WELCOME TO ROSEWOOD MANOR

5

I couldn't breathe... It's like that feeling when there's more than enough oxygen but you still feel like you have hypoxia... I couldn't even cry... the tears decided to do a quick bye-bye. No but why should I cry? It's not that big of a deal, is it? I mean ... sure, a person is living in this house... our house now. My heart seemed to stop; my chest felt like it's waiting to explode any moment... Is this what heart attack feels like?

With a desperate, panic-stricken effort, I spun around. "Adam!" I screamed... but it felt relaxing knowing it was him indeed and not some weird kid angry at us that we're literally colonizing his home...

"You scared me to death! I thought—" He let go of me and took a step back.

 "Gotcha!" he screamed just as loud as me in an effort to lighten my mood ... or probably to scare me, that spoiled little brat- I'm so gonna get him once I get an opportunity. 

He suddenly, out of the blue then started to laugh, a high-pitched laugh that echoed down the long, bare hallway. My heart was pounding really hard now. My headache for some reason got worse.

 "You're not funny," I said getting angry now. I shoved him against the wall. "You really scared me." 

 He laughed and rolled around on the floor. He's really a sick psychopath. I tried to yeet him again but missed. I usually never falter.  Angrily, I turned away from him—just in time to see my bedroom door slowly swinging itself open. I tried to show no reaction but inside I was dying. The disbelief filling the air slowly... And I froze ... not the best time to freeze, I know, I can't help it that my body does weird coping mechanisms sometimes...why the hell is it moving by itself? Must be the wind. I wondered if it's just me trying to bring up justifiable excuses just to brush off whatever the fuck is going on here because-

Adam stopped laughing and stood up, immediately serious, his dark eyes wide with fright. That scared me more than him laughing...

I could hear someone moving inside the room. I could hear whispering. Excited giggles. Hell no. I love giggles but not like this!

  "Who—who's there?" I managed to stammer in a high little voice... even I was surprised to hear my own voice echo through the walls. The door, creaking loudly, opened a bit more, then started to close... as if it's teasing us. What the hell am I saying? Can doors even tease us?

  "Who's there?" I demanded, a bit more forcefully. Again, I could hear whispering, someone moving about. Adam, being the coward he is... had backed up against the wall and was edging away, toward the stairs. He had an expression on his face I'd never seen before—sheer terror. I wanted to laugh but it didn't feel appropriate at the moment as I'd have already shat my pants if I was in his place. 

The door, creaking like a door in a horror movie... you know what I'm referring to, closed a little more. Adam was near to the stairway. He was staring at me, violently motioning with his hand for me to follow. But instead, I stepped forward, grabbed the doorknob, and pushed the door open hard. It didn't resist. I let go of the doorknob and stood blocking the doorway. 

"Oh, come on Spence!" Adam said in a concerning voice. 

Of course, I paid no attention to whatever he was saying because I'm not going nowhere without getting answers.

 "Who's there?" The room was empty. Lightning struck, quickly followed by the thunder.

 It took me a few seconds to realize what was making the door move... as always because my brain can't function right for god's sake. The window on the opposite wall had been left open several inches. The gusting wind through the open window must have been opening and closing the door... wait... I did guess that before but expected something worse to happen, so I put that guess to rest.

 I guessed that also explained the other sounds I heard inside the room, the sounds I thought were whispers... I hope. Now arises another question. Who had left the damn window open? The painters, probably. Why is it always that I ask myself questions I don't have answers to yet end up assuming an answer for it? Dumb me, honestly... 

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, waiting for my pounding heart to settle down to normal... Yeah It takes time, you know?  Feeling a little foolish... like always, I walked quickly to the window and slammed it shut.

 "Spence—are you all right?" Adam whispered from the hallway.

 I was just about to answer him. But then I had a better idea. He had practically scared me to death a few minutes before. Why not give him a little scare? He deserved it. So, I didn't answer him. I could hear him take a few timid steps closer to my room. Oh just you wait Adam... I thought to myself. 

"Spence? Spencer? You okay?" I tiptoed over to my closet, pulled the door open one third of the way. Then I laid down flat on the floor, on my back, with my head and shoulders hidden inside the closet and the rest of me out in the room.

 "Spence?" Adam sounded very scared.

 "Ohhhhh," I growled loudly. I knew when he saw me sprawled on the floor like this, he'd totally freak out! 

 "Spence—what's happening?" He was in the doorway now. He'd see me any second now, lying in the dark room, my head hidden from view, the lightning flashing impressively and the thunder cracking outside the old window. 

 I took a deep breath and held it to keep from giggling.

 "Spencer?" he whispered. And then he must have seen me, because he uttered a loud "Huh?!" And I heard him gasp. And then he screamed at the top of his lungs. I heard him running down the hall to the stairway, shrieking, "Mom! Dad!" And I heard his sneakers thudding down the wooden stairs, with him screaming and calling all the way down. I snickered to myself. Then, before I could pull myself up, I felt a rough, warm tongue licking my face.

 "Rio!" He was licking my cheeks, licking my eyelids, licking me frantically, as if he were trying to revive me, or as if to let me know that everything was okay. "Oh, Rio! hey!" I cried, laughing and throwing my arms around the sweet dog. "Stop! You're getting me all sticky!" But he wouldn't stop. He kept on licking fiercely. The poor dog is nervous, too, I thought. "Come on, Rio, shape up," I told him, holding his panting face away with both my hands. "There's nothing to be nervous about. This new place is going to be a lot of fun. You'll see."