Look out for the <>!

I took a turn into a long dirt driveway and followed it past a forest to a big dark stone house in a foggy valley. The sun was completely gone now and it had such an creepy look to it. This place was never cheerful when I came to visit, although Nan said it was a beautiful place to see when the sun did come out. I however never had patience to wait for that to happen. I guess I would never know now.

I pulled over to the side of the driveway, close to the house and woke up John who had dozed asleep. "We're here," I said as I put on my jacket and stepped out into the cold air.

"This is it?" John said as he got out of the car with a yawn. He looked like he was half asleep still.

I looked at the entry way of the house that had a huge coat of arms above the door. I wouldn't mistake this place. "Yes."

"It's beautiful."

That was normally not the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this place. "Thanks," I said and shrugged as I pulled out a heavy bronze key that I had in my pocket. I put it into the key hole and turned the knob.

The door creaked as I opened it and when I walked in I saw all the furniture covered up with white sheets. It looked dead and haunted, just as I left it last time. The smell of must filled my noise, flooding my mind with old memories of this place. Nan always tried to make this place more welcoming for me. We played games and told stories, but without Nan here, this place was nothing more then a pile of stones.

"Maire?" a voice asked, coming out of the shadows was a older man with a graying hair. He had a beer gut from all his drinking habits from the war and had smile wrinkles from lots of laughs. He had this friendly grandpa look to him. He hadn't changed at all in the last 3 years that I had seen him.

"Hello Trevor," I said politely to him with a smile. "It's been a long time."

"Yeah it has," he said and smiled at me brightly. "So you need help? Didn't think I would see this coming from you of all people." He chuckled at me as he took my bag then started to walk up the old wooden stairs. I knew that is where he kept his guns in one of the spare rooms. I started to follow him with John on my heels.

"Are you going to keep on being rude or are you going to introduce me to your friend?" Trevor said as we walked up the stairs.

I smiled at him. He was always such a character. Trevor practically raised me when I visited this place with Nan and he probably knew me just as well as Nan. He was just as a part of my family as Nan was. "This is John Watson," I said and I gestured to John.

"Hello," John said and smiled politely.

"Nice to meet you," he said once we reached the top of the stairs and gave him a firm hand shake. "Army?"

"Yes," John said with surprise evident in his voice.

Just before John had time to ask how he knew Trevor replied saying, "That's a good strong confident hands shake. I may not be as observant as Maire over here but I do know an army hand shake when I see one."

We walked through halls in silence then stopped in one of the back rooms. "I sold most of your granddad's guns when your grandmother died sadly. We still have about five more left," he said as he pulled open the gun closet to reveal five old hunting guns. "They're a bit old but they'll do."

"They will do just fine," I said and took out one of them and pumped it once. 

"The moon is bright outside, want to shoot a few rounds before we call it a night?" Trevor asked me.

I nodded at him then turned to John who looked like he wanted to go back to sleep again. "You can sleep in this room if you want John."

<>

He nodded at me as I walked out of the room with Trevor. Together, Trevor and I walked out into the yard. He rummaged through the trash and pulled out a few tin cans. "We can use these."

As soon as the cans were set and Trevor was out of the way, I positioned myself to take a shot.

"So do you want to tell me who we're expecting?" Trevor asked as I fired one of the guns at a tin can, causing it to be shot up into the air and fall back down with a clink.  My aim had gotten better.

"The woman is named Alice parish. She killed Nan and now I am going to stop her. But I don't know how many people she will be bringing with her. All I know is I need to be prepared," I said as I pumped the gun again and aimed for another can.

"You were always one for plans," Trevor said and looked at the house with a frown.

I knew what he was thinking about by his shoulders being slightly forward as he shifted weight from his right foot to his left. He didn't want to leave this house and use it as bait. He knew well from war that this house was going to be destroyed soon enough. "It's time to let it go." I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He was going to miss this house more than I was. This is where he fell in love with Nan. He probably had such found memories here, after all he had been the care taker for over 30 years.

"I know."

"This person, Alice Parish, she's killing innocent people. Nan wasn't the first one to go. This place is so far away from everything, it safe to do whatever we want. I don't have to worry about neighbors or anything like that," I said as a gush of wind whipped my curly hair around my face. It was much colder here than it was in London. I should have dressed warmer.

He looked up at the sky with a frown. "We best be going inside, a storm is coming." Trevor pulled his hat down and started walking to the house.

I looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds moving in, blocking the only light that the moon was giving. I sighed and turned back to the cans just in time to shoot the last tin. It clinked to the ground, happy with the shot, I followed him. I looked at my new burner phone and saw that it was about nine in the evening. We had probably about 18 hours to get everything together before she came.

I was surprised to see John not in his room when I walked in. Instead he was in the family room with a hand full of metal things around him. "What do you have John?" I asked as I walked into the family room where John was sitting on the floor.

"This," he said and handed me a finished small hand bomb. It was crudely made but I had a feeling that it worked all the same.

"Let me help," I said as I put the gun against the wall, I then sat by John.

For the next three hours we worked on setting up traps, bombs and things that would slow down the army that was coming.

At about midnight I put the last bomb under a loose floor board. Sweaty and tired I then walked up stairs to where we kept the bedding. I pulled out a couple blankets for John and I for tonight. I then walked into one of the bed rooms where John was at and said, "take this, it gets cold at nights."

"Thanks."

"Sure. We have a big day tomorrow so rest up."

I started to walk away until John spoke. "This place is really lovely."

I sighed and looked around that the room we where in. It was dark and old with barely any furniture in it except a four poster bed. I was never sure how he could be so positive all the time. I never saw it the way he did. "This place gives me  the creeps."

"Is it because of the house or the memories that you had here?"

I paused to think about it. The house was really cool with all its secret rooms. But the memories I had here weren't always the best, with my granddad dying of an over dose and my mum was always drunk here. I knew the answer to his question but I didn't want to share because he would want to know details that I didn't want to spill. Yes I had a sucky childhood but I didn't want his pity. I just merely sighed and said, "goodnight John."

"Goodnight Rori," he said as I walked out of the bedroom he was staying in.

Hope everyone enjoyed this one! will Rori ever get better at talking to people? I guess you'll have to wait. ;) so this story is starting to come to a close but I'm thinking about writing a couple chapters as and epilog of sorts... just to show how everything plays out and what happens to everyone. does that sound good to you guys? I want to hear what you think!

well enjoy this lovely Saturday, I know I will! :)

Darla H