Yours Truly, Death (ON HOLD)

||Chapter 1||

Robert

"Here we are!" Dad exclaimed. He was too happy about moving houses. All week long, that was the topic of discussion during dinner or any family gathering.

"Dad, are you sure about this? To be honest, the house looks damn creepy." my sister--Tracy stated with a trace of fear in her voice.

"And deserted too." I chimed in. She was right. The house was quite creepy with the worn off paint and the way the house looked like it was going to collapse any moment despite the fact it was made of bricks. It looked so vulnerable yet horrifying with cowebs hanging from post to post. They looked like they were dancing to the gentle sound of the wind. Although the glass windows were tinted, standing outside made it look like there was someone inside staring down at us.

There was nothing we could do anyway. My dad had made up his mind and there was no way he was changing it. Something about the house intrigued him but not even mum knew what it was.

"Oh c'mon children! We can clean it up and make it look better than all the other houses." he said, gesturing towards the houses around. Scanning the neighbourhood, I realised my dad was just trying to make us feel better. A little help from a cleaning agency and the house was going to be as sparkling as the other houses. Note the sarcasm. But Tracy wouldn't agree on that one.

"Oh please! Give me a break! This thing of her house.." she paused, standing with her hand on her hip and moving her left index finger up and down to show she was referring to it from top to bottom. "..can't and I mean cannot, be compared to any of the houses here. Tidy or untidy." she said, emphasizing on cannot.

"Can we just get inside already? I'm getting bored standing out here, talking about the creepy nature of this house." Mum spoke, throwing her arms in the air. She didn't really care about the house. To her cleaning up was all the house required.

We made our way inside, carrying our bags with us. As Dad went to the car to get the rest of the things out, I checked the house out. It wasn't so bad afterall. If the cobwebs were removed, floor swept together with the cleaning of certain portions of the house, the place was going to be as good as new. Except the outside of course which looked quite deserted but I was sure that was going to be taken care of.

Soon, it was time for dinner. "Mum? What's for dinner?" I asked when I was done unpacking the important things and was downstairs.

"Today we're oddering pizza. Besides, we ate before coming so I assume no one is starving. It's just to fill our stomachs." she replied.

In about twenty minutes time, we sat at the dining table munching on the pizza. "Jerome, why don't you help me unpack the things in our room." my mother said when we finished eating.

"Ok hun." he replied and the two left, leaving my sister and I. I purposely burped aloud.

"Eww..have I ever told you you're gross?" she asked, scrunching up her nose in disgust.

"Hold up." I ducked into my pocket to reach out for a paper. I pulled it out and read. "Six hundred and eighty-seven plus one." Maybe wierd but I started counting the number of times she said that to me when I was eleven and now I'm thirteen. I carried that paper almost everywhere I went. Please don't blame me.

"Ughh" she rolled her eyeballs and left the table, throwing me into a fit of laughter.

Slamming the door behind me, I flicked my bedroom light on. The room was quite big. The cream walls on the left and infront of me were draped with gold and cream patterned curtains. The ceiling was a white colour with a medium sized chandelier covered with cobwebs dangling above the room. A built-in closet with mocha doors was set on the far end on my right. The bed was queen sized and was set infront of the window.

The people who used to live there were quite wealthy, I concluded. The only thing my dad had changed was the bed, which I was grateful for. But the fact that the place wasn't tidy before our arrival put me off. If my dad wanted to stay there so badly, he should have at least made the house look presentable- even for the sake of convincing us.

After taking a shower in the plush bathroom I had cleaned myself, I went straight to bed. Remembering that I needed to put the lights off, I crawled out of bed to do that.

Just as I put it off, a movement on the left wall where the window was, caught my eye. It was a shadow that made everything look like someone was hiding behind the curtain.

Flicking the lights back on, I took long strides towards the area and pulled the curtains open. Nothing. Except for a window. A locked window. I opened it and scanned the area. Still nothing. My imagination, I decided.

I exhaled sharply, turned the lights off and went back to bed. My comfortable bed. A smile crept on my face as I pulled the covers up.

Little did I know that living in a huge house and sleeping in a comfortable bed was not a good thing at all- in my case!

I didn't know that the smile on my face was soon to be wiped off.