The Vendetta House

“Jen, what’s wrong?” I asked. Jenene stared at the old rug on the floor for a few seconds and then looked back at me.

            “I don’t know,” she answered in a low voice. “I just feel uneasy.” 

            “Was it what we saw in the attic?” I asked, still squatting in front of the fire.

            “Yeah, it’s just,” Jenene paused and then went on, “What is all that stuff? I mean, why is it up there?”

            “Jen, most of it is just old junk, trash, and old food.”

            “Yeah, but someone put it there, and some of it isn’t that old. It could be no more then a week old. It’s like someone has been living up there.”

            “Jenene,” I answered, as I went over and sat down next to her. “No one is here, but us. Do you honestly think that we’re the only people who ever broke in here? Maybe one of the other’s put it there?”

            “How could that be? We didn’t bring all that trash with us.”

            I wasn’t sure what to say because I wasn’t as concerned about what we saw as Jenene was. My mind was on other things, so I just shrugged.

            “It’s not only the trash and stuff,” Jenene went on, “what about those drawings we saw upstairs in that bedroom and in the attic? What do they mean? They have to mean something, Danny, something bad. I just know it. And, those people in those pictures.” Jenene got up from the sofa and walked over to the chimney, “Why do I feel connected to them some how? Why do I look so much like them? I mean, I don’t know much about my real past, and we don’t know anything about the family who lived here either. We don’t know what happened to them, but what if something did happen to them—something bad—in this house, and we don’t know. What if someone does still live here, Danny?”

            “Jenene, calm down,” I said. “Listen to what you’re saying.”

            “Why? What if it’s true? What if what I’m saying is true? We don’t know.”

            “That’s right we don’t know,” I said. “Remember what talked about earlier, if you keep thinking weird thoughts and wondering what happened to those people and what happened here, your mind is going to play tricks on you—make you scared, like you are now.”

            “I don’t know, Danny,” Jenene said seriously. “I don’t think I want to spend the weekend here anymore.”

<SP