I've never been here before

She analyzed the address written on a faded slip of paper, then the house. It looked old, like no one had been there in years. She wondered what she was doing there. I’ve never been here before.

She walked into the building, the dim light shifting in her vision as she glanced around the room. There was a disturbing familiarity to the house, like an old and faded memory. I've never been here before.

A pale glow emerged from a door down a hallway. She walked towards it cautiously, knowing exactly where to step to keep the floorboards from creaking. I've never been here before...

The door creaked open and she peered down the dark and seemingly never-ending staircase. She took a deep breath and started down the stairs, knowing that the railing on the left and the 15th step down would fall if too much pressure was applied to them. I've never been here before?

At the bottom of the stairs, a series of hallways sat in front of her, like a twisted maze. She took a deep breath and turned left. She traced the design in the cold brick wall with her hands as she walked. Twenty steps, turn left. Thirty steps, turn right. Ten steps, left. Five, right. Seven, right. Twenty, left. No more steps, no less. She searched the wall, not knowing exactly what she was looking for. Her hand fell into a disturbingly familiar crack in the wall and she knew to pull on it. The brick fell out of the wall and she knew where to stand so it wouldn’t land on her foot. I’ve never been here before!

The archway fell out around the brick and she considered her options. She could leave. She could turn around and walk backwards through the maze, up the stairs, and straight out of the house. No one needed to know that she had ever been there. But she knew she wouldn’t leave. Something in her knew already. She calmly stepped through the arch into an old bedroom. I’ve never been here before.

She looked through old things. An old diary, it’s ink faded into the pages. The old stuffed animals, something straight out of a horror movie. Old necklaces, their metal rusted and fading. An old closet, it’s clothes dated and tattered. Then she saw the old hatbox in the corner of the closet. Something inside of her clicked and, in a trance, she picked up the old box  and set it on the desk. I’ve never been here before.

She slowly opened the box. Inside were dozens upon dozens of photographs, black and white, some of them faded from years of looking on them and reminiscing. She scanned through them, her mind racing as she tried to latch onto something, anything, from the photos. And then she saw it. The old Polaroid photo, the corner cut off, the two smiling children hugging beside a Christmas tree. One of them was a boy in his late teens with unkempt hair, the other one… her. This was their photo. The last picture they took together.

The last photo they took together before…

I have been here before…

A ghostly chill flooded the room. She turned around slowly, knowing what would be there. Behind her, her brother stood, looking just as he did when he was alive, but with a different fire in his blank and translucent eyes. 

She tried to speak but nothing would come out. Suddenly, the fire in his eyes went out, and he lunged for her. She ducked under his arm and ran, knowing she needed to make it to his room. Where was his room? The feeling from before was gone. The trance-like state that had gotten her to this point was completely gone, and she was alarmingly aware of where she was I have been here before.

She had no choice but to trust her instincts. She ran back into the maze, feeling him getting closer with every step. Run down a hall, turn right. Run, left. How many steps? Which way did she need to turn? I have been here before, I have been here before, I have been here before. 

She turned a corner and saw a dead end, an intricate design etched into the wall in pencil. The feeling flooded back. Turn around, run 18 steps, turn left. Go halfway down the hallway, left, right, left, left, enter the fourth door. A cold chill came from down the hall and she turned and ran, passing the spirit of what used to be her brother. Hearing nothing but the wind in her ears she ran. Following whatever instinct came to her, but her brain at war. 

I’ve never been here before, I have been here before. I’ve never been here before, I have been here before. I’ve never, I have.

Never

Have

Never

Have.

She flung open the door to her brother’s old room and found… 

Nothing. 

She wanted to find something, anything, to help her know what to do next. But the feeling that she had been desperate for before, the feeling that helped her get to this point, was getting too strong. The fog was getting heavier and heavier and her head was full of echos I’ve never been here before, I’ve never been here before, I’ve never been here before.

The door flung open and there he stood. Her mind scrambled and she grabbed onto the first word that came into her head.

“Noah…”

He froze. The fire, the humanity returned to his eyes and with it came a look of confusion.

“Riley?” He walked towards her slowly, cautiously. Despite her living everything in confusion and fog, the fog being lifted didn’t change how she felt. Hearing her name felt like a foreign word, and saying his felt just as strange. But as he got closer, her brain seemed to clear and she remembered the childhood that they had shared, leading up to the accident that led to his death. 

I have been here before.

And I’m here now. 

The emotions got stronger and stronger as he approached, and her memories were getting clearer and clearer. He reached out to give her a hug, and wondered why she ever forgot in the first place. 

I’ve been here before.

He wrapped his arms around her.

She analyzed the address written on a faded slip of paper, then the house. It looked old, like no one had been there in years. She wondered what she was doing there. I’ve never been here before.