Two

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SATURDAY, JUNE 01, 2013

1:13 P.M.

“There,” Tom said, putting the last piece of furniture into place. “That didn’t take long, surprisingly!”

“Yeah,” Nathan said, looking around. Although the place looked homey now, he was still unsure of it.

“Hey, can you go to check if I packed any beer? I could use some right now,” Tom said. Nathan shook his head.

“Nope, you need to drive later and I’m not risking you getting into a crash, Tom. How about tea instead?”

“Aww,” Tom whined, “Can you at least check?”

“Tea it is!” Nathan ignored a now annoyed Tom and went into the kitchen. He looked around and smiled lightly to himself. It seemed cozy enough…

Nathan walked over to the fridge and took out the milk and set up the kettle. As his back was turned to the door, he felt a cold breeze. He looked behind him to find nothing there. Nathan just shrugged it off, thinking that Tom was probably playing a joke on him or that it was just the breeze from outside.

Continuing with what he was doing before, Nathan turned on the knob on the sink, only to find that there was no water flow.

“Tom?” Nathan shouted from the kitchen.

“Yeah, Nath?” Tom shouted back.

“Come here!” He said.

Tom got up from the sofa and went into the kitchen. He walked over to Nathan. “What is it?”

“Tom, there’s no water…” Nathan said.

“Oh… Uh, when I was looking at the house, they said that you’d need to go out back every now and then to check on the pipes.” He said.

Nathan groaned and glared at him. “Great, so now I might not have any water to shower or brush my teeth tonight!”

“No, no… Look, we’ll check on them now, alright? C’mon.”

Once Tom’s back was turned to Nathan, Nathan stuck his tongue out at Tom and mocked him silently. He stopped immediately once Tom turned around.

“You coming?” He asked. Nathan nodded. He rolled his eyes when Tom’s back was to him once again and followed him out into the back.

Nathan was amazed once they walked outside. The backyard was filled with such beautiful flowers. It had the greenest grass he’s ever seen and even a gazebo in the middle! Nathan looked around in awe at the sight as he followed Tom. It sure was a nice garden for a house that hasn’t been lived in!

“How is this garden so nice? I mean, there hasn’t been anyone here to take care of it!” Nathan said.

Tom shrugged, “Dunno. Maybe the sellers take care of it?”

“Hmm,” Nathan said to himself.

At last, they both managed to find where the pipes were located; deep into the backyard.

“Well, here they are!” Tom said. He scratched his head. “Now, the sellers said something about a certain something switching itself off once in a while…”

Nathan looked around nervously as Tom tried to find the switch. This part of the backyard was more creepy. The flowers were dead and it was dark and muggy…  

“Pssst,”

Nathan snapped his head from left to right. His heart sped up and his breathing started to quicken. “T-Tom?” He said, his voice shaky.

“What?” He asked. Tom was still trying to find the switch.

“D-did you hear that?”

Tom stood up and turned around to look at Nathan. He raised an eyebrow, “Hear what?”

“I… I heard like a, ‘pssst’ sound… Like, from a distance…”

Tom rolled his eyes, “It’s probably just the wind, Nath.” Tom then went back to finding the switch.

“Heh, yeah… Just the wind…” Nathan said. “Are you almost done?” He said to Tom.

“Pfft, you try finding a switch in the dark! Oh, here, I found it.” Tom flipped the switch and once again faced Nathan. “There, your water should be back on now,” He said.

“Oh, thanks…” Nathan said. “Now let’s get out of here, I’m really creeped out.” Nathan started to walk ahead quickly.

“Baby,” Tom mumbled to himself. Nathan didn’t hear and continued walking. He walked so fast that he was already almost at the back door. “Will ya wait up?!” Tom shouted and started to jog to catch up to him.

Nathan entered the house, still freaked out about what happened in the back. Maybe it was just the wind like Tom said. It’s kind of breezy today anyway… Nathan thought. Soon after, Tom entered the house.

“Well? Does it work?” He asked.

“Oh, I didn’t check yet.” Nathan said. He turned on the faucet and slowly but surely, the water came out. Nathan made a disgusting face of how dirty the water was. “Ewww,” He said.

“It’ll clear after a few times you use the sink… Remember, the house is old, Nath.” Tom said.

“Yeah, I can tell,” Nathan mumbled under his breath. Now he feels that he shouldn’t have taken Tom’s offer on the house when Tom first told him. But Nathan would just feel bad if he declined because it would’ve been a waste of money.  

“Look, it’s starting to clear already!” Tom said. Nathan sighed and waited for the water to clear completely before filling the kettle up. He put it to boil and walked back into the living room, Tom following behind him.

“So, whaddya think?” Tom asked.

“It’s-” Tom cut Nathan off.

“Wait, don’t answer that, you still need to see the upstairs!” Tom grabbed Nathan’s arm and dragged him upstairs. Nathan kept quiet. “So this here is the bathroom,” Tom said, opening the door to the bathroom. It was quite small, but not too small. Tom dragged Nathan to another room. “This here can be a guest bedroom or any kind of room, it doesn’t matter.” Pretty much an empty room. It was really dusty, though. “And this is your room!” Tom opened the door. Inside there was an already made bed, a mirror, nightstand, even a balcony! Nathan was amazed.

“Wow, Tom, this is amazing.” He said. Despite everything else in the house, this was probably his favorite room.  

“Ooh, and I have to show you the attic too! It’s right behind that door.” Tom pointed to an old, paint chipped door. Nathan gulped. He has always been afraid of attics since he was a kid.

“Maybe later, Tom… The water should be boiling in the kettle now…” Nathan trailed off.

Tom nodded. “Well, just let me know whenever you’re not feeling scared anymore,” Tom said, chuckling. Nathan frowned.

“I’m not scared! I… The kettle!”

“Yeah, okay, Nath. I’ll believe that when pigs fly.”

“Ugh! Let’s just go back downstairs.” Nathan huffed and pushed past a still chuckling Tom. Tom followed after him.

“Aw, c’mon, Nath! Don’t be mad! Okay, I admit that it looks creepy! We don’t have to look at it if you don’t want to.”

Nathan sighed for the millionth time today. “Whatever, Tom.”

Tom frowned, “Look, this house may be weird and old, but once you settle in, I’m sure you’ll start to like it.” He reassured.

Nathan smiled weakly at him. He got two cups out of the cupboard and set them onto the counter. He turned his back to it to get the kettle. But when Nathan turned back around, he was appalled. Both cups had been flipped upside down…

But again, Nathan brushed it off, thinking that Tom was playing tricks on him. “Not falling for it, Parker.” Nathan said to himself.

But it wasn’t Tom who did it… Or was it?

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