With Strings Attached

by A. A. Vacco

  Genie used Billy’s grip on her arm as a guide and led him toward the closet. At least, Billy assumed it was a closet. Most of the rooms didn’t have doors, and the ones that did were propped open with a chair or some type of antique item. The closet, he settled on calling it, had a much smaller door than the ones attached to the rooms. How Genie even noticed it, he’d never know.

  Rapt. Rapt.

  The two stood and faced the splintered, wood door. Genie reached out and pulled the rusty knob. A low groan escaped from the hinges as the decayed piece of oak swung outward. Billy coughed at the plume of dust that followed, releasing Genie’s arm. He studied the small enclosure. It didn’t appear to be much of anything. He saw a broom and dustpan leaning up against the back wall. A bucket filled with some old spray bottles and a few aged rolls of paper towels sat in front. Genie kicked those items to the side and stood within the shallow, vacant room. Billy watched her reach to her left, feeling around. “Turn on the flashlight, Geenz," he offered.

  She rolled her eyes, flicked it on, and continued to fumble through the illuminated area. “Not much here. Except...,” her voice became muffled.

  Billy saw her silhouette slip to the left, then a couple of thuds, as if she were dragging something. “What’d ya find? Does the closet go that far over?”

  He answered his own question as he leaned over to see a small additional compartment and Genie moving a ladder back in his direction. “Ouch!” she yelled. Then, “Damn splinter," as she shook her hand.

  Genie positioned the ladder against the back wall, and once it seemed steady enough, began to climb it. Billy took the light from her and aimed it at the top of the ladder. There, he saw another opening. It wasn’t quite an attic; it looked as if someone could’ve built a stairway there, but didn’t. “Oh, I get it! It’s the upper level!” exclaimed Billy.

  “You catch on fast.”

  “Well, you weren’t exactly cluing me in.”

  “Didn’t it strike you as odd that there were two stories to this house, and no elaborate staircase, or really, any obvious way to get upstairs?”

  “Honestly, it didn’t even cross my mind.”

  Now at the top, Genie put two hands on the second floor surface, slid herself on it in a seated position, legs dangling. She leaned forward and said, “Well I did. What on Earth would be up here that someone would want so inaccessible?”

  Billy started his ascent. “Not sure. And not sure I want to know.” But he climbed toward her anyways.

  Once Billy reached the opening, he saw that it did lead into another room. It wasn’t designed as a display room, like most of the ones downstairs, but instead, like a lounge area or a loft. Billy walked toward a covered couch and sat down. He saw several other pieces of covered furniture all facing the center of the room. Genie took a few steps toward a closed door opposite from where they entered, when her foot smashed through a floorboard. She shrieked and tumbled forward. Billy rushed to her side. He pulled her up as she dislodged her foot from the splintered wood. She was shaking.

  “Billy," she whispered.

  “Hm? What, you ok? Think it’s broken?”

  “No...but...something has my...my...ankle.”

  Startled, Billy glanced down at the busted up flooring and around Genie’s victim foot. He couldn’t see anything.

  “Nothing? It feels like something cold is gripping it.”

  “Probably just pain. It’s drafty anyways, and your jeans must’ve rolled up enough to feel the cold.”

  Genie didn’t look convinced, but they were out of daylight and needed to get on with their exploration. “Just be careful where you step," said Billy as he pulled her away from the debris.

  The pair attempted to cross the room several more times, but the floorboards failed to hold their weight, or at least creaked enough to send them reeling back onto sturdier ground.

  “It’s almost like something doesn’t want us past that door," said Genie, cocking her head to the side.

  “Well, then by all accounts, we really ought to try harder to get over there," said Billy.

  Using the furniture like the game “Don’t Touch the Lava,” they climbed over two of the chairs, a couch, and finally, crouched on a small, wooden table close enough for Genie to reach the door handle. The two peered into the dark room. Neither wanted to step onto the floor, but finally, Genie put her foot down. She cautiously shifted her weight with the second step, then the third, until she stood in the middle of the next room. Billy called to her. “Geenz, I’m good where I’m at. Shine the light around and just give me a play-by-play.”

  She sighed and called him a wuss, but beamed the light over the area. It was a bedroom, one that no one seemed to have entered for quite some time, she relayed to Billy. There was a strong smell of cedar that Genie followed to the foot of the bed. No coverings were placed over the bed, and it stood decorated in aged, cream-colored linens with a lace bed skirt. Iron head and footboards enclosed the bed, and at the end stood a cedar chest. “There’s a big ole’ bed in here," she called to Billy. “And, um, a dresser, a night stand...there is a candle on the nightstand next to the bed that hasn’t been lit. There’s this ancient looking silver lamp on the dresser, an oil lamp maybe? And I think there’s a cradle in the corner of the room, but to be honest, it’s giving me the creeps and I don’t want to check it out.”

  Billy laughed. “Finally, something scares you and it’s a baby’s bed. Swear to god, Genie.”

  “Ok shut up. I’m opening the chest.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “This cedar chest," he heard her voice lower and the creak of a hinge. “Weird. There’s just a few dolls in here.”

  “They moving?”

  “Not presently.”

  Billy thought for a moment. “Hey since they’re likely ones that won’t be missed, we should totally take them back with us; freak people out.”

  “You should be an example, Billy! Think of it, a coach, instigating such madness!” Genie laughed and scooped up the dolls from the chest.

  She placed them into her oversized canvas purse that she always carried. She took one for Cassie, one to scare Aubrey with, and one because she wanted it. The dolls for Cassie and Aubrey could’ve been sisters. They looked so real. Both had dark skin, black hair, and black eyes. They wore vibrant dresses with wraps around their shoulders and heads. “Probably worth a fortune," mumbled Genie.

  The one Genie took for herself was less flashy. This doll also had dark eyes, but the skin was milky white and the clothes were hand sewn. It wore a plaid dress, stockings, and shoes. The golden hair was pulled back, and Genie brushed a wisp of hair that came loose away from the doll’s delicate face. Their size and life-like appearances reminded Genie of her American Girl Dolls she grew up owning. But these were definitely not from her generation.

  Billy heard the chest close and Genie making her way toward the door. “Alright," she told him, “let’s scare the crap outta some people.”

  Following that statement came the familiar crash of the floorboards splintering, but much more so than the previous crunches and snaps. Billy heard whimpering and he jumped from the table into the room, following the cries.

  He saw the glow of the flashlight, but it came from about twelve feet below them. He noticed Genie’s hand holding onto the jagged edge of the spliced board, blood smeared over it. “Billy, my hand, take...my...”

  Billy flattened out onto his stomach, sliding toward Genie. The air seemed cooler to him than it did moments earlier. “Geenz, Honey, grab my hand, c’mon.”

  She flailed her free arm toward him, but missed both his hand and the edge of the board. She screamed again. “Oh god, oh god, I’m slipping!”

  Billy struggled to catch the free hand that was waving in the air. When this failed, he directed his attention toward the other one, desperately clinging to the serrated, wooden ledge. With both of his hands, he seized her sticky, blood-soaked one. “Gotcha!” he huffed, with some amount of relief.

&n
bsp; Genie shrieked again. The pain from the shards of wood in her hand already hurt, but Billy’s clasp over that same hand intensified the razor-like stabs. Genie twisted her body using Billy's grip for support, attempting to advance her reach with her free hand. She clawed at the splintered edge once more, managing to latch three of her fingers onto it. The motion was enough for Billy to lose his hold on her, as her hand slipped free. Billy yelled and lunged forward, frantically grabbing at any part of her that he could. The three finger grasp dropped down to two. Billy seized Genie's other hand again, but it was too bloody to keep a firm grip. Within seconds, both hands lost their hold and Genie dropped down to the first floor.

  Billy watched with terror. He peered through the damaged opening, but only saw the dim beam of the flashlight several feet from where he thought Genie landed. Billy stood, used the same furniture hopping method to traverse the loft, and slid down the rickety ladder. Facing an eerily silent hallway and only the rising moonlight to help him see, he found himself in the room of mirrors. No Genie, but the dolls once again turned to greet him. He barely registered the dolls as he called Genie’s name. No answer. He shuddered and fumbled back toward the hallway.

  Before he exited, he paused and glanced back at the myriad of dolls staring in his direction. Some tilted their heads, then back again. Others just rotated their bodies enough to acknowledge his presence. As he crossed the threshold out, the dolls all returned to their original positions in unison.

  Back in the hallway, Billy bolted toward the saloon doors and pushed his way into the informal room. He turned around at the sound of movement on the other side of the room. His heart catapulted into his throat. Sweat clung to his neck and torso. Some muffled groans accompanied the shifting and shuffling in the corner. Billy noticed the flashlight flickering on and off. He rushed toward it, praying it wouldn't die completely. "Billy?" the groaning subsided and words now formed.

  "Geenz, that you?" Billy shined the flickering light on her crumpled outline.

  "Yea, I-I'm ok," she sat up, rubbing her head and smearing dark blood across her face and through her hair.

  "Did you pass out?"

  "No. No I landed on my feet, but then fell forward onto this end table," she said, kicking the offending agent.

  Billy saw her cradling her large canvas purse. "Was that thing always that full?"

  "No, Dumbass, the dolls are in it, remember?"

  "All that and you still have them?"

  Genie nodded. "Now let's get out of here before we get killed."

  "Finally, you're coming around!"

  Billy grabbed her arm and helped her stand. She limped with his help toward formal room and then out to the main entrance.

  Aubrey and Cassie were nowhere to be found. Billy felt another surge of panic. Genie called out, but no one answered her. Before Billy could echo her, a deafening rumble shook the house. It sounded like a freight train and the floors moved as if an earthquake struck. Both crouched down and covered their ears, looking around to identify the source. Billy crawled toward Genie and wrapped an arm over her.

  "Aubrey! Cassie!" Genie screamed again.

  "The door," yelled Billy into her ear. "Crawl to the door!"

  Genie started toward the ajar entrance with Billy still maintaining one arm over her. The floor continued to shake and the roar rushed through their heads. They felt exhausted from moving just several feet. Panting, Billy steadied himself, wrapped his arm around Genie's waist, and made a run for the door. Just before they reached it, the door slammed closed. The force behind it knocked them back down. "What now? Oh god we're screwed, we're screwed," whimpered Genie, still blocking her ears with her hands.

  Billy winced at the amount of dried blood smeared over her face and matted into her hair.

  "Ok, ok, we'll get out, we just need to think."

  "What?"

  "To think!” he yelled, noticing how hoarse his voice sounded.

  "We'll be dead by then!" Genie's shrill reply pierced his brain even more than the cacophonous roaring.

  Just then, headlights blinded Billy through the window by the door. Billy grabbed Genie again, dragging her toward the broken pane. It was the same window she had planned to smash to get them in. Hopefully it will provide us with an exit, he thought.

  Billy turned Genie to face him, holding both of her shoulders. "We need to break the window and climb out.”

  Genie nodded and pointed at an iron cross-shaped paperweight on the entrance counter. "Stay here!” yelled Billy.

  He dropped down and crawled toward the counter. Even though the main entrance had finished wood floors, it was dilapidated and fragmenting with each tremor of the quake. Billy felt sharp pains stabbing through his hands and knees as the splinters drove into his skin. He tried to tucked and roll, but this took more effort than he anticipated. The movements of the house worked against him in every direction he tried to move. Billy pulled himself up by the corner of the counter, grasping the Celtic cross paperweight by its wide base, then turned back toward the window. Genie remained crouched by the door. He heard pounding on the other side of the door along with more shouting. Genie grabbed the handle and started pulling at it. She slammed her other fist against the door, but it remained closed.

  A silhouette appeared at the window. It motioned them to move back. Billy saw this but kept crawling to Genie. The shadow smashed the glass, scattering thick shards over the entrance. An arm reached in and offered a hand. Billy dropped the cross, reached forward and grasped Genie's shoulders. He turned her in the direction of the window and pushed her forward. The broken glass crunched beneath their feet. Whimpering, Genie reached for the hand and felt it lock onto hers. The figure pulled Genie up and out the window. "Uncle Alex?" Billy heard her cry.

  Alex didn't say anything. He guided Genie down to the porch, then popped his head back in and called for Billy. Billy grabbed Alex's arm and climbed out the window. When he regained his balance, he heard Alex yelling at them to get off the porch and onto the lawn. Feeling like he was on autopilot, Billy again grabbed Genie and ushered her down the creaking steps, Alex following behind them. Billy looked up to see Aubrey and Cassie sitting in the back of a squad car. It took him a second to register it, but then, "Ah, Cassie's dad," he said.

  Genie nodded. "We're still dead, though."

  "Indeed you are," Alex placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "Genie, Honey, Kat's got to be worried sick about you. And Billy is it? Yes, of course it is. You're in charge of these kids, how on Earth did you wind up here?"

  When neither responded, Alex sighed and said, "Tell ya what. Let's go back to my house and get you two cleaned up. Genie, you look like you could use a band-aid or two."

  Genie joined Aubrey and Cassie in the back seat. Billy plopped into the front. Alex joined them, started up the car, and drove off. Aubrey and Cassie explained on the way there that after five minutes, they freaked out, took the van and drove to Cassie's house. They were worried about them, they assured Genie and Billy, but couldn't wait it out. When Alex found out where they'd been, he took them back over in his squad car to make sure everyone made it out alive.

  "Not to pour salt in wounds, Kids," Alex added, "but I needed everyone involved to know how dangerous the house is. These two came back with me because I figured you'd wind up proving it somehow, and they needed to see it firsthand."

  "I thought you said the house wasn't dangerous, Cass," said Genie, "just that stuff moved and it creeped people out."

  "You don't listen," hissed Cassie, "I said it was dangerous. I said it used to be safe, but then something changed and, and, now it’s not!"

  "Ok, ok, calm down," said Alex. "We can all agree now, that house is off-limits. No one and nothing goes in or comes out of it. Understood?"

  They all nodded and remained silent for the rest of the trip.

  15

  As they pulled into the Kingman driveway, Genie saw her Aunt Cara wringing her hands and pacing back and forth through the picture window in fr
ont of the house. Genie was surprised to see her there instead of at her mother's place. "Guess news of breaking and entering warrants both parents present for a lecture," she mumbled.

  After entering the house and the sheepish glances from the group at Cara, Alex invited them to each take a seat around the kitchen table. Cara started wiping Genie's face with a warm dishrag and working on removing some of the matted blood from her hair. Aubrey sat next to Genie, arms crossed, and Cassie next to Aubrey in a similar pose. Billy leaned forward on his elbows, his face buried in his hands. Alex started, “First off, I’m glad you guys are all ok. Genie, I know you’re banged up, Kiddo, but it could be so much worse.”

  Genie nodded, but didn’t make eye contact. She kept her focus somewhere on the floor in front of her while Cara worked at untangling her hair.

  Alex continued to reiterate the dangers of the house, their overall stupidity for going into an abandoned old home and then offered to give Aubrey, Genie, and Billy a ride back to the hotel.