Boundaries

Boundaries

The girl in the photo on her wall blinked. Ruby thought she was seeing things. She sat up in bed and stared at the picture, she wanted to see her blink again. Ruby and Ryan had lived in the house for a year, and it was full of strange, unexplainable scenarios. The toilet would often flush itself and there was a groaning from the drain on their driveway, it was like a demon living beneath their feet.

There was also a mystery at the end of Ruby and Ryan’s garden. They moved into the old house a year ago, it was on the edge of a village. The garden was a mess; the previous owners had moved to Malta to enjoy their retirement in the sun and the house sat empty for over a year. It doesn’t take long for nature to take over and rule again, it looked like a rainforest.

At the end of their garden lay no fence, no clear boundary, other than a huge oak tree and a metre high ridge. They discussed what they should do and whether to put up a wooden fence, they looked at the deeds but couldn’t figure out their boundary. 

The following weekend they decided to go for a walk past the oak tree to try and speak to the landowner. It was full of brambles and stinging nettles and at one point a fox jumped out on them, it scared them, but it ran off pretty quickly.

After that little shock, they continued on and could see the back of a house, they began to feel really nervous, they held each other’s hands. There was no movement, just a dark dingy house coming into sight. The windows were dirty, and there were no lights on, it was deathly silent. 

Ruby and Ryan stopped and looked at each other. Ryan said,

“This is really odd Ruby, it looks like nobody’s been here for years.”

“I know Ryan, I don’t like it. Even if someone were to live there, how would they survive? Are we still going to knock?”

Ryan took a moment and said, 

“Oh my gosh, I’m not sure. 

I suppose we’re here now, might as well give a little knock.”

They strove forward, the house looked like it was ready to collapse. It was made from wood and had a large porch with an old rocking chair on it. They walked up the creaky steps and stared at the dark coloured wooden door.

Bang, bang, bang.

It echoed through the night.

Nothing. No reply, no noises could be heard through the large door. Absolutely nothing.

They looked at each other like two frightened teenagers. 

“Ruby, should we knock again?”

“I don’t know Ryan. I don’t think anyone is home.”

Just then, they heard a lock being opened from behind the door, it sounded rusty and crunched like a piece of toast. They could smell something which resembled a butcher's shop. It had a strange, weird metallic smell. The door then creaked open and a tall man stood there. He looked in his sixties, over six foot, he had grey receding hair which was shoulder length, and he wore a long white coat, resembling a mad scientist.

“Yeeeesssssss, can I help you?” The stranger said.

“Hello Sir, we’re your neighbours from the house which backs onto your garden, and we just wanted to introduce ourselves and say hi.” said a startled Ruby.

“Weeeeeelllllllll, welcome to the area, I hope you like Little Darkness. It is a lovely village; however, it’s a shame the shop closed down.

What’s your names?”

Ryan stepped forward and said, 

“I’m Ryan and this is my wife, Ruby. We’re from Southwater, I’ve never heard of Little Darkness. What is your name?”

“I am Sir Stewart Sludge; I have lived here for an awfully long time. 

Southwater you say. That’s about four miles from here; you haven’t moved far.”

“No Sir, we currently live in Southwater. We’ve walked to your house from our back garden which backs onto your garden. We haven’t walked four miles; we probably walked for ten minutes.” Said Ruby.

Stewart replied,

“Weeeeell Ruby, come on in.” After offering a glass of brandy, he said,

“My company made corned beef, a more luxury version than the usual ones you see on the shelves. However, with a recession, and other reasons, weeee couldn’t afford to keep going.”

Ryan looked sympathetic and said,

“What a shame, do your ex-employees still live in the village?”

“Yeeeeessss of course Ryan. They all live in my cottages on my land. I told them, they can live there for as long as they want, as long as they pay the peppercorn rent, which is £1 a week. I think that’s fairly reasonable.”

Ruby replied,

“Wow, that’s incredibly generous.”

The house was dusty and there was a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, cobwebs were draped around it and there was a huge, curved staircase dominating the room.

They spoke for a while and then Ruby asked to use the toilet. Stewart by now was a little drunk and said there’s a toilet in the next room, through the hall. He said,

“Whatever you do, just open the door on the right, do not go into any other room.”

Ruby replied,

“Yes, no problem, I’ll just be a few minutes.”

A tipsy Ruby left the drawing room and entered the door on the left. The door creaked open, and she walked into the dining room. A huge oak table was laid out with glasses, cutlery and plates, but that wasn’t what freaked her out, it was the six smartly dressed skeletons perched around the table on high back oak dining chairs.

Ruby froze in her tracks. There were six dead people sat at a dining table waiting for their dinner. It was absolutely bizarre, she didn’t know what to do. Fear had given her temporary paralysis. Her hands began to shake, and she wanted to scream but couldn’t. So many things were going through Ruby’s head, had Stewart murdered these people? Who were they? Why were they smartly dressed sat at a dining table?

Suddenly she heard the door creaking behind her. It was Stewart,

“Helloooo dear, I see you’ve met the family.

Ryan, Ryan, come and join us.”

Ryan bundled his way into the room, still holding his brandy glass. He stopped in his tracks, and looked around the room, completely dumbfounded.

Stewart could sense the awkwardness and said,

“Please don’t worry, they’re all perfectly dead, they can’t harm you.”

“Stewart, what the heck is going on? Why oh why do you have six dead people sat at a dining table? What the purpose?” Asked Ruby.

“It’s not as odd as you think. You see, when you’re in the aristocracy you’re allowed to bury your own family in a mausoleum, however mine collapsed years ago. I kept them in the cellar after their deaths and brought them back to rejoin the family.”

“It’s bloody weird.” Said Ryan.

“I think it’s beautiful Ryan, we are a family again. We have conversations, albeit a little one sided, but it’s harmless.”

“Well, erm, that’s great, yeah, it’s really nice. I’m surprised more people don’t do it.

Oh, is that the time? I think we better be off, we’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

Said Ruby.

Just then, four large men wearing white face masks entered the room, blocking the doorway.

Stewart said, “Welcome to the purpose. Tonight, you will join the family for eternity.”

The men began to chant, and Stewart picked up the heavy ceremonial staff and held it aloft over Ryan’s head, Ruby was screaming.

The End.