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CHAPTER TWO
'I'm so terribly sorry for what happen… that girl simply loves to imagine things…' Mom apologised to the old lady who was so wrongly mistaken by Lyssa for being a witch. I mean, with that kind of hair-do, I would even imagine a corpse coming to life. No kiddin!
I can see mom was equally embarrassed by Lyssa's wrongful identification. 'Here… have a seat…' Mom pulled the white cloth away and showed the old lady to the sofas. I was standing behind the pillar so I could hear their conversations clearly.
'Its alright… guess my bad white hair and wrinkles must have frightened her just now… poor thing.. No doubt that she mistook me for a witch!' Laughed the old lady as she looked around the house. She has a great sense of humour there.
'Would you like a drink Mrs…'
'Littrel… Mrs Littrel… no thanks, I've had mine before I came here so… what do you think of this house?' Asked Mrs Littrel as she looked at mom. Its true what she said earlier. She looked twice of mom's age. Her white hair was tied loosely that most of the hair seemed to be flying all over her face and cover her forehead. Her wrinkles looked much obvious, reminded me of thin layers of cracks on the bricks. She looked worst when she's not laughing and definitely we can't blame that little brat for screaming.
'Well… it's still early to tell but I think this place looks just fine to me… you seem to take good care of it very well Mrs Littrel… Ben told me that you often came here and helped to clean the house… I really appreciate that…'
'Don't mention it… its my duty to keep this house neat and tidy… afterall this house… this house really leaves me a lot of wonderful memories and oh yes some wonderful memories ever since the very day I stepped my feet in this house… it has such sentimental values which nothing in the world could replace. I have to admit that I do have a hard time to convince myself to sell this house…' Mrs Littrel gave a long and loud sigh as she looked down the concrete floor. She seemed to be in deep thought as though something bad has happened in this house once and that could be the reason why she sold the house to dad. I don't like the way she looked down and the sound from her sigh gave me goosebumps.
'Mrs Littrel? Mrs Littrel? Are you alright?'
'Huh… I'm fine… I'm sorry… guess I got too carried away… but trust me, you're gonna love this house, this is a great house…' Continued Mrs Littrel. Her eyes glowed with nothing but bitterness. She should have just kept this creepy house to herself if it indeed has left such a deep sentiment on her. No one is forcing her and I don't think dad would ever harass an old lady like her for the house unless she was the one doing the harassment.
'I'm sorry… I didn't know that this house means so much to you… I mean… Ben didn't tell me anything about this house-''
'Don't be sorry my dear… its fate that brought you here to live in this house and definitely Ben would never risk that 30% just for this sad story right? Anyway… did Ben show you the every corner of the house yet?' Asked Mrs Littrel politely. There you go mom! You should have seen this lady here first before you agreed to take over the ownership of the house. Though I am quite angry with her, I do feel pity for her. I hoped that in one way or another, she could persuade my mom to return the house back to her. Then we can all go back to Merseyside and start life as usual. That solves the whole problem of re-packing and redecorating the house.
The best part to have this house would be that I have a big room all to myself and the worst part would be the size of the house itself. We don't have a dozen maids at our back and call to clean up the mess so definitely we have to do all the house chores. Something that I dread centuries ago!
'No, not yet… He's so busy with his phone calls since the time we got here… looks like I have to make the orientation myself then-'
'Well.. if you don't mind, I can show you around… furthermore I know this house more than anyone else. I can even close my eyes and walk…' Giggled the old lady softly. Yeah right! I'm sure sick individuals out there will believe you but you ain't going nowhere with your eyes closed. I don't wanna fill any police reports if you start falling down the stairs and break your neck.
She sounded corky but mom don't seem to mind that at all. Maybe she's also like me too. What we say contra to what we're thinking of.
'Sure if that won't bother you so much…'
'Its a pleasure, come… we'll start with the kitchen…' They walked towards the narrow alley and then passed by a small door perhaps leading to the basement.
The moment they were out of sight, I went back to the study room to help Lyssa dragged the boxes inside. When I look at Lyssa, I can't help but to start giggle, recalling the funny incident that happened a while ago. She kept pointing and shouting at the poor old lady, screaming her heads off 'A Witch! A Witch!'. After a short introduction, she turned red in embarrassment. I was the first one to burst into laughter, no, not for the obvious reason, but for the look on her face. She simply had that stupid look whenever she knew that she was wrong.
'Yeah right! Go on and laugh till you drop dead!' Scolded Alyssa as she pushed the box to the store room. Sure you bet!
'I just don't get it why do you have to scream like that! Its so damn hilarious! Man, that could be the joke of the day!' I laughed non-stopping that I could feel my eyes welling up in tears.
'Ha! Ha! Ha! I don't see anything amusing there! She came by surprise and tap on my shoulders with her long sharp nails!'
'So what do you expect her to do? Sing a Backstreet's song to get your attention?' I chided her as I continued laughing.
'Hey! She could just say a simple Hello for a start! This is not the right way to meet your new neighbour! At least get the nails shorter for God's sake!'
'Do you think they know anything about nail clippers here?' I mean just look at the place. There were like one house after a mile away and another after another mile away. It would take ages for them to get to the town itself if its not for any vehicle to take them for a ride there.
'Yeah right Nick! Remind me to laugh later! If you were in my place, trust me you will be wetting your jeans down!' Said Alyssa as she smirked at me.
'You bet!'
'And this used to be the study room… oh! You children are here?' Asked Mrs Littrel. Alyssa hid behind me the moment when she saw the old lady entered the room with mom.
'I see… even the book racks and shelves still look new to me… so do you always use this room Mrs Littrel?' Asked mom as the old lady walked towards the window. A deep sentiment there?
'Oh yes my kids always use this room to revise their school works… they simply love using this room…'
'Where are your children now?' My question brought a deep silence from the old lady. Somehow I have the feelings that my question brought back those painful incident. She must have gone through a tough ordeal that made her to keep mum whenever we asked her anything about her family or anything about her children.
'That's right! Where are your children? Are they still schooling?' Repeated Alyssa as she continued to stand behind me.
'They're missing…'
'Missing? What do you mean they are missing? They have been kidnapped?' Yeah right Lyssa! Go on and try with your guesses! Hey, you may never knows, you might just hit the jackpot. Scoff.
'No its not that… they just went missing one day and never come back till today…'
'You mean the witch took them-''
'Alyssa!' Mom gave Lyssa the kind of look saying that, 'Stop it now or you'll get punish later!' and she looked down. The Witch again? Man, she has been brainwashed by those Charm witches I guess.
'But really mom, I need to know why they go missing without any apparent reason.I'm sure that there must be a reason for them to go missing and you know the reason right Madam?' I ignored my mother's stare and instead I walked towards the old lady. I'm determined to get my question answered no matter what.
'I'm afraid I can't answer your question young man… I love them and all the while they were such a wonderful and obedient children… they were so loving just like you and your sister… both of you remind me so much of them… at least I can see them through your eyes…' That's it? She though that we love each other? Puke! She must be blind there! No, I've got to try and ask her again.
'But Madam-''
'That's enough Nickolas! I think its time that you clean the mess in here and I'll be back shortly-''
'But mom-''
'No but mom and get going now!' Mom brought Mrs Littrel out of the study room and proceeded to the third storey. I told Lyssa to continue cleaning the mess while I tailed them from behind. I am still not satisfied with the answer and to have mom cut me out from my question is rude enough.
There were eight rooms altogether in the house. Four in the second while two were on the third storey.
The two rooms on the third storey were sealed with wooden planks and big locks.
'Why are these rooms locked Mrs Littrel?' Mom asked, looking puzzled at the rooms. Who knows if she kept her kids inside that rooms and locked them in? Or maybe she killed them for being too naughty and then left them rotten inside the rooms. Gee God forbid!
'Well… it has been sealed ever since the day when both my children went missing… my husband sealed them because… because its their rooms and my husband and, we couldn't stand the fact that we have to see their rooms empty, so we lock them up. The memories are just too painful you know… with the rooms locked, so are our emotions… and this is what I need to talk to you about Jean… try to avoid your children from coming to this floor… I hope that you can respect my only wish and that not to open these rooms…'
This is getting interesting. She kept quiet about her children's missing and now she's telling mom to avoid us from exploring the third storey. Great! Is she trying to scare us off or what? There must be something secret kept in that room and I am going to find out what it is sooner or later.
'But Mrs Littrel I-''
'That's my only wish Jean and I know that once I handed over the keys to you, this house officially belongs to you but at the same time I really hope that you can respect my only wish of keeping these rooms sealed as long as you stay in this house…'
'Well… I can promise you that…'
'Oh thank you so much Jean…' I know mom hate disappointing anyone and the sight of Mrs Littrel's heart wrenching look must have made mom agreed to such a promise.
'Don't mention it… actually I want to apologise to you for my children's behaviour… they keep asking those stupid questions so I hope that you don't mind it at all-''
'No! Of course no! By the way… you are still new here in this town and there are so many things which you need to know about the people here and the town itself… whatever happen don't let your children get anywhere nearer to that mansion-''
'Mansion? What mansion?'
Heem, now they are talking about mansion. This is so exciting! Never did I know, that in such a small town, there could be such a big history.
'The one situated at the far end of this town… you can see it clearly from here… come I'll show you…' Mrs Littrel brought mom to the window next to the first room which was sealed. I walked down a few steps where I tip-toed to look at the direction as being instructed by Mrs Littrel. The window was kinda high so I had a hard time tip-toeing all the way. Luckily mom had a lot of questions on the mansion so I got the time to run back to the study room to get a stool. Lyssa was puzzled at me behaving like that but I have no time to waste, I have to see the mansion with my own eyes.
I ran back to the stairs and I saw mom still enjoying the scenery. It must be something eye-catching I guess. Slowly I placed the stool and climbed.
That was the mansion? It looked kinda dark from where I stood and the looked itself irritated me. The windows gave me the impression of two big eyes keeping a lookout for children while the huge door was the door leading to its stomach. Okay, so I have wild imaginations too, runs in the family.
'Oh my God! It looks scary from here… sure you bet that I'll keep them away from that mansion Mrs Littrel…'
'You have to… maybe that's the only thing that I didn't do and that was to keep my children away from that mansion-''
Is she trying to say that her children went missing while going there?
'Mrs Littrel? Mrs Carter? Are you both done yet?' Shouted Ben from downstairs. Quickly I grabbed the stool and was about to run back to the study room when I saw a piece of paper lying on the floor. Ben's footsteps were getting closer and I had to act fast so I grabbed the paper and ran all the way back to Lyssa. I was just a few seconds away from being spotted by Ben for eavesdropping.
'Oh yes we are done here Ben… now where have you been huh? You should bring Jean around the house remember?' Teased Mrs Littrel and I saw her pinching Ben's cheeks. Oh he's too old for that Mrs Littrel! You should pinched his ass instead! No, no that would look kinky instead, maybe kicked him in ass would compliment him.
'Oh come on Mrs Littrel… I'm sure that you can do better than me! So… how's the orientation going on? Do you find the house much friendlier now Mrs Carter?'
'By the way how's the arrangement is like for me to sign the papers to change the name of the ownership?'
'Oh that would have to wait until you settle all the probate matter in Merseyside and then you have to go to the Windsorville Town Council and looked for me and I'll get everything done for you…'
'Oh that would be just great! I'll most probably get those letters by Summer so maybe I'll have to go back there for a couple of days and I'll be able to see you then…'
'Sure you have at least fourteen days after signing those papers to change the name of ownership… if there's no problem with the house then maybe you can sign the deeds and Mrs Littrel, its time to pass the keys over to her officially…'
Both mom and Mrs Littrel nodded their heads in unison. Together they walked down the stairs and headed to the dining table to get all the deeds signed.
Before Mrs Littrel left the house, mom called us down to bid a polite farewell to the old lady. We wanted to run down but just then Lyssa suggested that we should just do it through the balcony and I agreed with her. For me that was the economical way of saving energy and time whereas for Alyssa that was to save her any further embarrassment. Afterall she's getting phobia of seeing Mrs Littrel.
'Just in case that you need any help just come over Jean… my house is only a mile away from here… and since there's no line yet, you can keep this number first alright…'
'Thanks Mrs Littrel…'
'Well… got to go now, I left the old man alone at home and he must be famished now! Take care and… goodbye children!' Shouted Mrs Littrel to us from downstairs.
'Goodbye Mrs Littrel!' We bid her goodbye and waved at her as she took a ride on Ben's car. Ben gave us a wave but I couldn't be bothered or taken in by that except for Lyssa who kept waving at him as though he was one of the Backstreet Boys. I left her alone at the balcony and went back to the study room.
* * *
It was eleven sharp when I finished hanging all my clothes inside the wardrobe. My whole body was aching and my bones were cracking. Okay, I made that up. I drink milk alright. My eyes were begging me to close them for a short while. Slowly I crawled onto my bed. It may not be as cosy as the one back in Merseyside but I don't give a damn because all I could think of is SLEEP. The thought of running away from that house seemed to fade away in my exhaustion.
It was like eternity since I got myself into a nice sleep when suddenly I heard knockings on the door. As I was too worn-out, I could not get up from my bed instead my heavy eyes were shut tight. Then I heard footsteps coming closer towards me.
'Thud… thud… thud…' Then it stopped. The room was in silence again. No matter how hard I tried to open my eyes, it still kept shut. Just as I was about to force my head up, I heard a deep breath next to me. Open up eyes! Open up!
This time the thought of the mansion sending over its little goblins to disturb me forced me to open my eyes no matter how heavy they were. Its a matter of life and death and I have to act fast. There's no time to play any guessing game on what or who it was except to open my eyes first.
'You? What are you doing in here?' I asked as I rubbed my eyes. I almost died of shock at the sight of the green mask on her face.
'Nick… I'm…I'm… I'm afraid…' Whispered Alyssa softly as she crept onto my bed.
'Hey! Hey! What do you think you're doing man? Get off! Get off my bed!' I shouted as I leaped out of my bed. So much for shouting at her to get out of bed! Why did I even get up? It's my bed damn it! What does she think she's doing? She's no longer five years old but she's already fifteen and she's still acting like a small kid. What's up with that? I sat on one of the boxes and looked at her with that sleepy look.
'Nick… there's really someone at the window…' Continued Alyssa as she covered herself with the blanket. No, don't start with your imagination again Lyssa. Not now and not here. I wanna sleep.
'Yeah right! You saw someone from the window huh?'
'Uh-uh…' I wanna sleep.
'And you saw him waving at you and when you looked again he was actually grinning at you?' Her eyes were getting bigger as I continued to guess. Did I mention that I wanna sleep.
'Yes Nick! He looked at me angrily and then he started to wave at me, how did you know that?' Asked Alyssa as her voice started to tremble. Look Lyssa, I'm not trying to spoil your little story here but I really need some sleep.
'I watched them a couple of times in the movie Lyssa and whenever you get to new houses, your imagination tends to run wild… its proved by the psychic and furthermore-''
'But its not my imagination Nick! I really saw it with my own eyes! Don't you believe me?' Retorted Alyssa as she looked pretty cross at my explanation. You refused to accept that but too bad that's all I could give as an explanation.
'If you had tamed your imagination in the first place then maybe I will believe you but… for God's sake Lyssa its almost 1 in the morning and I really need some sleep now… I got to go to school alright… so now please get to your room! Go now!' I pushed her to the side as I crawled back on my bed. I pulled away the blanket as I felt hot and stuffy. I opened one of my eyes and looked at the fan.
Great Nick! No wonder you feel so sweaty, can you please switch on the fan?
'But what if he's there again? What should I do?' Asked Alyssa with that worried look on her face. Just go back to your bloody room and shut all the windows alright! Draw the curtain and closed your bloody eyes. Trust me you'll get to sleep eventually.
'Well… maybe for a start you can say hi and ask him how are you? Or maybe you can start talking to him about your Backstreet Boys, I'm sure that he's a good listener!' I don't think anyone would be as patience as I am when it comes to your imaginary part.
'Yeah right! Funny huh! Now tell me are you going to accompany me back to my room or not?' Alyssa beginning to sound demanding. Hell no!
'No way! You came here on your own so back you go on your own too! Anyway I think he's more afraid of you especially with that green mask on your face! He would either jump to death or startled to death- Ouch! What's that for?' Screw you! I hope he would come and harass you all night! My arms were red because of her tiny pinch. It still hurt no matter how long I rubbed them. And I am whining like a baby, jeez, what's wrong with you man!
'That is for being a good listener!' She shouted as she walked out of the bed.
'Fine! I don't think he's still there alright? Now, is that fine with you?' Well to make the story more interesting, he might even be limping his way towards your bed and now he's hiding behind the door to leap on you the moment when you enter your room.
'How did you know that he's not there anymore huh? Who knows that-''
'I just know, furthermore… he needs some sleep too Lyssa!' I said as I yawned away. Can't she understand simple English? I need to sleep now!
'But Nick you've got to bring me back to my room! There's really someone out there and he's watching me! Nick? Nick, are you listening to me?' I covered my ears with the extra pillow. 'Fine! I'll go back to my room then! I knew that you are the most heartless brother in the whole world! You are just being scaredy cat yourself! Its fine with me if you don't want to accompany me back, I can go back by myself!' Alyssa said loudly hoping that I would change my mind. But that is not going to work now as I continued to cover my ears.
She said I'm the most heartless brother on the whole world! That must hurt. But it didn't. I think it's got something to do with the fact that I'm too sleepy to care.
She was about to walk out of the room when I called out to her. She must be thinking that I changed my mind but nah! To play a little trick would be nice.
* * *
I knew that he would call me! So he's not that heartless afterall! Thought Alyssa as she turned around.
'Yes? You wanna accompany me back to my room?' Asked Alyssa with a smile on her face.
'Nope! Sorry to disappoint you but can you please close the door behind you and one more thing… please switch on that fan for me please? Thanks!' I said as I dropped my face on the pillow.
'What? That's it? Is that all you can say Nick Carter? Switch on the fan and close the door? I can't believe this! You are indeed the worst creature on earth and the most heartless brother in the entire universe!' Mumbled Alyssa as she switched on the fan to its highest volume and slammed the door.
Alyssa was standing outside Nick's room when suddenly she felt all her hairs stood to the end. It was as though she could feel a presence strongly next to her.
'Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Alyssa shouted as she ran to her mother's room.
* * *
It was almost two-thirty in the morning when I heard another footsteps coming closer to my room.
'Thud… thud… thud…' Then it stopped.
'Oh great! What now Pumpkin? Don't you understand simple English? I'm tired and I'm so damn sleepy alright! I've got to wake up early tomorrow to go to school so can you please stop harassing me now and go back to your room!' I groaned. I couldn't see the figure clearly but I was sure that someone was ransacking my wardrobe.
In the end I shut my eyes, trying not to get myself bothered with Lyssa in the room. Let her ransack whatever things she need and when she's tired, she'll definitely stop and sleep. I'll get her to clean the mess tomorrow but what I really need now is a peaceful sleep…
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