Scary Stuff

Just Your Typical Haunted House.... Part 3

        I started up the stairs, holding tightly to the banister. After I passed the middle, I got more confident, and by the time I was at the top I was wondering what I'd been so concerned about. The stair were obviously plenty sturdy. I wondered about this for a minute, but then put it out of my mind. They were probably just made of better wood then the furniture- which made sense if you thought about it. You'd want your house to be made of better materials than your furniture.
        I started down the hallway. There were three doors- the master, guest, and daughter's bedrooms, I guessed. I peeked into the left one first. It was just as falling-apart-y as the rest of the rooms downstairs. I turned to the door on the right side of the hall, but something stopped me. Instead I looked into the one at the end of the hall. It looked much the same as the first, the few differences being less furniture and smaller windows.
        Finally, I turned back to the door I'd skipped. Looking at it gave me a awful, sick feeling in my stomach, and it took me a minute to realize that this must be dread. I'd never felt it before. It wasn't fear, exactly. More like fear mixed with a horrible sense of doom.
        Stop it, I told myself firmly. Its just a door, for Pete's sake. I reached out and opened it, but what I saw completely took my by surprise.
        The room wasn't falling apart. The windows were clean, and the curtains were a little grimy, but not two-hundred-years-just-sitting-there grimy. The bed was made with a patched quilt- old, but not that old. The floors weren't coated in dust- you could actually see the wood. And the walls were faded but clean. All these things weren't even the part that shocked my, although it was plenty unexpected. I was staring not at the bed, but the girl on it. She looked about my age, and sat cross legged, facing sideways- so she hadn't seen me yet- with headphones on and a book in her hands.
        It took me a moment to recover, but when I did, I was overcome with curiosity. I stepped forward hesitantly and tapped the girl on the shoulder. She jumped and looked up at me, startled. I pointed at my ears, and she took the headphones off.
        "What are you doing here?"
        "What are YOU doing here?" she countered.
        "I'm spending the night here on a dare."
        She rolled her eyes. "Stupid Halloween dares. I take it you're new?"
        "Yeah. Um, I haven't seen you in school-"
        "I don't go to school."
        I was a little confused. "But you're... what, sixteen? How do you get out of school?"
        "I'm homeschooled," she said, holding up the book she'd been reading. The cover read: CONQUESTS OF NAPOLEON- THE ULTIMATE HISTORY GUIDE.
        "Oh," I said brilliantly. "But, um, why are you in here?"
        "I live here."
        That took me by surprise. "Here? In a haunted house?"
        She snorted. "I don't believe in ghosts."
        "Neither do I, but still... doesn't it get creepy here alone?"
        She shrugged. "Once in a while, but once you get used to it you hardly even notice."
        Something occurred to me. "Dozens of guys have been here before me. How come nobody knows you're here? And why do you live here?"
        She scanned me up and down, searched my face through narrowed eyes. I guessed she was trying to decide how much to tell me. Finally her suspicious look disappeared, and she actually gave me a smile. She patted the bed next to her. "I'm MK. Sit down."
        "Um, okay." I sat next to her.
        "When I was ten I ran away from home. I live here because it's convenient. I take care of myself, and stay out of people's way. As for not being discovered... I usually hole up here on Halloween. No one comes up here. Like, ever. You're the first I've talked to."
        "Really? Huh." Again, brilliant.
        "Are you gonna tell me your name? I told you mine." She was smiling slightly- teasing me, I realized. I was struck suddenly by how pretty she was. She had long, straight blond hair and dark brown eyes, and her smile was enchanting.
        "I'm... My name's Zeke. Waterson. Zeke Waterson." I blushed, knowing how stupid I sounded.
        She snorted again. "Okay Zeke. So why'd you chance the stairs?"
        "I was curious." A sudden thought struck me. "Have you been in the kitchen?"
        MK shook her head. "I went down there once, but it smelled horrid and I didn't even go in. I wonder what food they could've left here that would smell that bad."
        "Yeah," I said. "I wonder."
        She tilted her head at me and gave me a strange look, like she'd heard my tone of voice and wanted to know what it meant. I pretended not to notice.