Kiss of A Titan

It was around two hours before six at sundown that aunt safely returned from her supply trip to town with the dustman whom she took back to the house in the saloon car which helped quicken her short trip to get things ready for tonight's preparation. Before she came back, the kids and I were already waiting for her after having her delicious sandwich for lunch and we had already arranged our things separately in each of the rooms upstairs though my room was located in the other hallway. It was quite hectic for all three of us to unpack our clothes and other important accessories each of us brought with us from Georgia when we left our old house to the new house aunt bought for a cheaper price at the end of a bad deal she transacted with the estate agent who recommended this house here in Houston.

I could attest to this because we found many of the things in the house at the brink of being corroded as a result of the dust and the length of time the owner of the house had abandoned the property years ago particularly the faucets we found in each of the bathrooms that was present in all of the rooms and they were broken while the bathtubs as well as the shower completely painted with dirt and stains all over them.

Although the floor tiles in all of the bathrooms still had that fancy white look of a new floor that was recently fixed except for mine which was a total mess from top to bottom and I wanted to change the room but there was something peculiar and unique about the sculpture Tom found outside the door to my room so I decided to deal with what I had discovered and overlook it.

As for the kitchen, it was the only cubicle we found to be intact with everything in its rightful place apart from the fact there was no refrigerator nor there were kitchen utensils used for cooking but we didn't bother about those because we believed it was aunt's duty to cater for our needs and that area was her specialty unlike me who had to be fend for like her two kids. We even discovered that there was an overgrown garden at the back of the house but I fervently advised the children not to step into the garden since aunt wasn't around and they obeyed though Tom who had just recovered was persistent.

When aunt got back from gathering the needed supplies required for us to survive the night, we were delighted to see her returned back though we didn't expect her to drive the dustman all the way here by herself and we were thrilled to have back with some of the groceries for all of us.

Remarkably, Tom had recovered from his bruises which were not severe and was the one who saw her coming first through one of the windows in the living room, and Then, Nora joined him as well when he ran outside to greet them. I only had to arrive later at the doorpost and stood at the door while the two children waited at the stairs of the porch, watching their aunt driving towards us from the main road.

She parked the car safely at the same spot when we first arrived and came down from the red saloon car with the dustman who was wearing overalls and covered his two hands with thick blue gloves. He turned out to be a man in his mid- fifties and was quite the cheerful type and quite welcoming when he met the kids waiting at the porch.

"Hey, kids, how're you doing out here?" he questioned with all smiles written on his face.

"We are doing great", It was Tom who replied but his countenance soon dropped when he saw aunt walking behind the dustman while Nora kept smiling childishly at the man who was old enough to be their real dad.

"Sorry to intrude but there's work to be done", Aunt said cutting the warm reception of the visitor short. Then her eyes trailed off her two children who already seemed too comfortable around the visitor and fell on me standing by the door on the little platform.

"Rosalie, please take the groceries from the car and get the kids inside. I need to show our guest around the house", "Okay, aunt", I said and stepped down with my loafers still stuck to my feet. The dustman grinned at me as I walked past them heading for the car and winked at me in a funny way that I didn't like.

"Mom, can I help Rosalie with the supplies?"

Tom asked, looking shyly at aunt who was glad of his sudden display of responsibility.

"Yes, you can but no running, you got that?", "I understand, Mom", Tom answered and followed behind me. Nora didn't wait to be told before she cheerfully joined us.

"This way", She said to the dustman as both of them stared at us carrying out her order and then, she accompanied the dustman into the house. There the two of them scoured every nook and cranny of the entire house including the attic and they found out exactly what I and the kids had discovered before their returning from the town.

Though Aunt was displeased with the current situation she was in, she escorted the dustman and showed him the areas of the house that need cleaning as well as the huge pile of dirt in the attic which had tripled the bills for the workmanship not entirely for what the dustman was to be paid after rendering the services but other repairs like the electricity and absence of water in the house. Since the house was too big for them to complete the tour round the whole house and with the little time they both had to do the whole work, Aunt eventually advised the dustman to thoroughly clean the living room for us to pass the night together and to return back the next morning.

The children and I were already inside arranging the supplies by the time they came outside the apartment. Tom and Nora were busy with the arrangements while I watched, eavesdropping on her conversation with the guest through the open window. "So, what do you think?", Aunt questioned as soon as they took a break at the front porch.

"Well....I didn't expect that the mess would be this huge", "I know the dirt in the house is a little bit too much but you gotta help us", "I understand your predicament. Cleaning the house might take a whole week to finish", "It will take weeks to do this job but I need you to clean the living room just for the night", "You mean right now?", "You are all I got to give the kids a good night's sleep. I don't want to hear either one of them complain of dust getting into their nostrils", "You really do care for your kids", The dustman complimented.

"Thanks. So, will you do it or not?", "Hmm... Fine, I'll do the job but you'll have to pay double of what we bargained", "Sounds good to me", she replied and gave the man a handshake. Then she headed to the car instead of joining us at the kitchen like I had thought she would while the dustman quickly set out to work in the living room with his materials and equipment which were already in place waiting for him to commence work. Before long, my aunt had driven back to town in her car probably to do something that had to do with the house affairs and I pretty much knew she was in a tougher situation but I was prepared to lighten her burden the very best I could. Seeing that Tom and Nora had arranged the food items on the area meant usually used for cooking under my watch, I left them playing in the other room and joined the old dustman to get things done in the living room and the hectic cleaning of the dust in the sofas and other furniture including the chandelier, lasted us about an hour before eight pm into the night and it was some minutes after the clock had struck eight in the late evening when the dustman and I saw her driving back into the compound. Tom was at the kitchen selecting some of the food ingredients needed for supper according to my instruction and Nora was helping him count what would be needed to make a tasty meal for all of us. She parked the car at its usual spot and hurriedly came down to get the items she kept inside the boot of the car. Here was the list of items I actually saw her taking from the boot before we got ready for supper. She had procured two large gallons and had somehow filled them with water to the brim. It was the first thing we saw her bring out of the boot and carried them to the porch where she called me to help carry them inside.

Tom wanted to display his little manly to all of us but both gallons were too heavy for him to take inside so, it was left for me alone to take them inside which I did without struggling with the weight since it was no match for me. Another item she brought to the house was the candles kept inside a two cartons and she took one inside the house while Tom, with Nora was able to take the other into the house as well.

The last three items were the gas burner and two fancy looking pots she likely had purchased from the supermarket store in town when returning back to our new house. Aunt carried them inside but was assisted by the dustman as well and he was appreciated for his help even though it wasn't his place or work to do so.

I kept the two hefty gallons in the kitchen where aunt wanted it kept till we needed it. The living room was already fit for us to spend the night and aunt ordered everyone to get their things ready for the night. Aunt quickly opened the cartons she placed on the table in the living room soon after the door was shut behind everyone in the house except for the dustman whom Aunt bade farewell for having completed half of the cleaning and she took out a good number of fat candles similar to the shape of a round tennis ball though it was cylindrical.

We all gathered around her to watch as she unpacks what was inside the cartoons. Each cartons had four bunches of it and we were all dissatisfied thinking that there were other edible things inside especially Tom who frowned at what he saw but he did not say that he was disappointed since he knew we needed it to light up the whole house which was getting darker every minutes as the time trickled further into the night.

"Go get some blankets from the room upstairs", She ordered when she was done taking out four to five candles and arranged them in groups of three on the table.

"Okay, Mom. Nora, let's go get our things", "Race you there, first", Nora replied but aunt intervened before the race started.

"Hold on, now. There'll be no running up the stairs. Not on my watch, it's already dark up there and you might slip and fall down", "We understand, Mom", Nora replied feeling disappointed that the fun of racing with Tom had been cut short abruptly.

"Can we go now?", "Yes, you can leave but Rosalie's going with you two, just to make sure things are okay", "Aw... Why does she have to go wherever we wanna go? Can't we do this on our own?" Tom pleaded earnestly, but Aunt was adamant and unwilling to be swayed by his cute deceptive face.

"No. I can't allow that. She going with you and that's final", I wanted to persuade aunt to let the kids go on their own but her mind was already made up. The kids were already feeling bad about her decision and I as well wasn't happy that they were feeling sad.

"Nora, don't be upset. I'll show what we found in my room this afternoon", I said trying to make them feel better and it worked. Nora felt elated and curious to know what Tom and I found when it was still daylight. Consequently, the thought of going upstairs quickly brightened her mood with some spirit of adventure which gleamed in her face when she heard that there was something to find in the rooms upstairs. The thought of accompanying them upstairs chased off the despondency from her mind and instilled in her something that her brother had as well.

"Really, what is it?", "Come, I'll show you", I said taking her by the hand and we both headed upstairs while Tom tagged along as well.

"Rosalie, don't stay too long with the children. We haven't made supper yet", "I won't", I replied without even looking at her as I and her two kids went upstairs for a brief adventure in the other corridors.

Nora was thrilled when I showed her the cupid statue and was again disappointed to find out that it was the only fancy antique in the house apart from the paintings that were hung on the wall and the chandelier aunt was eagerly waiting to use to light up the house but there were old sculptures in the garden at the backyard, way huge and bigger than the little fancy one near my doorstep with a lot of vines covering every one of them.

After dealing with Nora, the two children waited for me outside my room while I took what I need to wear for the night, a sleeveless pajamas fashionably sown into a red nightgown and a soft slipper from my luggage but I had to wear them in my room first to make for lost time since aunt needed my presence in the kitchen so that we could prepare supper for the night.

Five minutes later I was done getting dressed up and as I was about to exit from the room, a hollow faint sound of the wind brewed passed me through the window that was a bit open. I thought I heard a voice in the air and changed my mind from going out of the room to draw closer to the window, just to see if anything was amiss. I was distracted and I knew that but the silent whisper I heard was so capturing that I thought someone was speaking to me.

I peered around the dark perimeters from above through the window and saw nothing but the quiet evening breeze swaying the leaves gently than before. The night had completely descended upon the whole town and I could see clearly from where I stood that the neighbors had light and their yard was beaming with electricity whereas we lacked what they had and I desperately wished there was some electricity to charge my cell phone which had gone dead long before the sun went down.

There was nothing wrong with my discovery because all I could see was the leaves rustling quietly with the night wind flowing around the vicinity. Then I went back after taking my blanket from whence I had taken my nightgown and met the children still waiting for me right where I had left them. They followed me to their rooms and were quick to select what they needed to put on for the night. I had Nora change into her pink pajamas with full short sleeves and pink trousers in the bathroom while Tom was brave enough to change himself into a blue short and a night T-shirt alone in the room he chose for himself.

As soon as I was done getting Nora changed, we left the bathroom and I helped her search for her blanket amongst her pile of clothing I really found to be lying scattered in front of me. Then out of nowhere, Tom bolted inside the room with barely enough strength to keep his breath relaxed. Nora and I were frightened at the way he entered the room so quickly and slammed the door behind him.

He rested his back on the door and stared horridly at us like he had seen something to have made him scared. His visage had turned blue and was panting profusely more than ever in a sort of way that got us perplexed. I became furious when he couldn't tell us why he ran like that without taking a moment to knock the door.

"Tom, don't you care to knock?!" I questioned not too amused with his intrusion.

"Why did you run like that? You know what Mom said", Nora asked as well but he remained quiet and took some time to pacify his breath.

"Sorry, Rosalie, please do not tell Mom I ran...", "But you know the corridors are too dark to move around", "I forgot about that as well. I think I saw.. a ghost", "A ghost?"

He nodded in affirmation.

"Is this some prank you are pulling?" I questioned using the British accent like I did before "No. I really saw something like a man's shadow in the hallway near my room", Nora cut in.

"He's lying", "Shut it, Nora. Let me explain", "Tom, this isn't funny. If it's a joke, I suggest you stop it now or else....", "You'll be in big trouble if Mom finds out your silly jokes", Nora completed and sneered at him. I returned to continue my search and soon found the blanket I was looking for.

"Let's go, Nora. Aunt's waiting for us downstairs", I said carrying her blankets and mine as well. And Nora followed me but Tom was indignant and blocked our way out of the room. I was taken aback by his persistence and felt even more furious with his attitude that seemed highly unusual.

"Tom, what's the problem this time?", "I..." he stammered, unable to speak his thoughts to us, for he already knew that we didn't believe his story, which sounded a bit outrageous to both of us.

"There's no such thing as ghost, so move aside this instant", "I'm telling Mom about this", "But I'm telling the truth. I really did saw something out there", "Was that the reason why you left your blanket behind in your room?", I suddenly noticed that he didn't bring his blanket along with him when he earlier scurried into the room without looking back twice. And I know it was out of sheer luck that he made it to my room because the corridors were extremely dark when we first entered and it could have been possible that he could have been seeing things and had mistaken it to be a ghost or something that may have scared the little kid.

He nodded thrice and looked at me with his pale eyes trying to convince of his incredible encounter which I had no idea of.

Nora giggled behind me and his grimace hardened at her.

I sighed and took a deep breath to calm my temper that was already rising at the moment before exhaling the tempestuous air out of my lungs.

"Why didn't you take it with you?", "I told you, I was scared and...", He stopped talking when he noticed Nora already laughing at him and then he refused to narrate his ordeal anymore and folded his hands in anger. "Tom, listen to me carefully. There's no ghost out there and we are going to get your blanket from your room, do you get it?

"I...", He stopped when he saw Nora's eyes looking at him. He swallowed his pride and nodded meekly even though he felt embarrassed in front of us.

"So, let's go to your room and take the blanket. We won't get to eat supper in time if we delay any further", Tom slowly paved the way for us to pass through and we went outside into the corridor which was very dark with him following behind us. It was then that I remembered that I had brought a small flashlight with me and had forgotten to take it with me from my room but I wasn't afraid of the darkness because Tom's room was the third one in this part of the house. The two children clung on to me as we walked slowly to the door and it creaked open as I touched the door knob.

"He must have left the door open while fleeing from the room", So I thought before strolling inside. Nora was beginning to feel scared as well, not to mention Tom already shivering in fright as the darkness enveloped us completely the moment we all entered into the room but thanks to the light from the moon, I was able to decipher the objects around.

I took a step forward and found someone grabbing me by the elbow only to find out that it was Tom taking a hold of me since he was frightened to the marrow though I didn't blame him for being so fearful because the room was kind of spooky.

For two minutes, nothing happened and the kids started to doubt if there indeed was a ghost till we heard an eerie noise of the wind accompanied by a deep hollow moan.

The kids became scared even more than the first time we came into the room while I was undaunted and held tenaciously to my belief that there was nothing except the wind playing tricks on us since I had heard a similar sound inside my room earlier.

I intently left the kids trembling behind, with horrific fears written boldly on their faces, and made for the window which faced the backyard. I looked outside only to see the thick darkness enveloping the garden and looked further eastward only to find the fervent rustling of the trees which kept dancing to the tune of the breeze outside and then the hollow sound resounded into my ears. It was then that I realized that it was the harsh rustling of the leaves that was making some kind of noise which seemed so scary at first hearing. I was relieved at my sudden discovery and looked back at the kids who were struggling hard to keep their fears from getting the best of them.

I shut the window tightly after I was satisfied that there was nothing wrong outside or inside the room and with the aid of the moonlight, I searched the room with my bare eyes getting used to the darkness and found it beside the bed near the drawers where Tom had kept it.