Mommy's House

13

WHEN BELLA slowly opened the door, she noticed that the kitchen upstairs was an absolute mess. There were clothes strewn everywhere, needles on the counter top, pills spilled on the floor and empty alcohol bottles scattered around. The walls were grimy and patchy with different shades of paint and large holes broke a majority of the drywall. The lights were dim and flickering, much like the basement, and the lamp buzzed on the small dining table beside her.

The stench of the area was just as horrifying; it reeked of vomit, and Bella wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if there really was vomit littering the furniture.

Bella disregarded the foul odor and closed the door to the basement quietly behind her. She instantly ran over the pile of laundry on the floor and started straight towards the large, wooden door right in front of her eyes.

Her fingers latched around the doorknob and she pulled, and pulled, and pulled, but the door did not budge. She searched around hastily for a way to unlock the door, praying under her breath as she did so, but noticed that the only way it could be unlocked was with a key that she didn't have.

She began to panic as she looked back at the closed basement door, before she noticed a skinny, tiny mail slot in the center of the front door. She lowered her blood-stained knees to hit the cold, ripped tile of the ground as she opened the mail slot and allowed a strip of sunlight to enter the room.

Her eye pressed to the opening as she searched for somebody outside, but all she could see was a ramshackle house directly in front of her, an uncut lawn and a lonely road.

She pressed her lips to the slot and screamed as loud as she could, hot tears staining her heated face.

"Help!" she cried out into the air, her fingers struggling with the doorknob as she screamed. "Somebody help, please! I was kidnapped! Please!" Her breath was heavy and her heart was pounding in her ears as she continued to bellow. She put her eye to the slot again and noticed that nobody seemed to be near.

Bella jumped when a dog, a large golden retriever with a red collar around his neck, pounced up onto Mommy's yard and sniffed his way towards the front porch.

Bella's breath grew into heavy pants as she nodded, urging for the dog to come closer.

"Come here, come here," she cooed quickly.

The dog stared at her, his dark eyes blinking at the door as his lip curled in defense.

"Please, please go find somebody! Please! Go on, please!" she pleaded, her lips to the slot again. She knew it was absolutely crazy of her to be asking a dog for help, but at this point, she was way too desperate to miss an opportunity.

The dog began barking at Bella, raising the bottom half of his body into the air and lowering his chest to the ground as his tiny, white teeth bared. His deep bark startled Bella and pierced her ears, as he continued his rough barking.

Bella heard the sound of somebody's voice from far away, probably calling for their dog to come back, so she instantly screamed into the slot.

"Please help! Please, it's me, it's Isabella! I was kidnapped, please!" her voice cracked in extreme desperation as the dog immediately obeyed his owner and bounded out of sight. Bella wondered if he was going to fetch somebody or not, but knew that she would have to be lucky in order for that to happen.

She stood to her feet and looked around the kitchen, running to the first window she saw which was above the kitchen sink. She sprinted up to it and just as she brought her leg up to stand on the sink, she saw a dark figure in her peripheral vision.

Bella gasped and looked over to find Mommy standing there with a knife practically the length of her body, her elbows on the table and her eyes narrowed as she watched Bella with amusement sparkling in her gaze.