Drone of Judgment

The loud chime of bells echoed through the house; the ring doorbell blared alerting someone was on the step. Elenor peeked up over the top of her book, her brown eyebrows scrunched in frustration.

“Lucas, the door is ringing!” She yelled over her shoulder. Settling back down with her stuffed rabbit, she reopened her book. “Be brave, gummy worm,” She read to her rabbit once more.

The chimes erupted through the house again. Huffing, she put her book down beside her old white rabbit. She slipped off the sofa and plodding over to the bay window, peered outside. Only darkness peered back at her. She retreated to her spot, the pitter-patter of her feet reverberating through the living room. No sooner than her rabbit sat back into her lap, the chime rang again, blaring into the silence.

“Well, Mr. Wilson, I’ll be right back. I bet Lucas has his headphones in again. Momma warned him not to use them when he’s watching me.” Placing the rabbit back down, she covered him up with her pink blanket. “Momma, says girls are just more mature than boys.” She propped the open book on Mr. Wilson’s lap and giggled. “No, Mr. Wilson, I think you’re very mature.” She raced up the stairs, her pink tutu floating around her knees.

A streetlamp shone into the window on the far side of the hall, casting eerie shadows on the walls. Elenor peered down the hallway, dread sinking into her stomach. The darkness wasn’t so much the problem as the boogeyman hiding in it. “Lucas!” She called pulling up on her tiptoes and craning into the hall. “Lucas, I’m not playing!”

Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fist, and Elenor ran down the hallway. The black door was plastered in posters, the demonic-looking musicians on them guarding the door. Rapping on the door she called again “Lucas, I’m going to tell mom!” Twisting the knob, she threw open the door. “Lucas, I’ve been…” her words died in her throat. The room was empty. Hastily discarded headphones lay on the floor next to a cracked cell phone.

The shrill melody drifted up the stairs ding dang dong. She stamped her foot and let out a shriek “I’m telling mom!” Flouncing down the hallway, she blew a raspberry back at the open door and stomped her way down the stairs. Rounding the corner into the dining room, she grabbed one of the gray upholstered chairs surrounding the inordinate glass table.

The black wooden chair legs scraped against the mahogany floors as she pulled it over to the door. Pulling herself up onto the chair, she stood as tall as she could, hooking her fingers into the window at the top of the ivory door. She looked onto the porch. The faint glow of the streetlamps lit up the front yard. The doorbell rang again. Ding dang dong. Leaning to the left, she stretched her arm out reaching for the light switch. Her middle finger grazed it. Grunting, she leaned a little farther and flicked it on. Light flooded the porch, the bright golden glow poured into the semicircle window. Pushing up onto the balls of her feet, she grasped the windowsill, her fingers leaving trails in the dust.

A black drone hovered on the landing, flying up the second set of stairs, and the chime rang out again. Ding dang dong. The drone hovered in the window, and a package wrapped in bright yellow paper adorned with multicolored balloons caught her eye. A large pink bow bobbed in the wind as the drone hovered.

“Oh, Mr. Wilson, would you just look! I bet that’s a gift for me, the bow must be as big as my head. Momma says don’t answer the doors for strangers, but that doesn’t mean drones, right?” Looking back at the rabbit on the sofa she wet her lips. “You know my birthday is next week, right? That’s right, Mr. Wilson, I’ll be five. I bet it is an early gift!” Giggling, she hopped down, her feet plopping onto the cold floor. Elenor twisted her long brown hair around her finger and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Just this once, okay, Mr. Wilson? I won't tell if you don’t.” Pushing the chair away from the door, she reached up and turned the black deadbolt, exhaling as it clicked, and then turned the small latch on the knob. She peered back at the rabbit before inching the door open.

The drown Flew towards the cracked door, and Elenor fell back onto her butt. It flew past her into the living room, the whirring of the blades sounded like a swarm of bees in her living room. The drone lowered itself and the little clamps holding the package opened, dropping the box onto the floor. Then it zipped in a small circle and flew out the front door and back down the steps. Elenor watched the drone fly down the hill, disappearing into the night. She closed the door and rocked back on her heels. Leaning against the door, she exhaled a mock whistle before erupting into dance. It was a majestic cross between the chicken dance and the hula as she squealed with glee. Prancing over to the package, she squatted down at eye level to examine it. Her hazel eyes grew wide as she took it in.

“I’m going to open it, Mr. Wilson. I’ll wrap it back up, so Momma will never know. Remember how much we practiced tying our shoes? This bow looks the same to me.” She tugged on the end of the ribbon and the shimmery pink streamer fell to the ground. Giggling with delight she ripped the paper off, throwing the torn bits onto the ground. She sucked in a sharp breath, looking at the carnage “Opps, I forgot to be careful.” Shimming open the top of the box, Elenor glanced inside and grimaced at the backside of an old antique mirror. Sulking she pulled the mirror out of the box, “I guess it wasn’t for me, Momma is going to be mad I opened it.”

The brass mirror featured a mermaid holding the mirror in her arms, the long tail curved around for a handle. The phone rang, breaking into the still room. Brrr…Brrr…. Brrr. Glancing up from the mirror she looked at the ringing phone. Shrugging she returned her gaze to the mirror, turning it over in her hands. Jagged letters spanned the face of it. Hellcniht. Gazing into the mirror, the ceiling was reflected, cocking her head, Elenor’s reflection was unseen. Her face scrunched in confusion, trying to understand why the awful word was on the mirror.

“You’ve reached the Montgomery residence. We can’t come to the phone right now, please leave a message. We’re sorry we missed you!”

The shrill beep cut through the silence. Startled, Elenor stared at the machine her hands trembling as she gripped the mirror, white-knuckled.

“Elenor, it's Momma, baby. I can’t reach your brother. I’m so worried, I’m coming home as fast as I can. Don’t open the door, okay? Baby, I don’t know If you can hear me, pick up if you can. Please don’t open the door. Shit!” The message clicked off, the following silence suffocating.

Glancing down at the mirror, the mermaid's face looked sullen, and a plum-colored tear dripped onto the mirror’s face, leaving a burgundy trail as it slid down the mirror. A defining boom exploded in the room; silver powder rained down like snow.

Elenor released a thunderous howl, collapsing to the ground. Red lesions and blisters covered every inch of her exposed pale skin. Blood pooling on the floor, she whimpered, trying to drag herself away from the box. She collapsed onto the floor, her mouth agape like a fish. She could hear heavy boot steps descending the stairs and dragging something behind them. Stomp…stomp…sshhhh thud. Stomp…stomp… sshhhhh thud.

“Lucas, I need help!” she wailed, writhing on the floor.

The footsteps got ever closer; a gargling sound accompanied the dragging sound. A large shadow loomed overhead, blocking out the light. Leaning down, the figure dropped Lucas on the floor in front of her. Their crimson eyes met; fear etched into every facet of their faces.

“I have been looking for you demons for a long time. Did I hear your mother is on her way home? That’s laughable vile creatures like you don’t have families. Let’s wait for her together, shall we?” He boomed. His deep timber was more venomous with every word. Walking over to the teal sofa, he swept the clutter onto the floor. His massive boot came down on Mr. Wilson leaving a black print in its wake. Plopping down on the sofa he leaned back and crossed his legs, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He pulled one out and flicked the lighter, and smoke rose from the white tip. “Now, we wait. Fucking leeches” He sneered.