The Ninth Door

Prologue - Call for Help

2008

Someone kicked the door hard. One. Two. Three. Four.

One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four, shut the door.

“Open up or we’ll blow your house down!” The man shouted, barely containing his laughter. Seven-year-old Sienna could only guess it was the one with the scar on his left cheek. She knew there were two other men with him, and they were just as scary. Their jeers became louder and louder beyond the front door. They were too close, and the house was too old to endure more of their kicks.

Her mother hugged her tightly while her thumb pressed on a number on her mobile phone. It was just one number, but it looked like it was already calling someone up. Sienna tried to be good, trying to keep herself from crying. Her tears fell silently even though her chest felt like bursting. She prayed that whoever her mom was calling would answer right away.

People said they shouldn’t be living alone in the Junction. It was too far away from the rest of the town. The ghosts had also quieted down, and the cats no longer came – whatever that meant. There was nobody to save them. They weren’t really supposed to be here. Her mom was only supposed to take pictures because they were selling the place, not that they needed the money. Sienna heard her mom muttering something like “closure,” whatever that meant. There were so many things that she was still struggling to understand.

“Where are you?” Sienna whispered. She had grown up believing that the old house her mother inherited was still haunted by cats and spirits. Nothing stirred, though. Grandma was right. There were no ghosts.

“Are they really gone, Grandpa? Are they still at the Junction?”

“No, honey. They will always be there if you call them. The Kelleys and the Westerleys will always be -,” he began, but was interrupted by his wife.

“Stop your nonsense, Stanley Kelley. There are no ghosts, Sienna. The Junction is falling apart. We need to have it demolished or sold. You know what that means, right, sweetie?”

“Of course, Grandma. I read a lot.”

“What’s your favorite story?”

She pushed a book across the table toward her Grandma.

“Oooh. Knights and damsels in distress. You know you can save yourself, too. Right, honey?”

“Yes. Mommy taught me that.”

Sienna’s mother, Sheila Montgomery Kelley taught her that they could survive without anyone else. There was no dad in the picture. There weren’t even pictures of him. There were no terrible stories, either, like the ones that usually came out of Jenna’s mom who just got divorced from her dad. Though the whole thing made Sienna sad, she didn’t want her mom to feel like she wasn’t enough.

At this moment, though, she wished she had a big dad who could kick and beat up the bad guys.

The door fell with a loud thud, the sound echoing in the house. It was more like a husk nowadays, the remaining furniture covered in white cloth but most had already been sold.

This time, the little girl couldn’t help but shriek. She opened her eyes to see the shadows of the three large men casting down on the floor, lengthening to cover her and her mom. Mother and daughter were huddled on the floor, helpless and shivering.

“Are you too good for us, Shiela?” the man with the scar asked. Sienna couldn’t see his face. Moonlight was right behind him and his face was in shadows.

“It’s not like that,” her mother cried. “Please let my girl go first, Pete. Then, I’ll do what you want me to do.”

“You’re kidding, right?” The man scoffed, then he turned to exchange a glance with the other two men. They seemed to find the whole thing hilarious.

As the men laughed, Sienna rubbed the hard cover of her favorite book, The Leopard Prince, for comfort. Many said it was too advanced for her age, and that she had to be at least thirteen to read it, but her mom said she was ready.

“Please come and help us,” she whispered into her book.

“Is your child talking to her book, Shiela?” Pete asked with a mocking laugh. “That’s what you get for f*****g someone you barely knew. Does she know who her father is?”

“Stop it. Please let her go. My brother will be here soon. Let him take her, and I’ll go with you.”

“You should have said that a long time ago, bitch.”

There was a hard slap. Then, Pete pulled Sienna’s mother up by the hair.

“Mommy!”

“Mommy’s okay, Sienna. I want you to go to the closest room right now. Lock the door.”

“I want her here. Right the f*****g here. If you let her go to her room, I’ll have Albert go with her and you know you don’t want that to happen.”

One of the other men approached the little girl with a gun. He leered down at her, making the girl mutter her calls for help several times more.

“Close your eyes, honey,” her mother begged, as Pete pulled at her clothes. The silk blouse tore easily. Sienna sobbed, her shoulders shaking. She squeezed her eyes shut, blocking the sight of the terrible man hurting her mother but she couldn’t block the sounds. The grunts. Her mother sobbing. The other men laughing. They would haunt her forever.