Dresden Lane

It was a cool, crisp fall night, the wind picked up, blowing in a fury, howling like a wolf in the night, sending a chill up the spine. The screen door slammed against the door jamb, startling me, I dropped the box I was carrying onto to the floor. Luckily nothing broke, I picked it up and set it off to the side. I sat down on the love seat, exhausted from the move. My sister Jodie came into the living room carrying a serving tray with cups of hot chocolate, setting the platter onto the table, she took a seat next to me.

"Cheers! Here' s to no more moving!" she said holding up her cup.
"I hear that!" I replied, as I gently tapped her glass with mine.

We sat on the love seat, relaxing as we listened to the rain beat up against the house. There was a faint knock at the front door. I motioned to Jodie that I would get it. I stood from the love seat and walked over to the front door. Before me stood a older lady, with graying black hair, dressed oddly, accompanied by a young girl.

"Yes, may I help you?" I asked
"Hello, I am your new neighbor Michelle, just call me Mick for short. And this is my daughter Deidre. We wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood." She said as she reached for the door handle.
"Alright, thanks. Come in" I replied. As I opened the door.

I stepped aside for the two strangers to pass me, but keeping a eye on them as they made their way to the living room. I noticed my sister walking toward us wiping her hands dry with a kitchen towel, then tossing it over her shoulder.

"Hi, I am Jodie, and that, not so friendly one there, is my sister Nikki." she said extending out her hand to offer a hand shake.
"Very nice to meet you all, so sorry we barged in, but on nights like this, I felt I should fore warn you of frequent power outages" Mick said as she shook my sisters hand.

"Appreciate the heads up, don't we Nikki?" Jodie said glancing over to me.
"Sure" I replied, as I took a seat back on the love seat.

I watched Mick and her daughter as they surveyed the living room. My eye was drawn to Deidre, who took it upon herself to take a seat next to me. Mick soon followed and sat on the rocker by the fireplace. I watched as she slowly rocked back and forth, just like a grandmother, then my attention drew back to Deidre, who was staring at me with piercing eyes. I stood up and walked over to the dinning room and took a seat, while my mild mannered sister was trying to find a way to cut through the thick ice.

"Lived here long have you?" Jodie blurted out.
"Well, me and Deidre have been here for years." Mick said as she rocked slowly in the chair.
"O.k. , well, Deidre, seems like you and my sister Nikki are about the same age, no?" Jodie asked.
"Could be, I just turned 16 this month, and you Nikki?" Deidre replied.
"How...... cool, yes we are." I answered in an annoyed nonchalant kind of way.
"We best be going, and let these two get settled. By the way, here is a house warming gift." Mick said as she handed my sister Jodie a small narrow box.
"Thank you. Maybe tomorrow we can get together and talk more" Jodie replied as she set the gift onto the table and proceeded to walk them to the door.
"Alright, tomorrow it is, we shall have dinner at our house about 7 p.m. Will this work for yous?" Mick asked as she stopped half way through the door.
"7 P.M. O.K. Thanks again" Jodie said as she shut the door.

I sat still in my chair and gave Jodie a cold stare. She returned the cold stare with a shoulder shrug and picked up the tray with coffee mugs and headed off into the kitchen. As I got up to follow Jodie, I heard a loud clap of lightening followed by rolling thunder, the lights began to flicker, then the power went off.

"Jodie? Any idea where the flashlights are? Or candles?" I yelled.
"Are you serious, pick a box, maybe you will get lucky" she replied.

As I was rummaging through boxes, I heard another knock on the door. I stood up, cracking my back, and then headed to the door. I opened the door, this time only an inch, as the lightening flashed, I saw a dark figure with reddish eyes. Being startled, I slammed the door, just then my knees gave in. I fell to floor on my butt. I heard another knock. My sister came into the hallway yelling "For gods sake open the door". I slowly stood up, but found myself speechless, I tried to tell her not to open the door, but nothing came out. I pushed her, she just pushed back. Jodie opened the door, squinting her eyes trying to see through the dark as to who was at her front door, but could not see nothing, until the lightening lit the sky up like a Christmas tree, allowing her to see Mick standing on our porch.

"Oh Mick, nice to see you so soon, may I help you.?" she asked.

I stood behind her shaking like a leaf, trying to beg her not to let her in, but words were not able to speak from my mouth. Then Jodie took me by the arm and pulled me near her into the doorway. Mick turned to me and gave an evil grin.

"Sorry to interrupt again, but we lost power, and I thought you might have as well. You all can come to our house, we have a generator. I figured that maybe you may not be able to find anything in all those boxes." Mick said.
"Well, that is neighborly of you, I think we will accept your kindness, won't we Nikki.?" Jodie said gently squeezing my arm.
"Great! Follow me, stay close, it is dark and the fog is thick, as is the rain. " Mick replied as she stepped away from the door.
"Oh my God! why did you do that?" I whispered to Jodie, as I gently punched her in the arm.
"Hey , no power, no batteries, lets go and wait it out." Jodie said as she tugged me through the door.

Jodie and I followed Mick through the dense fog and tall willow trees, which to me seemed to be a half mile or so to her house. We were soaking wet, and cold. When we reached her house, I breathed a sigh, as she was truthful about having a generator. Looking up at Mick's house, I felt my stomach turn, and then a sinking feeling came over me. It was a ancient house, like something out of a horror film. I tugged on Jodie's shirt, as to tell her let go back, its not too late, but she ignored me moving forward up the steps, dragging me behind her.

"Come on in, and make yourselves at home" Mick said as she held the door open for us.

I slowly walked up the steps and stopped for a brief moment as Mick's and my eyes locked onto one another. I felt a dark chill run over me, then she put her hand on the small of my back to further push me into her home. Just as I fought against her pushing me, there was a flash of lightening, soon followed by a large boom, the house shook. Everyone jumped, looking back toward the door, a large tree had been struck and fell resting against the door way blocking the exit. I felt a heaviness on my chest. I could not breathe as I stared at that enormous tree blocking us from leaving this house, with these people we don't know.

"Where is the back door?" I shouted.
"Now , now child, I hate to tell you, but it is out of commission since the last storm from two days ago blew through here." Mick said as she motioned for us to follow her.

I gave my sister Jodie a paralyzing stare as well followed this strange woman through her dimly lit house in to the living room. Mick pointed for us to take a seat. Jodie and I quickly sat next to one another, as Mick held up her finger as to say wait one moment. Then she disappeared through the doorway. I looked around her anciently decorated house, trying to get some kind of angle on who these people were. The pictures that were hung on the walls were in old dusty frames, and cob webs were spun in the corners of the ceiling. I turned and looked at Jodie in disappointment.

"I won't forgive you for this ya know" I said.
"It will be O.k! So, they are a bit odd. Who isn't now a days" She replied.
"Odd just does not sum it up" I snapped.

I looked up at the coo coo clock above the fireplace, noticing it was almost midnight. Mick and Deidre came into the living room carrying pillows, blankets, and tall glasses of water. I watched as they sat the bedding onto the chair adjacent from where Jodie and I were sitting, then setting the drinks on the table. Deidre looked up at me lifting her eye brow and smiling an smirky grin, then she turned away and started to make up one of the couches for us to sleep on.

"Jackson our handy man will not come out until day break. I am going to turn in. Sleep well. " Deidre said as she turned toward the living room door, soon disappearing from our sight.
"Peachy" I replied.
"I know it is not the best way to start off in a new neighborhood, but you all are safe here until morning. If you need anything, my room is the 1st on the left at the top of the stairs, and Deidre's is the last one on the right. Kitchen is straight back, and bathroom is the second door on the left after the kitchen." Mick said as she stood before us like a prison maid.
"Thanks for your hospitality. have a good night" Jodie said.
"I shall, and you as well." Mick replied.

I watched nervously as she walked out of the living room. I walked over to the chair, grabbed a blanket, and turned to my sister, rolling my eyes, I sat down on the couch.

"Have a good night " I mocked .
"Just go to sleep, we will go home in the morning" Jodie said tossing a pillow at me.
"If we make it to morning" I snapped as I caught the pillow.

I lied quietly on the couch, occasionally staring over at my sister. I could not sleep with the lightening hitting the ground around the house, and the thunder rolling in a never ending in a deafening tone. I looked at my sister wondering how she could sleep through all this, then, as the lightening flashed, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, someone ran past the door. I jumped up and headed to the doorway.

"Deidre?" I shouted.

I waited but got no answer. I looked down the long narrow hall toward the bathroom, it was dark, the lighting was faint, I had seen a door shut. I glanced back at Jodie, she was still sound asleep so I let her be. I just did not have the heart to wake her. I walked slowly towards the door, which was now open. When I was just inches from the handle, it slammed shut. As I reached for the knob, I felt a hand on my shoulder, I jumped, turning quickly to find no one there.

Gently I turned the knob and opened the door. I saw a stairway leading to what seemed to be a basement. I slowly walked down, holding onto the hand rail tightly. Leaning over, I looked around the dimly lit basement, off in the corner a small light fixture swayed gently back and forth throwing shadows on the walls as it moved. I stepped down, and began to take baby steps. Half way through the basement I came upon on pole. I extended my arm out to grab it when I a force of energy thrush through me. I was paralyzed, I tried to move, but I could not. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I felt a warm sensation moving down from my shoulder to my arm. I looked down and saw blood. I lifted my right arm and touched my left shoulder feeling a deep wet cut, I started to hyper ventilate.

My eyes scanned the room, trying to locate a way back out. I noticed a wall unit filled with stuffed animals and books to my right, and door way just beside it. Once again, I tried to free myself to move, but had no luck. I heard a faint whisper that caught my ear. I tried to focus, but heard nothing. Again, I felt a push, this time I landed on my front, face down onto the basement floor. "You won't get out alive" the faint voice whispered into my ear, standing all the hairs on my neck and arms on end. I scurried to my feet and ran. As I pass the bookcase, a teddy bear flew out, hitting me, knocking me off balance for a moment. I ran through the door way and up the stairs and began banging on the door.

"HELP! JODIE, HELP!" I yelled as I struggled to turn the knob which would not budge.

I had a sinking feeling in stomach once again. I turned, only to see a dark shadowy figure with eerie red eyes floating up the stairs towards me. I started to tremble, once again, paralysis took over me, as this figure reached out to me. I flattened myself against the door, closed my eyes, and started to pray to God for forgiveness. Just then, the door opened and I fell backwards onto the floor, looking up I saw Jodie. She was white as a sheet. I looked down to where she was staring I saw the dark shadow figure, it was just at my feet, reaching for my leg. She bent down and lifted me off my rear, we ran down the hall towards the door. We stopped in terror, as we forgot it was blocked from the tree that lightening struck. Staring down the hall, we watched the dark figure as it was getting closer to us. I grabbed Jodie by the shirt and ran in the opposite direction, I stumbled and fell, hitting a corner table, knocking a phone off onto the floor. I picked up the phone, but there was dial tone. Jodie helped me to my feet, we started to run down the hall into a room that appeared to be a parlor. I grabbed a chair and tossed it into the picture window, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. I climbed out first, and as I held my hand out to help Jodie, the dark figure went to grab her. I pulled her as hard as I could through the window, we both fell onto the porch. We got to our feet, and began to run through the thick fog, flinching at each lightening strike, we were not sure where we were headed, but it had to be better then there.

As we ran, we occasionally looked back to see if we were being followed. We did not see anything, so we paused for a brief moment to catch our breath. Then we ran again, this time we found ourselves on a road. We froze as headlights came from around the bend heading toward us, much like a deer hypnotized by an oncoming trucks headlights. The car slammed on its brakes, skidding off to the side of the road as Jodie and I held onto one another. We fell to our knees, still clinging on to one another crying. We watched nervously as a the car door opened, a tall heavy set man began walking towards us.

"Are you two alright? I did not see you all in the road?" The man said.
"Not really" Jodie said in a tremble.

As the man got closer, we noticed he was a police officer. Jodie and I began to cry in relief, we got to our feet. The officer then walked us to his squad car, and handed us both a blanket from the trunk. He opened the rear door, and we gladly took a seat. We watched as he opened his door and sat down. We huddled together as we were freezing from being rain soaked. We watched as the officer wipe the rain from his face with a handkerchief before turning back to look at us.

"No cause for alarm, My name is Officer Melon. What are you two doing out here in the dark, in this storm? And why are you bleeding child?" he asked.
"We just moved in up the hill, we lost power and our neighbors invited us to stay with them as they had a generator, and something or someone, in our neighbors house attacked me." I replied.
"You mean you gals moved into that house on Dresden, up that hill?" he asked
"Yes, my sister did." I replied.
"Just what neighbors you talking about? There is no neighbors near your house since the 1920's" he said scratching his head.
"No neighbors? Just what do you mean?" I asked in a panic
"Just that! Back in 1920, there were 2 murders up the other side of the hill, and a suicide. That house you are speaking of, has not been able to rent since then. No one in their right minds will rent that house." He replied.
"Well sir, all I know is, that Mick, I mean Michelle and a girl named Deidre invited us there to stay due to the fact we lost power." Jodie said crying.
"Did you say Mick and Deidre?" Officer Melon asked.
"Yes , Mick and Deidre" I replied
"I hate to tell you this, but, Mick and Deidre were Joe Bernard's wife and child" He replied
"Who is Joe Bernard?" Jodie cried out.
"Joe Bernard is the gentleman who owned that so called not vacant house you speak of." Officer Melon replied.
"No..... no, there is someone living there, lets go up there and I will show you" I demanded.
"If you so insist. OK." He said as he put his car in drive.

I sat quietly staring out the patrol car window, as Jodie explained to the officer what had happened. We held on to one another as we slowly drove up the road in the storm, to the house where Mick and Deidre led us to. Officer Melon pulled up, put his car in park, and turned on his brights. Before us stood a neglected, dark, abandoned house, with broken windows, and moss hanging from every gutter and window shutter. Not the house Jodie and I were in, we began to cry as we looked at one another.

"You sure this is this place?" Officer Melon asked,
"Yes, sir it is. " Jodie said crying.
"Like I said, no one been living here since 1920. Are you sure you two are not drinking or smoking something?" he questioned
"No sir, I am telling you truth. Please, just take us home." I asked.

As Officer Melon drove us home, he told us the whole story of how Joe Bernard was having an affair with a lady who once lived in my sisters home. That Mick had invited that lady over to their house for dinner, and killed her. Upon returning home early, Joe found his slain lover, with Mick standing above her, holding a bloody knife. Officer Melon said Mr Bernard then lost it, killing Mick, then Deidre because she witnessed him murdering her mother. Joe then went into the basement and hung himself in guilt and shame. I am not sure if the story we heard was true or not. But all I know is, my sister Jodi and I, saw something, and are lucky we got out of that house alive.