𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐 — 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬

At first glance, just looking at this house gives me the creeps. The thought of how much murder vibe I got from it makes me shudder. Do you suppose it's normal to think there's any crime that ever happens in this small town?

There's a broken-down playground in the yard. The grass was left unattended. Vines and mosses grew around the house. It's basically the perfect scenario for a horror film. It's like I've been sucked into one.

I've been watching too many horror films lately. Usually in those films, a family moves into a new house and finds out at later moments that the house that they lived in was haunted and that they weren't alone in the house.

I looked around the house again and shook my head. Basically, it's just a normal house. Just a normal big old house that needs renovating in some areas.

I decided to shake my earlier thoughts away and ran up to the porch. The house is still sturdy. I step on the wooden board and it still holds me. The house might need a bit of retouching, but it's still as sturdy as any other house.

I ran my hand on the dusty old boards. The boards felt thin and veined, as if they had been frozen by a hundred winters, and baked by a hundred summers. They have a strong odour of dust and age.

On either side of the door, there are two benches placed neatly on the porch. There's also a vase with a plant growing in it. The vase was surrounded by a mess of fallen brown leaves.

I ran back down and let my eyes wander around the house. It's a big house, the kind that most American kids fantasise about growing up in. It had turrets, gables, dormers, balconies, a screened-in front porch, and formal gardens. It was also beautifully tucked away among the trees.

The house is vacant because grandma has been in the sanatorium for the last twenty years, ever since the day mum turns eighteen. People said that she went mad and delusional these days. They said she even tell them that she was talking to a bunch of fairies and that she was apparently the queen of fae.

I don't remember Nana much. Mum rarely talks about her and we rarely visit her. But one thing is for sure, she's clearly a troubled seventy-five years old lady.

Mum left home the moment she married dad, wanting nothing to do with Nana.

"So, this is grandma's house?" I asked.

"Yes, honey," she answered shortly, almost in an uninterested voice.

"I like it. It's a pretty place to call home."

"It's not really that bad moving here, isn't it?"

I didn't answer that question. I want to forget yesterday's argument, but it's quite hard since my mother never laid her hand on me before. I turned to look at her. The moment my eyes dropped on her, a frown found its way to my face as I saw her working hard, juggling all our suitcases and bags in her arms. I walked up to her and took my bags and cases off of her.

"You don't need to carry my stuff, mum. I'll help you carry the rest in after this." I said before I once again walked up the stairs and placed my stuff on the porch.

As I was just about to go back to my mother, something glowed in the corner of my eye. It comes from inside the vase, beside the door. I walked to it and crouched down as I picked the thing up. It was a golden key with a fancy design decorating it.

"Mum, I found a key," I told her. "Is this the key to the house?"

"You can try it. But I doubt it's for the main door, honey."

I did as she told me and it didn't work. It's not the key to the front door. I stared at the golden key for a second. Noting that it does seem rather interesting and worth keeping. Maybe I'll find a hole for the key in the house soon. With that thought in mind, instead of putting it back where I found it, I kept the key in my pocket.

"It's not for the front door, mum," I told her.

"I told you so, honey," she answered, her voice much closer than before.

Before I could question the oddness, a thud made me jump from my spot.

I turned towards the source to find my mother chuckling, amused. The luggage and cases had all been carried up to the porch. I stared at my mother with my mouth hanging open. To which she replied with yet another chuckle.

"Did I scare you, honey?"

"How did you carry all of that up here, mum?"

"Oh, It's just that I'm stronger than you think, honey," she said, with an expressive gesture of flexing her muscles.

I couldn't help but snort at her remark. I guess mum does need a change of scenery. She seems to be doing better already. The colour is finally back on her skin.

"Thank goodness for that, I don't need anyone helping us out just because they like my mother," I said, looking at her. "I mean, you look younger than your age, mum."

We laughed for a while before catching our breath. The moment mother regained her composure, she pulled a key out of her pocket and walked to the door. She pushes and twists the key on the doorknob.

I followed her into the house, and the moment I set foot into it, I found it difficult not to gape at the interior. Unlike the exterior, the interior was surprisingly neat. Even after all these years of being left unattended, it was still in excellent condition. A little dusty is all there was. But that's nothing that can't be fixed.

The house was designed in renaissance architecture. The living room, as well as the rest of the house, is filled with mostly dark wooden furnishings. I really love my grandparents' sense of interior design. I have no complaints about the dark, gloomy design. In fact, I'm in love with it.

"Mum, where's my room?" I asked.

"Upstairs, the room second to the left after you run up the stairs, honey," she said.

I grinned, grabbed my stuff, and was about to race up the stairs to find my room. But before I could make a run for it, I was held back by my mother with a single question, one that I feared she would ask me.

"Oh Addie, honey, do you by chance know anything about this?" she asked, pulling her phone up for me to see. The screen of her phone has a picture of Mrs Tretchfold's wall with graffiti that wrote, "Stop being such a vampire! Use all those money to get yourself a nice retirement house." and a drawing of her being a vampire.

It all happened a day ago. - The night before we went on our drive here. The night after she gave me that red mark on my cheek.

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𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬: 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 28 2018 [7 𝘱𝘮 - 2 𝘢𝘮]

I cried my eyes out, back leaning against my door. Mum had slapped me. She never lays her hands on me before. I cried for a good long hours before I decided that I don't have it in me to spend more than an hour in that house with my mother anymore. I need to be around people who actually care about what I want and need. I need my friends. I texted them to meet me in our hideout. Telling them that it's a code: red. I'm going to spend my last time here with them, those friends that my mother despised.

"So you're telling me, you are going to move to the countryside? You?" Jasper asked before he burst into a laughing fit, falling to the floor as he gripped his stomach tightly. "You have got to send me a picture of you on the farm."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "Oh, haha. It's very funny. Didn't know you had a kink in a country girl. Will be sure to send you lots of it." I said with a playful wink. My reply only made him laugh harder as he rolled around the room, laughing his arse off.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to my phone.

"You know," Hades started in an attempt to pull my attention away from my phone. "People say, distance does wonder to make hearts long for someone. I hope you don't suddenly fall for me when you're there," Hade said with a smirk plastered on his face. The forest hue of his eyes glimmers as the bulb lights its ray into his eyes.

If he wasn't such a proud and annoying guy, I could have sworn I'd date him any day. Such a shame. He's such a pretty prick.

"Shut up, you git. As if that would ever happen," I said with a scoff.

Before the boy could say anything more, he was interrupted by Petunia. The brunette jumped and sat on a countertop half her height. She drummed on her thighs before looking in my direction.

"But why are you even going, Addie?" Petunia asked.

"It's not that I want to move, Tunie." I turned to look at her. "It's just that the old lady was raising the rent price again," I said, shrugging.

"What does she even need it for?" Petunia rolled her eyes as she looked into the distance.

For a moment, the room stays quiet before Jasper decides to break the silence. "Hey, how about we go and have one last mischief?" Jasper asked with a grin.

And that's how we ended up being in the yard of Miss Tretchfold at 2 in the morning, vandalising her wall with a couple of graffiti.

I shook my spray can and began drawing my masterpiece. People usually draw using brushes and pens and pencils. I do too, most of the time. But sometimes, I go around using my talent to spray colourful graffiti. I have the ability to draw just the same as I would with a brush using a spray can.

"Hey, don't forget to draw some vampire teeth on her," Hades said, laughing.

"Addie, did you say she always bragged about her garden?" Petunia asked.

"Yes, she treasures them very much," I said, nodding as I continued to spray on the wall.

Not long after, I heard the sound of smashed vegetables and fruits. I turned to look at Petunia, ruining the old lady's garden. I watched her with horror in my eyes.

Oh god. Too far.

Before I could confront her about it, a voice broke through the silence of the night. "Oi. You guys over there!" a male voice shouted, running with his flashlight that shone our way.

I looked around and immediately put all my cans in my bag. I pulled the two boys away from the wall and dragged Petunia away from there. "We've gotta get out of here before we get caught."

Then we ran and ran till we reached our hideout.

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I looked at my mother and with just that one look, my mother groaned disapprovingly. "Addie, why did you do this?" she asked before walking out of the room.

I only sigh and proceed to walk to my room. When I got into it, my mouth dropped in awe. There are a few beautiful high-arched windows, a mirror table, a study table, a wooden closet, my own queen-sized bed, and everything in the room design that screams out my name.

"Where have you been all my life, room?" My room is beautiful, just as I thought. I think I can manage my stay here after all. I'll probably miss my friends, but that's just about it.

With a final satisfied look, I walked to my bed, sat down, and shut my eyes. I can sleep for hours on end. The drive has completely drained me. I'd probably skip dinner if I could. I heaved a sigh and cleared my mind. Within a few minutes, I'm sound asleep, drifting off to my dreamland.