Murder in the dark., chapter 2
The family moved there for there 86 year old mother & grandmother Sherrill; she was getting old and need to live out of the city where she could get fresh air for her lounge disease. They chose this mansion because Sherrill grew up in the near by village, Drift Bridge.
As her Husband had passed away and it was a terribly big house, she brought her daughter Christine and Christine's family with her.
Christine had three sons and one daughter, Ryan and Trey where thirteen, they where twins they had a little Brother Tate he was eight, and the youngest Claire she was only five.
Christine's husband Nick was older then her by one year they met when they where working together in a restaurant after they had finished school.
None of the family was happy about the move. To be honest, since the day they fond out they where moving they all have been miserable. Trey and Ryan didn't want to be so far away from their friends and their Grandmother Sherrill wouldn't let their new friends into the house anyway.
Tate didn't want to leave his dog behind. He couldn't bring him because Sherrill doesn't like dogs.
Claire was unhappy about moving away from her kinda and she was a bit scared of her grandmother, because Sherrill didn't like small children, well she didn't really like anyone at all to be honest.
Nick just purely hated the idea of having to live with his mother in law, Sherrill had never liked Nick.
Christie knew that moving in with her mother again meant that she would be treated like a child, only she would be bossed around more, and have to wait on her hand and foot; she knew that if her mother wasn't happy, no one would be happy
Sherrill was just unhappy about every thing, and when this old coot was unhappy she made it her mission to make very one around her miserable.
No wonder she got kicked out of her retirement home.
When moving day came everything was a disaster, boxes where everywhere about the house, half of them weren't labeled and Ryan and Trey hadn't even packed most of their stuff. The kids where all making up excusees why not to leave, well, Ryan and Trey were; Tate and Claire where having more of a tantrum than anything else.
"What if the removal truck gets lost and runs out of petrol? We'll be done for!" asked Ryan Stoping his mother from loading another box into the truck by standing front of her.
"It wont," she said walking around him and handed the box to removal guy in the truck. Who was standing in the truck. On her way back into the house Trey had a go.
"What if Gran gets car sick? There isn't a doctor for miles," prompted Trey, following her into the house.
"My mother has been car sick in her entire life," she replied picking up another box.
"Cars haven't been around for 87 years!" smartly replied Trey.
Christine didn't even bother to answer him. She just went back out side. Between Trey and Ryan it was like a tag team. Trey and Ryan got along incredibly well for brothers, they did almost every thing together, they where each others best friends you would never see one with out the other. Witch was good because its was almost impossible to tell them apart, in fact only their parents, siblings and there close friends could tell them apart. They had dark hair that they never brushed it was long but not to long and hung over their eyes and ears covered the back of the necks but didn't go any further, they were pail skinned and were freakishly skinny they have always been really short and had bright green eyes, they where both blind in one eye, it happen in a car accident but only Ryan was in the car, yet Trey felt the whole thing. It happened when they where only three years old. That wasn't the only time something like that happened, when they were six Trey feel out of a tree and broke his arm. So did Ryan. The doctor had seen a similar case's with identical twins but never one like this, usually they both feel the pain not get the injury as well. Witch was when Nick and Christine knew that their boys where special and they begun to understand their special relationship.
As Christine put handed another box to the guy in the truck Ryan started again. "Hey mum," he said
"Yes Ryan," she replied.
"What if the truck's tires happened to burst?" he said sounding sly.
Christine picked up two empty boxes from the floor handed one to Ryan and one to Trey who had been waiting inside for them to return. "Don't you even think about popping the tires or you'll wish you were never born," Christine said angrily crossing her arms "Now finish packing your stuff!" she instructed she picked up another box to load into the truck.
When she was out of sight both Ryan and Trey both pulled a sowing needle form there pockets then through them to the ground. "Oh, man that was what I was going say," complained Trey.
"What the hell are we going to do now?" they both said at the same time. They made their way to their room and begun putting their stuff into the boxes.
"Well we could always..." Trey begun
"...chuck a sickie," Ryan finished his sentence.
"It's to late now,"
"we should have done it this morning." they agreed.
"Where the hell did I put my... " begun Ryan
"I-pod, on the second shelf from the top," Finished Trey
"Thanks Man," Thanked Ryan.
The removal guy was watching them from the door, with an odd look on his face.
"You two are like..." he began. "Like... " he said was looking for the right word
"Twins!" he finished sounding confused after he realized just what he said.
"No way!" replied Ryan sarcastically.
"We are twins," Trey explained slowly as if he was two years old.
He gave the boys a mean look. "I'm just here to get your beds," He changed the subject, he was embarrassed that he had been so stupid and out smarted by two teenagers. He walked past them and begun pulling one of the beds apart. Avoiding any more conversation.
Meanwhile Christine was still loading box's she had moved onto the stuff in Tate's room. His room was tucked away in the back of the house, between Claire's room and the kitchen. Tate didn't really mind being next to the kitchen, it made it easy for midnight raids.
Tate usually snuck out of bed after his parents had gone to bed and went through the fridge. He used a torch that he made, it would fit around his ear, and it made him feel like a spy or something. He was good at sneaking around; he found it easy to move around with out being seen. He was sneaky that way. Tate was like Trey and Ryan, in the way that he was always up to something.
But the difference between Tate and the twins was the twins rarely got caught.
Trey and Ryan's room was pretty much the attic room, they had just done it up to look like a bedroom. Of course they tried to convince their parents that the clothes scatted on the floor where apart of making it look more like a bed room. It never worked. They still tried.
They lived in a reasonably big house. In the middle of Sutton. The house was a two story house with an arched roof. With two window's coming form what looked like an attic. The house was surrounded with trees that lined fence with millions of healthy green leaves hanging from their branches. The grass had been recently cut to make the house look neat while it was on sale.
But like all house's with children, there where toys on the front yard. Tate had left his bike lying on the lawn and Claire had left her scooter lying by the huge tree that sat in front of their house. Trey and Ryan had contributed to the junk on the lawn the most. They had left a soccer ball, that had been left out for months and the colour had faded. They had also managed to miss the basket ball hop that sat on the garage, and the ball was left on the roof along with one of Ryan's school shoes that he had tried to knock the ball down with. Like most Teenage boys he didn't really care about his school things.
On moving it all looked a hundred times worse with boxes lying everywhere, half unlabeled. The removal truck was sitting in front of the garage, with a ramp leading in to wheel in the furniture and heavy boxes. Nick was helping the removal guys with the furniture (Trying to show Christine how strong he was).
The two removal guys wore matching blue jump suits both with black bennies to keep warm, it was early in the morning witch was probably why neither of them had shaved. They looked a little like escaped prisoners.
Christine went back to get more boxes out of Tate's room, and standing there with his hands on his hips, looking confident was Tate. He looked like James Bond or something. He was waiting for her. 'Oh, boy here we go,' she through to herself when she saw Tate standing there. Tate looked like his father, he had black hair in the same hair stile that Ryan and Trey did. He was skinny and average hight for his age; he had bright green eyes and tanned skin Tate always dressed neatly. Tate could be really mean when he wanted to, but when ever it came to his mother he was always acting like a little innocent kid, but he was never good at not getting his own way.
He stomped his feet and went red in the face. "I'm not going! I'm staying right here!" he screamed in a baby's voice. Christine did her best to ignore him. But he stood in front of her, "Mum there's nothing you can do to make me go!" he screamed stomping his face he spat as he spoke.
"Tate you acting like a two year old!" she said holding one of his boxes
"I'm not two years old I'm eight and three quarters!" he screamed even louder sounding even more like a baby.
"We're moving and that's final," she said pushing past him
"Well, why can't we take Rodger?" he yelled.
"There's nowhere put a dog!" she yelled back at him from outside the house.
As she came back Tate started again, "But you said it was huge!!" he screamed
"Tate stop yelling! Or you can go and live with gran by yourself!" she threatened.
After that Tate didn't say another word he just went and sulked in the back yard.
The Fraser's were almost ready to leave. Ryan and Trey in the back of the van their dad was waiting at the wheel while Christine was helping her mother in next to Tate who was in the middle seat sulking quietly. Finally Christine got in the front passenger seat. "Ready?" she asked looking back on every one. She didn't get a reply, they were all looking annoyed.
Nick started the engine and was about to drive off; "Wait!" yelled Christie in a panic.
"What I thought you said we where ready?" said Nick in shock.
"Where's Claire?" she said in a panic.
The removal guys that where waiting in their truck behind them beeped at them trying to hurry them up. Christine got out of the van went up to their window as said in a panic "Have you seen my daughter!"
They rolled down the window "You mean Claire?"
"Yes I mean Claire!" she yelled.
"Calm down ma'am," he said in a relaxed voice "She's in here with us, she told us it was okay if she ride up 'ere with us," he replied.
As Claire popped her out from behind the seat. "Claire Christine Fraser! Get down her right now!" she yelled. The removal guy opened the door so she could climb out.
"Sorry Ma'am if we scared you we thought she had asked," apologized the removal guy.
"No it's not your fault," she said holding tightly onto Claire's hand.
She told Claire off, but she wasn't listening she was angry and about to have a tantrum. Claire was Christine little girl and always would be, so Christine kept and eye out for her mainly because she was the youngest of three boys.
Christine walked her back to the van opened the door for Claire to climb in.
Claire climbed in over her grandmother. Who was not happy at all. Claire sat in-between her gran and Tate. Christine got into the front seat next to Nick. "Are we ready?" he asked loudly and happily looking back at them all. To see a van full of unhappy people.
Trey and Ryan had their I-pod on and had no expressions on their face's they where sharing one ear piece each. Tate was looking out the window on the front lawn at his dog Rodger, Rodger was being given to their neighbour who was holding Rodger and waving goodbye.
Claire was crying and holding onto her doll, "Do we have to go? I don't want to go," she said crying.
"Oh, be quite Claire!" angrily shouted Sherrill "In my day we never got a say, we had to go with it!" he finished.
Claire huddled closer to Tate. "Mother! Calm down she's just a little girl!" firmly said Christine.
"She's a brat if you ask me," Sherrill snarled at Claire. Claire held onto Tate's arm and begun to cry.
"Leave my sister alone!" said Ryan angrily.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that boy!" she snarled at Trey.
"I didn't... "
"Don't lie you insolent child!" she yelled at him.
The removal guy beeped at them again. "Finally a reason to get out of here!" said Nick driving off, he waved to their neighbour.
"Shit, we're actually moving were really leaving Sutton forever," Ryan said to himself.
"Dude I'm gonna miss our friends as well, but we've still got each other right?" whispered Trey trying to cheer him up.
"You're the other half of me; we'll always be stuck with each other," joked Ryan. Trey laughed. But they both knew they where going to find it hard moving away from the town they had lived in for as long as they could remember.
Rain poured heavily onto the roof of the car as they dove further away from there old town. Ryan and Trey kept looking back to how far away they where. Until the tiny dots that once where tall builds, disappeared behind the hills the whole car trip was silent after Sherrill's had finished. Claire fell asleep on Tate's arm, usually she would of gotten into the back with Ryan and Trey, they where her protective brothers. But with her Gran in the car it was impossible.
Tate had wiped away some of the mist on the window and was watching the rain fall heavily onto the road and spraying back up again, some cows in one of the paddocks had taken cover underneath a single tree, it was the only tree Tate had had seen in the never ending countryside. The grass was a healthy bright green colour because of the rain it had rained non stop in the countryside all through winter The nearest village was to the mansion was a half and hour drive.
The car trip was a silent once Sherrill had her out burst at Claire.
The rain stoped as they entered a small village called Drift Bridge, it was an old English village all the small cottage's where made from mud brick, the road was made from bricks. Every thing looked old fashioned but it had its touch of the twenty-first century. "We're defiantly not in Sutton any more," sighed Ryan. As he gazed out the window at the small village.
"That's for sure," agreed Trey
They stopped to pick up some food from the general store. Nick went in with Ryan and Trey. They grabbed some milk, bread and some spreads for breakfast just for the first night.The man behind the counter was a cheerful old man, he had plump red cheeks and thin grey hair, and he didn't have any hair on the top of his head just around the sides. He wore glasses and a neat red bow tie.
"Are you new in Drift Bridge?" he asked while he was adding up the prices.
"Yes as a matter a fact we are just moving in today," replied Nick.
"Which house are you moving into?" he asked curiously putting their stuff in a bag. Trey picked it up off the counter Ryan checked through it until he pulled out a sick of gum they had snuck onto the pile of stuff when their dad wasn't looking.
"The big mansion on top of the hill," Nick said casually, The store owner looked as if he was about to have a hart attack, he backed away slowly as if they were a pack of hungry lions. He knocked over one the comic stands while he backed off. "Are you okay sir?" asked Nick ready to run over and catch him if he collapsed.
"May god have mercy on your soul" he said, and then ran out to the back of the shop. Nick was unsure of what had just happened, he wasn't sure if should cheek if he was okay. But Ryan and Trey were hinting they wonted to leave.
"That was really weird," whispered Ryan. They were in the back seat of the van again.
"Yer I know what do you think he meant?" whispered Trey in reply.
"May god have mercy on your soul," he finished.
"He only got freaked out after dad mentioned where we were going, do you think that means something?" questioned Trey
"About the mansion?" finished Ryan.
"Well, mum did say... " started Trey
"That it had been empty for twenty years," finished Ryan
"Why would it of been empty for that long?" questioned Trey
"Maybe it's haunted," Trey put forward.
"Now you're just being stupid," replied Ryan.
"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Trey waking up Claire and making Tate come out of his daze. When he saw the mansion emerged from the fog.
"Ahh, there it is our new home," announced Nick happily.
"That's huge!!" exclaimed Trey.
"Do we really need a house that big?" asked Ryan
"Well it was available cheep and in a dream location."
"What!? What's dreamy about the middle of nowhere?" asked Tate
"Well, look at all the space you have to play," said Christine trying to make it more enjoyable.
"If there's that much space to play why couldn't Rodger come?" asked Tate angrily.
"You know the answer to that," she said with a sigh.
The van pulled up in the drive way followed by the removal truck. The removal guys began unloading the furniture from the van. Ryan and Trey ran in to get the best room before Tate and Claire could. They bolted through the front door, it was huge inside, it looked like bucking ham palace, and it had a red carpet like you see on the logy awards. The grand stair case grew wider as it got closer to the bottom; it still had most of the furniture from the previous owner. Every thing was coated in a thick layer of dust.
Trey and Ryan didn't have enough time to be amazed by the house they find a room and quickly. They bolted up the stairs Trey went left and Ryan went right.
They cheeked each door on both sides of the corridor. Trey was up to the last door at the end of the corridor. He slowly turned the handle on the door only to find that it's was locked. "Hey Ryan I need you for a minute!" he called.
Ryan ran over in a rush thinking Trey had found a good room. "I've seen a couple of assume rooms how 'bout you?" asked Ryan.
"No luck, but these doors locked we should..." begun Trey when a noise came from inside the door. It sounded like some one was in there. They could hear who ever it was walking along the floor boards.
"Who the hell could that be?" whispered Ryan in cause who ever it was, was listening.
"I think we should cheek it out," they whispered at the same time.
"Do you have a paper clip?" asked Ryan. Trey cheeked his pockets and pulled out a thin piece of wire "This should do," Ryan whispered as he took it from Trey.
He quietly stuck into the lock on the door. He fiddled with it for a bit.
"Hurry up Ryan!" whispered Trey angrily. He could here Claire coming.
Ryan just kept on fiddling around until the wire snapped. "Damn it!" he said
"What? What did you do?" asked Trey.
"Well, you see I almost had it, and well..." he held up the snapped piece of wire. Trey sighed and leant on the handle. "Hey don't worry I think you got it any way," said Trey. They held their ears up to the door and listened as Trey Slowly opened the door. There was a thud then Trey completely opened the door. Behind the door where some spiral stairs leading up.
Without speaking a single word the boys crept up the wooden stairs. Slowly and as quietly as possible they where nearing the top when Claire came up behind them, "What you doing?" she asked loudly. What every it was up there it got away. "What's that noise?" she asked.
"Well, we would of found out if you didn't come along and scare it off!" angrily said Trey. Ryan kept going up the stairs to have a look at the room. He stood at the top of the stairs with out moving a single muscle in shock at what they had stumbled across.
"Holy Jesus mother of god!" he said with a shocked look on his face.
Before Trey heard Ryan call he knew something was wrong he bolted up the stairs and stood next to Ryan staring, "What do you think it means?" asked Trey
"Who do you think did it?" asked Ryan.
Nick came up behind them. "I trust you found you room?" he asked he stoped in his tracks when he saw it.
On the wall written in big red letters: I'M BACK
The removal guy came up the stairs carrying Treys bed in pieces he pushed past them and placed the bits on the ground. He took one look at the wall, "Bloody teens ruining a fantastic house with their stupid spray paints," he said sounding annoyed. He went up to it and ran his fingers through it, his fingers turned red. "Damn it! Its fresh," he wiped his fingers off on his jump suit. "I've got a cloth in the truck I'll just grab it for you," he said with a smile.
As he left Christine came, "Nice room," she said. "Too bad some stupid kids had to rewind it with there spray paint" she said pointing at the wall.
Ryan and Trey started rebuilding Trey's bed, as the other removal guy came in with Ryan's bed in pieces. The beds where both the same just one had Trey written on the bedhead and the other had Ryan written on it.
Most of their stuff was like that. The second removal guy came in and a began wiping the red off the wall.
When he left they began to whisper to each other. "Man, I thought it was written in blood," Trey whispered
"So did I dude, it was like fresh blood," they whispered amongst themselves until there mother came in.
"Boys, you haven't happened to of seen the real estate agent have you?" she asked. They both shock there heads in reply "That's odd she said she was going met us here and I can t find her any where, and no one seems to of seen her, I tried her on her mobile but there's no answer," she said turning and heading down the spiral stairs.
Trey and Ryan looked at each other in terror they both now knew that it was blood on the wall. "Mum what was that number?" asked Ryan causally
"It's here why?" she said passing him a business card.
"Can I have this?" he asked looking at it, it said: Frost Creek real state agency
Tanya Myers ph. 04562378
"Yes, but why? What are you two up too?" she asked
"Nothing," they replied at once. By now that was an automatic reaction.
Christine put her hands on her hips and tilted her head as if to say, bullshit.
They were caught. They just didn't want to tell her what they were doing, because like all mothers she wouldn't approve.
"Mummy! Mummy!" cried Claire as she came running in with tears in her eyes.
'A perfect distraction!' thought Ryan "Some times you've got to love little sisters," Trey whispered into Ryan's ear.
Christine turned around to see what was wrong. Claire latched onto her legs nearly causing her to fall down the stairs. She knelt down and gave Claire a hug, she was in hysterics. "What's wrong sweety?" she asked in a calm voice trying to clam her down. Ryan and Trey just watched.
"Well, 'sob' Tate said 'sob' that if I took 'sob' the room that 'sob' I wanted, a ghost would come and kill 'sob' Me!" she blurted out as she cried.
"Oh, Claire its okay, no ghost is going to hurt you," Christine reassured Claire, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"But Tate said..."
"You shouldn't listen to him he's just trying to scare you," she said patting Claire on the back until she stoped crying. "I think we should go and pay Tate a visit." Christine standing up. Claire took her hand and they walked down the stairs and went looking for Tate.
"Do you think we should call it?" asked Ryan
"I dunno, well if it was her blood on wall what it does?" Trey pointed out
"Well nothing suggests that she would have been killed," Ryan began
"We need to get more information," they both finished at the same time.
"Mum's going to the village tomorrow to get the groceries. Maybe we could go with her and ask around," suggested Trey.
"We can't just go around randomly asking questions! You saw how freaked that guy at store was today," Ryan pointed out.
"Well, what do we do?" asked Trey
"Maybe if we ask around at school, some kids are bound to know," said Ryan.
"Good idea bro, but we should probably not say anything about us living here," Trey agreed.
Their plan was decided.
As her Husband had passed away and it was a terribly big house, she brought her daughter Christine and Christine's family with her.
Christine had three sons and one daughter, Ryan and Trey where thirteen, they where twins they had a little Brother Tate he was eight, and the youngest Claire she was only five.
Christine's husband Nick was older then her by one year they met when they where working together in a restaurant after they had finished school.
None of the family was happy about the move. To be honest, since the day they fond out they where moving they all have been miserable. Trey and Ryan didn't want to be so far away from their friends and their Grandmother Sherrill wouldn't let their new friends into the house anyway.
Tate didn't want to leave his dog behind. He couldn't bring him because Sherrill doesn't like dogs.
Claire was unhappy about moving away from her kinda and she was a bit scared of her grandmother, because Sherrill didn't like small children, well she didn't really like anyone at all to be honest.
Nick just purely hated the idea of having to live with his mother in law, Sherrill had never liked Nick.
Christie knew that moving in with her mother again meant that she would be treated like a child, only she would be bossed around more, and have to wait on her hand and foot; she knew that if her mother wasn't happy, no one would be happy
Sherrill was just unhappy about every thing, and when this old coot was unhappy she made it her mission to make very one around her miserable.
No wonder she got kicked out of her retirement home.
When moving day came everything was a disaster, boxes where everywhere about the house, half of them weren't labeled and Ryan and Trey hadn't even packed most of their stuff. The kids where all making up excusees why not to leave, well, Ryan and Trey were; Tate and Claire where having more of a tantrum than anything else.
"What if the removal truck gets lost and runs out of petrol? We'll be done for!" asked Ryan Stoping his mother from loading another box into the truck by standing front of her.
"It wont," she said walking around him and handed the box to removal guy in the truck. Who was standing in the truck. On her way back into the house Trey had a go.
"What if Gran gets car sick? There isn't a doctor for miles," prompted Trey, following her into the house.
"My mother has been car sick in her entire life," she replied picking up another box.
"Cars haven't been around for 87 years!" smartly replied Trey.
Christine didn't even bother to answer him. She just went back out side. Between Trey and Ryan it was like a tag team. Trey and Ryan got along incredibly well for brothers, they did almost every thing together, they where each others best friends you would never see one with out the other. Witch was good because its was almost impossible to tell them apart, in fact only their parents, siblings and there close friends could tell them apart. They had dark hair that they never brushed it was long but not to long and hung over their eyes and ears covered the back of the necks but didn't go any further, they were pail skinned and were freakishly skinny they have always been really short and had bright green eyes, they where both blind in one eye, it happen in a car accident but only Ryan was in the car, yet Trey felt the whole thing. It happened when they where only three years old. That wasn't the only time something like that happened, when they were six Trey feel out of a tree and broke his arm. So did Ryan. The doctor had seen a similar case's with identical twins but never one like this, usually they both feel the pain not get the injury as well. Witch was when Nick and Christine knew that their boys where special and they begun to understand their special relationship.
As Christine put handed another box to the guy in the truck Ryan started again. "Hey mum," he said
"Yes Ryan," she replied.
"What if the truck's tires happened to burst?" he said sounding sly.
Christine picked up two empty boxes from the floor handed one to Ryan and one to Trey who had been waiting inside for them to return. "Don't you even think about popping the tires or you'll wish you were never born," Christine said angrily crossing her arms "Now finish packing your stuff!" she instructed she picked up another box to load into the truck.
When she was out of sight both Ryan and Trey both pulled a sowing needle form there pockets then through them to the ground. "Oh, man that was what I was going say," complained Trey.
"What the hell are we going to do now?" they both said at the same time. They made their way to their room and begun putting their stuff into the boxes.
"Well we could always..." Trey begun
"...chuck a sickie," Ryan finished his sentence.
"It's to late now,"
"we should have done it this morning." they agreed.
"Where the hell did I put my... " begun Ryan
"I-pod, on the second shelf from the top," Finished Trey
"Thanks Man," Thanked Ryan.
The removal guy was watching them from the door, with an odd look on his face.
"You two are like..." he began. "Like... " he said was looking for the right word
"Twins!" he finished sounding confused after he realized just what he said.
"No way!" replied Ryan sarcastically.
"We are twins," Trey explained slowly as if he was two years old.
He gave the boys a mean look. "I'm just here to get your beds," He changed the subject, he was embarrassed that he had been so stupid and out smarted by two teenagers. He walked past them and begun pulling one of the beds apart. Avoiding any more conversation.
Meanwhile Christine was still loading box's she had moved onto the stuff in Tate's room. His room was tucked away in the back of the house, between Claire's room and the kitchen. Tate didn't really mind being next to the kitchen, it made it easy for midnight raids.
Tate usually snuck out of bed after his parents had gone to bed and went through the fridge. He used a torch that he made, it would fit around his ear, and it made him feel like a spy or something. He was good at sneaking around; he found it easy to move around with out being seen. He was sneaky that way. Tate was like Trey and Ryan, in the way that he was always up to something.
But the difference between Tate and the twins was the twins rarely got caught.
Trey and Ryan's room was pretty much the attic room, they had just done it up to look like a bedroom. Of course they tried to convince their parents that the clothes scatted on the floor where apart of making it look more like a bed room. It never worked. They still tried.
They lived in a reasonably big house. In the middle of Sutton. The house was a two story house with an arched roof. With two window's coming form what looked like an attic. The house was surrounded with trees that lined fence with millions of healthy green leaves hanging from their branches. The grass had been recently cut to make the house look neat while it was on sale.
But like all house's with children, there where toys on the front yard. Tate had left his bike lying on the lawn and Claire had left her scooter lying by the huge tree that sat in front of their house. Trey and Ryan had contributed to the junk on the lawn the most. They had left a soccer ball, that had been left out for months and the colour had faded. They had also managed to miss the basket ball hop that sat on the garage, and the ball was left on the roof along with one of Ryan's school shoes that he had tried to knock the ball down with. Like most Teenage boys he didn't really care about his school things.
On moving it all looked a hundred times worse with boxes lying everywhere, half unlabeled. The removal truck was sitting in front of the garage, with a ramp leading in to wheel in the furniture and heavy boxes. Nick was helping the removal guys with the furniture (Trying to show Christine how strong he was).
The two removal guys wore matching blue jump suits both with black bennies to keep warm, it was early in the morning witch was probably why neither of them had shaved. They looked a little like escaped prisoners.
Christine went back to get more boxes out of Tate's room, and standing there with his hands on his hips, looking confident was Tate. He looked like James Bond or something. He was waiting for her. 'Oh, boy here we go,' she through to herself when she saw Tate standing there. Tate looked like his father, he had black hair in the same hair stile that Ryan and Trey did. He was skinny and average hight for his age; he had bright green eyes and tanned skin Tate always dressed neatly. Tate could be really mean when he wanted to, but when ever it came to his mother he was always acting like a little innocent kid, but he was never good at not getting his own way.
He stomped his feet and went red in the face. "I'm not going! I'm staying right here!" he screamed in a baby's voice. Christine did her best to ignore him. But he stood in front of her, "Mum there's nothing you can do to make me go!" he screamed stomping his face he spat as he spoke.
"Tate you acting like a two year old!" she said holding one of his boxes
"I'm not two years old I'm eight and three quarters!" he screamed even louder sounding even more like a baby.
"We're moving and that's final," she said pushing past him
"Well, why can't we take Rodger?" he yelled.
"There's nowhere put a dog!" she yelled back at him from outside the house.
As she came back Tate started again, "But you said it was huge!!" he screamed
"Tate stop yelling! Or you can go and live with gran by yourself!" she threatened.
After that Tate didn't say another word he just went and sulked in the back yard.
The Fraser's were almost ready to leave. Ryan and Trey in the back of the van their dad was waiting at the wheel while Christine was helping her mother in next to Tate who was in the middle seat sulking quietly. Finally Christine got in the front passenger seat. "Ready?" she asked looking back on every one. She didn't get a reply, they were all looking annoyed.
Nick started the engine and was about to drive off; "Wait!" yelled Christie in a panic.
"What I thought you said we where ready?" said Nick in shock.
"Where's Claire?" she said in a panic.
The removal guys that where waiting in their truck behind them beeped at them trying to hurry them up. Christine got out of the van went up to their window as said in a panic "Have you seen my daughter!"
They rolled down the window "You mean Claire?"
"Yes I mean Claire!" she yelled.
"Calm down ma'am," he said in a relaxed voice "She's in here with us, she told us it was okay if she ride up 'ere with us," he replied.
As Claire popped her out from behind the seat. "Claire Christine Fraser! Get down her right now!" she yelled. The removal guy opened the door so she could climb out.
"Sorry Ma'am if we scared you we thought she had asked," apologized the removal guy.
"No it's not your fault," she said holding tightly onto Claire's hand.
She told Claire off, but she wasn't listening she was angry and about to have a tantrum. Claire was Christine little girl and always would be, so Christine kept and eye out for her mainly because she was the youngest of three boys.
Christine walked her back to the van opened the door for Claire to climb in.
Claire climbed in over her grandmother. Who was not happy at all. Claire sat in-between her gran and Tate. Christine got into the front seat next to Nick. "Are we ready?" he asked loudly and happily looking back at them all. To see a van full of unhappy people.
Trey and Ryan had their I-pod on and had no expressions on their face's they where sharing one ear piece each. Tate was looking out the window on the front lawn at his dog Rodger, Rodger was being given to their neighbour who was holding Rodger and waving goodbye.
Claire was crying and holding onto her doll, "Do we have to go? I don't want to go," she said crying.
"Oh, be quite Claire!" angrily shouted Sherrill "In my day we never got a say, we had to go with it!" he finished.
Claire huddled closer to Tate. "Mother! Calm down she's just a little girl!" firmly said Christine.
"She's a brat if you ask me," Sherrill snarled at Claire. Claire held onto Tate's arm and begun to cry.
"Leave my sister alone!" said Ryan angrily.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that boy!" she snarled at Trey.
"I didn't... "
"Don't lie you insolent child!" she yelled at him.
The removal guy beeped at them again. "Finally a reason to get out of here!" said Nick driving off, he waved to their neighbour.
"Shit, we're actually moving were really leaving Sutton forever," Ryan said to himself.
"Dude I'm gonna miss our friends as well, but we've still got each other right?" whispered Trey trying to cheer him up.
"You're the other half of me; we'll always be stuck with each other," joked Ryan. Trey laughed. But they both knew they where going to find it hard moving away from the town they had lived in for as long as they could remember.
Rain poured heavily onto the roof of the car as they dove further away from there old town. Ryan and Trey kept looking back to how far away they where. Until the tiny dots that once where tall builds, disappeared behind the hills the whole car trip was silent after Sherrill's had finished. Claire fell asleep on Tate's arm, usually she would of gotten into the back with Ryan and Trey, they where her protective brothers. But with her Gran in the car it was impossible.
Tate had wiped away some of the mist on the window and was watching the rain fall heavily onto the road and spraying back up again, some cows in one of the paddocks had taken cover underneath a single tree, it was the only tree Tate had had seen in the never ending countryside. The grass was a healthy bright green colour because of the rain it had rained non stop in the countryside all through winter The nearest village was to the mansion was a half and hour drive.
The car trip was a silent once Sherrill had her out burst at Claire.
The rain stoped as they entered a small village called Drift Bridge, it was an old English village all the small cottage's where made from mud brick, the road was made from bricks. Every thing looked old fashioned but it had its touch of the twenty-first century. "We're defiantly not in Sutton any more," sighed Ryan. As he gazed out the window at the small village.
"That's for sure," agreed Trey
They stopped to pick up some food from the general store. Nick went in with Ryan and Trey. They grabbed some milk, bread and some spreads for breakfast just for the first night.The man behind the counter was a cheerful old man, he had plump red cheeks and thin grey hair, and he didn't have any hair on the top of his head just around the sides. He wore glasses and a neat red bow tie.
"Are you new in Drift Bridge?" he asked while he was adding up the prices.
"Yes as a matter a fact we are just moving in today," replied Nick.
"Which house are you moving into?" he asked curiously putting their stuff in a bag. Trey picked it up off the counter Ryan checked through it until he pulled out a sick of gum they had snuck onto the pile of stuff when their dad wasn't looking.
"The big mansion on top of the hill," Nick said casually, The store owner looked as if he was about to have a hart attack, he backed away slowly as if they were a pack of hungry lions. He knocked over one the comic stands while he backed off. "Are you okay sir?" asked Nick ready to run over and catch him if he collapsed.
"May god have mercy on your soul" he said, and then ran out to the back of the shop. Nick was unsure of what had just happened, he wasn't sure if should cheek if he was okay. But Ryan and Trey were hinting they wonted to leave.
"That was really weird," whispered Ryan. They were in the back seat of the van again.
"Yer I know what do you think he meant?" whispered Trey in reply.
"May god have mercy on your soul," he finished.
"He only got freaked out after dad mentioned where we were going, do you think that means something?" questioned Trey
"About the mansion?" finished Ryan.
"Well, mum did say... " started Trey
"That it had been empty for twenty years," finished Ryan
"Why would it of been empty for that long?" questioned Trey
"Maybe it's haunted," Trey put forward.
"Now you're just being stupid," replied Ryan.
"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Trey waking up Claire and making Tate come out of his daze. When he saw the mansion emerged from the fog.
"Ahh, there it is our new home," announced Nick happily.
"That's huge!!" exclaimed Trey.
"Do we really need a house that big?" asked Ryan
"Well it was available cheep and in a dream location."
"What!? What's dreamy about the middle of nowhere?" asked Tate
"Well, look at all the space you have to play," said Christine trying to make it more enjoyable.
"If there's that much space to play why couldn't Rodger come?" asked Tate angrily.
"You know the answer to that," she said with a sigh.
The van pulled up in the drive way followed by the removal truck. The removal guys began unloading the furniture from the van. Ryan and Trey ran in to get the best room before Tate and Claire could. They bolted through the front door, it was huge inside, it looked like bucking ham palace, and it had a red carpet like you see on the logy awards. The grand stair case grew wider as it got closer to the bottom; it still had most of the furniture from the previous owner. Every thing was coated in a thick layer of dust.
Trey and Ryan didn't have enough time to be amazed by the house they find a room and quickly. They bolted up the stairs Trey went left and Ryan went right.
They cheeked each door on both sides of the corridor. Trey was up to the last door at the end of the corridor. He slowly turned the handle on the door only to find that it's was locked. "Hey Ryan I need you for a minute!" he called.
Ryan ran over in a rush thinking Trey had found a good room. "I've seen a couple of assume rooms how 'bout you?" asked Ryan.
"No luck, but these doors locked we should..." begun Trey when a noise came from inside the door. It sounded like some one was in there. They could hear who ever it was walking along the floor boards.
"Who the hell could that be?" whispered Ryan in cause who ever it was, was listening.
"I think we should cheek it out," they whispered at the same time.
"Do you have a paper clip?" asked Ryan. Trey cheeked his pockets and pulled out a thin piece of wire "This should do," Ryan whispered as he took it from Trey.
He quietly stuck into the lock on the door. He fiddled with it for a bit.
"Hurry up Ryan!" whispered Trey angrily. He could here Claire coming.
Ryan just kept on fiddling around until the wire snapped. "Damn it!" he said
"What? What did you do?" asked Trey.
"Well, you see I almost had it, and well..." he held up the snapped piece of wire. Trey sighed and leant on the handle. "Hey don't worry I think you got it any way," said Trey. They held their ears up to the door and listened as Trey Slowly opened the door. There was a thud then Trey completely opened the door. Behind the door where some spiral stairs leading up.
Without speaking a single word the boys crept up the wooden stairs. Slowly and as quietly as possible they where nearing the top when Claire came up behind them, "What you doing?" she asked loudly. What every it was up there it got away. "What's that noise?" she asked.
"Well, we would of found out if you didn't come along and scare it off!" angrily said Trey. Ryan kept going up the stairs to have a look at the room. He stood at the top of the stairs with out moving a single muscle in shock at what they had stumbled across.
"Holy Jesus mother of god!" he said with a shocked look on his face.
Before Trey heard Ryan call he knew something was wrong he bolted up the stairs and stood next to Ryan staring, "What do you think it means?" asked Trey
"Who do you think did it?" asked Ryan.
Nick came up behind them. "I trust you found you room?" he asked he stoped in his tracks when he saw it.
On the wall written in big red letters: I'M BACK
The removal guy came up the stairs carrying Treys bed in pieces he pushed past them and placed the bits on the ground. He took one look at the wall, "Bloody teens ruining a fantastic house with their stupid spray paints," he said sounding annoyed. He went up to it and ran his fingers through it, his fingers turned red. "Damn it! Its fresh," he wiped his fingers off on his jump suit. "I've got a cloth in the truck I'll just grab it for you," he said with a smile.
As he left Christine came, "Nice room," she said. "Too bad some stupid kids had to rewind it with there spray paint" she said pointing at the wall.
Ryan and Trey started rebuilding Trey's bed, as the other removal guy came in with Ryan's bed in pieces. The beds where both the same just one had Trey written on the bedhead and the other had Ryan written on it.
Most of their stuff was like that. The second removal guy came in and a began wiping the red off the wall.
When he left they began to whisper to each other. "Man, I thought it was written in blood," Trey whispered
"So did I dude, it was like fresh blood," they whispered amongst themselves until there mother came in.
"Boys, you haven't happened to of seen the real estate agent have you?" she asked. They both shock there heads in reply "That's odd she said she was going met us here and I can t find her any where, and no one seems to of seen her, I tried her on her mobile but there's no answer," she said turning and heading down the spiral stairs.
Trey and Ryan looked at each other in terror they both now knew that it was blood on the wall. "Mum what was that number?" asked Ryan causally
"It's here why?" she said passing him a business card.
"Can I have this?" he asked looking at it, it said: Frost Creek real state agency
Tanya Myers ph. 04562378
"Yes, but why? What are you two up too?" she asked
"Nothing," they replied at once. By now that was an automatic reaction.
Christine put her hands on her hips and tilted her head as if to say, bullshit.
They were caught. They just didn't want to tell her what they were doing, because like all mothers she wouldn't approve.
"Mummy! Mummy!" cried Claire as she came running in with tears in her eyes.
'A perfect distraction!' thought Ryan "Some times you've got to love little sisters," Trey whispered into Ryan's ear.
Christine turned around to see what was wrong. Claire latched onto her legs nearly causing her to fall down the stairs. She knelt down and gave Claire a hug, she was in hysterics. "What's wrong sweety?" she asked in a calm voice trying to clam her down. Ryan and Trey just watched.
"Well, 'sob' Tate said 'sob' that if I took 'sob' the room that 'sob' I wanted, a ghost would come and kill 'sob' Me!" she blurted out as she cried.
"Oh, Claire its okay, no ghost is going to hurt you," Christine reassured Claire, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"But Tate said..."
"You shouldn't listen to him he's just trying to scare you," she said patting Claire on the back until she stoped crying. "I think we should go and pay Tate a visit." Christine standing up. Claire took her hand and they walked down the stairs and went looking for Tate.
"Do you think we should call it?" asked Ryan
"I dunno, well if it was her blood on wall what it does?" Trey pointed out
"Well nothing suggests that she would have been killed," Ryan began
"We need to get more information," they both finished at the same time.
"Mum's going to the village tomorrow to get the groceries. Maybe we could go with her and ask around," suggested Trey.
"We can't just go around randomly asking questions! You saw how freaked that guy at store was today," Ryan pointed out.
"Well, what do we do?" asked Trey
"Maybe if we ask around at school, some kids are bound to know," said Ryan.
"Good idea bro, but we should probably not say anything about us living here," Trey agreed.
Their plan was decided.
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