Possessed

Chapter 4: The House with its Secrets

I closed the door behind them as the last of the workers, and some reporters as well, walked outside. I sighed wearily. The police and reporters had hoarded our front yard for the last three hours. Apparently this house had been something of an interest study, being a mansion once belonging to a very wealthy businessman, and the mystifying news that a skeleton had been found in one of the closets in a room attracted people to no end.

"Now that that's over, we can go back to enjoying ourselves," I faced Odette, who looked rather tense for some reason.

"I need to get home, dad will be worried," she spoke softly, the look disappearing.

"Not so soon!" I whined, as Odette laughed.

"Why, you aren't afraid that the spirit of the old skeleton will come back to haunt you, are you?" she teased lightly.

I slapped her shoulder playfully, "No, silly."

We both laughed. Our laughter came to an abrupt halt as my mom came into view. I had called her after the skeleton incident, and she had rushed over. However, I had refrained from calling my dad up since he would probably be very busy at his new job.

"What are you guys laughing about?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

I grinned at her, "Odette was being silly."

"Was not!" Odette exclaimed.

This earned us both an amused smile from my mom.

"Well," Odette faced me, "I should get going now. It's quite late."

"Shall I walk you?" I offered.

"No, it's okay. I'll walk by myself. My house is just around the bend."

I shrugged my shoulders, opened the door and bid her goodbye.

"She seems like a nice girl," my mom commented.

"Yes," I replied, "one of the friendliest I've met."

Mom smiled at me, "So, what do you want for dinner?"

"Macaroni and cheese sounds good."

"Uh-huh," she nodded, her auburn hair with slight curls at the end bouncing, "Your dad will be home late. He told us to go ahead with our dinner."

"I'll be in my room."

"I'll call you when dinner's set."

With a single nod of my head, I sprung up the stairs and into my room. I still wasn't quite used to its light blue walls and my new large bed with its freshly laundered beige bed sheet and fluffy pillows. There was a big glass window beside my bed, shielded by translucent curtains, with a window seat attached that had a few colorfully streaked cushions on it. That was my favourite spot for reading during the daytime. I had loved the idea of a window seat when my mother had suggested it to me.

I went and plopped down onto my bed. On the opposite side of it, there was a medium-sized closet that still had some clothes missing. An antique body-length mirror with curlicue designs on its frame hung on the wall next to it. At one corner of the very same wall, an occupied modern white bookshelf stood, above my wooden study desk that had a black Dell Laptop on it, shaped to perfectly fit the corner. My eyes roamed up to the ceiling, which had three black ceiling lamps, widely spaced from each other, suspended from it. My room had been the first one in the entire house, to be set up completely.

All in all, I absolutely loved my new bedroom. I just wasn't very familiar with it all.

I got up from my bed and walked to the window, sitting down on the window seat instead. I could see my backyard from my window, and a forest that begun precisely where my yard ended. Goosebumps erupted on my skin as I stared at the swamp of trees. It was so dark in there. I never liked forests. I guess my dislike of them was provoked from frequently reading stories that involved horrific incidents occurring in dark, lonely forests.

I saw something move in between the trees clumped together. I squinted, trying to see better. Was there someone there? In the shadows?

"Aries," my mom spoke, startling me.

I spun around to see her leaning against the doorway, her hair up in a ponytail. My mom was tall and pretty, and had been prettier when she had been younger, with her emerald green eyes and high cheekbones.

"Dinner's ready, honey." She smiled, slight wrinkles forming at the corner of her eyes.

"I'll be down in a sec."

She turned to leave and I listened as her footsteps receded in the distance. I turned back to my window. Nothing there. No moving figures. Was I going mad? Why would my mind be conjuring these wild, unbelievable things up? First the whispers, now this. Was there something wrong with the house? Shaking my head as if to dissolve my troubling thought, I started for downstairs.