"Living in Cin" by A.M. Bacon

Living in Cin

by A.M. Bacon

 

Dropping her bag on the floor, Cindy collapsed on her bed. Her family had finally made the move into the huge Victorian home that had four sprawling bedrooms, hers being the one in the attic. Her bed was made lovingly by her mother while she was helping unload the moving truck. 

Everything was staged in the living and dining rooms since those rooms had the space. While her dad went to return the truck, her mom followed in the car, taking her brothers along with the intent of picking up dinner on the way home. 

She had the whole house to herself, so collapsing on her bed exhausted was just one of many options. 

Rolling over, pulling out her phone from her bag on the floor, she noticed that she had twenty text messages and three missed calls from a variety of her friends. All asking her if she was moved in yet, wondering when they would all be settled in, and if they could come over to hang out. 

Funny how not one of her friends offered to come help move. 

Just the idea of being in the empty house creeped them out. 

Cindy’s family was the guinea pigs. If they survived, her friends would come over. The house had been unoccupied for the past five years and was supposedly haunted. By a ghost that nobody knew anything about. 

Google and other search engines produced no information on any events that would warrant such rumors. There were no police reports about murders or any suspicious activity in the history of the house. 

The house had been owned by the same family for over a hundred years. The last remaining family member had recently passed away at a hundred and three years old in a nursing home. And that was just last year. 

When her dad brought them all over to see the house and the property, she instantly fell in love with it. The decorative woodwork throughout the home was beautiful and filled the house with old school charm. The kitchen was ginormous according to her youngest brother Mikey with plenty of cupboards and counter space for everything they would need and a screened in wraparound porch. 

There was a basement with a wine cellar, laundry area, storage and another room that appeared to have been a shop of some kind. It had a coal chute that was sealed off, but hadn’t been used since the mid seventies when the gas furnace was added to the home. 

The sprawling three acre lot would be great for her brothers to be exploring while Cindy worked on her writing. At least that was what she was hoping for. To someday publish her romantic fantasy stories and just live off of royalties or a movie deal. 

She dug out some clean jeans and sweater and socks and undergarments. She passed the two braces that were in the middle of her attic room that seemed to hold the weight of the roof up by themselves. Then she went into the bathroom to take a shower down on the second level. 

As she finished her shower, she dried off and changed into her clean clothes.She put her dirty clothes into the hamper where they eventually would be hauled off to the basement to be cleaned. 

As she walked back up the stairs to her room, Cindy noticed a shadow in the far corner. She stopped. Frozen with fear. She hadn’t heard anyone come home, and she knew she was the only one home.

She reached over, picking up the maglight she had taken from her dad’s car so she could see better in some places. Flipping it on, She screamed. 

What she saw was only there briefly, and then lunged at her. 

Cindy passed out, hitting her head on the floor. 

Swimming through the darkness, Cindy could see very little. Much like making your way through a dense fog, but lighter than air. 

She finally broke the surface, and took in a deep breath. 

Looking around in panic, she was moving, but she wasn’t the one making her body move. Hearing her mother calling, she tried to answer back, but could not. 

Sighing, Cindy called down the stairs. “I’ll be right down. I have to grab my phone.” Looking to a mirror standing next to her bed, Cindy took a long look at herself. Admiring her reflection. “Perfect!” She told the mirror, as Cindy’s mind reeled. It wasn’t Cindy talking to the mirror. Something else was operating her body. She was now along for the ride. Her reflection smiled back, as if right to her, stranded in the limbo of consciousness. “This house gave you to me.” Her reflection told her. And my grandmother was wise to hide the history of this house. Luckily, she bribed a lot of locals to do so.” 

Wanting to scream for her family to come help her, she found that she was no longer in control. She was now a silent passenger that could only watch as her body was stolen from her. “I look forward to playing with this body.” The voice spoke again. “I wonder just which of your 

family and friends will have to die because they figured me out?” Her body groped herself. “This body is much sexier than mine was. I can’t wait to play with it.” She couldn’t feel it, but she watched in horror at the violation. 

Her reflection gave her a creepy sideways glance. “Your friends and family will be fun to play with.for sure! I made a deal with the devil in this house, and I’ll be bringing more souls for it to feast on.” 

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll keep this body clean, even when the thoughts are dirty. You are no longer here. So go, fly away, soul. This body is now mine.” 

“And now, they can call me Cin.” As she went downstairs to meet the rest of her family again. For the first time.