The upstairs and downstairs room hadn't led me to any clues. No newspapers no nothing. If they were there, mom and dad had definitely got to it before me. I realized there was one spot in the house I hadn't checked and honestly, I didn't really want to. If any place in a house held information, it was an attic or basement. I wasn't afraid though. I went down to the basement and kept the lights on in the hallway and kitchen. I turned on the basement light and looked around.

There was some party supplies around that I hadn't been cleaned up. Hats, glasses, and red cups on the ground. I couldn't understand how dad allowed this. I did my best to pick up some things and throw them out. As I was cleaning up, I swear I heard a thump somewhere under the floor. I almost screamed when I saw a mouse come up from the same board I got my foot caught in. I swear, it looked at me before it scuffled off. I threw my slipper at it.

"Get out of here!" I yelled at.

I heard the front door unlock.

They're back. I thought.

I was in complete utter shock when I saw Marques and Keith were in my living room. Wide eyes, both looking terribly concern.

"How you guys get in here?" I asked them.

"We've come to warn you," Keith said. Both of them remained standing near the front door.

"Our mom told us not to," he continued. "but this place is evil."

"Oh great, you mean to tell me I'm the lucky mover to get the haunted house?" I joked. This had to be a trick. "Look aside from the mice in here, I have't found anything."

"Look up 59 Main ST fire," Marques said. "there's a mean presence in this house. We know. Me and my brother have seen something in here. It stands in the window upstairs...every night."

I was honestly afraid to ask my next question. "When was the last time you seen it?"

"Before we walked in," Keith said in a low voice.

"She let us in," Keith said.

Before either of us could say anything, I heard dad pulling up in the driveway. Without saying anything, the boys silently headed out the door without saying anything. They passed right by dad before he got out the car. I guess my parents didn't  see the boys because they didn't comment on them. I was glad. I didn't feel like explaining. I hurried behind the car and looked up into the window.

"What are you looking at?" Kassandra asked me as I looked up into the window-her eyes followed in the same direction. 

"Esther!"

Kass called out again. "What the hell, dude?" 

It was still in the window. My eyes were fixated on what I saw. There was shadow up against the window. The shadow was shaped into a person. It was tall, looming, and it moved side to side as if it was some glitch in a video game. 

Kassandra shook my shoulder, but before I could do anything I felt light headed. One moment I saw Kass then I felt her getting taller and myself smaller. I couldn't keep my balance and eventually, ended up fainting...

***

I woke up in my room. 

No.

I woke in my bed but I wasn't in my room. My bed laid in the empty darkness. My eyes would not adjust to the room. I couldn't find a source of light anywhere. I began to panic and attempted to feel around my surroundings, but like before...I could not move. 

Again?

Suddenly I heard a loud but quick ringing in my ear that only lasted two seconds. I couldn't move and was paralyzed. The more I moved, the more I struggled to breathe. My body felt warm. Uncomfortably warm. 

And like before...

It stopped.

I sat up quickly and looked around. I took a deep breath. Thank God, I was glad in my bedroom. It was the morning time. 10:36am to be exact. I wasn't sure what had happened and how I ended up in my bed. Did dad carry me?

After brushing my teeth and getting myself together, I went downstairs where I found Kass in the kitchen downstairs. She was sitting on a chair in front of the table smoking a cigarette. I found this very concerning. She never smoked in the house before! And she was definitely not allowed to. She quickly put it out on an ashtray that she had in front of her. 

"You're alive," she said without emotion in her voice. "thank goodness. You were being so weird last night. What happened?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. 

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Did you forget? You fainted, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I said.

She took out a small perfume bottle and began spraying the air around her. I just kept thinking to myself that mom and dad would definitely know. I could still smell it. She looked at me and made a concerning face. "You were looking at something in your window," she said. "what was it?"

I looked at her a shrugged. "I wish I knew. But...I think we should find out who lived here before us."