Estella

(Prologue)

I was killed when I was thirteen years old in my old Victorian home located in Kellwood, Michigan, in 1988. My mother was a psychotic, alcoholic, and my father left me and my mother when I was just an infant.

My only prized possession was my gorgeous ruby necklace, given to me by my great grandmother on my mother's side, Silvia Wringer. It has been hidden under a loose floor board in my small bedroom since I was only four years old. I had tripped over the floor board and gotten stuck, it has been hidden in that cobwebbed little booby trap ever since.

One night, my mother had gone to a party at her friend Elian's house, I know I was asleep, however, I never awoke. It is now my spirit mission to discover why and how I had been killed in order to open the gates to heaven…

My name…is Estella Malka.

Conner

(Prologue)

I was born in 1988, but it is now 2001, and I am in the eighth grade. I am not the most popular in school, or yet much anywhere, so for this reason I will be moving to Kellwood, Michigan.

My mother has bought an abandoned, Victorian house on the outskirts of Kellwood, it's said to be "haunted," but who believes in that stuff anyway? It is just a game that young ones minds play.

I am excited in starting my new school, Monarch Private Junior High, hint, hint; it is a private school so I'm sure I now won't be the only geek…

My name…is Conner Avila.

Chapter One

(Conner)

I am leaving for my new home today, it is seven o'clock in the morning and I have just finished packing. It's going to be a long drive all the way from Colorado.

My mother and I will go and get some breakfast and then hit the road. We should arrive at the new house at about seven thirty tomorrow night. We have perfect weather here in Colorado, however, I here the weather is nasty in Michigan this time of year.

School starts in two days so I have to get that stuff unpacked first, which is why my mother has put my backpack in the backseat of our old beaten up station wagon from 1965. Boy, do we need a new car!

I found a brochure of a house in my backpack. I asked my mom why she had a brochure of an old fashioned, Victorian, abandoned house in my backpack and she said it was our new home! Ha, my moms such a joker … I thought.

The car ride was a blur, I slept for about half the time, then I read a lot of the other time, and when I wasn't doing either of those, I was thinking about how school was going to go tomorrow.

Funny thing when my mom said we were getting close, about 15 minutes later we pulled up to the same house I had seen in the brochure. That's when I asked, "mom why are we here, I thought you said we were getting close?"

Then my mom said, "sweetie this is as close as we can get, because… WERE HERE!!!"

I swear after I swallowed my mom's words I looked up at the house and saw the biggest lightning strike of my life. That's what I thought, it's just a lightning strike, a phase, and maybe soon my mom will realize this home isn't for us… hopefully!

Chapter Two

(Estella)

My mother has died of a heart attack; this will make it much harder to discover the explanation of my death. Real Estate agents have swarmed my old house lately trying to get people to buy it. I have not yet discovered if it has been bought yet, they haven't been here in twenty-nine days, I have been counting. I would think they would have cleaned it up before they showed it, however they have not.

The place is starting to look like a real rats nest, with no furniture, and cob webs all over the ceiling. If I were to look at this house I for sure wouldn't buy it. It looks as if it was a military station during World War II.

As I sit in my old room thinking of what it might be like having new people in my house, I realized that I had been dead for quite some time now, and I haven't aged at all. I look exactly the same; I feel exactly the same, and most of all my thoughts haven't changed. I always thought my mother had killed me, and I feel exactly the same… but the weird thing is that none of my evidence matches up to my mother…Why would that not seem right?

I awoke to a crash something sounding as a car door, but why would realtors be coming so late? Wait realtors, that's absurd, why would they show up now in the middle of the night when they have been gone for 30 whole days?

OH NO!!! That's when I remembered every realtor said if the house was bought; it would be theirs in 30 days. However, the people outside I had never seen before they never had a tour of the house I remember every face walking through those double doors.

I was right though, these people definitely had bought the house because they opened the garage, DANG, they had keys too. What do I do?! I'm panicked, what if they find out about me, where will I go, I have no family, and I have no friends.

I HATE MY MOTHER! SHE DID THIS TO ME, I KNOW SHE DID, AND SHE CAN NEVER TAKE IT BACK! I DON'T KNOW HOW I WILL GET TO HEAVEN, THERES JUST NO WAY, NO WAY AT ALL, I HATE MY MOTHER, I HATE HER!!!

Chapter Three

(Conner)

This place was screaming death; I mean seriously it was written all over it. My mother was turning psychotic; well I thought. Seriously, what mother with a junior high kid would buy such a house, if you even considered it a house.

"Honey, help me get the boxes out of the car," my mom suggested.

" Mom are you joking me or is this really our house?!" I exclaimed.

"You are going to love it sweetie its enormous." She tried to persuade me.

When we got inside it was worse, cobwebs all over the place, and enough dust to make someone gag to death, however there was something about it that made me… excited.

As I walked farther inside the death trap, a cold breeze past me, sending shivers up and down my spine. There was one thing I knew for absolute sure, there was a secret in this house,… that I wanted to find out, No that I needed to find out!s