Original Horror Fiction: Beyond Appearance

PART 1: THE BEGINNING

On the top of a hill, surrounded by orchids and some orange tulips, stands an ochre-colored sandstone cottage with pinkish roofs. The house is small and modest, both on the outside and in.  

The rooms look poorly decorated; only the yellow walls are covered by paintings of different sizes. The paintings, often crooked and leaning on a frayed string, reveal a pale shadow that differs from the rest of the walls, which are drenched in a dark yellow hue that can only be attributed to decades of cigarette smoke.

More paintings are chaotically positioned on the corridor wall up the stairs and along a narrow, wooden passage. Each painting details a vast collection of fabric and wooden horses. 

At the end of the corridor, there’s a dark room full of more artworks, which appear to be faded landscapes of places long forgotten. Heavy curtains cover the big window. Behind the curtains, a glimmer of morning light illuminates a child’s face, a painting still on the easel. The painting pictures a fragile figure of a little boy with a wooden horse in his hands in front of a fireplace. He is not smiling as a child should, but instead looking forward. He peers back, with a single tear streaming down his rose-tinted cheek. 

///

At daybreak, the light continues to stream in through the tattered curtains. Warm beams of every shade of yellow bounce around the otherwise dim room, filling corners and chasing shadows. A beam of light that fell on a framed picture on the wall of a flowery meadow is interrupted by a pair of glassy green-blue eyes. They belong to a young woman, Virginia, who enters the living room with two big suitcases. She has curly hair in a bun and wears a plaid shirt. 

“Come on, kids, hurry up; it’s cold outside.”

14-year-old Mary, the oldest of the three children, is about to enter the room when her mother stops her. 

“Mary, honey, help your father with the rest of the boxes.“ 

Mary turns back, scoffing. 

“Why is it always me who does the hard work?“ she says, leaving the room.

Victor, an 8-year-old blond boy, and little William walk in. 

Virginia looks at the living room. It is dusty and dark with covers on the furniture. She opens the windows. Then, she stops at the stairs as if drawn to something up the steps. As she goes up and walks slowly through the corridor, William starts crying, so she runs downstairs. 

Virginia finds William on the ground and Victor behind him. 

“You chicken!“ Victor whispers to William.

Virginia goes towards William and picks him up, kissing him. 

“What have you done this time, Victor?”

“Me? Nothing!“ 

“Victor?”

“I might have scared him from behind…but…it was nothing. It was just an innocent joke!“ 

Edward, her husband, suddenly comes in with heavy boxes, hobbling at every step because of his knee injury. 

Virginia turns to Victor.

“We are not done, kiddo!”

She then puts William down and goes to help Edward. 

///

Mary enters with other boxes in her hands. She stops at the entrance and throws them on the floor. 

“Well, I can’t believe we moved from home to this eyesore!”

She sits on the sofa before the fireplace, texting on her phonw. Victor sits near her, and when no one is looking, he steals it from her and starts running. 

“Victor, give me my phone back!” 

“No!”

She chases him. Using a large ornate dining table as a barrier, Victor waits on the other side and maintains a safe distance from his sister. 

“What were you doing? Texting Jamie?!“ Victor asks, staging a kiss.

“You little devil!”

Mary stops and looks at Virginia. 

“Mum?”

Virginia keeps helping Edward with the boxes. 

“Both of you, stop!”

“Me? I didn’t do anything! He is the one with my phonw!“ she says, answering her mother,    

“You little monster. I’m gonna pull your stupid blond hair out one at a time!“ 

Mary starts chasing him again, to the amusement of little William, who starts giggling and clapping his feet.

Virginia, tired of it, grabs them by their arms. 

“Edward, for heaven’s sake, do something!”

Edward goes towards the kitchen. 

“Guys, come on. Listen to your mother.“ 

“Oh, Edward, that’s great. Really helpful!”

She looks at both the children.

“Both of you, pick up your boxes and choose your room without fighting… And Victor, give her her phone!”

Virginia lets them go. Victor gives Mary her phone back while making a face. They both start running upstairs in a rush. 

“I will pick the biggest room!“ Victor loudly declares, much to the dismay of his sister, who groans and picks up the pace behind him.

Virginia breathes slowly and then looks at William standing there. 

“William, I wish you would stay my sweet little boy forever.“ 

They go towards the kitchen. 

///

Later that day, Virginia walks into the bedroom with a box of clothes and finds Edward lying on the bed. They look at each other, detached and cold. Virginia opens the mirrored wardrobe before the bed, kneels, and unpacks. Edward leans his head on the pillow, closing his eyes. She slightly turns around. 

“I can help you with job hunting after dinner.”

Edward heavily sighs with his closed eyes. 

“Not today.”

“We can start looking together tomorrow, then.“

“No, Virginia. I can do it by myself.“ 

“Let me help you. I can get up early in the morning and ask around. It should be easy to find something. It’s a little town; everyone is kind and willing to help newcomers. You can stay home and bring the children to school.”

“I will do it.”

“No, you won’t. You always say it but never do it. Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

Edward scoffs and opens his eyes. 

“That’s because you never let me do things.“ 

“I can get up at six and wake up the children at 6.30, so that…“ 

“You don’t even listen to me.“ 

She keeps speaking and unpacking her clothes in the wardrobe. 

Edward raises his head and clenches his fists as if he is about to burst… 

“SHUT UP, VIRGINIA!!“ 

Virginia immediately stops speaking. She turns towards him, eyes wide open, shocked. They both remain silent. Virginia stands up. 

“I will go and feed the kids. We will continue talking later.”

She walks out. Edward looks tired and sad. He then takes a bottle of pills out of his jacket pocket and swallows one. 

///

After their conversation, Virginia brings some boxes upstairs to the highest floor. She walks through the corridor and stops looking at the dusty paintings on the wall for a long time. She suddenly stops noticing a detail present in most of them. 

“N.B.,“ she whispers. 

She then proceeds to the room at the end of the corridor and opens the big curtains, letting the last glimmers of daylight in. Immediately drawn by the biggest of the paintings, she walks towards the image of the child on the easel, with a stool in front of it and dried paints and brushes lying on a small work table beside it. The N.B. initials were visible on that painting, too.

Virginia looks drawn to it. She looks at that child’s face as if something or someone is calling her.

“Mom! Victor stole my room!“ Mary screams from downstairs.

Virginia doesn’t move.

“Mum.. mum!”.

“One second!“ Virginia answers without looking away.

She then leaves and closes the door behind her.

In the midst of the commotion, the family remains unaware of a presence, long living in the house, intently focused on their every move. 

///