Killer House // AHS Tate

Chapter 1: So This Is California?

My family was moving. I didn't know the exact reason why but it must've been pretty bad. I figured it probably had to do with what my dad had done. Our family had lived in the same house in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, even before I was born. Nothing seemed to be wrong with the house itself. Maybe our family was the real problem. Dad had been staying out late at night and slipping back in the house around midnight or even later. One night I found Mom sitting on her bed, crying into her palms. Dad was still out wherever he went every night. I should've been asleep already. But I just couldn't. Maybe it was because of us moving so far away. We were moving to California, over 2000 miles away. I had friends here in Rosewood. A boyfriend that I was in love with. He was my first everything. My first kiss. My first time. EVERYTHING. But my opinion didn't matter. We were moving. No matter what I said or wanted to do. I guess you could say, it was against my will. I had no choice but to leave the place I loved, the only place I knew as home.

We arrived in California shortly after boarding the plane. Or so it seemed. Mom said that the house was only a few blocks out of town so it would only take about thirty minutes to get there. When we arrived at our new house, there was something about it. Something strange. I felt the need to run away. Like this house was telling me to leave now or something bad was going to happen. And a lot of other bad things had already happened here. Horrible things.

"Allie, we're here," my mother cooed from the front seat. "Isn't it beautiful? An old antique of a house. A fresh start. Just what we all need."

My dad, who was just as excited as I was about our fresh start, let out a long and depressing sigh. I followed his sigh with a whale blow of my own which made my mom snap. She was going to make us love this house. If it was the last thing she did. "Listen here, we're gonna start over. It's a fresh start for all of us. And you're gonna like it. Understood?" She pushed open her door.

As I stepped out of our car, I felt as though hundreds of eyes fell on me. From inside the house that we were to call our new home.

"I thought California was supposed to be high class and fancy, not ugly and old," I mumbled under my breath.

My dad had apparently heard my comment about the house and rolled his eyes. He motioned for me to come to the trunk of our car and help him get the boxes inside. I grabbed two small boxes from my room and walked up the stairs to our front porch.

Just as I was about to open the door, I felt a set of eyes on me and turned around. There in the yard was a ragged looking teenage boy with sloppy, dirty blonde hair and a mischievous smile across his face. I jumped, startled that someone had been standing behind me. Watching me. Had he been there the whole time or did he just appear? Snapping back to reality, I let myself smile at this strange boy. Who knew? Maybe he would be my first friend here.

"Hey," I called out to him. "I'm Alison, you are?"

"Hi," he called back from his spot on the lawn. "My name's Tate. I'm your new neighbor," he said, pointing to the smaller house next door. "My mom sent me over to see if you needed help moving in."

Just as I was about to answer him, my mother opened the front door and stuck her head out. "Alison dear, go get the other boxes and just set them on the porch. Then we can take them all up at the same time. Organize them into piles of where they go." She glanced up and noticed Tate standing now closer to the porch. She glanced at me with a smile on her face. Placing her hand on her chest, she said to him, "And who might you be sweetheart?" Then she turned to me and mouthed, "Wow, he's cute."

"Mom, this is Tate, our new neighbor," I said to my mother, rolling my eyes at how fast her attitude changed as soon as she saw him. "Tate, this is my mother. Anastasia Garner." Mom stuck out her hand to Tate and he shook it.