Short Story

The Suitcase

A short story by Katie Showalter :)

          Shifting her glance to the side of the chair, she noticed a small, shiny, green suitcase. It seemed so out of place tucked in the corner of the dingy attic room in the creepy manor. In fact, it was the only thing in the entire house that wasn’t covered in an inch of dust. Seventeen-year-old Abby Taylor quickly glanced behind her before advancing forward, certain that she was being watched. Of course, it was completely possible that her three best friends were watching her. It was they who dared her to sneak into the old, abandoned mansion on Halloween night, and even though it was the last thing she wanted to be doing after dark, there was no way she would turn down a dare. After all, she wasn’t a chicken.
          But there was just something about the little suitcase that seemed out of the ordinary. If it had been there since the 1940s when the owners of the house were supposedly driven out by ghosts, then why wasn’t it covered in dust? Why did it look as though it were made out of modern synthetic material instead of something more old fashioned? And most importantly, what was it doing here?
Abby leaned forward, slowly moving her hand toward the suitcase. With her fingers just inches away, she paused. Did she really want to know what was inside?
          “Well duh,” she whispered, surprising herself by how loudly her voice projected throughout the room, despite the fact that she spoke so quietly.

          At that moment, the floor creaked. Abby’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach swooped as she spun around. Seeing nothing, she quickly walked back to the doorway and out to the grand staircase. Her gauzy skirt rustled and her heels clunked against the wooden floor. Again the volume that was produced by such subtle sounds startled her. She paused again to listen. She could hear nothing but the tree limbs scratching against the window panes and her own pounding heart.
         Despite her growing anxiousness, she couldn’t help but marvel at the detail and beauty of the manor. She stood at the top of the staircase eye level with an enormous glass chandelier and peered down at the huge ballroom, the floor at least 30 feet below. It must have been an absolutely spectacular sight to behold in its prime. Why would anyone abandon it?
          Just then a feeling of extreme cold washed over her and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. The wind died and goosebumps appeared all over her body. She shivered.
          Suddenly, a large, dark figure fell from the ceiling with a bloodcurdling scream, taking with it the chandelier. Glass shattered everywhere as five more figures flew out of the rooms of the house, including the one she exited moments ago, banging into walls with crashes louder than thunder, dissolving into nothingness.
          Two more appeared, this time on either side of her, advancing menacingly. They were human shaped but then again oddly not, dark as though shadows but yet oddly solid. They were at least twice the size of a human, growing larger every second. Abby screamed and rushed back into the room, realizing too late that they were driving her there. She slammed the door and shoved the dresser in front of it, glancing frantically around the room. She spotted the green suitcase and felt as if it were calling to her. She raced to the corner, knocking over boxes and pushing books out of the way. Without a second thought she unfastened the metal clasps and threw open the lid.
            Inside was a photo. It was an old fashioned Polaroid bearing a single headstone. The inscription read Abby Taylor, beloved daughter, sister, and friend. June 17, 1994 - October 31, 2011. Suddenly she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. It was one of the black figures.


ALTERNATE ENDING!!!!
(Just because I think the first ending was too scary and I don’t like sad endings.)



          Inside was a photo. It was an old fashioned Polaroid bearing a single headstone. The inscription read Abby Taylor, beloved daughter, sister, and friend. June 17, 1994 - October 31, 2011. Suddenly she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.
          “Scared yet?” her best friend Rebecca Robinson asked with a grin.