Ominous

One

Looking out the window of his car and looking up at the house he was now moving into, Jackson decided that he would have to get used to it. He was moving out on his own since he had just turned twenty-one, and he wanted to prove his parents that he would be fine.

"Here goes nothing." He mumbled softly, getting out of the car.

He walked up onto the porch and took out the house key, putting it into the lock and pushing the door open.

Before stepping inside, he took a glance over at the house next door and caught a glimpse of a guy with blonde hair staring at him from the window. Blinking slightly, he looked away and stepped into the house.

"Looks good." He mumbled, taking a quick tour of the house before going outside to get all his stuff.

He got most of his stuff inside an hour later, and when he walked back outside, he noticed two other guys standing on his porch.

"Hello?" Jackson asked questioningly, tilting his head.

"Hi! I'm Jinyoung and this is Jaebum. We noticed we had a new neighbor so we wanted to come say hello." He guy named Jinyoung said with a smile.

Jackson relaxed somewhat and smiled at the two, nodding his head in greeting.

"I'm Jackson. Nice to meet you." He replied, chuckling softly.

The three talked a little more before the moving truck came. Jinyoung was even helpful by telling Jackson that he and Jaebum would help, which they did. Jackson was actually relieved to have help.

Two hours after that, everything was done and the three new friends sat down on the porch steps to take a break. Jackson looked over, noticing the blonde from earlier was now outside, staring right at Jackson.

"Who is that?" Jackson asked, pointing at the blonde.

Jinyoung looked over and tensed visibly, biting his lower lip before facing Jackson again.

"That's Mark Tuan. You really shouldn't interact with him." Jinyoung said, which made Jackson confused.

"Why? He looks nice." Jackson said.

"Trust me, he's really not. He may seem like that at first, but he's a weirdo. He never really talks and everyone is scared of him because of all the rumors that is surrounding him." Jaebum said, staring at Mark with wary eyes.

"What rumors?" Jackson asked, curious.

"One rumor is that he murdered his parents in their sleep when he was 12. Passed it off as self defense and said they abused him. Nobody really knows the truth, but stay away from him." Jinyoung said, shivering at the words.

Jackson stayed silent for a moment, taking in the words and looking back over at Mark. The blonde was staring at the three with a blank expression on his face. He made eye contact with Jackson and smirked a second later before moving back into his house.

When Jinyoung and Jaebum left a little while later, after warning Jackson about Mark again, Jackson let out a sigh and stood up, looking towards Mark's house.

"He can't be too bad. I'll go over and visit him tomorrow." He mumbled to himself before stepping into his house.

Worn out from all the unpacking, Jackson stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. Letting out a loud yawn, he closed his eyes and instantly fell asleep, thoughts of tomorrow left behind for the next day.

-

Waking up the next morning, Jackson groaned and stood up from the bed, not bothering to make it. He walked into the bathroom , did his business and washed his hands before walking back out and getting dressed.

He walked downstairs and went into the kitchen, fixing himself a quick breakfast and eating that as he thought about how to approach Mark.

He remembered the warning Jinyoung gave him, but decided to ignore it. The guy might not even be that bad. Clicking his tongue, Jackson walked out of the house and went next door.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down before knocking on the door.

"Why am I so nervous?" he asked aloud, shaking his head.

The door opened a few minutes later, revealing Mark, who still had a blank look on his face, which made Jackson more nervous.

"Uh, hi. I’m Jackson, the one who moved in next door." He greeted the blonde.

Mark stared at him for a long moment, a tense silence surrounding the both of them.

"Welcome to the neighborhood, Jackson. I’m Mark Tuan and I’m sure we'll be friends in no time." Mark said after a while, smiling a strange smile that sent shivers down Jackson's back.

With a slight nod, Jackson stared at mark's handsome emotionless face for a moment before turning and walking back to his house. As he walked, he couldn’t help but feel Mark's stare on his back.

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to talk to Mark, but Jackson still felt that he could prove Jinyoung and Jaebum wrong

-

An hour later, Jackson glanced out his front window, looking over at Mark's house. The curtains were closed, but front door was standing open. Growing curious, Jackson stood still and watched.

A moment later, Mark appeared with something in his hands. But what shocked Jackson the most was that the blonde was actually coming towards his house.

Going over to the door, Jackson opened it, seeing that Mark stopped right in front of the porch steps.

"Hey." Jackson greeted, scratching the back of his hand.

"Hi. Sorry about this, I’m pretty awkward around people, but I just wanted to give you a house warming present." Mark said; face emotionless as always as he handed the item to Jackson.

Looking down at it, Jackson realized that it was a dented cereal bowl. Raising an eyebrow, he looked back at Mark questioningly.

"I wasn’t going to use it anyway, and I don’t have any money." Mark said, shrugging slightly.

Nodding a little, Jackson glanced around for a moment before opening his door a little wider.

"Would you like to come in?" He asked.

Without giving an answer, the blonde brushed past Jackson as he stepped inside. Jackson watched as he looked around.

'He’s just shy.' Jackson thought before closing his door and following Mark.

Mark looked around the house for a moment before suddenly smirking as he turned back towards Jackson.

“This is a pretty nice house. I sure hope you won’t be gone by the end of this year. All the other people that bought this house left quite early.” Mark said, a sudden brightness to his eyes.

“Why is that?” Jackson asked, tilting his head.

“Because they thought the house was haunted or some shit. I happen to be very fond of this house.” Mark mumbled, chuckling dryly as he looked around again.

Jackson stared at Mark for a long moment, blinking. He watched as the blonde turned in a full circle before going back to the door.

“Well, I should get home. See you some other time.” Mark said, lips quirking, but not giving a full smile.

Jackson watched the blonde leave and shut the door behind himself, sighing softly. He couldn’t help but think that Mark was really handsome, although a part of him wanted to be terrified of the blonde. He didn’t know why, but he decided to ignore it. He yawned slightly and walked to his room, going to sleep.

_

When Jackson woke up an hour later, he walked outside to go to Jinyoung’s house, but he stopped when something caught his attention, and that something made him nearly throw up.

There, sitting on the ground, was a dead dog with a kitchen knife slashed through its head.