The Nightmare on Cherub Street/Chapter 2
"What's wrong, dear!?" Billy spun around to face her mother, the owner of the hand that had touched her shoulder. She blinked, then spun back around to look up at the painting. The painting sat still and unloving, looking exactly as it did before it moved.
"I s-saw that p-painting m-move..!" she stammered out, pointing up at it with a shaking finger. "I-It w-was a g-g-ghost!!" Wendy bent down and picked up her frightened daughter, stroking her head. "It's just an old painting, sweetie. See?" They both looked at it for a while, and nothing happened. Billy shook her head, closed her eyes and opened them, and look at it again. The painting remained still and unmoving. "B-But..." she mumbled.
"This house is very old, but it's just a house. Nothing bad will happen to you here." Wendy paused for a moment, then continued: "If that painting bothers you so much, we can move it. Will that help?" Billy thought about this and nodded as her father walked in carrying half a dozen bags at once and fumbling to set them all down past the threshold. "Okay..." she mumbled.
"Let's go pick out a room for you, okay? You can have any room you like!~" swooned Wendy as she carried Billy towards the stairs.
Wendy carried Billy up the grand staircase, which seemed to creak loudly with every step. The girl watched the painting over her mom's shoulder all the way up, but it never moved. Wendy took Billy down the hallway to the right and they checked out the rooms. The first room on the left side of the hallway had white sheets over everything and smelled like wax. Candlesticks of various sizes and arrangements littered the room. "This must've been a storage room, let's keep looking." said Wendy, who carried the girl across the hall to the next room.
This door opened with a creek to reveal a lavish library full of high bookshelves and lounging chairs. "Next room then." said Wendy who closed the door and moved on down the hallway. They checked several more rooms, including an ornate bathroom complete with monster clawed bathtub, and a music room with a grand piano and small stage. Finally, they came to the end of the hallway.
Billy noticed there were stairs leading up to the third floor to the left as her mother opened the last door at the end. She gasped as they entered, as the room had a lavish four poster bed with dolls, wooden horses, and other girl's toys placed on shelves along the walls. A small room lead off into a closet with a wardrobe large enough to hold all her clothes (and then some).
"Can I have this room, mommy? It's perfect!" she exclaimed happily. "Sure, honey. This looks great for you." Wendy said with a smile as she set Billy down. "I'm going to go help your daddy get more things out of the car, come help when you're done!" she said as she walked out the door. Billy went over to examine the dolls, each one seemed in near perfect condition down to the strands of colored yarn on their heads and their glass marble eyes. She found a little brush and had sat on the bed to comb several dolls when she heard a voice from the door.
"Eww, what a girlie room!" Peter said as he walked in. "You can have this one, I certainly don't want it!" Billy glared at her brother. "I like it, and I'm taking it! Mommy already said it was mine!" she retorted, sticking her tongue out at Peter. He just shook his head and turned to leave. "I'm going to explore the third floor." Billy hopped off the bed. "I want to come!" she said, jogging to catch up with him.
"Fine, you can come. But leave that doll behind, it's giving me the creeps." Billy looked down at the doll she'd been combing and shrugged, setting it on the bed. "Whatever, let's go see what's up there!" The two kids ran for the stairs, which wound up in a spiral pattern. Peter insisted on going first "as the oldest", which made Billy roll her eyes, though she didn't say anything. He was always pulling stuff like that, and she was used to it. It was much less tiring sometimes to just give him what he wanted...
Peter and Billy got up to the third floor only to find it pitch black. "Help me find the lights..." Peter ordered. Billy and Peter felt down the hall in opposite directions, looking for a light switch. "Find it yet?" Peter called. "Not yet!" Billy turned her head and called back, just as her fingers touched something cold and slimy, making her jump. Flinching, she turned around slowly and looked up into the gaunt face of the man from the painting, lit by a ghostly white light that seemed to not move past his pale skin.
Billy opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The pale figure traced a long finger down her neck, and Billy found that not only could she not scream, but she couldn't even move. The finger brushed her hair aside and moved down to her chest. The gaunt figure grinned down at the terrified little girl, his mouth stretching impossibly wide as his finger pressed against one of her nipples through the thin cloth of her pink sundress. Billy felt a chilling shock race through her nipple as the head leaned down...
"Found it!" Peter called, and suddenly the lights were on. Billy blinked, but there was nothing there. The figure was gone, and she stared at a door who's handle she had clasped in one small hand. Snatching her hand back, she eyes up the door. It was carved of some kind of dark wood, almost black in color, and etched with tiny symbols of birds and birdcages around the border.
"What are you looking at?" Peter said, coming over to look at the door. "What's in here?" Peter pushed past her to grab the door knob. Billy's throat worked and let out a squeak, and she realized it was bone dry. She coughed, cleared it, and tried again. "D-Don't..!" she squeaked out as Peter tried to turn the nob. "Drat, is it locked?" he said, tugging on the door. It rattled but would not budge.
"Damnit, wonder where the key is... Oh well." He turned back to Billy, looking down at his baby sister. "What's wrong with you? You look like you just saw a ghost." Billy grabbed his arm, trying not to cry as fear trickled down her spine like lightning. "L-Let's go find mom and d-dad..! P-Please....!!!"
Peter's brow furled as he looked at his sister. Peter's brow furled as he looked at his sister. "Aww, you're not gonna cry are you? Fine, I'll take you to mom and dad, you big baby." He wrapped an arm around hers, and they walked back down the hallway towards the stairs. Billy kept glancing back at that dark door, wishing with all her heart that they'd never come to this house...
Chapter 3: What Lies Beneath