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*One week later*
Katherine slammed her dresser drawer shut with a loud bang. All her unpacking was officially complete. The day after thier viewing of the house, Janet had given them papers to sign and two sets of keys to the house. It was thiers now. Katherine still wasn't sure how she felt about the old house. Nothing wierd had happened, no creaky floors or randomly swinging doors. Although relieved, Katherine felt an unexpected level of disappointment. Almost as if she wanted something crazy to happen.
She sighed as she flopped down on her bed to stare unseeing at her poster covered ceiling. MGMT played 'kids' softly in the background. She let her mind wander. Creepy house. New nieghbors. School. Ugh, school. Tomorrow would be her first day. She groaned as she rolled over on her stomache, grabbing her phone off the nightstand. No new messages. No new calls. Katherine frowned and let her head flop down into her pillow. Not that she was suprised no one had called. In Seattle she'd had a fair few aquaintances, but noone she actually interacted with on a regular basis. No friends. Amoungst her peers, Katherine had been exiled. A loner. Her strange ideas, abnormally mild personality, and bluntness was difficult for others to understand and the few that did felt unnerved by her. She wondered for a moment if this place would be any different.
'Nope. Same shit, different day.' She thought drily, leaving her bed and heading downstairs in search of her hare-brained mother.
She found her in the dining room. Torn wallpaper litered the floor. Her mother stood with her back to Katherine, examining the wall beneath the old paper. From where she stood, Katherine could see the portraits beneath. Charred bodies of damned souls writhed in flames, eyes white and empty, mouths open howling in pain. They were clawing at each other to escape the rising flames.
"Mom."
Helena gasped and lept back from the wall, her hand over her heart. "Jesus, Katherine! You scared the shit outta me!" She gasped, her heart pounding with adrenaline. She smiled and met her daughter's hard gaze with a soft one of her own.
"What is it, Sweetheart?"
"I need school supplies." Katherine leaned against the door frame, fiddling with the hem of her white tank top.
"Oh, thats right. I almost forgot that you've got school tomorrow. Are you excited?" Helena beamed. Katherine's expression didn't change.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Katherine pushed off from the wall and walked briskly to the kitchen. Grabbing the car keys off the counter, she made for the back door.
"Be careful, Honey. Take your cell in case you ge-" Katherine ignored her mother, letting the door slam closed behind her. The sun was out today. But a chill still remained. A gust came from the east, rustling the leaves around her feet as she walked to the end of the driveway. She kept her fists rammed deep in the pockets of her thin, gray sweatshirt and nestled her chin and nose as deep into her ivory cotton scarf as she could.
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After the teller rang up her items, Katherine gathered her bags and went to her car. As she approached, she heard someone clear thier throat. She ignored it and walked around to the passenger side to drop her groceries on the seat. She heard it again, this time more insistant. She rolled her eyes before whirling around and slamming the passenger door behind her. A boy, about her own age, stood with his hands rammed into the pockets of his letterman's jacket, watching her intently. He was medium height and built like a barn door. He was handsome with blue eyes and dark brown hair cut short. Typical jock. He smiled broadly at her when her eyes met his.
"Hi. I'm Josh. You must be new around here. What's your name?"
He released a hand from his jacket and extended it towards her. She simply stared at it until he dropped it awkwardly.
"I'm Katherine." She kept her face and voice neutral, which wasn't hard, since she found nothing about this stranger interesting. Just looking at him, she knew his story. Spoilt football star, getting a full ride scholarship, has a long time relationship with the head cheerleader, and two parents who give him whatever he wants. Boring. Without waiting for a response, she walks around the car and gets in, reving the engine. A knock on the window makes her look up. Josh smiles again and motions for her to lower the window.
"Katherine. Are you going to Westfeld?"
She nodded. His grin widened. "See you tomorrow." With that he pats the top of her car and walks away as she drove off.
'What the fuck was that?' She thought as she sped "home".
Moments later she pulled up the driveway of her house. Already the yard looked better. Jack had made a deal with Helena that Katherine and Helena would work inside and Jack would work outside and so far, so good. The yard was cut and weeded, some of the brick siding on the house had been restored or replaced and a few windows had been replaced as well. All in a week. Even Katherine was impressed. But there was still that creepy crawly feeling at the base of her spine whenever she looked at the house. Something about the house gnawed at the edges of her concious thought like a rat on a wire. Shrugging it off she grabbed her bags and headed toward the back door.
*riiiip
"Shit!" Katherine stopped dead in her tracks as one of her bags tore open, expelling pens, notebooks, and No. 2 pencils all over the sidewalk. Growling to herself about cheap plastic, she dropped to her knees and began picking them up and placing them into her other bags until another hand came into her line of sight, offering her a few pens. She looked up. A boy crouched beside her, offering her some pens as he gathered more in his other hand. He wasn't looking at her as he continued gathering pens and pencils. He stopped when he realized she was staring. He looked up at her and gave her a soft half smile. She suprised herself by returning it.
"Here." He handed her the rest of the pens and stood, dusting off his knees. He was tall and thin. His face was handsome but gaunt as if he hadn't slept or eaten in days. He had shaggy, dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes, almost black. He wore baggy jeans, chuck taylors, and a shabby mustard yellow sweater with frayed cuffs at each wrist. Katherine shoved tbe remaining pens into one of her two remaining bags and stood. She shifted awkwardly and switched the bags from her right to one in each hand.
"You were here last week. Viewing the house." He stated, his eyes never leaving her face. She felt as if she were being x-rayed under his black-brown eyes. She nodded, her smile vanishing. Was he some crazy stalker? Was he gunna lure her into his house and cut her into bits?
"Yeah. My parents bought "the shrieking shack" last wednesday." She shrugged, shifting her wieght again. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. He shrugged.
"I'm Tate. I used to live here." He gestured to the house, his eyes lingering on Katherine's bedroom window.
"I'm Katherine. I live here now." She nodded toward the house.
"Whats that stuff for anyway?" He looked at her bags. She lifted one and made a show of examining the contents. "School shit. I start tomorrow. Westfield?" She noticed a light seem to burn behind his eyes at the mention of Westfeld.
"Westfeld. It's the worst. I used to go there. I dropped out." He gave her another crooked smile.
"Well, not that this hasn't been interesting, but I've got a lot to do before tomorrow. I'd better go." Katherine gave him an apologetic smile and made to step around him. She made it to the door before he spoke again.
"Katherine."
She stopped and looked over her shoulder. He stared at her.
"Don't go in to the basement." With that he walked off around the corner, out of her sight. She stood, puzzled for a moment before throwing the door open and entering the kitchen. 'What the hell does that mean?'
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Chapter two! I'm sicker than a dead dog, so I apologize if my writting isn't up to par. Please vote/comment!
Also, Josh is NOT the boy from the shootings! Just to clarify. :]
