Read No Evil: Anthology of Terror

The Girl in the Window

I set my lunch tray down at the table with the group of girls I'm kind of on the fringes of. They let me eat lunch with them, but they never invite me to do anything outside of school. They all dress like they shop at L.L.Bean and they all have long hair, mostly in ponytails. Three of them are cheerleaders. But one of them, Brianna, plays volleyball, which is how I ended up invited to sit here. Also, Jenny, the girl who seems to be the leader, actually thinks my hair is kind of cool.

"So, do you guys know anything about the Rose House? On Shady Lane?

"Everybody knows about that place," Jenny says.

Sophie lowers her voice. "Someone died there."

"No, no," Brianna says, "a girl went missing after a party at that house back in, like, the 1980's."

"She didn't just go missing," Chelsea says. She's one of the cheerleaders. Blond and tiny, she's always the one they toss up in the air for their stunts. "Someone killed her."

Jenny shrugs. "I heard they found her in the basement." She pauses. "And nobody will buy the house because it's bad luck to live in a house where somebody died."

"That's stupid," Sophie says, biting into her taco. It's taco Friday, and for cafeteria food it's not that bad. "Old people die in their houses all the time."

"Sure, old people," Jenny says. "But this was a girl who got murdered in the house. That's why it's just sitting there, empty."

"Well somebody bought it," I tell them, and all six heads swivel and look at me, ponytails swaying. "My mom saw the real estate listing, and it's sold.

"In fact," I say, leaning in closer and enjoying the attention. "I walked past there this morning and people were working there. And," I add, pausing for dramatic effect. "I'm sure I saw someone looking out the third floor window."

"Maybe a cleaning service?" Sophie guesses.

"I don't think so. I only saw her for a second, but it looked like somebody our age. Maybe the new owners moved in already."

"Maybe there'll be another new girl in school next week," Jenny says, "and we can talk her into having a Halloween party there. Can you imagine having a Halloween party in a house where someone was murdered?"

"Ew, I think that's crazy. I wouldn't go anywhere near that house," Chelsea says, and then shuts up when Jenny glares at her.

"Really, Chels? So you think some crazed killer has been hiding in the basement for 40 years?"

Then Jenny looks at me. "Since your mom's the real estate agent, you find out and let us know."

"Yeah, sure," I say.

* * *

I want to walk by the house again after volleyball practice, but Mom surprises me and picks me up. She already has Noah in the car. She closed some big sale this morning, and we're celebrating. Not Emily, though, because she has a date.

"Mom," I say, taking the opportunity to pump her for information, "what's the story on the Rose House?" She jerks her head toward Noah sitting in the backseat and frowns.

Noah has headphones on and his attention is riveted to the new Zelda game on his Switch, but I sigh. There's no point trying to convince Mom when she doesn't want to talk about something.

I decide to be strategic and let Noah choose where we're going for dinner, and he predictably picks the pizza place with a bunch of arcade games. Noah sits still for a slice and a half of pizza, then runs off. Finally, I get Mom alone.