VANISHED (#1 in the VANISHED series) #NaNoWriMo2019 ✔

t w e n t y - o n e ✔

Arielle ignored the uncomfortable vibe caused by the lock clicking and meandered into the house.

It's fine... it's fine. Ghosts can't kill.

A stale dust odor cruised straight up her nostrils, and she sneezed. "Shit." Sneering, she wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Definitely abandoned. Great."

She grappled to adjust her vision to the darkness, at first. A steady stream of moonlight blared in through the large windows above the front door, but Arielle had nothing else to guide her. She had a flashlight app on her phone... but she'd left her phone in the car.

Idiot. Should have gone back to get it, just in case.

From what she gathered, a wide, winding staircase loomed ahead, clustered against the far-right wall. Its banister looked crooked, and it led to an upstairs balcony that overlooked the entryway. Cobwebs hung in corners, there were cracks in the walls, and a few unlit sconces hung between them. Otherwise, the room had nothing in it.

She located a door beneath the stairs and snorted. "Oh heck no, I hope it doesn't want me to go down there." She rubbed her upper arms, and a sudden chill perused up to her shoulders and neck. "Okay, this place is weird."

She took a step backward, reaching behind her to grab for the door-handle—but the breeze shoved her forward, farther into the entryway. It didn't want her to get out.

"Okay, okay, fine..." She sighed. "I won't leave yet, then."

She peered left and found a door leading to another area. A dining room or an office; she couldn't tell. And straight across from her was an arched doorway, but the darkness behind it didn't draw her closer.

As she peeped to the right, she located another doorway, this one less obscure. Beyond it, she deciphered what appeared to be a worn-out sofa blasted in light pooling in from another window.

Living room?

She took a stride towards it, but caught quick movement to her right and froze. "Uh..." She gaped around in search of something to use as defense... but there was nothing. "Hello?"

Legs weakening in her fear, she turned her head—and the movement occurred again. Swift, rushed, noiseless.

"Hello?" After one pace backward, followed by another, she realized the movements she caught mimicked hers. "Hm..." Glimpsing in the direction she'd spotted the motion, she found it—a mirror, a few feet to the right of the doorway. She laughed as she tip-toed to it, realizing she'd been seeing her moves. "Oh, duh." Unfortunately, that didn't soothe her angst, and her limbs continued to shiver, testing her balance.

The reflective surface was blurry, and it appeared scratched in places, but it was otherwise a normal mirror. Oval-shaped and bordered in thick copper designs and patterns and old.

She backed away, waiting for her heart to settle. Despite her fright, she had to get this over with and return to her car and get home. "Okay. Okay. So... uh... spirit? Were you going to... reveal the truth, then?"

Another chill spiraled up her arms and shoulders and nestled in the middle of her neck. Like someone placing their hand there, their touch tingling beneath her skin.

"Is that... is that you?" She recalled the TV shows, the movies, the books she'd read; cold often signified a ghost. "Can you... talk? Like earlier?"

A creak echoed from somewhere ahead, and she stilled, her knees buckling as she whisked her hands out on either side of her, for balance.

"Huh?"