It was a strong and cold winter day, and the unexpected chill blew across Ivana Tinkle’s neck. She was burdened by the pain of her neck and her arms for she had to drive two days to care of an old friend of hers. Despite the fact that she loved to drive, it hurt her to know the reasons behind it. When she arrived, she was in awe of what was before her. As young girls, they had the permission to paint the house orange, for the reason was unknown to her. Now she stood before a house that looked like burnt sienna with black strips of paint on top. It looked as if someone had tried to paint over but didn’t have to time to finish. The grass around the house was a color of light hay that the sun had burnt and reeked of manure. It was a strange smell and took her by surprise because they did not own a farm or any animals at that. The house was settled on a rock overlooking an ocean. The house seemed too out of place for her. It looked as if there were multiple earthquakes and the house had a kind of lean to it with a slight crack down the middle. There were no trees but there were sticks in the ground surrounded by barbed wired running around the length of the dark house. The ocean itself looked unhappy to have such a horrible view. It broke her heart to know that a friend she once knew and loved could possible live in a house that was in its foul condition. This was supposed to be a place of love and rest where one should enjoy being in their off time.
Even in its shameful condition, she had to spend some time with her friend in need. She had known this companion since she was a little child. Their families had liked each other but not enough for they all grew apart. Each household had children and jobs to attend to at the time and so their relationship fell to shambles. She would see her dear friend Sarah Bellum whenever time allowed but until now, this was the first of a long time she will have been given the opportunity to meet a well loved companion. It was strange how this came to be. FedEx sent a package and left it at her front step. When she opened it, it was a letter of sadness and desire. Bellum needed her and expressed that she will be dying soon. Her families past have put many pressures on her mentally and physically and she needed someone to guide her through to the end.
As a young girl, her mother expressed to her a small concern of them being friends. She confided in her that the Bellum’s were connected by blood. She was confused but then she understood why they all looked alike. They had relations with each other and never stepped outside of the family to find new partners. She was shocked to hear this news but as a child, she didn’t worry.
Before she made a beeline to the house, she found herself standing at the edge of the cliff that she jumped off so many times with Bellum to get a rush of cold ocean water. She remembers seeing the icy blue of it and how at the same time, it became warm when they stayed under long enough. Now, it looked as if no one has swum in it for decades. There were no signs of fish and barely any sign of waves. As she walked closer to the house, she saw a large assortment of colored mushrooms. If her memory serves her correctly, mushrooms are usually white and brown. Then she caught on. Mushrooms are made of bacteria and manure, maybe this land had so much of it, it was able to get extra doses which gave it its vibrant color. This was a strange concept for her to bear. This house was truly evil. As she looked closer, there was a mound of dead and decayed sharks. She almost screamed but she calmly said “what the… it is not possible for a mound of sharks to be this far up, this is not realistic.” Shaking off the cold reality of this she made her way towards the front door.
There was a tall, expressionless man who had one ear and three blood shot eyes. She had seen so much in the last minute that she was not in the least shocked. He opened the door for her and she stepped into a world of darkness. She walked past a ton of animalistic statues that seemed to take the form of people. “Are we not in the twenty-first century or what?” she gaped. The floor was bright silver but when she looked into it, her face became distorted and she pulled back quickly. The windows were bordered up with metal and were key locked. There were no curtains and no sunlight except for small streams trying to push their way through. Looking around she saw no furniture but a few stools here and there with no table to place them under.
It caught her off guard when the strange man opened up a door leading to a giant staircase that was made of purple glass. She walked up these and finally landed on a door that was made of steel with metal snakes wrapped around the door handle leading up to the crease of the door. She opened and walked in. What she saw had no words to place the eerie smell and feel of the room. Bellum was lying on a water bed that seemed to be remote controlled because it was constantly moving. There were mirrors on the walls in every direction. Each mirror had a gold rim and had different metal animals wrapping around the glass. Bellum rose and startled her with a hug that took her off guard. She reeked of rotten banana peels and leftover tuna. Her eyes were a large black brown color and she barely had any white left in her eyes. Normally, the veins in someone’s eyes would be red but hers were black as if she hadn’t slept in years. Her skin used to be a light brown complexion and now she looked like she hadn’t seen the sun since Jesus’ time.
She began to speak. What came out of her mouth was a slur of words telling me how thankful she was that I was able to show and carry her through this time of need. She told me that she didn’t understand what her condition was but she knew that she would soon die. She believed it had something to do with the family line and how it finally caught up to her. She talked as if she were in the nineteenth century. Her words were bold and Tinkle didn’t understand some of them. Bellum kept talking on and on about how the spiritual or supernatural world was trying to get into her mind and she couldn’t stop it. She told her of another family member and her sickness. As she was speaking, her sister Raven Bellum passed down the hall. She was practically running like she had someone chasing her. She didn’t even notice that Tinkle was there and a door was shut brutally behind her. Raven had some kind of disease also and she was close to death herself. The disease that raven had was unknown. Doctors who were allowed to visit the house could not figure out what was causing her to have hallucinations and breakdowns. During the first couple of days that Tinkle had stayed at the house, Bellum didn’t mention anything more of her sister. This left Tinkle worried and suspicious. Tinkle continued to think and she wondered how the family line can keep going if there are no men around. Then it hit her, Bellum did what she had to do and that is the reason why this was the last of her family. Instead of trying to get pregnant outside of the family, she would hang on to her sister and allow it to end. She was obviously gay. Tinkle was astounded. She no longer wanted to be around this family anymore. But, she sat and controlled her mind and thought of Sarah. She needed her and she wasn’t going to let her down.
When Tinkle stood to catch her breath, she walked around the house a little bit. She caught site of a beautiful painting of a tunnel. She thought it could have been a representation of how whites housed slaves. But she quickly dismissed this concept. The tunnel was dark and it looked like something out of one of those treasure hunting movies. There were fire lights and beds lining the walls. The picture was creepy but it felt so real.
Down the hall, she heard Sarah playing the drums. She was playing it as if her life depended on it. It sounded like an African melody and the beating was so hard, she could hear the pain coming out of her into the drums. Bellum was yelling and Tinkle was unable to make out all of the words. She heard something like:
Blah, Blah, Blah
Why has this house left me?
Why does my love not believe in me?
Blah, blah, blah
My land, my home, and my life is nothing without love
Blah, blach, bloop
Where is God
Isn’t he supposed to be here?
Why am I alone
Not evil the devil wants to comfort me
Tinkled believed that all of the pain Bellum felt was true. She had no way to really comfort her because she couldn’t understand how to deal with this type of pain.
To ease Bellum’s mind, they read a whole lot of books. Bellum hated Twilight and she couldn’t even think to move on to the rest of them. She loved the ear the eye and the arm. They even played some twister and Tinkle was surprised at how much she could still move. After, they played Sudoku, Tinkle’s favorite puzzle. If seemed to have felt good to Bellum to get her mind out of the underworld.
The next day, Bellum ran crying hysterically telling her that Raven had died. She wanted to preserve her body and place it in the cellar. She said that this was what Raven always wanted. Since she begged, Tinkle helped her knowing that the police would find out sometime but by then she would be long gone. They moved at a steady pace and walked down the creepiest stairs Tinkle had ever seen. They were made of black carpet with no railings and no spaces in between each stair. The stair itself was supported by the sides of the wall. They put the body down to open the door. Inside, it looked exactly like the photo Tinkle saw a couple of days ago. It had the same amount of beds lying against the wall and the walls had fire lights. They must have been made of fire that never went out or Bellum came down there a lot to light them. Either way, it was weird. They moved to place the body on the bed closest to the door on the right side. They placed aluminum foil on the body to protect God knows what. Tinkle just did as she was asked. Minutes later, they left the room and bolted the door behind them. It had a sound so powerful that it shook Tinkle out of her right mind. She was confused because they didn’t even put her into a coffin but whatever.
Making their way upstairs, she remembered Raven’s face and now saw the same face before her. Then it kicked into gear, they were twins. How could she not notice this before? One had to be blind not the see this. This means that the disease that Raven had might be the same disease that has Sarah. Moving on, Sarah seemed agitated and couldn’t stop moving. She was rambling on and on with words. She seemed shaken as if something about the plan was messed up. Of course its messed up Tinkle thought. We just buried your sister and lover in the basement with aluminum foil.
Ten days later while in bed, Tinkle could not sleep. She kept thinking of how Raven was lying in the cellar decaying. She got up and walked toward her metal barred window. She had a feeling that something was calling her but she was hesitant to move. She then pushed and went into the hall toward Sarah’s room. She was staring at a wall and knocked her head on it a few times. She kept saying “did you see, huh, did you?” “Nope” Tinkle said. Sarah ran around and started to cry like a baby. Tinkle offered to read her a story. It was called Cat Fancy. As she read, Sarah seemed to calm. “The cat purred lightly as its mother cleaned him”. All of a sudden, they heard a slight sound that sounded like humming coming from a distance. She kept reading, “The mother found all of her young and noticed that one was missing, she ran and ran around trying to find her child. Once she found him, she swooped him up by his neck and threw him in with the rest of the family. The small kitten hissed and clawed at the mother for this abuse.” Then, they heard a scratching sound coming from the bottom of the house. It sounded like someone was trying to break in. Then, a thud came and the sound of a door seemed to break off. She kept reading to ease Sarah’s mind. “The mother took her paw and hit the kitten and meowed to him to place his anger elsewhere. The kitten ran and ran into the door trying to leave from his mother’s presence.” The heard a thud coming up the stairs. Sarah looked as if she was possessed and feared for her life. It seemed as if she knew exactly what the sound was and was scared to say it.
Minutes later, the door bust open and their stood a deadly looking Raven. She had worms and roaches in the insides of her eyes and hair. She looked at Sarah and then pounced on her just like the kitten did to the mother. Tinkle ran for her life. She ran outside until she dive bombed off the cliff into the ocean. Soaking wet, she ran around the cliff toward her car. Why she jumped she didn’t understand because her car was closer to the house. As she was driving off, she watched with horror as the house was slowly falling off of the cliff and was aiming directly into the water where she had just been. The house split into two and finally hit the water like a boat falling from the sky. The splash was so high, the animals had to part. Then, there stood the remains of “The House of Bellucifer’.