Welcome To Dreadwood

New Neighbour

"As the tour guide of this town, I ask you, officer, to check out the old mansion," said Jessie.

"Fine, I'll check it out right now," answered Kim.

"Thank you, officer," said Jessie.

Kim got out of her office, left the police station, and got into her car. She headed towards the old mansion, which had been abandoned for a long time. Jessie believed there was something in the place.

Arriving at the mansion, Kim entered without knocking. There was no need when no one lived there. Stepping inside, a black cat sprinted across the hallway, startling her.

"Hello, is anyone here?" asked Kim. "I'm Officer Kim. If anyone is here, please show yourself."

Kim looked up the staircase to the top of the first flight of stairs. There, at the top of the stairs, stood a woman.

"You know it's rude to enter a house without knocking first," said the woman.

"I wasn't expecting to find anyone here," said Kim. "This house is abandoned."

"I live here," said the woman.

"That can't be possible," said Kim. "No one has been living in this place for a long time."

"I've recently inherited the place," said the woman. "Name's Cassie."

"Officer Kim," said Kim. "May I see your papers for owning this place?"

"Of course," said Cassie. "Just give me a moment to find the papers. Why don't you make yourself comfortable in the kitchen."

Cassie disappeared upstairs, while Kim headed over to the kitchen. As Kim passed each room on the way to the kitchen, she noticed multiple large moving boxes in each room. Cassie must have moved to the place recently and not had a lot of time to unpack the boxes.

Kim arrived at the kitchen to find the black cat sitting on the kitchen table. The cat stared at Kim as if it were looking into her soul.

"That's Kitty," said a voice from behind.

Kim was startled. She slowly turned around to find Cassie at the entrance to the kitchen. Cassie came inside and took a seat in a chair at the kitchen table.

"Here are the papers you requested to see," said Cassie as she handed the papers to Kim.

Kim took the papers and reviewed them; they were the official documents confirming Cassie's inheritance of the house.

"How did you come to inherit this place?" asked Kim.

"Like everyone else does," replied Cassie. "A relative left it to me in their will."

"You must have been close to this relative," said Kim.

"Never knew this relative of mine," said Cassie. "I still accepted the place. It's nice to have somewhere to call home."

"You didn't have a home before?" asked Kim.
"I moved around a lot as a kid. My parents were diplomats," said Cassie.

"It must have been hard moving around," said Kim.

"It was, but I got to see the world," said Cassie.

"Do you intend to stay in this town for long?" asked Kim.

"Forever. I would like to open up my own business too," said Cassie.

"I am sorry about barging into your house," said Kim.

"It's okay; no one was expecting someone to be living here," said Cassie. "I'll have this place looking like a proper home in no time. Tea?"

"I should be going back to work," said Kim as she got up and started walking out of the kitchen.

"It was nice meeting you, officer," said Cassie. "My door is always open for you."

"It was nice meeting you, and thank you for the offer," said Kim. "I'll see you around."

"Bye," said Cassie as she closed the main entrance door.