The full moon set the stage of the 'scary movie' style house. Looming above her head, the moon cast shadows before Adeline's very eyes. Despite her being leery to enter, her friends pushed along the left side where they entered the cellar of "Murderhouse."
The house held dozens of rooms that carried hundreds of memories. The owners have been hosting many parties in the mansion for the past two decades, this being one of them. The BYOB shows where bands set up in the cellar with the small p.a. and play their heart out for the drunk and stoned party goers. A small following formed for the shows and a family was created with that strong bond; a bond that only a warm keg in a haunted mansion could form within a group of people grunting through college.
Adeline found herself walking down the cement steps to enter the basement of this experience. Her first time in the rumored carnival of the party and there's no way out- but in. The small room held a washing machine that used to be white but it's now covered in an orange-brown film. The knob for the size of load has been broken off and pliers now set it to medium. Ducking her head to enter the main part of the house, she saw the main room, opened wide and dark but full of a pulsing life by the people already drinking from cups and talking to other familiar people. Adeline, on the other hand, knew the three people she came with who seemed to have forgotten her and disappeared. But with a cup in hand and a front row place, when the first band started she felt like she belonged.
She has never seen the band before; a rock quartet- drums, bass, lead guitar and rhythm with vocals. The band played as if they were born with their instruments and talent in tow. The drummer pounded the beat while the bassist throbbed with the pulse for the rhythm guitarist to sing the poetic melody.
But the lead guitarist is who really caught Adeline's eye. His stage presence was dripping with confidence as he held his guitar like a fragile weapon. She stared as impolitely as she could as his fingers tore over the neck of his guitar like a mad man. When she finally moved her gaze from his shred, she looked over his ripped jeans and fitted black tee to his face. His dirty blond hair fell cleanly around his face like an invisible wind with each whip of the guitar.
As soon as those ice blue eyes met hers, her breath left her lungs on a sigh.
He was mesmerizing as the concentration swam over his face, but his eyes were all for her. He blinked his steady glare from her hypnotized eyes and tore through an insane solo to end the set. He placed the guitar on a stand for the next band to use and walked off. He started towards Adeline and after a brief pause next to her he walked into the crowd beyond.
In that split second as he walked past, she missed her chance to talk to him, to meet him... anything. She turned quickly but he was gone. Admitting defeat, she went to refill her cup. The keg was close to the door and as she maneuvered her way through the crowd, she saw his face a few feet away. Her chance! With a half filled cup forgotten in her hand, she moved to the door to find him already gone but she walked to the stairs and as carefully as she could, ran up them two at a time.
Outside, it was dark and a little colder now than when she was in the stuffed up cellar. Her breath came out in a puff of white as she noticed him in the backyard, alone and standing among the trees. He had a bottle of beer in his hand and took a swig of it as she walked slowly towards him. He was leaning on the trunk of a tree watching her like a lion watches a gazelle before he pounces. And then he did the most extraordinary thing- he smiled. He smiled a bright and innocent flash of his teeth. The simple gesture brought to mind a flower blooming, attracting the bee to its promised nectar before opening its leaves and devouring the unsuspecting insect. It was so unexpected that Adeline stopped walking a few steps away from him too far.
"You can come closer, I don't bite."
She wasn't sure of that. That smile could only mean trouble, especially when it's on that face. But she took a few more steps closer.
"So, did you enjoy our set?"
His voice was a soft whisper when he talked but as masculine as a whisper could be. She could feel her muscles tighten at the timbre of his words. When she nodded, he said, "But you don't want to talk to me about our show, do you?"
"No." She wasn't sure why she said it so fast, but it was said and he smiled again.
"No, you wouldn't." After a small pause, he said, "I've never seen you at the shows before. Is this your first time here?"
This time it was Adeline that smiled, "Yes, I came here with some friends."
He nodded towards the huge building behind her and said, "How would you like to see the house? Trust me;" his voice dropping deeper as he came closer to her, "The inside is so much more interesting than the basement."
She looked over at the house. All the windows dark save for one or two. With a comical gulp she agreed as he took her hand and guided her to the back door. Adeline had no problem admitting that she was scared, but when he took her hand, all the fear and hesitation in her body left and she walked forward with him.
The door was rough to get open but as soon as it was, he left her in an empty room to light a candle.
"Take this," he said as he handed it to her. "This will scare all the bad ghosts away." She laughed at him in a joke she didn't understand before he put a hand at the small of her back and walked her down a hallway. She peeked around a bit but the room was so dark, she couldn't make out the sofa in the corner or the chest of drawers to the left, let alone the little mouse under the table hiding from the light.
With the fingertips guiding her, he led her to a stairway and she walked up in silence, not asking questions about where they were going. At the top of a staircase, a door was open before her and without him guiding her anymore, she walked through.
Placing the candle stand on a table in the middle of the room, she saw it was a music room. A grand piano stood in the corner covered in dust with a harp a few feet away facing the window. She could almost see a woman in Victorian dress gazing out the window at her garden as a sad song played through her fingers.
"It's beautiful," she said turning around to find herself alone in the room. Without him there, she froze in fear of the strange house. "H-h-hello?" creaked from her throat as a small panic set in.
Turning once more, she approached the door and her hand froze on the knob. "Shh..." filled her ears and she could feel the breath of his voice on her skin. Looking behind her, he was gone again. Adeline was getting too scared to pursue him any longer so she went for the door to leave, but found it locked.
"The door is locked, the door is locked," Chanted in her head as if her prayer would open the door. Logic left her mind and she saw herself barreling through the door with her skin pricked with splinters of freedom. Before she could escape, hands gripped her shoulders pulling a scream from her. He held her to his body and she heard his voice again.
