Reaching the top of the stairs, there are 6 doors down a long hallway— the one right at the end being my room. I let Will carry my bag to my room and I thank him as we tell each other 'goodnight' and I shut the door. Slumping on my already made bed, I reach over and unpack my bag, getting my ghost gear ready for use.
My room matches the entire house's theme in being luxurious and secretive. Exhausted, I lay back and stare at the ceiling, dust spinning languidly in shafts of light. The full moon's luminescence shines through the wide window- where I abruptly catch something from the corner of my eye. Outside, just beyond the house gates, in the forest.. I could've sworn I saw something running through the trees. It didn't resemble any humanoid features, it was just a large mass.
I chuckle to myself before shutting the curtains and grabbing my wash-bag to head to the bathroom. Creaking my door open, the light from my room floods the hallway in one singular rectangular light, allowing me to see partially. The bathroom being directly opposite my room, I leave my door open and quietly walk towards it- a voice, however, stops me.
"Hello." a little girl's voice says.
She sounds as if she's right behind me. I feel a cold tap on my lower back.
"Turn around."
A sensation rolls down my spine as though someone was tracing it with a fingernail, abruptly it sinks into me. Feeling sick, I quickly turn around.
Nothing's there. No little girl. Nothing at all. I stand there for a second, confused and disturbed.
I walk away quickly, just my hand reaches for the bathroom door knob, it turns, the door clicks and a wet figure exits the room. His dark hair drenched and dripping, beads of water running down his body- one drop hanging onto his lower lip.
"Oh shoot, you scared me" he places a hand on his heart to exaggerate. I give a small smile.
"I could say the same.. Shouldn't you be asleep?" I ask Stiles.
"I could say the same." He smirks smugly. I roll my eyes and move to the side so he can walk to his room.
Nodding at my gesture, he strides over to his room, just beside mine, and pushes open his door.
"Oh'- His head pokes out of his door frame, 'Be up by 10 tomorrow, I'll give you a grand tour of the grounds and the town." He flashes a smile before shutting his door.
"But' I begin, but it's too late.
Pursing my lips, I walk into the large bathroom and lock the door. Turning the shower head on, I let the water warm up before I get in, so I undress and take my toothbrush from my wash bag. I run it under the tap, push out a line of toothpaste onto it, re-wet it and brush my teeth mindlessly. My eyes lazily shutting for brief moments before immediately opening again. I'm exhausted.
—
I wake up to the sound of low, harmonious humming. My eyes dart around the bathroom, for some unknown reason I'm on the floor. The mirror is completely fogged up, the counters are wet from the steam of the water. Cautiously, I get up from the floor and reach to wipe the mirror with my hand- but just then I notice the words 'Turn Around' written at the bottom of the mirror. My heart sinks to my stomach; I get a metallic taste in my mouth. The humming stops. I swear I can hear my own heartbeat beating with another.
But I'm used to terrifying situations. It's my job.
Collecting myself, I turn the tap off since it was still running and pick my toothbrush up from inside the sink. Setting it down in the empty cup by the mirror, I turn around and walk towards the bath/shower. The shower head is still on, perfect temperature if not too hot by now, I'm sure. Walking up to it, I notice a faint shadow of someone on the other side of the shower curtain. They're not tall, they're small and very thin. Almost sickly looking. I slow down my breathing and grab the curtain, pulling it back as quickly as I can. But again, nothings there. The anticlimactic situation makes me sigh deeply before undressing completely and hopping in the hot shower. I tie my hair in a low bun and let the water fall down my body, calming me and making it no easier to not fall asleep right there and then. I scrub myself down with soap and put it on the shelf. Then I hear three rhythmic knocks on the door.
"I'll be out soon!" I call out out of habit. But the knocking persists.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Over and over again. The sound floods my head and feels inescapable. Finishing up quickly, I wrap my towel around myself and grab my wash bag before pulling the door open in frustration. That frustration quickly liquifies to slight fear as opening the door reveals nobody but my still open door. Standing there dumbfounded and feeling somewhat vulnerable, I flick the hallway light on, shut the bathroom and quietly tap on Stiles' door so that I don't wake anyone else up. A couple seconds later, I hear shuffling and the door cracks open. His room is dark, almost no light apart from the moon's, brightening his room ever so slightly.
"Hello?" I whisper.
He doesn't show. I whisper for him again and step in. His room is big, bigger than what I'm staying in, and very old fashioned- maybe Victorian style. There's a humanoid lump in his bed, I assume it's him, so I reach to shake him awake and almost faint at the sudden tap at my shoulder. My reflexes take over and I tackle the person to the ground before they do anything else.
"It's me, Stiles! What is up with you?!" He whisper shouts. I loosen my grip and step back from him.
"Sorry, I- my bad. You really scared me is all." I help him up. He rubs his neck in pain.
"What are you doing in my room?" He kind of chuckles.
Then I realise what just happened. Stiles wasn't in his room. His door opened. And I saw him.. in his bed. Looking back to his bed, the lump disappeared. I shudder.
"I..uh..' I chuckle out of fear, 'did you happen to knock on the bathroom door a couple minutes ago?" I ask. His eyebrows furrow and he shakes his head.
"No, I was just in the kitchen getting some snacks actually. You seem on edge." Stiles says. "I'll check if Skylar is messing with you."
Stiles says and walks towards my open door. He gently pushes it open further.
"Wow.. I haven't been in here since.. since my dad re-did this room." His voice trails off as his eyes analyses the room.
"Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean." I say. He smiles at me.
"This room was my mother's study. She'd spend hours on end in here, if not days, working on things we never knew about. Reading for hours on end." He explains, sitting on the chair by the window. I nod. I try and comfort Stiles. I'm not great at expressing feelings let alone sadness for other people. My attempt is poor.
"I'll let you get changed and sleep." He says looking at me still in my towel.
Stiles turns to leave and shuts the door behind him. I slide some clothes and turn off my light. Knock. At my door. I stare at the door before slowly opening it, not expecting to see Stiles again so soon.
"So what's your story?" He asks.
"You know why I'm here." I laugh. He shakes his head.
"No, I mean what's your story? What got you into your job? It's not exactly a textbook type of job." He specifies.
"Ah.. do I start from I lived in a haunted house or I grew up with a demon?' I dryly laugh to myself. 'Growing up was rough but basically I've always had some sort of link to the supernatural. It didn't bring me any good before I started charging people for what I do. I died for a minute a few years ago, my 'skill' at seeing and hearing things got worse after that. So here I am, putting it to use." I laugh. Stiles looks at me sadly.
"I'm fine though. I'm used to creepy things so they don't affect me as much as they used to." I add, but his expression doesn't change. His eyes are set on the wall behind me.
"What about you? Why are you still living at home? I moved out as soon as I could." I ask. He gives a small smile.
"I can't leave." He says almost too quietly. I don't push him to explain.
"It's late." I tell Stiles. He looks up at me.
"Yeah." He mindlessly replies."Remember, up by 10. Goodnight." He says smiling before shutting my door. I wait to hear his door shut too and as it does, I let my head fall into my pillow.
I wrap myself tightly in the crisp sheets and shut my eyes, trying to fall asleep.
**
I stir awake to the sound of my door clicking open. My eyes shoot open and I see a short silhouette standing in the doorway. Debating whether or not I should do or say something, words escape my lips.
"Skylar?" I whisper.
No response. The shadow runs back into the corridor but I stay plastered in the bed. Too many weird occurrences in one night. It's not that often that spirits show themselves so quickly. It could've been Skylar just now, and banging on the door. The lump I saw in Stiles' bed I have no theory for, but I guess I could ask everyone in the morning. I hesitate whether I should shut the door again or just stay up the remainder of the night. Glancing over to the window, I see the moon is still high up in the sky. The night has barely even begun.
My legs swing off the bed and I swing the door shut. It doesn't make a loud sound as it closes. In fact, it doesn't shut at all. I push on the door this time, but it feels as though there's somebody on the other side pushing even harder. There isn't. I check. Feeling defeated, I pull the door open completely, switch my light on and stand in the doorway pissed off. I give it a few seconds before saying or doing anything. A faint jingle of a girl's laughter echoes through the corridor. My mind establishes that to be Skylar. The logical reason. An all-too familiar feeling creeps up on me. The same feeling I've experienced growing up. My mind begins to wander, my body loses feeling and my eyes close shut.
__
"Come on, really? Do you have to be like that?" I ask sadly staring at him. He doesn't reply. I sigh in desperation. It's only when mummy grabs my arm do I notice she's even in my room.
"I've been calling you down for breakfast, what on earth were you doing?" She asks as she pulls me out of my room. My gaze is forced off under my bed.
"I was playing with the man under my bed again."
She stops dead in her steps. Falling to my level, she holds my shoulders tightly. A forced smile attempts to hide her fear as she asks me a question.
"Sweetie, what do you mean? And what do you mean, 'again'?"
I look at her plainly.
"Mummy, I told you. The man under my bed won't leave me alone. He's lonely. He wants friends he says."
My mother stands up and leaves me with my dad as she runs up to my room, with a knife that she swiped from the kitchen in her hand. I hear her walking around my room for a good half hour, or so it seems. Daddy rubs circles into my back, making me slowly fall asleep. I barely shut my eye lids when mummy runs down the stairs and grabs me, hugging me tightly.
"Baby, honey, there's no one there. Are you sure it wasn't your imagination?"
I try getting to sleep, but mummy and daddy keep talking so loudly. I slide off my bed and creep out of my room, my favourite teddy in hand. I tiptoe and stand outside their bedroom to listen in to their conversation.
"Sarah, she's barely even six years old and you want her to see a shrink? All kids at that age have imaginary friends, it's no big deal." Daddy whispers angrily.
"I hear them too."
Mummy whispers back after a while. It's quiet after that. I decide to go back to bed, but He is stood by my door this time.
—
Sunlight washes over me as I wake up to crows cawing. Looking around, I see I've woken up on the floor and not in the comfort of a bed. I lean over to the bedside table for my phone and check the time, 9AM. I get a change of clothes from my bag and take a shower, clearing my head of last nights' oddities. I'll have to write down everything that happened while it's still fresh in my mind. After brushing my teeth and getting dressed, I head downstairs into the kitchen, hoping to make some coffee, but it seems Will has beat me to it.
"Good morning." I chime, Will spins around from facing the garden window and looks at me. "Good morning." He smiles.
He offers me a cup and I take it, pouring myself the black liquid that seems to cure all. William gestures for me to sit at the table with him so I do, we sip in silence for a few minutes.
"So what's the plan for today?" Will smacks his lips together. I hum and reply.
"Stiles said he'd show me around so today I'm hoping to get settled in, set up and I'll start individual interviews as soon as possible. Please let me know when you're available to talk." I finish. He nods and finishes his drink. Just then, a small figure runs into the kitchen and hides behind Will.
"Say hello Skylar, manners." William rolls his eyes smiling as he turns around and grabs the girl, sitting her on his lap. She's only six years old and she's covered in scars from the things she's done to herself.
I try and avoid looking at her scars. She smiles and waves at me so I do the same and she runs off upstairs. I finish my coffee and wash the mug, ask if I can then step outside for a cigarette. There's an empty ashtray on the window ledge by the door. I'm lost in my thoughts when Stiles taps me of the arm.
"I didn't take you as a smoker." He smiles and takes out a cigarette himself. I smile as I exhale. "How old are you?" He asks curiously.
"Twenty two, you?"
"You're a year older than me and your life is so put together." He sighs as he exhales a cloud of smoke.
"A lot can change in a year. Enjoy staying at home, it's cheaper." I laugh, he doesn't smile.
"Free rent, supernatural things free of charge." He mutters.
I squash my cigarette butt into the ashtray and clear my throat and ask Stiles about this grand tour, he smiles widely and finishes smoking.
"We'll start from grounds. Around the property, we've got an abandoned well in the nearby forest. It's rumoured to be haunted,much like everything else here, and people often get callings to jump in. They never come out.' He tells me as we take a slow walk around the outside of the house. 'People have said they see things in these woods, negative energies or something. I don't like to test things I'm not sure about so I'm never in the woods...' Then he smiles.
'Let me take you into town, it's far more interesting. You like pastries?"