A house for my home - Part 2

Short story based on one of my dreams

We closed the door of our apartment, after making sure everything was turned off and all the windows were closed, and went to the car. I gave Peter a somewhat naughty eye, which caught his attention.

‘You want the keys now do you?’ His voice gave away that he was teasing me. ‘Preferably, yes.’ I said with a big smile on my face.

‘Here ya go honey, just don’t smash it will ya.’

And again, we continued with having one of our pleasant, teasing conversations, as we so often did.

We got in to the car, and decided to look within an area of 25 km from our apartment. We had to find something not too far away, so it would still be convenient for the both of us to get to work. Peter sat next to me, holding his pen and paper, ready to note down the address and telephone number of possible candidate houses. I had to park the car regularly, not only when we saw something interesting, but most of the time because the drivers behind me were getting very nervous of me driving that slow. I mean, come on, you can not look at houses decently when driving by them at 90 km/hour, can you now? So instead of getting nervous, I simply put the car next to the road so they could pass me by, and I could continue driving at ease.

‘This is almost as hopeless as searching on the internet …’ Peter said, as he was looking at his empty paper.

‘We’ve only been looking for half an hour …. Besides, if we don’t find anything today that does not mean we won’t find anything tomorrow either, does it now?’ In these situations I always use my ‘comforting’ voice. It has a deeper tone than usual, and is reserved for occasions like these.

‘Yeah yeah … maybe you’re right.’

‘Of course I am darling, I’m always right.’

When there is tension between the two of us, it usually doesn’t last long. We tend to play with each other, making sarcastic yet innocent remarks, and this usually results in us laughing about something we had an argument about before. So the atmosphere was again relaxed, and with renewed hope I started driving again.

We passed what seemed to be thousands of houses, and all of them that where for sale were either too small, too far from work, or too old. Even I began to think that this journey was one without an end. Of course I didn’t say so, as I was the one who was positive from the beginning, so I told myself to stay that way until the end. Or at least look as if I am. But Peter knows me, he knows me too well and all of a sudden he said:

‘Let’s just go home, you’re tired of it, I’m tired of it, and … well… just f**k it for today!’

‘Maybe you’re right….maybe that’s just what we should do.’ And having said that; I turned the car and drove back to the apartment.

Not long after we decided to drive back, both of us spotted something in the distance. It was what looked like a medieval building. I started to drive to it, and Peter didn’t argue or made any comment. Driving towards the house, we say several signs which stated ‘ For sale’, and both of us were thinking that this might be it.

It seemed like an endless drive, but finally we could see it, and it was so impressive, I just stopped driving for a moment. The house was standing all alone on a sort of little hill. It was surrounded by a gate, that looked as if it was a million years old, and covered with dark red ivy. The windows were tall, and made out of colored glass. The roofs were triangle shaped, as if they were alone standing little towers.

‘Jeezes …. That is gonna cost a fortune!’ My husband said, trying his best to not let his mouth drop open.

‘Maybe, but since we’re here we might just have a look. It is so … enchanting …’

I put my foot back on the pedal and pushed it, driving straight up towards the house. It had its very own driveway, surrounded by trees. When we reached the gate, we both got out of the car, and started looking for a bell. But as we got closer to the gate, it opened by itself.

‘Modern technology, and yet not such a modern looking house … Next thing we know they have robot waiters and cleaners!’

As I was sure we were about to meet the owners, I just gave Peter a quick punch on his arm, letting him know that this is neither the time nor the place to joke around. Although he could easily see on my face that it was funny, as I could not really hide my smile.

We went up to the front door, which looked very weathered and had a lions head as door knocker.

‘Do you think we should bang it? Are you sure about this? I mean, it will probably be too expensive anyway.’

‘Of course I am hunny, we came this far, so we could better finish it. And I can’t stop thinking of how much I would blame myself if I came to find we could have afforded it. I mean, come on dear, it is a really amazing house!’

I banged the door twice, and not long after there was this very skinny lady who answered the door.

‘I guess you are here to have a look at this house?’ she asked with a trembling voice, much like the once a grandmother has.

‘Yes ma’am. We would very much like to see the house, it is really impressive and one of a kind!’ I tried to hide my enthusiasm while saying that, as I know that when they sense your eagerness they often push up the price, hoping you will just go for it.

‘Well, come on in then. You are not the only ones who came.’

As we entered we saw a whole dining room full of people; all of them eager to buy the house. I could here them discussing prices, talking about what was good and what they could use to pull the price down. Chickens, that’s what they made me thing about, chickens.

‘Oh dear, if all these people are going to bid on this house I think you might be right about it being way too expensive.’ I whispered in Peter’s ear.

‘No kidding …’ he said, but I could see in his eyes that he had lost his heart to this house.

The inside was as charming as the outside. And it could have very well been used in a series about witches, or anything that has to do with the paranormal, as this house was one of a kind. There was a very big dining area, adjacent to it was a big lounging area and a very big kitchen. The entire interior was made out of oak, even the furniture and the kitchen was made out of oak. It gave a very sturdy and somewhat old look. When standing in the entrance hall you could see this very big stairway, going upwards to the bedrooms. It was, again, made out of oak, stained in a very dark color, and had a dark red stair carpet on it. The walls next to it had oil paintings on it, but I couldn’t quite figure out what they were supposed to picture. All over the walls were these wall sconces; in the shape of a candle. It produced this dim light, enough to read a book, but too little to actually see things sharp.

After having had a tour of the house, which was by the way quite big, we were invited to take place at the dining table. We were the last ones for today, and the owners thought it might be a good idea to discuss all together, and see what kind of price the house could go for. We were all offered a snack and a drink, we could even smoke without having to go outside, and were presented with some papers.

I could see that the papers were merely informative, they stated the year of construction, what was renovated, what was in need of renovation etcetera, etcetera.

But nowhere on those pages could I find a price.

‘These papers don’t mention a price darling …’ I said to Peter, using my suggestive voice, as to make him ask the price so I wouldn’t have to do that. He clearly understood what I was after.

‘Can we know a price, or a starting price if people can bid?’

‘But of course, we will come to that in a minute. Just enjoy the food and drink for the moment, and take a good look at those papers. You don’t want to decide something this big in a hurry now, do you?’ The voice came from the top of the staircase, but I couldn’t see anyone. All the people around the table were looking, bending their heads in all kinds of directions just to catch a glimpse of the person who just spoke. And all of a sudden, a man came down the stairs. It was a rather big, sturdy man, wearing a red evening robe, and he had a cigar in his mouth. The stairs made a squeaky noise as he came down, which added to the old and weathered look. The way he looked, with his bald head and his beard, made me think of someone, but I couldn’t quite remember who.

We couldn’t keep staring at the guy as he came down the stairs, so Peter and I started looking at the papers again. We checked all the details, tried to make an estimation of what could be a big cost afterwards, and made a sort of balance between the good and the bad things we could detect. After all, buying a house is a big step, and we wouldn’t want to risk being stuck with a loan and a home ready to be completely rebuilt. But as far as we could tell there seemed to be nothing wrong, so we decided to hear out the price. The mystery man finally reached the bottom of the staircase and took place at the table. He took his papers in front of him, looked everyone briefly in the eye and scraped his throat.

‘As you are all on the tip of your chair, eager to know a price, completely possessed by this house … (this was followed by a somewhat sarcastic looking smile, and I could see a sparkle in his eyes … but not the kind you so often see with happy people) I will now announce the price.’ He browsed some papers, as if he was looking for something particular, and triumphantly held up one paper, which looked like parchment.

‘Sooooo, ladies and gentlemen….’ ‘The price for this magnificent piece of bricks is ….’ ‘One hundred and twenty five …’ ‘thousand Euros.’

The people in the room, including me and Peter, seemed to be ecstatic all of a sudden. And why wouldn’t they be! It seemed to all of us that this is  something you have to grab with both hands, don’t think, just act!

The guy, whom, now I come to think of it, never introduced himself, told us we could meddle around for a bit, discuss, debate, as he was going for a smoke. Weird enough he was going to smoke outside, which intrigued me from the beginning.

‘How do you think they will choose? I mean, he didn’t say we could place a bid, he just gave a fixed price. But there are like 10 couples in here!’

‘I don’t know dear, I have absolutely no idea….’ Peter answered, but I could tell by the sound of his voice he was somewhere else with his thoughts.

‘Did you actually hear what I said?’

‘Of course, dear.’ Again, that distant sounding voice, and I knew him too well to believe that answer.

‘Hellooooooo … Earth to peter… Come in!’ I said with a most sarcastic voice.

 

‘Mhz, I heard you, I don’t know how hey are going to do this. I was thinking of something, and now I lost it!’ You could hear in his voice that he was still distracted. And I had to go to the toilet, so I quickly told Peter and went upstairs to the bathroom. As I was walking up the stairway I got this weird feeling, as if someone, or something, was watching me. It was creeping upon me, getting stronger as I approached the hallway upstairs. It was as if the paintings were keeping an eye on me, and informing their superior about my every move. But I know that my imagination tends to get out of hand in these circumstances, so I decided to just ignore it and move on to the bathroom. The walls were marble, the sink and bath were marble, even the shower cabinet was marble, and all the taps appeared to be made out of solid gold. Of course I knew that it was just a metal with a gold looking coating on top of it, but it surely was done with love. I went to the toilet, and was looking in the mirror while I washed my hands. Next thing I know I see something approaching me in the mirror, so I turn around to look, but before I had even turned my head halfway backwards I felt this enormous blow on my head.
I opened my eyes, and all I saw was black. I could feel soft; velvet blankets wrapped around me, a pillow beneath my head … ‘Aw my head!’ My head was pounding, and I slowly remembered what happened. That black approaching shadow in the bathroom must have knocked me down, and dragged me into one of the bedrooms! How long was I gone? And why did no one come to search me? I did tell Peter I was going to the toilet, didn’t I? All this thinking made my head hurt even more, so I tried to get up, stand up, and walk down. It was difficult at first, I kept losing my balance, my eyes had to adjust to this dark room, and my head hurt like hell. But after a few steps it got better, and I went towards the staircase. Going down I made the same squeaking noise as that man, and I saw all these little lights looking at me from downstairs. I realized it where all those people, but it seemed as if they were standing in a perfect circle, all together. I heard a chanting of some kind, humming voices, these people all seemed bewitched or hypnotized. I cranked up the pace, so I would be down faster, but that turned out to be a terrible decision. I skipped a stair, which resulted in me tumbling down. I could feel how my feet struggled to keep me up, my legs started shaking, and my knees hurt so badly. I tumbled and tumbled down the endless staircase, and when I finally landed on solid ground, I was stunned by what I saw.

 

Reviews

[Dawn]

i really like the relationship between the husband and wife, its unique while still retaining realistic conversations. Love it!!!
i'll have to quote homer and say; MORE

[TL Boehm]

wow, I love the conversations and the way you use the dialogue to move through the story - but the last few paragraphs - WOW i didn't see that coming. Nice element of surprise, and no more entries? So I have to wonder what happened