Wisteria

Listen… what I’m about to tell you will change your life. Just like it changed mine. I swore I’d never put these words into the universe. That would make them real, give them existence here. There’s a secret they’ve been keeping from us. I discovered the truth and you should know it too.

That’s how the letter I found waiting for me in my family’s home starts. Well, my dad’s home. I never knew him. Mom took me and left when I was too young to remember. Said he lost himself to insanity. Now he’s dead and he left this big old house to me. It could be nice, if it wasn’t so creepy. The floors creak, there’s too many walls, and the lighting is horrendous. It sits on the edge of some woods, some of which are included with the property. My only plan is to clean it out and get it on the market. The letter is several pages long so I take seat to keep reading. Might as well and curiosity has always been my biggest flaw.

First, go to the back of the house. There’s a large window there. Look out that window, at the trees. Do you notice anything odd?

I pause reading to go to the window like the letter says. It’s just trees. I laugh at the fact that I’m actually going along with this.

They look normal, right? They aren’t. Heed my warning: Do not, under any circumstances, go into those woods. You have to know everything or you’ll be lost like the ones before us.

Creepy. My dad was something else, that’s for sure. I take a seat at the desk to the side of the window. Might as well get comfy.

Are you sitting at the desk? Good. Bottom drawer on the right side. It’s locked. The key is taped to the under side of the desk. Open the drawer.

This is so very strange. I slide my hand under the desk. My fingers graze over cool metal. I pull it off, the key. Leaning down, I unlock the drawer and open it. Inside are three thick manila envelopes. I dump the contents of the first one on the desk. It’s several stacks of papers clipped together. Each stack contains a photo of someone, a birth certificate, and a missing persons clipping. I dump the rest of the envelopes out. They’re all the same. Different people, from decades ago to recently. What the heck is this? I return to the letter.

Did you find them? All of those people are gone. But the weird part, no one remembers them. I asked family, people form their home town, police… no one knows who I’m asking about. It’s like they never existed, but they clearly did. About two days after they’re gone, everyone that knew them forgets they existed. The one thing they all have in common, they all lived in this house at some point.

I sit the letter down. My father must have truly gone mad. There’s no way. I’m sure if I called I would find that someone knows who I’m asking about. Someone had to put up the missing persons flyers… I look back out the window. I narrow my eyes. There is a redwood on the right side, but I swear it was on the left side before. I study the trees a bit closer this time. They’re an eerie bunch, that’s true. Mixed and matched that aren’t normally seen together. There’s a light fog settling at the base of the trees. It makes me shiver. I shake my head and laugh. I’m letting my father’s crazy story get to me. I pick the letter back up.

If you choose to continue to learn the secret, you must be prepared to sacrifice everything. You very well may lose your life. You have to take this seriously, it is not a joke. I did not, and if you are reading this letter then I can presume that I’m dead. Once they have you, they will not let you go.

My father was creative, I’ll give him that. Who knows, maybe I’ll release this as a short story or book or something after I’m done with this house. I’m curious to find out what his secret is.

The first thing you must know is the bells. If you hear the bells, you have to hide. That’s their signal. You cannot let them find you. You can leave the house as long as you haven’t heard them. That’s how they hold you here.

Bells. Okay, got it. What’s next old man?

Now, grab a candle. There should be some in the drawer in the kitchen. Next to the stove. You’re going to go in the basement, but be careful. The electricity will not work down there. You need to be light on your feet. If they don’t know you’re here yet, then you have time to figure this out. Don’t let them catch you! In the basement, there’s a small door all the way on the furthest wall. If you open that door, it hides a small tunnel. You can’t even stand in it. That tunnel leads to the woods, but do not enter it! That’s how they get inside the house.

I go to the kitchen and find some stick candles and some matches. Grabbing them, I approach the basement door. It’s just off the side of the kitchen. I open the door and I’m assaulted with the cold autumn air. I slowly walk down the steps. The fifth one groans under me and for some reason a chill runs down my spine. I hurry down the rest of them. At the bottom, I light the match and transfer the flame to the candle. It’s only enough light to see directly in front of me. There’s nothing in the basement. Seems the poor man didn’t use it for storage.

Walking to the furthest wall, I move the candle along it. I have to squint because, for a moment, I’m sure the old man got me. The door is so easy to miss. It blends right in with the surrounding concrete. Crafty. I decide I’ll open it. He said not to enter it, but he never said I couldn’t open it. I have to wedge my fingers under the panel and shimmy it loose. It creaks as I pull it. Wow, there really is a small tunnel. I’d have to crouch or crawl to fit in there. A sudden howl has me startling. I move the candle just slightly inside the tunnel, but a breeze blows it out. It was just the wind howling. I chuckle at how worked up I let myself get.

I put the candle on the ground and shove the door back in place. When I stand, the hairs on the back of my neck stand and my arms break out in goosebumps. I have the sudden intense feeling I’m being watched. With no candle, I can’t see much. There’s no tiny windows in this basement. Just darkness. My hands are getting clammy and my heart is suddenly picking up speed. I shake my head in an attempt to fight off the sudden anxiety, but it’s no use. I should get out of the basement. I’m just freaking myself from the darkness. Spinning in my spot, I power walk back in the direction of the stairs. Feeling with my foot, I climb them slowly. I keep my hands in front of me so I will feel as soon as the door makes contact.

Sccccccccc… almost to the door. I know it. I don’t know what that sound was but I’m not staying to find out. For all I know, there could be a squatter down here. No thank you sir. Not today. Finally at the door, I push it open and tumble back into the warm house. I shut the basement door behind me, securing the deadbolt lock on it. Then I laugh. It reminds me of being a kid and doing stupid dares like sneaking into the forest at night or deciding who is gonna go back to the car for something we forgot when the sun has long since set. I return to the letter.

If you’re reading this still, I can presume the basement trip went well. I think it’s time I give you some back story. I came into this house early in my marriage. My wife and I had our beautiful daughter here. It was home for a short while. Then I started noticing odds things. Something misplaced, something small missing here and there. I asked my daughter if she’d been up to shenanigans but she denied it. I doubted her for some time, until I saw it. My wife wanted to renovate the basement. Make it into a family room and play space for our family. So I set to work, but no matter what I tried I could not get the electricity to work down there. Then I found the door. It wasn’t mentioned on any of the floor plans we had seen before buying the house and I found that rather odd. After doing some research, I discovered the people that had gone missing. It was so strange and I just had to solve the mystery. My wife will tell you I’m crazy, it was easy for her to ignore the things happening. Or maybe they only wanted me.

I went in the tunnel. I found things. Things I’m too terrified to write about. I knew we needed to get out of this house. Something wasn’t right. I just wanted to find out a little more information first. I went into the woods. They’re such an odd bunch, but it’s beautiful out there. I felt off on my walk back to the house. Something was different but I couldn’t place it. When I came inside, I heard bells going off. I tried asking my wife about it but she said I must be hearing things. That night, I slept on the couch. I heard the basement door creak open but when I looked, I could not see anything. I was too afraid to move so I stayed still. I don’t think I was alone that night. But I still didn’t have any answers. My wife told me I had to get some help or she would leave but I couldn’t leave the house anymore. Any time I tried, the doors just wouldn’t open. My wife insisted I was losing it. And she left, with our daughter. I should have left the first time I noticed something was off. I might still have my family then.

I’m not sure what to make of this. He does sound crazy and that’s exactly what mom told me. I make myself comfortable on the couch. It’s still early evening and it hasn’t gotten dark yet. I do not want to spend the night here. I will finish the letter and come back tomorrow for the rest.

It is almost time to go into the woods. I still never discovered the true answer, like why they are here. But I saw them. Once. Well twice if you’re reading this. That must mean they took me like the others. I don’t know if I’m dead or just somewhere else. But I pray no one has to share the same fate. That’s why you have to get the answer. So you can stop it from continuing. There’s a tree a bit into the woods. It’s different than the rest, you’ll know it when you see it. There’s markings carved into the trunk. I could never decipher the meaning behind them, but I know it holds the answer. Before you go there is something important you must…

I jerk my head from the letter at the sound of creaking. Screeech… It only takes a moment for my eyes to find the culprit. The basement door. I jump up and rush to it, slamming it shut. I swear I locked it earlier… I’m positive. I look at the lock, undone and in tact. I must not have. I must have just thought about it and assumed I did it. Regardless, I’m ready to get out of here. I’ll go to the woods, take a photo of the carving and get straight into my car and leave. This is all a bit too eerie and coincidental for me.

I exit the house through the back door. It’s in the same room as the large window. More fog has settled around the base of the woods and the sun is starting to dip low behind the trees. It makes them look simultaneously peaceful and terrifying. I begin the walk the through the back yard and I briefly wonder if I’m walking on top of that tiny tunnel. It sends a shiver through me. This is all so crazy. I can’t believe I let that old man and house freak me out so much. The crisp air is calm with a small breeze blowing. I can breath better being outside.

I’m at the edge of the woods and when I pass the first row of trees, I’m a little shocked. I expected it to be densely packed with branches, twigs, and overgrowth settling on the forest floor. But it’s clear. The fog lets up a bit inside and for a moment it feels like I’ve stepped into a different world. It is an odd bunch of trees. Redwoods, pines, sycamore, oak, and in a clearing a ways in, is a large weeping willow. It’s been overgrown by wisteria. This doesn’t make any sense. I don’t even think some of these trees grow in this area, let alone together. And the wisteria is so odd, the purple standing out from the sagging green of the willow. This has to be the tree he mentioned.

I step under the hanging leaves and approach the trunk. There, carved into the trunk, is a symbol. It’s a triangle with small circles on each point and an outer ring connecting each circle. I pat my pockets, looking for my phone so I can get a picture of it. But I come up empty. Crap, I must have left it inside the house. I don’t remember ever taking it out of my pocket. It must have fallen out when I was on the couch. I blow out a breath at the realization that I’ll have to go back in the house. I turn, ready to run in and grab my phone so I can make my hasty retreat. But as soon I take a step, I trip.

My knees hit something hard and my hands scrape against small pebbles. Turning to rest on my butt and figure out what made me fall, I’m once again shocked. A large tree root that just breaks the surface of the soil is what tripped me up. I swear the floor was clear when I came in. The stinging on my hands and knees pulls my eyes away from the offending root. My knees are decently scraped, dirt mixing with the small amounts of blood that has seeped out and spread on my knee cap. This is what I get for wearing jeans with rips in the knees. My hand abrasions are minimal.

Standing, I dust myself off and exit the woods. The sun is seeping low behind the horizon and I want to be in my car and on the road away from this house by the time all the light is gone. I make my way, quickly back to the house. I storm inside, going straight to the couch. It has to be here, I never took it out of my pocket so it had to have fallen out. My search is pointless. My phone is no where on this couch.

Ding, ding, ding… Is that, a bell? I whip my head around, looking for the noise. I see my phone lighting up on the counter in the kitchen. Did I set it down? When did I change my ringtone to bells? I didn’t. I know I didn’t. I have to get out of this house. Maybe my father wasn’t crazy after all. I grab my phone just as it stops ringing, but there is no missed call. No notifications. There isn’t even any signal. The letter. I never finished the letter. I rush to the coffee table and pick up the pages.

Before you go there is something important you must know, be careful in the woods. Watch your step closely. The woods, they’re alive. I’m convinced of it. If they get your blood… well you’re already dead. They know you’re here. The creatures. The ones that took the lost ones. Ive never seen such monsters before. Some kind of wolf that looks crafted from branches and foliage. They’re large and evil. You must take this information and you must go. You have to stop this before more are lost.

The woods. I fell. I scraped my knee. The bells. The letter said if I heard the bells, I couldn’t leave. But surely, this is all made up. This isn’t real. It can’t be. I approach the front door. The last slivers of daylight are fading away. I blow out a breath and grab the door knob, twisting. The panic sets in quick. It just keeps turning and turning. It won’t open. This all wrong. I yank on the knob, but the door only shakes.

Scraaappee… I wince at the awful sound, like nails on a chalkboard. Turning around slowly, my face meets something I can’t describe. In front of me, matching my height on four legs, is the beast. It’s putrid breath fans across my face and I hold my own. I’m not sure why. I’m already dead. I know it now. It’s just as the letter described. A large wolf type of creature that looks crafted from mangled branches and foliage sticking out, filling the gaps. It’s eyes are nothing more than dark circles and when its jaw unhinges, rows and rows of wooden teeth. Splintered and overcrowded. It releases a growl, opening its mouth wide. Time catches up to me, fight or flight kicks in and I prepare a scream. A scream that never leaves my mouth…