House Share

I will never share a house again, I now reside on the edge of a discreet town with just my cat Ollie. Over the years I have lived in all types of accomodation but I am a man who likes to move around. I get bored and things become stale after a while so often I seek a new adventure and with that brings a new place to live. 

I had just broke up with a girl I was dating for 8 months and wanted a fresh start so I looked around for properties to rent and found one about 4 hours drive from where I was living which was ideal, it gave me the chance to forget about everything that happened. It was affordable and when I say that I mean it was basically for nothing: about 40 dollars a week - 160 a month, but was a house share. Sharing with five other strangers was not something I normally would want but I went for it.

After all the formalities were over with I arrived at the house and remember it being a really hot day, I was soaked in sweat dragging in all my bags. The person who I had been dealing with over the phone and through email was called Nick. He greeted me at the door, shaking my sweaty hand and offering to help carry up my bags, which I was grateful for before showing me to my room and going over the house rules; washing, cleaning, bills, chores etc.... The first night went as smooth as I could have hoped for, I was in bed by 10 p.m doing a few crosswords from my puzzle book I got from an airport a couple of years back, but still yet to complete it. 

The next morning I awoke to the bright morning sun shining in my window directly on my face and the pen from my nights antics resting on my upper chest. I got dressed and went down to make breakfast to which I met two of the other housemates - Rob and Natalie who seemed nice but a bit odd and definitely both high, which I didn't have a problem with, I just wished I got their stoned inside jokes, but not to worry I thought to myself, so far so good I suppose.

As the day progressed I spent most of it up in my room just sorting and arranging it how I wanted. Next to my bed there was an old not in-use fireplace where I put all my valuables and pictures on. By the window, which was a bit stiff, was a desk where I done a lot of my writing from, amongst other things that single men like to get up to. The floor was wooden and a bit creaky at parts, the walls were plain white with the ceiling following that highly creative decorative trend, well it was mostly white with the exception of a few dark patches by the corners of the ceiling, I put it down to the previous tenant being a smoker.

Later that evening I went down to make some dinner. There was no one around, perfect timing I thought, so I cooked and ate it at the kitchen table and it was delicious. Just as I was cleaning off my plate, I heard the front door open and voices chatting in my direction moving down the hallway. It was the other two housemates who I haven't met yet - Rae and Kyle. It was a short meet and greet but these also seemed to be smoking some of the devil's lettuce.

10 p.m was getting closer, I was always an early sleeper, I could feel last the urge to finiahe last nights crossword creeping up on me, so I got into bed and the before I knew it, it was morning. This was the last night I spent in this house and nearly the last of my life.

As I was flipping my egg over I could hear a girl crying from the room to the side of the kitchen. I knocked on the door, asking if everything was alright but the only response was that of more crying, so I opened the door and there was Natalie sobbing into her hands. She didnt notice me, not even when I went right up to her and put my hand on her right shoulder. I just kept asking what was wro nothing, it was like I didn't exist to her.

I left her to herself, taking my eggs and returning to my room. A little while later I could hear crying again, this time from the room across from mine. Again, I went and knocked before entering, and this time it was Kyle and Rae sitting on their bed facing each other, tears flowing down their faces as they looked directly into each others eyes. No notice of me again so I went rapidly back to my room and locked my door. What the fuck is going on!! Were my thoughts exactly at this point.

It was then where the window blasted open and a strong swirling breeze came through, knocking off all the pictures and cards on the mantle piece. I went over to close it and it was then where I seen Natalie hanging from a piece of rope out in the back yard. Shock took over me as I just stood there, wind blowing through my hair like there was an invisible hair dryer right in front of me. Natalie didn't just hang there though, she opened her eyes and looked right at me, it was then where once again the crying started.

I didn't even have time to think when I felt a finger tap me on my shoulder, but when I turned my head the window slammed shut on my right hand, causing excruciating pain. Of course there was no one behind me. A fire pit from the fireplace, it wasn't just a few small flames, it was a massive roarng fire that felt like it was taking to me. It would road, then stop, then roar again. I tried to escape but the door handle had just vanished and the window was now stuck shut, there was no way out.

I tried to call but of course like you see in the movies, the signal was down. The heat was unimaginable at this point and the air felt like it was getting sucked out of the room. This was now full on panic mode! I kicked and hit every part of the room, desperately hoping that by some sort of magic room would open, a hope that never materialised. The worst part of this longest five minutes of my life was how I could continue to hear Natalie crying throughout it all, but they weren't tears of sadness, they were like tears of happiness. Something words can't describe. 

Breathing was getting harder by the second and the seconds were running out. I accepted it, death was coming for me and there was nothing I could do about it. A control freak without control was for those few seconds a rather liberating and free feeling. The end was here, except it wasn't. 

I somehow survived it, I woke up about a half a mile away from the house, without a scratch or burn on me. I never went near that house after this. The next bus that came I bought a ticket and never looked back since. Some time later I read up on what happened and it said that four bodies were found in the house, all with their eyes gouged out, but that wasn't the weirdest part. That accolade went to the position in which the bodies were found. The four bodies were found together, forming a cross sign, two vertical and one horizontal at each side. 

To this day I have nightmares about it all, I still don't understand how or what happened, all I know is that it did and I'm alive today. I sit at night, stroking Ollie while trying to keep the bad thoughts out, but one thing that keeps coming back to me is what ever happened to Nick? I didn't see him there the day it all happened and he wasn't mentioned in the write up on the paper, no mention of him at all. 

I tried to find any information on him I could, but I soon realised that I didn't know not could I find anything about this guy, not even a surname. All I had were a few emails exchanged to the name NicksNicksNicks@gmail.com. It was a lost cause, I just had to accept this, then my phone notification sound went off.........

The Visitor

As the last glimpse of light fades and nightfall takes over, the town of South Hallow becomes idle with only those in desperation out on the streets. Even the rich who could travel with protection and in luxury, did not want to risk it. The fear of them being the next was far too great to even contemplate. This month, May, was down in history as - The Month of Murder.

The streets of this town were narrow and bumpy. The road blended with the footpath. Cycling bikes, steam cars, horse and traps along with the inhabitants all shared the chaotic streets together, desperate to do what was needed to be done before darkness arrived. Many of the homeless have claimed to have spotted what was responsible for the murders and they all have said that although it was the shape of a human it certainly wasn't one, but who was to believe the downtrodden.

Every night a body would turn up somewhere, there was no consistency in the location of the bodies but there was in how the murders happened; there was a series of small bite holes along the neck, six in total on every victim. Vampires!!!! That quickly became the buzz word of the town. It was plastered on the front page of every daily issue on every street corner. People would gather and talk about the murders of the night before and murmur quietly that word "Vampires" as if it was forbidden. 

How could this be, Vampires were only the creation of ones imagination and not thought to be creatures of existence, but even the most hardened sceptic had to admit that this did truly resemble the ways of the undead blood suckers. 

Every night there were armed officers patrolling the streets, never alone, always with another officer, but yet all they ever found was the dead body of the victims with a stream of blood flowing from the indented holes in their necks. No evidence left behind. This uncertainty lead to great fear, which in-turn lead to chaos in the town. People feared greatly for their lives and even inside the four walls of their own homes they didn't feel safe anymore, with the body count rising as the nights slowly passed by.

The closest town to South Hallow wasnt exactly just over the road and for the majority, transport wasn't either available or an option, so sadly all they would do was wait it, pray and hope that tonight wasn't gonna be the night they became tomorrow's news. 

When the month of May came to an end, suddenly so did the murders. Not one victim after that, as quick as it came, it had left. The streets were once again filled with people and daily routine had taken back over. There was a rememberance engraving on the wall near town hall, listing the people that tragically died during that month. 

The month of murder had ended. People mourned but time soon took that pain over. Fifty years on and the majority of whom had lived through that period had now passed away, with only the young at the time still remaining.  For most they were too young to remember the events but one guy, Andy, remembered it like it was last week.

Andy had lost his whole family that month. He was filled with rage and questions that had no answers when growing up, in fact this never went away, all he wanted was answeres or even better - revenge. Now 59 years old he had practically given up his search, that was until he was walking down the street to get the morning newspaper and on the front pages it read - "The Murders Return !!!".