A Place Called Home

Chapter 12

I was woken up by the rapid inhales and exhales of air against my face, the sweet fragrance of someone's perfume. Slowly I raised my eyelids, my vision was blurry at first but became clearer as I blinked repeatedly, I could see  beautiful brown eyes staring down at me, a handsome face, with a nose that had a gentle slope, eyebrows with little knots in them, pink full lips with the corners twitched into a gentle smile, shaggy bangs if brown hair falling freely over his face, brown hair........ wait.................
" lucas?" I breathed
" Hey " He said smiling, his voice was nothing but a whisper, his face was only a few inches away from mine, he was seated at the edge of my bed, his body hovering over mine, he leaned in closer to me and that was when I became fully aware of what was going on.
" Lucas! What the hell!" I said jumping out of bed, my hands swung in the air and hit lucas right across the face.
"Ouch! " He said getting up
"What the hell are you doing in my room?" I yelled
" Anna told me to wake you up" He said using his hands to cover his left eye.
" I'm pretty sure that's not how you wake people up" I said
" so you would have preferred of I yelled your name, splashed water on your face, slapped you and hit you till you woke up" He said, his hands still on his left eye.
" anything that you creeping me out like that" I said
" You're impossible" He scoffed and headed for the door
" get dressed, we're all going out" He said and slammed the door behind him.

What the hell just happened

I took a shower and changed into a black denim Jean and a grey shirt then I headed downstairs, everyone was downstairs, waiting patiently for me to come down.
I walked over to where Anna was seated and hugged her tightly.
" where are we going?" I asked
" to see an old friend of mine" Anna said getting up. I said nothing but followed her outside the door. We got into Shawn's car and I wat in silence beside Anna as Shawn drove with Lucas in the passengers seat.
It was dead silent in the car, no one said anything, I stared at licas through the rear view mirror, his left eye was slightly bruised with a faint shade of purple. He caught me staring at him, I expected him to say something but he simply rolled his eyes and looked away.
Shawn stopped at the front of an old looking house. He parked the car in the only parking space that was there.
" we're here mom" Shawn said killing the engine
"Oh it's older than I last remember" Anna said
We all got out of the car, and walked down the brick road, old leaves crunching beneath our feet. The house was really old, paints were peeling from the side of the walls, the potted flowers were growing wild out of their pots, their roots breaking the pot. Somewhere in a distance a dog barked, I couldn't tell if the dog was in the house or not, but it seemed really close. Anna knocked on the door, no reply , she waited before knocking again, still no reply.
" are we sure they're home?" Shawn asked
" she said she would be home " Anna said not to sure of what she was saying.
She knocked again and this time it was followed by a crashing noise from inside the house then a high pitched " coming! ".
A few minutes later the door swung open, a woman in her mid forties was standing there smiling at us, her hair was dark and so were her eyes, her skin was pale and beautiful, though wrinkles began to appear on her skin she still looked beautiful.
" Anna, it's been ages" she said hugging Anna. " I heard what happened and I'm so sorry " she added.
" it's fine, these are my children, you remember Shawn, and MJ and this is Lucas, my friends son, he's spending the holiday with us" Anna said
" oh nice to meet you, you're all really beautiful" She said
" my name is Grace but your mom calls me Gracey...... you can call me whatever you like" .
She showed us inside her house.
We followed her along the lilac wallpapered hallway to the front parlour, the living roomwas huge, gloomy and really beautiful, it looked nothing like the outside,it had sn impossible high ceiling and heavy brown drapes, with a darkly polished hard wood floor and beautiful furniture.
" please sit" Gracey said
Shawn sat beside Anna and I sat beside Lucas.
" do you live alone?" I blurted out
Gracey smiled at me and said " no dear, I have my nice with me, after my husband died and all my children grew up, It was getting really lonely in these empty halls, I guess Tessa noticed how lonely I was and she decided to stay with me''
" I'm sorry, sorry again but how old are you?, I don't mean to sound rude or anything but you said after all your kids grew up and you kinda look forty to me " I said
Gracey laughed a bit and Anna joined her, it was the first time Anna had laughed since Fred died.
" yeah, I'm not forty, im actually turning 58 this year  " Gracey said
" wow that's shocking" I muttered
" you niece, Tessa, is she home?" Shawn asked
" Tessa! Come down we have visitors" Gracey yelled atntge top of her voice.
I heard hurried footsteps coming down the stairs. Intirned my head to see a young beautiful lady coming towage living room, she had dark hair like Gracey's but her eyes were brown, light brown like the color of capachino.
She wore a tight dress that revealed her curves and her breasts, her skin was also pale, she was simply beautiful.
" Aunty, you didn't tell me we were going to have visitors, I would have made snacks" she said smiling.
" it must have slipped my mind"
Tessa turned to face us all
" oh my Gosh Aunty Anna, it's been soo long " Tessa said walking over to where Anna was seated and hugging her.
" Tessa!, look at you you've grown" Anna said
Tessa turned her head towards Shawn's direction
" oh my gosh, domt tell me this is Shawn!"
" Shawn you remember Tessa?" Anna asked him
"Not really, she's changed so much I hardly know its her"
" well its me and lok at you you're a big guy now" Tessa said hugging him.
" and gigs is MJ and that's Lucas" Anna said again
"Nice to meet you" she said hugging us both.
Then she sat down beside Shawn.
" so Anna, what is the matter? " Gracey said
Anna sat up straight in the sofa and faced Gracey
" I know you know about how my husband was murdered and how three other men were murdered alongside with him in the same manner" she started, Gracey nodded her head slowly " Well, I don't want to think this but it keeps crossing my mind" she stopped
" Go on " Gracey nudged her to continue
" I think these killings have a purpose, I domt think this is a revenge killings or whatsoever, I think it is like a sacrifice or a ritual, look I've gnought deeply about these things before coming to you and I don't see a way that these killings could be ordinary and I know you once studied the world of the supernatural, you nnow these things, you know their logics and all that stuff, please Gracey I really need your help, this isn't just about my husband, its about other lives too, I domt know why but I feel that Fred's murder is about to strike again...... really soon"
Gracey took a deep breath and was silent for a moment.
" Children please excuse us" Gracey said taking Anna's hand and together they disappeared down the long hallway.
There was silence
" MJ, how old are you?" Tessa asked me
" I'm seventeen, eighteen next year" I said
" that's cool and you Lucas? She asked"
" eighteen " He said plainly, he's been od,y quiet ever since the incident that happened in the morning. Maybe I should apologise I mused.
" I'm 20, this year and I'm in college already and............." she went on and on and on about herself I totally opted out of whatever she was saying, the  I heard Shawn say something and then she and Shawn started talking and laughing and flirting with each other and it was so disgustingly cute.
I stated at lucas, his phone e was in his hand, he was probably texting or something.
" hey, you okay ?" I asked
" you should know after you punched me in the eye" He said rolling his eyes
" it was an accident " I said
" yeah it was " He said in a mocking tone
" I dkmt really get what the big deal is about, it's just a little bruise you know "
He turned to face me now, his eyes locking with mine. He wanted to say something but then he stopped.
" you know what, it's fine " He said instead.
I shrugged and stared back at Tessa and Shawn. They were deeply in a conversation, Tessa's body was slightly to,Ted towards Shawn, I stared at her and admired such beauty, there was something about her and I don't know what it was, something strange but not evil, her aura was different and she seemed to pale, paler than normal, I just coukdnt take my eyes of her, she's the kind of girl you cant help but look at twice or thrice.
I wondered where Anna and Gracey could have gone and what they were saying, I also wondered what Anna meant when  she said that the killings were beyond ordinary and also what she meant by Gracey studying the world of the supernatural.
I was starting to get a strange feeling about Gracey and Tessa and I didn't like it.