Brad and Tom, the real estate agent, were upstairs discussing things that were not interesting at all. I took a pile of washing and went to the basement.

After I loaded it and set it going, I turned to the stairs. The crack was large, and a hole had appeared. It was small, but it was enough to cause problems. Pressing my hand to the wall, I could still feel the warmth. The area on either side of the heat was brutally cold. It was a space no larger than me but at least a head taller.

"You shouldn't go near the wall, kid."

Ryan walked down the stairs with his toolbox in hand. I gave a disinterested shrug and stepped back.

"How come it's so warm in one spot?"

He looked at me like I was weird.

"There's no heat to it."

"Yes, there is. Right here."

After showing him one of the spots, Ryan put his hand on the brick and shook his head.

"Cold. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I guess not," I murmured. "Do you think this place is haunted?"

"No. Your uncle told me about the removalists leaving you high and dry. Don't worry about those fools."

He looked up at the top of the stairs.

"Sounds like your uncle is calling you."

"He is?"

With a frown, I turned to the stairs. I could not hear Brad calling me.

Searching for him, I found Brad and Tom in the backyard, looking at the forest. At the edge of it, the trees were sparse, and I could see for some distance into the woods. I don't know how deep the forest went. All I knew was that Brad would lose his mind if I said I wanted to explore it.

"Hey, were you calling me?"

Brad shook his head, then flicked his head at a long line of dark trees.

"You know what I'm thinking, right?"

"Yes. You want me to find you some wild mushrooms."

"No. Try again."

The real estate agent was amused.

"Right, okay. Firewood for that awesome fireplace. I've got you covered."

"The trees are part of the forest which is protected. You cannot remove wood from it without permission which we will not be getting. Firewood can be bought from the hardware. I hope that you are listening to me, Evelyn, because you are not to go into the forest. Is that clear?"

"As clear as the sky is blue."

Brad looked up and saw the ominous clouds had returned. With a heavy frown and a soft growl, Brad narrowed his eyes at me.

"Yes, I won't go in there. Sheesh, you're so paranoid."

"That's because I know how great your sense of direction is."

"I got us lost one time."

Leaving Brad to continue his discussion with Tom about the crack, I returned to the house and, in particular, the basement. Ryan was still down there doing something that clearly required him to be alone. I might have been fooled into leaving the basement, but I was not blind to what he wanted.

The door was left open, hooked onto the latch to stop it from slamming shut. I quietly tiptoed to the door and listened, hearing nothing. Peering around the corner, I could see Ryan's legs. He was next to the wall, but the toolbox was shut.

That was curious.

The scent of something odd filtered up the stairs. My nose twitched, unable to detect what Ryan was spraying.

Hearing Brad and Tom approach, I stepped back and pretended to be looking for something in a nearby box. They were being so noisy that I knew that Ryan would hear them.

Following them to the basement, I noted that the toolbox was now open, and Ryan had a meter reader out, pressed to the wall.

"Well, I don't think there's a water leak. It's highly likely that the ground has just shifted with the recent rain. I might come back in a week to check on it. Once the ground has dried, we can fix the wall. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful," Tom said with his patented cheery smile.

I gave Brad a look that the other two could not see. He frowned, then when Tom turned, Brad gave a smile. As they discussed the weather, the three of them wandered up the stairs.

My eyes narrowed as my lips twisted derisively. The handyman had done something, and I knew that the crack in the wall had nothing to do with the rain or moving earth.

Sitting on the dryer was the box of storm supplies. In it was a torch. Flicking it on, I moved back to the wall.

"Evie," Brad called out.

With a huff, I flicked off the torch and left it on the stairs. Brad was a pest, and it was like he knew when I was up to no good.

Brad was at the front door talking to Ryan when I emerged from the basement. Tom was not here anymore. I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Ryan was just telling me about the original owner of the house."

"He was a bad person," Ryan murmured. "Not surprising that he went missing. He was probably taken out by someone who was annoyed at something he did. Back then, they were known for instant corporal punishment. The worse the crime, the bigger the vigilante mob. If it was a minor crime, I'm sure they would have buried him somewhere and made a notation. The fact that there is no evidence means that he was a monster."

"How interesting."

Brad frowned at me. He knew the tone of my voice was insincere. After three years of being in each other's pockets, the man knew me well.

"Not many in these parts will talk about things like that. They like to live in an oblivious world, but I don't. My girls know the truth about this town, and you'd be wise to listen to me as well. Be careful, don't stay out late at night, don't go wandering around by yourself."

Ryan turned to Brad. The frown was heavier than it had been for me.

"You might want to raise her to be independent, and that's great. We all want them to find their own feet, but in this town, we drive our kids to school."

"Gee, you make it sound like you've got a pervert on every street corner," I said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

"Wouldn't know about them, just the rules that my old man passed to me and that I passed to my girls. If you don't want to listen, then that ain't my fault. I'll see you both in a week."

And with that grumbling, the man walked out of the house.

Ryan was an odd person, a little gruff but seemed to have a genuine nature to his persona. That is if I didn't see him doing something highly peculiar in the basement. Brad closed the door and turned to me.

"He sprayed something in the basement."

"Yeah, deodorizer. The room stank of dampness. I just hope he's right about it. I don't want to move again, not when we just got here."

I nodded and turned away, only to have Brad grab my arm and pull me back.

"You know what we're going to discuss, right?"

"Yeah, you're going to lay down the law about going to school, wandering around the town. All this after a little scaremongering from a guy that was doing something shifty in the basement."

Brad rolled his eyes, letting go of my elbow.

"He was not doing something shifty. Rules,"

I scoffed and picked up the kitchen box, hoping he'd get the hint. He did not.

"I will drive you to and from school. If you want to go out with friends, you'll need to notify me where you will be going and, for how long, what time I need to pick you up."

"The friends that I won't make, you mean?"

"Evie," he snapped. "Be serious. We both got odd feelings at the school, this town clearly has some serious weirdness going on, so I want you to do the right thing here. I know that you're almost an adult, and you probably want to get out into the world, hang out with friends, get a boyfriend or girlfriend, whatever,"

Brad shifted uncomfortably, probably remembering the awkward conversation he'd had after I'd come home from school and told him that I'd walked in on the headmaster and one of the teachers having sex in a classroom. He'd flustered a little and said that it was wrong to do that in a school where getting caught was highly likely considering I'd walked in on them and that he'd be having words with them the next day.

He'd said that love is love, even if it was in the wrong place and wrong time. I smiled and said nothing. Then he asked if I needed a little context, to which I replied that my mother was a prostitute, so I probably knew more than he did. Brad nodded, looking a little sheepish.

"I get it. You want to ensure I'm safe because you love me, and you'd feel bad if something bad happened."

"I just want to do the year here and then get the hell out of this place. Okay?"

I nodded as I opened the box and began unloading the contents into the drawers.

"What if you're made to stay longer?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll figure that out when we get there. You never know. We might come to love the place."

"Doubt it," I cooed as he walked away.

It took all of Saturday afternoon to get the boxes unpacked. In between the boxes, I had to help Brad get the beds upstairs. We had ensemble beds, so that meant that there were no frames to be put together, just a base and mattress. Life on the road and moving constantly meant that we had become smart with our purchases.

Pulling the linen out of the dryer, I picked up the basket and moved to the stairs. I could still smell whatever it was that Ryan had sprayed. Curiously, nothing was dribbling down the wall. He must have been incredibly careful, inserting the nozzle into the tiny gap.

Turning to the step, I saw the flashlight that I'd left there earlier. There was too much to do tonight, and I was too tired. Besides, Brad offered takeaway for dinner, and I was not going to pass on that.

Climbing the stairs, I put the basket down and closed the door. Interestingly, there was a large slide bolt for the door. I shifted it across and wondered why it was necessary.

Brad was in his room when I reached the next level. I'd taken one of the bedrooms on this level rather than the attic. It was a bright and airy space, but the first few nights in a new home, I preferred to be close to him. I wasn't scared. I just didn't like to be too far away.

Dumping Brad's linen on the bed, I wandered out of his room and into mine. I quickly made the bed and then took the towels into the bathroom.

The house was in good order. I'd seen some horrid places over the years, and the longer they were let sit without someone living in them, the worse they became. This place was old but looked new. Nothing needed to be cleaned though I suspect that it was cleaned regularly with the hope that they'd be able to get tenants in and pay money.

"Are we done?" Brad said.

"Absolutely. Let's get greasy."

With a chuckle, we walked down the stairs. Brad grabbed the keys, and after checking the windows and doors were locked, we were out of there.

Driving through the town center of Hades was definitely not the highlight of my evening. We have been to small towns before, we were used to shops being shut as soon as the sun hit the horizon, but this was ridiculous. Hades was large enough to warrant having restaurants open. Even a few takeaway shops would be alright.

Street after street, we searched for something and found nothing. Even the grocery store was shut.

"Well, I was going to suggest buying a roast chicken and bread rolls, but I guess that's not happening."

"Do we have any food?"

"No. How about we see if the bed and breakfast will cook a meal for us?"

"Sounds great."

Because the nearest town was several hours away, and my stomach would not take that kind of wait.