You know, I'm sort of re-reading this story as I'm posting it. And I really like to avoid the plot in it lol. It starts getting really good near the end, but that's because I picked up with it after stopping for about half a year hahaha. Yeah, this story is finished. So I'll probably just post one chapter a day. I'm changing things around a lot and stuff, so it's not exactly the same. So leave comments for support, okay? :)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I started mixing cookie batter just as Will finished putting away the groceries. He escaped out of the kitchen before I could ask him for his assistance. I scowled after him, my arm growing tired of the constant mixing. When the mix was thick enough to be spooned onto the tray, I quickly spread the mounds of dough evenly on it and then stuffed them in the oven, setting the timer.
The time passed quickly as I sat in the living room with Will watching a mystery show. It almost seemed ironic to me that he, being a detective, would actually want to watch a fake show like that. I shrugged and then jumped up as the bell from the oven dinged.
"Have fun." Will's voice floated into the kitchen as I placed the freshly baked cookies onto a plate and covered it with plastic wrap. I then slipped on my shoes and a light jacket before entering the outdoor. Its sudden chilliness sent shivers down my spine... so did the ominous looking dirt driveway that was swallowed up by the forest at the end. I swallowed and, at a very brisk pace, set off across my lawn and down the frightening trail.
As I approached the dark trees I shut my eyes and walked forward carefully, ignoring sounds and sights around me. It didn't really work. I broke into a run after I had heard a loud noise behind me, and I didn't stop until I reached the steps.
The old house looked even creepier up close. The white paint, like the roof, was peeling away and had water stains and who-knows-what stains on it. The windows, I could tell, were very outdated and I guessed that they wouldn't open. The porch looked rickety and I didn't doubt that it would groan if I decided to walk up the steps- I was having second thoughts. The smell of the cookies egged me on.
I climbed the steps, they did indeed groan, and knocked on the door. As I waited I shivered when a gust of wind blew by. The sky was dark, past twilight now, and into the nighttime. Which was very unsettling here at this haunted house. I smiled, that was a good way to describe the house.
After about a minute of nobody answering I knocked again. Perhaps they had left when I was baking, I thought. I knocked one last time, and after a few more minutes I decided to give up. It was really getting cold now, and the longer I stood there the creepier the woods around me seemed. I sighed and turned my back and began to walk forwards, right into something, or someone. I screamed. More out of surprise, I think, then fright.
"Nice," a deep voice chuckled taking no note of my scream. "There's a girl on the front step!"
I took a step back and hit the front door. I squinted into the darkness and could barely make out the person in front of me. The only thing I deciphered was that the stranger was definitely a man.
"Hmmm..." the stranger took a deep breath. "I smell cookies!"
"Uh... yeah," I replied looking nervously at the man, then the woods, and then the man again. "I made them for the people that just moved in here. But they aren't here so I should probably leave now."
I made to go around him but he sidestepped, blocking my way. I felt my heart speed up and tried to get around him again. He blocked me again.
"Wait a sec," he paused, reaching into his pocket. "Just a second..."
Slowly, he took a step towards me and I retreated back to the door again. I pressed my back against it as he neared me. "Wait I-"
Suddenly the door opened and I feel backwards into the hallway of Damian's house. "Oof!" I let out landing on my back. I sat up and rubbed my head.
A chuckle emitted from the guy above me. "You okay?"
I gazed at him before looking at the guy standing next to me. I squinted up, but couldn't make anything out. The lights weren't on.
"What are you doing?" a voice I recognized as Damian's questioned. "If you're going to molest innocent girls, please have the courtesy to not do it on our front porch."
"You make me sound like a pedophile!" the man complained, now holding a hand out to me. I stared at it unsure. "Take it," he ordered.
I reached up and took his hand and he quickly pulled me to my feet, as if I weighed as much as a feather. I stumbled on my feet and the stranger chuckled again before his gaze returned to Damian.
"Honestly..." the man muttered shaking his head.
"Well it isn't my fault is you're acting all creepy towards our new neighbor," Damian retorted coldly, shrugging his shoulders.
"I was just getting my key..."
I looked on the ground to see that the cookies were, luckily, all right. They had landed upright and looked fine to me. I bent down and picked them up.
"Here," I mumbled a little confused while handing the plate to the mysterious man.
"Lovely!" the man exclaimed, lifting up the foil. "Cookies!"
"Right," Damian remarked then turned to me. He paused as if debating something, and then sighed. "Are you going to just stand there all night or are you going to come in?"
It took me a second to realize the question was directed at me and I looked down at my feet. "Uh..."
"Of course she is coming in!" the other man decided putting a hand on my shoulder. He then began pushing me inside of Damian's house. I'm not sure if Damian noticed, but I caught him give a disapproving look to the stranger.
I stumbled along trying to look around but I couldn't see anything because all the lights were still off. How the stranger managed to maneuver me around with me hitting anything amazed me.
"Ow! Geez Damian, you could at least put on some lights," the man muttered after I heard a loud thud. I assumed he had run into something. Better him then me, I thought and smiled a little.
"I just got home a few minutes ago," Damian replied his voice having no body to go with it in the dark.
"Well then why aren't the lights on? They're supposed to be on."
I couldn't tell, but I wondered if there was double meaning in that. It sort of sounded that way.
"I went in the back door," Damian stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why?"
"Because there was someone on the porch."
"So why didn't you go see who it was!"
Silence passed between the two. The stranger's face looked shocked, while Damian's had a kind of angry expression. The man shifted slightly. "So? Why?"
"Because I thought it would be you, and hoped that I could lock you out."
I thought all these questions were irritating Damian because his voice had a small edge to it.
"This young lady had been standing on the porch knocking for at least five minutes!"
"How would you know? Were you watching her?"
"No!"
I kept a straight face, not sure whether to smile or not while listening to the two of them... well I guess it could be called bickering. It made me wonder what kind of relationship the two had.
"Whatever, pedophile." Damian muttered disdainfully, ending it.
"I'm not a pedo!" the man growled and accidentally knocked me into something hard. I winced but didn't let him know.
We entered what I assumed to be the kitchen, Damian flicked on the lights and I blinked a few times to try and adjust to the sudden change.
"Well, welcome to my humble abode," Damian welcomed me while spreading out his arms in a gesture of welcome.
I nodded at him and looked around. My jaw dropped. The kitchen was pure white! The fridge, the oven, the sink, the cabinets, the tiles, the chairs, everything was white! The walls looked as if today was their first day in use, no, actually everything looked like it! The kitchens definitely made me change my mind about the worn down house.
My attention now turned to the guy who was chewing on one of the cookies I baked. Now that the lights were on I could clearly see him. He had brown hair like Damian, but his was more of an umber coloring. His eyes were a murky brown, almost the exact color as my own eyes. The resemblance startled me. His skin, on the other hand, was the exact same shade as Damian's. He was also as handsome. When he saw me staring at him he smiled.
"I know I'm good looking. You do agree, right?"
I blushed and looked down. "Uh..."
"Have you properly introduced yourself?" Damian coolly asked the man, who shook his head. He grinned while stretching a hand out to me.
"My name is Ayden Weiss, Damian's older brother. It's nice to meet you..."
"Madison, Madison Rose," I told him while shaking his hand. His grip was almost a little too firm because it started to hurt my hand. "But you can call me Maddie." I added quickly turning to Damian, "you too."
Damian nodded as his eyes glazed into mine. I turned my attention back to Ayden, who smiled. "Nice to meet you, Maddie."
"You too." I replied with a smile. So this guy, Ayden, was Damian's brother. No wonder they were bickering like that before, I thought. Their similarities made it quite obvious, but it was nice to know the exact of it.
Ayden picked up another cookie and gestured for me to have a seat across from him. I obediently went to the chair and sat down. Damian, after a moment's hesitation, came over and sat next to his brother. The room was quiet for a few seconds, with only the sounds of Ayden chewing until Damian took one of the cookies.
"Did you make these?" he asked casually, taking a bite. "They're good."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks," I replied smiling. Damian's earlier briskness had seemed to melt away. I was glad.
"So, what brings you guys here from Canada?" I asked deciding to make small talk while taking one of my own cookies and nibbling on it.
They both looked shocked when I said that. I felt my face burn and I looked down, wondering if they thought I was a creeper for knowing that.
"How did you know that?" Damian's tone was casual, light. I looked up and his eyes bore into mine, curious. I sighed an inward sigh of relief; I thought he was angry at first. I was glad I had a habit of being wrong now.
"My brother," I told him with a smile, staying brave and keeping eye contact.
Damian looked like he wanted to ask more, but kept his mouth shut when Ayden began to speak.
"In my opinion, Canada was way too cold," he said, answering the question that got interrupted.
I agreed totally. Ayden smiled at me when he noticed I was smiling at him. I turned to Damian to here his opinion.
"I thought it was very dull," he said smoothly when he noticed I was looking. I nodded without asking for more information for why he thought that.
"What are you talking about?" Ayden started. "You are the reason we had to mov-!"
"Ayden!" Damian hissed sharply. Ayden stopped talking and stared at Damian before he shrugged, looking a little offended. Then Damian turned to me. "If your wondering what he meant by that, I got into a little bit of... trouble there."
"Oh," I replied, letting the subject go. Damian gave me a blank smile while Ayden was scratching his head. We chatted for a while about simple things like what Canada was like, what around here was like, about Ayden's siblings (who he was very keen on for me to meet), and other random stuff until a silence had settled in the kitchen and all I could hear was the ticking of the clock for every second that passed. I looked outside to see the dark had settled before returning my gaze to the clock.
"Ah," I muttered as I read the clock. Was it really that late?
Ayden turned to the clock too, and seemed to have the same thoughts as I did. "It's getting late. You should head back before your dad gets worried."
"Dad?" I replied, thinking of Will. "Oh no, he's not my dad."
"I told you he was too young," Damian muttered rolling his eyes. Ayden shrugged.
"Then who was that guy you helped bring groceries into your house with you earlier?" Ayden asked me. "Boyfriend?"
I tried to keep my bewildered expression hidden but Damian noticed it and, with a look of aggravation, rounded on Ayden.
"You were spying on her!" he growled, more angry then I thought he should be at Ayden. He hadn't even heard his reason why Ayden had say that.
"No! No, I wasn't!" he assured Damian and myself quickly. "I just noticed when I was unloading the truck!"
"You can see that far?" I asked, my jaw dropping. That was impossible!
Damian tensed. Ayden shrugged before speaking calmly. "It was still daylight," he reminded me, "and I was ground level, so I could see straight across."
"Oh yeah..." I tried to mentally picture looking from his driveway down mine. You actually could see my house... or at least in my imagination you could.
"So, uh, back to my question," Ayden interrupted my thoughts, grinning.
"No," I said, answering it while making a face. "Not my boyfriend. He's my brother."
"Brother!" Ayden concluded slamming his fist into his hand. "That works!"
"Where's your mom?" Damian asked shooting a disapproving look at Ayden, all other tones and looks of disapproval and anger gone now. Ayden frowned at the salt he had accidentally knocked over when he slammed his hands down.
"My mom lives and works in New York."
"Wow, what does she do?" Ayden questioned as he attempted to clean up his salt mess. And when I say "clean" I mean he swept it onto the floor by using his hand to brush it off the table.
"Fashion Designer," I replied shrugging then I pointed to symbol branded on to my shirt. "A designer brand for teenagers and young adults, kind of like American Eagle."
"Oh," Ayden replied sounding surprised. "That's awesome!"
"Yeah," I replied. "It's pretty cool."
"And your real dad?" Damian asked as he stood up, sent Ayden an amused smile (but what for I couldn't figure out), and went around the kitchen pulling out drawers and looking in them until he stopped at one and pulled out some tin foil.
"Oh, he died awhile ago," I told Damian as he looked at me a little alarmed.
"I am very sorry," he apologized automatically pausing in his movements. I smiled.
"Damian! You must have brought up some terrible memories for her!" Ayden cried out, whacking his brother on the head, making me jump.
"Ow!" Damian cried angrily and in return, punched his brother in the arm.
"It's quite alright!" I slipped in quickly, in case they were going to start a fight. "It's fine. Fine!"
Ayden looked up at me, frowned, and walked away from his brother, who was making an angry face as he began to cover the cookies with tin foil.
"Well then, instead of leaving, would you like to stay the night? It'd be lots of fun," Ayden grinned giving me a cheesy look. I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. Before I could say anything, however, Damian hit him over the head with the box of tin foil. I flinched at the loud noise.
"Ow!"
"You are such a pedophile."
"I am not!" Ayden barked, giving a disapproving look to Damian.
I sort of grimaced at them, but they didn't realize it. I stood up and stretched. "It's late, I should go back."
"And now you've scared her away," Damian sighed, shaking his head. But a hard look was apparent on his face, even though he was now joking.
"Huh," Ayden started, standing up. "I'm sorry, Maddie, I was just kidding! Honestly, please don't think of me as a pedo! I'm too young!"
"Young," Damian scoffed rolling his eyes.
"Okay," I laughed quietly. "But I'm still going to go."
"Well alright," Ayden sighed. "But you better come back to visit me. And you still have to meet my other siblings!"
I nodded in agreement. "Kay.'"
I was looking forward to meeting his siblings. I wondered what there personalities would be like, after seeing Damian and Ayden's.
"I'll walk you to your house," Ayden suggested standing up. "There might be weirdoes out... or scary creatures in the woods."
I felt the color drain from my face at the thought of walking back to my house from here. I started to imagine all types of things coming out of the woods. Like wolves, or bears... or other, scarier things that I didn't want to think of it. Damian must have noticed my sudden color change. He frowned a little.
"Like you, Ayden," he muttered before standing. "Perhaps I should accompany her."
"How cruel," Ayden cried dramatically. I, however, was very grateful as Damian led me down the hallway. Those woods terrified me.
The wood flooring in the hall made tapping noises as we made our way down the hall. Not only did the walls look new, like the kitchen, but also the floor looked like it had just been renovated with new wood. Tons of black and white photos and portraits were on the wall, but I didn't have time to stop and look at them.
Damian stopped to unlock the door (I wondered when he had locked it) and then he opened it and gestured me to go ahead of him. I did, walking out into the night.
The moon had settled high into the sky and cast an eerie shadow over the treetops. But its pale form in the sky was beautiful with the stars surrounding it. Oddly enough, it reminded me of Damian. I smiled slightly to myself.
The woods, on the other hand, looked even creepier with the moon out so I lingered around the steps as Damian fidgeted around with the lock for a second. He turned and flashed a brilliant smile at me. White teeth glittered from his mouth. I gazed at him for a second and he frowned again.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No," I replied quickly, turning my back and hurrying down the stairs. He was at my side in a matter of seconds.
"It's beautiful out tonight, huh?" Damian asked making quiet small talk as we made our way down his driveway. The dirt crunched underneath our feet.
"Yeah," I murmured my agreement as I zipped up my light coat. It was getting nippier out.
"Fall's here." Damian pointed out with a small smile as I zipped up.
"Thankfully," I told him sighing.
"Not a fan of summer?"
"Not really," I admitted. "Actually, I hate it."
He flashed me another flawless smile. "I can't say I'm a big fan either."
I gazed at his face for a few more seconds, and then tore my face away before he could make anything out of it. "I like the fall and spring."
"I like the fall and winter," he told me. "You know, I kind of got used to the cold in Canada."
"Eh," I muttered, "I could live without winter."
He let out a laugh like velvet. "Don't like cold?"
"Yeah. Ironically though, I like the snow." I commented smiling, not noticing the woods around us anymore. However I did notice how close to my house we were.
"The snow is... pure," he replied with a smile. I waited to see if he was going to elaborate on this, but he didn't. We lapsed into silence.
The ground had grown slippery as we made it onto the grass. It must have rained while I was at Damian's house. I slipped a little but stood straight and acted like nothing happened. Damian smiled slightly.
"I bet you think he is weird," he announced suddenly and I stared at him for a few seconds until I figured out he was talking about Ayden. "After all we've known you for hardly two hours now and he is like that already."
"Weird... maybe a little," I shrugged and thought for a second. "Funny, yes. Strange, most definitely."
"Aren't weird and strange the same thing? And I didn't even mention funny," Damian pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
"Er... yeah," I muttered scratching my head while making a face. What a straightforward person.
"Maybe we are a little strange," he hinted with a smirk playing across his lips.
"What do you mean?"
He said nothing but pointed at my house. I realized we were at the stairs of my porch. I frowned a little, but not as much so that Damian would notice. I didn't want him thinking I was some freak who became obsessed with him after one day. Though it was fun hanging out with him.
"I'll talk to you soon." It was more of a statement then a question.
"Alright," I replied trying to keep the eagerness out of my voice. He smiled before turning around and making his way back to his house.