When I Realized What I've Become

Chapter 8

I got out of my deep thoughts, grabbed a jacket, and headed towards my car. Grabbing the keys off the table I said my goodbyes.

"Good you should stay away," Juniper yelled over her shoulder from the couch.

I wanted to argue but it was 3:55, and I might be late. I drove over to her house five miles over the speed limit hoping to not get a ticket.

Then, I was at her house at 4 o'clock. I was right on time.

I texted her that I was here. She came out of her house dressed non-formal.

Thank god it wasn't formal.

She had on tight jeans and a red t-shirt. Her shoes were black boots and her hair was up in a messy bun. It looked like she had on no makeup but as she came closer I saw that she had on mascara, but not much.

"Hey," she said getting into the car.

"Hi," I replied back, 'How was your day?"

"So far so good," she buckled in, "I'm hoping that this will make it even better."

I chuckled, "It probably will. Now where are we going."

"An old farmhouse," I gave her a look, "No we aren't making moonshine or anything."

I replied jokingly, "So I don't get meth out of this?"

She laughed, "No you don't."

"Now, where's this farmhouse?"

She gave me directions and soon enough outside of town I saw the old farmhouse.

It looked like it had some better years. The white paint, which it wouldn't be surprising if it was led paint, was chipping off in huge chunks. Underneath it was planks of wood that looked like they were rotting. The house looked abandoned and was a Victorian-looking house. I pulled up and we decided to head inside.

The inside looked even sadder. The whole place looked like someone just simply got up and left. Now, teenagers were here so parts of the place didn't look like that. Here and there were some beer cans, old cigarettes, needles, and occasional articles of clothing. But, overall my judgment was that the place was built in the 1910s then something happened and they all got up and left.

I wandered into the living room and there were couches, tables, and a fireplace that looked like it was leaking ash out. The wood floor was dark from age and you could see where the ruthless teenagers walked around the place. The place was drafty from the cold wind And of course, there was lots of dust.

"Isn't it beautiful," Summer said, startling me.

"Yeah, like people simply got up and left."

"Do you want to know why they left?" she asked with curiosity.

I sat down on the couch and motioned her to sit beside me, "Sure."

She sat down and began to speak, "It was a hot summer day back on July 15, 1968. A black family lived here, a mother and a father, grandma, and five kids. Now as you know the Ku Klux Klan was big back then. Now we may be in the north but there were still members up here that believed that blacks were awful.

"One day in the schoolhouse a child came up to the oldest child and said, 'The ghosts are going to come for you in three days!' He told his parents about it and they shrugged it off.

"The next day the same child came up to the same child and told him, 'The ghosts are coming for you in two days!' Again, he told his parents the message that the child told him only he was scared even more now. But again, they shrugged it off. 'There's no ghosts here,' they said to calm him down.

"The day after that the same message came only as one day instead of two. The child was scared to death and told his parents again. 'There are no ghosts here,' they said a bit sternly.

"The day after that the child came up to the boy again, 'The ghosts are going to come for you today!' The boy had enough and yelled at the child, 'There are no such things as ghosts!'

"The girl replied back, 'Yes there is! They have white hoods on and walk around in white gowns. There coming I heard my daddy say it!'

"That's when the boy realized what she had meant by 'ghosts' the whole time. He ran home and told his parents about it. They realized that it had been a warning the whole time and packed up as much as their car would handle and drove away.

"When the ghosts came after nightfall, no one was here, only them. They searched everywhere for a victim but they had left hours before the sun even touched the horizon."

"Did they ever come back?" I asked.

"No, anyway no one thinks they did," she said.

I heard a thud at the back of the house and jumped.

"Relax scaredy-cat it's just a raccoon or something."

"Right," I said walking up the stairs, "Have you ever been up here?"

"No, I'm too scared to."

I stretched out my hand for her to follow, "Come on. A little adventure wouldn't hurt."

He put her hand in mine and we walked up the steps. My heart started to pound when she took my hand and followed me upstairs. We looked around and found lots of stuff, from old dresses, to old overalls, to a toy doll, and even an old board game that never got put away. The floors were so dusty and you could tell that we were the first people to be up here in fifty years. The wood floor creaked as we walked in the hallway.

"I feel like we should make the beds and put everything away," she said speechlessly.

"We should respect them. What they had to leave in a hurry. Besides," I said looking at her, "I'm sure someone from that family will come back here." I looked out and saw the sun setting on one side of the house through the windows. On the other side, I could see the moon shining brighter.

"Wow," I said pointing to both windows, "Do you see that?"

"Yeah I do," she said, "Crap."

"What?"

"Walker...I'm not sure what to say."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm sorry what I did to you," then she added, "And Oscar."

I had completely forgotten about the incident between Oscar, her, and me.

"I-I," stuttering I didn't know what to say. She actually apologized to Oscar and me right here.

I remembered what my mother told me;

When apologized to always say 'I accept your apology' never 'It's okay'. Because when they hurt you badly that isn't okay.

"It's okay," I said going back onto the words that my mother told me.

"Really?"

"Yeah." I checked my watch and it read 5:04. And the sun was setting.

"I should probably get home," she said shyly

"I'll drive you there."

We walked back to the car and drove in silence. I dropped her off and she said her goodbyes. I drove home and realized, she said some of us would be hanging out, and it was just her and I.

That little liar.