Shadowood- H.S

twelve |12|

Songs of the chapter-
Sleep- OneRepublic
Arsonists Lullaby- Hozier

***
The first thing I do when I get back home is run the shower water and take a quick shower. I wash my hair and thoroughly wash my skin all over, making sure to rid myself of the creek water from earlier. My heart still seems to beat a bit faster than usual, thinking back to the shadowy figure I thought I saw in Shadowood.

After my shower, I take a basket of dirty clothes down to the basement to do some laundry. The air in there is colder because there are no vents to let the heat in, so I wrap a soft robe around my body.

I slip on some fuzzy slippers and open the door to the basement, seeing as my breath wisps puffs of white air out all around me as I walk down the concrete steps.

The small bulb attached to the ceiling flickers on and off as I set my hamper on the ground next to the washing machine. I pull Harry's large jacket out of the hamper and stuff it into the tiny washing machine. I'd rather not give him back his jacket smelling like stale water.

As I pour some soap into the machine and turn it on, the light in the basement buzzes one last time before shutting off completely.

I sit still a moment, waiting for the light to come back on like usual, but it doesn't. The washing machine is still running which means it isn't the power, but just the ancient light bulb that we've had for as long as I can remember.

Leaving the laundry hamper on the ground, I feel my way back up to the stairs and to the exit, leaving the basement. When I step back into the house, the warmth takes me off guard.

I find Brandon sitting on the couch in the living room once I take my slippers off. "Where are mom and dad?" I ask.

"They're at that work dinner party thing." His eyes stayed glued to the television. He's watching some documentary which I can't quite tell what's about.

"Oh yeah," I say, then scan the fridge. "Did mom make dinner or anything?"

"No, she left us thirty dollars for food though," he tells me.

"Well that's kind of pointless since neither of us have our license to drive to the town square and get something to eat."

Brandon sits up from the couch and grins at me mischievously, a grin that always seems to appear on his face whenever he's up to no good. "What?" I sigh.

"Mom and dad won't be home for another few hours, it's not like they would know if we were  to-"

"Take the car? No," I say. "Not even going to risk something like that. They'd probably ground you till you graduate and kick me out of the house."

Brandon pouts and crosses his arms like a five year old. "You're no fun, Mel."

"Yeah, well I may be no fun, but at least I'm safe."

"Yeah, safe is what you are," he says, putting emphasis on the word safe.

I give him a look and watch as he averts his eyes. "What are you implying?"

"Well, Shadowood isn't really a safe place to take a hike in, I mean I doubt mom would be okay with you going in there with some strange dude, right after someone was murdered in this town," he says, a small smile creeping on his face.

My breath hitches and I narrow my eyes at him, taking a step closer. "How do you know I went into Shadowood?" I ask as I lower my voice as if someone's listening to our conversation.

His eyes widen and his smile grows. "So it's true!"

"Shit," I mumble under my breath. "You're devious you know that?"