Out of the Darkness

114

There wasn't a single overhead light on in the home. A large lake wrapped around the side and back of the place, the moonlight bouncing off of the water's surface. It was serene and beautiful. My feeling of unease had gone, leaving me with only peace, and an excitement to meet Ash, to be part of this area. I parked the car, and Sam and I stepped out into the night. We stood there, staring into this glass house, taking in it's occupants and their activities. In what I was sure was the kitchen, there was a man wearing shorts, with bright blue flowers on them, cooking something on the flat ceramic stovetop. He had long, dirty blonde hair that hung all the way to his waist. A woman sat on the kitchen island behind him, dressed in a black and purple striped bikini, her dark hair piled into a bun on top of her head. She had her head thrown back in wide laughter, at something the man had said or done. We saw others occupying the various rooms, like a dark haired man playing the humongous white grand piano, two women sipping wine while they chatted away. Every room that was visible to us was occupied. It seemed like there were at least 20 people inside that house. "Do we just...knock on the door?" Sam asked, his eyes huge as he stared at the house. "I guess..." I replied. We could hear music getting louder as we walked the distance from my car to the front door. I raised my fist to knock on the very wooden, non glass door. "Weird," Sam muttered. I cracked a grin in agreement and rapped my fist against the wood. "There's no way that anyone will hear that over the music. Isn't there a doorbell or something?" I said, looking around the edges of the door for a button to press. I didn't see anything. "Well, we can't text him, and he more than likely won't answer the phone so what do we do?" I said, getting a little annoyed that I wasn't inside this house having fun yet. "Go jump up and down in front of the glass walls until someone sees us??" Sam suggested. We looked at each other for a moment, then I shrugged. "Why not?" We walked a few feet to our left in front of one of glass walls that had the two women sitting, drinking wine, while they chatted. Hedges blocked our way from getting too close to the glass, but we got as close as we could. "Hey! Excuse me! Hey!" Sam and I actually started jumping up and down, trying to get ladies attention, but for some reason, they wouldn't look our way. It was like we didn't exist at all. "Uh, is there a reason why you guys are jumping up and down and screaming at my house?" Sam and I both stopped what we were doing and looked automatically towards the voice that came out of nowhere. The guy from the kitchen with the flowered shorts, and really long hair was standing right outside the front door. "We knocked," I replied, making sure that he knew we did try the normal thing first. "No one answered, so we were trying to get these girls attention but- hey where'd they go?!" I looked back towards the glass wall and noticed that the women were no longer there. No one was. Not that I could see. The house was now dark, with an empty, desolate feeling to it. "But there were- how did- Colby, what the fuck?" Sam said, looking back at me, confusion and a little fear evident on his face. "What's going on?" I asked, letting my voice harden as I looked back at the man. "Who are you?" The man asked, a small smile flitting across his face. "The one who wants to explore his dreams? For the girl that shouldn't exist in multiple planes? Colby, right? And his best friend Samuel, I presume?" I was stunned for a second, then started trying to remember if I had said Sam's name to this Ash guy or if I had mentioned him at all. I must have...right? "You're Ash?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. "Of course I am," he answered, stepping towards us. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" He came forwards more, then wrapped his arms around me in a hug, like he was a long lost friend. I stood there awkwardly for a moment, then pushed myself back and away from him. He laughed, joyously, then moved on to Sam. I laughed silently at Sam's petrified face when the man hugged him. Sam's arms hung limply at his sides, while he just stood in the man's embrace. He did lift his arm to flip me off though, and that just made me laugh a little harder. He eventually released Sam, then stood back, facing us with his hands on his hips. "I expected you sooner, but then again, the spirits did say that you were lost. Or so you thought, at least. How are Susan and Theo?" "Who?" I asked, now totally confused and rattled. "Oh, I'm sorry. How silly of me! The couple at the Big Tae's. I haven't been to town in a while, so I haven't seen them. In person." "Wait," Sam said, shaking his head like he was coming out of a trance. "There were people inside. And lights. Candles everywhere. Where'd they go?" "Now Sam," Ash said, a slow smile spreading across his thin, chapped lips. "The people never really leave. Come on boys, I'm sure we have a lot to talk about and prepare for." Then he turned on his heel, leaving Sam and I standing there, still trying to figure out what he meant. "They never really leave? What the fuck does that even mean?" Sam muttered, grumpily. He really didn't like it when he didn't understand something. "Chop chop boys! I don't have a lifetime!" The way he worded things was just unsettling for some reason.