Chapter 14
"Miss (Y/L/N)! Welcome! Glad to see you've made it in one piece," Charles Deetz greeted me warmly.
I smiled at him. "Yeah, it's really a lovely little town. Plenty of country charm and fresh air!"
"Yes, it really is a nice, quiet place. For the most part," he added quickly under his breath, and that made me wonder what exactly he meant. "Ah, I see you brought some friends!"
I nodded. "Um, yes, Charles, this is Riley McBride and Rita Gonzales," I said, introducing my companions. "They've decided to move with me. Not into your home, of course," I added quickly.
"No, sir, we've found a couple of apartments in town that will be just fine," Riley explained, flashing that winning smile of his.
Charles visibly relaxed at the welcome information. "That's wonderful! I'm happy you three were able to stick together."
I smiled and nodded. I didn't know where in the world I would be today if Riley and Rita hadn't helped me through my whole dilemma. My whole life, really.
"Oh! (Y/N), how good to see you!" Delia sang, entering the foyer. She hugged me, and I smiled at how sweet she was.
I liked Delia a lot. Sure, the woman had some quirky hobbies and interesting therapy methods, but she had payed me more attention and shown me more kindness than my own mother had. Delia just radiated a motherly aura to me.
"Delia, I'd like for you to meet my two best friends: Riley McBride and Rita Gonzales."
"Well, it's so nice to meet you," she gushed happily, shaking each of their hands in turn. "You're welcome anytime. Would you guys like anything to eat or drink?"
"Oh, no thank you," Rita said politely. "We actually ate breakfast on the way."
"Well, make yourselves at home, why don't you stay for a while?" Charles asked hospitably.
"Thank you, Mr. Deetz," Riley replied, "but I'm afraid Rita and I have quite a bit of unpacking to do."
"Please, call me Charles," he responded amicably, grasping Riley's hand and giving it a firm shake. "Feel free to come visit anytime."
Riley grinned and nodded. "Thank you, Charles. We'll be sure to come by soon."
I waved to my friends as they pulled out of the Deetz's long, gravel driveway. Then they had disappeared into the valley below.
I sighed and turned back into the house, pulling the door closed behind me.
Charles retreated into his study, and Delia, with one last "lemme know if you need anything", went to "re-sync her crystals", whatever that meant.
I picked up my luggage and began to head upstairs, where Charles had told me my bedroom was located.
I stepped into a narrow hallway with slightly creaky floorboards, flowered wallpaper that looked like it hadn't been touched since the eighties, and framed pictures littering the walls. There were so many of them. I stopped, my curiosity getting the better of me. I peered into one of the photographs.
In the photo was Lydia, who looked to be around seven or eight, blowing out candles on a small, purple birthday cake. Sitting beside her, smiling at the child sweetly, was a woman whom I was positive was her mother. She had Lydia's lips, nose, and eyes, but had strawberry-blonde locks in contrast to Lydia's raven pigtails. I smiled at the scene before moving on to another photo.
This picture looked fairly recent. Lydia was, again, the subject of photo, but she was posing as if she were hugging two people on either side of her. Except....
There was no one there.
I cocked my head to the side in confusion, but I simply shrugged and moved on to a third frame.
This one was a picture of the family in front of Cinderella's castle in Walt Disney World. Lydia and Charles were sporting the signature Mickey Ears, while Delia and the other guy didn't have on any hats.
Wait.
I squinted and moved closer to the photo.
There, on the right side, standing next to Lydia and Delia, was a man I didn't recognize. He had a stockier build and was about a head shorter than Delia. He was wearing sporty sunglasses, a Nirvana shirt, cargo shorts, and flip-flops. His face was covered in stubble and his spiked-up hair was brown at the roots and lime green at the tips. His toothy grin also caught my attention when I noticed his unusually sharp canines.
I shook myself out of my confused trance, picked up my bags, and continued down the hallway. The rest of the photos, I had a sneaking suspicion, were Lydia's handiwork.
Candid photos of Delia and Charles, a misty sunrise taken from the roof, an angled shot of a foggy tombstone, the blur of what I could only assume was a green-looking raccoon, the close-up of some sort of stained, tattered, black-and-white-striped fabric, and what looked to be a chalk-drawn door opening into a mysterious realm beyond, glowing green and pouring violet and grey smoke.
The photos were unique and beautiful, but also confusing at the same time. As I entered my room and slung my luggage onto my new bed, my head swam in its own whirlpool of confusing thoughts.
Who was the man in that photo?
Why was Lydia hugging thin air?
What was with that green raccoon?
And the fabric?
But one thing stood out to me. The door.
Where did it lead to? Who had opened it? Why did it look as if someone had drawn it directly into the wall with chalk? Why was whatever lay beyond the door glowing green and spewing sinister-looking smoke? Why did it look like it opened into hell itself?
Feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on, I dug into my backpack and pulled out my Aspirin, popping a few of the pills and flopping onto my springy bed. I blinked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Thoughts that kept going round and round in circles and leading me nowhere but right back to where I began.
I sighed in frustration and pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes, little starbursts popping into my vision.
I heard Lydia come upstairs, go into her room at the other end of the hall, and shut her door. The walls were thin, so I could hear her when she began to talk, though I couldn't make out what exactly she was saying.
Probably talking to one of her friends on the phone or something, I thought to myself, shrugging and staring up at the ceiling fan spinning lazily above me.
But then I heard something that made both myself and the hair on the back of my neck bolt upright. It was coming from Lydia's room, and it was a voice.
A man's voice.
It sounded like they were arguing. I wondered how in the world he had gotten into the house without Charles, Delia, or me noticing.
I slowly crept down the hallway, my baseball bat clutched in fists defensively and the pounding of my heart in my ears all but blocking out the sound of Lydia's and the man's voices.
I arrived at Lydia's door, reaching to turn the knob, but finding it locked. I knocked on the door frantically.
"Lydia! It's me, (Y/N)! Is everything okay?? Please open up!"
I heard footsteps approaching the door and then Lydia's solemn, but confused, face was peering at me.
"Um, I'm fine. What's wrong?"
I walked into her room, still gripping the bat in front of me. "I heard voices."
"Oh. I was watching YouTube," she replied with a shrug.
"You usually don't yell back at a YouTube video," I rebutted drily, my gaze cutting over to her suspiciously.
"That's because I wasn't," she said, the ghost of a smile playing on her full lips. "I was yelling at Larry."
I arched an eyebrow uneasily. "Larry?"
She nodded. She then climbed onto her bed, reached into the small space between the side of her bed and the wall, and pulled up the biggest raccoon I had ever seen. It took all of her gusto just for the poor girl to heave the green creature up and onto the bed.
I stared at the raccoon in shocked silence.
Well, that solves one of the mysteries of those photos.
"He's.... green."
Lydia nodded. "We have no idea why he's like that," she told me matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Okay."
I was still very unsure and suspicious, but seeing as I had no proof of there being a man in Lydia's room, I could do nothing else.
"Well... if you... if you need anything, I'm right down the hall, okay?" I said slowly, still wary.
"Okay, I'll come get you if I do need something, (Y/N). I'm fine, honestly."
I just nodded solemnly and slowly made my way back down the hallway and to my bedroom, now alone with more questions than I had had to begin with.
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