Elliotte

The Year 2023

The announcement of her train stop blinked blue and she prepared herself to alight, casting a quick glance at her wristwatch.

Ten more minutes.

Her feet fell heavily and then rapidly on the cobbled road. Her heart in tandem.

Lucinda sent a short ferverent prayer up to heaven. God, she prayed, I need that job.

She needed to be there by 10:00. Lucinda pressed tremblingly the doorbell by 10:12. Her heart pounding thunderously behind her rib cage.

The door opened with a click and she hesitated before entering. "Hello" she called in uncertain tones. "Anyone home? Hello. My apologies for my tardiness. It's just -. I had thought -, I apologize. Hello. Anyone here? I know l'm late but if you could hear me out. Hello."

With each step she took into the house, she was enveloped with silence. Her heart beat the only sound she could hear; and no one in

sight.

Still, she ventured further in, determined to prove herself and get this job. By the next six months, she would have settled down and cleared the clutters on her table. She really needed this job.

"Hello"

She was ascending the winding stairs now having checked the entire rooms on the ground floor.

Was there really no one here?

Then who had opened the door?

She was certain it had been locked.

Or was it?

Her hand suspended above the first doorknob but her eyes and sense hovered over the doorknob cloaked by shadows down the empty hallway. As if entranced, Lucinda felt her legs cover the distance between her and that door. Was it curiosity or ....?

Well she lacked the words for it as whispers suddenly infiltrated her mind. Their words unfathomable, their lull and pull undeniable.

Her hand hovered over the doorknob and then turned it. The door opened and she entered without really seeing its content.

A blinding white light filled the hallway and then vanished, and so did Lucinda. Slowly, the door closed with a click.