She fell to her knees as the sound of a heavy door slammed shut from deep within echoed thru the empty house. The suddenness of the noise had startled her so bad, it had caused her knees to give away and fall to a position on the floor as if she had been weeding in a sundress out in the garden on a hot summer day. Damn, what was that??, thought Jamie as she rose from the floor. Reaching back for the handle on the front door; Jamie noticed that it had been the front door that had slammed shut behind her as she entered the house. Well that was a strange thing. Calming her nerves as she rationed that the loudness had not come from within the house but from right behind her, which echoed throughout the empty house was probably why it had startled her with such force.
“Oh my goodness, note to self. I must warn Caty and David about the front door as they come inside. I would hate to see either of them get caught in that doorway if it ever slams shut like that again.” Reaching her arm up to brush the wavy brown shoulder length hair from her eye sight Jamie noticed the slight tremble in her hand and giggled at the sudden rush of adrenaline as her heart beat began to slow once more to normal. After recomposing herself, Jamie took a deep breath then once again started her exploration into the empty rental house on Iowa before the realtor showed up to give the formal escorted tour. After all she needed this time alone to see if the house would fit her family’s needs and wants.
The house from the outside was not in the best of shape with some slight fading in the paint and a shabby unkempt yard with its pad locked shed at the far end of the slight gravel driveway. But it looked very livable and quite quaint; with a little TLC it had the potential to make a nice starter home. Sitting on the edge of town with the only neighbors on the west side, because on the east side the Hiawatha water tower sat in its five story sky fading blue colored glory. The house had sat alone and empty since its last tenants had departed without notice in the middle of the night; not telling anyone where they were going, but just disappearing. After all it had taken the landlord a few months to clean the house back up so it could be lived in, due to the fact that they had left the little house in such a state of poor disarray.
Jamie wondered throughout the small modest house enjoying its thirty year old look. The kitchen had the flour drawers with the old tarnished metal sidings and an old gas stove opposite the sink. Finding a fascination with its little idiosyncrasies of a picnic style dining area at one end of the kitchen separated by a split wood siding to the old floor black metal painted over heating ducts had caused her to stand in awe of such a thrifty style hidden treasure. Even the late fifties style push button light switches had caused her to stop and admire them as she wondered from room to room. After passing from the front bedroom thru the front room and thru the dining/kitchen area, Jamie begin to get her hopes up at the thought of leasing this house for at least a year. The TLC that Jamie was capable of once she got to apply her magic had caused even some of her harshest family critics to stutter.
Caty will love it and I bet David could feel right at home being the little not so handy man that he is. Suppressing the giggle about David, Jamie made sure to note the walk-in closet between the two bedrooms as well as the large crack in the bathroom door. “Now that’s a nasty crack. Geese someone had to slam this door or push something very hard against it to cause damage this big. Replacing the door won’t be to much more then I’m planning on spending.”
Walking a step inside the bathroom after finishing looking at the crack in the door caused Jamie to stop in her tracks. The light that seemed to seep ever so slowly into the window on the side wall was causing a reflection off the small decorative white-orangeish colored tiles that were placed to mid way up the faded off white colored walls to glow as if they were emanating from bright florescent lighting. “Oh, my I love the light here. This is just beautiful; it simply reminds me of looking east off a hilltop as the sunrise takes control of the early morning sky.” Stepping into the bathroom and closing the door behind her, Jamie just couldn’t understand how the small light from the simple one paned window could light up a room with such bright intensity.
Looking around the small room at the brightness of the light as it seemed to reflect off even the toilet and white bathtub, but yet be absorbed into the door on the far side next to the faded un-sanded shelving. Jamie slowly regained her senses from the magic and started to notice that the light seemed to pulse with just a faint intensity. Wow isn’t this just strange. Thought Jamie as she just couldn’t comprehend the full magnitude of the fact that something this beautiful could be hidden away in such an ordinary old house in the north-east corner of Kansas, just out in the open for anyone to snatch away. This was going to be a long term project, but with the right amount of money anything could be done. For a brief moment the thought of owning the house instead of renting entered her mind
As if a rhythm was starting, the pulse seemed to pick up in intensity while Jamie continued to stare in awe at the multitudes of inch tile pieces placed in perfect order covering the walls to the midway point all except for the two doors in the room. Hmm, it’s getting warmer in here with the door closed. This will be great for hot baths in the winter as warm as this is, the realtor must of left the heat on. Jamie reached down and felt for the warm air coming from the air duct in the floor next to the small porcelain sink; there was none. Now that’s unusual, the heat is coming from the reflection of the light off the walls. Whoever created this trick must have been a genius. Oh my goodness I can’t wait to show this to David and hear his logical explanation for it. After all David did have a way of explaining things and just taking the fun out of the magic, but he sure was cute as he stumbled for the right words as he tried to each situation to her over and over again in mundane detail.
With the force of a brick being dropped from a bridge into a stream it suddenly hit her. Two doors? If this door is the entrance way in here, then what is that one for? Wondered Jamie as she spun from the cracked door to the door on the opposite side of the room next to the head of the Victorian style sunken bathtub. Stepping towards the door on the far end of the small room was only a couple of steps, but the pulsing in the room seemed to brighten and quicken as Jamie reached out for the small white imitation porcelain door handle. The brightest and final pulse came as Jamie touched the smoothness of the door handle and turned it counter clockwise to open the door. Well that was just neat, thought Jamie as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck start to tingle as if a slight static charge was building around her in the small bathroom full of the strange glowing tiles.
Soothing the goose bumps on her arms as she opened the door to peer behind its entrance Jamie stood in sudden confusion as she glanced first into the doorway and back over her shoulder towards the entrance in the bathroom, because they both appeared to be the same. Now what is this?? It looks just like…..Glancing again over her shoulder Jamie noted the crack in the door on the entrance, then looking forward thru the other door. She saw the same crack on the door that appeared on the other side of the bathroom that was on the other side of the second door just in opposite as if she was looking into a mirror. Jamie reached into her pocket and pulled her cell phone from it and started to dial David, so he could come and help her investigate what she had just found. I’ll just call David to get over here. I’m not going any further this is just too strange for me, besides he likes this kind of stuff. What damn the phone isn’t getting any service in here... thought Jamie as she fumbled to put it back into her pocket.
Jamie covered the short distance to the bathroom door in short order. Wait please don’t go. Come back please….The feminine voice came as soft as the fall leaf as it falls from the tree to signify the beginning of the change in seasons.
“What?” asked Jamie in response to the faint phrase? Unsure where the voice came from and not quite sure she even heard the soft voice caused the hair on Jamie’s neck to rise once more. Looking back over her shoulder and seeing nothing, Jamie opened the door and stopped once more. “What the hell?!” Jamie saw the bathroom again that she was standing in on the other side of the door with the crack in it. Starting to shake and feel the tears seep into her eyesight as fear started to build up in the pit of her stomach. Jamie could feel her lunch turn and roll in her stomach as confusion and fright started to feel her entire being.
Please wait a minute, can we talk a bit? Hearing the voice for sure this time behind her, Jamie looked back over her shoulder towards the original closet door and saw a young dark haired woman with old glasses in her early twenties standing in the doorway that she had thought she closed behind her. The young woman was standing there dressed in tight faded blue jeans and an old dirty tee shirt and was peering through the door at her as if she didn’t want to intrude but yet give Jamie her space so as not to frighten her any further.
“So, I did hear someone speaking to me. Where did you come from and can you tell me what is going on at the moment? Why does it….”
SShhhhh Jamie, just calm down and wait, please. I can explain everything to you, but I need you to come back thru this door. The voice was not spoken but seemed to come from in between Jamie’s own ears. Jamie just trust me I promise no harm will come to you.
Jamie felt a slight calming effect as she noticed the slight pulse had started once more in a steady rhymic fashion. Letting go of the first door and allowing it to close in front of her was done almost as if her body was put on automatic or in neutral, she just didn’t seem to remember telling her brain to complete that set of actions. Jamie turned around and walked the few steps towards the woman and stood in front of the door by the bathtub. Peering inside she watched as the young woman had stepped in and had continued to motion for her to follow; Jamie started her step into the second bathroom as the woman stepped through the door on the other side.
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What a shame, she was such a nice woman too. She really seemed to want to find a good little home. The realtor thought as she turned the key in the lock on the front door after watching Jamie step inside the house. Oh well, at least the house won’t be hungry for another few months. This will give me time enough to find its next meal. Shutting the door on her metallic red Suburban and pulling out of the drive towards Casey’s to get her a pop before heading home. “One of these times I won’t be able to find the house a victim and then grandma’s curse will come true.” Mumbled the smiling blond realtor as she turned the radio up to sooth her seeping guilt. …but not today……….
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