Fresca picked up Mindy and Melinda from the airport early that morning and drive home had been every bit as unpleasant as she expected it to be. Mindy asking her questions that she clearly wasn't interested in hearing the answer to and judging at every turn. and Fresca giving short dismissive answers hoping that soon they would just be riding in oppressive silence because that was better then any conversation they could possible be having.

"How've you been?"

"Good." lie

"How's the house?"

"Fine." Pretty true.

"How's that receptionist job?"

"Lost it." True.

"You lost another one? Ugh. You really need to start trying harder."

"..."Damn

"You know that's why your not getting anywhere. Because you're not trying."

"..." They say that the driver is more likely to survive a car crash then the passenger.

"If you tried harder then you wouldn't be living in one of dad's houses on an allowance like some teenager."

"..." I wonder if that's true.

"If you tried harder you wouldn't have flunked out of college."

"..." I guess that wouldn't be fair to Melinda.

"And we all wouldn't be so disappointed in you."

"..." Or I could drive the car into a lake, jump out, save Melinda, and let Mindy go down with the ship.

"You're not painting again, are you?"

Fresca's fingers tightened on the wheel. Just and inch too far left would send us careening off the highway and into the on coming traffic below. "...No."

"Good."

This carried on until they reached the house and by the time they were pulling into the drive way Fresca was regretting her decision not to deliberately crash her car. That conversation had gone on the entire two hour drive from the airport and Mindy was still going as they dragged the bags into the house. Luckily the house is an eight bedroom affair. It's would be so easy to set her up in a room on the other side of the house and work around her schedule. She may never have to see Mindy again. But her sister wouldn't allow that. Mindy would find her and force her into another conversation she didn't want to have.

She helped them carry the bags up the stares to the rooms and huffed as she let the luggage slide to the ground. "This one is mine." She said, pointing to the door closest to the stairs. She'd chosen it so she wouldn't have to go far to get to the kitchen in the morning. "All the others are in good shape so you can just pick one."

Melinda's eyes lit up. "I can really have any room I want?" Melinda looked just like her mother. Small and blond with green eyes and freckles. The biggest difference between them is Melinda's hair grows past her shoulders and Mindy has hider hips but the girl is only 9 so she still has time to catch up to her mothers figure.

Fresca is the only woman in her family to grow taller then 5'3''. She's also the only female with brown hair. That appears to be a predominantly male trait in her family, though she does have their moms green eyes. She didn't take care of her hair the way the other women in her family did either. Sure she washed it and brushed it out everyday but she didn't bother with the oils and the straighteners, preferring to let it go naturally. The most she did was get it cut every once in a while when the split ends started to come back.

She smiled and nodded. "Yep. Any room you want Mel."

The girl ran down to the corner room in the hall and hit the door lightly with her hand as if she was touch base in a game of tag, ignoring her mothers reprimand for running in the house. "I want this one! I can see in the backyard!"

Fresca laughed. She would be able to see the backyard from any of the back rooms and the backyard wasn't really much to look at anyway. Just the usual grass and a tree or two. There was also the pool but it wasn't anything she hadn't seen before. She didn't say anything about it though. If Melinda wanted to see out into the backyard from the corner room then she would see the backyard from the corner room. There wasn't any reason to argue with her.

It took a few hours to help the two of them completely unpack, especially after Mindy couldn't decided if she wanted the room closer to Melinda or Fresca. There was a moment when she thought her sister may just be doing it to be a nuisance. She was certainly thankful that the moving trucks wouldn't be arriving for another two days. Though she didn't understand why Mindy was bringing all of her furniture and decor to a fully furnished house.

The night Mindy and Melinda got to sleep hours before Fresca did. She stayed up late reading and when she could no longer focus on the words in front of her she sighed and attempted to get some sleep. The moment the lights were out she found herself wrapped in her blanket and peering out into the darkness like she did every night. Every creek of the house was an intruder creeping through the halls and every inky black shape was someone who had been waiting for this moment to come out of hiding. She hated how afraid she'd been since that day, even her own house wasn't safe any more.

A particular loud creak of the floorboards had her sitting straight up. After a moment she calmed herself down. She just had to remember that she wasn't alone in the house anymore. She now shares her home with her sister and a little girl. Any unusual noises would most likely be them. Though knowing that didn't it any easier to take her eyes off her open door. She could see directly into the hallway that was dimly illuminated by the window at the far end next to Melinda's new room.

The irregular creaks grew louder and closer, as if someone was moving down the hall. Fresca sat frozen in fear as she clutched her blanket to her. No doors had opened, she reasoned, so there couldn't be anyone walking around. Unfortunately she was wrong. Her heart dropped into her stomach when a figure stepped into her view, far too tall and slim to be either Melinda or Mindy.

Before she could stop herself a painfully audible gasp escaped her and she pressed herself against the headboard causing it to bump lightly against the wall. The figure paused mid step and stood stone still for a beat. Fresca jerked the covers closer to her face when suddenly she found herself staring into the most inhuman bright yellow eyes she'd ever seen, they were all of the intruder that she could see clearly in the dark. It would have been easy to compare then to a cat but the pupils weren't slit. They were round like hers but clearly meant for a much more nocturnal creature. The eyes narrowed, watching her closely, they almost seemed confused. After a moment the figure finally turned to face her fully, never did those eyes leaver hers. The intruder took a small tentative step towards pulling a small whimper from her and she tried to shrink further into the covers. An image of the bat she kept hidden by her bed flashed through her head but she couldn't seem to will herself to move.

The figure studied her reaction and after a moment revealed a mouthful of sharp jagged teeth in a menacing grin. A low deep chuckle filled her room, echoing from the shadows themselves followed by relaxed but sinister voice. "Well now, isn't this interesting?"