The door crashed shut behind me as I ventured out into the bitter cold morning of the 31st October, Halloween. As I struggled down the drive and up the hill fighting against the gusting head winds of a cold, murky winter's day. I pulled the post out of the post box and headed back down the hill and back into the door. My dad was waiting in the kitchen for the post and suggested that I go and find my sister Charlie to decide on what we could do all day.
It's just me my sister Charlie and my dad Michael, I never knew my mother since she left after my sister was born, Dad talks about her regularly about how she didn't want to leave, and that it wasn't her fault. (had a feeling that the reason my dad wanted to move out here was to try and get away from his memories of her, the house he chose is beautiful with high stone arches for the windows and a tall tipped slated roof with ivy flowing off the walls resembling locks of glorious hair.
As I climbed the stairs towards the distant 4th floor landing where mine and my sister's rooms were situated, I passed by one of the fabulous windows looking out over the valley, giving a view over the tree tops that only a bird would know. The tree line dropped down deeply into the ravine taking even the tallest of trees out of sight until they rose again on the other distant side. I walked into Charlie's room planning on waking her only to find she was already admiring the view out onto the valley.
"Morning sis, you're up FINALLY. Dad was wondering what we would be doing today, any ideas?" "Well yeah, of course I'm up, I did have a huge sleep in the car on the way here you know. And I was hoping we could take a look outside, (think I can see something down there. I don't really know what but 1 have a feeling something interesting must be nearby, I mean look at this place. It's HUGE! What do you think of this place?" Charlie said "It is pretty amazing, apart from the whole reason why we got it so cheap. Did Dad show you the scrapbook the estate agent had on this place? She hasn't been able to sell this place for thirty years and it's kind of became her own obsession, even after all her other houses had sold and she'd retired, that's kind of weird in itself" "what are you talking about? What reason? And I didn't like that woman at all, she reminded me of the one out of that film we saw. You know that horror one where everyone gets killed and it turns out to be the old women's son?"
My sister loved horror films but still refused to watch them alone so of course it was up to me to watch them with her even though I made it perfectly clear I hated every second of them.
"Yes Charlie I remember, and I cannot be bothered to tell you the whole story now, perhaps Dad still has the book, ask him later. Come on lets go now, 1 don't want to waste any more of today."
The morning sped by quickly, before we even noticed how late in the day it was, the sun had already begun to retreat behind the trees surrounding us. Instantly as though a switch had been thrown the forest closed in around us, forming a towering wall of darkness reaching up to the sky above us.
Looking around for Charlie I caught sight of her out the corner of my eye slowly moving through the pressing darkness. Something was different, she moved with an eerie grace that was unlike her usual lolloping strides. Following her gaze my eyes were also attracted to a form resonating in the darkness, a crooked archway that even in the pitch black created a space in front of it that was even darker than the surrounding forest. As we moved closer the temperature dropped and a chill prickled the back of my neck. Charlie reached out and placed a hand in the centre of it.
"It's made of stone" she said "it looks like some kind of door way, where do you think it might lead to?"
"I don't know, it looks as if it leads into the side of the valley" I replied "come on lets go home, it's too dark now to do anything we can always come back tomorrow and have a better look at this then"
Charlie didn't look away from the door until i put my hand forcibly on her shoulder and shook her, as she turned to walk away she glanced at me, her eyes were glazed over and glistened in a non-existent light, I felt a fear grip me that held me from mentioning what I had seen, and so we went home.
I awoke in a cold sweat, the image of Charlie's eyes looking through me as if I didn't exist burned into my mind's eye. The dream came rushing back to me, Charlie was in trouble, she was in front of the door, engulfed in darkness reaching out with the same hand she had placed on the door, grasping the air between us, enticing me towards her, pleading with me to help – her whilst at the same time luring me to the same danger she was entangled in. The darkness of the door was growing around her, swallowing her until all I could see of her was her hand, pale and white reaching out towards me.