We arrived at Boleskine House a quarter to eight the next day after a seemingly relentless seven hour drive, having been drawn back due to extremely slick roads. The snow had been falling so thickly that it was impossible to tell the horizon from the sky. Miraculously, Richard had gotten them to the house safely, even as he came down from his high. The house itself was long and atrociously decorated, but I said nothing. Out back was a solidified pool in the center of the courtyard, only visible in the snow because of the height difference.
The hall that lead to the living room had red plaid walls and plaid carpeting, almost taking my mind away from the fact that the house had no heating. Jimmy quickly lit the fireplace in the front room, sending Richard, John, and some producer out to go get some wood in the blanketed forest. The view from the house was grand, at least, overlooking the partially frozen Loch Ness. Tons of small saplings had been planted before the house on the slope, making the snow uneven.
Robert, Bonzo, and Peter all collected around the feeble fire hungrily, their breath flying away in clouds as they all but sat in the fireplace. Jimmy's nose was beet red, as I expected mine to be, and the bags under his eyes were green. As I waited my turn for the fire, he took my hand and led me to the kitchen. He hopped on to the counter and smiled down at me with his lovable face. I stepped toward him and placed a hand on his thigh, laughing as he flinched.
"Now, why would you flinch?" I laughed with minute sarcasm. "Afraid I'm going to rib your bollocks off?"
"Well, when you put it like that," he joked sensuously. I placed my hand on his thigh a second time and he didn't flinch. "Better?"
"Oh shut up," I teased. "I'm cold and tired, I'm not in the mood for jokes. This house is weird."
"Funny you would say that," he observed. "Don't go in the dining room." He hopped off the counter and started for the door, looking back and winking.
"Why?" I asked.
"It was an alter."
"For a wedding? Please tell me for a wedding." Jimmy shook his head and I felt my heart stop for a second. "A demon alter?"
"You could call it that. That seems to be all Aleister Crowley was able to summon. Just don't go in there, I don't want you to get hurt."
"That's not funny, Jimmy. Don't scare me."
He sauntered back to me and shoved his hands back into his coat pockets. "I'm not joking, Jen." He kissed me on the forehead and left the kitchen, and, more importantly, me.
I looked across the hall at the dining room, darkened by closed blinds and no ceiling light. A large farmhouse table was nestled in the middle of the room surrounded by chairs, all quirky in some way. One chair had been flipped upside down and placed on the table while a majority of them were turned in different directions around the table. One lay on its side under the table and another sat atop an overturned one. My heart racing, I shuffled toward the room, my heart in my throat. Jimmy said not to go in there, I thought, so, therefore, I have to go in there. He's just trying to scare me. There's not really a- uh.
I stopped dead in my tracks at the mouth of the room as a loud bang came from down the hall. I wasn't prepared to go see what it was lest I turn my back on this supposedly cursed room. I slowly shuffled in. The room was illuminated in a brilliant blue where it wasn't pitch black and my anxiety began to get the best of me. Is my brain making up things or were those red eyes in the corner? Was that chair there before? Did the table just move?
Before I could slink any deeper into the room, something from behind me grabbed my coat and shouted, "Rah!"
I jumped and fell back on the ground, prepared to crab walk backwards away from whatever had touched me. Smirking down at me was Bonzo, a beam of pride in his face. I propped myself up on my elbow and frowned at him, my adrenaline pumping so hard that I wanted to cry, run, and laugh all at the same time.
Laughing harder that I had ever seen him laugh, Bonzo extended a kind and calloused hand toward me, which I slapped away without another thought. Between fits of laughter he said, "Sorry, Jen, Jimmy told me to."
I rolled my eyes and got up. I could take a joke, but after telling Jimmy I wasn't in the mood for laughing, I was fit to be tied.
No comments:
Post a Comment