by Lukens, Mark
“Once I close this door, I will lock it from the outside. You two will be locked inside this house for the next eight weeks.”
Gina took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to contain a rising panic that she’d never experienced before.
Mr. Yates seemed to notice Gina’s anxiety. He took a few steps over to the cherry side table and slid a drawer open. He plucked out a large key ring and showed it to Gina.
“There is an emergency key on this ring in this drawer. It will open this front door in case there is an absolute emergency.”
Matt glanced at Gina and he could see her body relax a little. She even smiled. He had been a little worried about her, but now he was sure she was going to be okay.
“Again, this is only for absolute emergencies. And I’m sure you understand if you open this door you will lose all of the money and …”
“Yeah,” Gina interrupted, but she gave him a small smile. “We do.”
Mr. Yates put the keys back into the drawer and slid it shut. He had a small, tight smile of his own when he looked back at Gina. “Of course you do.”
He walked back to the door and slipped on his overcoat that he’d hung on the old-fashioned coat rack. He was about to open the door, but he looked back at them, staring at them.
“There is one more thing I forgot to tell you.”
Gina waited for the next bombshell that Mr. Yates was going to drop on them.
“Have fun!” Mr. Yates said and broke out in a big smile. “Relax. Enjoy your surroundings. Eat some good food. Catch up on some reading and some films. Have a great time.”
Matt and Gina both exhaled and couldn’t help smiling.
Mr. Yates smiled at them and then he was out the door in a flash.
They watched the massive door close. They heard the door locks clicking into place. It sounded to Gina like a prison cell door clanking shut.
Matt looked at Gina. “Now what?”
“Let’s eat,” she told him and she started for the kitchen.
“Hey, wait up,” Matt called and hurried after her.
3.
NOISES
Gina laid out a variety of foods on the stainless steel countertop: sandwich fixings, a bag of pretzels, a box of donuts, carrot sticks, a can of sardines. Gina grabbed a plate and sampled a little bit of everything.
Matt watched her in shock.
Gina stopped eating and looked at Matt. She swallowed her food and gave him a smile. “Sorry. Everything looked so good.”
Matt nodded and he gave her a mischievous smile. “What are we doing after this?”
“I don’t know. What did you want to do?”
He moved closer to her, hovering over her. “I say we try out the bed in our quarters.”
Gina burst out laughing. “Our quarters? Let’s call it our bedroom from now on.”
“Yes,” he said in a low voice, his hand roaming down her back, lower and lower. “Let’s call it our bedroom,” he said into her ear.
Twenty minutes later Matt and Gina were making love on their gigantic bed, the bed sheets twisted around their glistening, writhing bodies. Gina held on to Matt as he pushed himself inside of her. He felt so good inside of her, all of this felt so good. They were going to be okay, she thought as she cried out with pleasure.
Everything was going to be fine.
• • •
Gina soaked in a bubble bath. The tub was so big she could almost lie down in it if she wanted to. She turned on the jets and the water roared around her body, massaging the stress away. She laid her head back, her eyes closed, a warm rag over her forehead. She wished she’d lit some candles—she was sure there had to be candles somewhere in this house.
She was totally relaxed.
The jets turned off and she sat in the silence, just soaking as the hot water began to turn warm.
A bumping noise from their bedroom startled her.
She sat up in the tub quickly and the water sloshed, some of it splashing over the side of the tub a little and spilling onto the floor.
Gina sat very still in the water, her body tense as she listened for the noise again. She stared at the bathroom door which was closed, but not locked.
“Matt?”
No answer from Matt in the bedroom.
She listened for a long moment, very still in the tub. The water had stopped moving and the house was quiet.
Then she heard another bumping noise, this sound was softer, stealthier, like something was moving around in their bedroom.
Gina watched the bathroom door that led out to their bedroom.
“Matt? Are you out there?”
No answer from Matt.
“Quit playing around, Matt! It’s not funny!”
Still no answer.
Panic crept up inside of Gina and she felt suddenly exposed and vulnerable, naked in the bathtub. She got out and grabbed two of the plush towels and dried off as quickly as she could while she kept an eye on the door.
If Matt came rushing in here screaming, she swore to God she was going to kill him.
But Matt still hadn’t revealed himself.
Gina tried to let her anger at Matt keep her fear at bay, but she couldn’t help feeling that Matt hadn’t made the noise out there—it had come from something else.
She grabbed her panties and slipped them on, then her T-shirt and sweat pants. She pushed her damp hair back and tied it in a loose ponytail.
She crept to the bathroom door, her feet still a little wet on the tile. She practically tiptoed and now she wished she hadn’t yelled out for Matt.
Why? There’s nobody out there. It’s just the house settling. That’s all.
She opened the door and peeked out at their bedroom. The bed was still a mess and their clothes were still strewn across the carpet. But Matt wasn’t in the bedroom.
“Matt?” she said in a low voice, but she knew he wasn’t there.
Gina hurried across their bedroom to the door that led out to the hall—the room was so big it seemed to take a long time to get to the door.
She opened the door and looked out in the hallway. She looked up and down the hall, but he wasn’t out here either.
• • •
Gina found Matt in the entertainment room. He sat in the back row of movie seats, his feet up on the back of the seat in front of him, the remote control in one hand, a tub of popcorn in the other. On the screen was the movie, The Shining.
She rushed up to him, standing right behind him. “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice sharper than she had intended.
Matt spun around, spilling a little of his popcorn. He looked guilty like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing.
“What?” he said. “I’m watching a movie.”
He stood up, instantly concerned by her expression. He set the popcorn and remote control down. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said.
He stared at her—he knew something was wrong with her.
“Were you up in our bedroom a few minutes ago?” she asked.
“No.”
“Come on, Matt. I won’t be mad. Just tell me the truth.”
“I wasn’t up there.”
“I don’t want to play any games …”
“I was down here the whole time. I came down here after you said you wanted to take a bath.”
Gina stared at Matt for a moment. “You swear?”
“Yes. Why? What’s going on?”
“I was in the bathtub, and I … I swear I heard something in our bedroom. I thought it was you.”
Matt stared at Gina while The Shining played in the background. “What do you mean, you heard someone in our bedroom?”
“Well, I mean I heard a noise. Some kind of bumping noise.”
Matt looked a little relieved. He smiled at Gina. “It was probably nothing. Just the house settling, that’s all.”
“I know … but it was pretty loud.”
“You’re just nervous. First day
locked inside here. You’ll get over it.”
Gina didn’t feel too convinced about that.
Matt glanced back at the movie playing behind him, and then he looked at Gina with a smile. “Being here in this house is a little like The Shining, isn’t it?”
Gina stared at Matt—she wasn’t amused.
Matt crooked his index finger like Danny in The Shining and he mimicked the little boy’s voice. “Danny’s not here, Mrs. Torrence.”
“Stop it, Matt.”
Matt continued talking like Danny from the movie. “Do you want me to go up and check out the bedroom, Mrs. Torrence?”
Gina stared daggers at him.
Minutes later they were up in the bedroom and Matt inspected the corners, under the bed, and the inside of the walk-in closet, which was empty because they hadn’t put their clothes away yet.
Matt gave Gina an amused grin.
“I know I heard something in here,” she told him.
“Maybe you just need a hug,” he said and rushed towards her, his arms out wide, a goofy grin on his face.
He tried to hug her but she pushed him away. “Get off of me, you psycho.”
“You weren’t saying get off of me a little earlier,” he teased.
Gina couldn’t help smiling.
And they kissed again.
• • •
Gina cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, putting food away and wiping down the counters. She stacked the dishes up in front of the gigantic dish machine, but decided not to start it until they had a bigger load.
“You feeling better now?” Matt asked her.
She looked at him and smiled. “Yeah. I guess I’m a little more freaked out by this … situation than I thought I would be.”
“Freaked out by what?”
“I don’t know. Being locked inside here. It’s a strange condition.”
“I know, but we have to think about the money.”
“But it still feels a little claustrophobic to me.”
“Claustrophobic? It’s a mansion. There’s like a million square feet in here.”
“I don’t think it’s quite that big.” She hesitated for a moment. “It’s just the idea of being locked inside, no matter how big it is. It’s that feeling of not being able to get out.”
“But we can if we absolutely had to. Mr. Yates showed you where the key to the front door is.” He stared at her. “Of course, we wouldn’t use that key unless it was an emergency. Right?”
Gina nodded at him and wiped down the counter again.
Matt hopped up and sat on the countertop that she had just cleaned.
“I just wiped that down,” she told him.
“I’m giving it a second wipe down.” He wriggled his butt back and forth on the countertop.
Gina sighed in surrender and threw the rag on the countertop.
Matt smiled at her. “You’ll get over your claustrophobic feeling. You’ll get used to this. Just keep your mind focused on the money—the thirty thousand dollars.”
“And the five thousand we already have with us.”
“Now you’re getting the idea,” he said and leaned over to steal a kiss from Gina, but she moved out of the way, too fast for him.
Matt smiled at her. “Don’t make me chase you.”
• • •
That night Gina couldn’t fall asleep. She sat in bed, her back against the headboard, a book in her lap. Even though she had the lamp beside the bed turned on, the rest of the gigantic bedroom was still hidden in shadows. She wished she would’ve left the bathroom light on, and tomorrow night she would remember to do that.
She tried reading some more, but she found it difficult to concentrate on the book. She looked over at Matt who was curled up under the blankets, snoring lightly.
Her eyes kept darting up from the pages of her book to the shadowy corners at the other end of the room, near the walk-in closet. If she stared into the darkness long enough, she thought she could see the shadows moving slightly. But it was just her mind playing tricks on her—she knew that.
She looked back down at her book and tried to find her place again, tried to concentrate on the words, but her mind drifted. She knew that staying here was going to be tough for her, but she had to think of the money and their future. And their baby. She just had to keep her mind on that
She closed her eyes and drifted off …
• • •
Gina snapped awake and sat up. The book fell off her side of the bed and thudded down onto the carpet. She looked around the bedroom as a gray daylight invaded the room through the closed blinds and partially open drapes. She looked at the other side of the bed—Matt wasn’t there.
She got up and turned off the lamp next to the bed. She grabbed a warm robe and draped it over her skimpy nightclothes. She saw that the bathroom door was open.
“Matt?” she called out to the bathroom.
No answer. She checked the bathroom anyway, but he wasn’t there.
She went out to the hallway—he must be downstairs somewhere. She walked to the steps that led down to the first floor, but then she stopped and stared down at the hall that led in the other direction, to the stairs that went up to the third floor.
Before she even realized what she was doing, she stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared up at the steps that ascended up into the gloom.
She took a step, and then climbed the next step, getting closer and closer to the place they were forbidden to go.
It felt like something was tugging at her, drawing her up those dark stairs.
There are secrets waiting up there, her mind whispered. Terrible secrets.
She snapped out of it and shuffled back down the steps, looking at the stairs in horror for a moment. It felt like she’d been in a trance for a few minutes. She forced herself away from the steps and hurried back down the hall to the wide stairs.
Gina looked for Matt in the entertainment room, but he wasn’t there.
She tried the exercise room, but he wasn’t in there either.
Gina found him in the kitchen. She could hear him moving around in there before she even entered the room, dishes and utensils clanging together.
Matt was hard at work on the stove and counters, preparing a huge breakfast. He turned and saw her, and he frowned.
“Wait,” he told her with a smile. “I’m not done yet.”
Gina walked over to him. “Let me help.”
“It was supposed to be a surprise. Breakfast in bed.”
She gave Matt a peck on the cheek. “I love you.”
Matt stared at her with his lopsided smile. “We could just skip breakfast in bed and go straight for the bed.”
“No, you went to all of this trouble. We’ll eat first.” She smiled. “And then the bed.”
• • •
The gray winter day went by slowly. After making love with Matt, Gina took another long hot bath. Then she worked on their “chores” for a few hours, most of which consisted of keeping the plants in the greenhouse watered.
She straightened up the rooms they had been in and cleaned up the kitchen again.
As night fell, they watched a few movies and then went to bed.
She kept the bathroom light on this time, but she left the door almost all the way closed; it didn’t provide too much light, not as much as the lamp next to their bed did. After she got tired from reading, she shut the lamp off and rolled over closer to Matt who was already out. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
Hours later Gina’s eyes popped open. She was still cuddled up near Matt, facing the back of his head and shoulders. She lay perfectly still in the darkness, holding her breath, listening for the noise that had woken her up.
And there it was—a scuffling noise. Only it seemed softer this time, sneakier.
She sat up and stared across the room at the walk-in closet where the noise had come from. She saw a man hidden in the shadows, standing right next to the wall by the closet door.
G
ina jumped on Matt, shaking him awake.
“Matt! Get up!”
Matt jumped up. “Whattizit?”
Gina grabbed onto Matt and pointed across the room, her eyes already welling up with tears of fright. “Somebody’s in the room with us!”
Matt fumbled with the lamp on his side of the bed. He clicked it on and stared across their bedroom.
“Where?” Matt croaked. “I don’t see anyone.”
“Over there,” Gina hissed, pointing at the closet door across the room. “He was by the wall. Right next to the closet door.”
Matt looked, but he didn’t see anyone.
Gina turned on her lamp to flood the room with more light, but the room was so vast the light from both lamps didn’t even reach the other side of the room—it was still murky with shadows.
“What did you see?” Matt asked again, not sure if he’d heard her correctly.
She calmed down a little and took a deep breath. “I heard a scuffling noise. Like a shoe sliding across the carpet or maybe scraping a wall or something. I don’t know. But I woke up and saw a man standing over there.”
“A man? What did he look like?”
“I don’t know. He was in the shadows. He looked like a shadow.”
Matt relaxed a little—he was sure he knew what this was now. “So you were sleeping and this noise woke you up?”
“Don’t use that voice with me, Matt. I heard the noise. Twice. And then I saw somebody over there.”
“You were probably just dreaming. Still half-awake when you sat up. Still seeing parts of your dream.”
Gina didn’t say anything.
Matt sighed and got out of bed. “I’ll check it out.”
He walked across the room to the door that led out to the hall and switched on the overhead light.
Gina sat on her knees in the bed, her back close to the headboard and the pillows. She watched Matt with wide, frightened eyes.
Matt marched to the closet door and pulled it open. He flipped on the light switch next to the door and entered the large walk-in closet which was still nearly empty even though they’d hung up all of the clothes they’d brought with them.
He came back out of the closet and stood in front of the open doorway, looking at Gina.
“Nobody in there,” he said.