Haunted Escape | ONC 2022

.10.

Chapter 10

It's probably the best night of sleep I've had since I moved into the house. I fall asleep and I'm not disturbed, and when I wake up to a sunny morning at ten, I realise that my head has stopped pounding as much as it was yesterday.

Landon is in my bed. Nothing happened-- he was very respectful and kept to his side of the bed-- but I don't doubt for a second that it was his close presence that allowed me to sleep so well. I don't want to depend on him too much, but the unconditional care he's shown towards me for the last couple of days is more than I've seen in years. Maybe even my whole life.

The twins left during breakfast to get to work, and I went down into the village not long after to get to Silverstones for twelve o'clock. I gave Sadia my CV and we sorted out my weekly schedule, and I felt very positive about the situation. After what happened yesterday, getting into some sort of routine will be good for me.

But I can't ignore the situation forever, especially now that Landon saw the woman too. So when I get back to the house after a very easy shift at the bookshop, I call Landon over along with someone I didn't think I'd ever talk to again; Darcy.

Landon arrives about an hour later and we eat a simple meal together, before the doorbell chimes and I open the door to let Darcy in. Once again, her eyes are slightly bloodshot and she brings in the faint aroma of marijuana, but she's wearing a tight, formal black dress with very tall heels.

"Well, you've definitely made yourself at home," she says as she glances around the kitchen. I can tell she's hinting towards the slight mess of the room, but her expression shifts from disgraced to coy as soon as she sees Landon sitting at the island.

"Darcy," she smiles, reaching out to shake his hand. He politely smiles and shakes her hand back, but gives me a knowing smirk as soon as she brushes past him. He definitely smells the weed.

"I'm Landon," he tells her, watching as she steps round to the fridge.

Darcy glances at me over her shoulder, swishing her hair a little too harshly. "Looks like you've snatched up a good one already," she says, turning her attention back to the fridge. Then she adds, "just like you snatched up the house." I try not to feel too bothered about it.

"We wanted to ask you something," I say, folding my arms across my chest. I don't say anything else for a moment as she takes out an almost empty bottle of wine from the fridge and pours herself a glass. I hope she didn't drive here, otherwise that wouldn't end well.

"Well?" she asks, spinning around and taking a drink. "I don't have all day."

Landon and I exchange a look, then he decides to go for it. "Has anyone died in this house?"

It's a question I never thought I'd have to ask, but here we are. After Landon saw the woman last night, it rules out the possibility of my brain going haywire with all the stress in my life at the moment, and after a lot of back and fourth, Landon and I came to the conclusion that we need to find out if it's something much more sinister that we're dealing with; ghosts.

Darcy's eyes flicker between the both of us, her face marked with utter confusion. Then she takes another swig of her drink, never moving her line of sight away, before she places the glass on the surface behind her.

"That's what you brought me here to ask me about?" she asks, shaking her head slightly. "I get that this house is big and old and creepy, but you can't for one second actually believe that there are ghosts roaming the halls."

Okay. So she's seen right through our attempts at being subtle about the situation.

"We don't," I say quickly, desperate for at least one person I know to not think I'm a lunatic. "We were just wondering."