Alexa's House *IN PROGRESS*

Alexa has always felt this way about her house. Here, I gather up and relay some of my best friends encounters with entities in her step-dads mansion.

Ever since Alexa moved into the new house, something felt... off. 

Her step-dad bought the almost 1.2 million dollar home this year after deciding their last home was too small. Alexa had always felt like there was a suffocating presence about the old place anyway. Plus, the shadowy hat man and proposed demon lurking in her siblings room was concerning.

The home was luxurious, to say the least. Large carved stone pillars supported the vaulted roof, and stone steps led to an ornate glass and wooden double door. The entryway stood taught against the side of the house, uninviting but not unpolished. Inside the grand doors, cold polished stone floors cascade down a 3 stepped staircase, pedestalizing the door. Tucked to the right of the door was a grand oak dining table surrounded by 12 carved chairs. It was always neatly cleaned and decorated by Alexa's mother, who chronically kept fresh linens on everything. A glass and wooden cabinet stood near the door, kept dusted with glass trinkets and artworks. 

The entry spilled out into the living room. A large wrap around sofa entrenched the space, and a stone fireplace donned the left side of the room. Two arm chairs faced the inside of the room. Large floor to ceiling windows paneled the far end of the room, looking out into the backyard patio. Drapes hung by each window, and Alexa knew that if she was ever to be in this room at night, she would draw them immediately. The size of the windows sort of gave her a weird feeling. 

To the right of the living room, a built in bar was dug into the ground. A tiny staircase led to a bartending area complete with wine fridge, sink, and storage cabinets. The bar itself was marble finish, and barstools lined the length of it. Big mirrors hung behind the bar, mixed with some of her mother's decor choices, like the green butterflies caught and solidified into resin that hung beside the bar. They always seemed a little bit trapped there. 

The kitchen and second dining area was connected via a large kitchen island. The marble countertops did not contrast the coldness of the floor in the kitchen. High ceilings made this space seem expansive, but not in a comforting way. There was a double door near the secondary dining area, a large glass portal. Two more large windows flanked either side of the doors.

The hallway on the East side of the kitchen was long. Dark. Cold. Always. Luckily, Alexa's room was at the very beginning of the hallway and she would only go there when she needed to speak with her mother. Alexa's room was a carpeted space with large windows, dark purple drapes hanging from the tops of them. An octagonal shaped part of the room surrounded by windows was raised up, and several steps led to an elevated space where her piano lived. She also liked to paint there sometimes. At the end of the main hallway, the master bedroom and bathroom, complete with a waterfall shower, a pedestalized bathtub that beckoned the eye with its ornate polished stone throne. Two separate vanity areas with large mirrors faced one another from across the expanse. Each side had its own walk in closet. The master bedroom contained a large king sized bed, stone and marble fireplace in the corner, and a double door leading out to the back patio. 

The hallway on the West side of the house connected to the garage. The door leading into the garage was large and white with a silver handle. In front of the door was a guest bathroom with a heavy oak door. Then, another long, dark hallway. Dark. Cold. Footsteps always echoed through this part of the house. And every part.

Two more bedrooms stood at the end of this hallway, joined by a Jack-and-Jill style bathroom. 

One of the first nights sleeping in her new room, Alexa was exhausted from a long day at work. She was about to lay down, her head almost touching the pillow. That's when she heard it. 

*knock knock knock* 

Her ears perked up and her eyes went to the door. That big, heavy wooden door. The knock was unmistakable. She waited a second more, just watching the door. She could see no light from underneath it. 

Then, again. 

*knock knock knock* 

"What is it?" She said, getting out of bed. She turned on the light in her room and opened the door, expecting with all certainty to see her brother on the other side. But instead, there was no one. She closed the door after peering into the darkness of that hallway for just a breath or two. She knew she heard it. She knew she heard her brother knocking. 

After closing the door and locking it behind her, she went back to bed. 

*** 

After a few months in the house, Alexa had been hearing strange noises and feeling strange feelings. A knowing, almost. That something was in the shadows, just beyond her field of vision, in those voidant hallways. The coldness and vastness of the home was so inviting to the spirits of this place, and Alexa knew that. She could always see them, even as a young child. Now at 19, her senses were sharpening, and the spirits knew that, too. 

The dogs helped to clue everyone in on what was going on. They would sometimes intensely guard and watch the back door once it got dark, fixating on the door handles. They would bark and escort Alexa and her family members down the hallways. On more than one occasion I believe they have warded off entities from entering their bedrooms. 

The knocking was only the first of many experiences that would clue Alexa in to what really was lurking inside of that place. 

Over the years, Alexa and her siblings came and went from the house. Sometimes they would change rooms, and the energy was always different in the opposite wings. Some nights there would be no activity at all. 

*** 

Sleeping was rough in the last bedroom in the West wing. Late at night it seemed the spirits in the house would feel emboldened to pull pranks on Alexa, partly because she could actually see and understand them. 

At around 2am, Alexa was in that back bedroom laying down to sleep. Luckily, she wasn't alone in the house this night, although the house had a way of making you feel isolated no matter how many people were home. 

Alexa started to hear voices outside the door that led to the back patio. It sounded like several people talking in hushed tones, but unmistakable, and at a close distance. Her ears perked up instantly at the sound. Who would be outside the door at this time? Alexa made sure to get up silently, making no noise at all as she approached the door to listen closer. She could still hear them conversing. She hurriedly flicked on the lights to the backyard, and light flooded the side of the house. No one. But she heard them speaking. 

Heart racing, Alexa ran down the hallway into the living room and to the back door. She turned on those lights, too. No one was out there. Those big windows would have given her the perfect view of anyone standing out there. The dogs had followed her, barking and confused. Now, they sat still, staring at the back door, ears perked. One of them gently growled at the door handle. It was a windy night. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees her mother rounding the corner. Except, when she turned, it wasn't her mother at all. A woman in a nightgown stood in the mouth of that great dark expanse of a hallway that poured into the kitchen. 

She realized that the entities had lured her out into the kitchen, and in that moment, she knew these were not your average, run of the mill spirits. They had plans.

***

Alexa was lying down to sleep one night in one of the West wing bedrooms, the room on the very edge of the house. As she begins to drift, her eyes suddenly burst open. Only darkness surrounds her, but she heard it. Clear as day. A deep, growling voice in her ear. Not only the voice, but the breath. And it was not speaking English. It was the breath that made her react. She hurriedly turned on the lights. 

"Oh, HELL NO." She said, running to the door that connected her room to the now empty bedroom that used to occupy her sister when she still lived here. She wished she was here now. Fetching the dog to accompany her, she decided it best to sleep in here tonight. 

***

Her siblings had both moved out of the house, and Alexa was staying in the second to last bedroom in the West wing. She never found it comfortable to sleep in that last room after hearing the voice. 

It was the first night where she was the only one home. Her mom and step-dad had gone on a trip that weekend, leaving only herself and the dogs to "hold down the fort" as it will. This house was always so eerily quiet. The TV had to be on or else the silence would overtake and swallow them all. 

As Alexa decides it's time to get ready for bed, she calls the dogs to follow her as she turns off the television. Darkness spreads over the room save for the small lamp that she opts to keep on at night. There has to be some way to combat this ever encompassing darkness. As soon as the light from the living room lamp fades down the hallway, the back of Alexa's neck stands on edge. She feels it before she sees it. A presence, an entity. Down that hallway. Maybe it was with her the whole time she was watching TV. But as she turns around to calm her fears, all it does it confirm them. A pair of hands gripping the wall, and a face poking out from the other side. A woman. She is smiling at Alexa with full teeth, an eerie grin. Just her head, and her hair falling down the side of her neck. And her hands on the wall. She is posed like she is playing a game of hide-and-seek.  

The dogs notice the woman and one of them stands forward at attention in front of Alexa, growling. Alexa backs into the bedroom and closes the door quickly. Alexa knew that the reason this woman had shown up was because she was finally alone to see her. No siblings around, no one to run to. No one to tell. She locked her bedroom door and kept the dogs close to her that night. 

***

After asking her about her experiences, I gathered that Alexa was not afraid of these entities in the house.  In fact, she said that fearing them would give them more power. Instead, she learned to hone her awareness of them as a gift and responsibility. She tried to give them their space and make it known that they weren't welcome to frighten her or her family members. 

Author's Note

first 6 or so paragraphs I am working on my descriptive writing and also trying to accurately describe my real friends house so I appreciate you bearing with it at the beginning!