New home

"I'm really going to miss you Malaika." My best friend Jazmine said as she hugged me. "Don't forget to call me every day, and update me on how you and your family are doing."

I hugged her back. "Of course I will."

It was a Friday afternoon, and my family and I were moving, thanks to my mom's new husband.

In the past, it was just me, my mom, and my little sister Lia. Life was fine with just the three of us. Then a certain someone named Levi came into our lives. He was tall with sandy hair, and greenish brown eyes. He wasn't particularly my mom's type at first, but he eventually won her over.

They met each other at a coffee shop. Levi saw her sitting alone at one of the tables, and couldn't stop himself from talking to her. They ended up getting along and after that day, they continued to call each other every day. He was from out of state but often came to Louisiana for work purposes. Eventually, they started dating, and mom would invite him to our house whenever he was in town. He acted all friendly and nice to us, but I didn't like him. He was always in my business, and he would even talk to my friends. Every time they came to hang out with me, they would end up talking to him instead. Not to mention, he always stayed at our house and went through all of my favorite snacks, without replacing them!

Anyways… After a few years, he proposed to my mom, and of course, she said yes. I don't think she even thought that we had an opinion on it. They both agreed to move into his house after they got married. Now I have to leave my home, my friends, and my school.

"Everything's all set, we're ready to go!" Levi yelled from inside the house. He had a big smile on his face as if he were purposely ignoring my suffering.

I sighed. "Bye Jaz. I love you."

"I love you too. Now go before you make me cry in front of everyone." She said while covering her eyes.

I dragged myself to our van while avoiding eye contact with Levi. My mom hugged Jazmine while I sat in the backseat next to Lia. She was cradling her favorite doll in her arms, as she patiently waited to leave.

"How are you feeling about this?" I asked her.

"I don't want to leave. I love it here."

"Me too. Unfortunately, we have to go along with whatever makes mom happy. So let's tough it out for her okay?"

Lia nodded with a sad expression on her face.

I was always grateful to have Lia as my little sister. She was very responsible for her age. We always got along with each other, and we didn't try to annoy one another on purpose. She was only eight years old and I was seventeen, but I always felt like my true best friend was her.

"Alright guys, let's rock n roll," Levi said as he took the wheel. I couldn't help but roll my eyes after hearing him speak. He always said that every time we would go somewhere, and It annoyed me.

My mom sat in the passenger seat and smiled at him. She was so in love with him, and I honestly didn't know what she even saw in him.

I looked out of the window and stared at my neighborhood. Jasmine was standing on the sidewalk waving at me. I waved back with tears coming down my face.

We drove off, and I continued to look back until the trees covered up the view of my house.

After an hour-long drive to the airport, we flew to New York. Then we had to drive another hour before making it to Levi's house, or should I say mansion. He was the head of his own company and was well off.

"Wow, it looks like a castle!" Lia said while bouncing in her seat.

"He has an excessively big house, doesn't he? Just wait till you see the inside." My mom said.

Once we parked in the driveway, we unloaded all of our stuff and explored the inside of Levi's Mansion.

"I want a room upstairs," Lia said while running.

"Be careful. Don't run up those stairs." My mom told Lia.

I was a little happy that there was more space for us to roam around in the house. There were also a lot of different rooms and hallways. I didn't even know which room I wanted to claim as mine. I walked up the stairs and went down a long hallway full of creepy paintings. They were all paintings of people, and it felt like they were all watching me as I moved down the hall. I quickly hurried to the end of it and made it to a decent-sized room with a big balcony that had a view of the ocean outside. The scenery was so beautiful. I smiled knowing that this was the room for me. I loved looking at the ocean.

"I found my room!" I yelled.

My mom walked in and took a look around.

"Wow. It's a nice room, and it's even got an ocean view. You picked a great spot." She said.

"Yeah. The only thing that I don't like about this area are those creepy-looking paintings in the hall."

My mom went down the hallway and took a look at the different paintings.

"He really enjoys art. Besides, these aren't creepy. They're unique."

"Oh yes, nothing creepy about a bunch of eyes staring at you," I said sarcastically.

"Well, we can take your lovely room with your nice ocean view then." She said with an evil grin on her face.

I shook my head. "No thanks. I'll get used to the paintings."

Suddenly Lia ran up to us and began bouncing up and down. "There's a gigantic pool outside! Can we get in it now mommy?"

"Maybe tomorrow. It's pretty late right now, and we have to finish unpacking some things."

Lia pouted and stomped back to her new room.

After unpacking, we ate some food, and then headed for bed. As I walked down the hall to go to my room, I couldn't help but take a look at some of the paintings. There was one in particular that caught my eye. It was a painting of a guy with short dark hair and dark brown eyes. His face was very dull and expressionless as he stared back at me. He had a sword in his hand, and stood next to some sort of creature. The monster in the painting had a blackish grey color with eyes all over its body. The mouth was huge, with three rows of sharp teeth. It was covered in purple liquid; which I assumed was the creature's blood. The boy was also covered in blood from head to toe.

It was the creepiest painting out of all of them, and it gave me shivers.

"I like that painting the most." I heard a voice from behind me say. I jumped and turned around quickly to see who it was. It was Levi. He was casually leaning up against a wall with his arms folded.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He laughed.

I sighed in relief. "Mr. Levi, where did you get these paintings from?"

He smiled. "I painted them."

I looked at him with a surprised face. "All of them?"

"Yep. I created all of these when I was about your age. I don't have much time to paint nowadays, but I still do once in a while."

"Well, you're really good. They look very realistic too. Do you ever think about selling them?"

He paused and looked away nervously. "Uh...no. I want to keep them for myself."

"Oh, well you should definitely consider it."

He smiled again and nodded, but he didn't say anything else. After a long and awkward pause, I decided to break the silence.

"Well… I'm going to bed. Goodnight." I quickly turned away from him, but he spoke again.

"Wait Malaika, I just want to say I look forward to us being a family."

I paused and frowned at him.

Family? It would be a while before I ever think to consider him a part of my family. I hope he wasn't expecting me to call him Dad or anything.

After not saying anything to him, he continued to talk. "I know it will take more time for you to get used to me. Just know that I love your Mom, and I'm not trying to replace your Dad."

After a moment, I gave him a fake smile and went into my room.

As the night went on, I found myself tossing and turning in bed. For some reason, I couldn't sleep. I tried texting Jazmine to see if she was awake, but of course, she didn't respond. My next option was to lay down on my back and stare at the ceiling until I would fall asleep.

Suddenly I heard the sound of someone whispering from behind my door. I sat up from my bed slowly.

"Hello?"

The whispering continued. At first, it was the sound of one person whispering, then I heard multiple people whispering. It grew louder and louder. I wanted to go outside and check but I was too afraid.

"Mom? Lia? Is that you?"

I couldn't make out anything they were saying; if it was even them.

Suddenly the whispering stopped, and there was a long pause.

"Mom? Lia? Mr. Levi?"

My door opened very slowly, and a shadow moved across my room and came in my direction. I quickly grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight. Lia was standing next to my bed with her hand blocking the light from her eyes.

"Lia? You scared me! What are you doing?"

"I got scared too, so I came to check on you. Can I sleep in your room?"

I sighed and moved over to give her space in my bed.

"Next time can you knock or something? I even called your name and you didn't answer."

"Sorry. I didn't hear you." She said.

"What are you even scared of? I'm not the one sneaking into your room in the dark."

"Well, I thought I heard people whispering."

I paused in confusion. "You heard people whispering?"

"Yeah. That's why I came to check on you. I could hear it from my room, and it was coming from your hallway."