1 week later

The wheels of the dark blue Toyota made a squeaking noise when the car came to a halt on the side of the street.
The first person that came out of the car was Liam he stretched briefly and yawned, he had dark rings under his emerald green eyes.
Meanwhile Aaron was already opening the trunk getting out a huge purple suitcase.

"Wait, let me help you with that" Liam was walking over to them, reaching for the suitcase.

"Thanks" Aaron murmured and tucked their shoulder length black hair behind their ear.
Then they opened the door behind the passenger seat.
"Ava? Honey, time to get in"

The little girl looked up, then she jumped out of the car, her tinny purple teddy bear thigh in her arms.
She eyed the house, her facial expression changed for a second, then she put on a smile and walked towards the orange building.

It was Liam's idea to move here, after the accident Aaron and Ava both couldn't stay in their old home town anymore. Everything reminded them of what had happened.

Now they were the proud owners of clinomania manor; or how they used to call it, the poppy house.

Aaron was a English professor, focused on literature, and they didn't like the word 'clinomania' it was depressing. Poppy sounded more welcoming, as if the people that owned this house would be happy.

On the left side was the neighborhood, it was just a small town, so there weren't many other houses in their street.
On the right side was a forest. Earlier a huge part belonged to the manor, but that was years ago, now it's owned by the government.

The house wasn't big, still it wasn't tinny either. They bought it with all the furniture in it. It was surprisingly cheap though.
When you walked threw the main entrance it led directly into the living room and the open kitchen.

The kitchen was on the right side, the kitchen appliances were against the wall in L shape.

A step away from them was a large grayish blue worktop that, judging by the three bar stools with faded red fake leather seats, also served as a dining table.

The living room was on the left side.
In the middle of the wall was a picture, it portrayed a ugly landscape.

There were also two terribly small windows with view on the street.
It as well contained a shelf with some books and an old doll, a tv and a ancient looking brown sofa that faced the staircase with its back.
The walls were also light brown. The same color as the carpet that was laying across the floor several centimeters from the stairs.

In the far left corner was a inconspicuous narrow hallway with dark green wallpaper and a single white door at its end that led to the cellar.

If you went upstairs there was the bathroom, three bedrooms on the left and on the right was a door that probably led to an attic, unfortunately no one had the key. Liam wanted to change the look as soon as he got the time.

I was watching those people walking inside. They weren't just friends, yet not a family.

Aaron a half Japanese half American non binary person in the mid 30s, Liam, a American cisgendered friend around the same age and Ava, Aaron's eight year old adoptive daughter.

They feel the same sorrow and that made their relationship stronger.

I wasn't quite sure what had happened, they always referred to it as 'it' or 'the accident'.
What I knew was, that their old home burned down, with everything in it. That's why this house seemed so perfect for them. It had everything they needed.

The estate agent told them the former owners of Clinomania manor moved out and left everything except for personal things because they had to move into an elderly home due to Alzheimer's and since they didn't have any relatives all the equipment got left behind.

I have to admit, she was a good liar.
Instead of telling the truth, that Rick killed 22 people and then vanished, so his parents had to go away because everyone blamed them, she just made up this story.

I soon got a picture of them. They were pretty normal. Still sad because of the accident, but they recovered good. There was something about Liam though, he seemed wrong in a certain way.

However he wasn't important to me. Ava was the only one that mattered. She was still a kid, that was perfect for me. I already knew what I was going to do would affect her, but she was my only hope.

Jane and I wanted to leave this world. Especially this house. We just needed one last thing before we could do that.

Everyone went to bed soon. I made sure if Aaron and Liam already fell asleep, then I headed to Ava's bedroom.
The little girl was sleeping.

I sat down at the rim of her bed, my gaze fixed on her I started to hum. Loud enough to wake her up, but not for the others to hear me.

When she opened her eyes I gave her a bright smile.
She didn't seem frightened or even intimidated, even though a stranger was in her room.
That's the advantage with children, they don't know who's a threat and who isn't.
In this case I was a threat.

"Hello Ava" I whispered, "I was keen on talking to you for quite a while now"
"Who are you?" She asked me half sleepy half curious.
"I am the caretaker of this house. But, if you want to I can also be your friend"
She glanced at me for a second, thinking about my offering, then she smiled "Then you are my first friend from the poppy house!"

She was happy.
I couldn't help but thinking how stupid children are. Good for me though.
"That's great! And since you're new here, I want to give you something. See it as a welcoming gift"
I handed her a circle shaped thing. It looked like a wooden dream catcher. The circle was made out of a willow branch that was braided on the inside, shaped like a pentagram.
Little letters were carved in the wood.

"This will protect you. Always keep it under your pillow"
"Thanks, it's so pretty! You made it yourself?" she immediately inspected the unknown object.
"Yeah, I did. But anyways, it's quite late, I have to go now"

"Already?" She seemed disappointed "where are you going? There are only three bedrooms. Mine, Liam's and Pops"

"My room is at the top, but we can talk tomorrow night again, okay?" I stood up, then I turned around and added: "Oh, and one last thing. Never leave your bed after midnight, can you promise me that?"
She nodded.

I walked out of the room. Everything went fine.

When I stood in the middle of the hallway I heard glass shatter from the living room.
I went down, attracted by this unfamiliar sound.

I didn't see anyone when I arrived downstairs. Then I spotted something on the ground besides the sofa.

I kneeled down and picked one of the sharp see through things. It was a pice of glass. It smelt like whiskey.

I got up still having the glass in my hands. I turned around and suddenly faced something standing right in front of me.

She looked like a women, with gray skin and hair and she wore a faded grayish blue dress.
And her face was... different. In fact she didn't even have a face. It was just a misshaped gray mass with no details.

She had no eyes, but it felt like she was staring at me.
Then her skin started to rip open at the place were normally her lips would be.
Now it looked like she had somewhat of a mouth. Although it was more like an open wound. Even a black, blood like substance flowed out of it and dropped on her dress.

That was when she started to scream.
It sounded like thousands of glass bottles dropping on the ground and bursting at once.
The wound, which was the source of the sound, widened and she got louder.

Everything got darker and I felt a sharp pain in my left thigh.
The pain started to spread up my leg, which caused me to fall down on my knees.

"Stop!" I yelled and suddenly it was silent. I looked up. The woman was gone.

I was alone in the living room, kneeling on the ground with broken glass besides me. The smell of whiskey filled the room.
Heavily breathing I ran up the stairs.

An// I hope you like it so far ^^
I introduced some new characters, all I say for now is that they'll bring a lot of drama :D
Don't forget to vote and maybe even leave a comment. Constructive criticism is nice :P
Anyways, have a good day/night ~~

31.03.21
7.32 pm