“Stop.” The voice vibrated through the floor, through the very walls of the house. “Please.”

I froze with fear. Every atom in my body was frightened at the voice that seemed to breathe through this very house. My eyes were directed to the chained up door, hearing the metal creak and crash upon the hook as if it wanted to give way.

“Theo,” echoed throughout the room, bouncing off every surface like a torrential wind. I looked above me, noticing that the creaking of the floor had suddenly ceased. Where was Teddy, and why was this voice calling out his name?

“Theo, you are hurting me,” the voice wept, sounding so broken and afraid. The chain over the doorway began to slam louder, the door to the cellars resolved on opening. I stepped back slowly, lowering the knife since I realized I would need more than metal to defeat this demonic being. The house was haunted, I was certain of that now.

The grandfather clock began to ring, but it was far too soon for it to be nine o’clock already. “Theo!” was screamed out at the top of the woman’s lungs. The bell continued to ring, echoing down the hallway to where I stood. The chain was thrashed heavily, for the door was determined to be open all the way.

The drapes whipped around faster even though there was no wind, flickering the hallowed moonbeams that illuminated the kitchen floor. The clock never stopped ringing down the hall, and suddenly I feared that the very sound would make Teddy go insane. I leaned against the countertop, wondering which direction I would take for a quick escape. He could be coming down the steps at any moment, but what could be worse than the thing that was on the other side of the cellar, screaming out his name?

Clang, clang, pierced through the air. The chains were brandishing themselves against the hook, determined to push themselves off the curved metal .

“Please,” cried out from the depth of the floor, a sound that came directly beneath my feet. “I love you,” broke out a cry. “Don’t do this to me.”

I covered my ear once a terrible shrill struck the air, dropping my weapons entirely to block out the sound. It was a harrowing cry, one that you prayed to never hear in your lifetime. I found my knees buckling from fear, and soon I collapsed upon the floor with only my hands on the back of the chair to brace me upwards. The ominous bell continued to ring, it was enough to make me go mad. The chain thrashed itself heavier, and I could hear a banging against the door as if something was desperate to escape.

I stared at the door to the cellar in pure horror, only to let out a breathless scream once hands clasped me from behind. A hand covered my mouth, in which I reacted by squirming in strong arms that were undoubtedly Teddy’s.

“Shhhh,” he hissed into my ears. “Quiet.”

I cried into his mouth while shaking uncontrollably. Everyone was right all along, I should have stayed away from him, but now it was too late. I tried to push him away, but Teddy was so much stronger than me. I felt him dragging me away from the chained up door where the chain continued to clatter against the hook, and only when we reached the main hallway that he removed his hand from my mouth. Teddy violently turned me around to look at him, but with the heavy darkness that eclipsed the hallway it was hard to make him out, only his silhouette could be perceived. I immediately pushed at his chest in anger and tried to run away, heading towards the only route where I knew there was a clear escape.

“Nooo!” Teddy bellowed out in a furious rage, before he ran after me as fast as he could. The staircase to the upper levels swiftly turned to the left, leaving me on a levelled platform where I could only go upwards. The sound of the grandfather clock continued to ring, loud enough to block out the hurried footsteps of Teddy. I sprinted up the last few steps and then found myself in a long hallway without knowing where to go next. There were so many doors, and in the darkness I could not make out which one to choose.

The grandfather suddenly stopped ringing. I turned around, too startled by the silence to realize that Teddy was right behind me. He bumped into me in the darkness, knocking me off balance to the point that I fell upon the floor. I screamed when he grabbed at my leg and immediately used my right foot to jab at his moving hands.

“Stop!” he yelled, but I only kicked him in the top section of his thigh. “Sela!” he screamed out in pain. He clasped at my bare foot and tugged me forward, sending out a blood curdling scream that shook through the house. “Quiet,” he warned in so fierce a tone, that I laid perfectly still. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said in a breathless voice. “But she will.”

I laid there motionless on the floor as I took in his words. “Who?”

Teddy never answered me, and instead offered a hand in the shifting darkness to lift me off the floor. The banging of a metal chain downstairs could still be heard, but it was less threatening when we were so far away.

“We need to get out of here.”

“We?”

“Come,” he warned, before he tugged on my hand to bring me to the flight of stairs. We were just about to reach the top landing, when we heard someone call out his name. It was faint, but noticeable enough to leave me frozen. “Ignore it,” he warned. “Keep moving.”

I tugged on his hand in resistance. “Who is up there?”

“Ignore it,” he growled in a threatening manner.

“Who is it?” I repeated. “Tell me!”

Teddy responded with an aggressive tug, which sent me crashing into his frame. “You need to leave now,” he warned. He stared at me hard, and under the faint lighting of the hallway I sensed that this was something beyond me now. I needed to trust him.

“Okay,” I whispered with a curt nod of my head.

He leaned forward suddenly and kissed my lips, pressing his harshly against mine with a world of passion. A hand pressed against the back of my head to keep me there. His lips were firm, determined to kiss me enough to reassure me of his feelings. I fell into his chest freely, completely forgetting my fears when his arms were so tightly grasped around me.

A deep thump sounding from one of the rooms upstairs broke the moment, reminding me of the lingering dangers in the house.

“Trust me,” Teddy whispered close to my ear. “Sela.”

“Okay.”

“Be quiet,” he insisted, before he tugged at my hand to send me forward. Our feet padded lightly across the staircase. I kept looking back, realizing that the hallway was gradually being illuminated by the moonlight. Seconds ago the entire place was eclipsed in darkness, so why should there suddenly be light now? I stopped in my tracks and tugged at Teddy’s hand, doing my best to get his attention.

“Look!” I entreated, and pointed at the upper hallway that we had just escaped. “There’s light. I think someone opened a door.”

“Come along,” he urged with a nervous tremor to his voice.

“But there is light,” I stammered out in pure stupidity. “Why?”

Teddy responded with a sharp yank at my hand to bring me down the staircase with him. His name was being called out in the faintest voice, though it grew louder each time. His feet were stumbling down the staircase in fear.

“I can’t let you leave,” echoed throughout the house, turning more wicked than ever. “You must stay here, always.”

Teddy reached the lower levels of his house and yanked at my hand to send me sprinting down the hallway. “I have the car keys, let’s go,” he urged, once we reached the front of the door. “Grab your purse.”

I leaned downwards to snatch at my tote bag and stuffed my sandals in the large opening. Teddy took a hold of his own shoes, not bothering to put them on when he was visibly trembling before me.

His voice was firm when he uttered: “Come along.” I heard him twist the doorknob and pull it harshly, but a heavy sound rocked through the air when he tried to yank it open. “What?” I watched him attempt it again, only to find that the door was sealed. “No,” he moaned. “No, this can’t-” The low thump of the deadbolt slamming against the metal lock was enough of a warning that his fate was sealed. “She can’t.”

He turned around and stormed down the hallway, desperately looking for another means of escape. I watched him run into the music room, ignoring the blazing fireplace to sprint over to the window. He attempted to open the window, but it was to no avail.

“Teddy, what’s happening?” I demanded, but he simply ignored me. “What’s going on? Who is up there?”

“She doesn’t want you to leave.”

“Who doesn’t?”

He ignored me, and searched for something in the room with frantically moving hands. “Sela, help me,” he begged. “We need to break the glass window.”

“But you can’t do that.”

He turned his head to look over his shoulder, and with the moonlight illuminating his face I realized he was absolutely terrified for my own well-being. “We must,” he bellowed, and then waved his hand at me to bring myself over.

We both searched the room, looking for something blunt and strong enough to strike against the window. I ran over to the light switch to flick it on, but to my surprise it was not working. The flames began to soar in pure mockery, licking the ruddy bricks that encased it. There was a low moan coming down the hallway, sounding from upstairs and beneath my feet. The house had come alive by now, and it was intent on finding me.

“Sela, keep moving,” Teddy ordered, after he brushed back his hair from his dripping brow. “Hurry!”

I pointed at the piano bench. “What about that?”

“It could work,” he sharply replied, before hurling it off the ground. “Stand back.”

He moved backwards to create distance from the window where the curtains flickered upwards in defiance. He was risking his life for me, but something in my heart told me that Teddy would do it anyways. He let out short haggard breaths that shook his entire form. “Teddy,” I pleaded, for I feared for his safety if this should work. The glass would shatter everywhere and I feared for him getting hurt. He ignored me and ran forward, banging the heavy object into the thick glass. The bang was loud, shaking through the whole house. The fire began to spark outwards, sending specks of white ash throughout the room to land on the carpet that was close to the coffee table. I ran forward to try and press it out, only to realize that I had no shoes on. Frantically I searched the room for something to put it out, while Teddy ran forward to knock the heavy wood against the glass again.

I could hear the glass cracking, a welcome sign that we could escape this place after all. The thin vase was taken up to pour water over the burning ashes that nuzzled themselves deep inside of the carpet. There was a limited amount of water in the vase, so I knew it would not be enough to quench it. The heat from the roaring fireplace was unbearable now, spreading across the room as the wooden floor directly in front of it began to burn. “We need water!” I yelled out, but Teddy ignored me. “Water!”

“We need to get out of here,” he argued back. “Help me! Tear down the curtains, they keep getting in the way.”

I ran forward, and gripped at the sturdy material to fling it down. Whatever sinister spiritual being that lived and died in this house fought back, making it harder to remove the fabric by clinging itself to the hooks. “I can’t,” I wailed, which brought Teddy forward. We were so focused on removing the curtains that continually twisted and curled within our tightened grip that we forgot about the fire that was quickly engulfing the carpet and the wooden floor behind us.

Teddy’s voice was haggard as he exclaimed, “We don’t have time for this.” He pushed the bench aside and headed for the open door, assuming I would follow him. I sprinted after him, not wanting to be left alone in a room that was quickly being ignited by such inferno flames. I was just behind Teddy’s large back when he screamed at the top of his lungs: “Mother!”

The grandfather clock ticking was his only answer, a sound that made his shoulders roll back defensively. I stood there staring at him, wondering if this spiritual being was in fact his mother all along.

“I’ve had enough of this,” Teddy grumbled in a low tone of voice. “You will not have me choose between one and another.” He turned around and snatched at my hand to pull me forward. “Come down here, now.”

Heavy smoke gradually filled up the hallway, which made it harder to breathe. I covered my nose and mouth partially while leaning into the side of Teddy’s arm. He was immovable, however, perfectly still as he waited for the presence of this fiendish ghost. If it was in fact his mother that haunted the house, it would explain a lot about his behaviour over the last several days. His tiny mentions of his mother, and the way the house was set up in a way that would please her. I suddenly recalled the conversation that he must have had with her, realizing that she was defensive of me being in the house with him from the very start. Was she jealous of his affections for me? Or was there something darker, and more rooted in evil than that? Was it her voice that I heard from the cellars? Was it her that was calling him from upstairs? I stood there absolutely flabbergasted, stunned with the knowledge that a ghost had been in his house all along. I could picture the sketches he made in his secret book, the self-portraits of him throughout the room with a shaded patch of grey always beside him. Was that the reason he often looked over his shoulder in worry? The reason he was so determined to not have me in the house for too long? The very reason he feared to touch me or kiss me, because she was somewhere in the house the entire time?

“Teddy,” filled the air all around us, like a soft gust of wind. “You said you would protect me.”

Her son stepped forward with a great heaving of his chest. “And I will.”

“Protect me,” sounded from upstairs to drift down to the hallway where her son stood. The narrow hallway was steadily becoming darker, my hand pressed tighter against my nose and mouth because the smoke was making it so hard for me to breathe. If Teddy and I stayed here any longer, we could suffocate to death.

“I will protect you,” Teddy reassured her, after he bravely took a step forward. “But I have to live my life too. I can’t always be here.”

“You must stay.”

“I will stay,” he stated with a firmness to his voice, while looking straight ahead of him as if she was in front of him all along. “But my father is dead. He cannot harm us anymore.”

The chains to the door shook heavily from the kitchen, a grave reminder that the ghost in the cellar still wanted to be set free.

“He died,” Teddy articulated in a clear voice. “He cannot harm us. I’ve done my share of protecting you and bringing your house back to its former glory. I’ve done everything for you!” He stepped forward with more determination this time, letting go of my hand in the process. “But now it is time for me to live my own life!”

The hook next to the cellar door broke free with a violent blow, following with the clattering of chains that crashed to the floor. Teddy stepped back defensively and immediately grabbed a hold of my hand. “Run!” he yelled over his shoulder. He sprinted down the hallway with me close at his tail. I looked over my shoulder to see a shadowy grey form whizzing in my direction with a deafening scream. I ran as fast as I could into the cloud of smoke, following the ominous glow of the back of Teddy’s white t-shirt that shined in the density of the smoke. He dove to the left, and I soon followed, crashing into his back immediately with a hard stop. “Move!” he roared, and used his hand to shove me aside before I heard the door violently shut behind him. “The window.” He ran over to it, and found that it was tightly shut as well, but that did not dissuade him. “I need your help.”

I joined his side and grabbed the end of a wooden bench that he kept under his desk. “What now?”

“Hit the corner of the glass where it’s weakest,” he instructed in a breathless voice. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

He hurled himself forward and I soon followed, until we struck the heavy object into the glass. There was a sound of cracking instantly, a good sign since this part of the room was being filled up with smoke as well. “Again!” We moved backwards slowly, for we were exhausted at this point. “Now!” he yelled out, and then we ran forward to bang the hard edge of the bench into the glass yet again. The crack rang more clearly into the air, a hopeful sign that made a smile spread across my face. “Maybe one last time,” Teddy pondered aloud. “Let’s move further back.”

I was just stepping back even more, when I felt something wrap around my legs that made me scream. A hard yank succeeded, sending me into the air and hard upon the floor with the flying bench just nearly hitting my head. “Teddy!” I cried out in terror. Something was wrapping around my leg, growing tighter by the second. I looked down at my legs to see something resembling rope tightly wrapped around my ankles in the moonlight. “Teddy!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, because the thing around my leg was quickly growing in strength to the point that it was starting to hurt.

“Oh my God,” he uttered out in disbelief, and quickly lowered his end of the bench to come over to me. “Hold on!”

He was just reaching out for my hand when the rope pulled me backwards, slipping me out of his arm’s way completely. I screamed aloud while dragging my nails into the wood, trying to find anything to stop me. Teddy ran after me, hands outstretched to take a hold of my hand, but thankfully my feet slammed right into the studio door. I recoiled my legs upwards, bending myself enough to try and untie the rope around my feet. The material felt so real I was certain none of it was my imagination. Teddy took a hold of my waist and hoisted me off the ground, taking this small window of opportunity to pull me away from the door.

“Stay here,” he urged, and ran back to his desk to my surprise. A small wooden stool was lifted above his head, and with all his strength he crashed it against the glass. Shards flew everywhere, scattering across the outside lawn to leave Teddy mostly unharmed. He tossed the stool out the window for extra measure, before sprinting towards me. He reached for my waist to tug me away, knowing that he couldn’t go far before the rope would yank me back to the doorway again. He looked aghast as he uttered: “It’s rope.”

“I think it’s real,” I lamented in a shaky voice.

“She used rope for a reason,” he hushed out with despair. “It’s a message for me.”

“For you?”

“She doesn’t want to let you go,” he uttered from the corner of his lips. “But I have a say as well.”

He yanked at the rope to my surprise, fighting back with this unseen being that held the other end. “Let her go!” he yelled out in anger. “Please!”

The rope was tugged on the other end, slipping me across the hardwood floor at a quickening pace. I could hear the roaring of the flames on the other side, like the deep caverns of hell that awaited to consume me. Charcoal grey smoke slipped through the narrow crack underneath the door, billowing its way over to me until my eyes began to sting.

“Please!” Teddy screamed at the top of his lungs. “You have to let me go!”

The tug was so tight around my leg that I began to grit my teeth in utter anguish, it felt like she was trying to squeeze the life out of me.

“I am sorry I wasn’t there that day,” Teddy bellowed. “I wasn’t there to stop him. You were alone, and I know I should have been there. What could we do?” Teddy stepped forward to stand right in front of the door, letting the moonlight from the open window illuminate his tall form. “He beat you,” Teddy spat out. “He beat me too. What could we do? There was no one there for us. We were alone, just the two of us.” He laid a hand against the door, as if he was touching his once alive mother. “Always the two of us,” he added in a broken voice. “But you have to understand that I love her. I can’t let you do this.” He banged his fist against the door, for rage had suddenly consumed him. “She will never come in between us!” he roared out. “Please, let her go. I won’t let her come here anymore. She didn’t know about you. Honestly!” He bent down on his knees, with his hands braced over the door that must have been hot in temperature because of the fire that was steadily engulfing the whole house. “I never told her about you. I was afraid. I know you don’t like others around here, but I couldn’t help it…” He looked over his shoulder at me with glossy eyes. There was pain radiating there, a world of sorrow as if he feared that this would be our last time together. “Mother, please,” he continued, once he turned his head to the closed doorway. “I can’t live here alone with you for all my life. At some point, you have to let me go.”

For half a second I thought his sincere pleads would be enough to save me. The rope began to loosen around my legs, enough to let out a relieved sigh to gather Teddy’s attention.

“She listened to me?” he muttered out in disbelief. His eyebrows lowered suddenly, and then he stepped closer to me with a look of distrust. “Or did she?”

The end of the rope suddenly darted at my face like a viper ready to strike, and it nearly wrapped around my throat before Teddy snatched it in mid-air.

“Run!” he ordered, which immediately sent me off the ground. I poked out the last of the shards of glass with the blunt end of a brass lamp before tossing it to the ground as well.

“Teddy!” I yelled, while signalling with my hand that the area was free. He was fighting hard to be rid of the rope that was now trying to cling to him as well.

“Go!” he roared, while the end of the rope slithered across the floor like a venomous snake behind him. I immediately ducked forward and slipped through the large crack of the window to get out of the house. I fell into a flower bed where the sharp scent of gardenias instantly flooded my nose. I crawled out of the thick bush, brushing the glowing white flowers aside to make enough room for Teddy as well.

I heard a deep groan once he landed in the bush next to me, a painful one that made me think he was hurt.

“Teddy?”

“Keep moving,” he grunted, while pulling himself upwards. He was the first to rise off the floor; a slick wet hand reached for my arm to pull me upwards, and when I caught sight of his hand in the moonlight I realized it was covered in blood.

“Teddy?” I shrieked out in alarm, for I was fearful of the amount of blood dripping down his arm.

“Let’s go,” he warned, before he looked over his shoulder at the open window that still meant we were in danger. Steadily he walked backwards, taking in the sight of his home that was now engulfed in flames. Once we were at a safe distance we simply stopped and stared, watching the wooden roof that was now beginning to crumble downwards. Teddy was too stunned at the sight to move any further. “My home,” he uttered in pure sorrow, as the creaking of the wood signalled the end of his estate. “My work.” He took a step forward, almost tempted to save it all. “My mother,” he whispered under his breath, as he realized she would finally be gone forever. We stood there in silence for several minutes, watching Teddy’s entire world crumble and burn away under the churlish flames. He eventually looked downwards to see his once white dress shirt completely soaked in blood. He must have been cut at the side by the glass, for most of the blood was on the right side of his body.

“Teddy,” I hushed, which made him turn his head in my direction. “You need a doctor.”

He nodded his head stiffly in silent response. “I’ll call the firefighters,” I informed him, before I stepped away with slow, lethargic movements. It would be a long night for Teddy, and none of his haunting childhood memories would go away anytime soon, even if the last of it was being scorched by fire.