The old house squatted at the edge of town like a mean old dog and stared out from behind the trees with a distinct edge of hostility about it.

Amina had seen it often, on her way back from work. The bus would stop by the red light and she would watch it, cautiously, suspiciously, through the everpresent rain.

She had lived in the City her whole life, yet could not remember a single instance of a cloudless sky. A city of tears, she had thought once. Now she didn't know what to think.

The House sat in a field bordered by a train track, a fence and two roads. It seemed too grand for its surroundings. Almost like a castle, or a mansion, Amina thought. If only it hadn't been so...

So what?

The red light turned yellow, then green. The bus began to accelerate.

Suddenly Amina found herself seized by an overwhelming curiosity. She hurried to get up from her seat, raced to the front and shouted:

"Stop! Stop the bus!"

The driver shot her a dirty look, but otherwise didn't comment.

And then she was outside.

As she walked down the long driveway towards the squatting house, rainwater splashing against the bottom hem of her raincoat with every step she took through the puddles, she began to question her decision.

The house seemed even more menacing from this angle.

She could see more of it now, for one thing.

She stopped and took it all in, unsure of what to do next. She looked up to the windows of the house, imagined meeting its gaze head on.

"I'm not scared of you", she mumbled.

But she hesitated all the same.

Unbeknownst to her, from one of the windows of the house something (someone?) was watching back.

The home seemed to resemble an entity almost, its windows like hollow eyes boring into her small size and its dark presence looming over the area the closer she came.

She kept her eyes focused on the shadow that lingered in the house, similarly locking its gaze onto hers. Her body shook with fear, urging to retreat, but she had passed the point of no return; it's not like the bus is waiting for her to return, and the driver certainly wasn't the patient kind for people like her.

Leaves long dead crunched under her feet as she continued into the woods, distant from any city life at a certain point. The trees had become the only life around her, excluding possibly the house and its inhabitant. Or inhabitants.

What if there were others in there? Who'd want to live in such a decrepit home?

Amina murmured little words of courage to herself as she grew closer.
"It's fine, Amina, it's broken down. It's literally an old house. You only see that thing in the window 'cause you feel scared. It'll be fine; I'll walk in, find nothing, explore a bit, then leave, simple as that."

The wind brushed against her coldy, spewing rain against her coat harshly. She grumbled, then looked around; it's just her, the forest, and the house.

It doesn't feel as empty as it should here.