Unconsciously

Written by Veronica P.

Something summoned that teen on Jackson Drive. Not even he knew what had truly happened to him. A seductive fog first loomed across his eyes. Time ticked by and thicker did it become. An intriguing whisper of ash and dust rose to his nose. His fingertips tingled as they remained frozen in their place. Cold and still was the air.

Benji got off his bike, and around him was the energy of a somber cemetery. He stepped forward onto the sidewalk and approached the gate where its hinges were ready to fall off. Without hesitation, he walked towards the stripped, white-paneled door with his eyes fixed upon the rust-stained handle. A smooth, assertive chill vibrated off of the door. His hand grasped tightly around the handle, and he was pulled in by an invisible, gravitational force. With no conscious state of mind, Benji stood blankly in the center of a larger-than-average foyer. The room was unadorned and silent. White walls and inked black corners surrounded him. A faded white mist clouded the atmosphere. Black, aged candelabras and cracked flower vases sat proudly on the multiple fireplace mantels and grand pianos.

He was cold, freezing actually. His eyelashes soon crusted over with ice and his fingertips turned a deep blue. Though, Benji did not feel one shiver run down his spine. He turned right down an extensive hallway, the silence following, and his eyes fell upon the paintings that occupied the large wall space. Each frame held a gorgeously terrifying image of a woman. They were different women but somehow all had similar, uncanny features.

The blackness of each corner of the house also surrounded the outline of each face, which was shaped oval from their midnight black hair pulling their skin upwards. The skin was as white as the dead but their eyes were very much alive. Widened slightly, they stood still and stared. They called to Benji charmingly, then trapped him firmly as though to proceed with sinister intentions. A roaring fire punctured his auburn eyes making them glow a bright red-orange, but his immobilized mind prevented him from knowing. Then, when his eyes began shedding liquid, they were released with a sudden jolt. He fluttered his eyelashes. He turned his body and continued on a stiff walk down the hall. The air became colder with every step. Multiple black doors stood against the ghost-white walls. The hall formed a descending cone shape making it an endless path. The room aside him established its dominance and pulled him in like a magnet was attached.

Inside was something only your nightmares could dream of. Bodies hung from the ceiling by a thick string. Each body was hung by the neck, completely still and frozen. Ice shaded over the red shirt of one, and the blue jeans of another. Benji took a few small steps closer to the center of the room where the bodies hung, still in a hypnotic state. He looked closer and his eyes moved to the dark shade of purple their noses and fingers had been stained. Benji’s eyes flashed across the shoulders of a body and caught sight of a small paper note pinned onto the chest. It read:

The orders are simple, I will not speak them twice.
If you step inside, you could die.
Unless you do as I say, and follow the list until it’s gray. If you choose to defy, you will be strung up high. Follow the list, and you won’t be missed.

Before Benji could tell, his unconscious stare unhooked itself. Slowly as he moved, slivers of ice that sheltered his body began to crack and break off. He became aware of his stance and the coldness of the floor. His fingers seized feeling again and he brushed his hands up his arms and more ice shards fell off of his sleeves. His head lifted upwards and the silence became louder. He soon saw the sight in front of him. Benji’s mouth fell open, startled and panic-stricken.