1 The Light in the Attic

Kira was a simple girl. She grew up in a rich neighborhood, but her family was at best considered middle class. She lived in a rundown, hundred year old house with her father, who owned a construction company. Despite her father's knowledge and resources, the house had fallen into disrepair. The dishwasher didn't usually work. On the rare occasion it did actually work, it leaked all over the floor. The freezer had a similar issue. It would suddenly thaw and leak all over the place. This caused the once beautiful wood floor to rot and mold around the dishwasher and freezer. Even the dryer downstairs was on its last leg. It could take three or four hours to dry a single load of laundry!

The shabby state of the house was most definitely connected to the loss of one of its members. Kira's mother had passed away less than a year ago. It seemed that with her passing, the house itself had died along with her. It seemed cold, dark, and lifeless without her. Kira's father refused to open any of the curtains and scolded Kira, if he discovered her opening any of them. It was as if he wanted the house to remain in a constant state of grieving. He despised any reminders of his departed wife, and the sunlight pouring into the house reminded him too much of her and what he had lost.

Despite her father's determination to rid the house of his wife's memory, he still avoided the house itself like the plague. Kira spent most of her days alone in this dark and desolate place. Her father worked seemingly endless days and nights. She could go weeks without seeing him. When Kira did see her father, it was barely more than a couple minutes, and he constantly avoided looking at her. She just looked to much like her mother for him to bear.

The day started like any other day for Kira. She woke up late in the morning, and she headed downs stairs to make herself breakfast. Kira searched the house to make sure her father was gone . She took a look outside just incase he might still be there. Per the usual, her father had already left for work. Kira sighed in relief. She always felt so much pressure, when her father was around. He had a violent temper and one wrong move could put her in hot water.

Certain that she was utterly alone, Kira went about her business opening the curtains and preparing herself some breakfast. She made herself a bowl of delicious cinnamon clove oatmeal and a hot mug of jasmine green tea. Then, she set herself down at the large wooden table in the dinning room. Light came in through the two large windows that overlooked the backyard. Kira enjoyed this view, despite how unkempt it had become, since her mother died. She sat there absorbing the sunlight, yearning for her mother, and eating her modest breakfast. Oh! How she longed to see her again! Sitting there eyes closed, beneath the sunlight, she could almost hear her mother's cheery voice and laughter.

However, Kira suddenly felt cold, and she sensed the light had faded. "Hmmm... a cloud must have passed over the sun..." she thought to herself. She sighed reluctantly coming back to reality. Her mother was dead and there was no bringing her back. Kira opened her eyes to confirm that a cloud had passed over. Instead, she discovered that the curtain had somehow closed of its own accord. Puzzled she thought to herself, "I know that I opened that curtain... Did I forget to tie it back? That must be it... How else could it have fallen back into place?" Kira decided to shrug it off as her simply being absent minded.

That was until she saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye and heard the wood floor creaking behind her... Startled, she jumped out of her seat to look behind her, but... there was nothing. There was not a person, not an animal, not even a shadow. Kira sighed in relief and thought, "I must have spent too much time alone in this house. I'm starting to get jumpy, and I feel as if I might start hallucinating at any moment! Maybe I need to go outside to get some fresh air. Maybe that will make me feel better." Kira decided that the dark house and lack of human contact was responsible for her sudden uneasiness. She figured getting outside would help her clear her head.

Kira cleaned up her breakfast and headed outside with what was left of her tea. She walked along the porch admiring the backyard. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly and birds were chirping from the nearby trees. The backyard was unkempt, but it somehow maintained a wild sort of beauty. The grass was long and bowed gentle from the light, warm breeze. Kira made her way over to the wooden porch swing. It was rough and presented the easy possibility of many splinters, but she decided to take a seat anyway. She sat down carefully and drank her tea, while taking in the view. The sky was a stunning light blue and almost completely clear accept for a few puffy, white clouds here and there. Kira smiled to herself. She absolutely loved nature. It was the only thing that brought her true peace, during these dark times.

Kira sat there for awhile finishing her tea and allowing her mind to drift like the gentle breeze through the trees. The sound of the leaves shaking reminded her of the gentle laugh of a fairy or maybe even a siren. Kira started to feel light and dreamy as her thoughts seemed to take her further and further away from reality. She felt a bit dazed as if she was floating gently in the breeze.

Meanwhile, a mist had begun to creep in around her. It blew in slowly and mysteriously. The sunlight glittered off the mist making the whole backyard sparkle like glitter and dew drops. At first, the mist only slightly diffused the light creating a sense of magic and wonder. However, the mist began to swirl and thicken menacingly. Eventually, it blocked out the sunlight completely as if the backyard had suddenly been cast into some kind of twilight.

The thick fog began to twist and turn searching like the thick living tentacles of a mythical beast. The tentacle like fogged slithered up and around Kira's porcelain neck as if to squeeze the life out of her. Kira suddenly felt herself choking and awoke from her dream like state. She clutched at her throat and looked about the backyard in shock. In mere minutes, the backyard had gone from a bright sunny afternoon to the dead of night. She tried to scream, but she couldn't make a sound.

She looked about trying to decipher the best course of action. The mist covered the entire backyard and pulled at her clothes creating small tears. "I can't go further into the backyard. It's too dangerous. I'll have to go inside..." she thought to herself as she turned to look at the house. To her shock, there was a green eery light emanating from the house. Looking closer, Kira could see that it was coming from the attic window. However, there was something else in the window... the silhouette of a woman...