Lost ✔️

Chapter 26

4 days ago :

He looked at the clock. It was 3:05 am and she still hadn't come home. 

Where is she?

He wanted to speak with her and apologise for his misconceptions. But she wasn't here.

Yet.

3 days ago :

The stranger hurriedly scribbled a note and stuck it on the bed frame. He quickly descended the steps and entered the kitchen.

Just about three minutes ago he had seen Stephanie's aunt walk into her room from her kitchen. The house had been abandoned since the last two days and suddenly this woman had showed up. And now he wanted to have a delighted conversation!He wanted to talk and ask her before he chose sides. 

There was an old closet, almost hidden from view, in the kitchen. The stranger went and hid in there. It was where he always hid when playing games.

Her aunt came back humming and started cooking. He saw her do that through the peepholes he had dug into the door. An artwork he left behind years ago.

It didn't cross his mind as to why he was hiding in the first place when at the end he was going to talk to her.

Why am I hesitating? 

He glanced down at his hands to find them shaking. A minute later, when he looked up the aunt was nowhere to be seen. Gone. 

He quietly got out of the closet and looked around. He was about to turn around and close the closet when a creepy and eerie voice rang out from beside his ear.

"I was waiting"

PANG!

He fell down on the floor clutching his head. His vision slowly began to darken.

Did she just hit me? That too with a cooking pan with which she was cooking?!

The woman with the eerie voice laughed loudly as he started to finally recognise her.

"Auntie", he said.

Then the world around him engulfed into complete darkness. 

*

Stephanie tiptoed into her kitchen. The light from the hallway and kitchen gave her enough visibility for her to not trip and fall.

She quickly went over to the fridge and got a bottle of orange juice from in there.

"Mmmm", she groaned at the taste.

Cruel or not. Her aunt made amazing juice. She began to poke around the kitchen to see if there was anything the guy might've left for her.

After two minutes, she found herself staring at a closet, almost hidden from view, at a corner in the kitchen.

'The closet' - she used to say.

Brian used to hide in there whenever they played hide-and-seek and literally always got caught. Stephanie started to smile at the memory.

Blood?

Stephanie noticed some dried blood on the kitchen floor. Or it could just be the texture of the furnished wood the kitchen floor was made of. Perhaps the lighting? She wasn't so sure. There was no real reason for the floor to be bloody. So the very intelligent Stephanie dismissed it. 

Instead she opened the closet door and was struck with the familiar scent of moon flowers. There was a glossy white paper stuck on the inside of the door. It was all crumpled and the writing was surely by the same hand considering the elegant look in its letters. But this time too, it looked rushed and...... forced.

Guess we'll find out.

Meet me in the basement, it said.

Stephanie wasn't sure if she should go or not. The basement was actually right beneath the kitchen and the entry was out of the house. She had once been there and it had been literally gross.

Stephanie got out of the house and looked for the door. Her eyes caught hold of a large bush placed on the far side at the corner of the house. If she hadn't already visited it once, she would've never found it.

Quickly making her way towards the basement, Stephanie kicked the bush aside. Just like she remembered it was an artificial one. Too green.

From all the horror and thriller movie she had watched, she could literally feel the imaginary audience screaming her to not go but she had to. When something depends on your life and you have to do it, nothing else matters. The fear is won over by curiosity and adrenaline.

Another fact, this was real life. Nothing is fake, unlike the movies. 

With that happy thought she opened the door and stepped in.

 It was dark and dingy. The silence kind of creeped her out. As she clambered down at the end of the steps, she met with another- final - door.

Stephanie turned the knob and opened it. Almost immediately the light bulb beside her lit up but she was too focused on who it was on the other side of the door.......aAnd the smell of moon flowers which hit her in the nose like an elephant fart.

"Happy birthday to youuuuu", sang Mrs Bats form somewhere.

As if on cue Stephanie realized that she had very conveniently left her smartphone at Chris' place. That was even smarter on her part.

"Well no shit Sherlock", she said.

*****

I have literally no idea what is wrong with me! Hope you liked the chapter though. And let's not forget to vote guys!!! ^^