Tell-Tale Heart Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 The Dark Door My family and I were driving to some old cabin. A Long drive. Mom's idea of a vacation was the middle of nowhere. I always wanted to go to some epic city, but we were going nowhere. Slowly. An escape from 5th grade for me, and a vacation from 10th grade for my brother, Henry, was something to look forward to. Dad was also pretty pleased to have some time to fish instead of fixing computers all the routine day. Despite the escape from the normal life cycle, living in an old, sad cabin that Mom found by word of mouth from a “friend†for two weeks was not something to look forward to. Well, the friend didn’t actually stay in the cabin we are going to, just one close by. No one has stayed in our cabin for years. It must be really dirty by now. We were the typical nuclear family, going on a boring summer cabin vacation, with our parents hoping it will give us some valuable memories and my brother and I hoping we won’t remember a thing about it. Finally, we got there, some old failure of a shack. "Well, here's our dream house!†my father chimed, joking lightly. I took a deep breath of disappointment, and annoyance. My older brother was going to live in the room right next to mine, or what passed for rooms. “Fend for yourself†Mom stated as she slammed Pop Tarts onto my bedside. Pop Tarts for dinner. No complaints here. It was late, so we were relieved when we shoved our bags wherever, and fainted on our beds. *** “Wake up, my little sunshine!†I could only moan hostilely at the cheerful voice. “C’mon, we’re going fishing today!†Dang it. I actually have to get up before the sun does? Oh no. Dad was beaming down at me. I really didn’t want to kill stuff I didn’t want to eat. But, of course, Dad is the boss, after Mom. His word is almost law. *** On the way to the pond, my brother pulled my aside. “I bet I’m going to catch the biggest fish!†he whispered in my ear. “No way, Dad’s gonna beat you so easily-“ “Hurry up, slowpokes! Sun’s going to rise!†our dear Dad hollered. We gave each other competitive glances, and ran toward the little canoe. *** Nether of us won the bet, because no one captured any fish. Go figure. So we had hamburgers for dinner. My goodness, I hope I grow up to be a better cook than my Mom. Where did that woman learn to cook? Hopefully I’ll sleep without seeing my dinner a second time. Yay for soft beds and fluffy pillows. Too bad the cabin doesn’t have any. *** After what seemed like seconds, but of course was hours, I opened my eyes, but it made no difference whether they were open or closed. It was black. But more than darkness, it was like a creature, sucking me in. I dreaded that, so I went into my brothers' room to tell him how scared I was, scared of the creature called darkness. I went into his room. My Brother is very understanding and patient, so I knew he wouldn't mind. He wasn't there. I switched on the light An empty room, except for some non-living objects. Then I heard a noise from behind. I jumped and spun around. "Why are you in my room?" my brother asked, a little too awake for this time of night. “Uhm, I, uh…. It was so dark, Henry…. I just wanted…†I couldn’t think of a good reply. He stared at me, and then relaxed. “Well, don’t worry about it. I know this place is old, and noisy. But I’m right here. I won’t let any thing hurt my little sister.†I nodded and smiled. He ushered me back into my room. I felt safe, warm, and very comfy. All I needed was my brother to say that it was all going to be okay. It was all okay. *** I woke up after the sun rose. Thank goodness. We were going on a hike today, which I wasn’t too unhappy about. If we were lucky, we would find a butterfly or something pretty. *** “Hmmm…. That’s strange….†Dad hummed. “What?†His wife questioned. “Birds should be everywhere this time of year. I haven’t even heard a single chirp yet.†My brother and I stared at each other. No birds meant that there was nothing to eat the butterflies. Except I haven’t seen any butterflies yet. “Dad, how come there aren’t any butterflies? You said that there was going to be a lot of butterflies!†I whined. “Well, Shannon…†he started as if to explain. “I don’t know.†I looked up and sighed. There were a few clouds sailing silently across the sky. *** The next day there were a lot of clouds sailing across the sky. And they certainly weren’t silent. “It’s really bucketing down, so we’re going to stay inside the cabin today.†Mom informed us, nibbling at her toast. My brother glanced at Mom, then at me. Then he said after swallowing a mouthful of cheerios, “Well, we can go exploring inside the cabin.†If my dad had said that, I would have groaned. But it was my brother, how could I say no? *** We didn’t find anything. You would think an old dirty place like this would be crawling with bugs, but there wasn’t any. Just windows, doors, cabinets, and sinks. I stared, upset, at my brother after we were done digging under the kitchen sink. Then my brother grew a strange look on his face. He whispered in a smug tone, “I was saving something really interesting for last.†I must’ve looked excited because he started to grin. “But you can’t tell Mommy or Daddy about it, it will be our little secret, okay?†I nodded violently. He started walking, with me stalking closely behind him. We went up the stairs by our bedrooms, and then he opened a closet with more stairs contained within it. Just old, decaying stairs. It looked innocent enough, but something inside me told me to stop and scurry as far away as possible from that staircase. There was something…. twisted, unwelcoming about it. My brother sensed my hesitation. “C’mon, we’re not going to get in trouble.†He stated. “I’m not…. afraid of getting in trouble, it’s just that…..†I stuttered. He simply shrugged. His footsteps made no noise as he ran up the stairs. I had little choice but to follow. When I got to the top, my brother was standing still, glaring forward. I paced up next to him. It didn’t take long to tell what he was staring so intently at. A door. It was a dark brown. It was newer-looking than the rest of the cabin, as if it was frozen in time. It had no doorknob, just a hole where it was supposed to be. And beyond the hole, there was darkness. The monster, Darkness. The one that absorbs you, absorbs everything, except your fear. Your fear shines brighter than any light, feeding the Darkness. My heart raced, and I glanced at my brother. He moved forward. “Watch this,†he whispered as he grabbed the hole in the door and pulled. It didn’t budge. “No matter how you push or pull, it never opens†he told me, ecstatic. “And even freakier†He pulled out a flashlight from his pocket and shined the light through the hole. The darkness didn’t change. It swallowed the light. I gasped, holding my hands to my mouth. “Yup, really freaky, isn’t it? We should go back down before-“ he stopped as soon as he noticed I was already down the stairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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