehead, and dark swirls of red all around. The red was so dark, it almost looked like blood. But that wasn’t the creepiest part—the man in the painting had no eyeballs!
“I’m telling you, this painting will be worth three times what you pay for it here in as little as 6 months!” the witchy woman said.
At that, his mother lit up. She was a bargain hunter at heart. Before Louis could protest, his mother had haggled the woman down to half the sticker price. She loaded it in the car proudly.
On the drive home, Louis kept glancing back at the painting sitting in the backseat. It didn’t look like a real painting. It just looked…weird.
Louis couldn’t explain it, but the painting bothered him. And he was no scaredy cat! He liked scary movies and going to haunted houses. He had even watched Poltergeist at night by himself! But this painting…something was off about it.
He shuttered at the thought of seeing it every day while he ate his cereal, but luckily, his mother wrapped it up in cellophane and put it in the basement.
With an audible sigh, Louis tried not to think about the painting for the rest of the day. After all, it was nowhere near him now. But the image of the eyeless man was stuck in his brain.
That night, he had trouble falling asleep. By 11:30, he decided he needed a midnight snack.
The house was quiet and cold. The hot summer day was gone, and he shivered in his pajama shorts and tank top. His feet hustled down the steps quickly, eager to get to the kitchen.
Louis’s favorite midnight snack was Oreos and milk. He could almost taste them…
But when he walked by the basement door, he saw a puff of smoke come out from beneath it. That’s strange, he thought to himself. What was stranger was that the smoke felt cool.
Hesitant, Louis opened the door and turned on the light. The stairs were bare and smokeless. There was no fire. Louis thought about going down into the basement to check more thoroughly but then remembered his snack.
He shut the basement door and went to the kitchen.
With a handful of Oreos and a cup of milk, Louis was ready to go back to his room. That’s when he felt someone tap his shoulder.
It was a rough tap tap tap.
Louis turned around quickly—
But there was no one there…
The kitchen was empty.
Louis glanced around just in case but saw no one.
Slowly, he made his way up to his room, unable to shake the feeling that someone was behind him.
The next morning, he woke up to his mother screaming his name.
Louis bolted downstairs, confused as to why she would be so mad. But when he walked into the kitchen, he was shocked.
The entire kitchen was a disaster!
There were broken cookies on the counter and all over the floor. Spilled milk caked the top of the counter and the table. Mashed up fruit lay in piles around the room. All the cupboards’ contents were falling out. The refrigerator door had been left open, giving the room an uncomfortable chill.
His mother asked why he would do this.
“I didn’t!” Louis protested.
In angry silence, they started to clean up the mess when they heard a strange sound coming from the basement. Almost like scurrying, but too heavy footed to be a rat or a squirrel.
Definitely too fast to be a person.
They both paused to listen.
They heard it again.
His mother opened the basement door. There was that sound again. But louder this time.
They both jumped back.
“Don’t go in there,” Louis pleaded.
He had a terrible feeling that whatever was down there was dangerous.
His mother gave him a reassuring smile and disappeared behind the basement door.
Kommentare