The door lugged open with a dull creak as I pushed it open. My grasp on the cold doorknob loosened as the late-winter chill followed me inside, but somehow the interior of the house felt even colder. The kind of cold that wouldn't linger on my skin but instead sink straight into my chest. It wasn't just the temperature, but the silence too. Heavy and pressing, as if the house itself was mourning the emptiness inside.
Of course, it was only empty in sensation. I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me. The latch clicked back in place, echoing off the towering ceiling and empty hallways it cut off from the rest of the world. I didn't bother turning on the lights.
The air smelled faintly of wood polish and something else that brought me a faint sense of nostalgia. Although I could never quite place what it was. It clung to everything the house—it smelled… old? That was the best way I could describe it.
I walked past the hallway cutting straight through to the back of the house. Passing the basement door, the padlock glinted faintly from what little moonlight had spilled through the covered windows. Several rusted chains hung across the frame; having been there so long they'd left scars on the door itself. I didn't stop to give it any more than a passing glance. It was just another part of the house.
The thump of my footsteps beat audibly from the floorboard below as I passed the various ornaments and 'decorations' that adorned the hallway. Two stone statues of what looked to be guards of some kind stood at half the height of what they'd be if they were real. Their form cut down to the torso and above, wielding spears fixed parallel to them at their side. A single oil painting hung above a gold-stained dressing table. Its frame was cracked, revealing the frayed edges of the canvas underneath. The painting itself was hardly something worth lingering on, it depicted nothing but a large, barren desert. Rolling waves of golden sand extending as far as you could see within the frame.
It was the kind of furnishing you'd see in a museum, not in a home. All of it looked expensive, or at least like it would have been if it was properly maintained. In the state it was right now, it simply looked abandoned.
I ducked into the living room and let a long sigh escape my mouth. The couch was an ancient thing—unevenly stuffed with padding and beckoning with two poorly carved wooden arms begging to give you splinters. Regardless, I collapsed into it, the springs groaning briefly under my weight.
For a moment, I just listened to the silence. Usually, I'd try to avoid being here, in my home, as much as possible. Killing as much time at school or just taking meaningless walks around the block. But, at the end of the day, there was nowhere else to go.
When I opened my eyes, they landed on the mess of items sprawled across the living room floor. Old textbooks, wood shavings, a chipped ceramic figurine and, closest to me, an old vinyl record sleeve, the corner curling upward in a display indicative of its age.
I reached for it without thinking, at this point the motion was nearly automatic. I couldn't make out the faded text printed on its face, but at this point I didn't care. With a sigh, I sat up, pulling the disc out of its sleeve and onto an old record player I briefly took the time to dust off. The brass horn was dull, dented in several areas, and still perfectly capable of doing its job.
The needle clicked faintly as I lowered it into place. For a moment, there was only static. Then, the faint crackle of life before a melody began to seep into the room. A woman's voice sang, distant and lilting, like the muddied voice of a dream.
It came back in pieces. A flash of reddish-brown hair, vivid and wild as it caught the light of the living room chandelier. The spin of a white skirt twirled too fast. The thump of bare jumping against the floorboards, spinning in rhythm. She was laughing. Not overbearingly loud, or quietly enough to arouse suspicion. Just softly enough to melt away your apprehension.
Her face… I could feel the memory slip the moment I tried to grasp ahold of it, running like sand through my fingers. It was too blurry, shapes and colors serving only as outlines to a vital missing piece. I shifted uncomfortable on the couch, suddenly aware of the chill in the room I had briefly left behind.
Two in one day was a bit ambitious, even for me. I let out a short laugh, brittle and dry, before leaning forward to lift the needle of the record player. The song ceased with a soft click. I paused briefly before looking out the sliding glass window, the moonlight gleamed through the glass along with a breeze as I slid open the door. A brief rustle sounded from the greenery as it shivered in the evening gust, and I dropped to the ground. Taking a moment to feel the cold wash over my thoughts.
The bushes rustled faintly as Annie brushed against them, shifting uncomfortably as she swatted stray leaves from her jeans. She glanced sideways at Caroline who crouched beside her with all the enthusiasm of a child playing hide and seek.
"You're really insane for this, you know!?" Annie whisper-shouted, trying to keep her voice still low.
Caroline's eyes hardly, remaining steadfast on the sliding glass door ahead of them as she responded. "What 's with the change of heart? I thought you wanted to investigate him?" She replied, her tone light and teasing.
"Not when it gets all messed up and personal and INSANE like this!" Annie hissed back, doing a poor job of keeping her retort stealthy. She stared at Caroline like she'd grown another head. "We're hiding in a bush in the backyard of some guy's goddamn Dracula house! What the hell are you thinking? Have you never seen a horror movie before!? What the hell are we even doing here?"
"Just wait." Caroline said calmly, still barely sparing Annie a glance. Her tone carried the same kind of slightly annoyed patience a mother might have as her child loudly begged her for candy in the middle of a crowded grocery store. It only served to infuriate Annie more.
"That's exactly what I'm saying we shouldn't be doing Aunt Caroline!" Annie shot back, her voice getting a little too loud before she caught herself and lowered it again. "We're literally watching him from a bush in his backyard. Like creepy stalkers. You do realize that, right?"
As if on cue, Cairo appeared, opening the sliding glass door before staring out in their direction. Annie froze, panic flaring up in her chest. "Oh my god, he saw us," She stressed to Caroline in another whisper as she tugged at her sleeve. "Oh, calm down, he didn't see us." Caroline didn't budge.
Annie heard her heart thump in her chest as she reluctantly peeked back through the leaves, seeing Cairo now lying on the floor. "Okay, this is the worst thing I've ever done," she muttered, though Caroline still hardly seemed concerned.
"Relax," Caroline said, finally turning to meet Annie's gaze before turning it back to the house again. "It's about to start."
Annie gave her a squinted look of complete bewilderment and skepticism, but Caroline didn't seem to want to spend another moment on her, her eyes glued to the scene ahead. Annie's attention was drawn back to the house as she saw Cairo cross the room they peered into, stopping by what looked like a large lump. He hesitated for a moment before pulling at the object, revealing the lump to be an ancient-looking grand piano that was merely covered by a large tarp. Though she was sure it was worn down from its age, from the distance at which they saw it simply looked inordinately expensive. Regal, even.
"Whoa…" Annie murmured, despite herself. "How old is that thing…?"
Caroline didn't answer. Her focus was entirely fixed on Cairo, who had seated himself on the bench at the foot of the piano. He sat there for a moment, hovering his fingers above the keys as if he wasn't sure he wanted to touch them. Then, finally, he began to play.
The first notes rang through the open air, soft and firm. Each chord carried a wistful tone which echoed through her head. The sound of the piano was almost impossibly clear, as if drifting straight to her ears.
Cairo's lips twitched, opening for a moment before sealing shut again. His hesitation was evident when a low voice finally rose from his throat a few moments later.
He was the king of the golden sands
His voice was unpolished, wavering slightly, but sapped in something more akin to exhaustion than hesitance. Annie leaned forward unconsciously.
The sun his crown, his throne the land.
He had conquered it all
He was the king of every man
His word, their fate, their lives in his hand
He'd paused for a moment, each note lingering just a second too long before he spoke again, his voice low and flat.
He was sick of it all
Annie seemed to wince involuntarily, though her eyes and ears remained focused in a trance on the performance. The tempo had sped up considerably, the notes seeming to jump over one another in exponential succession.
He wandered far past the golden hills
And found the lash of a goddess, spilled
A thread, so thin, of light, divine
Forgotten, brittle, and lost to time.
Grasped in his hand, he'd heard it laugh
But it was him, who'd cried like a lost little calf
He'd die far from home, where the dunes only killed
With nothing to show for the nothing he'd built
For a long few moments, the lyrics had ceased. Leaving the notes to take off on their own in an enchanting symphony. Annie was almost disappointed when it had slowed down once again, beckoning the end.
And as it slipped from his tired hand,
He saw it vanish into the sand,
The earth, then did open, its mouth agape
To swallow the king in its earthen drape
He fell, as the sand, headfirst, bound down
When upon his skull was engraved a crown
Annie's voice seemed to catch in her throat as the final notes of the piano faded into silence. The song was like a lullaby, pulling her far off into the night sky before disappearing, heartlessly leaving her to fall back down on her own. It was enough for her to completely ignore Caroline's nagging voice.
"Pretty good, huh?" Annie didn't give Caroline so much as a glance to affirm she'd heard her words, her eyes still staring holes through the greenery. Caroline simply smiled as her gaze lingered on the entranced expression of her niece. Allowing her a minute before deciding to snap her out of it.
"Alright, you creepy little stalker, enough is enough. It's time to go home." Caroline snapped her finger loudly just beside Annie's ear, causing her to flinch before turning to Caroline with a dazed expression that quickly turned to embarrassment. "W-what. Shutup! You're the stalker! You're the one who dragged me here in the first place!" Annie retorted quickly.
"Sure… but you're the one enjoying it." Caroline replied, smiling widely at her niece whose expression contorted further, at a loss for words.
"Sh…" Annie's began to slowly hiss, her cheeks flushing red, appearing as if steam would soon spray out of her ears. Caroline's smile quickly faded, her eyes widening in horror as she realized what was to come.
"W-wait, Annie. I was just jok-" Caroline began, although it was too late.
"SHUT UPPPPPP" Annie screamed, the sound piercing Caroline's eardrums like dozens of tiny spears.
The slick rumble of the sliding glass door creaking open sounded from the house as both women suddenly froze.
Cairo's voice echoed into the backyard, loud and alert. "Who the hell's there?"
Not wasting a moment, Caroline grabbed Annie's arm. "Run" she said as Annie's eyes widened in panic.
"RUN!" She repeated as the pair scrambled out of the bushes, stepping over roots and branches noisily as they bolted out towards Caroline's silver van parked outside on the corner of the dim street. Annie felt as though her heart was about to leap from her chest, nearly tripping twice before they'd finally reached the car. Caroline practically threw herself into the driver's seat while Annie dove into the back. It wasn't long before the roar of the engine propelled the two far down the road ahead, speeding the vehicle miles away from the scene of the crime.
Caroline finally made a stop on a street far enough away to guarantee their safety, leaving nothing but the sound of the pair's heavy breathing and the roar of the engine. Then, Caroline suddenly burst into laughter.
"And who was it that said that I wasn't fun!?" She asked rhetorically, her piercing voice fueled by adrenaline as her face gleamed with sweat. Annie's face contorted in confusion, looking at her aunt like she was a psych ward patient.
"Fun!? I'm pretty sure what I called you was insane and that seems to be exactly the case from whatever the hell it was you just had us do!" Annie retorted in frustration, equally fueled by the adrenaline of their situation.
Caroline paused her laughter, looking back towards Annie with a stoic expression before another grin slowly began to grow on her face, inevitably causing her to erupt in laughter once again as Annie, too, was unable to stop the inexplicable smile that grew on her face. "W-what the hell is wrong with you!?" Annie attempted to retain her accusatory attitude, though it was undermined by the short bursts of chuckling that permeated her words. "You really are insane! That was so fucked up." She finally managed to get out in a tone that was unable to be completely serious, trying to quell the smile that never quite left her face.
"Maybe. But that just means you are too." Caroline finally said with a grin.
Annie opened her mouth again to argue but stopped as a giggle escaped her lips. She clamped a hand over her mouth, looking up to see Caroline's unimpeded reaction as she erupted in laughter, this time over her niece. Annie kept her hand steady to her mouth, but it was no use. Soon, the two of them were both filling the car with their unabated laughter.
As the laughter finally faded a few moments later, Caroline glanced at Annie again, her expression softening slightly. "Y'know, I'm not saying that you have to do anything you don't want to. Just… try talking to him sometimes. That's all. It's still your choice"
Annie looked back at her, a slight frown growing on her face before she turned back to look out the window at the trees that lined the road, their branches swaying gently in the wind. She didn't respond.
Caroline's voice lowered slightly before she added. "Isn't that why you came here in the first place? So, it wouldn't be the same as… well, before." Her words slowed.
Annie winced, her fingers suddenly tensing on her leg at Caroline's words. "I… don't really want to talk about that." She said, her reflection pale and still against the glass while her voice was colder than the winter air outside.
"Okay." Caroline hesitated before replying with a nod. The car had fallen into silence, the laughter from earlier seeming as though a forgotten dream as the engine roared to life once more. And without another word between them, the pair drove off into the night.