Roanoke

[KyloGlenn]

@Forevveru


Shoshanna’s attention was pulled from her phone when her uber driver announced that they were about to arrive. Looking up from her phone and out the window, she saw trees, the sunlight distorted by leaves and branches. As they continued on driving, though, the trees seem to clear enough for her to see a house through them.


‘It sure is old.’ Just as her cousin had said it was. 


She got a better look as they turned, pulling in front of the house. It was big, the color of white had been dirtied over the years it had been standing. But it and the surrounding area wasn’t as gross as she had pictured it to be. She imagined it to be something out of a horror movie from what her cousin had described over the phone.


“This the place?” The driver questioned.


“Uh, yes.” Shoshanna stuffed her phone in her pocket and unbuckled her seatbelt. Opening the car door, she stepped out. The sun burned, but other than that there was a cool breeze. It smelled like the woods. The area didn’t seem nearly as awful as she expected, either. She turned back, grabbing her suitcase, the carry on that came with it, and her purse. She swung the latter over her shoulder and pulled her luggage out of the uber. “Thanks for the ride! Have a nice day.”


“You too.” 


With that she shut the car door and the man drove off. ‘Leaving me with no escape.’ Shoshanna nearly laughed at herself. 


As she dragged her items to the house, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. She chalked it up to the creepy details her cousin shared freaking her out. Like after watching a horror movie. No one was really watching her. 


Oh, how wrong she was.


Up to the front door and Shoshanna knocked, waiting for her cousin to greet her.

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

@KyloGlenn


At the current moment the only sound that could be heard in the house was some movement of pots and pans as Julia went about putting together a roast with potatoes and carrots into a crock pot to have for later that night. Partly it was to keep her mind preoccupied off of what was going on as of late. Not only were there some weird things that have been happening but also an attack of being choked in her sleep.

With everything starting to freak her out she ended up calling one of her cousins and asked if she would come stay for awhile. With Shoshanna looking for a place of her own, she thought it would help her save up money as well as help give her peace of mind that maybe she was just going crazy and imagining things. The home was rather old and it could have been her imagination running wild, but at the current moment she couldn't seem to convince herself that this was actually the case.

The bark from Lexi, her one year old puppy, got her attention just a moment before the knock at the door. With the dog barking at nothing as of late it probabaly wouldn't have made her think twice, except grow nervous, but luckily the knock caused her to feel a little better. And since she was just about done in the kitchen anyway she hurriedly put the lid on the crock pot before going to answer.

"It's good to see you!" She greeted her cousin at the door before offering to take one of the bags. "How have you been?"

 

[KyloGlenn]

Shoshanna grinned when her cousin opened the door, greeting her. "It's good to see you too, Julia!" She pulled her cousin into a hug before pulling away and letting her take one of her bags. "I've been good. How've you been? I know that things are pretty hellish here." Shosh still wasn't quite sure where she stood on what her cousin told her. They seemed to be ghost stories. It very well could be just the old house, the location getting to her.


And other than Lexi, Julia was alone here.


But Shoshanna wouldn't just dismiss Julia's claims. Especially when it came to the attack. Julia couldn't have been imagining that, could she?


It was then that Lexi came up to Shoshanna, sniffing at her and her bags, tail wagging. Shosh reached out and scratched behind the dogs ears, looking around at the interior of the house. It wasn't as bad as she thought. "This place is nice, though. Maybe we could do some work on it, getting it to feel a little more homey?" Shosh suggested. Maybe that would make Julia feel a bit better.


The place wasn't very personal. Big and more empty than it was full. Nothing that a trip to Home Depot and a furniture store couldn't fix, right?


But it wouldn't be long before Shoshanna learned that it wasn't just the appearance of the place or the location that was affecting Julia.

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

"I've been.. okay. All things considered," Julia responded sheepishly with a smile after she hugged her back just as she saw the puppy come out to where they were. It didn't surprise her that Lexi would want to know who was knocking at the door since the poor Siberian Husky had been jumpy as of late.

After taking one of the bags she moved slightly so her cousin could walk inside. The idea of making it more homey sounded nice though with everything she had been experiencing lately, it was hard for her to believe it would work. But the suggestion and having a friendly face there was enough to at least make her feel more sane and maybe something normal like furnishing the house would help.

"I'd like that," she admitted with a nod. "I've been kind of putting it off but now is as good a time as any," she figured.

"There's a bedroom down here and a couple of empty ones upstairs. You can have whichever you like," she told her and let her see the one that was on the main floor which was a decent size and even had its own bathroom.

 

[KyloGlenn]

“We’ll put home improvement on the to do list.” Shoshanna commented as she let Julia lead her into the bedroom on the first floor. “I have an eye for interior design, you know.” 


The inner designer in her came out as she observed the room. She already loved it. It had its own bathroom, it had potential. Downstairs probably wasn’t the safest place to be, if these intruders came back. But then again, no place would probably be safe, if they made it all the way into Julia’s room. Maybe they could invest in a security system as well. If Shoshanna was going to stay here, she wanted to make sure she and her cousin would be as safe as they could be.


“I don’t need to see anymore, I pick this one.” Shosh turned to her cousin and smiled. Bags were dropped in the middle of the room, as a claim. “Thank you, for letting me stay with you.” Not only did Julia have her situation, but Shoshanna coincidentally needed a place to live.


“Now, something smells good and you have to take me to it, And we need to catch up. Especially on this house situation.” Shoshanna took the bag from Julia and set it with the others. Her arm interlocked with her older cousin’s.


“I couldn’t really understand everything on the phone, but I bought this app on the way here that supposedly lets you talk to ghosts. And I also have the police on speed dial, I just need to know what all is going on.” Now that the two could sit, calm, face to face. She got most of the major details, but sometimes the story would lean more towards the supernatural than it did to reality.

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

"I know," Julia couldn't help but smile in response, even though it couldn't have been seen with her leading the way. The conversation almost made her feel normal again for a second. Hopefully with having someone else here it would make the weird things stop and she could just come to term that she might have imagined it. Maybe the attack was just apart of a bad dream? It was hard to imagine but it could be possible.

Grinning slightly, it didn't surprise her when Shoshanna choose this room. She figured it would be a good fit to feel more of a sense of privacy. Plus having ones own bathroom was also nice. "I should be the one thanking you." Even if her cousin didn't really believe the strange stories she told her, the place was still out in the middle of nowhere basically, and to deal with a potentially crazy person on top of that would be hard on anyone.

Laughing lightly as she handed back the bag she nodded. "Well I just put the roast in, so it won't be done for a fee hours," she said and figured that would give more than enough time to mention everything that was happening. It wasn't a whole lot though, aside from the attack.

"Talk to ghosts?" She asked curiously as they walked into the kitchen and to where the table was for them to sit down. The thought actually made her nervous even though she did her best to hide that. If there really were ghosts here, which she believed there was, then the thought of talking to them frightened her because that meant one of those spirits attacked her.

"Well you already know about the attack... the rest is just kind of minor," she first explained while taking a seat. "Mostly it's just little things like catching movement out of the corner of my eye. And I know it's not Lexi because she's beside me many times when they've happened. Or she will randomly just bark or growl out of no where. Sometimes I've thought I'll see a person out in the distance when I take her out, or the random times I happen to glance out a window. But then I'll look away for a minute and then when I look back they're gone," she told her and knew it probabaly sounded crazy and that the only viable things were the attack and Lexi acting weird.

"She refuses to go out at night too. I can't really figure out why.. but I noticed it after the first few times I tried to take her out. She just whines and runs off. Now I just have to make sure to do it before the sun starts setting." As if on cue Lexi came over to lay by their feet. She usually tended to stick near her or lay on the couch. It didn't seem like she cared to be alone very much. "I know I probabaly sound like a lune huh?" She mused to try and make light of things just a little bit.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Shoshanna took a seat next to her cousin, eyebrows furrowing as Julia explained all of what was happening. "You don't sound too crazy," a chuckle. "But if you ask me, that straight up sounds like the plot to the next Paranormal Activity movie." She wasn't saying her cousin was lying, just being honest by saying that's what it sounded like. 


Shoshanna believed Julia was attacked in her sleep. She couldn't just come up with things like that, could she? Shoshanna theorized that maybe all the things Julia'd been seeing might've been a result of the attack. Maybe some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder.


"Have you told anyone about the attack, apart from me? Police, therapist, instagram?"


But that still wouldn't explain Lexi.


Well, this was a new place. Maybe the dog was having a hard time adjusting? Could dogs be scared of the dark?


Maybe there was someone there. Maybe not ghosts. But a living person. "Does anyone else live out here? This is the south, this house is in the middle of nowhere. Hicks everywhere." Shosh offered some explanation. It realistic, believable. But it wasn't a settling explanation. If anything, it was more worrisome than ghosts.


"You're young and pretty, they could be perving on you." That probably didn't mean anything good for either of them. But the subject of looks got her thinking, "What did your attacker look like?" Shoshanna had a lot of questions. She wanted to help Julia, not to mention she'd be living out here too. Whatever this was, they were both in danger of it.

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

"Yeah it does doesn't it?" The thought caused her to grimace a little. While Julia knew it sounded that way, and she certainly didn't mind horror movies or the Paranormal Activity ones, usually the movies for that genre were crappy nowadays. In her opinion anyway. And it did sound like the making of a crappy, tacky, horror movie.

"Oh God no," she shook her head when Instagram was mentioned. The thought of that nauseated her as she could just imagine the negative, or even positive, feedback. Some might claim she was making it up to get attention.

"I thought about going to the police.. But I didn't really get a good look at the people because of how dark it was. Actually.. now that I think about it, it did seem darker than usual.. but I had just woken up so I guess that doesn't mean much."

"There is a family that lives kind of close to here, I think," Julia nodded slightly. "Some hicks too. You don't think they know of a way in the house though do you?" She frowned. "Because sometimes Lexi just barks and growls at empty rooms. But who knows if there could be secret passages or something.." Julia winced after the mention of secret passages. Now it really did seem like some tacky horror movie in the making...

"Maybe," she agreed and the look on her face said she didn't really like the thoughts of some perverts bothering her. "Well.. there was a few of them in the room actually. It was hard to see because of the dark plus it's all fuzzy now from how fast it went and the anxiety I felt.. but I think the one who actually attacked me was a woman. They all had long hair, or it looked like it anyway, so I can't even be sure it was a woman other than the voice sounding feminine," she explained.

"It was hard to hear exactly what was said but I do know they don't want me here," she added before a better detail popped up. "Oh! The weird thing was the clothing. I only caught a glimpse but it wasn't clothing like ours. Theirs looked old. I'm talking like at least hundreds of years old." It wasn't lost on her that it could've been costumes though, or just some weirdos dressing up in clothing from a different time period. There were shops that sold that sort of thing for like Masquerade Balls, Renaissance fairs, and other similar things. But it was still weird either way.

 

[KyloGlenn]

"A few of them?" And one of them a woman. In weird clothes. Talk about vintage. "Sounds like hicks to me. Probably obsessed with how life used to be or something." Shoshanna waved her hand. "But in all seriousness, maybe we should talk to the police. So they at least know what to look for in case something happens."
 


There wasn't anything wrong with filing a police report. It was their job to keep citizens safe, after all.


Shoshanna stood then, "This place is really old. And you said it's been empty for a long while, right? Maybe they do know ways into the house. Have keys to the locks or something." Shosh knew she should be comforting her cousin, but she didn't want to ease her mind and then have the two of them murdered in their sleep because they weren't being safe.


"I say we take a couple days, fix the place up. So maybe I can witness this first hand. And if this stuff persists, we'll go file a police report. No one can fault two young women for being scared in a big house in the middle of nowhere." Shoshanna shrugged. She believed something happened to her cousin, but she wouldn't get too worked up until she witnessed it.


If anything, maybe her nonchalant behavior would ease Julia a bit. 


"Now, give me the grand tour of this place. I've seen my room and the kitchen. I need to know where I'll be living for a while." And she needed to check the security. See all of the possible ways of getting in the house. 


Lexi got excited when Shoshanna stood, play bowing as if she herself was ready to give the woman a tour.


Shoshanna had yet to see this dog be aggressive or growl. Maybe it wasn't just a new place. Maybe there was something more. 'Maybe rats?'

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

Nodding slightly, it did bother Julia even more that it was a few of them instead of just one or two. It made the home feel less safe. "Maybe your right. Seems kind of late though since it was a few nights ago," she said and regretted not making the police report then. But she hadn't been sure they'd take her seriously if she mentioned the weird clothing on top of how she didn't get a very good look at any of them. Plus she was more than a little freaked out to leave the house and drive the car through the woods just to leave the house for awhile. The thought of something else happening caused her to feel dread, but it almost seemed better to wait and file a report next time something did happen, if there was a next time.

"That's true. I did replace the locks on the front and back door. But who knows if there's a bad window or another door I somehow missed," she said and suddenly thought to replace all of the windows with better ones. That and she'd be inclined to agree about a security system.

"I'll look into prices for security systems and maybe replace the windows," Julia replied and tried to have the same nonchalant attitude, though it was harder for her since she already experienced things. "Who knows maybe it'll stop now that your here," she added and did feel a tiny slimmer of hope that maybe things could get back to normal.

"A guard dog could be a good idea. I love Lexi but she's not exactly a guard dog. Plus it might be good for her to have a companion around. Where we lived before there were always other dogs and cats around. Out here has to be lonely for her too." She was barely a year old too, which meant she was used to being around more than just  Julia. Or at least used to hearing dogs bark and cats meowing.

The way Lexi got up and playfully bowed caused her to smile. So far she wasn't acting strange but she wouldn't hold her breath until one whole night passed. Maybe if they got through one whole night of nothing weird, which had yet to be the case, then she could really start to feel more hopefully.

"Okay," she agreed and then got up herself and led her towards the living room. There was that and another small room that could've been used for an office, small library, or something similar. After that she decided to skip the basement for a minute and took her upstairs to see the other rooms were.

"That's the main bathroom and then my room is at the very end of the hall," she told her after they passed two other bedrooms. "There's a basement too which I can show you. There's not much to see though. It's pretty much just where the washer and dryer is at."

 

[KyloGlenn]

“Maybe what you need is a gun.” Shoshanna offered with a shrug, following after Julia as the tour began.


As they moved through the house, Shoshanna kept her eye out for any bad locks on windows, or even it not being shut all the way. She even looked for cracks in the wall, like where a secret door would be. But she didn’t see anything. Except, “Tons of potential.” The place was dim and dark, unsettling. Not cozy like a home should be.


‘Maybe Julia left the door unlocked.’ She wasn’t faulting her cousin for that. Even she forgot to lock things every once in a while. It was just unfortunate that she was attacked. 


“Basement?” Admittedly, that creeped Shoshanna out. It was probably just instinct, considering how many horror movies utilized basements. ‘Not a horror movie.’ But a thought came to Shoshanna’s mind. “Is there anyway into the basement from outside? Kinda like a cellar basement?” She questioned. Shosh figured Julia would’ve covered that. And she hadn’t noticed anything outside.


It was then that the following pup’s posture shifted. Ears perked, body tensed, and nose pointing. It took a moment, but Lexi started to growl. Her head lowered and she started to slowly approach the room Julia had said was hers.


“That’s…weird.” It was quite the sudden shift. Shoshanna had just figured it would be just like a dog seeing someone outside, passing by the house. But this was aggressive.


Lexi stopped right outside the door, not going into the room.


Shoshanna glanced to her cousin before following after the pup, looking into the room. Nothing. 


Not in the room, anyway. Outside, where night began to fall, Shosh could’ve sworn she’d seen a flash of something dark. ‘Bird.’ She decided. It was getting late, and all of what Julia was telling her was freaking out. She shook her head, turning back to her cousin. “Nothin’.” Lexi seemed to relax then, going back to her puppy self. She turned away from the room, to brush up against Julia's legs.


"Think a bird spooked her."

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

"Well I would need lessons too," Julia noted. The idea of a gun made her nervous but she also thought it might be something to consider. If nothing else it gave her the idea to leave a sharp knife under her pillow just in case there was an incident again while she was asleep. Hopefully there wasn't, but it was better to take some precautions.

Nodding slightly, Julia didn't much like the basement. It was just like any other basement, but it just seemed creepier because of the weird things that had been happening. Had there been no weird occurances then maybe she would feel different. "No. Nothing obvious anyway. Maybe tomorrow I should take a closer look down there just in case there is some way in through there."

When Lexi started growling Julia couldn't help but visablly tense. Especially when she realized the dog was heading towards her room. It made her feel uneasy considering how she had been attacked in there. Oh yes, some sort of alarm system sounded fantastic. Maybe a surveillance system if nothing else. That way she could play back videos and see if she caught anything on camera.

Oh god now it does sound like Paranormal Activity movies...

Luckily it was just a thought and she hadn't said it out loud.

"Could be. I think this house has us both rattled", Julia said while smiling down at Lexi before picking her up to hold her for a minute. She was kind of glad to have gotten a Pomsky since it meant she would stay little forever.

"Do you want to head back to the kitchen? I could make us tea, or whatever you'd prefer. I'm sure the food will be done before too much longer. Maybe we could even try that app you mentioned while we wait?" She suggested even though the thought of talking to ghosts, if there really was such a thing, made her nervous.

 

[KyloGlenn]

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Shoshanna agreed. The house did have the both of them rattled. Scary stories made people paranoid. Freak out over things that probably weren’t even there. “Tea sounds nice and relaxing.” And they both needed to wind down.


Tea, dinner, Shosh would do a little unpacking, and then bedtime. She hoped the days events and Julia’s experiences wouldn’t effect her sleeping. ‘Hopefully I forget about it by bedtime.’


Shoshanna threw an arm around Julia’s shoulders and began to lead her downstairs, as if she knew the house like the back of her hand already. “We can mess with the app. I paid two bucks for it so hopefully we get some entertainment out of it.” Shoshanna didn’t so much believe in the ghost theory. She figured it was some creeps and Julia’s paranoia.


A little bit of her own paranoia as well.


But Shoshanna wasn’t too nervous about playing with the app.


She pulled out her phone once they reached the kitchen, pulling herself to sit atop the counter.  “So basically it’s a radar that shows you where the ‘ghosts’ are in your location. And it spits out a word at a time that the ghost is supposedly saying.” She explained the app as she opened it, the app’s radar blank for the moment. She let it rest on the counter for them both to see. “I guess we wait for something to pop up.”

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

Nodding, Julia figured some tea might do them good. If they were calm then maybe Lexi would be too. The thought of a second cup later that was a kind to help her fall asleep. Maybe if she went to bed relaxed then nothing bad would happen. She still made a mental note to grab a knife and put it under her pillow though.

Julia couldn't help but grin at the way Shoshanna threw her arms around her and led the way. It was definitely nice having another person around, she thought. It helped take her mind off of the weird things that had been going on there. Hopefully with another person it would prove she was just imagining things and that the attack might have just been people that knew the house well enough to get in without her knowledge.

When they reached the kitchen she put Lexi back down while going over to boil some water. Listening to the way the app worked, it caused her to relax slightly. It seemed like some harmless app to have fun with. It wasn't like they were using a recorder to try and gather EVPS or something. So it just seemed like something to entertain them while they waited on the food. She decided to put the heat between a low and medium amount so she could watch without the water being ready too quickly.

"Okay sounds easy enough," she said while pulling two cups onto the counter before coming closer to see if anything happened.

For a few minutes nothing seemed to happen, and Julia was starting to think that it either meant there weren't any ghosts, which would be a relief, or that maybe the app just didn't work. There was also the thought that maybe there wasn't any ghosts around right now. No matter what the reason she almost started to speak. "I guess it's not-"

But right around that point the phone started to act a little weird like it was malfunctioning or something. Then she watched as the radar said there were many ghosts around, then one, then none. And even though it then showed there was nothing around it showed the word choked.

The stuff from moments ago made Julia antsy from how weird it was but the word choked bothered her the most. "Did you see all of that?" She asked and was questioning what she even saw and was clearly bothered at least a little.

 

[KyloGlenn]

"Yeah, I saw it..." Shoshanna was a little weirded out herself. But only because of the word 'choked'. What are the odds that that's the first and only word that the app says?


But it wouldn't be the only word. As Shoshanna lifted her phone to close the app, another dot signaling the presence of a ghost popped up, follow by the robotic voice call out the name, 'Jules'. It wasn't quite Julia. But it was still too close for comfort. And then her phone froze up, and the app crashed. Shoshanna tried to open it again, but it would crash everytime she tried. 


She groaned, and looked up to her cousin. She could tell that she was a little disturbed by the app.


"Listen, it probably records what you say or something. There were a bunch of terms when I bought it and no one ever reads through those things. Probably so the government can spy on us or something." She tried to be dismissive of the app. "It was two bucks and had shit reviews, no way this thing actually lets you talk to ghosts."


But her nonchalant attitude broke when the kettle started whistling and she jumped. "Well, that was fast." She tried to grasp back at the easy-going attitude, if only so she wouldn't worry her cousin.


But it was fast, the time it took to boil the water. Hadn't Julia set it on low?


Shoshanna slid off of the counter, walking over to turn it off. "Okay, that's enough ghosts and mysteries for tonight, don't ya think?" Time to relax with some tea. "You got Netflix? We can watch a movie or something." Get their minds off of ghosts and hicks.

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

Shifting uncomfortably, this time the nonchalant attitude made her wonder if she really should just see a doctor. Maybe this place was giving her anxiety and she needed to be on medicine or something. Julia figured her cousin might be right about the recording thing and the app was harmless. But had either of them actually said the others name during their short time together? Even if they had, shouldn't the app have said Julia? It was that which threw her off a little even though the word choked could have easily been explained away as the phone hearing it from her story.

The kettle caught her off guard. It definitely seemed fast. Had she put the fire slightly higher than she thought?

Just as she was about to open her mouth in response, Lexi growled towards the doorway as if she either saw something standing there, or something move past. Either way it did nothing to help Julia's nerves any. But she spoke anyway despite how the puppy kept growling.

"Uh yeah," she finally managed to say before taking the kettle off. "I have a roku in the living room. There's Netflix and Hulu if you wanna see what's on them. Maybe even Starz or something. A comedy or action might be best?" It came off partly as a question but she definitely didn't think watching a horror movie would help out. At all.

"I should be in there in a minute," she said and it wouldn't take her long to pour the water and get the tea bags out.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Shoshanna nodded. “I think there’s a movie on Netflix about Vin Diesel babysitting. That could be funny and…action-y.” Shosh offered a playful grin. But she grew serious for a moment, placing her hands on her cousin’s shoulders/


“Listen, this all just has to be coincidence mixed with paranoia. We’re both rattled. You more than me. There’s no ghosts or anything,” oh how wrong she was, “and we’ll figure out how to keep this place secure. Security systems or cameras. Something. You’ll be fine, yeah?” A squeeze to Julia’s shoulders, along with a smaller smile, and then Shoshanna released her.


“We just need to relax is all!” Shoshanna shrugged as she moved out of the kitchen. Passing by Lexi, she patted the pups head, snapping her out of her aggressive state. “It’s all good, pepper.”


She turned on the TV, then the roku, no longer listening to what was going on in the kitchen. She’d give Julia a moment.


And it wouldn’t be a peaceful moment for Julia, as Lexi then turned back into the kitchen and started growling. This time it was at Julia. Or that’s what it would look like. Rather, she was growling at what was behind the woman.


A man. Dressed in those old, dirty clothes. Hair shaggy and just as dirty, as was his skin. 


“Get out.” He warned into her ear. It was quiet, yet still coming out in a growl. Not true aggression, though. No. His intentions were different from his mother’s, the colony’s. He was tired of the harassing. Of the killing. Of course, he couldn’t admit that to anyone. The next best thing was playing along with the other's intentions, but trying to scare these people enough to leave before it was too late.


This poor woman. The woman’s cousin. The dog. But scaring them wasn’t quite working now, was it? Julia was shaken. Shoshanna was shaken. But they were so far being persistent.

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

"Sounds good to me," Julia agreed and liked the thought of anything that would help take her mind off of all the craziness. Nodding slightly she smiled at the words knowing her cousin was trying to make her feel better. While she still felt antsy and tense at the moment, she hoped the tea would help. That and maybe a good night sleep after the movie.

"Your right," she agreed about needing to relax. Right now she felt anything but relaxed and needed to calm down a bit. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen just yet.

Her focus has want back to the tea when she heard Shoshanna leave the room. There was no other noise that she heard to indicate movement to make her think anyone was there. The only thing was Lexi started growling again and when she glanced it seemed to be directed her way.

"Lex" she groaned lightly and hadn't even realized that anything was wrong aside from the growling and then the sudden feeling of uneasy she got right before the voice spoke into her ear. The wording, the way it came off as a growl, and how she hadn't expected it caused her to jump with a shriek and drop both glass cups onto the floor.

From the corner of her eye she could see it was a man, but whether he was one of the ones that had been in her room the other night she couldn't have said. But how did anyone get in without her cousin seeing? Plus she hadn't heard footsteps or anything other than when Shoshanna left the room.

Spinning around to try and face the person while also simultaneously trying to move away, she had no idea that during the same time Shosh would be getting some weirdness of her own as a person in a rubber man suit passed between the living room and the library.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Ambrose didn’t disappear once Julia screamed, once the cups broke and spread across the floor. No, as she turned and backed away, he stepped forward. Walking over the glass had absolutely no effect on him and he reached out to grip the woman’s upper arms.


His grip wasn’t tight at all. Not enough to bruise, just enough to keep her infant of him, looking at him. The whole point was to scare her into leaving, so she wouldn’t get hurt—or worse, killed. But the point was why would he hurt her himself if the whole point was to avoid that. Of course, he didn’t take in the mental scarring this woman would probably have now.


“You need to leave,” his voice was still a growl, and he made sure his face displayed the features of anger, even if he wasn’t angry. “Before it’s too late. You won't make it out of this alive." That was true. If they were still here when the blood moon rose, they'd be very dead.


And the bonus to all of this, was that his mother and the colony would have no idea that he wanted her out for reasons other than reclaiming the land. They’d think he was helping them.


The dog was alarmed, barking and growling directly at him now, standing on her hind legs and pawing at Ambrose’s legs. But of course she was too tiny to do anything.


Meanwhile, Shoshanna hadn’t heard the man’s malicious growl to her cousin, or the ones that followed. She hadn’t been alarmed by the barking dog, as Lexi had been doing that the entire time. But she did hear the shriek, the breaking of the glass. She nearly jumped out of her skin, the remote going flying as she turned around. “Juli—“ as she began to call for her cousin, she spotted a figure moving down the hall, between the living room and the library.


Dressed in latex? Or was it rubber? Either way, her voice was caught in her throat. She didn’t even scream. Instead, she hurried after the figure, mumbling a barely audible, “Julia?”

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

Julia barely had time to note the way he seemed unaffected by walking over the glass. Vaguely she realized it, just because it made her more frightened but other than that he was right in front of her again which made her flinch in fear. Especially when he gripped her arms. Could this just be her imagination? Julia had never fallen asleep standing up before but it sure would have been more believable than a man somehow sneaking it without anyone knowing until it was too late.

Get out before it's too late.

It didn't feel possible to be more afraid, but somehow she was after he spoke again. Whether it was a threat or a warning, she couldn't really tell the difference at this point. Dead. He was pretty much saying she would die..

"N-no" she tried to muster as much force that she could manage, which wasn't much. But the more fear she showed the more these people, whoever they were, got what they wanted. They seemed to want her gone for some reason or another but even in scaring her it wasn't like she had much of anywhere to go unless she went moving back in with a parent, which that wasn't an option in her opinion.

"I'm.. not going anywhere. You can tell your people that." The second time did sound less afraid, which she was glad for. It might have just been because she was trying to pull her arms away at the same time that way she could get some distance between him and herself. Plus she wanted to grab Lexi so he wouldn't hurt her either.

Thanks to some of the other ghostly residents among the land and property, Tate had found himself to be lucky, and slightly unique, in the fact he was one of the few who had not died on the land because of the colony. No, he just had the misfortune to hide out here but somehow the police found him anyway and he was shot dead. So despite staying on the land for no more than a few days tops while he was alive, now he was stuck here for eternity.

The plan had been to scare, or maybe even attack, the woman that lived in the house. He figured if she was going to end up dead then he wanted to beat the others to the punch. Or if she moved out of fear? It wouldn't have bothered him too much. Unfortunately he found one of those people with her right when he was about to enter the kitchen which was why he took off. Whatever supernatural held them to the land made it hard to go against the Butcher, and with it being her son in there he decided to just avoid that little scene for the moment.

The only bad thing was now he caught the attention of the other woman, which Tate was aware of the second he passed the living room. There had been no interest in scaring her, since he actually wanted a ruse to come to the house acting as a normal human, but he supposed it didn't matter since she wouldn't know it was him with this suit on anyway.

Walking into the library he thought maybe this would be a good way to freak her out and have a hard time giving an explanation. Like how she easily explained away his messing with her phone. So he decided to disappear. Then once she walked into the room the lights began to flicker on and off for a minute before he appeared right in front of her. Then he had it happen again before making himself invisible behind her.

"Shoshanna." The voice was barely audible beside her before he flickered out of sight again.

 

[KyloGlenn]

“No?” Ambrose eyes narrowed. ‘You’re not going anywhere?’ Was this woman stupid? She must have been. What would it take? What more could he do? Again, he didn’t want to hurt her, the dog, or the cousin. That would defeat the purpose.  “I’m trying to—” help you. He cut himself off, however. His frustration was showing through, as he actually released his hold on her, thought it was accompanied by a slight push.


Not enough to knock her over, but to create some distance between them.


Ambrose shook his leg slightly, to get the dog off of his leg. Lexi managed to avoid the glass as she happily ditched Ambrose to reunite with Julia, instead pawing at her leg anxiously.


“If you and everyone else aren’t gone by the time the blood moon arises, you will all perish. You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” But this wouldn’t be the end of Ambrose. He had to stop the cycle. He was sick of it. He couldn’t quit, he’d get these women out of the house. He’d break them one way or another. Whatever it took.


Shoshanna followed the figure into the library, only to discover nothing. ‘What?’ Then the lights began to flicker, and Shoshanna blinked. “The place is old…wiring must be shit…” she spoke to herself, trying to ease her nerves.


But as she calmed herself, that figure appeared in front of her and she did scream then. She could’ve sworn her heart stopped beating. But then the black rubber guy disappeared, right in front of her eyes.


Her heart was beating fast, her chest was heaving. And then she heard her name, yelping and turning around. Her arm swung around, only to hit nothing.  ‘That’s it, you need to find Julia.’ “Julia!” She called, running her ass out of that library. She believed Julia before, somewhat. But now she definitely did. 


As she turned into the kitchen, Ambrose gave Julia a final look before vanishing. Shoshanna didn't even register that he'd ever been there. "Julia, I heard you and then I saw this thing in the library and I followed it and the lights they flickered and it was in front of me and then it wasn't and--" Shoshanna rambled on, panicked and out of breath. 

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

Julia knew he wouldn't like that answer, and he obviously didn't from the way he reacted. She couldn't manage to respond again after that because of being too afraid of what he might do next. Though he didn't do much other than push her back a little, causing her to stumble slightly.

It was a relief to have distance and then to have Lexi by her again. Crouching down she picked her up to try and calm the puppy down a little bit. It seemed to help but his words of warning about the blood moon only caused her fears to grow again. And just when she thought the tension couldn't get any worse; Shoshanna screamed which caused her to jump.

Her cousin came running in, and the man disappeared. It was hard for Julia to follow exactly what Shoshanna was saying, mostly just because she was still reeling over her own experience.

"T-thing?"

Obviously what they encountered was two different people, or ghosts, but it still made her more nervous.

"I... there was a man just here. He... uh... do you think blood moons are real?" The question was kind of out of the blue, but the term wasn't one she had heard before. That didn't mean it wasn't real, and if Shoshanna didn't know then she planned on looking it up.

"He said to get out before then or we'd end up dead."

 

[KyloGlenn]

Shoshanna had stopped, breathing in deeply to catch her breath when her cousin said there was just a man there, followed by the sudden questioning of blood moons. Shoshanna's eyebrows furrowed, "I--What?" Shoshanna looked around then, remembering the initial clattering. Spotting the shattered cups on the ground, she looked back up to Julia.


Shoshanna didn't say anything for a moment, thinking. There was a man...who said they had to leave before some blood moon or they'd be dead. How did the man get in? How did that thing get in? Rubber guy...Two guys?


"Um," she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I've heard of them, but I've never seen one..." She couldn't really say if they were real or not. "Maybe they are, I can't say. I don't know anything about the moon. We should look it up." Shosh moved to pull her phone of her pocket then, but then paused. "Wait, are you okay? I mean, the glass...the screaming..." The two of them were all over the place. Shoshanna's heart was still beating rapidly, her breathing uneven. 


She even felt some sweat drip down her forehead.


"Maybe we should clean up the glass first." She glanced back down at her phone and thought of something, "No, we should leave it. Evidence. We need to call the cops because this is real, you weren't just making things up. People can get in here, they've threatened us with death, attacked us. Messed with the wiring. That's got to be like a handful of crimes, right?"

 

[NovaxLeighxKnockoff]

It was almost more nerve-racking to hear that blood moons could be real than if she had just been told they weren't and that her mind just made it up. Taking deep breaths she tried to calm herself down a bit and was glad Lexi was starting to act normal now too.

"Well.. I'm not hurt if that's what you mean.." she finally managed to answer even though she didn't actually feel alright. This encounter was almost as bad as the actual attack, she thought. It left her more uneasy now then what had happened a few nights ago, which wasn't something she had actually thought was possible. Looking down at the glass she realized right when Shoshanna mentioned it that it probabaly should be cleaned up.

"I can't explain how he left. They'll look at me like I'm crazy," she spoke and would have liked to call the cops. "I mean did the one you saw just take off he did it kind of.. disappear?"

 

[KyloGlenn]

"Okay, that's good." Shoshanna ran a hand through her hair as things began to calm. Lexi was no longer growling or barking. Julia said she was alright, physically at least.


Neither of them were probably in a happy place, mentally.


And Julia had a point when she mentioned the guy Shosh saw just kind of disappeared. "Well, I guess. But maybe my eyes were closed, I blinked longer than usual or something?" But no man could literally move in the blink of an eye. And if they had, Shoshanna should've been able to just turn around to see them or something. "Shit...there's no rationalizing this, is there?"


Shoshanna shook her head before walking forward and embracing her cousin. This was Shoshanna's first night here and it was already proving to not help. "Okay, no calling the police. Not tonight, anyway. Tomorrow. Right now, we should check all the windows and doors to make sure they're locked. Checkout the basement. Then come back, clean up the mess. Eat. Are you comfortable enough to sleep alone tonight?" Because Shosh sure wasn't. Not in a new, strange house. Old and creepy. Things already going wrong.