The Soul Exchange | Teen Ink

The Soul Exchange

October 25, 2023
By Savyyy BRONZE, Independance, Missouri
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Savyyy BRONZE, Independance, Missouri
4 articles 1 photo 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Let your unique awesomeness and positive energy inspire confidence in others.”


Author's note:

It was originally a project for my honors English 2, but as I wrote it it soon became an unfinished story. I will continue this and make it hopefully publishable.

“Dave stop it!” I cried out asonce he pushed me to the ground. 

“You’re 13, stop being a crybaby,” He said, annoyed, and walking into the house, I followed soon after. Once I went in I remembered I left a doll in my grandma's room. Yes, even though we were not allowed to play in there I had to so Dave wouldn't torture my dolls whenever I left them in a room all alone. I then remembered that after I started playing in grandma's room I had left them because I got a strange feeling as if the room was… breathing. 

As I walked into my grandma's room I thought to myself how I could finally get Dave to stop picking on me, after all, he never seemed to leave me alone. As I walked into the room again I heard the wind blowing through the curtains. Blowing loud enough it could be a person whispering, whispering into ears so loudly not just them but the person next to them could hear. I don't see my doll anywhere. I thought looking everywhere I possibly could have left it.


 He must have taken it. After heading out of grandma's room I heard a knock on the mirror. Knock Knock the sound made me come closer. I wonder what the sound may have been created by. At first, I was unsure if it was the mirror. Knock knock there it was again only louder. 

Out of fear, I ran off and into the kitchen where my mom was cutting potatoes and onions for supper. “Mommy I can't find my doll, I think Dave stole it,” I said as Dave responded in his usual “I didn't do it,” he said. I then decided to go back upstairs. And when I do I walk past grandma's room. I heard a squeak coming from Grandma's room. As I went to see what it was coming from I saw grandma's old rocking chair rocking and then it stopped.


 Intrigued, I walked closer trying to make out why it had been rocking and I heard a faint whisper. In the mirror, as I turn around I see my doll in the reflection of a girl in the rocking chair sitting and holding my doll as if it was hers. Scared, I turned back around to find there was no girl, and wasn't a doll. I then look back and see the girl smiling holding my doll. As I watch her hold up the doll it starts to come through the mirror. 


I jump as it falls out of the girl's hand and in front of my feet. Startled, I picked up the doll and ran. 2 days later I woke up and couldn't find my doll. Where could it be now “Ugh” I groaned while trying to stand up but instead bumped my head. As I walk into my room I hear a slight humming so I turn to look and go towards Grandma's room. 


Thinking that I may have a chance to see who it is, I wait behind the door and peek between the cracks. As I look I see the girl brushing my doll's hair. As I see this I run out the back and pull Dave to the door. 

“Leave me alone I wanted to play soccer” he groaned 

“Shhhh!,” I said as I tilted his head towards the girl. 

“Wow you finally found a friend, that's crazy,” He said laughing. 

“She's not my friend,” I said. After a few moments, she waves at us to come and sit. As Dave takes a seat next to her, I'm hesitant. I wait and the next thing I hear is. “Breakfast is ready” As we hear that we race downstairs to eat.

“What the” I mumble as I hear banging coming from Grandma's room. ‘Well then I guess I'll go see what it is, ' I muttered, as I wobbled over to Grandma's room. As I look into grandma's room I see nothing wrong so I walk in. 

“C'mon Elise it's 3:00 at night you should be in bed,” I said but as I walked in the door shut and I heard

“This isn't Elise '' in a low and raspy voice. 

“WHOS THERE,” I ask. 

“Brother it's me, help” I hear and when I turn around I see Elise banging on the mirror.

“ELISE?!?!” I asked as I raised my voice 

“Help, I'm stuck” she says. 

“Ok im coming, I said,” I said as I went to the mirror suddenly... 

“HELP!” I scream as Elise turns into a black shadow and pulls me into the mirror. I bang on the mirror as I see the shadow take the shape of me and head out of Grandma's room..out of sight…

I yawn as I start to wake up, “I can't wait to go to school” I said sarcastically, rubbing my eyes. As I get up I hear a scream for my mom and rush down to see what's wrong. As I walk down I see my mom down in front of something crying as my dad pats her shoulders. “Sweetie, go to your room please, okay?” My dad says and as I turn around I see my brother, smiling, well not even a smile. A smirk. An hour later I'm silent.

It was only 30 minutes ago that my mom told me our dog Bruno had passed. The worst thing is it wasn’t even old age. Dad said It was probably a wild animal but I think we all know that it was a stab wound. As we go to school I walk in and see my brother smiling, the same smile he made while our mom sat there crying. At that moment I knew something wasn't right. On our way home from school I stared out the window, getting chills remembering that smile my brother made, the smile that showed not empathy but sin.

 As I walked into my house I headed to my room to see my brother already there. “Um, Dave?” I questioned as he started digging through my nightstand. “Oh hey,” he said, soon walking out of my room as he left me to question his and my sanity. As it turns 9:30 we start to eat dinner. As We start eating I notice my brother acting very much out of the norm. 

He starts staring at me like he was waiting to say something. “Are you ok, son?” Mom asks with a concerned look on her face. As a response, he nods his head. No words, no verbal yes, just a nod. After dinner, I head off to bed and fall asleep soon after.

The surroundings I was thrown into were like an alternate universe, it had grandma's house, which was made the same only it looked… demonic. A smell of old wood like it had been rotting was present. I looked around and noticed that on the walls were images of my family with pictures of Grandma and the girl who dragged me in there. It made me question if Grandma was in on this. After all, It was her mirror.

 But if she wanted us to be here, why would she have kept us out all these years? Or is she even really my grandma or just a dark mist like the girl? Something was going on. At this moment I search through books and books, news articles, and anything that might give me an answer. Not soon later I found a journal written by Grandma.


 The cover stated “Eleanor's Journal.” Eleanor was my grandma's name. I opened the page and saw a dark red Ink, but was it ink or blood? I wasn't sure either way I read on. “1857, 3:00 p.m” I read out loud as I read the date on the first page. 


“Okay so basically grandma either put the wrong date or she is 200 years old,” I said, closing the book as I heard a slight humming in the distance. I quickly hide under a table and wait for the humming to stop. Not even a moment later the humming stops as well as the thing making it. It then proceeds after picking up the dropped bunny. I waited about 5 minutes till I came out so I knew it wouldn't be back.


 I got out from where I was hiding and walked to find more clues or evidence or at least something that could help me get out of this place. As I walk I meet the kitchen's entrance and see “GRANDMA?!?!” I screamed. And then I realized she didn't hear me, which was a good thing. As I began to watch I started to see that it was my grandmother when she was younger, about Elise maybe… but I had no time to focus so I quickly ran out the backdoor and into the backyard. But it was more like a forest. As I ran I could hear the trees whispering “Dave” quietly so I ran faster and as I ran faster. The air got misty, leaving tiny raindrops on my skin. It turned dark enough that all I could see was the light at the end. It was cold and I could hear the leaves crumble while I ran, leaving echoes in the dark. 


You could hear the trees whispering as the breeze passed and the wind felt like something stabbing me in the back. there is a light at the end but with every step, I take it gets farther and farther until… “AH”.

It was morning and as my alarm clock went off I walked downstairs after putting my shoes on. As I slowly walked down the stairs I realized my mom and dad were not anywhere to be seen. The one person who is there is Dave. But of course, he wasn't doing anything just sitting at a blank wall. It was creeping me out so without saying anything I started to walk past him.


 He quickly grabs my arm. “Dave what are you doing,” I screamed, surprised at what had happened. “The mirror” He mumbled then dropped his arm, still staring at the blank wall. I stood there looking at him with a confused expression. After standing there for a few moments I decided to go into the backyard. 


As I got to the backyard I began to walk up the tree house. As I walked up into the tree house I opened the hatch. I froze in fear of seeing my mom dead, lying there breathless, spread out on the floor of the treehouse. As I stand by my mother in fear the hatch shuts. “Ayy open it up,” I said banging on the door, I looked through the tree house mirror, and that's when I saw Dave. He was holding gasoline and a lighter.



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