The Four Ancient Intelligences Epi 02 - The House Behind the Village

The village was nearly four hours from the city, and once the bus dropped me on the small road outside it, I had to walk the rest of the way alone. Nobody in the village wanted to take me there. When I asked an old shopkeeper for directions, he studied me for a long moment before asking why I wanted to go. "I'm a writer," I told him. He laughed without any real humor in it. "Then write about another place." When I pressed him for a reason, he only looked toward the forest and said, "Some houses are empty because people left them. That house is empty because something stayed." I assumed he was just trying to scare me and honestly, I welcomed it. I wanted to be scared. I thanked him and kept walking.

The road narrowed and the village disappeared behind me until there was nothing but trees. After nearly an hour I finally saw the house standing alone three floors, a broken roof, filthy walls, windows black as ink, and behind it the enormous tree from the photograph, its branches spread like long dark hands. I circled the building. The front door was locked, but I found a broken window on the first floor and climbed through into a smell of dust, wet wood, and something else I couldn't name. I dropped my bag and opened my notebook to write: Day One. House appears abandoned. No electricity, no neighbors nearby, very quiet. I smiled, certain this was going to be my best story yet. I had no idea how right I was.

That night I ate some bread by the broken window and listened to a forest that was unnervingly silent no dogs, no birds, no insects, nothing at all. At midnight I heard a thump from upstairs, then another. I grabbed my flashlight and crept up the stairs to a long hallway that ended in a closed door. As I approached it, a woman's voice spoke directly behind me, "Why did you come here?" I spun around. No one was there. My flashlight flickered, and at the end of the hallway, the door slowly swung open on its own.