The sun had set and was replaced by the moon. Laughter and music could be heard from the festival going on miles away. More music could be heard from inside some of the houses as they danced and drank the night away. The red Camry drove up to the house once again but this time Lucy was in the driver's seat. She came out of the car with a jacket twice her size covering her up. Zach came out from her side of the car while another man came out from the passenger seat. Tara opened the back door and came out with another man. The five of them started to walk to Lucy's house together, Tara and the man stumbling a bit on their way. All of them looked to be around the same age. Zach slowly walked up the concrete path leading to the front door. Lucy touched his back softly.
"Are you okay?" she grinned.
"Yeah I'm fine," he replied with a big smile.
"You're baked is what you are," laughed the man walking beside Lucy. Zach just laughed with a big grin on his face.
"Billy, I still don't get why we had to leave," he said slowly. "I'm pretty sure I could've made it with that girl I was making out with."
"Dude, trust me you wouldn't be proud of that." Tara pulled Lucy towards her.
"You sure your parents are okay with me bringing Stu inside?" she asked.
"Yeah they said they were going to my aunt's house now and that they'll be back tomorrow." Tara just gave a cheeky smile. Billy leaned over to her.
"She's pretty drunk," he whispered. "You sure you want those two inside your house alone?"
"She's done worse inside of my house, besides Stu is actually a good guy. I've known him since middle school."
"Okay but you be sure to point out the spots where she's done worse so I don't go near them."
"I will," she laughed. They reached the door and Lucy opened it. They walked inside of the dark house. All five of them took up spots inside of the living room. Tara and Stu took up the big couch while Lucy and Billy sat on the small couch together. Zach sat on the last piece of furniture left which was a big leather recliner chair. He grabbed the remote on the glass table in the center and turned on the TV for some light. The channel was the same Lucy had been watching up in her room. She loved that her dad shared her same taste in movies. This time it was the movie Scream.
"Oh I love this movie," said Billy excitedly.
"Yeah but the last one sucked so badly," Zach said laughing. "These movies crack me up though. Hey Lucy you got any popcorn?"
"Yeah sure I'll be right back." He started to laugh loudly. "What?" she asked when she stood up.
"You broke one of the rules already," said Stu smiling as he held Tara closer to him.
"You're gonna be the first one to die," chuckled Billy. Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Please," she said as she started walking to the kitchen, "if anyone is the first to die it's going to be Zach or Tara." She walked through the doorway and switched the lights on.
"What the fuck?" giggled Tara. "Why me?" Lucy poked her head out the doorway of the kitchen.
"You know exactly why," she raised her eyebrows. Tara replied with a middle finger and a smile.
"I'm fine with dying high," said Zach as he laughed at one of the deaths in the movie. Lucy searched through the cupboards for the popcorn but found nothing. She tried the ones in the top and found the last bag. She put the bag inside the microwave and set the time. While she waited she grabbed a water bottle from the fridge then heard some creaking above her. The creaking continued across the ceiling and she followed it until she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Her body jolted and she turned around quickly breathing heavily only to find it was Billy standing behind her.
"Whoa I'm sorry," he said with a soft laugh. "I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" She nodded as she tried to slow down her breathing.
"How long were you there?"
"Since you opened the fridge."
"Did you hear any creaking in the ceiling?" He raised his brow and looked up.
"No why?"
"Sorry I thought I heard something."
"It's all those movies you watch," he laughed.
"Yeah maybe," she said as she took another glance at the ceiling.
"Can I have one of those?" he asked pointing to the bottle of water. She turned around and pulled another out of the fridge, then handed it to him. The two of them leaned on the counter across from the microwave staying silent as they watched the plate inside the turn. Lucy watched as the bag grew bigger and bigger each second. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes hoping he'd say something. However, he did the exact same thing.
"So," she said slowly, "did you finish the trig homework?" she asked awkwardly.
"Uh yeah. Why? Did you need some of the answers?" he asked just as awkwardly.
"No I actually finished it this morning." He nodded and bit his lip a bit. "Besides," he turned to look at her again, "you're kind of bad at trig." A smile slowly formed and then he laughed.
"Wow that kind of hurt a bit."
"It's true," she giggled. "We sit right next to each other and sometimes I see how bad you are at it. You get lucky at times but then there's times where I'm just like wow." He took another drink from his water when he stopped laughing for a bit.
"It's because I don't study," he said. "I don't know how you do it but I've never been able to study in my life."
"That explains a lot."
"Wait you glance at my work and know I'm wrong and don't even say anything?"
"Yeah," she said with a shy smile.
"Wow you don't even help me," he chuckled.
"How else are you going to learn?" she teased.
"Oh okay," he laughed. "I see you got jokes. You know you like having me in that class. If it weren't for me it'd be so dull in there for you. I make trig fun for you and you know it."
"Yeah you're right," she smiled. The microwave timer went off so Billy opened it and opened the bag. She grabbed a bowl from one of cupboards and held it in front of him. He poured the popcorn into the bowl and once it was all out he grabbed and tossed it in his mouth. She turned the lights back off then they walked back into the living room and handed Zach the bowl. All five of them sat together watching the movie and laughing about funny times they shared with one another.
"Lucy," said Stu, "Remember in eighth grade when we would do laps on the field?"
"Yeah why?"
"Remember after it rained the teacher still made us do laps and you and I jumped over the mud, then when Jeff tried to do it he slipped and fell on his ass."
"Yeah," she laughed. "That was so funny but I felt bad for him."
"You two are jerks," snickered Tara.
"It was hilarious, babe. If you had been there you'd know why it was so funny. He didn't just slip and fall on his ass. When he fell and hit the ground, he bounced right back onto his feet."
"It was really funny, Tara," said Lucy.
"Nah Billy, remember when we were walking through school and that guy in front of us slipped on an orange?" laughed Zach. Billy started laughing really hard.
"I felt like such an asshole because I tried to stop myself from laughing but I couldn't. As soon as he was out of sight I let it all out." Tara whispered something to Stu and he nodded. The two of them stood up together and started to walk away.
"We're gonna go to the guest room," said Tara.
"Please don't throw up in there again," said her best friend.
"I won't," she said as she turned back. "I promise nothing over PG-13," she winked. Zach placed the bowl on the table then stood up as well.
"Please," said Billy, "don't go over there and spy on them." Zach stared at him offended then chuckled softly.
"Do you really think I would do that?" Billy tilted his head. "Relax, man. I'm just going to the bathroom besides its Tara. I've already seen all there needs to be seen." He walked off to the bathroom beside the stairs, leaving Billy and Lucy alone to watch the movie for a bit. The two watched the movie and made nasty faces when someone died brutally. Billy put his arm around Lucy's shoulders.
"Thanks for your jacket." He hugged her closer to him.
"No problem," he said as she leaned her head back against his chest. "I've been meaning to ask you something." She turned her head so she could look up at him, admiring his handsome features. His short, dark brown hair was combed to the side. His clean shaven skin looked so smooth and showed off his jawline. He looked down at her and admired her beauty. He liked her nice defined cheekbones, small dark brown eyes, and her long, wavy hair.
"Yeah?" He took a deep breath.
"Well I was thinking maybe you and I could go out some time. Like on a date." She grabbed his hand with her own and smirked.
"I'd really like that," she said softly.
"How's tomorrow sound?"
"Sounds like a plan." She turned her head back to the movie and smiled excitedly. Zach was walking back to the couch, causing the two of them to turn back to him. They noticed his black hair was wet. "What did you do?"
"The pot makes me all hot," he said. "I had to refresh my face." When he sat down, he noticed how close they sat together. "Did you finally ask her out?" Lucy just smiled and turned back to the TV. "Alright," he laughed, "my man! It's about time. You two kids have fun on your date. Oh Billy don't talk about ghosts it really freaks her out."
"Really?" he chuckled. Lucy just shook her head.
"Yeah, man. You should've seen how she reacted when we told her about the people who died here."
"Zach," she said as she glared at him. He held his hands up in surrender.
"You mean the guy who killed his family?" Lucy sighed and looked down.
"Yeah and then came back years later."
"That was here?" Zach nodded with his brows raised and eyes widened. "Didn't a girl survive?"
"When he came back yeah but she killed herself afterwards. It was all too much for her and the fact that they never found his body just added to her trauma."
"Okay," she said sternly, "that's enough. I don't want to hear anymore."
"It's just a story, Lucy," he said. She stood up and took a deep breath.
"If you want to talk about it, feel free. I'm not gonna be here to listen to it." She walked up the stairs and into the room without even looking at the other side of the hallway. With her back still turned to the darkness she shut her door. Billy stared at his friend disappointedly. Zach merely shrugged and threw another piece of popcorn in his mouth. Billy sighed then made his way upstairs. He knocked on the door.
"It's me. Can I come in?" It was silent in her room. The only sound he heard was from the TV downstairs.
"Go ahead," she said softly. She saw him in her doorway but sat up quickly once the door was open she gasped. While she was lying down she could see the dark figure at the end of the hall. When she sat up, he blocked her view but he could see the fear in her eyes so he turned around. When he turned, she saw nothing and let out the air she'd taken in. She started to breathe fast after having seen what she feared. She didn't know what to believe anymore. It felt as if she was haunted to see these frightening shadows of the unknown. There was no clue why she kept seeing them but the thought of not knowing what they were or what they wanted is what truly scared her. She wanted to leave the house so badly.
"Whoa are you okay? What happened?"
"Just please shut the door."
When he returned to the station, Bolivar spent majority of the day time that was left writing the report on the murder scene. He spent most of his time rubbing his eyes trying to erase the image of that girl's body. His shift had finally ended and his report was all finished. When he pushed through the doors of the station the sun had already left from the sky. He entered his car and reached over into his glove compartment. He pulled out a metal flask full of bourbon and took in two gulps of the liquor. It burned his mouth but felt cool as it passed through down his throat. The thought of being a policeman and drinking before driving was funny to him, bringing a smirk to his face. He drove off into the street, feeling more depressed as ever and hoping that the night would end peacefully so that he might drink himself to sleep.
There were many kids out in the street with their parents so he had to be careful since his buzz was finally starting to take effect. He came to a red light and among the groups of people on the sidewalk there was one who grabbed his attention. There was one man who stood still as a statue in the shadows of night. Amidst the darkness, Bolivar could barely make out his face. Perhaps it was the alcohol buzz but all he could see was a white blur atop a dark blue outfit. The light turned green so he slowly pressed on the gas pedal. As he slowly neared closer to the man he finally saw movement and now the shape of the man's body was gone. Bolivar sped up in the hopes to see this odd figure but when he finally passed the tree the shape was gone. All he could see were the hedges on the side of the house leading to more shadows. He turned his gaze, wondering if he was seeing things but then he noticed there was a red Camry in front of the house where he lost this shape. It looked like the same one he had seen earlier in front of the murder house. Beside the car was the address number of the house, which read seven zero seven. For some reason, the number meant something to him but he could not remember what.
There was a parking space on the side of the street and he took it. The car was parked then turned off while he rubbed his temple, struggling to remember why this address number meant something to him. He sat there glancing over to the house then back to the road in front of him wondering just what it was that was familiar about the house. Finally he decided he needed to call someone for help so he grabbed his phone and called one of his friends from the station. He sat there impatiently waiting as it rang and rang.
"Hello?" finally said a man on the other line.
"Hey Andy its James," he said into his phone.
"Hey James what's up? You caught me just leaving the station."
"Yeah I'm sorry man I'm stumped on something and I figured you'd be able to help me out on it."
"Sure what is it?"
"Does seven zero seven Meridian Avenue mean anything to you?"
"Uh yeah man. That's the murder house remember? That little boy killed his sister there remember?"
"Shit," uttered Bolivar as he glanced over to the house again. He couldn't believe he didn't remember. "Thanks." He hung up the phone then walked over to the front door of the house.