chapter 1-2

the first peek at johns new life

Chapter 1

This was a feeling I couldn’t shake, like it was watching me lurking ever closer.

But wait let’s start from the beginning……

It all started a sunny summer day in my beautiful hometown of Crestmont, I had been staying at my friend Mark’s house all weekend like I normally do. I got home that night to my unexcpectingly boxed up and bland house. My parents heard me open the door and quickly came into the room. Before I could even ask what was going on my mother blurted out “honey we’re moving to Glenwood”.

Now honestly I had never heard of Glenwood or the uncle I never knew I had that had died alone and unexcpectantly at the age of 34. I had no idea why this meant we had to move or why the move had come so swiftly my questions were soon answered. I helped my parents load the rest of the boxes into the trailer and off we went. I was upset that I didn’t get to say goodbye to mark my only friend since kindergarten but my mom assured me that I would quickly make new friends. I finally worked up the courage to ask why we were dropping everything and movie to my unknown uncle’s old house but by then it was too late, Glenwood was only about a two-hour drive from Crestmont and by the time the question finally left my mouth the answer was staring me in the face.

I was looking at a long curving driveway leading to a massive house on top of a hill traced with old weeping willow trees that in the moonlight almost seemed to come to life, we continued up the driveway and I started to take in more of the house. A large wooden door was the first thing that caught my eye a massive door with a door knocker in the shape of a gargoyle, a gargoyle that would stare me in the face every time I entered my new home “for no particular reason that thought sent shivers down my spine”. Next were the large stained glassed windows in various colors and shapes, the house itself was made of stone that looked more than 100 years old. My dad put the car in park at the top of the driveway and we all hoped out, my dad unlocked the trailer and we grabbed the few boxes he said we would need for the first night. I raced to the door with my box quickly realizing my efforts were for nothing as no one had given me the key. My dad reached the door, turned the old key in the slot and slowly opened the door. To my surprise the inside of the house was even more mesmerizing than the exterior. A massive staircase stared us in the face as we entered a large common area, what wasn’t surprising were the two gargoyles perched on the post of the staircase “ugh still creepy” being the brave young adventurer I was I quickly raced up the stairs into the maze of doors upstairs. I was almost to the end of the hall when I heard my dad yell “john your rooms the last door on the left” great I don’t even get to pick my room. I reached my room and swung the door open, it was a decent sized with plenty of room for however I wanted to arrange what now seemed like a small amount of things I had. The one thing I didn’t like about my new living arrangement was the large skylight right in the center of my room.

To my surprise I already had a bed in my room much larger than my previous one and much more comfortable. I threw my sheets onto my bed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I came back one of my pillows was on the floor “strange I thought to myself” but I didn’t really give it a second thought before climbing into bed and playing on my phone. Before I knew it I was sound asleep. Now don’t get me wrong im not a fan of going to bed early but it seems any car ride over an hour completely drains me of energy. I was fast asleep for what I assume to be most of the night, that was until I was abruptly waken up by what sounded like someone running through the hallway. I jumped out of bed grabbed my phone and quickly flicked on the flashlight I made my way to the door still hearing the strange noise coming from just outside. I slowly reached for the doorknob and that’s when things got weirder as soon as I began to turn the knob the entire house fell silent, no more footsteps not even a peep. I opened the door quickly and took a look around, “nothing” i returned to bed “its probably just my nerves” I thought to myself. The next morning I awoke to the smell of bacon “ooh my favorite”.

I rushed down stairs and joined my parents in the kitchen, breakfast started off with the normal small talk until I brought up the question I had totally forgot about last night “hey mom why didn’t you ever tell me I had an uncle”.

She looked caught off guard by the question but quickly caught her composure and answered “well honey me and my brother didn’t really get along, he was well kind of weird”.

No sooner had she finished than my next question was flowing out of my mouth “if you guys didn’t get along why did he leave you this huge house”. What my mother said next should have gave me some kind of uneasy feeling but at the time I thought nothing of it “well honey he didn’t he left the house to you”.

Chapter 2

I finished up my breakfast and decided to go out and try and entertain myself after all it was still the middle of the summer and if I ever had hopes of meeting any friends now was probably the best time to start. I grabbed my bike out of the trailer and I was off down the winding driveway and onto the sidewalk below. I rode about a mile and was soon in the section of Glenwood I assume is considered downtown, I continued down the sidewalk looking in the windows of the quirky shops and restaurants. I was just about to pass the last shop when I saw her, the most beautiful girl id seen in what my short 17 years had allowed. I didn’t notice how much she had caught my attention until “crashhh” I hit a huge metal trashcan and flew off my bike.

I had almost gotten myself together and off the ground when she came running out of the shop “great, so much for a first impression”. “hi my names alice” oh man her voice was almost as adorable as she was and I found it hard to reply, “huh huh hey my names uh john”. She quickly realized I was new to town and asked if i was visiting or if I was here to stay “I just moved into my uncles house on top of the hill”. She got a look on her face almost like the look my mom had when I had when I had asked about my uncle earlier, “oh you mean the house of the blood torch”. “The blood torch?”, the thought went through my head I hadn’t noticed any blood or torches for that matter but I left it alone and changed the subject. The rest of the day went surprisingly well, I hung out with Alice for the rest of the day and before nightfall I felt I had made my first friend. My mom called around that same time and told me dinner was ready. I rode home and ate dinner brushed my teeth and for whatever reason laid down and quickly passed out just like I had the night before, I guess all the excitement of my first day had really taken its toll on me. And just like the night before a few hours later I was awake listening to the footsteps in the hall except this time I waited until they got to what I had guessed to be the stairs before starting to turn my doorknob. I figured if it was my dad trying to freak my out he may have just heard me the night before he could have easily heard me and hid in a dark spot of the hall “he loved to play jokes on me” father of the year. But this time there was no way he would be in earshot I quickly turned the knob and an eerie silence fell over the house just like the night before “ok now this is just getting plain creepy”. I’ve never been one to believe in the supernatural so once again I just chalked it up to nerves and went back to bed.