Written by AngelsInstead

Violet felt uneasy as she stepped into the school building. There was something about it that gave her the creeps as though she had just walked into a horror movie. She couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu that struck her although she had no idea why the strange and intense feelings were assaulting her. She had no clue about the horrific school shooting that had occured within the school or that she was sleeping in the shooter's bedroom now within her new home.

As she walked the halls, she tried to act calm and nonchalant. She wasn't dressed all fancy like the other girls who were wearing the latest styles and had perfect hair and make-up. Violet had never cared about those things. She was a free spirit and being fake for the sake of appearances had never appealed to her.

It seemed that everyone was staring at her - the new girl. A few laughed and others just turned away as though bored or disinterested. But as three girls approached, Violet felt a sinking feeling in her gut. They didn't look friendly - just the opposite. The leader of the three named Leah began to attack Violet viciously with her hateful words. "So, you're the new girl here? Why do you look like such a freak?" she hissed.

"Excuse me. If anyone is a freak here, it's you!" Violet responded as she tried to move out of the way of Leah and her friends, but they were blocking her from moving toward her classroom.

Leah was puffing on a cigarette. She put it out on Violet's shoe, smashing the ashes onto Violet's canvas shoe with the toe of her designer boots. "You live in the Murder House," said Leah. "Everyone knows it's haunted. A LOT of people died in that house. Is that why you moved there? Are you some sort of strange goth girl or ghost investigator? Do you like communicating with the dead?"

Violet wanted to slap the little bitch, but she didn't want to get kicked out of school on her very first day. "Get the FUCK out of my way!" Violet bit out.

"Everyone dies if they live that house," Leah said in a snotty voice. "Either you're going to die... or you'll end up burning in the fires of hell!"

"Don't turn the lights out!" Leah's friend added. "Because if you do, the ghosties will get you!"

All three of the girls laughed as Violet brushed passed them, hurrying toward her first class. *I hate this school already,* she was thinking to herself. As she made it through the school day, no one was friendly or really nice to her at all. Everyone stared at her as if she were some sort of freak. They were talking about her behind her back which made Violet feel like crap. What were they whispering? Did it have something to do with her new house?

Violet ended up in the library in the late afternoon. The librarian was wheelchair bound. He was one of the few people who struck up a conversation with her. "So, how was your first day?" he asked.

"It pretty much sucked," Violet stated. "Everyone's acting so strange. I don't know what it is... but they keep saying odd things about my house."

"Yeah, well, that house has a lot of history. And hardly any of it is good."

"Really? What happened there?"

"A few years back, a teenager lived in that house. One day he came to school carrying a loaded weapon. Because of his actions, I ended up in this wheelchair, but I was one of the lucky ones."

Violet swallowed hard. "Others were... hurt?"

"Several students died," the librarian stated.

"Why? Why would he do such a thing?"

"Because not everyone is good, Violet. There is evil in this world... far greater than anything you could even possibly imagine."

Violet felt uneasy after her conversation with the librarian. She decided to search the library and get information about the house where she was living. They called it the Murder House because so many had died there. She remembered the ghostly twins in her closet and the other apparitions she had seen.

When she found a book written about the tragedies in her own home, she opened it up to a page and stood there completely stunned. Tate's face was staring back at her. He had been the school shooter. Not only had he brought a loaded weapon into the school building and shot several students and a teacher, he had also set his stepfather on fire. She felt sick as she read about Tate's deadly rampage. Then to top it all off, she read that Tate had been killed by the police in his own bedroom which was now HER room.

She dropped the book as a wave of nausea struck her. She had seen and conversed with a ghost and he had been a killer. As she was staring down at the book, a voice whispered in her ear. "Even the devil was once beautiful."

She turned to see Leah, her greatest hater and tormentor. Why did Leah hate her so much? She had never done anything to her!

"Don't talk to me!" Violet said as she picked up the book and closed it quickly.

Violet walked away so that she could check out the book before the dismissal bell rang. She had a lot of reading to do. She wanted to find out everything she could about the "Murder House."

XooooXoooo

Meanwhile, Ben was in his study, talking to his first patient, a troubled teenage boy. "How can I help you?" Ben asked.

"I have violent tendencies. I think I might kill someone," replied his client. "Actually, I keep having dreams..."

"What do you dream about?"

"I walk into the school with a loaded gun. I am walking the hallways and I know they have to die."

"The kids that bully you?"

"No," responded the teenager. "I kill the ones I like. I am going to set them free from the filth and stink of this fucked up world."

"Do you think you could really harm someone?" Ben asked as the teen was staring off in the distance. Ben didn't know it, but his daughter Violet was standing in the doorway of his study, listening to every word that was being said.

"I can be dangerous," was the soft response of his patient, but he wasn't talking to Ben. He was speaking to Violet, who stared at him with wide eyes. She knew. She knew that he was no longer living. She looked at him with full knowledge of WHO and WHAT he was.

She ran upstairs, hurrying toward the bathroom. She was clutching her stomach, because she was feeling terribly nauseated. Not only was she attracted to a ghost, but a violent one - one who had killed.

The urge to hurt herself, to cut became overly strong. After her mom had lost the baby and her parents had almost split up, the cutting had became a way for her to release her anguish. She reached into the medicine cabinet and pulled out a razorblade, ready to run the sharp edge against the soft flesh of her arm.

Suddenly the lights flickered in the room and Violet tensed, knowing she was no longer alone. HE had appeared out of no where. He was staring at her as she gazed at her own reflection in the mirror. He took the razor blade from her and tossed it aside.

"I won't let you hurt yourself, Violet. I am your protector," he said.

"Even the devil was once beautiful. He had a pretty face," she replied. "But then he became dark and tainted, just like you are, Tate."

He suddenly grabbed her, turning her around in his arms. "Where did you hear that?" he demanded.

She shrugged, despite his tight hold. For a ghost, he had excellent control. She couldn't have escaped him, even if she had wanted to.

"A girl at my school named Leah."

"Leah..." he said as if he knew the name. He was struggling, but the memories were no longer clear. It all seemed like a lifetime ago. WHAT had he done? He grimaced as if in pain as he tried to remember.

"Tate, you killed people," she said in a voice of agony. "You took a gun to school and you shot them..."

"I- I wouldn't do that. I couldn't!" he protested.

"You did and I can prove it."