Walking home from meeting with Leah her mind raced with multiple thoughts she looked at her phone it was almost and tired she turned the corner to her street and bumped in to a man in a brown suit she looked up and gasped. The man had serious burn marks on probably half of his body "sorry" she said looking down clutching her bag embarrassed she started to walk past him. "its okay." He said "you don't happen to live in that house do you?" he said pointing at it. Grace panicked this man was starting to creep her out. "Uh, I have to go." She said turning around she walked very slowly hoping the man would leave before seeing her go up the porch. Placing a piece of her hair behind her ear she looked back and the man was out of sight. She raced up the porch and locked the door behind her.
She sighed then heard a noise from the kitchen "Moira?" she said stepping into the kitchen then seeing Constance sitting at the counter smoking a cigarette "get out!" she said "oh don't have a hissy fit!" Constance said "Why are you here?" Grace asked angry "I like it here, my friends are here." She smiled to herself "what the hell are you talking about? Get out or I'll call the police." Grace said grabbing the phone Constance laughed "please, dear just sit with me for a minute would you?" Grace was hesitant, but sat down across from her.
"what do you mean by friends?" grace asked "nothing." Replied Constance "nothing my ass" Grace said getting up from the chair "you shouldn't use that language." Constance said calmly "Well news flash lady, this is my family's house, and you're going to get the hell out of here and never come back because I'm sick of my mother not believing me…" Constance cut her off "I was talking about him she motioned to the corner. Grace looked over to where Constance was looking and saw the small boy standing next to the back door. Grace sighed "what are you doing?" she said helplessly "please?" she said "why are you here? What do you want?" "This is Michael." Constance said "what is he your grandson or something?" grace asked sitting back down and putting her face in her hands "something like that." She replied the boy stood there mute "do you want me to baby sit him or something, because that is not happening." Grace said, Constance laughed "no just introducing you two." Grace looked at Constance and squinted "get out." She said "I'm gone," Constance said grabbing Michael's hand. As they left the house Michaels eyes stayed glued on grace.
She heard a car door shut "shit," she whispered running up to her bedroom shutting the door she saw Tate "I knew it." She said "what?" "That you'd be up here." He pulled a small brown paper bag from his pocket "sshh I'm not supposed to be home." She whispered hearing her mother making her way up the staircase "yeah well neither is your mom." Tate whispered back he was right what was her mom doing home so early? "did you know that Charlie has drugs?" He said showing her the paper bag "no shit." She stated sarcastically "sorry," she stated quickly "rough day." "You knew?" he asked "yeah my mom searches our rooms like once a week how did you find it?" "Okay your brother is a pot head and you don't even care?" "Just give it to me." grace said "should I?" Tate said backing away she grabbed the paper bag just as her bedroom door swung open.
"what are you doing home?" her mother questioned "and what is that?" she said looking at the bag in her daughters hands. Tate was gone out of sight as if he disappeared "wha-"grace started "are those drugs?" her mother said angry "what? No." Claire snatched the bag from graces grip "where the hell did you get this?" her mother yelled now Grace could clearly tell her mother was drunk even worse, day drunk. She grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the room Grace was frantically looking around for Tate. But he wasn't anywhere "ouch! What are you doing?" she said "I'm going to punish you like I used to." Her mother said sternly "Mom stop! Constance was here again I swear we need to make a report!" she yelled "shut up grace! Now I know why you're seeing things it's because you're high!" "I'm not high!" Grace yelled trying to pull away from her mother. Claire now grabbed Grace's chin with her free hand and looked in her eyes "bullshit." She said pulling her daughter down the stairs going around the corner she opened the basement door pushed grace in and locked it shut. "When kids do bad things they need to be punished!" she yelled and stormed off.
Grace tried the doorknob a couple times, gave up and slouched on the top of the stairs. Her thoughts wandered furiously where did Tate go? Was he real? Her head pounding from a headache she heard a noise distant, but still in the basement stepping down the stairs she flipped the light switch up, but nothing happened. Creeping closer into the darkness she remembered there was a basement door. Reaching her arms out she felt a door way and slowly tried the door knob it was locked. She quickly turned around as she felt deep claws grabbed her ankle and fell back, screaming bloody murder a hand went over her mouth and heard a girl yell "go away!" Violet felt Grace's tears run through her fingers. Getting to the bottom of the staircase where she used the light from the upstairs hall grace was shaking and her ankle had three deep cuts on it and was bleeding badly. "Violet?" grace whispered sobbing "it's okay." She replied "what was that?" grace yelled pointing to the darkness trying to get up she fell back in pain. "It won't bother you anymore and if it does just tell it to go away." She said calmly "ahh there you are." Said an older looking man walking into sight "what's going on?" grace whispered crawling backwards hitting the stairs "Charles will help you grace." Violet said "I won't let him hurt you okay?"
she said holding out her hand "no," she said "Moira? Someone help!" she yelled helplessly "we'll just give you some stitches." Charles said starting to take off her shoe. Violet turned on the light as grace looked around frantically at the empty room. "Who are you?" she asked violet and Charles "your imagination of course." He replied. She barely felt the stitches sitting in the cold basement. "This doesn't make any sense you, you live down the street right? Why are you in my house? Why are you both in my house?" she got angry "Get out! Get out this can't be my imagination." she said standing up uneasily. Charles put foam like material up to Grace's mouth who then woke up in her bed instantly sobbing.
She managed to keep quiet as she walked out into the hallway and looked into Charlie's room where he was sleeping and then to her mother's, but she wasn't there. She must've been out for a while. She rushed downstairs and then limped in pain looking down at her ankle she didn't have time to think twice about what had happened she knew she wasn't crazy. Grabbing a box of salt from a cupboard she made a circle of salt around her bed. This was what she had learned from one of her favorite Tv shows, supernatural, to keep ghosts away. She eventually fell into a deep sleep.