Now or Never

Big City to Small Town

"To be haunted is to glimpse a truth that might best be hidden." - James Herbert

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Monday

April 7, 2017

My name is Sam Falliard, but everyone calls me by my nickname "Missy". I lived in New York my entire life. Two weeks ago, my mom told me we had to move due to the fact that my Dad couldn't get a job out of state, so the only way for him to find employment was for us to move to another state. Matthews County, Virginia. Of course, for me, it wasn't easy. I had to move away from all of my friends. It was hard for me. But they didn't see through that.

Mom told me everything would be okay. I wasn't too sure about that. Dad was a writer and he made a few novels in his 3 years of writing. He was lucky enough to make a job off of his writing to some guy named Mr. Lemp who is pretty much the next Stephen King of horror stories. It was his career and it was his idea was to move here looking at a certain location a mile from where he can focus now to publish his books to impress. Away from civilization.

I gazed out of the window, music in my ears. Trying to blur out the talking my parents were screaming about, which was the new house. I just couldn't stop thinking about the only friends I had left behind. A hand placed onto my knee. Turning over, my younger brother Jared, nodded to me understanding my silence. He was 10. Me being older. he looked up to me. But of course being the bigger sister, I had more freedom so I use that to pick on him a lot. He hates that. I held his hand tight. He nodded and released his grip from my hand. I stared back out the window. My cat Shadow, staring out with me. "Hey, Shadow." I grabbed her, petting her gently.

"We're here!" Dad said.

Taking out my earbuds, I looked onto the road. The car slowly came up to a stop. The house was around a decently fair looking neighborhood surrounded in a wooded suburban area. It was a bit better than I had imagined. It was a two story home, but it had the appearance of those old Victorian mansions, as if it had been here for ages.

The other homes were built the same way. I liked the house because of it's creepy appearance revealing that I'm the girl who likes the dark side of things. Jared looked up to the house, gripping onto his backpack for a moment. Dad placed a shoulder onto him and smiled. "What do ya think, son?" He asked.

"It's alright." Jared said. Dad turned to me. "Missy?" He said. "It's fine....so far." I replied, being first stepping into the home. Dad sighed. Mom wrapped herself in his arms, kissing his cheek. "Give them a while. It's been a long day." Mom stated. The two and Jared both looked upon the house as I walked inside.

The doors slowly creaked open. The house looked even bigger on the inside. A large staircase leading to the upstairs going two pathways. Downstairs was the kitchen, dining room and living room. Though it didn't have a basement or an attic. Giving myself a tour of the home, the atmosphere was silent. Though it was our house, I suddenly developed a feeling of caution. I wondered if the previous tenants did anything here.

I stood by the staircase staring at the staircase window. My hands hanging from my sides.

I suddenly gasped, backing away as I felt a brush go across my leg, only to be replied by the sound of a purr. Shadow, escaped from the car into the house, trying to find me as she usually panics when I'm not around her, so she tries to find me. "Come here, baby." I whispered to her, picking her up as she rested herself in my arms. Kissing her head, resuming to stare up the staircase.

A minute later, the family stepped inside. "Alright guys, let's unpack as much as we can. Get to know people around the neighborhood." Dad started positively. He walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You gonna be okay, Missy?" He asked. "I know this can be tough but can you-" "Can I see my room..?" I asked.

He sighed. "First door on your right. Everything's already in your room." He replied. "Come on, Shadow." Placing Shadow down, I walked up the stairs turning back to Dad for a minute. Dad had already turned away beginning unpacking.

Stepping at the door, I removed a tacky butterfly sticker off of the door. Inside the room, was a king size bed and TV, dresser, walk-in closet and a table stand beside the bed. Standing beside the window with Shadow, I stared onto the window, getting a view of the rest of the neighborhood.

Dusk was coming and I decided to unpack all I could before calling it a night. It was already 10:49 by the time I had got all my things finished and my body couldn't have felt anymore sore. Laying onto the bed, I had already showered and prepped to sleep.

My sleep was suddenly interfered due to loud party music in the distance. Sitting up in my seat looking through my window, bright lights illuminating in the woods. "You gotta be fucking kidding me.." I covered my face into the pillow. The music would go on for 2 whole hours. Getting louder, and louder. And louder. And louder.

Tuesday

"Missy!" Mom shouted out from downstairs. A sigh escaping from underneath the blankets. The music had ceased. Morning had arrived feeling the sun's glare flash onto my eyes. Turning towards the clock, it was two hours to noon. I felt as if I only had thirty minutes of sleep. "Missy!" I got up outta bed.

Dad was on the roof removing junk from the gutters as he finished placing windchimes onto the house. The blissful sound of windchimes as the gentle breeze allowed them to play their songs. Dad looked down to me as I walked past. "Hey Missy!" I looked up to him. "Think you can get some tools out of the car for me?"

"Sure. Hey uhm..Dad?" "Yeah?" "Did you get any sleep last night?" "With al that music going on? No I couldn't." "Are you sure you can write with all that music going on?" "Well, hopefully, it won't happen again."

"What are you doing up there anyway?" I asked. "Well, I'm straightening up what the previous tenants didn't do before they left, plus a little spring cleaning, ya know? "He replied as he stood to his feet. I nodded to him "Ah. You have fun with that." I replied as I went towards the car.

Grabbing the toolbox from the trunk, I was startled by a baseball entering the trunk of the truck. "Sorry!" A voice called out.

Quickly turning across the street, a boy and a girl about my age were waving to me, baseball mitts in their hands. Looking to them with a grin I recovered their ball. Walking towards them, I tossed it back . "Thank you." The boy said. "Maybe you should be more careful next time before you end up knocking someone out." I said to him aiming a hammer at him. "Right, I'm sorry. Threw a little too hard." He replied. "Yeah you did..." "Hey, I haven't seen your face around, you new here?" The girl said.

"Yeah, I-I moved in here yesterday." "Well then, Welcome to Matthews County. Not a proper introduction after that incident." She said with a smile and a handshake. The boy greeted with a handshake as well. "Got a name?" She said. "Sam, but most call me Missy." "Well Missy, this is Zeke and my names Alesse." "Alyss?" I questioned. "Noo, it's said like "Alyssa", but instead of an A and a Y, it's just two E's".

"So, Alesse?" "Bingo." "So, what made you come here?" Zeke asked. "I actually didn't want to move here. My dad needed to move for his writing and the only way was to move. He said he was meeting someone here though." "Ohhhh, employment issues." Zeke replied. "Do you like it here?" "It's not as bad as I thought, but still homesick."

"It gets that way sometimes, suburbs?" Alesse asked. "City. New York." "Ohhh, the Big Apple." She chuckled. "That's the place."

"Missy!" A voice called. Turning back, Dad was pacing towards us. A shortness of breath in his tone. "I had a feeling you ran off. You never gave me the tools." He said. "Oh, sorry. Here." I replied handing him the hammer and toolbox. "Thanks." Looking to Zeke and Alesse, he waved. "Mind introducing me, hon?" Dad asked. "Oh, sorry. Dad this is Zeke and that's Alesse."

"Alyss?" "It's like Alyssa--" "I'll-I'll explain it later." I replied as they waved to him. "Hello you two. Missy, I'll be back at home. Have a look around the place. I think you'll like it." Dad said as he ran off.

Turning back to them, I simply stared. "So, mind showing me around?" I asked. The two shared a look and turned towards a dirt road.