Okay, well, this is going to be a tough one.
“Blanket” is not a prompt I was expecting.
I looked at the word and nothing came to me at first. Well, nothing came to me for a good while.
I mean that is not a word that makes it easy to write, but it is a challenge.
The Blanket
Casey always wondered why no one opened the cedar chest in the attic. Every time she asked about what was in the chest, she would be told it was none of her business and that she didn’t need to know.
The problem was the more they told her that, the more she wanted to know what was in the chest. She had to find out, but she wasn’t allowed in the attic.
“You’re a child. Anything could happen to you up there. Don’t go in the attic.”
I am not a child. I am 14.
She would think when they used that reply. She had to come up with a plan to see what was in the attic. She would look up from her room to the ceiling where she thought the chest was. She did try to get up in the attic when her father was up there and got a peek before he told her to get off the ladder.
She was sitting on the bed doing her homework one afternoon when there was a thud from the attic like someone had picked up the chest and dropped it. She shook her head and continued doing her history work.
THUD
She looked up again. After the thud there was a scraping sound. She got off her bed and walked into the livingroom where her father was watching a baseball game.
“Dad, did you hear that?”
Her father looked at her, “Hear what?”
“There were two thuds and a scraping noise coming from the attic.”
“You sure it’s not your imagination? You love watching all those ghost shows and reading books about monsters and things.”
“I am sure, dad. The thud happened twice and there was a scraping sound. It’s like someone is trying to move the chest.”
Her father sighed, “The chest again, Casey. Go back to your room and finish your homework.”
Casey let her head droop and made her way back to her room. She returned to her room and flopped down on her bed. She quickly blew a lock off hair from her face and slammed her history book open and slapped her notebook on her lap. She placed earbuds in her ears and hit play on her mp3 player.
She was halfway done with the questions when the scraping sound returned, this time slower and more deliberate, overtaking the music in her ears. She shifted her gaze from her notebook to the ceiling. The scraping stopped and this time was followed by a gasping sound and a growl.
She looked down the hall to see her father pulling down the stairs that led to the attic but stopped when his head poked through to the attic. She pulled one earbud out.
“Stop that. You will make her want to come up here.”
Casey’s eyes shot up to the ceiling when she heard, “Let her come. Every child needs warmth. Take me to her.” The voice was dark, and sounded like someone that needed to clear their throat.
She recognized her father’s stern voice, but it was tinged with something she’d never thought she’d hear from her dad, fear, “No, she has plenty of blankets. She doesn’t need you. You have claimed enough from us.”
The voice above Casey’s room replied with one word, “More.”
She quickly plugged the earbud back into her ear and tried not to shiver as her father descended the stairs and walked toward her.
“Are you alright, Casey?”
She tried to play it off by taking out the earbud she hadn’t fully inserted, “Yeah, what WAS that, dad, and please, don’t tell me I imagined that.”
He sighed as he sat on her bed, “You heard that?”
“How can you not? It was louder than my music.”
“As long as it stays in the chest and in the attic, there is nothing to worry about, Spunky.” He patted her on the head and gave her a hug.
“Dad, what is it?”
“It’s nothing for you to worry about. I have it handled.”
He got up and left her to finish her homework. That night they ate in silence. Casey wasn’t about to bring up the chest again. After dinner, she helped with the dishes and then took a shower.
She was settled into her bed with her favorite manga when the shifting started again. She shook it off and turned the page. She was about halfway through the manga when she heard to gravel-laded voice from the attic.
“Come to the attic. Every child needs a warm blanket.”
She looked up, “No, dad doesn’t allow me into the attic.”
There was an eerie chuckle, “You mean to tell me you’ve never ignored what your father told you? You’ve never disobeyed him?”
“Yes, but not this time. He says no. I won’t-“
“I know you’ve been wanting to come visit the chest. Come on up. You’re father will never know.”
“Yes he will.”
“Come on up. He’s asleep. He will never even hear you.”
Something took hold of her. She tried to resist, but her limbs wouldn’t cooperate. Her legs slid off the bed and made their way to the hatch in the ceiling. She looked horror as her hand fumbled for the rope and pulled the stairs down.
She tried to call out, but only a whimper issued forth from her throat. Her hands wrapped around the stairs and her feet were three steps up when she felt a hand grab her right leg. She stiffened and realized she could control her limbs again. She shoot back down the steps and turned to see her father, his face engulfed in worry and fear.
“Casey, are you alright?”
She replied between sobs and was shaking uncontrollably, “Dad, I couldn’t stop myself. I couldn’t! I’m sorry!”
He held her close and rubbed her back, “It’s fine. I know. I am not mad, just worried. Come with me to my room.”
He sat her on his bed and gave her a glass of something to drink. It looked like water but tingled on her tongue. He tucked her into his bed and went to sleep on the couch.
The chest in the attic let out a frustrated growl. There were soft thumps from inside it against the lid and then nothing.
The next day, Casey got ready and her father took her to school. When he returned, he straight into the attic and stood in front of a worn Cedar Chest that worn ruts into the bracings on which it was placed. It had an engraving of a Cross superimposed on a Pentacle.
The soft thumping started again. Casey’s father stood resolute, “I will find a way to rid myself of you. You will not get my daughter. You’ve take enough from me already, from us. Were you not satisfied with my wife?”
The chuckle sent chills down his spine, “No, Robert, it’s not enough. Your family has tried to get rid of me for centuries, but none have found a way. I grow hungry. I need sustenance.”
“Not my Casey.”
“We will see.”
Robert called in sick for the day and drove for three hours to a nameless town. It’s name has been erased from history and was not listed on any map, but he knew the way by heart. He turned down an overgrown road and parked his truck in front of an old shack. He walked around the shack to the rear of the property and found the firepit. There were thin wisps of smoke emanating from it. He turned toward the shack when the creaking of rusty hinges rang out.
Turning, he saw an elderly woman in ragged robes, “I need your help. I didn’t want to admit it. I thought I had it handled, but I do not.”
The woman’s voice was raspy, “Everyone in our family thinks they can contain it. It is after your wife?”
He shook his head, tears started to run down, “It took her last year when I was at work.”
“What did you tell your daughter?”
“I told her that her mother was kidnapped. We filed a missing persons report.”
The old woman shook her head as she made her way down the back steps, “A lie. You should have told her the truth. You should have told her the legacy when she turned 13. The more curiosity that grows in her, the more demon in the blanket can control her.”
She slapped him across the face, “You’ve put her in danger, Robert. You are the jailer of the darkness that plagues our family, and you have failed to contain it.”
He threw his hand in the air, “I don’t want to contain it. I want to get RID of it. Is there no way to do that?”
The woman’s eyes went from anger to sadness, “There is only one way, but none in the family have had the courage. It has been so long. I have forgotten.”
“You were the last keeper, grand. Could you not have done something when you had it?”
She shook her head, “No female can defeat it. That is why there are so few of us. We always succumb in the end.”
She turned to walk back into the shack and motioned for Robert to follow, “Come. Let’s see if we can find the way again.”
“Casey will home in a few hours.”
The woman opened the door, “Go. When you return, bring her, and tell her everything.”
School let out early due to final exams. One of the neighborhood parents dropped Casey off on her doorstep. Casey thanked the parent and turned to look at her house, focusing on the attic.
The woman rolled down the passenger window, “Is everything alright, Casey?”
The girl took a deep breath and turned around, “Yeah, yeah, everything is fine, Mrs. Cline. It’s just odd dad isn’t home is all.”
“I’m sure he will be around shortly, unless you want to come home and hang out with Missy until he gets home?”
She shook her head, “It’s alright. I’m sure he’s not too far behind.”
“Call if you need anything, dear!”
Like you can help me with the thing in the attic. “I will! Thank you, Mrs. Cline!”
Casey turned back toward the house as the mother drove away.
Whatever it is that’s up there wants me to see it. Maybe if I confront it, it will leave me alone.
She walked with purpose and mustered all the courage she could find as she unlocked the front door. The house was cold. There was a smell of something rotten coming from the attic. Casey shivered.
Welp, there went all my courage. All I can do now is try not to pee on myself and run.
“Have you decided to disobey your father?”
Casey took a deep breath and looked down the hall toward the hatch, “Maybe, what’s it to you?”
“You’re trying to be brave.” There was rumble to the voice.
“If I am what of it?” Casey moved closer to the hatch.
The voice was getting faint, “Your father didn’t tell you what happened to your mother, did he?”
Her fear turned to anger, “Don’t mention mom. She was kidnapped. They haven’t found her.”
“There not going to find her. She took me out of the chest. I consumed her.”
Casey’s eyes flew open and she made her way to the kitchen, “You’re lying.” She frantically searched for the clicker her father used to light the stove when the lights go out.
“He didn’t tell you. Come up and I can show you.” The voice was fainter still.
“You sounded so big and bad when I walked in her a few minutes ago. What’s the matter?”
The voice didn’t answer.
…to be continued.
House of Geek 