utopia ᵃᵐᵉʳⁱᶜᵃⁿ ʰᵒʳʳᵒʳ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ

[ 01 ] the new house is totally creepy

Soon the hallway became the kitchen.

"Do you cook?"

"Viv is a great cook. I got her cooking lessons a few years ago, and she ended up teaching the teacher a few things." Ben said, grinning at the memory, his voice filled with some sort of pride.

"Like a good housewife."

"Cooking lessons, romantic." Marcy commented, nodding as her eyes glanced between the couple, sensing some sort of tension. "Aren't you a psychologist?" She asked, quickly changing the topic.

"Psychiatrist." Ben corrected. "You said something on the phone about there being a study that I could use as a home office? I'm planning on seeing patients here, so I can spend more time with the family."

Vivien placed down the dog — to which the dog ran away, out the kitchen and away yapping.

"How refreshing."

Vivien turned to her children. "Violet, Victor, loves, would one of you go see where Hayley went? Thank you."

The siblings looked at one another, before glancing at the kitchen door.

"Race you!" The two shouted, running to the door and pushing one another.

The two made their way to their mother's dog, Victor having won with a smug look.

"What are you yapping at?" Victor asked. He picked up the dog and placed her into his sister's arms — simply to avoid getting dog hairs on his white t-shirt, which had been paired with one of his many black distressed jeans and black leather jacket and his favourite docs.

Victor was allergic to dogs, yet he tended to ignore this fact and pick up and play with Hayley.

Hayley fell silent in the girl's arms as Violet held her, allowing the dog to rest her head on the human's shoulder.

"What do you reckon the door is for?" Violet questioned.

"It's where I'm gonna stash your body." Victor told her, his voice completely and utterly serious as they stared at the door, expecting it to open all by itself.

"Hilarious."

"I thought so too." He nodded, wrapping hands around the door handle before trying to open the door. The door didn't budge, making Violet snort. "Shut up."

It took a small while of many failed attempts and a stumble, but the door eventually opened.

He held the door open and gestured for Violet to step in. She gave him a sceptical look. "If you push me, I'll kill you."

"You'd probably die upon impact, or at least be knocked out, so I don't think you will." He said, gesturing for her to walk.

"Reckon there's a body?"

"Oh, totally." Victor said as the siblings walked down the stairs. "Yours."

Violet glanced over the edge of the handrail, looking at the dim room to see why the dog in arms had been barking.

Victor grinned, stepping to his sister. "Boo!" He shouted down her ear.

Violet jumped in panic, stumbling back and nearly falling down the stairs.

Victor grabbed her arms, laughing loudly at her reaction.

"You dick!" Violet snapped, slapping his arm as she pulled her arms out of his hands.

Victor sat on the stone steps, trying to catch his breath. "Priceless." He grinned. "I fucking love you, Lottie McSnotty."

"Well, I fucking hate you, Tory McSnory."

Violet waited for her brother to stop laughing. Upon Victor calming down, the siblings were able to leave the basement.

Violet placed the dog down, harshly pulling the door to a shut, with that the siblings went to find their parents and Marcy, Hayley followed behind.

"This wallpaper is peeling over here. Looks like maybe there's a mural underneath it." Vivien took notice, her fingers playing with the peeling material.

The siblings looked at the material and then at each other.

"The last owners probably covered it up. They were modernists." The woman quickly covered. Vivien took her hands from the paper. "Speaking of the last owners, full disclosure requires that I tell you about what happened to them."

Violet and Victor looked at each other, peaked interested at what the possible past of the house was.

"The plot thickens." Victor whispered into his sister's ears. Violet snickered, nudging him to shut up.

"Oh, God, they didn't die in here or anything, did they?" Vivien asked, taking steps to stand by her husband.

"Yes, actually, all three of them." Marcy said, her voice a bit too joyful. "Murder-suicide. I sold them the house, too. They were just the sweetest couple, and their niece. You never know, I guess."

"That explains why it's half the price of every other house in the neighbourhood, I guess."

Victor pulled a face, looking around the room in a fast and dramatic way. "And that didn't raise any red flags?" He questioned under his breath.

"I do have a very nice mid-century ranch, but it's in the Valley, and you're going to get a third of the house for twice the price."

"Bargain." Violet whispered to her brother.

"Right? I was totally thinking that."

"Where did it happen?" Violet questioned.

Marcy turned to look at the teens. "The basement."

"We'll take it." The teenagers said at once, turning to each other and high-fiving.

The parents and Marcy looked at the teenagers. None of them had expected them to agree to live here so quickly and happily.