Beware The Haunted House

Unexpected Death

The alarm went off at 6:00. My head ws spinning. I got out of  my bed. Mom was busy in the kitchen. I looked at the library. I tried the knob and the door opened easily. Maybe another nightmare. I thought of telling about the man to my mom.

'Mom-----,' I started.

Grandpa interrupted me. 

'Mary, come here. Look at today's news,' he said. She washed her hands and headed to the den. I rolled my eyes and followed her. I heard Grandpa whispering to mom. She had a worried expression.

'Oh no, that's sad,' moaned mom.

I grabbed the newspaper and read the headlines.

An Old Man Drowned In Southampton's Lake

'One of the walkers saw that the ice was missing from the middle of the lake and reported it to the police. On reaching the site, The police was shocked to find a dead body frozen below the waters. It took lot of efforts to remove the body as the ice would give away at any moment. No traces of violence was found on the body. THe man was recognised as Petes Gomes. The police is still investigating the case. The police had no evidence to conclude it as a murdea or a suicide. The lake has been completely sealed. His wife, Sarah Gomes was shocked by her husband's unexpected death. '

My eyes were glued to the photogragh of the man. His eyes- he was cross eyed. My heartbeat raced. My palm was covered in sweat. The newspaper slipped from my hand. The mad man is dead! I stared at my mom in horror.

'Mom, d-do you know him?

'He's Sarah's husband, our daily.'

I recalled the man's words. 'I will warn my wife to stay away from you..... I and My wife are going........You......'

'Kat, are you alright?,' asked mom.

I nodded.

My wish had come true. The man is no more. He won't trouble me now. Never! Of course, it was an accident. But how did he predict his death? Is there a ghost in this house?

Is Sarah going to die too? No. No. Many questions were running across my mind for which I had no answers.

'H.....,' started Jason.

'Jason, leave me alone,' i said upset.

W-why?,' he asked. Did i upset you?

I didn't reply. He sounded so sad that i wanted to tell him the truth about Bella. I saw Bella staring at us from the corner of my eyes.

'Go away,' i screamed. He was shocked but obeyed me. 

After school, i ran into Bella. 'Hey, babes'

I started moving away ignoring her. She blocked my way. 'I saw you talking with him,' she said chewing a bubblegum.

'I asked him to go away, that's all,' I said.

'Good, remember the punch?,' she threatened with clenching fists.

'I----,' I started.

'Oh, so that's why she was behaving wierdly.' I saw Jason coming from behind the locker.

J-Jason, d-did you hear----,' babbled Bella.

'Yeah, i heard everything. How you punched Bella. Will you explain?,' asked Jason.

Poor Bella. I saw the color drain out of her face.'Punch?,' she asked innocently her eyes burning into mine.

Uh-,' I beagan.

'keep quiet, Kat,' said Jason.

No friend of mine had ever called me Kt.

'You answer me,' he said to Bella.

'Fine. I am just jealous when i see you talking with other girls. I like you. so----'

'Now you listen. I don't like you. I don't like girls who trouble others,' he said rudely.

Bella stared at him open mouthed. She ran away crying. Jason turned to me and smiled. I noticed his dimples.

'Hey, may i walk you home?,' he asked.

'No thanks,' i replied.

'Oh, please,' he said making a puppy face.

I nodded.

'My father lives out of town. He hardly gets time to come and meet us,' he said ' what about yours?'

'He's no more,' i muttered.

'I'm sorry. Really sorry'.

'No problem.'

I changed the topic and told him about the gifts i got on my birthday. 'When is your birthday?'

'Jan 10'

'Your birhday is on next month. So you are inviting me to your party now that we are friends.'

I stopped when i saw the lake in front of me. Jason waved his hands. 'Are you ok?,' he asked.

Inodded.

'I would like to invite you but i don't throw parties,' he said making a 'duh' face.

'Why?,' i demanded.

'On my last birthday, i was sick. On my lat to last birthday, i was busy with the exams. On my lat to last to last birthday, i was down with dengue,' he said laughing.

'You have got a long history of worse things happening on your birthday,' i said laughing.

We reached home. 

'Oh man, I'm late. I better hurry home,' he said checking out the time. 

He waved goodbye breaking into a jog. Mom was already home.

'Sarh quit,' said mom.

'That's bad,' replied Grandma.

Mom saw me coming in. 'Hello, Kat,' she greeted me.

Since, i did not sleep well the previous night, i took an afternoon nap, a peaceful nap. When i woke up, the house was silent. I found a note pinned to the fridge.

'Mom has gone to the parlour.Nick has gone to his friend's house. I and grandpa are going for a walk. We will be back in an hour.'

-Grandma

So i was alone. I felt like the kid in HOME ALONE. Then i remembered Tommy. There was no yapping. Maybe, he went out with my grandparents. How wiere they are. Want a walk in such a weather. I looked at the library and the scary music floated into my mind.

Gathering courage, i went to check it out. The door opened with a high pitched creak. I put on the light and checked out the books.Most of them looked boring. There were biographies of poets and presidents and other great people. The books gave a musty smell. I picked up a book on 'Abhram Lincoln' and sat on the floor to read it. I got bored within few minutes.

'Kat, are you awake?,' called Grandpa.

Grandpa has returned? i quickly replaced the book and headed to the hall. But there was no Grandpa.

Start reading the next one to know more about Jason. More deaths are awaiting!

Thanks a lot for reading the story. Love you all! <3 <3 <3