"This one is your room."
Johanna dropped her bags, gaping at the size of her new bedroom. It was easily double the entirety of their previous apartment.
She turned to her mother, "Are you serious?"
Her mother smiled a very pleased smile at the gaping fish face of her daughter.
"All your's," she said. One more lingering moment of bliss faded away and her mother wrinkled her forehead and headed back to the moving van.
All Johanna was interested in was a few seconds in her new room. It was an old building to be sure but very modern on the inside. The walls were a light blue and the floor had been done over in dark hardwood.
The best part was the wall that faced the street itself: it was made halfway of windows.
It almost made up for the fact that the beautiful house was in London.
Almost.
Not that Johanna disliked London. Quite honestly, she wasn't well acquainted enough with London to really have an opinion.
It just wasn't home.
But it was a 'New Adventure!) (Tm: Her mom) and Johanna was along for the ride.
The house must've been dirt cheap as well, because Johanna knew her single mother couldn't afford a place like this. She had a good job and all, but a house this size this close to the city was pricy. Johanna watched enough House Hunters to know that.
She looked out the window onto the street. In a stunning turn of events, it was cloudy in London. Johanna was used to the dreary weather; it was all they ever had back at home.
The dirt on the window didn't make the sky look any brighter. She'd have to remember to clean that soon.
Her mother called for her to help with the rest of the boxes.
Here we go, she sighed. A new adventure.
OOO
Johanna didn't like the pile of boxes across the room from her. She imagined them with snickering faces, laughing at her plight.
I have to unpack them, she thought with dread.
She looked at her clock, 12:32 am.
I can't unpack these bags at 12:32 am.
So she decided to unpack them at 12:33 am.
She just couldn't take it. Besides, she was always more energetic at night.
And she couldn't sleep on top of that. It wasn't that her new room wasn't awesome, because it was; it was just so...big. No, that wasn't the problem.
It was too empty. She felt so lonely inside of it. It was sort of weird how lonely this room made her feel. It was like it contained this aura of sadness.
Which was ridiculous, of course. Johanna didn't believe in that stuff.
She opened one of the boxes. It was clothes, part one of two.
Johanna started to pull out her array of sweaters, piling them up next to her on the ground. The floor creaked a bit.
Old house, she told herself. She needed to start getting used to old houses.
Dad always wanted an old house.No. Don't think about dad.
Johanna turned to the wardrobe. Apparently many old houses didn't have closets. You were taxed per room so no one wanted to spend the extra money. So wardrobes were it. She'd never had one before.
Methodically she unpacked the clothes, her mind wandering to other things. She was staring school soon. A British Prep school nonetheless.
Johanna started humming If My Friends Could See Me Now as she hung up some shirts.
Something caught her eye near her door. It was a newspaper her mom must've let for her. Johanna was one of the few teens in the world who actually enjoyed reading the news.
Oh, that sounds snobby, Mina scolded her own thoughts. She walked over and picked it up, staring at the bolded headline.
MAN FOUND DEAD IN BACK ALLEY WAY
Yay, Johanna thought dryly, leafing through the article, what a way to be greeted in London. Apparently the man was found early that same morning by some girl out jogging. Why she was jogging in an alley way, Johanna couldn't figure out.
"Samual Ruth was found early this morning. Cause of death appears to be from a slit to the throat believed to be caused by a straight razor. Coincidence or could this be a repeat of the infamous Fleet Street Crimes of the late 1800s?"
Fleet Street...
Johanna's eyes widened.
I live on Fleet Street.
What happened on Fleet Street?