“Harmony!” he called again and paused, as if he was waiting for her to answer. “Come on! Come out here! This is getting weird!”
Harmony started to yell out to him when, all of a sudden, voices began to speak, loudly and clearly, as if a group of females had entered the room. It was like they were on an intercom and the whole house was blasting with their conversation.
The first voice said, “How cute is he?”
The second voice said, “I want the first shot.”
And the third voice said, “Shut up, you two! I’m going to be the one sitting on his face by the end of the night.”
And then there was a long pause…
The second voice whispered, “Shhhh! Shhhh!”
Just then, they stopped talking. It was as if they’d been interrupted and didn’t want the person who had interrupted them to know what they were discussing.
Harmony looked up, almost expecting to see the women floating on the ceiling or something, and then she looked around, trying to figure out a way out.
Marc yelled, “Harmony! Where are you?!”
Then she heard him racing through the house looking for her. She heard him come into the bedroom, then out quickly and then into the other rooms. She called out to him, “Marc! Marc!” And then she waited. It was as if he hadn’t heard her. She tried again, “I’m in the closet!” Still nothing. What the hell?
Then Marc called, “If there is something in here, you need to leave my house.”
The sexy female voice said, “I’m not leaving and neither are you, Marc.”
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Who, what, when, where, why…” she replied, then trailed off.
Harmony listened and then she heard something, like a loud crash. It was as if Marc had been thrown against the wall. She heard him cry out in pain. She wanted to go to him and help him but she couldn’t. She was locked in the closet. All of a sudden, she heard Balthazar’s voice. It was loud and clear, like the females.
“Damn, that’s gotta hurt,” he said and chuckled. “It’s like you’re a living art piece there, Marc, hanging on the wall like that.
“Who the fuck are you!” Marc yelled. “And what did you do with Harmony?”
“She’ll be okay,” he said. “I mean, maybe she’ll be okay. I guess that all depends on you.”
Marc didn’t respond. Harmony listened, but she didn’t hear his voice again. What had happened? She yelled, “Marc! Marc!”
Then she heard the door knob rattle. She seized up, expecting the worse, then was relieved when Darcy opened the door. She started to say something, but Darcy put a finger to her lips and shook her head. Harmony clamped her mouth shut.
“I’m getting you out of here,” Darcy whispered. “Shh! Don’t say a word.”
Harmony nodded and stepped out of the closet then she and Darcy darted across the master bedroom and went to the sliding glass doors. Darcy gingerly opened the door, then stepped out, then Harmony followed her. They ran across the patio and around the pool and towards the gate that would lead them to safety. But all of a sudden, Harmony stopped.
Darcy shook her head at her. “Come on! We have to go! I can get you out of here!”
“What about Marc?” Harmony asked her.
“He’ll get out on his own,” Darcy said and extended her hand, shaking it for Harmony to take. “Come on now!”
“I can’t just leave him!”
“You have to!” Darcy hissed.
“Why?” Harmony asked. “Why is this happening?”
“We don’t have time for this right now!”
“No, you don’t have time,” the sexy female voice said.
They stopped moving and turned slowly around, as if almost expecting to find a body for the disembodied voice. There was no one there. They turned back to one another.
“Where is Marc?” Harmony asked, feeling even more panicked.
The sexy female voice was quick to answer, “Oh, Marc’s just hanging out in the living room.”
Harmony couldn’t take it anymore. She was headed towards a major meltdown. This was too much for her. All of it was too much. She shook her head and looked like she was about to cry.
Darcy looked around, then up, then yelled, “Shut up, you bitch!”
Harmony stared at her in disbelief. “Do you know her?”
“It’s not a ‘her,’” Darcy explained. “It’s an ‘it.’”
Harmony’s eyes widened. “She’s real? She’s the thing that man conjured up? Balthazar?”
“That’s rude!” the voice yelled.
“What do you want?” Harmony asked and waited.
But the voice was silent. Harmony started off, but something halted her. She couldn’t move, like at all. She literally could not move her feet. “I don’t know who you are or what you are but let me go!” she yelled.
“Why? So, you can move into that sad old house down the street? You belong here,” a new female voice asked.
Harmony’s nerves were reaching maximum capacity. This was definitely getting to be too much. “How do you know that?”
“Oh, we hear everything,” another female voice said.
“Nothing gets past us,” yet another female voice said.
“Oh, leave her alone, you two,” a third female voice said. “But aren’t you going to party with us, Harmony?”
Harmony looked around with apprehension.
“She won’t leave,” the first female voice said. “She likes it here too much.”
The second voice chimed in, “She did say she loved this house so much she’d give it the best sex of its life if it were a man. Or something like that. I can’t remember exactly.”
Harmony couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But she pushed all of that away and said, “Let me go.”
The sexy female voice came on again, “Go where? And do what?”
“Shut up, you bitch!” Harmony hissed. “And let me go!”
“Don’t fuck with her, Harmony,” Darcy said. “She’s the one responsible for the party.”
Harmony turned to her. She’d forgotten she was even there.
“Yeah, right, that was me, sure…” the sexy female voice said. “But you do bring up such good memories, Darcy.”
Darcy didn’t answer.
The voice continued, “Ahhhhh… The party… Yes, that was some good times and Darcy likes to party, too.” She paused and chuckled then, as if she’d jabbed Harmony in the arm with her elbow to get her attention, she said, “Actors, am I right? If you can call what she does acting.”
“Shut up!” Darcy said and shook her fists. “Shut up!”
“Girl, we both know you are not awards season material,” the voice said.
“Careful,” Darcy muttered, almost inaudibly.
Harmony looked around, then back at Darcy, “You know all this? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I dropped hints, Harmony!” Darcy said, exasperated.
“You didn’t do a very good job about dropping hints, did you?” Harmony spat at her. “You want me and Marc to die!”
“No, I don’t!” she exclaimed. “That’s not… I don’t know what to say. I was trying to save you! All you had to do was come with me!”
“I’m not leaving my husband here!” Harmony shouted.
“You’re right,” the voice said. “But he is leaving you.”
There was the quick sound of her fingers snapping and all of a sudden, Marc appeared. Harmony breathed a sigh of relief and tried to rush to him but something halted her. She couldn’t move, not even one inch. “Let me go!” she yelled.
The first female voice chimed in, mocking Harmony’s voice, badly, “Let me go!”
And the second… “Let me go!”
And, finally, the third, “Let me go!” And then she added, “Why, I never!”
They all laughed hysterically, then out of nowhere, Balthazar appeared and smiled at everyone. “This i
s getting a bit tiresome,” he said and turned to Marc. “Marc, come on. Let’s just do this thing. You knew what you were getting into when you came here.”
Harmony stared at Marc aghast.
“What are you talking about?” Marc turned to Harmony, begging her with his eyes to listen to him. “I didn’t know anything, Harmony!”
The sexy female voice set everyone straight, “A liar to the end. You knew everything and you still bought the place because of the built-in equity.” She paused. “So boring, all of this, but you do need to reconcile the fact that you said you didn’t care because you didn’t believe in any ‘supernatural shit,’ and that’s a direct quote. I heard you talking on the phone one day to someone when Harmony was out. Don’t deny that, Marc.”
“Is it true, Marc?” Harmony asked. “Did you know…? Did you know there might be something living here?”
Before he could answer, Marc was suddenly pulled by something and he moved quickly over to the pool and was held over it, suspended in air, his feet dangling. Harmony stared at him in disbelief.
Marc stared back at her, shaking his head in fear and confusion. He said, “It’s not like that! Okay, I did know there was some weird shit going on, but I just thought… I just thought it wasn’t real. People make up stories all the time!”
Harmony had to ask him, “Did you put me in harm’s way to make money? And did you know when I told you I was hearing voices that something might be going on? And you ignored me, even when you knew this?”
“She’s finally getting it now,” Balthazar said dryly.
“Come on!” Mac exclaimed. “I didn’t know it was real!”
“How could you?” Harmony asked, feeling herself wanting to burst into tears.
The first female voice mimicked Harmony’s voice again, “How could you?” Then she added insult to injury, “I think I’m going to cry now.” She gave a fake cry and a sniffle.
The second voice gave it a try, “Wahhhhhh!”
And the third voice, too, “Big baby!”
“Shut up, you bitches!” Harmony yelled at the top of her voice.
The sexy voice warned, “Take care with your words there, Harmony.” She paused, then said, “We’re not the ones you should worry about anyway.”
Harmony gritted her teeth and hissed, “You people or whatever you are need to leave—”
Before she could finish, Harmony found herself flying through the air. She hit the side of the house, then slid down it. She groaned in pain as she did so, almost passing out from the impact.
Darcy looked up at the sky and yelled, “Leave! Leave this—”
But, before she could finish, she suddenly gasped as if she were being choked. Her body shook violently and she fell to the ground convulsing.
Harmony watched her in terror then yelled, “Stop! Stop!”
Darcy gasped loudly as she was finally able to breathe. Then she started swatting at something, something no one but her could see. “Get her off! Get her off!” she cried.
Harmony suddenly felt herself being released and she jumped up and rushed over to Darcy. But before she got to her, she got knocked back again, this time she landed near a lounge chair. She tried to say something, but she couldn’t get a word out. It was as if she’d completely lost her voice.
The sexy female voice laughed. And laughed and laughed. She finally stopped and said, “This is kind of fun.” She sighed loudly, then said, “Ready, Marc? Harmony?”
Marc was dropped into the pool and Harmony was slung into it right after him. They both came up gasping for air and splashing. But they kept getting pulled back down and couldn’t get out. This went on for a good two minutes, then Harmony, somehow, made it out of the pool. Once she did, she looked up and started to say something but her hand came up and covered her mouth. It was being controlled by something else. She tried to get it off with her other hand but to no avail.
Darcy regained her senses and sat up and yelled, “Leave now!”
Nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, a small light about the size of a firefly flickered once in the dark and then went out. Then there was an almost imperceptible change to the atmosphere. Harmony caught it but then she noticed that Marc did not. However, Darcy turned to her and she, too, seemed to be aware that something had shifted.
Balthazar stepped in front of Harmony. “They like to party, like I said.”
He disappeared. Harmony stared in the empty space where he’d been then shook her head and stared over at Darcy, who breathed a sigh of relief. She asked her, “What the hell was all of that?”
Darcy shrugged and shook her head.
Marc got his bearings back and he swam to the edge of the pool then pulled himself up and out. He rushed over to Harmony and bent down beside her. They didn’t speak, neither did Darcy. They all took a few moments to recover before turning to each other.
Darcy stood and walked over to a lounge chair and fell onto it, breathing heavily. None of them knew what to say or how to act.
Marc touched Harmony’s arm gingerly. “Are you okay?”
Harmony jerked her arm away from him and gave him an angry look.
He started, “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
Harmony quickly interrupted him, “I don’t want to hear it.”
“Do you really think it’s that easy?” Darcy asked.
Harmony stared at her. “I have no idea. I’m so freaked out I can’t think straight.”
“What was that all about?” Marc asked. “What did they want?”
“Who knows?” Harmony asked. “Who knows what they wanted?”
As she stared at him, she began to feel real hatred in her heart for him for the first time ever. He’d known all along what this house was about and, even if he didn’t believe it, he hadn’t shared that pertinent information. She didn’t think she could ever trust him again. She told him, “I’m divorcing you and I’m moving back home. We’re done.”
She felt his eyes on her as she stood and walked towards the house.
Marc called after her, “Harmony, I’m sorry. I feel terrible. I just thought I’d gotten the deal of the century!”
Indeed, Harmony thought bitterly then, for some reason, something told her to pause at the door. She did so and turned around, staring at Marc and Darcy, watching them intently.
“You really are a piece of work, Marc,” Darcy said out of nowhere. “Maybe you should have told her. I really liked Harmony.”
Marc shot her a hateful look and spat, “Told her what? That ghosts were living in the house? That they want to fuck up our lives? How could I have told her when I didn’t even believe it myself?”
Darcy didn’t seem to be the least bit ruffled at his odious words. She didn’t reply at all. They stared at each other for a brief moment, then out at the pool, then beyond at the twinkling lights of Los Angeles which were glistening and seemed so far away. Harmony stared, too. As they stared at the beauty of the magnificent lights, such as they were, it felt as though any one of them could have reached out and plucked any light they choose out of the horizon.
“She’s just bluffing,” Marc said and stood. “I’m going to talk to her.”
“You do that, you go talk to her, Marc,” Darcy said.
Harmony took her eyes off the lights and stared back at them as Darcy turned and watched him walk towards the house. She half-expected him to say something to her before he entered, but he didn’t utter a word. He just went into the house and, once he was in, he called, “Harmony! Come on!”
“But I’m right here,” she said softly, feeling a little confused. She turned back to Darcy, who smiled a very slight, mischievous smile.
She glanced over her shoulder at Harmony and smiled more widely. “If there is one thing I love, it’s a Connie Francis song,” she told her. “There is just something about her singing voice I really connect with.”
Harmony wondered what she was getting at but didn’t respond, mainly beca
use it seemed as though Darcy wasn’t really talking to her.
“One of my favorites is Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” she continued. “And, really, the way I look at it, you and Marc are the house’s fools.” She paused and chuckled to herself. “And, just so you’ll know, people love to get fooled by the things they want. They overlook the obvious just to get a taste, a glimpse, something to make them feel real and alive and, even, special.”
What was she getting at? Harmony thought and really began to listen to her words.
“In my time,” Darcy went on. “I’ve seen men make terrible fools of themselves over women and sometimes money. Conversely, I’ve seen women make terrible fools out of themselves over men and sometimes shoes. Humans are so odd, such an odd species. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Darcy looked down and seemed quite pleased to see the black cat at her feet. She smiled softly at it, then patted its head. “I haven’t seen you for a while, kitty,” she told it. “But then again, I have been busy.” She scratched its head and smiled at it. “You know, I am so glad I booked that bikini shoot today. I like working a lot. It keeps my mind off things.”
The cat purred and wrapped itself around her ankles. She stared at it then got up and went over to the pool and looked down. She didn’t move for a good few seconds, as if she were waiting on Harmony to come over and join her. So, she did. Harmony walked over to the pool and stopped beside Darcy. Once she looked down, everything made perfect sense.
There they were, Harmony and Marc, both floating in the water, heads down, bodies limp, soon to be bloated and unrecognizable. As she stared at the bodies of herself and of her husband, she felt nothing. There was nothing left to feel.
Darcy stared at Harmony. “You two should have realized that the house always wins.”
And then, with no emotion whatsoever, Darcy turned and started towards the house, entering through the glass doors. And, as she entered, the world of Harmony and Marc cut to black once and for all. But her words still rang in Harmony’s ears: “The house always wins.”
She was right about that. The house did always win. Always.
The House in the Hills Page 19