Impotent Death: A Paranormal Mystery

Chapter One

Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for reading! Just a heads up, this is not your traditional murder mystery, and this is my first time writing one, so plot holes are a possibility. (You've been warned!) A new chapter will be posted every Friday. Comments and votes are very welcomed. Hope you enjoy!
-organicorganism :)

    "Um, hi. I'm Makayla Moore. I've lived in five different states before, this is my sixth," I said to my English class. "I just came from Los Angeles, California. And... that's all there really is to know about me."
     "Well, thank you, Makayla! Class, please welcome our newest student," the old English teacher, Mrs. Elms, said in her raspy voice. "You can take your seat now, dear. And get working on those essays, everyone! The first rough draft is due next Thursday."
     I moved quickly back to my desk, eager to be out of the spotlight. Being the new student was my least favorite thing in the world, and unfortunately, it was something that happened often.
     My dad is a journalist, so we travel to somewhere new in the country every few years for him to write about things going on in that area.
     I know what I'm about to say is pretty selfish, but I wish he would just hurry up and get a different job. That way we could settle down somewhere for good and actually have a normal life. And what's the big deal with writing articles about random things? It sounds pretty boring to me anyway.
     Right now we're in Mosier, Oregon, and all I can say so far is that it rains a lot. Like a lot. I know that it's spring right now, the rainiest season, but still, it's not normal to have buckets of water dumping from the sky all day every day. I wish it could be a little sunnier like it was in California. That's one of the things I miss most about The Golden State.
     Anyway, school here hasn't been the best. The kids in this school all seem really... awkward. I guess it's normal for high school sophomores to be a little weird, but I don't like it. They all avoid eye-contact with me and treat me like some kind of alien.
     Well, all of them except for one person. This boy who sits right in front of me. He actually said hi to me, and he is so cute!! His blonde hair looks so soft and luxurious, and his eyes are this beautiful grey, like the same shade of grey the clouds always are... Ahhh, I think I'm in love with him! And I almost have his school schedule memorized. Oh, wait, I didn't mean to say that!
     Anyway, I can't wait to talk to him and get to know him. I already know he's on the football team because he's wearing a football hoodie for the school, and I know he also plays the clarinet because I saw him holding it in the hallway this morning. He's such a well-rounded person, now I just have to get his number—
     "So you moved in this week, right?" The boy in front of me was turned around all the way in his seat.
     Oh my gosh, it was the cute boy! My face was probably scarlet as I stammered, "Oh, hi there, um—what's your name again? Wasn't it Leo or London or something?"
     He smiled and my heart fluttered excitedly. "It's Liam. Liam Monson."
     Liam! That name fit him perfectly! How could I have failed to guess it? "Liam, that's right! Um—yes, I did just move in this week."
     "You're from California, right? I bet the weather here is a big change for you," Liam said with a laugh.
     "It is, actually," I said, laughing a bit myself. I was having a conversation with him! Woohoo!
     "So what street do you live on? This town is pretty small, almost everyone knows where everyone lives."
     "Haha, that's funny! Uh, I live on this street called... um... what was it..." This was embarrassing! I couldn't remember where I lived? I shook my head. "I can't remember the street name at the moment, but I know that I live in this place called The Raymond Mansion. It's right next to Mosier Creek."
     Liam all of a sudden gave me a really uncomfortable look, and the room went quiet. A bunch of people had stopped working on their essays to stare at me.
     "What?" I asked, confused.
     "You actually live in The Raymond Mansion?" a brunette girl next to me asked in a tone of disbelief.
     "Um, yeah. So what?"
     Nobody answered for a while. You'd have thought I'd asked them all to confess to a lie.
     Liam finally answered. "Well... back in 1933, a woman was... murdered there. She was hung from the stair balcony by her husband's friend, Kevin Lee Raymond."
     "Oh." Well, that certainly wasn't what I'd expected to hear.
     "I thought people weren't allowed to live there," a chubby boy said nervously.
     "Of course we're allowed to live there!" I said with a bit of anger.
     "It's not that you're not allowed," the brunette girl said, "it's that you wouldn't want to be around the... you know... ghosts."
     "Ghosts? Are—are you guys crazy? Ghosts don't exist." I started laughing, but no one laughed with me.
     "If ghosts don't exist, then what makes the sounds that come from that house in the middle of the night?" the chubby boy questioned.
     I shrugged. "Something else."
     "No, it's ghosts!" the boy shouted. "They're real! And I think they have something to do with that murder in 1933!"
     "Please stay focused, class," Mrs. Elms said from her desk.
     Wow. I couldn't believe how coo coo these guys were. Ghosts were obviously not real, anyone should know that. Once someone dies, they're dead. Gone. Forever.
     But some peculiar feeling kept coming over me later that day. Something told me that the kids in my English class had real reason to be afraid of the house I lived in.