A to Z: E - Energy & Eager

My A to Z Challenge: Flash fiction written using two words and a photo for inspiration. How did I chose the words? First I brought up a noun list for each letter, then averted my eyes, scrolled the mouse down, stopped and double-clicked. That was the word! The second word was chosen the same way but from a dictionary list of words.
NOTE: Photos are from free to use photo sites such as Pixabay.com and Morguefile.com. No attribution necessary.

"Can you see it?" Mya asked Jake, who shook his head. "It can't be far. Can it?" She stopped in the middle of the road and rested her hands on her knees. She looked up at Jake. "Why aren't you panting? Do you think this is fun?"

Her running partner jogged in place beside her. "C'mon, you wimp. this was your idea. You were full of energy when you woke me two hours early. I thought you were eager to get to that house?"

She stood up and stretched her arms over her head, then touched her toes a couple of times. "Well, I am. I just can't keep up your pace. You only got four hours sleep. How can you keep up this pace?"

"Training, dear sister. Training. You should come out with me more often."

She made a face and did a couple more stretches.

"So why are you so intent on seeing this place? You do know there's no such thing as a haunted house."

"Did mom and dad ever tell you about the Samuels family and the house they lived in? You were overseas when it all happened." When Jake shook his head she continued. "There were five of them. Mr. and Mrs. Samuels, their son who was twelve, a daughter who was eight, and a baby less than a year old. He was trying to farm the land but it was hard going. Living on a shoestring, feeding five people, fighting the weather. Well, the final report said Mr. Samuels broke and killed the entire family."

Jake stopped. "You're kidding me! He killed them all?"

Mya nodded.

"Even the baby? Who could kill a baby?"

"Well, actually, they never found the baby's body but they never found it alive either."

"And this is the house we're going to?"

She nodded again. "No one has lived there in over ten years, since it happened. People have gone to look at it but they say they can hear the screams and cries of the family."

Jake looked skeptical. "I doubt that. Probably more like an overactive imagination."

"Maybe, maybe no." Mya shrugged. "Who knows??

"Well, let's get going so we can get back home in time for the game."

Mya stuck her tongue out at her brother, pushed him off balance, and took off running.

Laughing, Jake joined her.

Thirty minutes later, they were approaching the Samuels homestead and slowed to a walk. The years of neglect had take a toll. The fence was broken in several places and the yard was overgrown with weeds.

Mya whispered, "It's the stuff nightmares are made of, isn't it? Imagine being out here at night?" She shivered. "No thanks."

As they stared at the ramshackle house, the wind picked up and whirled the dust around their feet. Mya wrapped her arms around herself. "Brrrr, wish I had brought a sweater."

Jake chuckled. "Ready to go inside?"

"Are you crazy? I just wanted to see it. Now we can go back home."

"Wait a minute, not so fast! Not so eager now?"

Mya tugged her brother's arm. "This place is creepier than I imagined. Let's go." As soon as she said that, the wind escalated and blew them both towards the house. "Stop pushing me," she admonished.

"I'm not, it's the wind. It's pushing me, too."

When they got to the front steps, the wind stopped but a howl arose from deep inside the house. Mya started to cry. "I wanna go home."

Jake put his arm around her shoulders. "Me, too." He tried to turn them towards the road but found he couldn't move in any direction but forward. "You stay here. I'll check it out inside. I'm sure we're overreacting."

He took two steps and realized Mya was still beside him. She was looking at her feet then back up at him. "When you move, I move. This can't be real. I'm having a nightmare, right?"

Jake couldn't respond,. He was busy keeping his balance as his feet continued up the steps, across the porch and then stopped at the front door, Mya keeping pace beside him, a terrified expression on her face. Her face was streaked with tears and her sobs tore at his heart. The both jumped when the door slammed opened.

They could see inside, so very different from the outside. The air inside smelled of roses and the living room seemed immaculate, as though someone were still living there. Jake squeezed his sister's shoulder. "Not so creepy now..."

"You don't think it's weird that the inside looks like it did ten years ago? I do." Again, she tried to pull them backwards but nothing happened. "Jake-"

"Shhh, I hear something. It sounds like footsteps."

"Jaaakkkeee..." her voice shook.

The stairs creaked and the footfall grew louder. The wind rose again and as they looked back, the front door slammed. When they turned back, a teenage girl was standing in front of them.

She held out her hand. "Hello, I'm Becky Samuels. Welcome. I understand you were eager to visit. Come in. Share your energy with me!" As she turned they heard her say, with an evil laugh "Welcome to your new home. You will feed me for years to come." 

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