I waited patiently for mom to unlock the door. It looked old, heavy, and wooden. There wasn’t even a peep hole, not that it mattered. I wasn’t tall enough to reach it, even if there was.
June staggered up next to me, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was holding her favorite stuffed creature. I couldn’t call it an animal, as it wore an eye patch and had a hook for a hand. But it kind of resembled a fox. I think she was still half asleep because she walked straight into me.
“Sorry.” Her little voice peeped, still rubbing her eyes.
“It’s okay, June.” I took a step back, giving her room to find her balance.
Mom twisted the key, knob and all, and the door swung inward offering the scent of stagnant air. She reached inside and flipped the switch. Both the living room, and porch lights came on. She was inside a moment later.
Alexis wasted no time following her. I knew she wasn’t in that big of a hurry. She just wanted to get in before me. Hell, she probably hated moving here more than I did. She at least had friends back home. All I had was a bunch of enemies and a bad reputation. But it was still home.
I gestured to the door, signaling June to go first. There was no sense in both of us trying to get through at the same time. Besides, I didn’t want her running into me again. She wasn’t overly big, weighing no more than my bicycle, but she was just the right height to catch me in the nuts every time she turned around. I followed her inside and got my first look at my new home, whether I liked it or not.
It was large. Larger than I had realized, especially for the age of the place. Mom had gone into great detail about it early in our trip. I’d only listened to about half of it. She’d said something about a historic registry and how it was the original farmhouse, and that the street beside was named after the owners. All I heard was, it’s old and probably haunted. I kind of hoped for the latter. At least then I’d get some action. Though looking at it now, I wouldn’t have imagined it to be so old. Most of the walls were painted drywall, and the lights had the bright, steady glow of LED. Even the switch, now that I looked at it, had a dimmer. It may be old, but it certainly wasn’t original. I wasn’t sure how my haunted theory would hold up.
The living room was about how I imagined it from the outside. Gray carpet covered the floors beyond the tiled entryways. The south wall domed outward, housing the three windows. The east and west were plain and unadorned, aside from the equally plain doors that led to the twin porches. And the north wall, almost level with the doors, opened into another room to my right. The second room was a basic rectangle, and had an opening to what I guessed was the kitchen, judging by the tiled floor. Stairs protruded from another opening just before the kitchen.
I heard a low whoosh, followed by the rapid pops of heating metal. Warm air rushed from the furnace grate in the floor beneath my feet. “Mom, what’s the heater doing on? Isn’t is hot enough already?”
She glanced at me from the kitchen. “Oh? They must have forgotten to turn it off after my tour. The thermostat is on the wall in the living room.”
I found it near the door opposite the one we’d entered. Why it’d been set to ninety, I couldn’t say. It shouldn’t have been on in the first place, but I guess mom had been thorough to make sure everything worked.
I heard footsteps on the other side of the wall. It didn’t take a genius to realize Alexis and June were racing upstairs. Recalling pieces of mom’s ramblings, I knew I had to get there myself. There were three bedrooms and I needed to apply my seniority to ensure I got the best one. “Mom, Alexis and June are going up stairs!” If I couldn’t beat them, maybe I could play the mom card to slow their progress.
“They’re just going up to pick out rooms.” She answered from seemingly the same place she’d been before.
“Don’t you think we should all be there? I mean, it isn’t overly fair for them to pick the best room when I was busy doing what you asked.”
I heard her sigh. “Fine. Come on.”
Smiling my victory, I followed her up the stairs. The first few steps were pretty standard, but the next two were wedge shaped, making a ninety-degree turn. We continued up, ending on the edge of a fairly large room. The side walls were pitched, and a single window beamed the last rays of light. A closet sat to my right, and the opening to another room on the left. From the floor plan, I knew we were over the living room, though the wall with the window didn’t dome like its lower half.
I could hear my sisters around the corner. Following mom, we found them standing by a window on the far side of the second room. This one held the side window I’d seen from outside. And like the room before it, the walls angled, though these ran the opposite direction.
Approaching my sisters, I noticed a short hallway to the left, ending at a door. I stole a glance at their distraction. A slightly angled roof extended a way, covering what I guessed was the kitchen. And on the back side of the fenced in yard, I saw a rundown barn occupying the rear of the property. Unlike my sisters, I had more important things to worry about.
Approaching the door, I turned the knob and stepped inside. It wasn’t as big as the other two rooms, but it had a door. That was enough to make it mine. I flipped the light switch, finding it the old, regular style I’d grown accustomed to. As expected, the north and south walls pitched like the last, and a single window sat in the center of the west. It was simple, but it would work for the time being.
I heard mom’s phone ring, blaring music from one of the numerous ‘80s songs she sang so often. This particular one she’d started singing after the divorce. Something about hearing from a friend, who heard something from another friend about somebody messing around. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was about. But she seemed to like it.
“I want this room!” I demanded when she answered the phone. It was a two-part design. She couldn’t respond to me because it would be rude to whoever was calling. And it would shut down any rebuttal from my sisters, particularly Alexis.
She held up a finger, telling me to wait. But we both knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Okay. I’ll be right there.” She ended the call and tucked the phone back into her purse. “The movers are here. You three figure out the room situation.” Without another word, she turned and rushed toward the stairs.
“Why should you get the door? I’m the one who’s going to need privacy soon.” Alexis demanded, searching for leverage in a rapidly deteriorating debate.
“Because!” I slammed the door in her face, ending the conversation. I knew she was going to complain to mom, but I didn’t care. This was my room and she couldn’t do anything about it.
Victory in hand, I approached the window and peered out. It towered over the side portion of the backyard, and the street beyond. I didn’t care who it was named after. It was still just a street.
A jingle echoed behind me and I heard footsteps going down the stairs. Turning toward the closet, I heard the jingle again, followed by another, softer set of steps. Searching inside, I found a small, silver bell dangling above the entrance. It had a piece of string tied to it, running through a small eyelet in the corner. I traced the line, finding another eyelet, before it disappeared into a hole in the wall. I pulled the string, hearing the bell ring again. Squinting into the lowlight of the closet, I was just able to make out a narrow line between two of the dark brown pieces of woodgrain paneling.
I drew my pocket knife and pried it open. To my surprise, it came fairly easy. One side had been hinged, and the other had a magnetic pushbutton latch. Inside the hidden cubbyhole there was a shelf build between the wall studs. The bottom portion was big enough for an adult to sit, though it didn’t look comfortable. And, there, running beside the shelf was the string again. Now that I could see a little better, it looked more like fishing line, disappearing into the dark of the inner wall.
“Evan, come help unload stuff!” Mom shouted from the bottom of the stairs, though it sounded as if she was right beside me.
Smiling to myself, I pushed the panel to the magnet and felt it seal. It wasn’t much, but it gave me something to work with.