I started writing this for the HOLLOWEEN CHALLENGE, but I think its too long for it. I started writing and couldn't stop. Here's my 1st draft of my 1st foray into horror fiction. Hope you enjoy it.TITLE: …Like GlassOnce, there was a small house on a hill in Brooklyn. Sunflowers, purple and pink carnations, and stargazer lilies adorned the front porch and walkway, with lush grass augmenting its gratifying beauty. It was one of the things Shanise loved the most about her new home. The other was Mother Joseph. She was dropped off to live with the neighborhood matron while her parents were on active duty in Afghanistan. And even though she worried about her parents, sending them letters everyday, she loved her “momma”. She loved her more than any child could love an old woman, who dolts on them.Mother Joseph and Shanise made a great team. They cleaned and cooked as a team, kept on eye on the neighborhood children together, and tended their garden as a celebrated master gardener. And when the church matrons needed arraignments for their various religious functions, they called in “the Green Team” for the best money can buy. Shanise and Mother Joseph had a special way with the children. They were drawn to them with an unequalled affection that no one in the neighborhood could ever match or understand. Mother Joseph commanded their loyalty, compliance, and affection with the charisma of seasoned politician and was her Shanise undisputed general.The children would come over and play with Shanise, in the front yard, backyard, bedroom, porch, and basement. In all the places children tend to play. She trusted Shanise to keep them in line, and she did.“Don’t go there. We can’t play there. Don’t run through…” Shanise would command, and the children listened. But the one instruction Shanise never forgot to mention was “never go into the cellar behind the curtain”. And she never did, until she forgot.While she was playing an intense game of “hide and go seek” with the other neighborhood children she forgot Mother Joseph’s warning and rushed to the basement. The basement was always kept clean and sparse; everything had its place and was kept out of the way. There was no place to hide, but behind the curtain. So, in her frantic dash to find a good hiding place she ran headlong through the floating, red drapery.It was dark behind the forbidden shade, without windows or spills to brighten this new world. There was no cellar door or cellar, just a dark little room. A good place to hide, she thought. But, before she realized where she was, a faint glow ensnared her focus. It was a large marble shaped thing, which reflected light despite the absence of it. She crept closer to it. Her footfalls no longer echoed the muffled grating of hard concrete, but the sharp taps of a hard, untextured surface…like glass.The large marble sat bright and inviting covered with painted designs that were enticing to her eyes. It was the size of a baseball, lighter than a daisy, and indulgent to the touch. Yes, she picked it up, with ease and all thoughts of warnings or repercussions vanished from her mind. Fore, the beautiful round toy from behind the outlawed curtain had taken her heart.So taken was she by her discovery, that she hid it in her pocket and left the basement undisturbed, all but for the now empty darkness from behind the curtain. She never saw the smooth, glasslike floor melt into black, rippling juice.That night Shanise laid in her bed, clutching the large painted marble as if it were teddy bear or long, lost friend. Her excitement and fascination barring her from falling asleep. So when the stairs creaked with the approach of unwanted guest, she was awake to hear it. She listened to footfalls of five groaning intruders. The spoiled stench of their presence wrinkling her nose. She instinctively sat upright in her bed and huddled to the corner as if she could disappear within the crook of her room. And still she held to her precious crystal ball.She listened to the feet shuffling past her door and into Mother Joseph’s bedroom. A door launched open, something shattered against the wall, hard slaps echoed from behind the wall, and ended in a horrible gurgling scream, which froze Shanise’s blood – cold. Something happened to her best friend and she was too frightened to help. She was too concerned with her own safety to assist - and that of her new friend.There was a short pause before she heard new sounds. There was a tearing and ripping noise coming from next-door and then a wet, muffled noise. The kind of sound, that she would hear when the neighbor’s dogs gorged themselves on the sloppy, moist dog food that was feed to them.She stayed, cowering in her corner for hours, listening to the horror taking place in the next room. she then hears the shuffling again and the familiar steps of Mother Joseph leaving the room and approach her door. Uncontrollable shuddering held her in her place. And still she held tight on her glass ball. The door slowly crept open, spilling a new darkness into her unlit surroundings and there before her floated five pairs of glowing eyes. She couldn’t see who they belonged to, but the smell turned her stomach and chilled her skin.“Look there,” the darkness whispered. “Another morsel to stain our lips.”“No! She holds it in her grasp.”“She is unfit for our bellies,” answered another. “But she is awake.”“And suitable for other needs.”Two glowing orbs drifted closer to her. A deliberate and slow drift, which increased Shanise’s shakes into violent vibrations. She felt her heart pound faster and her body spill into the sheets. Someone touched her in the darkness. Someone clammy and cold with untrimmed nails. The hand laid on her shin and lightly rubbed it. She thought her fear would burst from her lips, but it didn’t, instead it clung to her skin, encasing her in terror.Things began to change in that little neighborhood in Brooklyn. School had started, but Shanise never attended. The children no longer stopped by to play with Shanise. They always fussed that her breath smelled like spoiled meat and cigarettes. But what disturbed them more was a lone canine tooth, which peaked out on the left side of her full lips. And Mother Joseph always looked sick. She was seen once or twice on her porch looking pale and disheveled. And the neighbor’s dogs were always seen on her front yard, silently staring – never barking. But, passersby swore they saw them whispering amongst each other before making a dash towards the back of the house.One sad day a officer from the Army came to the house, with the grim duty of notifying Shanise that both her parents were “killed in action” in Afghanistan. He approached the home focused on how he would break such news to a child not noticing the flowers and grass in browning decay. Mother Joseph answered the door. His words stumbled from his lips as the smell and visage of the old woman broke his focus. He refused invitation to enter. Mother Joseph called Shanise to the door. He informed them of death of her parents and gave condolences on behalf of the United States Army. A stream of warm liquid stained his pants as he gazed into the dead, shining eyes and vulpine tooth of the little girl. As soon as he was done he quickly marched from the house, jumped into his car, and sped off breaking four red lights before the police stopped him.These peculiar events did not go unnoticed. Ms. Riley, the neighborhood busybody, made it her business to know more. She had cultivated a cabal of gossip-whores and snoops, who wielded unchallenged power over the community’s authority figure – Pastor Burke. So, Pastor Burke, at the behest of Mrs. Riley and the “Lilies”, paid Mother Joseph a visit.Pastor Burke, accompanied by Ms. Riley and her small group walked over to the home of their “Green Team”. The house was no longer the bright and inviting abode it once was, but a forbidding place bereft of life. The flowers that once adorned the walkway and front porch were now black, decaying horrors with bent stalks blocking the walkway. Instead of green vibrant grass there laid a carpeting expanse dying wilts and scattered piles of droppings. They agreed that Pastor Burke should take the journey alone.They watched as the lone pastor entered the lion’s den and rang the bell. Little Shanise answered the door, inviting him in with her tooth shining through the gloom. He was I there for 15 minutes before they saw him exit. Ms. Riley couldn’t help but notice the change in his mere presence. He shook with subtle vibrations and the bright compassion in his eyes turned into gray despair.“How is Mother Joseph and Shanise?” a matron asked.“Shanise seems okay, but…” said another.Pastor Burke mumbled something under his breath that no one could understand, except for “…her eyes… like glass.”Two days later Pastor Burke announced that he will be leaving the congregation on a “mission of faith” and that he will not be here for Sunday Mass. The next day, he left for furthest place from Brooklyn he could think of – New Zealand. And became a hermit.Not long after that, Ms. Riley, armed with bible and the fire of purpose in her blood – “Grey Goose”, paid a visit to the “Dreadful Duo”. No one ever saw her again.Weeks went by and the neighborhood’s most inviting personalities were now the most shunned, which wasn’t difficult, as they never left their home. And their method for avoiding the house became a testament to the human virtue of denial.One night, everyone on the block was drawn from their sleep by an eerie tune coming from their spurned neighbors. It was a strange kind of melody, which chilled and warmed them at the same time. It sounded like the high screeching of a violin dancing with a loud, heavy hum of some unknown instrument. Their minds found it difficult to comprehend, but their souls could, and felt all the more soiled for it. It went on until the dawn splashed across the homes and brownstones of the streets. That’s when the local precinct exploded with calls by angry and disturbed citizens.Officers Gramercy and McKenzie took the call and went to the ill favored home. They noticed the dead flowers and dried grass, remembering how beautiful it once looked months past and figured the old woman must be sick. Officer Gramercy rang the bell and patiently waited while Officer McKenzie looked around the porch for clues. He noted the piles of dog filth scattered in the yard and porch or so he assumed. That’s when Gramercy realized the door was ajar. He gently pushed it open and a putrid, acidic smell immediately blew through him. He motioned to his partner and drew his pistol. They both entered, guns draw and fingers at the ready.They past the foyer and saw it dusty, but nothing out of place. They heard a television drone on in the living room and dashed in ready for anything. But the living room was empty and in such a horrid state that Officer McKenzie’s gun began to rattle. Officer Gramercy, unable to get use to the smell, just kept blinking in disbelief. The walls were splotched with a wet, stale juice that dripped from the walls. Animal droppings covered and discolored the furniture, while the footprints of both human and dog disfigured the hardwood floors and large, Persian print rug, which sat in the middle of the room. Not even the bible on the coffee table or the cross on the wall escaped ruin. They found small and large blood smears leading into the kitchen and hesitantly made their way to the kitchen door.The horror of the kitchen sent them into such a state, that they only stayed long enough too make sure no one was in there. Blood, rotting gore and bones mingled with the smell of sweat, spoiling meat, and tobacco propelling them from the room, forcing them to secure the door shut. They stared at each other to confirm they both saw the same thing and an unbalanced Officer Gramercy called for backup. A full and proper investigation will be needed for this crime, maybe even the FBI. Their breathing became labored and heavy as sweat began to drip through their uniforms. They moved to check the rest of the house, opening the basement door and finding it covered solid by a wall of what looked like obsidian. A tap from Officer McKenzie verifying that it was solid through and through. Regardless of its strange condition, they were relieved that they couldn’t check the basement. Next, they ventured up the stairs.On reaching the landing the saw three rooms. The two furthest from them were opened, while the one nearest them was closed. They crept passed the closed door and inspected the first open door. Their guns dripped with moisture as they were met with a new ghastly stench. Mother Joseph’s room was in the same grisly state as the kitchen. There wasn’t a spot in the bedroom that wasn’t covered in dry blood and spoiling fat. They closed the door shut against investigative procedure. The other open room was clear and clean, untouched by the nightmare of the inhabitants. The window was wide open, but no breeze blew through, as if a wall blocked the air of the outside world. Gramercy and McKenzie took turns, stealing gulps of fresh air through the opened aperture.They continued on to the closed bedroom door. Once again, they positioned their pistols in front of them and burst through the door. A sliver of light peeked through the curtain, giving the room a gloomy, amber mood as particles of dust lazily floated in its wake. It was a child’s room with numerous stuffed animals and two tidy dressers. The bed sheets had butterflies and a lone figure in the corner. The two officers lowered their pistols and cautiously approached. Shanise stared at them with an awful vacancy that chilled their skin. She was eerily cuddling, close to her chest, a large crystal ball.Slowly, Officer McKenzie pulled out a small flashlight and shined it in her eyes, “She’s alive, but terrified. I think she’s in a coma.”He placed his hands over her nose and felt the warm air of light breathing to confirm his deduction. He instinctively dropped his hand to feel her pulse. He recoiled and froze in alarm. Gramercy waited and then shook his partner for a response. “ Well…?”“Her skin’s…hollow…smooth…like glass.”
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