roommate [shane/ryan]

👻 chapter three 👻

A handful of months had passed since Shane and his mom moved into the new house. The initial fears Shane had cultivated over living in a new town had all but disappeared. All in all, he was actually pretty happy with how things were shaping up so far. He had started school at Clover Valley High School and met an entirely new group of friends, even if he didn't change his wardrobe like he had been itching to upon his arrival. His grades were good, he liked his classes, and he didn't even really mind the homework so far. However, the one thing he couldn't shake was the feeling of intrigue that stemmed from what his mom had told him about the house. It seemed like he couldn't escape it, no matter where he went. 

On his very first day of school, two boys sat down next to him in his English Literature class and introduced themselves. The tall one's name was Keith.  Shane thought that was kind of a weird name but he seemed nice enough, if not a little strange. Fitting, he guessed. Keith's friend's name was Zach. He was significantly smaller in stature than Keith but what he lacked in size, he made up for with entertaining conversation. The three of them were fast friends and got along well until the conversation suddenly began to drag and Keith looked questioningly at Zach, who only shrugged in response.

"So, uh." Keith started, as if he was uncertain about how to phrase whatever was coming next. "We heard you moved into the murder house on Meadowview Circle."

Shane frowned. He didn't want to be the freaky murder house kid. He wanted to make a name for himself, not have his reputation be decided by some old dead guy He just wanted to be Shane. He really didn't want the added bonus of being Freaky Murder House Guy as well.

"I don't know anything about it." he admitted, tapping his pencil on his desk and wishing the topic would just fizzle out and disappear to wherever forgotten conversations go to die.

Zach laughed. "Dude, I hear it's, like, suuuper haunted," Shane felt himself growing irritated at the sound of the boy stretching the vowel. "You've gotta let us sleep over sometime. I want to meet the ghost."

Shane rolled his eyes at the mention of the supposed ghost. "Ghosts aren't even real, dude. Believe me, I would know by now if my house was haunted. I do live there, if you forgot."

"Suit yourself," Keith said, "but I don't believe you, dude Something freaky is going on inside your house and we want to see it for ourselves."

In a moment of what could only be described as sheer shaving grace, the bell rang to dismiss them and Shane felt a wave of relief crash over his body. They could have this conversation another day but right now, Shane was focused on getting to lunch fast enough to get himself some tater tots while they were still hot.

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Later on that night, Shane had assumed his typical browsing position in front of his computer. While his screen was usually occupied by a paper for school or some funny animal video, tonight his curiosity had gotten the best of him. If everyone was going to try and talk to him about this random dead guy, then he figured he might as well know what the hell to actually tell them. However, he quickly realized that he didn't even know where to begin, so his fingers lead the way, typing the search terms he did know before pulling information from those results to find more information. He was going to get to the bottom of this, no matter what.

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Google Search: 1636 Meadowview Circle

The Clover Valley Times
April 29th, 2003

The Bergara family home, located at 1636 Meadowview Circle, will be put up for auction  next Friday. There will be an open house, as well as a rummage sale. The auction will last from 3-6pm.

Google Search: Bergara Murder Clover Valley

The Clover Valley Times
September 16th, 2002

Clover Valley High School student Ryan Bergara, age 17, was found dead in his home last night as a result of an apparent break-in and murder. Ryan was a respected and loved member of the Clover Valley community and was known by others for his excitement about life as well as his involvement at school and in many extracurricular activities. A candlelight vigil will be held this weekend at Conrad Park and funeral services will be announced at a later date.

Google Search: Ryan Bergara Death 2002

The Clover Valley Times
September 30th, 2002

A local man has been taken into police custody in connection to the murder of Ryan Bergara, age 17, this past month. The man, a long time Clover Valley resident, is now being held by the Clover Valley Township police department and will soon face charges of first-degree murder, as well as breaking and entering and burglary, in court.

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Shane sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. A heavy feeling of unrest settled into his chest as he contemplated what he had just read. Knowing that a murder was committed in this house was one thing, but knowing that a kid his age was murdered in this house felt what he assumed going directly from little league teeball to MLB would feel like.

He stared at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity before he reached to turn his computer off. As he clicked on the various windows open on his computer to close out of them before he shut it down entirely, the machine froze on the news page with the dead boy's photo plastered on it. A sudden wave of nausea washed over Shane's body and he felt the goosebumps on his arm begin to rise, a clear sign that the room had rapidly dropped in temperature.

"Mom?" he called, "I think there's something wrong with the heating. It's freezing up here."

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a/n: ooOoOooo spooky ghost happenings !!! hope you guys are liking this so far, i'm very excited to get into it :^)