The Ghost of the Strand

“C’mon, Erika!” I said stepping inside the Strand.  A cool breeze entered through the door from the Halloween night.

“No, Rena!  This place is creepy!” Erika whispered from outside the old door.  I turned to my friend and leaned out to glare at her.  The streetlights cast empty shadows of cars and signs onto the deserted Main Street of Zelienople.

“Oh, is the great Erika afraid of whom we might meet?” I asked my friend.  I watched her blush in the pale yellow light of streetlights and the full moon overhead.

“Of course not!  I just don’t like the idea of walking through an abandoned theatre in the middle of Halloween night!  Do you have any idea how much trouble we’ll be in if we get caught?” Erika asked grabbing my hand.  “Let’s go, now!”

“Erika, if you’re scared you can go home, but we only brought one flashlight, and I need it to see where I’m walking.” I said looking to Erika’s hand with only my eyes.  I heard a soft bump, almost as if someone were walking around somewhere within the Strand, and looked over my right shoulder to see what it was.  If there was a ghost, demon, or anything, I couldn’t see it without some form of lighting.

Erika was whispering something to me while I was watching, but I was still interested in what I heard to pay much attention to her lecture.  I turned around and walked into the Strand as if I were being called deeper into its mysterious aura.

“I’m staying here!” Erika shouted from outside.  I ignored her as I turned on the flashlight in my left hand to look around.

There was a thick layer of dust covering everything, seating, walls and floor, even the old grand piano that rested at the right of the stage.  The grand piano is what interested me the most, for it sent off an aura as though it were alive.  I felt the hair stand up on my arms as I reached down and played a note.

“Do you play?” I heard an elderly voice ask from behind me.  I spun around to find myself face-to-face with a smiling, older woman wearing a long brown dress.  She reminded me of someone straight from a black and white film.  She was watching me kindly, even though I was staring at her with a horrified expression on my face.

“Uhh, sure.” I said sitting down and playing.  The keys were covered in dust, and the only light came from my flashlight on the seat beside me.  After the three minutes of the song, a look of horror crossed my face.

I can’t play the piano.

“Thank you for freeing us.” The old woman said walking out of the Strand.  Behind her, was a long line of demons and creatures following her into the unexpecting sleeping world of humans.

“Oh crap, what’d I just do?” I asked staring blankly at the line.