HOUSEWIFE

Lion Cub

'Look at what I draw!' Justin shows me another piece of his drawing.

'This looks really good too, buddy!' It's his third drawing of the house. This time, he drew the vase of fake flowers in the corner of the living room.

It has been a few days since Dennis' and Grandma's funeral. Everything have started to go back to normal, or at least as normal as it can be. Bella became our full-time maid until Father can find another one. Obviously she couldn't do it by herself, so Orion started to help more around the house. I'm a bit impressed, Orion, who used to refuse cleaning his own room is willingly doing housework. In contrast, Father hasn't changed at all. He's still busy at work. In fact, now that Grandma is not here, he's more silent than ever.

My life is a bit different now. I started to get nightmares more frequently. It's probably because of the image of Grandma on the bottom of the stairs, is still etched in my mind. Those disturbing sight is still haunting me even today. I heard that talking about such problems would help, but I just couldn't find someone to talk to. Father was busy because of the funeral, Orion had been really distant lately, and clearly, I couldn't talk to Justin. That's why I talked to Bella. the topic just came out after she asked about Mother, but I'm so glad I told her.

'Grandma and Dennis' case is different though....' I hesitated. She might call me crazy, but I need to get it off my chest. 'Justin might've did it.'

'Wait wait wait. Justin? That can't be right. Justin is only six!'

'I think...I think the house possessed him....it's a punishment for Grandma. He....pushed her off the stairs.'

'Why....why does it want to punish her?' She seemed skeptic, but she's still listening to me.

'Because she killed Dennis.'

She believed me. Normally, people would think that I had gone crazy, but she believed me. She believed me when I said that the House had told me about Mother's murder. She listened to me about the possibility of Justin being possessed. Not only that, she also proposed that we help him. Honestly, I feel bad for involving her into our family's problem, but I don't have any other choice. I can't do this alone.

Our conversations at the funeral is the reason I'm currently drawing alone with Justin. We had decided to try exorcising the ghost. While Bella is looking for more information about ghost and exorcism, I will be looking out for Justin. I really want to do the research. Bella already have enough on her plates, but she said that she knows a lot more places to look up, so I ended up agreeing with her.

'Look! I draw us!' Justin holds up another sheet of paper, with some figures drawn on them.

'Justin....who are these people?' There are three figures in the drawing. A part of me is a bit scared to know the truth.

'This....is me..,' he points to the small stick figure with five strands of hair sticking out of it. '...this is you...,' he points the taller stick figure with a pair of big glasses, before pointing his finger at me. 'and this is....her!'

The last figure looks messier than the others. It looks like a stickman with lots of scribbles on it, but I know what he's trying to draw. He's drawing a person with long hair and a dress. As if rubbing salt on the wound, the moment he said 'her', he's pointing to the empty three-legged chair near the bookshelf. I'm sweating. I'm panicking. I grab his shoulder and turn his body towards me.

'Who is it, Justin?'

'It's sister!'

'ARGGGGGGHH!'

THUD! CRASH!

A sudden scream turns my attention away. It's Orion's voice. There's still a lot of things I want to ask about this 'sister' he's talking about, but worry starts to creep into my chest. I let go of Justin and immediately run downstairs with Justin following behind me. When I found Orion, he is sitting on the kitchen floor, screaming his lung out. As Bella sweeps something away, I rushes forward.

'Orion!' He doesn't respond. My voice is drowned out by his screams, so I start shaking his shoulder. 'HEY! ORION!' He doesn't budge. He keeps screaming even as I hit his shoulder.

Then, Bella shoves me aside.

SLAP!

'SNAP OUT OF IT!'

Like a miracle, he stops. He looks confused, but at least he's calm now. I'm relieved, so relieved that the nightmare is over. Sadly, the nightmare comes back a few minutes later, when we found Orion lying on the road after he was hit by a car. The sirens are deafening. The flashes are blinding. I feel like the world is ending. It's the ghost. She must've done this. I need to stop her before she kills us all.

'Justin, can you introduce me to your sister?' It's the first thing I told him after I got back to the house.

'Sure!' He's giggling as he lead me by the hand. 'Holly!'

He led me to his room. His room is as messy as we left it earlier . His bed is unmade, and some picture books and worn clothes are scattered on the floor. Aside from that, no one is there. Justin is talking to an empty bed. I know that something like this would happen, but now that it does, I don't know what to do.

As I stand there, I can feel the room becoming bigger. The walls are stretching, the shelf is growing. It's as if I have entered a big room, like the long funeral hall. Then, the room shrinks, just a little bit smaller then before. The room is pulsing, like a heart inside the body. I can feel my body getting colder.

'Ah! Wait!' Justin's call snaps me out of my thought. Suddenly, the room goes back to normal.

'What is it?' Hiding my fear, I ask him gently.

'She went away....' Justin looks sad as he talks.

I'm relieved and I can't forgive myself. My mother is killed, so are my little brother and grandma, and here I am getting cold feet from some invisible being. My brother could be dead by now and I can't even do one thing. I am a shame.

'Maybe she needs to do something now.' I put my hand on his shoulder, reassuring him. 'Why don't you just tell me about her?'

'Okay!' His eyes sparkles as he starts telling his story. 'Holy is our older sister!'

Our older sister?

'She said she's here even before Orion is born!'

Mother and Father never told us about a sister. Did she die young?

'She loves Mummy! She said Mom always take care of her, talks to her, and give her flowers!'

'Flowers?'

'Yep! Lots of flowers that smells good! And then...and then Mom also always talks about us! How Orion wins his basketball match or you getting a good score!'

'She sounds like a good sister!'

'Umm...' Justin suddenly goes silent.

'What is it, Justin?'

'She said she's not a good sister...'

'Why?'

'Because she killed Grandma.'

Bingo