ONCE

4 - Lore

"YES... I mean yeah sure." Leo yelled out weirdly fast.

I chuckled. "Lead the way", I said eyeing the door, "I need to walk horus anyway"

"Ummmm about that.... Maybe keep him at home because no one here has seen a griffin so they might not take it well"

"Oh" I sigh, "guess you'll have to stay home then - maybe take a nap?"

Horus whined and slowly walked to his bed while Leo and I made our way out of the house and walked around.

"So Miss.I'm-new-here, if you turn right here and walk down that road, you'll find our school. If you turn right then right again, you'll see my house. From here if you go left, you can go to the library and if you pass the library and walk maybe 5-7 mins, you'll find the haunted house. Right near the library, there's a plaza with all the grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, and stores to buy snacks and decor and books and cat food and whatever the heck you need, want, crave, etc., etc."

"Wait did you say haunted house??" I asked, creepily excited.

"You don't wanna go there, that house is straight out of a horror movie," Leo says with a straight face

"I have a weird obsession with magical stuff so, worth a visit," I say back

"No no you don't get it, a lot of people have been to that house in the past. Heck, a family bought that house and lived in it for one day before moving away. Legend has it that there's a vampire prince who lost his princess to an evil tribe. And ever since, he's vowed to kill anyone who steps foot in that house who isn't that princess."

"THAT'S SO COOL," I internally slap myself again, " I mean..... It's just a legend. Nothing bad came out of legends. They're just stories! Plus I need a spear practice range so why not there? No one's going to be there so no one's going to get hurt. What do you say?"

Leo simply shakes his head and turns me by the shoulders to face him.

"I said that same thing 3 years ago..... I wouldn't be telling you if I didn't know. The family that lived there? They lost one of their kids that night. They moved in with 3 kids and left with 2."

I gasped

"And if that wasn't enough my brother......." he trailed off. "Believe me when I say something because I know every dark little secret this town has."

"I...I'm so sorry" I whisper looking down

"He was being a stupid jerk! He could have listened to me but he always had to go make everything a bet "Leo started raising his voice " I told him very specifically not to go and who cares if I'm younger than him? I saw what that dang vampire had done to that family. The kid was 5! I met her the day they moved in. They were so sweet but that stupid vampire went and killed the youngest and the most innocent. I told him that if he went to that house I'd never talk to him and it turns out I was right." By the end of that, Leo was whispering, voice breaking up, and quietly sobbing.

"Hey hey I promise I won't do anything stupid," I said as I pulled him into a hug and stroked his hair while he cried silently, "it's ok"