~*~Chapter Four : Run Away~*~

The next day at school, Marty's new friends, Megan and Jason were talking about the 'murder house.' "Why do you call it that?" Marty questioned with a frown. She didn't want the beautiful Victorian Mansion her family now owned and was growing to love to be known as something so grisly.

"A lot of people died there. I can't believe you actually LIVE there!" Megan gasped as she sat at a table in the cafeteria with Marty and Jason having lunch. They were having baked beans and hot dogs and Marty could barely stomach the school cafeteria's so-called food.

"They say the place is haunted," Jason stated.

"What exactly happened there?" Marty asked.

"A guy went crazy and murdered his whole family," Jason told Marty.

"And that isn't all!" Megan exclaimed.

"Yeah, you should really go to the library and get information on what happened within your house," Jason urged.

"Maybe I'll stop by the library after school," Marty replied. "I'm intrigued... and want to know exactly what happened in my house."

"Want me to go with you?" Jason asked.

"No, if I have any trouble finding the information, I'll ask the librarian."

~*~o~*~

After leaving school that day, Marty stopped by the Llanview Public Library and found a book written on the history of her house. "Didn't your parents just buy that house?" the librarian asked Marty when she took the book up to the front to have it checked out.

"Yes," Marty replied. "I hear it has quite a history."

"Yeah, you're going to be stunned when you read that book," the librarian stated as she stared at Marty in concern. There was no way she'd ever live within those tainted walls - not after all the evil and violence that had taken place there.

"My friends said the house is haunted," Marty commented as the librarian scanned the book, then handed it back to Marty.

The librarian shuddered. "One never knows," she said mysteriously. Marty said nothing as she walked away carrying the book.

~*~o~*~

Marty lugged the heavy, leather-bound book up to her bedroom. She didn't want her parents to see it and become upset that she was researching their home and the previous owners. Her dad had said that the house was fine and that she shouldn't be worried. Marty didn't want to upset her mom either, considering she had just discovered she was pregnant with twins.

Sitting down on her bed, Marty opened the book to a random page. To her shock and surprise, she came upon a page of pictures. "Ohhh my God!" she gasped when she recognized Todd, her father's new patient in a few of the photos.

According to the book, Todd and his parents Peter and Barbara Manning, also known as Bitsy Manning were the most recent owners of the home before Marty's parents had purchased it. 'When the Mannings arrived in the home located at 1177 Lincoln Street, the residents of Llanview, Pennsylvania experienced horror unlike anything they had ever known...' Marty read.

Staring into Todd's eyes within the photos, Marty felt weak. Realizing that he too had lived within the "Murder House" made her want to run away. The urge to throw the book across the room and run out of the room suddenly assaulted her. As her heart pounded wildly in her chest, Marty dropped the offending book to the floor.