I woke up with a hot forehead. I was sweating in my sleep. I was so angry that every
single piece of my vein was bubbling with one word – 'Answers'. I knew that I couldn't get them simply lying on the bed.
I even knew that I won't get the answers from Mark. I didn't trust a single word from
his shitty mouth now. I was cheated and I was sobbing. But I needed to hunt for
answers for my curiosity had reached a level ahead of the normal.
I took my jean jacket out of the hanger and opened the gate to the corridor of a dull
house, I must admit. No one was there. Obviously, I thought. It was five in the morning and they might be snuggling inside. I decided not to disturb my mom and Rick and lead my way out of the house.
I was dark and dense outside. Just like my thoughts. There was some fog around which constrained my way. But I didn't let it affect me. All that mattered was Mark's
explanation to this letter. I was mostly a peaceful soul, but love and hate was mixed
together this time. I couldn't help it.
On my way to his house, while I was walking like an old man in a washroom hurry, I
saw an old lady. A very old sluggish and desolated lady. Her dress was withered and
faded. She wasn't facing me but I felt a tinge of familiarity cross my mind. I approached her and asked,
"Madam, are you lost?"
She looked at me. I was enraptured by those deep blue eyes. She had a satin scarf on
and she kept a hand fan in front of her mouth. She looked quite enchanting. Pink
certainly suited her blonde hair and blue eyes and she looked exactly like that of model from France. I couldn't see her lips but a small whisper of Felix ….is…innocent, Was what I heard.
"Sorry, what?" I asked.
"Felix is innocent. Do not punish him for your ignorance."
I was confused. Either she was drunk or she was heartbroken. I didn't even know
someone named Felix. Hastily, I asked her,
"Madam, I do not know any Mr. Felix living in this neighborhood. Will you tell me the
address?"
She pointed somewhere behind me. I followed her line of sight and saw she was
pointing at Mark's house. When I looked back at her, she was gone. Vanished.
Vaporized. A chill ran over my body. I had seen enough horror movies to predict what may come next. I sprinted towards Mark's house.
Cold winds blew in the street. I couldn't see anyone except a couple fighting noisily in their backyard. It was a disgusting site so I moved further in haste. Darkness is lethal.
It's so dark that no warmth could have stricken it away. Although anger and confusion had already surrounded me, darkness pulled a layer over it. My mind was swirling in every direction but my heart was stable. Frozen. For the first time, it was numb.
I couldn't decide upon the guilt of Mark or my guilt of reading his private document.
But no judgment made me waver from my decision of asking him the answer while
holding his collar up. He was taller in height. I only could imagine the situation. I
increased my pace.
When I reached the house, I went straight to the backyard to find the ladder. It was not there. My anger increased at my luck as well. After what happened yesterday I was sure Mark would never let me in his house again. How naïve of me, I thought. It was a clear conclusion. So I took the stakes high. I decided to approach from the door and face any member of his family.
I sprinted towards the entrance of the house, breathed deeply and approached the door.
I knocked at it. It was careless and scary, I know. After some time, when I lost my
patience, I rang the bell, knocked again and even called out his name. No one came out.
I guessed nobody was at home. I took the doorknob and twisted it.
CLICK! The door was open.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Inside, everything seemed quite. The door closed behind me and a silent darkness
echoed. Only my boots made a squishy sound. I switched on the light from the back of the door and saw the most horrifying beautiful scene.
The house was decorated this time. There stood chandeliers and big sofas everywhere.
Yellow lights of the big catchers illuminated the room. I could smell royalty for the first time. Of course, nobody could think of a house being so beautiful which looked so haunted from the outside. Who would think the cold black house will be so warm and lighted from the inside? And thus, my reader, never judge a book by its cover.
My awe was momentary. Soon, I heard the barks of a dog. Goosebumps shot up from my body. It's not like I don't like dogs. But the bark was fierce and horrifying was the dog. It was a black German shepherd. Its eyes showed that he just wanted to tear my soul and his teeth my flesh. Mostly I was lucky not to come across such hounds but it was not today. My breath felt heavy inside my chest. For a moment I stopped moving.
Even, I stopped breathing.
The black beast was growling slowly towards me. His steps were fierce and saliva kept drooling from his teeth. As he came close, I read his name on his collar. Cerberus. An uncanny name to give a dog. But perhaps this dog was as vicious as Hades' pet in hell.
I couldn't control my body. As a respond to my natural stimulus, I stepped back. He
barked. I stepped again backwards. He barked again. I wished Mark was here. Perhaps, Cerberus wished it too.
As soon as I stepped back again, he leaped towards me. A big dog leaped on a small
heighted girl. You can guess the consequence my dear reader. I screamed. But no sound came out. Fear was harnessing and controlling me. I starting crying inside my own self.
'Thou shall never know,
What fear is until it,
Knocks on your hearth and
Refuses to leave.'
I kept praying the words I stored for the last day of my life; 'Let my body be buried in a black coffin and let no one shed tears at it…'
And suddenly he licked my cheek. Yeah, a bog black German dog licked my cheek. I
was confused and relieved at the same time.
"Hey, big guy." I started to take the advantage of his hospitality. Maybe he's not like he sounded. I got up and asked him where his masters were. Obviously he nodded his head a lot of time and couldn't understand a single word. I came up to a conclusion that both the Hannigal brothers had gone out. For the question of why the door was unbolted, I had no idea.
I decided to roam about in his house and surprise him when he comes back. But
Cerberus had another plan. He took the end of the sleeve of my jean jacket and started pulling me. I wanted to protest.
"Cerberus, where are you leading me?" I asked him. But he kept on pulling me. I finally gave in. His pace was fast. It was a bit difficult to keep up with him due to the
distractions. On the staircase, there were pictures of Mark, his brother and a very
beautiful lady. She might have been a mother but she was very young looking. A sister perhaps. They wore costumes of medieval time aristocracy. I didn't wonder why. Cerberus was barking me to follow him. He climbed two stairs at a time. I had never been such an energetic dog (Leila has a lazy pug dog). I ran to the top of the stairs where he stood. As he confirmed my following, he poked a room with his nose and entered inside.
"Cerberus, wait." I called him out.
He paid no heed. Just barked from the back of the door. I hurried to the room where the dog was. I went inside, following the dog and I couldn't believe or reason why he lead me there.
I was back among the coffins.
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