Rapid footsteps.
Shallow breaths.
Quick glances behind.
Crazy ghost chasing after him.

***

A moving truck stopped in the front of a house. The house looked Victorian with its tall and lavish exterior. It's a pretty house and one that a rich man might buy, though it was sold for cheap.

A guy hopped out of the large vehicle, a chuckle softly coming from his lips. He had light brown hair and occasion skin. His ocean blue eyes reflected the sun before he covered them with a hand and started upon the house he was going to soon call home. He sighed a breath of relief and walked the short way to the end of the moving van when he got a phone call.

His eyes widen in the preparedness and the phone is almost like a goldfish as it slipped from his hands and into the air. Jack caught it pancake style with his arms straight and knees bent. He froze a few moments before he snapped into a straight standing pose and accepted the call putting in by his ear.

"Hello," he said already knowing who the other person is before hearing her voice.

"Jackson, dear, where are you?"

Jack sighed, not bothering to look around the street as it is mostly empty. "Mom, I think you're at the wrong address." The lady on the other end chuckled a bit which makes a soft smile formed on Jack's face. "I'll send you the address again, and if you cannot find me in time. I'll go find you before I bring the truck back."

"Okay," the lady in her fifties said. "I'll get Ronald to with the GPS and we will hopefully find your place. These plants won't their themselves you know." Jack's mother yelled to her husband the address and then said, "Ba-bye!"

"Goodbye," Jack said after his mother has already hung up.

Jack grunted out a note of laughter as he put his phone back into his pocket and undid the latch of the moving van. Jack struggled a bit with pulling and pushing the handle to open the large door, but he managed and revealed the intricately packed interior.

His eyes scanned the multiple items and pieces of furniture in the van and he ultimately felt dejected by it. His lungs deflated as he sighed again. "Maybe I'll wait until Mom and Dad come here with the plants," Jack mumbled to himself. He looked around himself and when he finds no one watching him, he walks to his new house.

Around the house were trees as he lived near the forest. They were tall and a lot of them; good for hiding things. The reason why he got it for such a cheap price is that someone had died in the house and the home had been claimed to be haunted by a vengeful ghost who had managed to harm all the past homeowners. Jack's parents had read that plants would help with keeping ghosts away so that's why they were bringing them. Jack didn't really care; he just wanted a new life from his past.

As his hand reached for the door's handle to unlock it, the front door creaks open. One of Jack's eyebrows raises in surprise, but he quickly reasons it away. Maybe I forgot to lock it after the checkers came in. How many were there; two, three, or four?

Walking through the hall and going right into the dining. It is empty, but he doesn't feel alone. He doesn't know if he likes the feeling because is it a good thing to feel like you're not alone? If someone was exclusive then maybe the feeling of not being alone would be a good thing. Jack smiles as he conjures his walk through the house.

On the first floor, there were a hall, a dining room, a kitchen, a parlor, and two stairs cases; one was in the hall, and the other was in the kitchen. The one in the Lichtenstein also went downstairs to a basement or cellar type thing, but that part was boarded off. Outside there was the veranda which he walked through to end the house and out the back was a small porch.

Upstairs were the bedrooms (or chambers as they called them in the Victorian era) and the only bathroom was in the house. There are three bedrooms in total. One was connected to the bathroom, but it was only the second biggest out of the three. The biggest one came with a bed from the Victorian period which no one seemed to remove for some reason. Jack didn't know what he would do with the bed. Would he remove it or keep it like everyone before him?

He hadn't decided yet. He also had yet to decide which bedroom he would rest his head in at night. He already decided that he didn't want the smallest bedroom. He would make that into an office or something. Whatever room that he didn't choose as his own he would make into a guest bedroom for his parents.

He walked into the bedroom when he felt the presence stronger. It was the biggest bedroom in the house and this had a bed inside of it. Jack walked towards the bed, its bed frame thin like bones. It looked the sort of like a crib or a jail cell for a teenager. It was a twin or full-sized bed.

Jack looked up at a sudden sound and watched as the lightbulb sparked to life illuminating the square room. Jack hummed, "They must have turned on the electricity." Everything had a logical reason behind it. Even though sometimes people don't or won't believe it; it always has a reason.

Jack went to the light switch by the door and turned it off before he exited the bedroom. He crossed the hallway to the other one. The realtor—who was a friend of his mother—had said that this was the master bedroom. Probably because it connects to the bathroom.

Jack opened the door to the congruent room and it revealed an open window. Jack didn't remember opening any windows, but he once again assumed that one of the inspectors left them open. "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on me."

"Fool you twice, blame the ghost."

Jackson's eyes widened as the sheet in the bathtub rose and lifted covering someone or something.

.~👻~.

Shalom Seedlings!
Welcome to another one of my books. If you don't already know, I like to ask you guys questions about the chapter after every chapter. Now that that is one out the way...

What do you know about the Victorian time period?
Personally, I know only a few things about it. They were big dresses, had interesting slang, and the mortality rate in Britain was high.
So, what do you know? I'd love to learn new things!