STRANGE AND UNSEEN

Chapter 1

Avi leans his head back against a tree and closes his eyes. He has an hour and a half of free time before his next class. The combination of fresh air and quiet time was all he needed for a good nap. Just as he begins to fully relax, he hears voices getting closer.

"Hey, you the new kid, right?" One asks.

Avi opens his eyes and notices a tall blond boy smiling down at him. The boy's arm was draped over a much shorter boy. The shorter one had dyed blond hair and was very skinny. He eyes Avi suspiciously as if he didn't trust him with his boyfriend.

"I guess so, I'm Avi." He reaches up and shakes the tall blond's extended hand.

"I'm Scott and this is Mitch." Scott says, as they sit down uninvited on the ground in front of him.

Soon two more comes to join them. A very cute short girl with blond hair and a tall black guy with a friendly smile.

Avi would rather be taking a nap than to be entertained by a group of nerds.

"I had heard that you moved in next door to that haunted house." Scott asks with wide eyes.

"Haunted house? Uh, there's an old run down house next door, but some people are living there." Avi says as he takes a bite from the apple that he had brought for lunch.

"Have you seen any of them or do they only come out at night?" Mitch asks as he leans forward with interest.

Avi chuckles and shakes his head. For these kids to be nerds they sure are stupid.

"Well, yes. I've seen three of them. But I'm not sure how many live there." Avi says as he takes another bite of his apple. "And it was during the daytime."

"So they're not vampires." Mitch says as he looks around at Scott.

"Seriously?" Avi laughs, almost choking on his apple.

"I've heard that they have girls held hostage in their basement." The blond girl says. "I'm Kirstie, by the way. And this is Kevin."

"So what did they look like?" Kevin asks as he chews on a straw.

"Who?" Avi asks.

"The guys that you saw. Did they look like serial killers?" Mitch asks, leaning into Scott.

"They looked like normal people." Avi chuckles at their silliness. "Uh, one guy was going to his car. He was kind of heavy set, a bushy beard, wore glasses and had a very friendly smile. I saw one come out to get the mail, he wore a baseball cap but he looked like he might have been bald. Uh, he had sideburns and a light beard. And one was mowing the yard. He also wore a cap, a beard and had a round face."

"That's weird." Mitch says as if he was thinking out loud.

"I thought so too." Avi smiles.

"Really?" Scott asks. "Why?"

"Think about it. Why would a ghost care what his yard looks like?" Avi smirks.

"AVI!" Kirstie scolds, smacking him on the arm. "You have to find out what is going on inside that house."

"Why?" Avi ask as he rubs his arm. "It's none of my business."

"People say they hear screams coming from the house." Kevin adds.

"I've not heard anything. I mean, you can hear talking sometimes, but I'm sure the walls are just really thin." Avi says. "And besides, I've never heard of a ghost using a wheelchair. There is wheelchair ramp that looks a lot newer than the house."

"Maybe it's to roll the dead bodies out." Mitch says with a look of horror.

"Yea, I roll my dead bodies out the front door too." Avi laughs. "Are ya'll actually listening to yourselves right now? Do ya'll know how ridiculous this all sounds?" Avi stands up and shakes his head. "I gotta get to class."

"Just let us know if you see anything strange." Scott says as he stands up, pulling Mitch up with him.

"I already have, and it's not my neighbors." Avi says as he turns and starts to walk across campus, shaking his head.

~~~~

Avi pulls up into his drive-way. His eyes automatically falling on the old house next door. 'Serial killers' 'Hostages' He shakes his head to clear the thoughts from his mind.

He gets out of the car and walks out to the side walk where his and the neighbor's mailboxes were. He glances down at the mailbox. No name, just the house number on the mailbox.

He opens his and begins to take out his mail. As he is thumbing through his mail, he gets the eerie feeling of being watched.

He slowly raises his head and looks at the old house. His breath quickens as he sees the curtain to one of the upstairs window pulled back as if someone was peaking out.

Avi gasps as the curtain quickly closes. He slams his mailbox shut and hurries inside his house, locking the door behind him.

"What in the heck am I letting those nerds do to me?" Avi says as he sits down on the couch, pulling his beanie off and tossing it aside. "They have me freaking out about my neighbors."

He hears a car door slam next door. He gets up and carefully peaks out the window. The bearded guy with the glasses was at the mailbox getting the mail. He walks toward the house whistling a happy tune.

Avi chuckles to himself. "Ain't nothing wrong with those people. Just relax." He says to himself.

After eating and watching a little television, Avi decided to do some work he had due in one of his classes in a few days. He turns off his TV and lays down on his stomach across his bed with his laptop.

He presses save on his work and glances around at the clock. "10:00" He mumbles through a yawn.

Suddenly he hears a scream from next door. He stops breathing and every hair on his arms stood up.

"KEEP MR. BIGGLES AWAY FROM ME!" A voice screams as a different voice laughs loudly.

"Holy Moly." Avi whispers with a deep swallow.

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