Mount Haven

Chapter 3:The Unknown Life

I drove to the address expecting a house in a suburb, and a gate met me. The gate slowly opened, and I went through. I finally made it up to a mansion. It took me ten minutes to get up the path to the house.
"Holy shit."I was taken aback in awe.
I looked up the road to see a black SUV in the driveway.
"Shit!"I thought to myself.
I checked the address in the letter. The door to the garage opened, and a guy came out. He had brown hair under a backward hat, a black tank, and jean shorts. My eyes darted from the address to the boy, and I began to panic. The boy walked up to my window, and I rolled it down.
"Hi," I said."I this...1582 Evergreen drive?"
My voice began to shake.
"Yeah," he responded."You must be the new owner."
"Yeah, who are you?"
"I work with Steven."
"You look my age."
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen, what about you?"
"Nineteen."
"Close enough."
We both laughed. The tension in my body was released.
"I'm Hailey, by the way," I explained.
"How did you know Leah?"He asked.
"She's my cousin."
"Oh, cool."
"Yeah, I'm also writing my cousin's story."
"Cool."
"Yeah, did you know Leah?"
"I did not."
There was an awkward silence. I got lost in his eyes, and he was cute.
"Can you show me around? I'm new in town."
"Yeah, no problem."
"Do you want to drop off your things first?"
"Nah."
He looked at me, confused.
"Okay, let's start with the house."
I jumped out of my car. Looking up, I saw the house was more extensive than when I saw it in the car. I turned to Jonah.
"Was my cousin rich?"I asked.
"Oh god no, this was one of the first houses built in Mount Haven," Jonah explained.
"Oh..cool."
We walked to the big brown front doors. I was too distracted by the vast land in front of me. I own this now...On my-
"Hailey?"Jonah asked.
"What? Yeah, sorry."I responded.
I walked into the door Jonah was holding open. He looked at me with a suspicious look. The house opened into two sets of stairs landing on the second floor. There was a massive glass chandler in the middle of the room. Jonah then walked left into the spacious living room. It had a huge black leather couch and a flat screen tv. The tv was on. I looked at Jonah, confused.
"What? I was doing work in the backyard and wanted some background noise."He explained.
"I didn't say anything, but okay."
Behind the living room, there was a newly refurbished kitchen. We continued by walking into the massive dining room.
"Wow!"I said.
"How are you related to Leah?"Jonah asked.
"She was my cousin."
"Which side?"
I paused.
"Shit!"I thought to myself.
"My dad's sister's daughter," I responded.
"Okay then," Jonah continued. "Let me show you the second floor."
We walked up the stairs in silence. Jonah led me into the Main bedroom. I began to look around, and Jonah just stayed in one spot on the wall. I walked up to him.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Who are you?"He asked under his breath.
"What?"
He grabbed my throat with his hands.
"I'm Hailey," I responded.
"Bullshit," Jonah continued. "Why are you targeting my dad?"
His grip tightened around my throat.
"I'm not."
"Then who the hell are you?"
I looked down and kicked him in the junk. He fell to the ground releasing me. I began coughing. My mind started to panic. I grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulder. I was not being aware of anything near me. Like in slow motion, the shattered pieces of potted plants flew. Jonah's foot was in the middle of the wreckage.
"Shit!"I said.
I fell to the ground. I dug into my back pocket and grabbed my phone.
"9-1-1, what is your emergency?"The person on the other end asks.
"I might have accidentally knocked a guy out," I explained.
"Does he have a pulse?"
I cautiously moved over to him. I bought two of my fingers up to his neck. He's okay. My hand brought the phone up to my ear.
"Yeah, he has a pulse. He's out cold." I responded.
"Okay, an ambulance is en route."
"Thank you."
I sat down, trying to catch my breath.