"Emily!?"

Background Photo of the Mansion by Lucas Allmann from Pexels

“Hey, watch that brother! Just don’t get us killed.” I yelled as the truck barely escaped colliding with a car approaching us from the opposite direction. After sighing a bit of relief, I further added “Are you out of your god-damn mind, Jeffrey! Are you high? And God save us if we get pulled up by some fucking cop for crossing the speed limit!”

“Just don’t worry so much man! I know how to drive. And you better thank me for bringing you here with me or else you would be with your old woman right now.” replied Jeffrey in a peculiar tone which always made me uncomfortable. Even after being his friend for too long I couldn’t get used to his tone and his unpredictable nature. At times, he was so calm enough as if all the tranquility of the sea was transformed into him and at times he was so fierce, just like a wild animal.

We have been friends since a long time and I have had many experiences with him. Still I could not figure what was going on in Jeffrey’s mind at any particular time. Jeffrey was just erratic.

Jeffrey is a well built, tall muscular man who looked too young for his age. Currently in his late 50s, he delivers goods to Mexico and back for a living and he has been doing it for almost 30 years now. He worked hard and tried to make ends meet for his daughter, Emily and after her mysterious disappearance in her teenage, he was just broken down. He could not find a reason to live and continue his life like before. Maybe it was my empathy for Jeffrey or love for Emily that made me help Jeffrey in any way I could.

I teach in the same school where Emily studied and all I could notice was that she was quite a shy girl, she didn’t use to speak much, used to remain to herself and often there were days when she used to remain absent from school. When I used to ask Jeffrey about this, he would just say that she is either sick or visiting some relative of his, though he had never mentioned he ever had any relatives living in any of the nearby towns. That used to make me suspicious but I felt it better not to talk about that since neither Jeffrey nor Emily would like to talk about this.

Emily! What a sweet girl she was! Emily was a pretty, young girl who was just about to turn 17 when she had disappeared. She rarely smiled but she was so kind, helpful and caring. I could often see her helping out her peers and other children in one way or the other. “Good Morning, Uncle Wilkins!” she would greet me every-day with a smile. I remember the day she disappeared, I replied smilingly “Good Morning Emily, how are you and how is your Dad?” “I am fine. And he is fine too!” she spoke but I could notice the smile on her face disappear. I thought she must have had a fight with him and perhaps it was not easy to take care of his father.  She had been taking care of Jeffrey since her mother died when she was 12. That was brave from a girl her age. I thought it was better not to speak to her that day and I just went away without knowing that it would be the last time we talked.

I closed my eyes thought of this and felt asleep. When the truck came to a hault, I opened my eyes and I could see stars glowing brightly in the night sky. “Where are we and what time is it?” I said. “Aye mate! We’ve crossed the border. We are in Ciudad Juarez right now!” he exclaimed with joy. Jeffrey delivered the goods and we went to a bar and then headed back to home. I slept again and when I woke up, we were in the outskirts of the city. “Where are we going man?” “Shush! I have made a great deal! Now it’s party time.” “Whatever again” I said as I went back to sleep.

The truck came to a halt. I woke up and before my eyes was a huge mansion surrounded by huge trees and it seemed like it was in the middle of a forest.  Vines and creepers seemed to spill out of every window and crevice as if searching for freedom, like they have been trapped there since eternity.  Ahead of the mansion was a fountain containing a decapitated statue of what appeared to be a woman holding a pot. The once white porcelain had grown mossy green and lost its luster. A flower had grown in place where the head must have stood once and it suggested of nature’s power over man, its superiority. No matter what we try, nature always overpowers us. A huge chimney arose from the top of the mansion and it was little foggy there (to my surprise as I had not seen fog anywhere along the journey but of course I was asleep through most of it too!). It felt as if the fog originated from the chimney itself.

One glance at the mansion was enough to give someone a sick stomach. When I grasped the creepiness and monstrosity (pun intended both because of the mere dimensions of the mansion as well as all the unknown sinister things which might be hiding behind those walls) of the mansion (or rather those walls which acted like a prison for souls from another dimension) that stood before me, I saw Jeffrey approaching towards the door.

“Hey man! JEFFREY!” I shouted and the echo seemed to spread throughout the forest, finally surrounding me. Jeffrey rushed to me. “Hey man! Slowly. This isn’t your high school!” “Just shut up man! Where have you brought us? We should be on our way back.” “Well, I thought you would sleep through this. Actually…..” Jeffrey said hesitating a bit. I interrupted “Just don’t tell me it is what I think of!” He sighed and continued, “Listen man! It is just for increasing my margin a bit.” “WTF! A bit? You are trafficking? I had never thought you would have done this.  And please don’t tell me you were doing this while Emily …” I stopped, realizing I should not speak further. He looked down, then placed his hand on my shoulder and almost whispered, “Look, it was not that I had chosen this by my own. I was pretty broken up after my wife died and taking care of Emily and paying the bills, all of that.. I couldn’t manage it without doing this. Besides its just marijuana. I have even heard they are thinking of legalizing it. Try to understand man. I just have to pick up the consignment and leave. It will be just a matter of minutes.”

“Get it done; I am waiting in the truck.” I said as he walked towards the house and vanished inside it. I waited for 5 minutes, then 10 and now 15. There was no sign of him returning back. It was as if the house had engulfed him, not wanting to let him go. I thought of trying his cell but I was couldn’t  get any signal.

With time passing by slower than ever, and no signs of Jeffrey returning, my heart sank thinking of the only alternative left. Finally, I decided to go inside. I got out of the truck and began my journey towards the house. I walked at a steady pace, step by step towards the house with my eyes fixed at the door, in a hope that Jeffrey would flung it open and also in the fear of what I might find from the corner of my eyes. I could hear sounds in the distance, of wolves howling and of owls hooting. With each sound, I could feel goose-bumps all over my body. As I approached the house, my limbs started trembling and my pace became even slow. My heart was beating so fast as if it were to explode out of my chest. I reached the door and laid my hands on the handle.

Though I would say that all I believe what ghosts and spirits and demons are is nothing but the mind’s play. The human mind is so powerful and capable of creating hallucinations around us and instills fear inside us as a part of basic survival instincts. But I would also admit that those fears can make anyone (including me) afraid. Fear is an inseparable part of our nature. It is what helps us survive. And all that my survival instincts could tell me at that time was to just run away. Still somehow I managed not to. But my mind was filled with thoughts of what I might find inside as soon as I open the door. Vampires? Beasts? Demons? Ghosts? All of them seemed probable. Among all of those, I longed for the site of my friend searching for his consignment. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and turned the handle.  With trembling hands, I pushed the door and went inside.

Once I went inside I opened my eyes. It was nothing. It was dark for sure but somehow, even through the closed windows, moonlight illuminated the room partially enough so as to make things visible. Not their immaculate details, but their size, shape and proportion for sure. I scanned everything as fast as I could to make sure there were no signs of danger. Just then I spotted some movement on the corner of my right eye.

Logically, I knew it can be no one else except my friend but I also knew that whatever it was, it was staring at me. Or maybe it was Jeffrey, he might be joking. I prayed it was Jeffrey. For all I knew, he certainly did not seem to be in a mood to do a thing as such. My heart started to beat faster again and suddenly it felt so cold. I realized I was sweating at the same time. “Jeffrey, is that you? I am in no mood of joking right now. OK?” I said in a trembling voice. I did not get any answer but I could hear a faint growling noise. I knew what choice I had. I wiped my forehead with my hand and turned to my right.

I knew it. I knew it was not Jeffrey. As I turned towards it, that thing flew past my vision into a room. My instincts told me not to go behind it and I was never going to. Suddenly then, I started to hear some noises coming from the floor above. It was as if someone was moving things, throwing some stuff and I knew it had to Jeffrey. I started to move upstairs climbing a large straight stairway. I started to move towards the sounds. I approached a room. The door was locked and I heard the sound of a match being struck and a candle lit. There was light on the other side of the room as evident from the gap below. I swear I heard sounds of foots moving and even saw shadows. “Jeffrey? Hello?!” I almost whispered as the fear had paralyzed me. I could barely speak. I tried to open the door but it was locked. I knocked on it a few times but no answer. Then suddenly, the shadows and sounds vanished. I tried one last time and this time, the door got unlocked. As soon as I flung the door open, the candle got extinguished and once again darkness prevailed everywhere. Though for a minute moment while I was opening the door, I could make out a figure in the corner of the room. Suddenly then I remembered I could use my flashlight. How could I have not thought of it before? Maybe the fear had paralyzed my thinking and cognition. Or maybe my subconscious brain did not want me to see what I might stumble upon!

I shook off the feeling, took out my cell-phone and tried to unlock it. With my trembling hands, it was difficult even to unlock it. After a couple of unsuccessful tries, I unlocked it and quickly turned on the flashlight. The site I saw made me drop my phone to the floor.

On the corner of the room lay a rotten corpse, almost a skeleton with barely any flesh left. It was wearing some kind of dress, blood-red in color with white polka dots on it. And that made me come to the conclusion that the corpse might be of a woman or rather a girl considering the length and the attire. The eyes were hollow and I could make out a worm crawling inside the orbit. The mouth was wide open, as if it was screaming. There was a kind of leash tied around its neck and it was tied to a large nail on the wall. Whoever (or whatever) it was, was kept restrained inside the room by someone who didn’t want it to leave those walls.

It sent a chill down my spine, and my pupils dilated trying to get hold of the site in front of me. I almost lost my control but managed not to fall by taking the support of a table nearby. I was panting, I started breathing rapidly and when I got myself under control, I picked up my phone and just ran. I ran away from the room, away from the horrific site. Unintentionally, I glanced backwards to make sure ‘that thing’ was not following me. Just then, I collided with someone and fell to the ground. I tried to get up but my limbs were motionless. My vision started to get blur. I was losing my consciousness.

“Hey! Joshua! Are you fine?” And there was that familiar voice. I felt relief and closed my eyes. I knew I was safe now.

When I opened my eyes, we were inside the truck heading back home. “Joshua, what had happened man? I thought you were going to stay inside the truck.” “WTF man? Where were you? I had waited almost half an hour for you outside!” “Listen man! I couldn’t find the consignment. I was searching for it in the basement! But why were you running as if a ghost were behind you?” he said smiling. “Just fuck your consignment and fuck your ghost!” I yelled at him trying to hide this incident.  “Just don’t bring me into such adventures from next time!” I further added still paralyzed by the incident.

I tried to forget the incident but every time I closed my eyes, I could see that moment, that exact moment when I turned the flashlight on and stumbled upon that corpse. There was something about it which seemed familiar. Like something seen before. Like déjà-vu!

Time passed and I started to forget about that incident or to be honest, I still remembered each and every gruesome detail but they started to terrify me less and less with every passing day. Nightmares vanished and slowly memories faded away.

Months after that incident, one day, I was having tea with Jeffrey at his house and I noticed a photograph on the mantel. I got up from the chair, and went towards it to inspect it further. What I saw almost made me gasp in fright. “What happened man? Take it easy!” said Jeffrey. “Actually I remembered an urgent chore I have to do. So I will have to leave” I said as I hurried out determining to never return.

It was a photograph of Jeffrey with Emily. Emily wearing a BLOOD-RED DRESS and with those same WHITE POLKA DOTS! Thinking about it still makes my soul tremble. Is it a mere coincidence or something more sinister?