FLESH covered LIES

The Tour of the Dejected

The tour was probably the best part about moving here. As much as this new place made me livid with the thought of never seeing my college again, every inch of this place never failed to amaze me.

We started on the ground floor. The whole place was like an incredible but tiny castle. It was the size of an average family home, but with the gorgeous character of a kingdom. The bedrooms were rustic and furnished with old and traditional patterns, the kitchen a warm red colour with a proper old fashioned Aga stove and still equipped with modern appliances that managed to blend into the cosy room. But my favourite part by far was the library.

When we entered it, I could see the smile on Jonathan's face out of the corner of my eye, the way he smirked made me want to laugh too. It was so incredibly beautiful. Old books filled the great wooden shelves, and around the room were cosy armchairs, lamps giving off a soft warm glow and a rustic fireplace.

"Yeah... that was my reaction when I first came here too." Jonathan said. "And you'll never guess what all these books are about." He traced his fingers over the titles, pausing and pulling one out, gently flicking it to a random page. "Urban legends, myths of bloodthirsty creatures, hunting only by night" That passionate look was back in his eyes, his interest for secrecy and powerful forces taking over his mind once again. I browsed arounded the books myself, even though they weren't the kind of genre I usually read. The legends and stories were incredible, and this whole room was full of them. 

When we were finished in the house, we moved onto the exterior. Apparently we owned what seemed like tons of land, the equivalent of a football ground field just outside our back door. At the very end of the garden was a small shed. Even from the outside it had this off air to it. It was constructed from old dark wood boards, visibly falling apart, with large random holes and spiderwebs doing their best to cover them up with thick silk. We made our way inside, and judging from Jonathan's exhilarated facial expression, he considered this pathetic gardener's shed home. 

"This is my favourite part" he whispered to us. The door creaked it shut behind us. I didn't understand what he saw in this place. The whole things was covered in thick dust, almost blanketed with the concept of aging. It looked as though it hadn't been touched for years, rusty garden tools lining the walls and door, still and blunt. 
"I'm guessing when the agency said we had a gardener, they were joking right?" My mum asked jokily. There was a slight edge to her voice, as if she felt the need to get out of her pretty soon.
"Oh no." Jonathan replied laughing. "You do have a gardener. That's Jim. He doesn't use this stuff in here though, I think this place creeps him out"
"I'm not surprised" I coughed. The aged shed was making me feel ill. "Can we please leave now?"

Just as I spoke a black and white tabby cat jumped from a high shelf I hadn't noticed before making me jump. 
"Jesus Christ!" I squealed, and edged away from the cat as if it were poisonous. Jonathan ignored me and cried "Sherlock!"
The cat jumped right up into his arms and began to purr. 
Georgous creature  I thought to myself, watching Jonathan and "Sherlock" bond. 

"This is my cat, Sherlock." Said Jonathan with a smile. "It's pretty obvious who I named him after. Sometimes I imagine myself to be Moriarty but I can't think of us being rivals for long, we're partners in crime we are. He always seems to know what's up. He follows me to the house whenever I come here, so you'll probably see him around, I hope none of you are allergic?". And that was when Jonathan finally took a breath. I turned to my dad instinctively. He had backed against the wall to prevent his rashes coming out. 
"Oh. Okay I'll make sure he doesn't get close to you" he opened the door and Sherlock rushed out, probably to solve some mysteries I thought to myself. It was amazing to get out into the fresh air, I think that place gave all of us the spooks apart from Jonathan the murderer's accomplice I had taken to calling him in my head. He scared me, but I liked him. He had obviously begun to relax around us in this familiar environment, and it made me feel more comfortable myself. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. 

I woke at half one in the morning sweating like a pig, and boiling hot. I needed to get out of this bed and somewhere cooler. Standing by the window, I traced my finger through the condensation, drawing scribbles and words to calm me down. I felt like I had just been running in a marathon, and had failed. I must have had a bad dream, I still had that disorientated feeling, bad I couldn't remember even one aspect of it. The lawn outside was dark, but I could just about make up the jagged rows of  bush and flower bed in the early morning gloom.

Then, for just a fraction of a second, I saw something. It looked like a man, but it was hunched over into a crouching position with red gleaming eyes and a sinister smirk. It had been looking straight up at me, making no attempt to hide itself, a round polished looking white bald head shining up at the window. I clasped a hand to my mouth, but of course after a that tiny portion of time it was gone.

In an attempt to make myself more at home before even facing the prospect of sleep once again, I checked my emails, a late night routine I had always been familiar with. There was one from Mr Sed. It read:

Hi Gerda,

We miss you. Like crazy amounts. You were probably one of the best addition's to our class. I hope all is good where you are. Let me know what the new house is like :D
I just wanted to check all your writing is going okay. I wanna know what you're working on. Did your horror ideas ever take off? Or are you back to your classic amazing romance? Anyway, I'd love to hear from you soon. See ya,

Your faithful and hopefully always remembered teacher,
Mr Sed

Sighing, that homesick feeling developing in my stomach, I deleted the email, and rolled over, back to my restless slumber.