EXCERPT From “The Stone Hex”

Having come to the end of the trail, Rachael paused where the full green of the tree line gave way to an open expanse of land. The remains of a field, long unattended, rolled out before her until the sun-drenched colors of the land took on the blackness of shadow. From where she stood it seemed as if the long-abandoned house had burned the land with its mere presence. The symmetry of the two-story square made it appear intimidating, despite it’s aged wood and cracking paint, as if the house was smirking at her in a domineering stance. The large fallen tree whose weight the house now sustained seemed an elaboration of contorted fingers grappling for possession of the sky itself. Dead twigs of brown held onto its foundation as if paying homage to their master.

Once she left the protection of the trees, the house, black with the soot of neglect, chilled her even as the sun burned her shoulders. This was how the house had greeted her for years. A few clouds rolled in muting the sun, the light-play of shadows giving the illusion of specters in the windows.

Alone with this house, Rachael always realized how far she had come from civilization; nonetheless, she still reveled in her solitude. She had left far behind the small waterfall in the woods just beyond her backyard that always enticed her to sit and the upward curve of the stream that always lured her up the hill. She stepped onto the creaking porch where steps must have once been.

She squeezed her body into the house beside the ancient heavy door with rusted hinges and walked into the living room as if she owned the place. The sun filtering through the filthy windows furthered the eerie feel of an aged room. It never ceased to amaze her how time took its toll. She started up the stairs with her hand on the wall never quite trusting the wobbly banister or the middle of the warped stairs. Her hand grazed over an upturned seam of the yellowing wallpaper right where an old red flower bled across it.

At the top turning to follow the curve of the railing, she was stunned to find the closest door shut. She had always found the doors open in all of the years she had been coming here. She shook off the idea that someone else had been in the house. Standing before the door, she gave a quick look behind her careful not to put any weight on the railing that was supposed to prevent you from falling onto the floor below. Her hand tensed as she touched the doorknob. The knob was loose, and she had to jiggle it a little to make it release the door from its frame. Conscious of the raised floorboard right at the doorway, she followed the door into the room.

Air pulled deep into her lungs to the point of pain. Stepping back on instinct, she forgot the raised floorboard and found herself falling backward.