Secrets Held By House's Walls

It wasn’t a big house or a small house. It was modest. It wasn’t an extravagant neighborhood or a poor neighborhood. It was pleasant. Except for the bend at the end of the street that was perpetually dark… that’s where the house was.

Phil and Emily were giddy over the purchase of their first home. Something to call their own. They celebrated with champagne and nothing in the house but a mattress and two folding chairs. That was all they needed for a night of celebration and subsequent sleep after the champagne knocked them on their asses. They hardly even noticed the eerie quietness of the house and the bouncing echoes of their voices… even more so than an empty house should contain.

When they began to decorate with furniture they realized they had most of the house accounted for, but not all of it. Especially the weird portion at the end of the main hall. Upon entering the house, you entered a split room. To the left, a staircase that led to the second floor. To the right, a long hallway that led to the back of the house where you would find the living room, the kitchen, etc. Branching off the right of the hallway were several doors to the laundry room, a closet, a bathroom. But just before the hallway ended and led to the rest of the house, the stairway above also ended, which created a wider portion of the hallway. Almost big enough to be treated as a room, but not quite. Too wide to just be a hallway.

“It looks naked with nothing in it.” Emily stated.

“But what the hell do we put in it?” Phil scratched his head.

“A couch?”

“A couch to sit on and stare at what, our non-existent third TV?”

“Chairs and a table with some reading material?”

“Like a waiting room to get into the rest of the house? Our house is now a doctor’s office?”

“A decorative bench and some nice artwork.”

“Now we’re using furniture not to be used for sitting but to be used as decorations?”

“The last one wasn’t a question, Phil.”

And so it became a little decorative corner. There wasn’t much better to do with it. As they walked away, Phil swore he saw shadows move across the wall. Their own? He stepped back, attempting to step in the light and cast his shadow again. But nothing.

Probably just decorative shadows in my mind.

Phil’s parents were the first to come over to see the house once it was fully decorated.

“It looks so beautiful inside!” Barbara said.

“Thanks Mom!”

“This one spot is sort of a waste of space. Just art and a bench you can’t sit on.” Rick said with laughter behind his voice.

“Thank you, Dad!” But then when Phil saw the squinted eyes of Emily. “But what else were we gonna do with it? It is a weird use of space.”

“Waste of space.” Rick reiterated.

“Yes, we agree, Rick. A weird use of space.” Emily stated strongly.

They continued the tour. The tall lamp on the opposite wall was turned onto its brightest setting. Rick moved slowly along, but the shadow he cast against the wall from the lamp… it darted across the wall. Phil caught this.

“Hey Dad.” Phil stopped Rick.

But when Rick stopped, the shadow stopped.

“Yeah?”

“Never mind.”

“Waste of space, right?” Rick whispered.

“Weird space in general.”

Emily’s parents had both passed away, but her aunt Isa had acted as a stand-in mom for many years. Isa’s husband Julio filled the role of stand-in dad whenever it felt appropriate.

They visited the house next. They had only nice things to say but every compliment felt hollow. They gave compliments to Emily on how she decorated the wide portion of the hall. Julio never stepped near the wall with the decorations. He stood directly in front of the lamp. The shadow he cast on the wall was large due to his proximity to the light.

Phil noticed the shadow had billowy hair. He glanced back at Julio and his short and neatly trimmed hair. His eyes darted back to the wall and the shadow reflected that.

“Your shadow’s big on the wall. Making you look huge!” Phil joked to Julio.

Julio forced a grin and then waltzed off towards the kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye, Phil swore he saw two shadows slide along the wall. When he looked back, only the shadows of him, Isa, and Emily.

Emily explained the origins of one art piece to Isa and her voice bounced even louder off the walls. She even caught it herself and looked disturbed. She suggested they all head to the kitchen next. As they headed for the kitchen, they heard laughter.

“Something funny, Julio?“ Isa called out.

Julio popped out of the kitchen with his mouth filled with food. He barely uttered a “huh?” through all the food.

“Something funny?” Isa repeated.

Julio swallowed half his food. “No, why?”

“You were laughing.”

“Nope.”

“We heard you… Julio… why do you jam so much food into your mouth at once?” Isa was suddenly distracted. “No one’s going to steal the food away from you.”

Julio swallowed the rest of the food. “It wasn’t that much.”

Isa and Julio bickered back and forth and Phil and Emily just stared at each other, unsure where the laughter came from.

More friends and family visited their new house. More and more, Phil and Emily spent less and less time showing everyone the wide portion of the hall. It felt unsettling each time they walked by. Phil never mentioned the shadows to Emily. But he told her how uncomfortable the area made him feel. They agreed to not talk about it. To not give a silly little space power over their minds.

A few months later, Emily was having some legal issues with her business. They were extremely stressful and difficult to handle. They looked to their family and friends for help. Phil’s parents came over as Barbara had experience in the legal world… and they also wanted to provide moral support. They stayed in one guest room. Isa and Julio joined a couple days later, staying in the other guest room.

One afternoon, Emily, Isa, and Barbara were busy going over documents. Phil, Rick, and Julio went out to get lunch for everyone. When they returned, Julio made a comment about the unsettling space at the end of the hall.

“Do you ever find it best to walk as close to the righthand wall when passing through here?”

Rick laughed. “You dislike the decorations that much?”

“I just meant… that left wall… it gives an uneasy feeling to me.” Julio said seriously.

“Wood, plaster, plywood?” Rick rattled off. “Never felt uneasy around inanimate objects myself.”

Rick ambled off. Julio stared at the wall and Phil stood next to him.

“I always walk along the right wall.” Phil said quietly.

Julio nodded and followed after Rick.

The group of six had a quiet lunch together, much on everyone’s minds. Emily’s legal issues being the main concern. After lunch they spoke about the situation and strategized. Later they all went out for a walk, along some of the beautiful trails in the area. Taking in nature and clearing their heads. They returned home and watched a movie. Then, Emily, Barbara, and Isa got back to the legal matters. Rick even joined in to lend a hand as he could, though he thought himself more help than he was.

Julio and Phil enjoyed some scotch in the kitchen. They spoke about trivial things, about sports, about TV shows.

It was late but the others were still hard at work. Julio said he was going to his car to retrieve a different bottle of scotch that he knew Phil would appreciate. He walked past the wide portion of the hall and kept his head down.

Julio returned and set the bottle of scotch down on the kitchen counter. He checked the time. It was almost midnight. He held something else in his hand and left the kitchen, walking with purpose towards the wide portion of the hall. Phil followed, quite curious about what he was doing.

Julio stood in front of the wall, staring at it. Phil crept up behind him, his shadow moving along the wall, closing in on Julio’s, and suddenly, a third shadow streaked across the wall. A slight chuckle echoed from somewhere else. The two were alone in the room.

“You saw that, yeah?” Julio asked calmly, scotch on his breath.

“Yeah, what the hell?” Phil was shaking.

“You feel uneasy when you walk by this wall, yeah?”

“Every day.”

“I know everyone thinks I’m a little kooky.” Julio said. “Crazy Julio. Isa’s crazy husband.”

“Umm, I don’t know…”

“It’s fine. I get it. I’m into some stuff that’s… out there.” Julio continued watching the wall. “But I think I can help you with this issue.”

“Really?”

“There’s something living in that wall. Not just a spirit. Would you like me to get rid of it?”

“You really think you can?”

“If my assumption is correct.” Julio said. “It isn’t just a spirit. It’s something else. It could be many things. But I think it is the work of a demon.”

“Je— uh— crap.” Phil shook his head.

“If it is the work of a demon, I can extract this entity, and I can end this entity.” Julio shifted but continued to stare at the wall. “Get me the scotch.”

Phil grabbed the scotch and two glasses.

“Yeah, I suppose we should each have a shot before… just in case.” Julio poured a shot and threw it back. Phil did the same.

Julio revealed a large cross in his hand. He held his thumb over the top of the bottle of scotch and shook it, spreading droplets of scotch all over the cross. He handed the bottle back to Phil and thrust the cross towards the wall, slamming it hard into the wall. He held his hand on the cross, pressing it into the wall. Julio began to say something in Latin.

Phil heard a sizzling sound and Julio removed his hand from the cross, but the cross stayed plastered to the wall, steam rising off of it. A shadow streaked across the wall with billowy hair. A guttural grunt shook the wall. Julio continued speaking in Latin. More steam rose off the cross. The wall cracked slightly behind the cross. The cracks spread. The shadow streaked across the cracks and vanished.

“Pour some scotch on my hands.” Julio said.

He held his hands out and Phil poured a hefty amount of the liquor into his hands, dousing them. Julio positioned himself closer to the cracks on the wall. He continued to speak in Latin and the cracks spread more. The shadow darted across the wall and towards the cracks. Julio lunged forward with his scotch-soaked hands stretched out and jammed them into the wall as the shadow passed. The shadow stopped, frozen by Julio’s grip. The wall cracked more, all around Julio’s hands, all around the shadow. The shadow struggled and fidgeted but Julio held it, and continued speaking in Latin.

Phil was in complete awe. Then, as the wall cracked more, Julio’s hands pressed into the wall, his fingertips disappearing. Half of his hands sunk into the wall like it was quicksand.

The Latin stopped. Julio said something in Spanish.

“What?” Phil was confused as it sounded familiar.

“No.”

Julio’s entire hands sunk into the wall, then his arms. He was getting sucked into the wall. His body was slowly vanishing into the wall, though the wall was never opening up.

“What’s happening, Julio?”

“This is not the work of a demon.” Julio said.

“So, it is a spirit.”

“No, it is something else entirely. You need to get everyone out of the house immediately.”

With that, the rest of Julio’s body was plunged into the wall and disappeared. Only then a hole opened in the wall and something else stepped out. Phil turned to run but all the scotch had affected his coordination and he tripped backwards and fell. He pulled himself back up to see the full body of something that had emerged from inside the wall.

It wore jet black clothing, big and billowy, with bright yellow, oversized buttons. It had smeared, off-white makeup on its face, black makeup around the eyes, red lips, and red, billowy hair. It’s eyes were dark as coal. It held an antique doll in one hand and a severed, bleeding foot in the other.

It sprinted right towards Phil while screaming in agony. Phil managed to scream out to everyone upstairs “get out of the—“ and then the thing ran into him. Though it contacted him, it somehow ran right through him. He felt the impact to his body, he also felt the impact in his body. His organs lurched and bounced. His heart and lungs were struck with cold ache… and the thing sprinted right through his back, and towards the staircase. It raced up the staircase. Phil heard his father yell something out in confusion.

Phil couldn’t control his own body, his legs carried him towards the wall. He heard all four people upstairs screaming in terror, he heard slashing and the ripping of flesh. He heard heavy things dropping onto the floor above him. And his body carried itself to the wall, as he pushed through it, soft as jelly.

Soon, Phil was in a dark place. It was cold. But he was cold. So the cold didn’t bother him. He heard nothing from his own body. When he breathed in it made no sound. He felt no air rush into his lungs. He was terrified but he couldn’t feel the beat of his own heart. His chest was still. Like an old toy’s wooden chest. He felt his body and was sure it still existed, but it felt static inside.

But Phil was still alive. He was sure of it. But he didn’t have control of his own body. Or it seemed that he didn’t. He felt as if he was slowly turning his own body but he was constantly blocked by some invisible force.

His surroundings were still dark, but there was a definite color surrounding him. It made no sense for him to even think this, but he could see a dark white all around him. See wasn’t the right word. It was so dark he couldn’t see anything. But he sensed the color white… and from his eyes… but just not with sight.

His surroundings lightened as if some light source in the distance had been activated. He heard an evil snickering and then the light went away.

Phil could feel the hardness of the wall pressing against his body at all angles, yet if he made tremendous effort, he could move his body freely as if moving through air. He was intent on getting out of here. He feared what may have happened to his family, to Emily’s family, to Emily. Phil was banking on Emily’s intelligence. When she heard Phil cry out in distress, she could’ve known that meant trouble, she could’ve leapt from the window and into the yard. She could’ve run for help.

That’s what Phil kept in the back of his mind. That’s what he clung to.

More evil snickering came and went. Another light source illuminated and vanished.

Something liquid sprinkled against the other side of the wall for a couple minutes and then dissipated.

Strobing light dizzied Phil. Bright lights attacked his eyes, yet he couldn’t close them. His eyelids were plastered open. His corneas were dry as bone.

Darkness again. That confusing dark white. And then a flash of red. Phil couldn’t tell where it started and where it ended. It was everywhere. Four cylinders the size of two-by-fours, yet malleable, wrapped around his body from the right. One more came in from the left. They circled around his body. He was yanked from his place.

Air whooshed by. It danced across his skin and his clothes but Phil hardly felt any of it. Just a dry wind the same temperature as his body gliding along him. He heard it more so than he felt it. It was roaring in his ears. But it was so minimal on his body.

Soon, Phil was in a light place again. A plethora of colors surrounded him. His eyes felt broken, everything was blurry. He couldn’t focus. The cylinders stayed wrapped around him and they shook him up and down, disorienting him further. They waved him back and forth in such erratic fashion he thought his neck might snap. But his neck had far more resiliency and spring to it than it ever did before.

This went on for a while. At one point he was set down on a soft surface. He heard giggling all around him. Everything was still out of focus, but one thing came into focus because it was directly in front of him. It was Julio.

Julio looked exactly how Phil felt. Stiff and frozen. Unmoving. Julio’s eyes were a dull brown with no sparkle. Wooden. Dry. They wouldn’t blink.

One of his eyes twitched. The corner of his mouth moved and wrinkled. But that was it. Phil tried to speak to Julio but he couldn’t. But he got the sense that Julio was in there trying to do the same. They lay there, unable to move, staring at each other. They lay there for several minutes until they heard more laughter and then the large cylinders gripped them again and yanked them up.

Phil’s eyes started to focus finally. He was being pulled through the air at such a fast pace, but he noticed the colors on the walls of this room. The same royal blue that he loved and the same teal that he would laugh at Emily for loving. Colors they used in the bedroom, but minimally, on trim. But these colors were humongous streaks around this room. The room itself was enormous, like it was a football field.

And then Phil saw a pair of eyes, each as big as his head. They were wide open. The eyes rested on a massive head, a face that had his dad’s features, but to enormous proportions. The body of a giant, wearing a giant version of his dad’s clothes. Bloodied, bruised, an arm torn off at the shoulder.

Phil was yanked farther and faster. Another giant body, as big as a building. The gigantic face with all his mother’s features, stretched out and blown up. Bruised and scarred.

The wind whooshed by. He was pulled faster through the room. He couldn't redirect his eyes as they gazed downwards towards the floor. Another horrible sight. Another giant body, bleeding, chunks of flesh ripped clean off, Isa’s face on the head.

Phil couldn’t bear to see it… if it were what he was to see next. He couldn’t bear to see Emily’s body, giant and lifeless. He used every ounce of will and effort and strength in his cold body and forced his eyes to redirect, to look up. He continued to be yanked through the air… a carpet rolling by beneath him. He ripped his eyes clean from their trance and pushed them up… up towards the wall.

His body was pulled through the air. He knew he was still being pulled over a sea of carpet below, but at least he couldn’t see it. At least he couldn’t see if anything else was laying out on that carpet. All he could see was the wall as he passed by…

… and then the window, pushed wide open, wind blowing in, curtains dancing lazily.

Phil breathed a sigh of relief though he felt nothing. The window was open. That was all he needed to see in order to continually cling to his hopes.

Phil was tossed downwards and landed in a massive crate, several stiff limbs bashing into his body from all angles. He lay there, unable to move, surrounded by cold, wooden things.

Everything remained bright but his vision was blurry again. He heard laughter. And then the laughter faded. He saw a shadow dance in front of him, stretching from his own body. It moved with complete freedom.

And then everything went dark again.