“I assumed maybe you had. There are plenty of places I’ve been to as a kid that I forgot about and remembered later.”
“This isn’t the same. I didn’t move here until I was eight. I would remember this place. If you thought I might have been here before you could have just asked. I would have told you.”
“True, but sometimes you need to go into the field and check things out for yourself. People’s memories can’t always be trusted,” said Tilly as she started walking again.
“You’re crazy, you know that?! Now what am I suppose do next time I space out and end up at her front door? She’s gonna recognize me...” said Mandy moving to walk next to Tilly.
“We didn’t have a choice.” said Tilly. “Ignoring it hasn’t helped, and taking no action won’t help either. This problem of yours isn’t going to go away unless we take action and dig deep. We need to find the root of it all, find out why this is happening to you. Why does it only happen in the winter? What does it mean? Do you know the answers to any of those questions?
“I don’t... No...” said Mandy. She looked at her friend and for a second it almost sounded like she knew what she was doing. Her questions at least were good. They were all questions Mandy wanted to know the answers to.
Tilly cheered up and said, “Exactly! That’s why I’m on the case! This will be my first official case! ‘Mandy and the House...Ooh no! ‘Wandering Mandy and the House’ or ‘Mandy and the Winter Mystery.’ Uh...it will come to me.”
“Tilly, this isn’t a case! This isn’t a game!” said Mandy. For a second there she’d thought Tilly was actually taking this seriously. But clearly this was just something fun to pursue.
“Relax, you’re a friend. I am not gonna charge you...much.” said Tilly. She wrapped an arm around Mandy and gave her a quick squeeze.
“Tilly,’ said Mandy through clenched teeth.
The two girls crossed the street and Mandy realized where they were. She grabbed hold of Tilly’s arm and pulled her in a different direction, “Come on, let’s take another way,”
“Why?” asked Tilly curiously.
“There is this other house I’d like to avoid,”
“Wait! What? Another house on the same street?” Tilly looked around before pulling from Mandy’s grasp. She took several steps in the direction they had been heading.
Mandy sighed and groaned, “Please Tilly...this one creeps me out!”
“Come on, just point it out.”
“No! I don’t need you knocking at another door,”
“I promise I won’t knock but if I’m gonna help you, I need the full experience. Plus, it would be good for me to have a look and, you know, rule out the whole tumor thing completely,”
“I DON’T HAVE A TUMOR!!!” Mandy groaned. She didn’t want to go near the creepy house. Her spine was already tingling. But she knew Tilly didn’t drop things easily. Besides, she was pretty sure the place was abandoned, so even if Tilly was tempted to break her promise she couldn’t. Mandy shrugged her shoulder but took a few steps before pointing at the creepy house. She glanced at it and even that made her feel sick. She looked away and shivered suddenly, feeling cold.
Tilly quickly moved to stand in front of the creepy house. She found it far more fascinating then the first one Mandy had taken her to. “Wow! What a piece of crap! Compared to the other one this place is falling apart.”
“Great, you can see it. Now can we go?”
Tilly ignored Mandy as if she hadn’t even heard her. She dug into her big purse and pulled out her cell phone. She quickly took several pictures of the creepy house slowly moving in closer and closer to get better angles. Mandy begrudgingly followed her.
“Very interesting...Very interesting,” said Tilly every time she took a photo. She nearly walked right up to the house before turning to Mandy and asking, “So what happens with this one?”
“Nothing...it just creeps me out. It makes me feel sick...”
“Like you want to vomit? Hmm, I read some places release toxic gas. Maybe you’re picking up on it,”
“No...It doesn’t make me nauseous.” said Mandy looking at the house, “It makes me feel bad. It’s hard to explain but it’s like that house is a void of darkness...despair...”
“Hmm,” said Tilly taking notes, “That could be a good name for the case, “Mandy and the void of despair,”
Mandy groaned again. Tilly seemed to be having a blast with all this but Mandy was beginning to get annoyed.
“Alright, alright, so is that everything?” asked Tilly, “Just this house and the other one?”
“That’s everything. Can we go now?”
“Yeah,” said Tilly putting her phone back in her purse,” Let’s go inside and check it out,”
Before Tilly could make a break for the front porch Mandy grabbed onto her pulling her back. “No way, Tilly! Have you lost your mind?!”
“Aww, come on. No one lives here. This place is totally abandoned. What would a bit of sleuthing hurt?”
“There is a sign,” said Mandy pointing to a no-trespassing sign just a few feet away from them.
“So? Who’s really gonna care? And even if someone does, if we’re fast enough we can get in and out in no time,”
Mandy had a feeling Tilly had done this before but still protested. “No way! It’s way too risky, Till. It’s snowing and who knows how old or damaged this place is. It’s abandoned for a reason. It isn’t safe,”
“Okay mom,” said Tilly, pulling from Mandy’s grasp. She turned away from the creepy house and headed back to the sidewalk as she ranted, “I swear, Mandy, sometimes you are way too cautious. If you never take a chance, never risk anything, then you’re never gonna get the reward,”
“Don’t call me that just because I have two cents to rub together.”
“Whatever,” said Tilly as they reached the sidewalk. She rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh that puffed out a large cloud of smoke into the winter air. “I’ll just do some research when I get home. But if it comes up dry, you’d better pack some spelunking gear,”
“Nooo,” said Mandy.
Tilly laughed. Sometimes she really enjoyed teasing Mandy. She could get so easily flustered. Mandy knew Tilly was just teasing her but she was beginning to regret bringing her here. Especially when Tilly detoured back to the first house so she could take some pictures of it. Mandy nearly had a heart attack thinking she was gonna knock again.
She was glad when they were finally on the bus home and the whole ordeal was over with. Only it wasn’t. Somehow it only seemed bigger now. She found herself thinking about all the things Tilly had said even after they had parted ways.
Tilly was right. Mandy needed answers. She needed to find out why this was happening to her. Why it was only happening in the winter. And, most importantly, what it all meant. More than anything that was what Mandy wanted to know.
Discover other books, comics, and free short stories from Leona Keyoko Pink and Tim Terry at www.leonakeyokopink.com:
Infinity Series
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Kept
Caged
Caught(Upcoming)
Confess:
Confess
Forbidden
Desire
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Visions of the Maiden
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Season One
Infinite Souls:
Curse of Life
Robberies:
Robberies
Taken
Pursue
Prime
Obsessed:
Sess
The Girl You Die For:
Submit
Fallen (Upcoming)
Other Books:
Ring Master
Weekend
If I Pass This Way Again
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