Megan Talbert signed the last page of the many papers to close the deal on the purchase of her new home. It was a fixer upper, and she was not only ready for the challenge, but she welcomed it. She shook hands with the realtor and exchanged the pen for the keys to her first house. The condominiums she had rented previously did the trick, but nothing would provide such elation as owning her own house, complete with a front and back yard.
Climbing in her BMW, she raced from the business park to the quaint neighborhood streets to have another look. It was pretty beat up from the outside. The inside was a different story. She couldn't believe the realty was practically giving it away. Something about murders in the home many years before came up in conversation. The house had been vacant ever since, except for the occasional visits from neighborhood kids looking for a quick place to hook up and party for the night.
Megan parked in front of the home and climbed out. A few people on the sidewalks stopped in mid step to watch her. Their jaws dropped as they saw her lift the 'for sale' sign from the yard after she entered through the gate.
Her hands trembled with excitement and a little fear, as it was getting dark and the area was new to her. She had just moved to Haddonfield as a transfer to the local hospital. She was a surgeon by day and a tv junkie by night.
Megan finally got the key into the old lock, having to use her strength to turn the key without breaking it off in the rusty lock. The sound of the lock coming out of it's long, lonely home was music to her ears.
The door creaked as she opened it and stepped into the pitch black. Feeling around on the wall for a light switch, she finally located one. She flipped the swtich positions up and down without any luck. She ran back out to the car and got a flashlight from the trunk's emergency kit. Her excitement led her to run back down the sidewalk back into the house.
The flashlight struggled to shine, as it was on it's last leg. She hit the side with her hand each time it threatened to cut off. It finally cooperated and she shone it around the foyer.
The walls had holes in them and the places that didn't were still covered in 70's wallpaper. There were still a few small pieces of furniture scattered throughout the house. They were covered in sheets that were a dingy white.
Cobwebs adorned anywhere they were able to have been spun. The musty smell, did indeed, prove that the old house had been vacant for many years. Dirt and grime covered the floors and she made clouds everytime her feet came in contact with the floor.
"This is gonna be a long ride", she said outloud, thinking of the many hours of labor she would have to endure just to clean the place up in order to make it decent enough to flip.
*bang*
"Hello?", she asked, jumping in her place, shining the flashlight anywhere her eyes looked. She couldn't quite pinpoint exactly where the noise came from. Her instincts said to get out of there until she could come back during the day. But something, deep inside, implored her to explore the old dwelling. She gingerly took small, quiet steps, her torch shining everywhere. The detective in her was fueling her adrenaline after all the crime shows she watched.
Megan made it from room to room without any luck. The kitchen was the last room on the lower level to check out. The sink was full of thick, congealed water and still had dishes in it. It almost looked like noone bothered to fix or clean up the house for unknown reasons.
The only thing that adorned the tops of the counter was an old butcher block. The slits that used to house the knives were covered in dust and cobwebs. The dining room was attached to the kitchen. She slowly pushed the swivel door open. The table and hutch were still intact and the china display looked as it it had never been touched.
Reaching up a hand, she grabbed the turnkey to open one of the glass doors and take a closer look. Something about the patterns on the china triggered a childhood memory of the set her Grandmother used to guard with her life.
She traced her fingers over the pattern of small flowers and greenery. She almost dropped the plate, as the same noise came again.
*bang*
Her eyes quickly shot over the the living room to her right. A small amount of light shown in from the streetlights that had just woken up. The rays barely made it through the old, dark and dingy curtains. The corners of the room were so pitch black, that if you stared at them long enough, your eyes would start to play tricks on you.
Megan carefully put the plate pack in its place and secured the old hutch. The silence was eerie. She realized not many cars had passed by the old house, since she parked. She was starting to take steps toward the living room when her phone cut the silence like a knife, startling her.
She reached down to grab it from her coat pocket and saw the display said she had one voicemail. Not very good reception in this old place, she thought, dropping it back in its hole. She figured she'd done enough for one evening and decided to call it a night.
Little did she know there had been a figure in the corner shadow watching her every move...