Page 71 of Secrets That Bind Us

The Entity

Noise, noise, noise… NOISE.

Everything ready to go.

“It’s better if we go ahead and put it all in storage so when we leave for Connecticut we can just shove it all in a U-Haul.” She says.

He agrees.

NOISE, NOISE, NOISE, NOISE .

And then it recedes when it grows dark.

I rush after them, to the front porch, but all I see are red, glowing taillights.

Shrouded in darkness, the door closes behind me.

Murmurs and whispers in the dark.

I force my way back inside. They can’t keep me out.

I sit on the sofa they left behind.

No more books to pass my time.

No more television.

I go up the steps, into the rooms... Finding a small sunflower pendant in Savannah’s room.

It looks important.

She’ll be back for it.

I’ll keep it with me.

I’ll keep it safe.

Murmurs and whispers.

Devoid of laughter.

Of screams.

No tears.

No nightmares.

No secrets.

No dreams.

Just hushed whispers in the walls…

The house sits alone, but not empty– for thirty-five days.

On the thirty-sixth morning, the noise comes once again.

Tires crunching over the dry grass.

Voices.

So many voices…

Nervous laughter.

The house inhales at their return.

A bride getting ready.

A quiet girl looking for a pendant she’s too nervous to tell her father she lost…

I watch from the window of what used to be the attic as they all head to the barn for festivities.

Waiting…

Waiting…

W a i t i n g…

And there, in the distance– just like I foretold– comes a girl, too nervous to tell her father she’s looking for a necklace that means the world to her…

Time to play…