The Boy In The Window

Chapter 1: Moving In

“Mom, why did we have to move here?” I pushed my dark brown bangs out of my eyes to look my mother in her eyes.

“I told you, I love John. We’re moving in because we both want to be together.” She replied and got out of the car, running into my soon-to-be stepdad’s arms. He kissed her passionately and I nearly threw up all over the newly upholstered seat. I unbuckled the seatbelt and got out, slamming the car door behind me. Mom and her boyfriend were still kissing, so I went around to the back of the Saturn and grabbed my suitcase. Maybe if she was too busy with John, she wouldn’t have time to pay attention to me anymore. That’s all I wanted, because I really was getting sick of the beatings. Maybe John would stop her alcoholism, maybe he would show her how to be a real mom, or at least get the beatings to stop. I mean, he looked nice. He had black hair slicked back greaser style, with a white t-shirt and blue jeans with work boots. I could only hope for the best.

 Walking past the horrific couple, I shoved open the front door to my new…home.

“I’ll be in my…room.” I said, not caring if they heard or not. I'm pretty sure they didn’t. I walked up the long flight of stairs and entered the bedroom that was specified as mine. It was a pale green color, with bright white lacy curtains and flowers underneath the windowsill. I hated it already. I dropped my suitcase on the queen bed and unzipped it, pulling out my posters and decorations.

It’s time for a makeover. I thought. I then proceeded to paste up posters of all my favorite bands, which include Black Veil Brides, Sleeping with Sirens, You Me at Six, The Pretty Reckless, and Blood on the Dance Floor. I also hung up a few corkboards and a giant piece of white paper. The paper took up a large portion of the wall where my desk had been placed by the movers. Feeling satisfied with my work, I unpacked my clothes and stuffed them in my dresser without bothering to fold them. My clothes always ended up unfolded anyways, since I can’t ever make up my mind about what to wear in the morning, so why bother?

Just as I pulled the black comforter onto my bed, my mom entered with John practically attached to her. “Hey, sweety, how’s it going?” she looked around the room with a slight look of disgust, but I knew she wouldn’t say anything. “I see you’ve…redecorated your room.”

I nodded and waited for her to say what she came here for.

“Listen, me and John are going out and we’re leaving you home. Don’t do anything stupid.” I nodded.

With that, she and John left, closing the door behind them. I heard the front door open and close, then the ominous sound of the deadbolt before they started the car and drove off down the road to god-knows-where. I grabbed my iPod and put in my headphones, hitting play on my ‘Loud’ playlist. I turned the volume all the way up and sang along to Underdog by You Me at Six.

I finished unpacking in about an hour and a half, the playlist had repeated itself three times already. I turned it off and just sat on the bed, examining my surroundings. It looked like my old room used to, except for the fact that it wasn’t my old room. There was no meaning, no history behind the mint green paint. It was just an empty room, filled with a teenage girls implanted memories.

Sighing, I got up and went to the window, pushing up to open it all the way to get some fresh air. I stared out at the house next to ours. It was completely dark. There was a window right across from mine, and the tree between the houses gave an easy way to sneak over. Mom said that no one had lived in that house for almost 10 years, because of a murder committed there. Supposedly, a young boy that had been abused his whole life had been shot to death by his suicidal father, who had shot himself after killing his son. I shivered. Nobody should have had that kind of fate, nobody. All of a sudden, I saw something move in the house next to mine. The window across from mine had curtains; and those curtains had just moved.

“Holy shit…” I trailed. I was frozen in fear. Who could be in the vacant house? Was it a hobo? A serial killer? The ghost of the boy who had been murdered? A cat appeared in the window, obviously having jumped from the floor inside its home. It was a snow white kitty with piercing blue eyes. It looked at me curiously, before hopping back down and out of sight. I sighed.

No need to get worked up, Cassie. I took a deep breath and waited as my heartbeat went back to its normal pace. I looked back up to the window and at the curtains, expecting to see some creepy set of eyes staring at me like in the horror movies I loved so much. But there was nothing there.

I shrugged and headed downstairs and into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, I spotted some brownies covered in plastic wrap. I grabbed them and put three on a plate, putting the rest back in the fridge, then went into my room and sat down in front of my computer. I logged onto Wattpad and started to read my favorite story, Love like a Delinquent by EmmaRawrs. Whilst reading, I consumed 2 of the brownies.

About halfway through the third brownie, I started to feel a little lightheaded. My vision was going a bit fuzzy, and I felt funny. I looked down at the brownie in disgust, throwing it back on the plate. No wonder they tasted so weird. I had thought they were stale; but no, they were spiked. Great, my first time getting high and it was on fucking accident. I threw the brownie in the trash and went to my dresser, intent on taking a shower and going to bed. There was a breeze coming from the window, and I shivered. Walking over and slamming the window down, I was about to close the curtains when something caught my eye. I squinted, not sure if I was hallucinating or in fact actually seeing this.

A pair of eyes peeked from between the blinds of the house next to mine, watching me with curiosity. When I met the eyes, they blinked and disappeared. I gasped and yanked the curtains closed, running to the shower. After about half an hour under the stream of hot water, I got out and got dressed, then hopped into my bed, immediately falling into a deep sleep.