Chapter 1

Sad songs by illenium play through her headphones while she stares silently out the window watching the trees pass by. While the sun slowly rises the bright orange color glowing through the leafless tree limbs, the november weather dropped from warm to cold pretty drastically I guess that's how you can tell it's winter time.

Amanda hates the cold but can't escape it unfortunatetly since she and her family have been in their car for the last eight hours going to their new home, she watches as their little toyota camry takes a left turn and rattles on down a dirt road after what felt like forever the car jerks to a stop.

Amanda, her brother John, her sister Elizabeth, her mom Mary, and her dad Charles, all climb out of the car and almost simultaneously they all take a deep breath of the crisp cold air catching a hint of rain in the wind that chills them further the dead leaves rustling wildly about the yard. John and Eizabeth excitedly runs to the 4 story house to peek through the dusty windows, Amanda looks about the yard the grass a dead brownish green color from the cold the wrought iron fence around the house rusted here and there, she even caught a glimped of a swing tied to the tree in the back yard. Just as she is about to exlpore the back her mother calls her back to the car to help unload things, as she heads back to the car she gets a feeling of being watched so she takes a quick look around. After seeing no one she shruggs and continues walking to the car, upon arriving back to the car her mom hands her a box of books and tells her to bring it inside Amanda sighs and turns towards the house and takes a good look at it.

It's more beautiful in person than the pictures her parents showed her when they first told her about the move, the house was a beautiful mahagony color, ashwood color window sills, black shingles on the roof, beautiful ashwood wrap around porch as well, and she cant ignore that fact that the bank had basically gave it to them for almost nothing, of course she had doubts of the banks generous offer. The papers said the house was built for a loved one in the late 1700's and then was used to be a hotel after the family passed away, looking at the house standing outside it's beauty is remarkable but something felt off here to Amanda.

Walking to the now open front door the inside is all dusty and empty the house will definitely need work to be restored to it's natural state, as soon as her foot crossed the threshold of the door going inside the house the sense of wrongness grew stronger like she shouldn't be here but she brushed it off with a thought that it's probably cause it's an old house with history though she doesn't know it herself she is sure their parents know it. With that thought in mind she continues walking to the study where bookshelves were built into the walls of the room, a beautiful grey stoned fireplace adorned the room, sun slowly crept into the room warming it up little bits at a time. She places the box of books down on the floor against the wall where the bookshelves are, then turns on her heel and walks out going back to the greeting area at the front door she goes to walk outside when she hears someone running upstairs.

"Elizabeth?! John?! is that you guys?!" Amanda yells, she gets no response thinking maybe they didn't hear her she walks over to the staircase and calls for them again up into the staircase but once again recieved no answer so she steadily climbs the dusty stairs, cobwebs hanging around dust motes flittering about in the sunlight coming from the windows the sound of running feet continues until she reaches the top floor. Once she reaches the top of the stairs she finds its just a short empty hallway and like the rest of the house it's cold and dusty, at the end of the hallway there is a white framed door with a brass knob she walks to the door and turns the knob but the door doesn't budge.

"Hmm maybe it's locked, but I don't see why they would lock the door so that's weird." she says to herself, she tries the doorknob once more and when it failed to turn she turned around to walk away but as soon as her back was to the door it slowly creaks open. Upon hearing the creaking sound of it opening she turned back around and slowly walked to the door, the room was brighter than the other rooms and when she walked into the room it felt warmer than the other rooms which was strange but as she continues to walk further into the room she notices the room has a floor length mirror built into the wall a beautiful gold and brass framing the glass of the mirror.

The mirror reflects every inch of the room perfectly which was interesting because usually mirrors would show in perfect detail the things closest to it, she stands there mesmerized by the beautiful mirror then she glances over at her reflection her redish brown hair brushing her shoulders her hazel green eyes and semi tan skin tone. Her heaphones still drapped along behind her neck with her green hoodie zipped up halfway exposing part of her black t-shirt she then looks down to her blue jeans and white tennis shoes which are now mostly covered in the dust she had been walking in. She sighs and shakes her head looking around again for her brother and sister but no one was in the room, 'maybe she imagined it? oh well' she thought as she heads back down stairs to the greeting area.