Chapter Three

Chapter Three

            It was the next morning. The official full first day of summer break for the schools in the town of Middleton. Kids slept in until almost noon from staying up half the night due to not having bedtimes again until about the beginning of August. It was a very humid day and dreary. The sunshine decided to take a break and in with the gloomy rain clouds with possible thunderstorms later. The air was so muggy and sticky. Just miserable suffocating heat and this was just the beginning of the heat wave for the summer. Once July gets here it is going to be like the gates of Hell were pushed open.

            Elizabeth and Trevor were eating bowls of cereal on the couch in the den while half watching T.V. and half discussing the plans for today with Mila and Logan. They all had agreed yesterday to go as a group, stick together the whole time and go explore only the outside of the infamous Black Crow Manor home. There was so much excitement from the curiosity of it but at the same time so much nervousness and unsettling vibes from the unknown of the place. They didn’t know what to expect. Elizabeth decided to give Mila a phone call and then Logan right after. The plan was to meet once again at the crooked old stop sign as usual. Two o’clock.

            Few minutes after two o’clock rolls around and there they were once again. All four chaps at the meeting place, sweating like hogs, anxious but curious enough to get this adventure rolling! As they started walking in the direction of the street that was going to take them to this mysterious house Mila started in with all the “what ifs”. What if we get caught? What if we get arrested? What if homeless people are living in it and they hurt us? What if our parents’ find out? Each of their parents has warned them not to lay a foot on that property at least a dozen times. The parents of this crew didn’t get home from work until around 4:30pm or 5:30pm range and they all were trusted to stay home or close by as long as they were together and had their cell phones in case of emergencies. Oh boy, if they knew where their children were venturing to right now. It would be the end of their freedom already on their first full day of summer break. They just could NOT get caught.

            Trevor could feel his heart pounding so hard through his chest the closer they got down that road towards that house. It wasn’t from the heat really. It was mainly from the sheer terror of this talked about possibly haunted house and the thought of their parents somehow finding out was just as terrifying. He didn’t know which was worse honestly. Logan was on another level of eagerness as they got closer. Mila ended up just getting quiet at some point. Elizabeth was slightly matching Logan’s energy. And there they were. They made it. Right before their eyes was the beginning of the long, overgrown path that will lead them to the house of terror as some locals call it. The path was half dirt and half loose gravel. Weeds galore and the dreary type of day it was that day just didn’t help. It made the whole view of everything ten times scarier. Maybe they should have chosen a bright, cheery day to do this, Mila thought in her head.

            “Well come on guys! Let’s not just stand here to where someone can drive by and see us or we are going to get caught!” Logan blurted out as he pushed the ancient looking black wrought-iron gate the rest of the way open. It was already cracked open, and the latch was noticeably broken. Elizabeth stepped through the gate next and following right on her heels was Trevor. The three started walking until Elizabeth looked back and noticed Mila was still standing outside the gate near the gigantic old black rusted mailbox.

            “Mila! Come on! We are to stay together and Logan is right. Someone is going to end up driving by and seeing us. There goes our summer when our parents get calls saying we were making our way up to this place! Come ON!” Elizabeth loudly whispered. Mila stood there for a second and looked both ways up the road and then back at her friends. She let out a deep sigh and entered behind them. It got quiet as the four of them inched their way closer to their destination which seemed like it was never going to end. The driveway was like a snake weaving through the slight bit of woods and years of overgrown tangled chaos.

            It came to an end. They finally made it to the front yard area directly in front of the massive place. Their necks were in pain from holding their heads straight back to look up at the towering masterpiece. It was stunning. Overpowering with dark beauty. Was it more on the spooky side or the beautiful side? It was hard to answer that. All eight eyeballs gawking up at it right now were just in pure admiration. Speechless. Their eyes ran from left to right, then up and down and back over it left to right again. When being in a car going down the road in front of this property during the late fall and winter months when the trees are naked you can just barely get a glimpse of the roof and upstairs windows but seeing it all like this was just out of this world.

            “This place looks like a castle in a scary movie or something with vampires lurking in it,” Trevor said as his mouth hung wide open just taking it all in.

            “Well, that’s the last thing I want to think about when being up here is vampires!” Mila shrieked as she was looking over her shoulders behind her all paranoid.

            “Oh stop. Vampires aren’t real and we all know that “Elizabeth said as she started slowly stepping up the main front steps leading up to the grand front porch.

            “Be careful Lizzie you could fall through those steps, “Trevor warned his sister. She rolled her eyes back at him and continued walking up the steps with confidence to show her brother she could handle herself. Logan followed right up behind her and then there was Trevor and Mila as the caboose.  The porch was intense. You could fit ten rocking chairs comfortably on it probably. The front door was a set of tall, French doors with the typical copper lion’s dead door knocker in the center of the right side. The gothic character of the windows, the railings along the porch’s edge, and decorative pieces above each window was just something from a movie or book.

            The kids carefully walked up and down pacing the front porch and looking around, being careful not to walk too heavy due to Trevor’s concern of falling through the floorboards. He did have a point though. This place was very old. Each one of them tried looking through windows from the porch on either side of the front door and there was no success in seeing a single thing in the house. Every single window it seemed had heavy, long dark curtains blocking the outside world out. Great. They get all the way up here to this point and they can’t see a thing, so they decide to stay together and leave the front porch, walk around the house to the sides and make their way to the back and try to get a peek through other windows. They go around the right side and what windows are on the ground floor are the same as the front windows. Blocked with dark, heavy curtains. They made their way around the back of the home and it was like the most eerie but magical place.

            In the center of the humongous back yard was a three-tier concrete water fountain like one you would see in a public park that was home to many pennies thrown in there followed by people’s wishes. It was all dried up, moss stuck to it in patches like glue and vines hugged all over it. Tons of overgrown dead flower beds lined the space and there was no doubt those who lived here definitely had a landscaper to help tend to all this. If only they could have seen this place in its prime Elizabeth thought to herself. There were a few Victorian-style looking white wrought-iron bistro tables and chair sets scattered around. You could see they were once white but now wore a shade of moldy green and dirt accents. They came across random old rakes, shovels and gardening gloves tossed around that were clearly dry rotted.

            “What I would do to be able to go back in time and see these grounds when these flower gardens were blooming with color, running water in that fountain, and all the outdoor furniture out here bright, clean white with maybe a potted flower in the center of one of the tables, “ Elizabeth said as she gazed over the property trying hard to imagine it. But the reality of it now is just dead, rotten and putrid sights and smells. The silence even brings a layer of sadness to you as you stand there overseeing it all. You look at the back of the manor and all you see is vines like veins taking over all the once was beautiful brick and stonework. Vines-like veins, large windows just like in the front of the house were closed by you guessed it, more dark curtains. There were two smaller circular windows that looked like the eyes of the place.

            “I have never in my life seen a HOUSE that literally seemed like it was alive. I feel like it’s just staring at us and taking us all in like we are to it, “Logan explained.

            “You’re right, “Mila replied. She stepped over, getting closer to Elizabeth and linked one of her arms to hers.

            “So, it doesn’t seem like we are going to be able to look through any windows. I mean this was cool coming up here and seeing all of this, but I wanted to see at least one room through a darn window, “Elizabeth said as she threw her one free hand on her hip in frustration. Mila continued to stay linked to the other arm.

            “Well, we agreed we were not going to even try to break in here and we are to stay OUTSIDE of it, “Trevor threw his sister’s way reminding her of their pact. Logan walked up to the back door that was close to him and just out of curiosity jiggled the doorknob.

            “No guys, I’m not going in I’m just curious if this place has been left unlocked and open is all, “Logan assured the others. They watched him closely and he jiggled the knob slightly and realized he could most definitely continue to turn it. It was continuing to turn! This door was unlocked! He turned and looked at the others standing about ten feet behind him and just the look on his face and the smile that crept up on it was enough right there.

            “Logan! No! Oh my gosh, is it unlocked?!” Mila nervously questioned. He kept his hand on the doorknob and continued to smile at them and then slightly started laughing. He nodded his head yes.

            “I’m not going in because we promised we wouldn’t but what if we just crack it open and look in from out here?” Logan asked hoping the others would agree. They exchanged looks and shockingly everyone was on board with the idea because they weren’t technically going inside at all. So, Logan quickly turned the knob a little more and pushed the door inward with force. As the door swung open, he jumped back into his friends to distance himself from whatever it was that could potentially be there. The unknown. The unknown was enough to send your nerves into pure chaos. The door was wide open. The Black Crow Manor was standing there wide open to them, and they were in total disbelief at what they were looking at.