The Aldercott Woman

A night with a jet black sky. The gushing of the wind swiped through Jennifer's hair, pushing the thin strands to sway and dance along with the cold night. She tightened her grip on the jacket she wore. It wasn't enough. And somehow, she did not want to be here. It was not a feeling of dislike she portrayed. It was more of despise, malice. Something that urged her to leave. A strong gut feeling, as they would call it.

"You okay, baby?"

Ah, yes. Her boyfriend was still here. Tommy. Cute guy. Jennifer gave a smile. As it creased along her face, she realized it wasn't really a smile, but more of a slight curl of the lips. The rest of her face exhibited frustration. She was evidently uncomfortable.

"I'm fine, baby. I just ..."

Tommy stretched out his pale arm and let it snake around Jennifer's shoulders. He pulled her close to his chest, his nose ruffling in his hair.

"That's okay. We just have to wait. They'll come out soon."

Jennifer nodded her head as her effort to express acknowledgement of his comfort. Yet, she felt it. The tug. A sense of guilt. Of course she did, they were doing something illegal. She closed her eyes in a futile attempt to seek respite from the various feelings lurching in her mind. She knew this was stupid. Standing in the night, helping 2 hooligans keep a look-out as they sneaked into an abandoned house to vandalize the property. Typical stuff.

Jennifer opened her eyes again. It was too unbearable - standing in silence on some road in the woods beside a house that seemed too out of place and crumbling slowly.

"This place ... didn't they say it was haunted?"

Tommy nodded.

"The Aldercott woman? Remember? This house was already kind of fucking creepy. It was the only house built in this huge lump of trees along this road. No other facilities or houses in sight here. But it's just a stupid rumor, so you don't-"

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what does the rumors tell?"

A deep sigh escaped from Tommy. Whether it was genuine not-give-a-fuck boredom or a dramatic attempt to showcase charisma and manliness, Jennifer did not know.

"You know, the same cliche shit. There was a woman by the last name of Aldercott, died in this house and now is a ghost wondering around. Then people who enter this house disappear. But the thing is ..."

"Yeah?"

"The thing is no one has arrived to a conclusion on what she actually does to people who enter the house. Even as a rumor, the part on what she does to the "unfortunate souls" is unclear. But of course, it has to be pretty terrifying."

Jennifer cursed herself. Who the fuck talks about this shit in the middle of the night beside some dirty suspenseful house? She rested her head on Tommy's shoulder. She just wanted rest. Sleep. Anything. Or better, getting the hell out of here. The cold against her skin almost seem to solidify, as she began to feel the insides of her cringing and crying for warmth. She shuddered. She wanted to go home now. She really did.

"Tommy can we go home?"

"What? Baby, Bill and Gregory are still in there-"

"Please! Just get us the hell out of here!"

Silence.

Jennifer sunk in along with the awkwardness that had transpired due to her abrupt reactions. She looked down and wiped her face with her hands. They were ice-cold.

"I'm - I'm sorry. But, I really think we should leave. Please, please, just get them to get out of here."

"Okay, okay. Relax, girl. Okay? Come on, it's going to be fine. I'm gonna go into the house and call them, alright?"

Jennifer looked up and gripped on Tommy's arm. Her nails dug into Tommy's skin and it sunk deeper by the seconds.

"I don't want to be alone."

"It'll be fine, just say here. If you need me, I have my mobile phone."

"Then why don't you just call those two morons?"

"They don't have their cell phones. Bill lost it and Gregory never had one since June. I'll just go get them, okay? The house is pretty small. I'll be back real quick."

Jennifer fell silent again. She threw a glance at the house. The walls had cracks plastering it, the layers of paint had worn out, leaving behind the scars of age. The roof was a mixture of pink bricks and pieces of broken marble stuck together to form a large plate-like structure to shelter the house. It was a simple house. By itself, crumbling and cracking. The door was wooden and there were no windows. In terms of height, it was short. But it was broad. Its back stretched out into the trees. The end couldn't be seen. Hidden under the shadows.

Jennifer's grip on Tommy loosened.

"Be back fast."

Tommy smiled.

"I will."

He walked into the house and opened the door. From what Jennifer could peek through, the insides of the house were just as dilapidated but that was only for the floor. The walls ... for some reason, they were clean. Absolutely no signs of vandalism. Almost as if ...

And then she saw it. It was so sudden, so unnatural. Tommy had jerked back. An arm. A thin, unnaturally long arm suddenly stretched out of the doorway. It was thin and brownish in color, it's skin battered with scars and scratches akin to tattoos. The fingers stretched out even further and swiftly curled around Tommy's neck and collar, before pulling him in through the doorway and the door slammed shut. Tommy had not even had the time to scream.

Silence.

Jennifer backed away, her mouth agape. Her mind desperately struggled to compute the visual information she had just received. It had happened. Whatever that thing was, it had pulled Tommy in through the door and into the house. And yet, she could not hear screaming. Nothing came out of the house. It was pure, torturous silence.

"The thing is no one has arrived to a conclusion on what she actually does to people who enter the house. Even as a rumor, the part on what she does to the "unfortunate souls" is unclear. But of course, it has to be pretty terrifying."

Jennifer stared at the door for a few more seconds. And then she turned and ran.

She ran and ran, each of her steps pounding down the road, the gravel kicked up off from the force of her shoes.

She ran as she felt sharp pangs of pain jot up through her thighs and she continued running.

She ran as the tears slowly glistened in her eyes and rolled away, down her cheeks as she ran as fast as her legs could manage.

She never stopped running until she had reached the end of the road and the first signs of human life sprung up. The town, the facilities, the fast food outlets, the police station.