The House

Part 1

It all started out bad. Not as bad as it is now obviously but at the time it was bad. We had moved from our old house that was on the outskirts of Philly to this one here in Erie because I got a job offer up here that would've basically set us up for life.
     I had worked at a friend's lawn care business down there and because I was in charge of advertising, I got my name out there. A man named Robert Henceworth got hold of me and said he needed somebody to advertise for his recording label that was up and coming. I thought it was a joke at first but everything was legitimate after I met with him and discussed everything so I took the offer. We felt like that would've been great for us, and for Maggie.
     We had moved into the new house on the coldest day of January. Dumb on our part, but it was the only day that worked really. We had the help that day so we did it. We should've put it off longer though, because that's how Maggie had gotten sick.
     She said she didn't feel good and was really cold. Emma checked her temperature and she was running a slight fever, so we set up her room first so she could lay down. We set it up, because she was only three, so her shelves were out of reach. Didn't want her to break anything. On the shelves were some pictures of the family, and a vase of daffodils, and a few little trinkets. Daffodils were her favorite and the greenhouse had some really pretty ones growing. Her bed was pushed into the corner opposite the door, with a little night stand next to it.
     I went down to the truck and opened the back door. Maggie was sleeping under a pile of old coats and jackets. I scooped her up and carried her up to her room, still asleep. I closed the door behind me and tucked her in. Right when I was turning to leave she woke up.
     "Daddy?" She said.
     "Oh hey Princess. How're you feeling?" I asked with a smile. I sat down on the foot of her bed and brushed the hair from her face.

     My God did she look like her mom. She had the cute, petite nose with the bluest eyes I've ever seen. I think they were even bluer than her mom's, if that's even possible. She always refused to sit still when we brushed her hair so she looked like a blonde lion.

     "Daddy I feel yucky." She whined the way children do.
     "I know honey. Why don't you get some sleep? I'll come check on you later."
     "No daddy, stay!" She cried.
     "But Mommy's waiting on me baby."

     This is where I should've known something was wrong. She sat up, pale as a ghost and looked into my eyes with a stare like I've never seen.

     "Daddy, that man is scaring me," she whispered, pointing behind me. I turned to look behind me but saw no man. Just an empty room.
     "There's nobody in here silly," I had told her while turning back to her. "You're just feeling sick honey. Take a nap," I told her, messing her hair up even more.

     She finally let me tuck her back in and I left to help finish the rest of the unloading. I hadn't even given my daughters fright a second thought. I thought it was just her being a young kid with an active imagination. Anyway, later on that night, after everything was moved off the trailer we had rented and in the house, we unpacked the dinner table. I went up and woke up Maggie and carried her down to eat. She didn't eat much, of course, but it was still nice to have her with us. Once we had finished up, we took her back up and put her in her bed again to say goodnight.

     Now I was never a religious man, and I definitely am not now. Emma was though, so she wanted to get Maggie into it early so she had some sort of basis for when she grew up and could decide on her own what she wanted to believe. I just went through the motions with them to make Maggie happy. If I didn't join them she would throw a fit.
     We were all kneeled at the bed and Emma let Maggie start.
     "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray to God my soul to take. If.... Daddy. Daddy..."
     "What's wrong?" I asked.
     "He's there again." She said. I looked over at Emma. She had a confused look on her face. I looked around the room, and once more, it was just the three of us. Nobody else. "Mag, don't be silly. There's nobody but us here."
     "What's she talking about?" Emma asked me. I told her I would tell her later. Maggie restarted the prayer and we tucked her in. I turned on the nightlight by the door and we went downstairs to finish unpacking. Again, I didn't even think about what had just happened.

     The house was big. When I say big I mean it had a big fireplace in the living room. Big enough that you could fit a whole couch across it, and that's what we did. We put the couch in front of the fire, and the tv above the fireplace. There was room enough that the remaining chairs and loveseats were spread across the walls next to a few bookshelves. My only complaint with the living room was the carpet didn't match our furniture. We had light brown leather furniture and the carpet was blue-grey.

     Emma and I sat up for a while just settling in a little. We threw in a movie and then that, of course, led to the champagne coming out. We sat there, enjoying ourselves for a while, then I started teasing her. She'd be mad if she knew I told you this but she was a neck person. She liked neck kisses and biting and who could blame her. I started kissing her neck and could tell it was really working from the moans coming from her mouth. Out of nowhere, she pulled away and stopped.
     "Mason, what was Maggie talking about earlier. I can't get that out of my mind."
     I stopped kissing her neck and had taken her hand in mine. "She was saying she 'saw a man' but she just wasn't feeling well. She was just imagining things. Don't worry about it."
     "But I am worrying. That's our little girl." She replied.
     "Well yeah, but it's okay. Kids say weird things. Don't worry about it," I said to her. As I said this, I was slowly moving my other hand up her leg.
     "I guess.... You're......... Right..." she choked out between moans, a wicked smirk was forming on her face. We started to make love when suddenly there was a loud bang and Maggie's scream. I thought she had fallen out of bed. I pulled on my clothes and ran up to her room. She hadn't fallen out of bed. Laying on the ground, shattered in a million pieces, was the picture frame that housed our family picture. Right next to it was the vase. The vase was broken as well, with her flowers strewn across the floor.
     "Maggie what happened?" I asked her frantically. "Are you okay?"
     She looked at me again, like she did that morning. Her skin whiter than a fresh snow. "He was sitting up there," she said pointing at the shelf. "Then... Jumped there." I followed her gaze down to the floor at the broken glass. The daffodils had moved from their position a moment ago. They now spelled out one word.

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