The Place In Between - Part 1

Allie scrolled through Twitter before promptly closing it and tossing her phone to the ground. It was all just noise. Nothing interesting was happening in the world. What could she find that would give her some semblance of inspiration? She looked around her room and examined the walls. She had posters on the wall of gallant fairytales and faraway places. She would give anything to not be here. Today was so boring. Her eyes wandered across the walls and examined all of the antiques that graced her shelves. She sighed. Perhaps a trip to old man Pete’s basement would make her feel better. She had been helping him sort through old things in his Grandville mansion. Everything he had either ended up at a museum, in an auction, in the trash, or in Allie’s room. She had long since had a fascination with ages past. She was already happy thinking about it.

Her canvas shoes hugged her feet tighter when she accidentally stepped in a puddle. The rain was coming back. She shouldn’t be surprised. Halloween always brought with it dank and damp. But she preferred this time of year. There weren’t so many bugs out as in the summer and every day gave an excuse to wear thick sweaters and cool jackets. She had a leather jacket she fancied more than she probably should, since all of her classmates were becoming obsessed with dresses and make up. She preferred her jeans, beanie, and leather jacket. This was also a good time of year for scarves. Oh how Allie loved her scarves. She rounded the corner with the old lamp post and walked up the drive.

The mansion was grand and probably the envy of all who surrounded it in its heyday. Beautifully sculpted gates ground open with years of rust. They objected to being moved with a loud uncomfortable squeal every time Allie came to visit. Lights dotted the path to the house as overgrown mulberry bushes and gnarled groupings of roses had taken over most of the planters surrounding the house. Elegantly carved handrails had suffered dry rot and termite damage. Allie pulled her sleeves down over her hands to stave off some of the chill in the air as she lifted the gaudy door knocker and tapped it three times. The knocker itself was rather large which made knocking with it difficult, but Pete agreed that more regular use of it should at least loosen up the grime inside.

The door slid open on the third knock. The latch seemed to be failing. “I should let Pete know,” Allie exhaled and she noticed her breath in the dim light. She pushed the door open and called for Pete. There was no answer. He did say she could come by anytime, but she still preferred letting him know she was here. She called out again as she began climbing the main stairs in the entrance hall. There was no answer beyond whispers of stale wind moving about the house. She made her way up through the house, down dusty halls and around winding corridors. She constantly got lost when she began helping Pete out, but the house was mapped pretty well now in her head. There were still a few unexplored wings due to their difficulty in accessing them.

Near the back of the house, there should be an entrance to a tower that capped one of the seven corners of the house. Allie had been searching for it for some time, but she knew that the door would be difficult to find. The mountains of rusted and rotted furniture broken down in the halls made traversing more of a challenge. Today she wanted to take on a flooded corridor. She wandered near the underground and searched for the hole. There was likely a door to the lower levels of the house at one point, but it had long since fallen away. The staircase fared no better. Allie felt as a grand explorer, learning the secrets of an ancient palace. The house was indeed ancient, compared to her seventeen years, but in reality, it only commanded about one hundred and thirty years of age.

“Okay,” Allie exhaled as she approached the waterlogged hall. The stench was a solid reminder. She donned a head light, that she had swiped from her father. Perhaps he would not notice it missing. Allie considered her consequences of the evening and shook her head. It was worth it! She rolled up her jeans and removed her shoes. She had been down this way before and had tied ropes up to make the path easier. After the staircase, all that lay before her was darkness and a tacky carpet that squished awkwardly beneath her feet. Her toes dug into the sopping rug with every step. For what seemed like hours she trod in a straight line through the hall. It occurred to Allie that she had been walking in the same direction for quite some time. She also wasn’t in the best of shape so she just shrugged it off.

More time passed and the water began to deepen slightly. Progress! Allie though excitedly and she picked up the pace. She wondered where exactly she was on the property and subsequently what could be at the end of this hall. It seemed an awful long walk for something mundane. As the thought passed through Allie’s head, she contemplated what it would feel like to come up in a neighbor’s kitchen. The idea was disappointing. But where else could this hall go? She tied her scarf around her nose as she continued through the passage. Her light showed no apparent end to it. She looked back the way she had come. More of nothing. All that greeted her was the sloshing of water as she traipsed on. Allie contemplated returning once again as she looked behind her. Her hopes were dimming about some fanciful discovery when she ran straight into a wall. The knock sent her to the ground and thoroughly soaked every piece of cloth she wore. “Damn,” Allie cursed slightly but turned her attention to the wall. She had entered a T junction. “What?” Allie sat confused. One side seemed to angle downward into the water. Perhaps a stair case? The other seemed to go for a short ways and dead end. She stood and pulled her hat off . The back of the beanie had soaked up quite a bit in her fall. With the water two feet deep here, she had been almost fully submerged. Allie stood and walked toward the staircase to see what was over there, what she did not expect was the sudden current that knocked her feet from under her and sent her into the depths of the house. Again the hall was quiet. All that could be heard was a soft dripping as the water hummed in the silence.