does it matter if there is? She’s not here. We need to keep looking and we need to hurry.”
Beth caught my expression. “You’re worried about the light aren’t you?”
“I’ll search this place in pitch darkness if I have to,” Derek spat, although he did click off his torch. Now the only light came from my lamp. It had been using the same canister since the sun went down. I had no idea how long one canister would last but I was guessing it was nearly exhausted. And when the lamp went out we would have to rely on our torches. We each had one, but given the drain on the other batteries earlier that evening, it was likely they wouldn’t last too long either. I didn’t want to be in this house when we ran out of light.
Beth was clearly of the same mind. Derek looked angry with us for even considering abandoning the search, but then his face turned grim and he moved away. I guessed he too had taken a moment to realize how fruitless—and terrifying—it would be to search for Chloe without light.
“We should search the kitchen cabinets for matches, torches, candles, anything we can use,” Beth said.
I nodded. “I’ll come with you. Are you staying here?”
Derek shook his head. “I heard her calling from somewhere. I have to keep looking.”
“Voices carry in this house,” I told him. “Keep looking and we’ll join you when we’ve found more light.”
Reluctantly, Derek followed us down the stairs and back to the kitchen.
“Did you clean up in here?” he asked when I set the lamp down on the centre counter.
“Wasn’t us. Even the crumbs have been swept away.”
Derek didn’t respond to this. Clearly it was information he just didn’t know what to do with right now. He clicked on his torch. “I’m going to the ballroom.”
“We’ll go via the living room and meet you there, okay?”
But Derek had already pushed through the door to the conservatory and didn’t acknowledge me.
Beth and I turned our attention to the various draws and cupboards. We opened each in turn, searching for anything useful.
“Next time I invite an old friend on holiday with us, remind me not to, okay?”
“Our next vacation will be in Hawaii,” Beth said.
We found some string and a half-used book of matches, but no candles or torches. I considered taking one of the large kitchen knives with us, but in the dark it was likely more of a hazard to us than to any entity we could or couldn’t see.
Holding hands for moral support, Beth and I ventured back into the hall. We both gazed at the front door as we passed by, dully lit from a distance by the gas lamp. How much we wanted to just open the door, get in the car and drive away.
But then I thought of Chloe, all alone, in the dark, somewhere in this house. One glance at Beth told me she was thinking the same thing. We couldn’t leave with Chloe still missing. Despite how he’d treated me, it wouldn’t be fair to Derek to abandon him without the car also.
And so, wordlessly, we turned from the front door. I glanced into the drawing room in case our equipment had mysteriously returned. It hadn’t. So we moved on to the front room. Upon entering, we stood still by the door. I lifted my lantern so that it cast an eerie glow into the room without dazzling our eyes.
It was no surprise to see the dust cover had returned to the piano. The stool Beth had sat on to play was back to its original position against the wall, and the shutters I had opened were now all closed.
At least this house was being consistently weird.
“I guess Percy’s grandfather was a neat freak,” I said.
“It’s more than that though. It’s like everything is back how it was before we arrived. Like we’d never even been here at all.”
I shivered. Maybe that was our fate now, to wander the corridors of this house like ghosts ourselves, never able to leave. If we tried to change anything it would reset like a video game, back to the start of the level. I wondered if the grounds
Beth caught my expression. “You’re worried about the light aren’t you?”
“I’ll search this place in pitch darkness if I have to,” Derek spat, although he did click off his torch. Now the only light came from my lamp. It had been using the same canister since the sun went down. I had no idea how long one canister would last but I was guessing it was nearly exhausted. And when the lamp went out we would have to rely on our torches. We each had one, but given the drain on the other batteries earlier that evening, it was likely they wouldn’t last too long either. I didn’t want to be in this house when we ran out of light.
Beth was clearly of the same mind. Derek looked angry with us for even considering abandoning the search, but then his face turned grim and he moved away. I guessed he too had taken a moment to realize how fruitless—and terrifying—it would be to search for Chloe without light.
“We should search the kitchen cabinets for matches, torches, candles, anything we can use,” Beth said.
I nodded. “I’ll come with you. Are you staying here?”
Derek shook his head. “I heard her calling from somewhere. I have to keep looking.”
“Voices carry in this house,” I told him. “Keep looking and we’ll join you when we’ve found more light.”
Reluctantly, Derek followed us down the stairs and back to the kitchen.
“Did you clean up in here?” he asked when I set the lamp down on the centre counter.
“Wasn’t us. Even the crumbs have been swept away.”
Derek didn’t respond to this. Clearly it was information he just didn’t know what to do with right now. He clicked on his torch. “I’m going to the ballroom.”
“We’ll go via the living room and meet you there, okay?”
But Derek had already pushed through the door to the conservatory and didn’t acknowledge me.
Beth and I turned our attention to the various draws and cupboards. We opened each in turn, searching for anything useful.
“Next time I invite an old friend on holiday with us, remind me not to, okay?”
“Our next vacation will be in Hawaii,” Beth said.
We found some string and a half-used book of matches, but no candles or torches. I considered taking one of the large kitchen knives with us, but in the dark it was likely more of a hazard to us than to any entity we could or couldn’t see.
Holding hands for moral support, Beth and I ventured back into the hall. We both gazed at the front door as we passed by, dully lit from a distance by the gas lamp. How much we wanted to just open the door, get in the car and drive away.
But then I thought of Chloe, all alone, in the dark, somewhere in this house. One glance at Beth told me she was thinking the same thing. We couldn’t leave with Chloe still missing. Despite how he’d treated me, it wouldn’t be fair to Derek to abandon him without the car also.
And so, wordlessly, we turned from the front door. I glanced into the drawing room in case our equipment had mysteriously returned. It hadn’t. So we moved on to the front room. Upon entering, we stood still by the door. I lifted my lantern so that it cast an eerie glow into the room without dazzling our eyes.
It was no surprise to see the dust cover had returned to the piano. The stool Beth had sat on to play was back to its original position against the wall, and the shutters I had opened were now all closed.
At least this house was being consistently weird.
“I guess Percy’s grandfather was a neat freak,” I said.
“It’s more than that though. It’s like everything is back how it was before we arrived. Like we’d never even been here at all.”
I shivered. Maybe that was our fate now, to wander the corridors of this house like ghosts ourselves, never able to leave. If we tried to change anything it would reset like a video game, back to the start of the level. I wondered if the grounds
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