Furry Art Pile

Amongst the forests and gently rolling mountains of the western Pennslyvania countryside; if one leaves the comfortable confines of one Interstate 80 and travels northward on Route 255, they will come to a simple backwoods road known as Ayreshire Road. Turning left onto said road and following its curves and hilly terrain about three and a half miles will put you at the entrance to a graveled drive that leads to a large three-story Victorian house set back away from the road a good seven hundred metres. Now this house is not lived in, nor had it been lived in for several months prior, and it was in no means decrepit or run down...moreover just not maintained in the way a house should properly be. It was in the beginning of the new year that a simple quiet chap from the northernmost reaches of Alaska was called back to this place of his childhood, a place almost forgotten about, but never far from his mind, that circumstances beyond his control brought him from his sanctuary to this place. With all hopes of making quick work of the affairs that had arrived via certified post only a couple of weeks prior, this young Wolf was about to realise that nothing is as simple as one hopes when they revisit childhood memories and fears. And this house held both. This was surely not to be an easy and quick visit...

The tyres crunched over the grey and white speckled gravel as the rented Land Rover LR3 pulled down the drive and came to a stop at the foot of the stepcase leading to the oversized front porch. Adrik pushed the gearshift into PARK and killed the engine and sat with both brown and black-streaked paws gripping the steering wheel and stared out through the windscreen at the mixture of bare tree branches and deep green evergreen tree needles. The main thing he noticed was the lack of snow. For January, there was hardly any snow anywhere. Not just here mind you, the entire drive down from Erie was also snowless, as well as most of the flight down. From Washington to across the Dakotas and the Midwest was as brown and barren as a desert. The Wolf continued to study the landscape as well as the large blue-greyish house he was sitting in front of as his right paw instinctively reached to the passenger seat and pulled a large manilla envelope out from underneath the stack of papers that were seated there. His eyes, almost the same colour as the house, didn't move as he flipped open the top of the envelope and gave it a quick shake. There were a set of keys inside amongst the papers and legalaties and they dropped onto his lap almost soundlessly. Years of both visiting and living in this house, and now he was holding the keys for it; the house from his past that he was now in full legal possesion of, and yet ironically, had no desire to become its caretaker. When he was a younger pup, his dreams were to have a huge house as such, set away from the noise and clutter of the outside world, a house where the nearest neighbour was a good thirty minutes away, a house where he could set up a little space in whatever room he chose and write. And now he had that chance, and wanted no part of it. At least no part involving this particular house...

"Let's get this over with," Adrik muttered to no one except himself and opened the door and stepped out into the surprisingly warm January air.

The house seemed even larger now that he was standing underneath it, his neck craned up to peer at the many dark windows on the front of the house. Twenty-three in total. That was a lot of windows. Seemed like too many for some odd reason. But what did you expect? The house was huge. In the right market it would bring in seven figures easy. But not out here in rural Pennslyvania. The closest town was Kersey and that in itself was nothing more than a petrol station, a corner market, and some houses. The location most certainly did not make this a prime property. That, and the evil that resided in one of the upstairs bedrooms. An evil that Adrik had encountered many times during many nights many years ago. It was the main reason he wanted to make his trip as quick as possible. He may be older, but the fear of such a poultrific terror knows no age. As his mind was racing with those thoughts, a sudden wind picked up behind him and it almost felt like he was pushed up the heavy wooden stairtreads to the front porch. He gave one more look at the fascia of the house and then back at the safety of the dark blue Land Rover.

'Only a few metres...' he told himself. 'Just say 'Fuck it' and dash for the Landie and get the hell out of here! You know its waiting for you inside!'

As if to answer his thoughts for him, the wind picked up again and Adrik had no choice but to take a step or two up onto the porch to get out of the forceful gusts. He stole another fleeting look at the Rover and then turned to the massive oak and ornate glass front door. The brass keyhole gleamed up at him and he slowly fumbled for the correct key and slid it inside. The clicking of the tumblers and an almost deafening 'clunck!' of the bolt releasing in the quiet forest came next and just as he was placing his paw on the handle, the wind picked up again and the door blew open with a heavy groan.

"Perfect. This has predictable horror movie written all over it." he said sarcastically and stepped through the door. Little did our friend Adrik know, but this experience was going to be far from predictable...

A quick flick of the lightplate near the door proved that the electric was still on in the house and Adrik had to squint as the lights in the foyer came to brilliant life. As his eyes adjusted, he closed the door behind him and perked up his ears to catch any sounds that may be lurking inside the house. His paw was still on the doorhandle, ready to turn it and bolt outside at the first sign of anything unnatural. (Which was hypocritical in a big way because he THRIVES off of the supernatural and weird) Aside from the wind outside and the occasional creak and groan of the massive house, all was normal. Adrik shook his head and almost laughed out loud as his overzealous nervousness and walked from the front door and across the foyer towards the rear hallway that led to the kitchen. More than anything he needed a drink at the moment and he was hoping that there was some liquid refreshment somewhere.

After being vacant for so many months, it was painfully obvious the house was void of any food or drinks that weren't canned or frozen, and Adrik was kicking himself for not stopping at the Tops in Warren for some staples. He opened up a cabinet instead and pulled out a tall clear glass. He walked across the kitchen to the sink and turned on the faucet and let the cold water run for a few moments before sticking the glass under. A trip into towne tomorrow was a must. Adrik took a long sip of water and looked around. At least the place had been cleaned up. All the dishes were put away and the counters were orderly. Aside from a layer of fine dust, cleaning this place up and getting it sold should be a piece of cake. Adrik smiled and went to take another drink wen his ears perked up suddenly. He heard what sounded like a soft clawing coming from the ceiling above. Not as much the ceiling as it was coming from the bedroom above the kitchen. Adrik quietly and quickly set the glass down and perked his ears again, listening closely. There it was again! A soft, almost inaudibile scratching against the upstairs floorboards. It was still here! And it knew he was here as well!

Adrik's paw instinctively went to his right front pants pocket to grab the keys for the Rover and he felt a pinge of fear when his claws found only an empty pocket. Then he remembered. He had left them in the vehicle. Along with the mobile phone. His eyes came upon the old-fashioned black rotary phone mounted on the wall near the archway to the dining room. He took a step towards it when he remembered that it would be useless. The phone had been off for months now. Besides, who would he call? He stopped and tilted his head towards the ceiling and listened. The scratching had stopped. Maybe he imagined it? He knew better than that. What was up there knew he was here again and it also knew that HE knew it knew he was here. (That's confusing, yes?) There wasonly one thing for hime to do now. He was here. Alone. And after twenty-three years, he was ready to face the being that had caused him many a sleepless night in that room. It was a fact that needed to be faced. The room above him had been HIS room when he lived him growing up...and the presence that was up there needed to be confronted. There was no running away this time. No more time to fear what resided in the closet. No more time to fear shivers running down his spine everytime the noises started. No more time to...

The scratching started up again. This time it sounded as if it was moving across the floor. Towards the bedroom door. This was something new. Normally it stayed in the closet. Adrik listened intently but also quietly slinked his way along the counter back towards the entryway that led to the hall in which he had come. He suddenly had an idea. If it was heading towards the main staircase to surprise him, which judging by the scratches and scrapes above him, was exactly what it was doing, then he should do just the opposite and go up the BACK staircase and surprise it instead. He grinned and quickly crossed the kitchen and slowly opened the wooden door that led to the rear stairs. It was dark in the corridor and Adrik had to close his eyes for a moment to allow his night eyes to focus. He could make out various bric-a-brak hanging on the wall and then the stairtreads as they climbed upwards and then turned sharply to the right and disappeared upstairs. He looked around for a weapon just in case and could only find a mop that was hanging off a hook. It had a long handle and was the only thing he could find in such a short notice. It would have to do. He sighed and pulled it off the hook and then began to creep slowly up the stairs, trying to not make a sound. He rounded the sharp turn of the stairs and froze in place and his eyes grew wide. A pair of dark red eyes were staring back at him from the top of the stairs. Adrik was unable to move and he just stared in wide-eyed horror. It had known what he was doing! How is that possible??

"Hello Adrik. Welcome home." a soft, sinister voice bawked from behind the red evil eyes.

"Bastard poultry!" Adrik replied and stood there, transfixed and frozen in place.

To Be continued....