The Other Side of the Wall (A Short Horror Story) by AD Starrling

Author:AD Starrling
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AD Starrling

The farmhouse appeared over the rise, white clapboard bright under the midday sun. Jim’s Prius was parked in the shadows next to the porch. Melanie brought her car to a stop next to it and switched the engine off.

It had taken just under three hours to get to Dunfell from Chicago.

Although her mother had been against her visiting Jim, Melanie knew it was what she needed to do if she wanted to salvage the tattered remains of their marriage.

‘Mommy, are we here?’ a sleepy voice asked from the back of the car.

Melanie unclipped her seat belt and turned to look at the blonde girl in the child seat. Sara blinked and rubbed her eyes. They were a chocolate brown, the same color as Melanie's.

‘Yes, we are, sweetheart.’ she said gently.

Melanie’s heart twisted when she saw the excitement in her daughter’s face. She recalled the tears the little girl had shed in the days after she had been ripped from the only home she had ever known, all but a few weeks ago, and remorse swamped her once more.

She regretted leaving Champaign now. Despite the hurt and anger, Melanie knew she should have stayed with her husband.

‘Daddy!’ Sara shouted. She pulled eagerly at her restraints, her bright eyes focused on the house.

‘Wait a minute, darling. I’ll get you out of there.’

Melanie stepped out of the car and opened the back door. Sara bolted from the vehicle as soon as her seatbelt was undone, small legs pumping as she dashed up the porch. She pulled at the screen, opened the front door, and ran inside.

Melanie smiled when she heard the faint cries of ‘Daddy!’ echoing from the house. She unloaded the suitcases from the trunk, carried them to the porch, and dumped them by the open door before heading inside the farmhouse.

‘Jim?’

She peered curiously around the gloomy foyer. The doors leading off the hall were all closed. She turned, spotted the light switch, and flicked it.

Light bathed the space. Melanie heard movement upstairs.

‘Sara, are you up there?’ she called out.

Footsteps pounded the stairs. Sara appeared around the bend in the staircase and waved something at her. ‘Mommy, look, I found a dolly!’ She turned and ran back up, disappearing around the corner.

Melanie frowned faintly. Where’s Jim?

She explored the first floor. When she saw the half-eaten lasagna and open bottle of wine in the family room, a trace of unease darted through her. The study was full of Jim’s paperwork and there was fresh milk in the fridge. She crossed the hallway and headed up the stairs.

Sara was sitting on the floor at the end of the corridor, under a beautiful, stained-glass window. She was fiddling with something.

‘Have you seen Daddy, honey?’ said Melanie, strolling toward her.

Sara shook her head. Melanie slowed, staring at the thing her daughter was playing with. It was a dirty porcelain doll with gaping holes where its eyes should have been. She shuddered, an irrational fear knotting her stomach.

Something on the floorboards next to Sara drew her gaze.

‘What is--’

Melanie stopped and raised a trembling hand to her lips.

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