I huffed, and mumbled, "Yes it does."

Chapter 7:

"No, Bella, it doesn't," he said in a tone that meant 'this discussion is over, so don't bring it up again.' He threw down the washcloth and left the room, probably going to wash the paintbrush in the sink. Well, looks like he wasn't finishing the painting today.

I glared at the door after he closed it. Yes, it does.

I stared at the door for a long while, and then I realized something. There was a little compartment in the door. I was sure that hadn't been there before..

Hesitantly, I stood up and began to walk over to it.

I stuck my hand in the dark hole, and came out with a piece of rolled up paper.

Huh?

I unrolled it out of curiosity. It had a picture of a key, and a little diagram.

The diagram was of the fireplace in my room.

It was a very detailed drawing, down to the last brick. One brick, however, was outlined in a purplish color, while the rest was drawn in black. It most likely meant that I had to go to that purplish brick.

So, I did. I walked over to the fireplace, and looked around. And then I found exactly what I was looking for.

It was a sort of reddish- brown brick. The rest of the fireplace was made of grayish bricks.

I pulled on the brick, and found that it was in too far for me to get it out without damaging anything. I looked around and found a knife. Using the knife as a crowbar, I was able to pull the brick out of it's place in the fireplace.

This was becoming a little creepy. It was JUST like that Nancy Drew game on the computer. The one that gave me nightmares the first time I played it.

I pulled out another piece of paper. Now I was just mad. How many freaking pieces of paper was I going to have to follow?! My Gaud. I opened the paper angrily.

What I found made me slightly less angry.

It was a tiny key, one that looked like it fit in those little diaries. According to this paper, I was supposed to find a book like that.

It had a picture of the library. Great, I was going to have to look through all of those books in that huge room, to find the one I needed.

I groaned, and began to head for the door, key in hand.

"Tell Tale Heart…" something, like that time in the passageway, whispered in my ear. "Read it, read it, and the heart will tell you the tale."

The tale?

"The tale…"

I closed my eyes, and listened to what it was telling me. The room warmed up considerably, and I continued down the hallway, down the grand staircase, and to the library.

Now I knew what book I needed. Gaud, these ghosts weren't ones to just tell you what they mean, were they? So cryptic.

I sprinted to the library, and threw the huge double doors open. I looked around, and found Jacob on an old computer in the far end of the library. "Jacob?" I asked. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"That's a dollar," he called back, instead of giving me an answer. I had made a deal with him, that whenever I said a 'bad word,' he got a dollar. I was up to five since we moved here.

I rolled my eyes, and pulled out a dollar. "Here ya go," I said, and walked over to him to give him the dollar. He took it eagerly.

"I'm making a fortune off of you!"

I rolled my eyes again and looked away.

"Okay, booger, now I'm serious. Why are you in here?"

He smiled. "I found this old computer! And I've been trying to figure out the password for it. Man, the family that lived here before just had everything!"

I was confused. didn't the family before us live in the time BEFORE computers? Hmm, maybe I'm just nuts.

I couldn't believe I was about to say this, but, "Hey, Jacob, you wanna help me out?" I asked.

He looked up at me from the corner of his eye. "Help you out with what?" he asked evilly.

I took a huge breath. "I'm investigating. Now, do you want to help me or not?"

His face lit up. "Yeah, I do!"

"Okay, good," I said, taking the paper out of my pocket and showing him. "I need to find a book called The Tell tale Heart. I need help finding it, okay?"

He nodded, and pushed himself away from the desk. "You know, I read that book in school once," he said as he searched the west wall.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically, while searching the North wall. How the heck did they have this library organized??

I pulled out a book, and a piece of paper fell out. It read:

By year, then personal preference.

That was a stupid way to organize a library! How was I going to find it now? Sure, I knew how it was organized, but what year was The tell tale Heart written in??

And who's personal preference? Uhhg. I was going to be here all day.

Well, I guess it was a good thing that I had Jacob as well.

"Yeah, I think the guy in it is really creepy because he killed the old guy just because of his eye!"

"And then the entire time he was trying to convince you he wasn't crazy," I mumbled.

"Exactly, and- oh, hey! Look! I found it!" he yelled.

I smiled. Yes! I love my little brother!

I ran up to him, and he handed it to me. It was locked.

"Oh, sorry. It's locked," he murmured.

"That's no problem," I replied, and pulled the key from my pocket, and twisted it, opening it. He watched me with such fascination. I looked back down at him and smiled.

I opened the book up, and began to read.

TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story.

No, that wasn't it. I skimmed ahead.

I took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly so cunningly, that no human eye -- not even his -- could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out -- no stain of any kind -- no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that.

Three planks… that's it! I had to find a room made up of planks for the floor!

"Thanks," I said quickly, and began to run for the doors.

"Hey! Where are you going!?" He called. "You promised to let me help you!"

Oh, yeah, huh? I stopped, and motioned for him to follow. He ran for me, and when he reached me, we left the room, and sprinted up the stairs together.

I stopped on the second to last step, and put my hand out, stopping him as well. "Do we even know where we're going?" I asked.

He shrugged. I sighed, and turned around, walked down the steps.

He followed after me. "So what are we doing?"

"We're searching all the rooms for one with planks for a floor," I replied.

"Ahh," he breathed. I nodded.

I turned a corner, and entered the first room on the left side of the grand hall, Jacob on my tail.

I walked in, and walked right back out; this room didn't have planks.

The next room didn't either.

Or the next.

Or the next.

It probably took about ten different rooms, before we found one.

It was really cold in here, and I knew that one of the ghosts were in here, watching us.

"Bella?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why is it so cold in here?"

"I don't know," I replied. It was a lie, but either he would freak out, or call me a liar.

Someone chuckled from across the room.

I jumped at the sound. "Was that you, Jacob?" I asked. It didn't sound anything like him, but I just wanted to make sure.

"No, it wasn't."

Something crashed, and Jacob was in my arms, like Scooby and Shaggy in those cartoons.

We looked towards the sound -well, I looked, Jacob was cowering against my shirt,- and saw a man standing there, smiling, and laughing at us.

Crap.

- - - - - -

Hehehe… soo, how was the chapter? *Smiles a 'I'm innocent, I deserve a cookie!' smile, as if I didn't just leave you all hanging until I got around to updating again.*

Well, you guys made it to four last time, can I get five this time (as in reviews..)? You make it to five, and I'll update real soon!

And I posted the first chapter of I'm With You. Did everyone head over there yet? PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE???