Welcome
Courtney groaned as she sat up from where she was on an old, cloth covered couch. She brushed the golden hair out of her face. She had no idea how she got there and the dust hanging in the air made her want to sneeze. She rubbed her temples attempting to soothe the pounding in her head. A hand gripped the back of the couch as a young girl about her age attempted to get up in the small space behind the couch. “Who are you?” was all Courtney could think to ask as she got off the couch attempting to get the dust off her jeans.
A young girl's head popped up from behind the couch, “Tracy” she readjusted the light blue glasses on her freckled nose. The chandelier jingled overhead as Tracy moved out from behind the couch trying to dust off her denim jacket. The two looked up to see a very unlucky guy falling fast. His lettermans jacket caught on the chandelier briefly halting his descent before he landed on the carpet with a loud thud, his brown eyes wide.
“Are you okay?” the girls said as they started towards him to help him up off the floor.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” the stranger swatted their hands away, sitting up on his own. His back was sore from impact and his head was pounding but he didn't let it show in front of the two strangers before him because pain was a weakness he couldn't afford. Tracy held out her hand to help him out if he needed it despite being swatted away earlier. Her dads had always taught her that you should always offer help even to those who don't ask.
“Uh… Are you sure you're fine? I mean you just fell from the ceiling?” Courtney asked looking up to where she swore he’d come from and the only proof was the jacket dangling from the chandelier that swung down from the high ceiling.
“It couldn’t have been the ceiling. He would have actually gotten hurt worse had he fell from all the way up there. Besides there’s no way up there, at least not from down here,” Tracy stated as yet another stranger entered the room holding two glasses of water which he handed to Tracy and Courtney.
“Who are you and where did you come from?” Tracy said, setting the water on a decorative end table.
“I’m Sam, I don’t know how I got here or where we are, and I’ve been here for almost a day. Does that answer all the questions you were thinking of asking?” Sam said, avoiding Tracy’s suspicious looks.
“Do you know how we got here?” Courtney asked, crossing her arms.
“No, I wish I did but you appeared about a half an hour ago. Tracy followed a few minutes after and now he came out of nowhere just like the two of you,” Sam said pointing to the guy who was now trying to get his jacket off the chandelier by jumping for it.
“I’m Lucas or Luke in case you were wondering. I prefer being called by my middle name,” Luke said as he continued trying to get his jacket off the chandelier.
“I’m Courtney but you all can call me CC,” Courtney said watching Luke fail at his attempts, “and you’ll need a ladder or a chair if you wanna reach that.”
Everyone went silent when a grunt came from one of the nearby cabinets before it popped open. Out came a short dark haired boy who lost his balance and face planted on the carpet. “Ow,” he croaked as he sat up rubbing his forehead.
“And now him,” Sam declared, closing the cabinet as the new guy got to his feet and glanced between everyone.
“Hi,” Tracy said, smiling over at Alex. She was playing with her long auburn curls twirling it with her fingers.
“Uh Hi…I’m Alex,” Alex stuttered out, looking at the floor. He was embarrassed to say the least. After all he did just faceplant in a room full of strangers. He had expected at least one of them to laugh but when Tracy came over and attempted to give him a check up he immediately moved back wanting nothing more than to be invisible. Tracy moved away not wanting to force help on someone who didn't want it but she kept an eye on him. He seemed younger than the rest and he reminded her of her little brother.
After that the room fell silent except for the occasional grunt from Luke, who despite constant failure continued trying to get his lettermans jacket down by jumping. His sneakers squeaked every time he prepared to jump and everytime he landed a resounding thud echoed through the living room.
“I’ll be back,” was all Courtney said before heading down the hall towards what she assumed was the kitchen.
“Are you sure you want to go off on your own?” Alex’s voice was a low whisper. He looked around at the peeling wallpaper on the walls seemingly lost in thought. Courtney didn’t answer and the others didn’t follow.
“I'm gonna go try to find an exit cause this place gives me the creeps,“ Tracy halted at the doorway, “Can one of y'all come with me?” She had a slight southern accent whenever she spoke, leading Luke to assume she was from Texas. Luke headed off after her silently when Sam and Alex didn't move a muscle.
“They won’t find an exit I’ve already tried,” Sam peered down the hall that Tracy and Luke went down as the footsteps echoed further down the halls before dissipating all together.
“What do you mean?” Alex flopped down in a big comfy armchair after pulling the dusty white cloth off. All in all the house had an old beauty about it and with some renovation and redecorating Alex assumed it would make a beautiful place to live.
“I've already looked. Besides, this ghostly old lady always stops me. She does it politely though,” Sam's eyes followed Alex wondering what was going on in his head. After all, he was oddly calm despite the odd situation.
Alex finally looked away from the wall and studied Sam for a moment curiously, “A ghostly old lady stops you? Politely? Why didn't you tell them?”
“They wouldn't have believed me besides I don't think she'll hurt them,” was all Sam said before laying on the couch not bothering with the dusty white cloth covering the actual couch. A comfortable silence settled in the room as Alex grabbed a worn book off a shelf near the chair.