Michael stepped into the front room of the very large house. He looked around as his footsteps echoed through the hand crafted halls.
"It's really great of you to be doing this while your grandfather is in the hospital." Julie said, snapping Michael out of his trance.
"It's not a problem. It's not like I'm complaining..." He looked around the small mansion again.
"Come on in, I'll give you the tour." She said. She began leading him through the ancient house. It's floors were all hardwood, the kitchen had all the newest equipment, the complete opposite of the rest of the house. The upstairs was carpeted. eight rooms, four bathrooms, two kitchens, and multiple other rooms that could be used for things like libraries and studies. The three story mansion wasn't kept in great condition. Spider webs clung to the walls and the walls themselves creaked and groaned.
Michael's grandfather had been sent to a state mental hospital a few weeks ago, and Michael had flown down to care for his house like he had asked him to do. The old man was desperate to get someone to stay in the house, though he wouldn't tell anybody why. The staff had all quit when they realized they weren't going to get paid by the new owner, and now Michael was alone with his closest neighbor, who still lived two miles away.
"So, that's the house." She smiled. "I'm surprised I remembered it all, I've only been here a few times." She said, stopping in one of the biggest bedrooms. "I guess this will be yours." She looked around at the empty room.
"Where did my grandfather sleep? Shouldn't he be using the biggest room?" Michael asked.
"No, from what the staff has told me, he slept in the study." She frowned.
"Weird." Michael mumbled. He had never been all that close with his grandfather. But the few times he did visit, they got along well. The family seemed to have a running streak of early children. When his grandfather was eighteen, he had had Michael's father. When Michael's father was sixteen, he had had Michael. His grandfather was only 57 years old. He had never married Michael's grandmother and lived alone in the house that He inherited.
For years, he spoke about ghosts. Saying they lived in the house and bothered him to no end. Of course no one believe him, who would? A few months ago, he had gone insane. He said they were trying to kill him and wouldn't leave him be. He became a threat to himself and others, and finally they had no choice but to send him to the mental hospital after he was found holding a knife in the study, alone.
Michael was glad to move in. After a rough break up with his last boyfriend, he was looking for a change of scenery. The move had come in perfect time. The lease on his apartment was up, and his boyfriend had finally gotten his shit out of Michael's place. Michael packed up his stuff, and moved. He looked around the hardwood room and frowned at a spot on the wall.
"What is that?" He frowned. The spot was a pale reddish brown and it ran down the wall, at about four feet. It slid down the wall and looked like whatever it was spilled onto the floor. Even the wood was stained.
"Ew. I don't know." The neighbor frowned. "Have fun!" She went back to her perky self and left down the stairs. Michael stared at the spot a moment longer before moving to the U-haul that helped move his stuff here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After hours of bringing his stuff up the stairs to his new room, and getting set up in the house, he was starving. He walked over to the fridge and looked inside. The food was in there was long past expired. He wrinkled his nose and picked up the phone to order a pizza. He set the box he was holding down on the counter, and then began dialing the number.
"Hi, yes I would like a large pepperoni pizza." He said, after dialing the pizza place.
"Would you like to-..." Static filled the phone and the man's voice on the other end cracked and sounded odd.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you." Michael said. He began heading towards the front door, assuming he got no reception in the house.
"I said, would you like-...." The phone did it again. Michael frowned and pulled the phone away. Seeing he got four bars in the house, he continued to go outside, thinking maybe the phone was wrong.
"Sorry, about that. Can you repeat it one more time?" Michael asked.
"I asked if you would like to make it a meal deal and get a two liter of soda and bread sticks for five dollars more." The man said.
"Oh, sure. Thanks." Michael said. Michael gave the pizza guy his address and went back inside, looking at his phone to see if the signal changed. He shrugged and set it down on the table. He walked back into the kitchen and reached for the box he had been unpacking. He blinked when it wasn't where he thought it was. He frowned.
'Didn't I just put that on the counter?' He asked himself. He looked around and found it a few feet away, on the floor. He frowned even deeper. 'I swear I did. Great, now I'm going crazy, too.' He laughed at himself. He picked up the box again and began walking back to the counter. He was about to set it down when it fell to the ground in front of him with a crash. He jumped back and looked around.
"It just slipped out of my hands." He said, scolding himself for being so jumpy inside the large house by himself. He picked the box back up and saw a picture of his boyfriend and himself.
'Ex-boyfriend.' He reminded himself. The glass was cracked and he threw away the frame and the picture. He set the box on the counter and went to go put another box upstairs. He climbed the stairs and stepped into his room. He shivered. The air in here was colder than the rest of the house, which was extremely warm. He noticed the window open and shut it. He set the box down, before returning downstairs.
The a few minutes later the doorbell rang. He set the box down and grabbed his wallet as he headed off to answer it. He opened the door and was greeted with the young pizza guy looking around at the house.
"Hi." Michael said.
"Whoa, you got down here fast." The guy laughed.
"Excuse me?" He frowned, while reaching for his money.
"I just saw you upstairs as I was parking, opening that window." The pizza guy said.
"Oh...How long were you out there? I was closing that window like five minutes ago." Michael laughed, trying to hide his confusion.
"No, it was just now. As I was walking up." The guy handed him the pizza and waved goodbye as he headed back towards his car. Michael shut the door and stood in the opening hallway. He frowned and set the pizza down on a box as he walked slowly up the stairs. He turned and looked at his room from down the hallway. He couldn't see the window from here so he stepped closer, trying to see around the corner. He readied himself for anything and took a step into the room. The window was closed.
"I cant believe I just did that." He laughed at himself. He turned around. "There's no fucking ghosts." He said. He stepped out of the room and was halfway down the hall when he heard a loud slam. He turned back and ran towards the room. The window was open.
