~~~~
“It was truly a tragedy,” the goth
girl went on and on, “such a dark and lonely place.” He hadn’t bothered to
listen to the story in full, his attention was drawn to “other places.” All he
caught was something about an old house off Long Oak Road.
“Fascinating,” he lied while he
stared at the goth girl’s creepy, dark eyes. ‘She must wear contacts,’ he
thought as he observed her almost soul-piercing gaze.
“Alas, all the family’s vast wealth
was lost on that night,” the girl continued. “No one else was brave enough to
step foot on that land, not even thieves or debt collectors could muster the
courage. So it is believed to still be there to this day.”
“Really?” The last part finally
caught his attention. ‘A good chunk of money just lying around. Ah, what I would
do with money like that,’ he fantasized, ‘there’s no way it’s still there.’
“It’s such a shame really,” the goth
girl smiled. “If someone could lay claim to that money, they’d be the richest
person in the region.”
“That is a shame,” he nodded like he
agreed with her, but really he was trying to get a better look at her chest.
That black, lacey dress that hugged her features left little to the
imagination, but that didn’t stop him.
“If only someone would claim it,”
she leaned closer to him, “they’d be more than just the talk of the town.”
“If only,” he repeated, enjoying his
new view, “but I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Not like anyone has seen it.”
“I have,” she giggled.
“You have?” He has surprised.
“I took a peek, not that long ago,”
the goth girl whispered in his ear, “it’s right there in the middle of the
first floor. I saw it through a window on a door.”
“Why didn’t you take it?” He
inquired.
“The door was locked,” she
explained, “besides, one should never disturb wealth in such a haunted
location. The spirits would grow upset.”
“You, scared of a ghost?” He
chuckled.
“Scared of their wrath,” she
replied, “I guess, I’m not quite brave enough.”
“Ah, don’t be scared,” he put his
arm around her. ‘Oh, this just got so much better.’
~--~
He always fancied girls like her; he
liked the creepy vibe. He also knew nothing impressed them more than proving
your bravery visiting a haunted house. At least, that’s what his friends told
him. Regardless, that house off Long Oak Road had a fortune right for the
taking. He’d pocket that big chunk of change, and then he’d pocket that beauty.
He’d be living the dream before the day’s end, and to think most people spent
decades to reach that point.
Without fear nor care, he drove up
to the old, haunted house and walked inside with a swagger. The creaky, wooden
building looked pitch black in the overcast lighting of the autumn afternoon.
Most people would be afraid at this sight, but he was too focused on the money.
The front door led right into a
cobweb-covered living room. The furniture looked half-decayed and ready to
crumble to dust at a moment’s notice. He watched for any spiders that might be
hanging from the ceiling as he searched for the door with a window. The first
door he found lead only to a closet full of moldy clothes. Behind the second
was a small, narrow hallway that led to a bathroom with cracked tiles. Finally,
the third door led to a much larger hallway with several doors and the stairs
to the second floor.
He glanced up the stairs and could
only see darkness above. For a moment, he thought he saw several shadowed
figures. However, as his eyes adjusted, he realized it was only furniture and
paintings. He shrugged as he checked the next set of doors, each of which had a
window.
“Is it this one?” He looked through
the first door, but could only see a child’s room. It was fairly girly, but
whoever said girl was, she clearly favored creepy dolls and the color black.
“Yep, I’m having nightmares tonight,” he admitted as he tried to dispel the
image of the dolls from his memory.
“What about this one?” He checked
the second door. Through the window, he could see a small sitting room with a
coffee table and a few torn-up couches. The only thing of note was the broken
tea set on the table. “Nothing of interest.”
“Okay, it has to be this one,” he
peeked through the last door’s window, “jackpot.” The window was dirty and
distorted the image, but that didn’t hide all the sight of the shining gold and
jewels behind it. Of course, just like the goth girl said, the door was locked.
“Let’s work a little magic,” he jiggled the knob violently. Eventually, the old
door gave in, and the knob broke right off. “Come on,” he pushed on the door
until it finally caved to his demands.
“Easy,” he sauntered into the room
through the forced open door, only to be met with a gust of wind right to his
face. “What the?” He looked up to see an open window across the room,
“seriously, why has nobody robbed this place blind?” He shrugged and went for
the gold and jewels. The collection of wealth was quite heavy, and he wasn’t
sure how he was going to carry it all back. Another gust of wind blew through
the room, he didn’t really care until it forced the door behind him closed.
“You got to be kidding, whatever
I’ll climb out the window,” he turned to see the window close abruptly.
“That’s...concerning.” He went to try the door, but this time it didn’t budge
no matter how hard he pushed on it. It wasn’t like the door was any stronger,
it felt like there was something behind it. He looked through the window and
was taken aback when he noticed a dresser was in front of the door. “Okay,
who’s the wise guy?”
“The spirits will grow restless, you
know?” A familiar voice echoed from outside. He turned to see the goth girl’s
face in the window, her soul-piercing gaze was a bit harsher than before.
“Are you doing this? Knock it off,”
he exclaimed.
“The spirits do what they want, I’m
here, to tell the truth,” she replied.
“Ha, ha,” he shook his head, “now
help me open the window.”
“No,” she refused with a cackle.
“That’s it,” he picked up a
particularly weighty piece of gold and slammed it against the window, but the glass
didn’t even break. “The hell?”
“You disturbed the gold, you really
shouldn’t have done that so carelessly,” the goth girl stated.
“All right, where are the rest of
your friends?” He demanded an answer, “who did you get to put that dresser in
front of the door? Have you been following me?”
“I told you the spirits would grow
restless,” the goth girl explained.
“That doesn’t answer my question,”
he grew angrier. “Fine,” he turned around, “I’ll break the door off its hinges
if I have to.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,”
the girl’s voice grew closer.
“What are you-?” He flipped around
to see the goth girl was inside the room. “W-wha?”
“Why are you in such a rush to
leave? Stay awhile,” she approached him with an uneven smile.
“Stay back!” He warned, still
brandishing the chunk of gold like a club.
“You know you don’t have to go to
such lengths to impress me,” she ignored him, “I already planned on keeping you
around.”
“I said, stay back!” He lifted the
gold up, ready to strike.
“I wouldn’t do that,” she warned,
“you’d make me very mad.”
“I,” a chill went up his spine,
almost paralyzing him, “don’t-”
“No need to be afraid,” her body
pressed up against his, her eyes looking up into his own, “you’re a big brave
man, aren’t you?”
“Stay away!” He screamed.
“No,” she cackled, “you stay here.”
“Aaaah!” He screamed as the chill
consumed every part of his body, and he felt his consciousness slowly slip
away.
~~~~
An act of bravery made in self-interest is likely to not produce the results you want. After all, a selfish act, especially a careless one, tends to bite you in the ass.Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
~~~~
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