Last Trip down Memrie Lane

Chapter 4
Chapter 4

4

Harley dropped her hands slowly. The light, which had blinded the three of them at first, now readjusted in their eyes, and Harley saw that she was looking at a woman. She was probably in her mid thirties, had dark auburn hair, and was wearing a pointed black witch’s hat, which was crumpled on one side. She was attractive and smiling and seemed exceedingly out of place. Harley was expecting anything in the world to happen. She was expecting a monster of a demon to pop out and eat her. She did not expect to be standing face to face with this woman.

“Well? How about it?” the woman said again. She had a sweet voice which spoke from behind painted green lips.

Harley looked at her and stammered for a moment before finally letting out a slow, “H-How about what?”

The woman looked confused and rolled her eyes a little searching for an answer which was very obvious, “It… IS Halloween. This is where you say ‘trick or treat’, remember?” and she smiled and very friendly smile. It was only then that Harley saw that the woman was holding a bowl of brand-name candy in a large plastic cauldron. Harley and Laura and Tania’s faces relaxed into smiles and they all eventually managed an individual “trick-or-treat”.

The woman laughed. “Now that’s more like it! I swear I never get trick-or-treaters anymore. Have to admit I figured I may as well stop buying candy every year.”

Laura and Tania stepped up to the top step and held out their candy buckets. The light from inside was warm and welcoming after all that time in the cold. Harley glanced inside. It wasn’t dusty or cobwebbed or decrepit at all. In fact it looked as modern as a house could be. Harley managed to come up with an excuse. “We… uh… we didn’t think anyone was home. We didn’t see any lights on.”

The woman gave a little nod to the windows. “I know. It’s unfortunate. The curtains are thick blue velvet. They’ve been here for ages, and I’m too short to get them down. And they’re too heavy to prop open.” She gave a little sigh. “You girls are just about the only trick-or-treaters I’ve had down here today. So I’ve been here all by myself watching Conan.”

Tania sucked her teeth and smiled. She was not quite so scared anymore, “That’s disappointing. The by yourself thing, not the Conan thing.” And they all laughed.

Then the woman glanced over their costumes. “You girls must be awfully cold, could I offer you some tea or something? I just made a fresh pot.”

Harley started. “No, actually we have to be going, we--”

“Oh yes, that would be wonderful. I’m freezing actually,” cut in Laura.

The woman set down the bowl of candy on a little table near the door and swung the door open wider. “Come on in. The more the merrier.” The three girls walked slowly inside, all of them looking a little unsure of how they should proceed. The woman closed the door to keep the cold out, and walked down a hallway into another room. They heard the sound of China tinkling and the woman’s voice called from the room. “Have a seat in the living room. My name’s Bella Memrie. Make yourselves comfortable.”

The room was very large. High ceilings seemed to get lost in the light, all of which was contained in the room by the thick blue velvet curtains. The television in the room was an old one but of recent make, Conan O’Brian was playing quietly from its speakers. The furniture was classy but also modern. One thing was certain to the girls as they sat on the couch in the most typically uncomfortable-houseguests of ways, this house had a bad rep. There wasn’t anything creepy or disturbing about this place at all.

A few moments of uncomfortable silence later, Bella had returned with three empty glasses. She gave one to each of the girls, before taking her own for herself.

Harley, who would never drink something someone offered to her before seeing if they themselves would drink from it, waited for Bella to pour her cup and take a long sip before starting with her own. Nice as this woman was, you don’t drink something a stranger gives you without making sure it isn’t poisoned. Bella smiled. “It’s so nice to have company for a change. A lot of times even my friends don’t come around here. It’s too far out of the way.”

And Laura said, “That may be it.” Before she could stop herself.

Bella didn’t look upset. On the contrary she smiled wider and laughed. “No doubt you girls have heard the stories about this house. I don’t blame people. It would be enough to turn anyone’s head. I know the rumors and stores said about this house and my family. Just have to take the lumps as they come I suppose.”

Bella’s unnatural ease with the subject of her family history didn’t disturb Harley, but it did confuse her. She cleared her throat and said, “So you don’t mind that people say that some bad stuff happened here?”

Bella shrugged. “History is history,” she said, “My family members did some bad stuff. Not as bad as you heard from the stories, but bad nonetheless. But I can’t go back and change any of that. And I love this house and my family. People ask me all the time, ‘Oh Bella why don’t you move away? Forget this house and all these bad memories’. But lonely as it can be, I love every brick of this house, and it suits me. Even if it is just me here ever since my brother moved away.”

Tania’s eyes dropped from sadness. “So it’s just you here all alone?”

Bella sighed. “Yep, just me. I keep the rumors alive. I love Halloween and It’s nice to know that my family can still have an impact, even if it is just absurd stories and rumors. In fact, what say I try to get rid of these curtains? Maybe the sunrise would be nice to see from the windows again.” And she strode to the nearest window and yanked the curtain aside.

Then the curtain rod slid out of place and came crashing to the floor. Bell jumped back in fright, and Harley spilled tea onto the skirt of her costume.

China tingled and clattered as the three of them put down their glasses and rushed to help Bella.

“Are you ok?!” Tania asked quickly. “Are you hurt?”

“No, no I’m fine,” said Bella regaining her smile. “Just a little startled, that’s all.”

They helped her to her feet where she stood, dusting herself off and chuckling. Then her eyes landed on Harley’s costume. “Oh dear, I’m sorry I scared you. You spilled tea onto your lovely dress!”

Haley looked down at the blotchy tan spot on her dress. “Oh, crap. Do you have a bathroom I could use to see if I can get some of this out? Then we really have to be going. We have a party to get to.”

“Of course sweetheart, of course,” Bella said motherly, “Down the hall, third door on your right.”

Harley set off down the hall listening to Laura and Tania trying to help Bella salvage the calamity of the curtain. The rest of the house was lit brightly too. It was a comfortable place to be in. Boy did she have a story to tell everyone at school on Monday. She and her friends went into the Memrie Manor and actually saw what was inside. She laughed to herself.

She found the bathroom, washed as much of the tea out from her costume as she could (it wasn’t much but it would have stained if she hasn’t done it) and walked back to the living room. On her way, however, she saw something peculiar in a room to her left. The door was slightly ajar and she saw something from within the room sparkling at her. She slowed and peered in. The room was a delicate shade of pink, and as she pressed her hand on the door to swing it open with a slight creak, she saw that the room was mostly empty, save for a few stuffed animals in the corner and a large collection of ragdolls on one wall. But what was catching her eye was a large hazy mirror propped up against one wall. She saw herself moving closer to it, but it didn’t reflect much of the room around her. It was very foggy and dirty.

For a moment she stood there looking at it. It was glistening, almost twinkling in its own light. “Peculiar,” she thought. She reached up to rub off a little smudge of dirt.

Then to her utter astonishment and shock, her hand passed right through the glass as if it were air, she tried to retract her hand from with it, but some force, some power pulled her arm into the depths of the mirror. She saw the frightened reflection of her own face move closer to hers as she was pulled into the mirror before she could do anything or call out. She felt her feet part ways from the floor…

… and she fell complete and headlong into nothingness.