Bored, deep brown eyes stared at the whiteboard, pupils unfocused. He tapped his pencil against his notebook as his ears listened to his teacher’s drawl. Sebastian Millers sat in his 11th grade History class, trying to stay focused as his teacher went on about the Cold War. It wasn’t that Sebastian didn’t like history, he found the topic very fascinating, it was just that his teacher wasn’t engaging at all. His mind was just left to wander.
Something hitting his fluffy brunette hair snapped him out of his thoughts, the image of his band's newest album snapping away from his view. Dropping his pencil, he reached his hand behind to grab it, ruffling through the mess of curls. It was a scrunched up piece of paper. He unfolded it, a sharp hiss escaping his lips. The word ‘Faggot’ was scrawled across the piece of paper with a badly drawn image of him in the corner. Scrunching the paper back up he slumped his head against the table, his dark curls flopping in front of his face. A group of boys snickering at the back of the classroom.
----------------------------------------
Bright caramel eyes were locked on tanned skin, eyebrow sharp. A new person had arrived in their small town, her nails painted a sharp red, with her hair in a high ponytail. Tracy Millers sat in her 10th grade English class, counting down the minutes to the end of class. She half paid attention to the importance of Pathos, Logos and Ethos as she formulated a plan to get the new girl to like her. The girl's brown hair with blond tips, hoop earrings and gold chain necklace, highlighted her as a city chick, maybe even a popular one. Tracy slumped against her hand, pondering how someone like her could impress a queen bee like that.
The class came to an end, students started shoving chromebooks in their bags with the scrape of chairs following them out the door. Out of the corner of her eye, Tracy watched as her befriending target packed up, mimicking her movements. She then followed her out the door and ran up beside her.
“Hi! You're new here right?” Tracy asked, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
“Yeah I am. My name’s Asha.” She held out her manicured hand, Tracy shook it.
“My name’s Tracy, and welcome to our small town of Applebee. Where are you from?” She asked as they walked down the stairs to their next class.
“I came down from Melbourne.” Asha responded, emerald eyes looking forward.
“Well I’m excited to meet you! Want me to show you around town this afternoon? If we meet at the front of the school.. Say around four then I can show you the important places and stuff! How does that sound?” Tracy asked, stopping in front of Asha to avoid her slipping away.
“Yeah sure, why not?” Asha smiled. She then walked down the corridor to her class, waving a hand back. Tracy bounced with excitement. A new friend.
As four o’clock drew closer, Tracy rushed up to her brother's room, banging on the closed door. She swung back and forth on her feet, waiting for her older brother to invite her inside. When the door opened Tracy looked up at him. Sebastian was in his signature black hoodie, towering over Tracy. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes were bloodshot.
“Can I help you?” He asked, his face contorted in a slight scowl.
“Oh! Um yeah! So I met this new girl at school today and since Mum and Dad aren’t home I’d thought I’d let you know that I’m going to show her around town.” Tracy beamed up at her brother, her smile falling when she saw that his lips didn’t change.
“I’m coming with you.” He spoke, grabbing his shoes from beside his white door.
“Wait.. what?” Tracy looked at him puzzled, following him as he made his way to the front door.
“This is some new rando. I’m not having you showing her around town, what if she's a murderer or something?” Sebastian looked up at Tracy as he pulled his dark boots over black socks.
“Sebby, you really listen to too many true crime podcasts. Asha isn’t like that, trust.”
“How do you know that Trace? You met her today, right? I’ll send Mum a text telling her where we are.” Sebastian stood up, dark chocolate eyes meeting bright chestnut ones.
Tracy rolled her eyes, smiling. The two siblings then walked out the door and towards the school.
When they arrived at the school two people were standing at the gate. The taller one Tracy recognised straight away was Asha, a flowery phone case in her hand with a collection of beads hanging off it. Her high waisted jeans and red crop top showed off her slightly chubby body. Clinging off her was a little boy with spiky blond hair and a green shirt with a T-rex on it. He was jumping up and down while gripping Asha’s jeans, excitement running through him.
Tracy ran up to Asha, waving. Looking up from her phone she slid it into her pocket and waved.
“Hey!” Tracy called as she ran up, Sebastian walking behind.
“Tracy, I didn’t know my father would shove me with my little brother, but do you mind if he joins us?” Asha asked, ruffling up her brother's hair.
“Yeah sure! My brother insisted he come as well. This is Sebastian.” Tracy gestured back to her brother, who nodded in greeting.
“This is Ozzy.” Ozzy waved, a broad grin on his face showing off a few missing teeth.
“Too cute! Now follow me!” Tracy cheered, taking a large step forward and leading the way around town.
The setting sun shone brightly across the town, painting it in an orange hue. The footpath they walked on was grey and cracked from tree roots. Houses lay on their right side with a large road on their left, the occasional car driving past. Tracy bounced down the street, showing off everything she deemed important for Asha to know the location of. Everything that got pointed at also earned a photo on Asha’s phone. Ozzy ran along the path ahead of the group asking continued questions like “What's that?” and “Why is it like that?”.
As they passed the primary school, they eyed a group of five boys. All of them wore either white hoodies or sports jackets. Their shoes, either a bright white or vibrant red. White smoke drifted from their mouths as they sucked on the end of vapes. Mullets sat underneath sports caps and bum bags slung over shoulders.
“Oi look who it is lads, the faggot has come out to infect us all.” One of the eshays said, the others smirking and laughing.
“Fuck off, Sam.” Sebastian snapped, glaring over at the group of boys. He shoved his hands in his pockets, pushing past Tracy and Asha. The eshays laughed, chanting ‘faggot’ as they walked off.
“What's up with him?” Asha inquired. “It's just a bunch of eshays being,” she covered Ozzy’s ears “bitches.” Tracy shrugged, her rounded eyes narrowing as she watched her brother walk off, worry glazing over them.
“Let’s keep going!” Ozzy called, cutting Tracy out of her thoughts. He ran up ahead, followed by the two girls.
The group of four continued down the streets, eventually coming to the outskirts of town. A small cemetery sat at the end of a road, and behind it stood a house. It was made of a cream brick and was grand. A porch stood at the front of the house, its supportive posts were falling apart, some snapped clean in half. Vines crawled up the sides of the building, moss sticking in the crevices of the bricks. The paint was scratched and chipped. The roof’s tiles cracked, a few of them missing. Windows were smashed in and the curtains were moth eaten. The whole building was covered in a layer of grime that gave what would have been a bright white a yellow tone.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“What's up with that old house?” Asha questioned, snapping a photo of the run down building.
“It used to belong to a newlywed couple. Wife came from a wealthy family so they had a lot of money. Husband died mysteriously one day and the wife shut herself away. No one knows what happened to her but many think she committed… y’know.” Sebastian said, miming a noose around his neck.
Asha studied the abandoned architecture.
“Ten bucks says you're too chicken to explore it.” Asha smirked over at Tracy, awaiting her reply.
“Hold on, that place could collapse at any moment-“
“Let's do it!” Tracy cut off her brother, bouncing towards the building. Asha smiled and followed with Ozzy holding close to her calf.
“Trace! What are you doing?” Sebastian hissed, walking beside his sister.
“This is my chance to make friends with Asha before anyone else does. You know I don’t have many friends at school.” Tracy smiled then continued walking, ignoring her brother's cries to make her stay. Asha passed by Sebastian, a smile on her face. Ozzy jumped towards the house. Sebastian then sighed and followed the other three inside, deciding that if they were going to explore somewhere dangerous he might as well keep an eye on them.
A yellow sleeve pressed against the door as Tracy pushed against the rotting wood. Eventually, the door gave way and ripped off the surrounding wood, falling to the floor with a bang. Dust floated up from the floor, being illuminated by the setting sun. The entire inside was covered in a layer of dust, spider webs clinging to the corners. The entrance was grand with the remnants of a small chandelier smashed on the floor. A staircase stood against the left wall that reached up to the second floor and an opening was on the right that led into a kitchen. Paintings littered almost every free space on the walls. Each painting consisted of something different, from piles of garbage to a town that you would see in a fantasy TV show. The art style was delicate, realistic with perfect shading that made each painting almost look like a photo
Walking into the building, the floor below them crunched. Dust drifted down from the ceiling, landing on top of the people below. All four of them started coughing, waving the dust out of their faces.
“What a dump.” Asha said through her coughing. “All this dust is gonna mess with my skin. Not to mention whatever bugs might be crawling around.” She shuddered at the thought.
“Then, here's just an idea, how about we leave?” Sebastian retorted, covering his nose with his hoodie.
“Oh come on! We’ve gone this far haven’t we?” Tracy said, walking more into the room and studying one of the paintings.
This painting was of a small crop patch with a wooden house in the background. Thick brush strokes created trees in the background while small delicate ones made grass. In the patch, green vines snaked around pumpkins. The paint was made up of thick layers and was more raised than the rest of the painting. As if it had been redone multiple times until the result was perfection. The paintings on the wall next to it all matched the first one, the only difference was the time of day. Some were shrouded in darkness, others bathed in light. The wall next to the door to the kitchen was much the same. A plain concrete building sat in the middle of a clearing. Each painting a different time of day. Once again, the concrete looked like it had been painted over many times until each looked identical and realistic.
The four entered the kitchen to see the entire place upturned. Dishes were smashed on the ground, chairs were upside down and the old fashioned oven had its door ripped off its hinges. The room, which looked to be once pure white, was bathed in a layer of grime. A wooden door stood next to a pantry, the letters ‘WC’ embellished on it in rusted gold letters. Cockroaches scurried up the wall and spiders hung from the ceiling. As Asha saw them, she took a step backwards.
“This is so gro-” Asha’s sentence was cut off, a scream ringing through the small room as a cockroach began to climb up her leg. She jumped up and down, shaking with fear as she chanted “Get it off! GET IT OFF!”. Sebastian bent down and picked the bug off her calf.
“This thing isn’t going to hurt you.” He explained as he placed it on top of a dust covered table.
“Let’s just leave this dump of a room.” Asha concluded and she walked out of the kitchen, her brother running up beside her.
In the main entrance, glass cracked and crunched under their feet as the group made their way towards the staircase. Ozzy was the first to reach it. He placed his foot on the step when it creaked and he jumped backwards. Gabbing onto his sister's leg he muttered, “Do we have to go up there? It’s really dark and there could be monsters.”
“Oh come on Ozzy, I’m your big sister and I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” Asha tried to reassure him, turning on her phone's flashlight and beginning to walk up the stairs. Tracy quickly followed, her own phone’s bright light illuminating the steps.
“Ashy! I don’t want to! Come on please, it's too scary.” Ozzy whined, taking an extra step back.
“I agree with the child. This is dangerous. Let's go.” Sebastian said, standing next to Ozzy.
“Ozzy, if you do this, I’ll play with you when we get home.” Asha turned around and shined her light in Sebastian’s face.
“But…”
“Ozzy. I promise. Whatever game you want.” Ozzy looked back up at his sister, pouted, then ran up to her. He clung to her leg and they continued up the stairs. Sebastian’s face was contorted in discontent. He looked down, accepting defeat, and began to follow.
The steps creaked as it felt weight for the first time in many years. As they walked up the house shook with the movement. The phone lit up the dark and dusty house, the absence of windows making the phones their only way to see. More paintings lined the walls, a layer of dust laid over each one. Each had an identical frame, a rusted regal rectangular gold frame with a swirl pattern at the corners.
When the group reached the top they came to a corridor that stretched to the right, a single painting sat at the end of the corridor. Doors sat along the corridor, each being separated by another painting. The hallway was a light brown turned mousy from long uncleaned dust. The floor between their feet was rotting and cracked wood, their footprints being embedded in the layers of grime. Spiders crept up the walls, creating their webs across the top of the hallway. They weaved beautiful patterns that would then be destroyed by a black jumper sleeve.
“Thanks for that, Sebby.” Tracy smiled as Sebastian cleaned the cobweb off his sleeve.
Coming up to the first door, Tracy pushed her body weight against it. And then pushed again. And again.
“Come on, you blasted door,” she cursed as she put her entire weight on it. After trying multiple times and it not budging, she stepped back. “This door ain’t it. Let's move on,” she sighed. Each door along the corridor that hadn’t moved now had a Tracy shaped figure implanted into the dust.
“See Sebastian, this isn’t as dangerous as you thought. We can’t even get into any of the bloody rooms.” Asha's voice spoke up as Tracy tried the last door.
“There is this thing called the entire building collapsing.” Sebastian muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets, admiring the painting next to him.
They were at the end of the corridor and where most old-timey houses might have had a window, this one had a singular painting. A castle with too many spiers sat high in the mountains, red lighting striking down around it from grey clouds. This painting looked like the entire thing had been gone over many times. It was raised in places that should have looked flat. A section of the painting at the top looked unfinished, the bare canvas underneath was still visible. Why spend so much time on the details of a painting without even making sure the entire thing was done? Sebastian thought as Tracy pushed down the door. “Finally!” She cheered as she entered the room, the aroma of paint fumes filtered out. Sebastian walked into the room catching one last look at Ozzy, who was studying the painting, before focusing on the room in front of him.
The room that Tracy had managed to get into looked like a paint studio. Paint of all colours were splattered everywhere adoring the room in a colourful filter, a major contrast to the hues of brown and grey that the rest of the house is covered in. It was like they walked into a new dimension. While the look was magical, the aura of the room seemed muted, as if the once joyful room had been drained of all happiness.
“This must have been where the owner of the house obsessed over all their paintings.” Sebastian said, observing the room. His brown eyes scanned it, taking in the colourful array of splattered paint.
“T-he fumes in this room plus the dust are overpowering. I’m- I’m gonna wait outside, please don’t die” Sebastian stuttered as he coughed, covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve.
Turning around he began to exit the room, stopping in the doorway and looking down the hall.
“Hey Blondie.” Sebastian called back.
“My name is Asha.” She said, turning to face the back of Sebastian's silhouette.
“Your brother with you?”
“No? Thought he was with you.” She quickly turned as she rushed forward and out of the paint studio. Panic started to set in.
“OZZY! Ozzy! Oscar Carter, where the fuck are YOU!” She called, her voice on the verge of tears, as she ran down the corridor to look down the stairs. The two siblings could see her curvy body trembling. Turning back she glared at Sebastian.
“Sebastian, you look away from him for 5 seconds and now he's MISSING!” Asha shrieked.
“Oi! It ain’t my fucking fault if your brother went missing!” He yelled back, almond eyes narrowing.
“You were the last one who saw him! Ergo, you should know where HE IS!” She pushed against Sebastian’s chest, knocking him off balance and watching him collide with the painting behind him.
The unfinished artwork fell to the floor with a clunk, followed by Sebastian’s lanky figure. His shoulder hit the corner of the frame and his arm fell onto the painting itself. Then in a flash of light, Sebastian felt a tugging sensation at his elbow and the next thing he knew he was falling through trees. He hit the forage covered ground as pain shot through his nervous system.