3 objects

3 Objects

“Well, are you gonna do it or not?” Sophie was staring at Mark impatiently. It was Halloween and he promised to come to the abandoned house with her to see if what people say was true. Mark wasn’t looking at her but at the house, a threatening two-story place right in front of them, made of stones and covered on white flowered bindweed. It seemed to be alive, challenging them to step inside like many other people had before, people who had failed and left defeated.

He was overthinking and she wanted him to react. “I said no to a party, we are finally here, and now what? Are we gonna just stay here looking at the door?” Mark didn’t want to come in, but when she asked him before he promised to. It’s logical since he had a crush on her, otherwise he would have never been there. Finally, he made his decision.” Ok, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Said while scratching his head.

That house had a story, an urban legend they knew since they were kids, but Sophie never believed it. According to the legend, in the 20s there was a mysterious couple who used to live in that house, their names were Amaranta and Simon. In a small town where everybody was catholic and narrow-minded, rumors about the couple practicing witchcraft started only because of their looks and not being part of the congregation on Sundays, or any other day.

One day, Simon got seriously sick, and instead of calling a doctor, Amaranta decided not to. After a couple of weeks, Simon got worse and passed away, and then people started to say that his wife killed him, and offered his soul to a demon. Of course, there was no proof of that, but everybody knows many people in small towns have a lot of imagination.

After his death, Amaranta locked herself in the house, probably hiding from the hideous people in town that hated her for no reason. One day, a neighbor heard strange noises at Amaranta’s and tried to look through a window to see what was happening. She could have never expected what she saw: Amaranta was performing some kind of ritual and in front of her there was a black book and three separated objects she couldn’t distinguish. Besides that, she was chanting something that couldn’t be understood and was surrounded by candles that were placed on the floor.

The lady was alarmed because she was one of the ones who didn’t believe Amaranta was a witch, and in that moment, she didn’t know what to think. Then she saw her grab a knife and cut her own throat. The lady started yelling and looked for other neighbors to come into the house, and when they did, Amaranta and the three objects were missing. The book was the only thing they could find.

Somebody grabbed it and studied the cover. There were just 2 letters on it, J. S. and the pages were yellowish which means the book was really old. They opened it and saw just one thing written in it: “Because 3 is a magical number, 3 are the objects that will keep my soul in this house with the love of my life, who is trapped here. One day someone special will find the 3 objects, and putting them together will set us both free. In return, I’ll give them my powers.”

The rumor was spread, Amaranta was a witch that killed herself to become immortal, so they locked the house because the devil could have been living between those walls with her. Just something evil could disappear that way and they didn’t want anybody at risk. Decades passed and that became just a story to tell kids on Halloween. Many people have entered the house but no one have found the 3 objects and that’s why Sophie didn’t believe in that. Her version was simpler, “Amaranta and her husband were a couple of freaks, one day he got sick and died and then she committed suicide. The rest of the story was to keep people going to church.”

Sophie wanted to get in that house just for fun. Besides, it was hilarious seeing Mark so terrified for a stupid story, she could see he was shivering! She knew he liked her and wanted to tease him a little bit, so with an evil smile she opened the door and waited for Mark to come in. He rolled his eyes at her and walked in. He couldn’t act like a coward, not in front of her.

The house wasn’t exactly what they expected, they actually liked the classic wooden furniture that was covered by what used to be white sheets. The environment was kind of sinister, but Sophie thought it was because of those giant creepy old paintings they had everywhere. “The guy who painted these must have been drunk, and this couple of creeps were the only ones who bought them” said Sophie while touching one of them. Mark was behind her and didn’t move, he was trying to figure out what those paintings meant.

“Well Mark, if you were a witch, what things would you choose to keep your soul locked in a house? And by the way, why would someone do that? Why did she get herself stuck here on purpose? That’s kind of dumb coming from a witch!”

Mark wasn’t looking at her when he explained “When her husband died, his soul stayed here next to her to protect her, he refused to cross over and then he got stuck in the house. Amaranta knew that, and loving him the way she does, she had no choice but performing a ritual to keep her soul here with his. In order to set both of their souls free, she used the ‘three objects’ thing. She’s just been waiting for the right person, I guess. The good thing is they are together and will leave this place together.”

“Awwwww I didn’t know that romantic side of you!” Mark started blushing after hearing Sophie say that. She saw his reaction and started chuckling at him, but after what he said, she stopped. “You wanted to know why someone would do that, the reason was love and that’s what I’m trying to explain. Let’s see if you get it!” Sometimes, Sophie could be really annoying, so Mark decided to start doing what they were there for which was looking for the 3 objects and get out of that place. He turned around, obviously upset, and took the stairs. He was going to start in the bedrooms and Sophie could do whatever she wanted to.

It was the first time Sophie saw Mark so pissed. It was true that she never took anything he said seriously, but he was exaggerating. There was one thing she could assure, he would be ok in a couple of minutes because he liked her. She saw he was already upstairs about to open a door, so she turned around to see where to start, having no idea of what to look for. She opted for sitting on one couch to try to think, but instead, she took her phone and started taking selfies.

Mark was in the master bedroom, he chose the right door by chance. It could be said that after all those years no one had disrespected that house, and despite the dust and the spiderwebs, everything was intact. There weren’t any weird paintings in that room, just the necessary things and there was a white wooden dressing table that caught his attention. He went straight to it and saw a little wooden box after opening the drawers. He took it and he saw that on one side the initials J.S. were carved. When he opened it, there was a pair of wedding rings, tied together.

Right away he had some kind of flashback. It was like he saw them before but he didn’t remember where. Maybe on a TV show about antiques, who knows? Just in case, he took the rings and placed them in one of his pockets. He looked around and he saw nothing else that could be what he was looking for, then he got out of that room and felt the urge for going to the one at the end of the carpeted corridor.

He noticed something about the house, every door was different and this one was bigger than the other ones, maybe that’s why he was curious about that room, or maybe it was for something else. He opened it and he saw the cutest bedroom ever, illuminated and spacious. All the furniture was white and pink and there were some dolls placed in different parts of it. Mark felt confused, he knew they didn’t have any kids, or at least there were no kids in the story, but this bedroom looked perfect for a little girl.

He came in and sat on the bed. Suddenly, he felt that room had something that made him feel funny, like he was floating, and his rational side made him think there was a gas leak or something. He was about to leave when he saw it, a pearl string necklace around a doll’s neck that he could have sworn he had seen before. He carefully took it and placed it in the same pocket where he had the rings, then he quickly left that room before passing out. He couldn’t understand what was going on there.

Back in the corridor, he wondered if the same thing was happening to Sophie. Finding objects that catch your attention for no reason and having a feeling about them is more a girl’s thing, and some people say that’s having a sixth sense. - Maybe she found something interesting. – What he didn’t know is that she was choosing the right filter for the 5 selected pics she was going to post on social media. He went to the rest of the bedrooms but he didn’t see anything spectacular and decided to go back downstairs.

He found Sophie complaining about the bad signal she had in the house and then realized she was in the same spot where he left her! “Sophie, why would you need signal here when you’re busy with something you wanted to do? Remember? You were the one who convinced me to do this.” She ignored him and tried to take a selfie with him but he stepped away, this time he didn’t say anything and went to the kitchen leaving her alone again. Sophie asked herself why she was there instead of the party. She was getting bored, Mark was upsetting and nothing was happening there. So, she took her bag and left without saying anything to him. She had the courtesy of texting him she wasn’t in the house anymore and then texted her friends to say she was coming.

In the kitchen, Mark started wondering what made him feel attracted to Sophie. They had been friends since elementary school, but she had changed lately. Maybe he hoped to see the old her again, but it seemed that was not gonna happen. He wanted to stop thinking about wasting his time with Sophie and focus on what he was doing, so he took a look around and the only thing that was interesting to him was the basement. He opened it and went downstairs to the darkest place in the house. He could hear the rats trying to hide from the stranger that was disturbing them, and there were also the weirdest spiders he had seen. Keeping them away was a good idea.

In a movie, this is the place where the flashlight would fail, he thanked God for cell phones and not having low battery! There were too many things down there, like in many other basements, and it was huge. Finding something there wasn’t going to be easy but he started walking anyway. There were many boxes on the floor and the smell of the entire room was terrible. He opened one of the boxes and there were pictures and some albums in it. He had the chance to see the couple and there were no kids, but there was an old lady instead that looked kind of creepy. He wondered who she was, no one mentioned her in the urban legend.

He continued, and in the next album he saw her wearing the necklace. He also noticed that she wasn’t in the pictures taken in the house, so maybe she died before they moved there. She was probably Amaranta’s mother and maybe J.S. was her. Mark thought it was time to check other boxes, so around half an hour passed until he found something that made him feel like when he found the rings and the necklace. The object he was seeing this time was a flower vase that he immediately took.

When he had it in his hands something happened, and the only thing he remembers is seeing the darkness in the basement vanished. The light was blinding and he accidentally dropped his phone. He started calling Sophie but there was no answer and then he heard some voices but it was hard to understand what they were saying. Mark was petrified and then he got unconscious.

Something important happened there, Amaranta said someone special would set both of the couple’s souls free and that person would have her powers. Well, let’s say Mark did a favor to them, and now he knows all the secrets of the house, and is a little bit different than he used to be, Sophie can tell. Mark hasn’t spoken to her again since that night and that is just one of the changes people could notice. Regarding Amaranta and Simon, they are happier than ever together, inside of Mark’s body. That’s the only way he could have Amaranta’s powers,... too bad that wasn’t written in the book in the first place.

“Amaranta is the unusual and intriguing Latinate form of the Greek botanical name Amarantha, which connects to an eternal mythical figure.”