Stranger Spirits

A Simple Drawing [Chapter Nine Part Two]

"We're in." She stood up and dusted off her knees and we walked into the silent home closing the door behind us. "I'll check the second floor while you check the first. Remember, we can do multiple trips but get the most valuable items first just in case!" With that, she dashed upstairs and I was left alone.

I walked silently down the narrow hallway. My hands traced upon the textured walls as I turned into a random room. It was still plaguing me though. Alfred was a kind man. He tended to the wounded. Yet at the same time, he was this twisted man who in his search for truth figured that consuming others would aid him.

If I desire Atticus the same way Alfred desired me...that means there has to be something wrong with me. My breathing hitched and I began to feel lightheaded. I tried focusing on walking towards the end of the hallway but it felt like the final door was pulling away from me as the hallway narrowed. "I can't keep walking in this hallway." I could barely mutter to myself as I turned towards the nearest door.

Opening the door I found myself in the study. Everything was the same as the last time that I was in here. I cautiously moved through the room feeling the books that lined the shelves.

You may just find information that will unsettle you.

My breathing hastened as I remembered what one of the doctors had told me in this very room. I could have known it all. I could have been able to steer Atticus out of danger. The clues were right before us. Gripping onto a random room's doorknob I stumbled into a bedroom. Lifting my head up from I experienced a head rush as I surveyed my surroundings.

The bedsheets weren't made. Granted, the owner of the bed wasn't expecting to die last night. Besides the bed, the room held a bookshelf and desk. Walking towards the desk I noticed that it was cluttered with sheets of paper that I'd presume was just notes. What caught my attention was an open book lying in the middle.

I casually sifted through the book when I noticed a ripped page sticking out of it. Pulling out the loose page I saw that there was an image of a man and a woman sketched on it. The woman was wearing a simple dress. Her dark hair cascaded in carefully crafted curls down to below her shoulders. She was definitely not of high status but she look0ed excited and brimming with life. She was happy.

The man who stood beside her had a cheerful disposition through his smile took my breath away in the worst manner possible. What would have been his blue eyes chilled me to the core. Pushing my hair away from my face; I blinked repeatedly to make sure that my eyes weren't deceiving me.

Without a shadow of a doubt, I could tell that the man in the image was Alfred. "If that's him." My eyes locked onto the woman's. "Then you must be Amy." Tears welled in my eyes and I frantically looked around the room clutching the page. This is Alfred's room!

Without even thinking, I shoved the drawing into my pocket and grabbed the book before me putting it in my pack. I let out a shrill whisper. "I need to get out of here!" Hastily moving away from the desk I knocked over a chair. As it tumbled over it made a sudden noise killing the silence that I stood in causing me to yelp. I stepped back towards the bookshelf feeling the soft texture of the books behind me.

Not wanting to fail Wren's task and hurriedly went through every drawer collecting a hefty sack of Quznos and other trinkets that I could only assume were worthwhile of stealing. Not even bothering to be sly I walked to the front door heaving.

"Vaughn. Vaughn!" I turned around to see Wren dashed down the stairs coming towards me. "What are you doing?! We need to QUIETLY scavenge this place!"

Sucking in my breath, I handed her what I had just found. "I can't be in here. I feel like I can barely breathe. I'm not strong like you Wren. I-I can't just murder someone and nonchalantly go through their home and rob it!"

Holding what I had gathered she looked me straight in the eye. "I don't know where you're from Vaughn, but if you expect to survive in the real world as you are now then you're sadly mistaken." She shrugging her pack off and putting the new items in it. "I'm not leaving until I finish going through this unit and you can't stand by the front door without causing suspicion. So leave." She raised the pack back on her shoulders. "You can walk back."