Even In Death

Chapter 2: Welcome To Mortem Heights!

Chapter 2: Welcome To Mortem Heights!
Trees. Big trees, small trees, trees with green leaves, trees with brown leaves, even trees with no leaves. That's all I'd been staring at for the past four hours, and I can safely say I have never been so bored in my life.

Grabbing my earphones, I plug them back into my phone and press shuffle, allowing fate to decide what song I listen to. I lean my head against the window, and as each tree blends into the next, my mind drifts to what my new life is going to be like. New town, new friends, new start. I'm not particularly ecstatic over this move, but I don't exactly hate the idea either. I guess I'm just neutral.

I find myself slowly drifting off to sleep, but not before something catches my eye; a sign reading "Welcome to Mortem Heights!". The second I read that sign, it's like my whole energy suddenly shifts. I don't know what it was or why I'm feeling like this, but I got a bad feeling the second we entered this town. I just want to turn back around and go home. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one driving the car...

Mortem Heights wasn't a well-known town. The only time you'd even hear about it is if something bad happened there, otherwise it's like it didn't exist. It didn't help that it was in the middle of nowhere. You have to drive through like a mile of forest just to get into it. It's like they purposely wanted it to be hidden away from the rest of the world, barricaded in by a huge forest with only one way in and one way out.

Pretty suspicious if you ask me.

Eventually we make it through the maze of greenery and the road opens up into a literal ghost town. No people, no animals, not even a single leaf gently blowing in the wind. Everything is just completely and utterly still. It's like time had stopped, and we were the only things moving. I felt off the second we passed that sign, but now? I feel physically sick.

"Hey, Honey! Let me help you with those boxes." I woke up to the sound of people talking, doors slamming and boxes shuffling around in the back. Where the hell am I?

Peeling my face off of the window, I grab my phone and climb out of the car, desperately trying to take in my surroundings while I adjust to the change in lighting. Concrete, a stop sign, grass, cars. My eyes rapidly dart around, taking in everything around me until they finally landed on some sort of structure in front of me. Thick, thorn-covered vines wrapped around the large three story building, the outer walls worn and discoloured to a dark shade of green. Dead trees and shrubs surrounded the property, and it was a few headstones away from becoming the typical haunted graveyard you see in the movies.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"What's wrong, Sweetie? Do you still have that headache? I can bring you some Advil if you'd like?"

"Mom, I know they said the garden was slightly overgrown, but this is ridiculous." I couldn't peel my eyes away from this monstrosity of a house, my mind still trying to comprehend what in the hell I was looking at.

"Honey, the house hasn't had tenants for almost a year. Besides, it's nothing an axe and some flower beds can't fix." She smiles, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice. This woman is too optimistic for her own good, I swear. I don't understand how she does it, honestly.

"It would be easier to just burn the whole thing down and start over," I mumble under my breath, but she hears me and shakes her head, letting out a small chuckle.

"Don't say that, we'll have it picture ready in no time."

"More like horror movie ready." I am sure this is where they filmed IT.

"Amber Mirai Myers, stop being such a Debby Downer and help me with rest of these boxes, will ya?"

I do as she asks and take one last look at the house before heading inside. I swear I saw something move in the upstairs window, but I'm not the slightest bit surprised or unnerved by it. With a house like this, it would only be disappointing if it wasn't haunted.