Chapter 2：Meeting someone new

It was a rainy night, thunders and lightning flashed as Tina walks from the quiet hallways. She was wearing a white nightgown as she holds a cup of water. A girl's laughter echoes the place, Tina turned around but there was only darkness. She walked and went out of the house, her nightgown now soaked. She walked barefoot on the muddy ground and saw the dirty doll, she put the cup she was holding on the ground and grabbed an axe nearby. She hit the dirty doll and axed it until it was in pieces, the girl's laughter got louder. The voice then said "You've got the wrong one Tina...look behind you." As she heard those words, Tina slowly turned around and found the blonde girl behind her smiling mischievously. She then looked at Tina with glowing red eyes, "looks like the game is now ending." Tina shook her head, she slowly backed away but the blonde girl is walking closer to her, the blonde girl then laughed and took out the thing she was hiding behind her. It was a knife, she came faster towards Tina until she was cornered in the gates. The blonde girl smiled and stabbed Tina in her stomach, Tina shrieked in pain and slowly fell down to the muddy ground. The blonde girl then said, "Game over...now it's---"

Tina woke up as soon as her alarm went on, she realized she was sweating a lot and saw the sun rising. "Thank goodness it was just a dream..." she mumbled as she wipe her face off of her sweat. She then slowly got up and went to her bathroom to take a shower and when she came out, she shouted in fear. On the mirror were words written in red lipstick, Come play with me Tina. Her parents run immediately towards her room as soon as they heard her shout, they knocked on the bathroom door while calling her name.

"Tina! Sweetie what is it?!" Mrs Sy asked as she tried to open the door.

Tina gasped, she then wiped the mirror with a white towel. Better remove this, I can't involve my parents in here. I'm sure they will just say it was all a silly dream! She thought as she continued cleaning the mirror.

"Sweetie! What is the problem in there?" Mr Sy asked as he knocked on the door.

"N-nothing mom and dad, I was just getting ready. Sorry, I guess I didn't know my period arrived" Tina replied as she tossed the dirty towel on the laundry basket.

"Oh, I guess she forgot about her period dear" Mrs Sy whispered to her husband and Mr Sy relaxed.

"Just get dressed and we will wait on the living room, sweetie" Mr Sy said and both of them went out of Tina's room.

Tina listened until the footsteps of her parents weren't heard, she breath in relief then went out of the bathroom as she hurriedly wore her denim dress and white tennis shoes. Afterwards she went downstairs and meet with her parents, the three of them rode their family car and went out to town. Tina took a last look at the house and spotted the blonde girl looking at them from her room with an angry expression as they were leaving.

When they arrived at the town, the people are all busy doing their own work. Although the businesses are still going on, there aren't that much people who visits the town anymore and the profits before were much bigger than today. Mr Sy parked the car in front of the park, then the couple went on their separate ways while Tina toured around. She saw a shop selling candies, Tina smiled and took out her wallet to look at how much money she brought and decided to buy some sweets. Inside the shop were different flavors of candies displayed, there were even those that were made into the figures of cartoon characters. Tina saw a doraemon candy and bought 5 of it, she knew it was very childish of her but she likes doraemon ever since she was little. After she got what she wanted, Tina walked into an alleyway going through the library. She felt her stomach growl so she took one of the candies and took a taste on it. A group of children were playing with each other and were running towards her direction when one of them bumped into Tina making her fell on the road, "Ouch" Tina said as she dusted off her clothes.

One of the kids walked in front of her, his hair was brown and his clothes were slightly dirty. "Sorry big sis..." he said in an apologetic manner as he bowed down his head, the other kids run off and signalled him to go.

Tina smiled and stood, "It's fine."

The little boy smiled and then made a face, "...yeah. Sorry but we'll be taking those from you. Thanks a lot sis!"

Tina was dumbfounded, she pondered for it for moment. Taking those? Taking what from me? She thought to herself. She then gasped after realizing what that kid meant. "No way! My candies! Bring it back," she shouted but was too late as the group of children run off somewhere.

Tina was shook and rubbed her forehead, she then looked at the candy that she was licking awhile ago. It was now lying on the dirty road, Tina's stomach continued to growl but she ignored it and decided to go to the library. Upon coming inside, she saw there were tons of books categorized and sorted out well. Most of the books were pretty much old but she can tell they were handled with care, there were only a few people reading the books yet it amazes her how quiet the place are. It seems she had found a location to kill boredom and people are giving respect to the place, Tina was busy in her own thoughts when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turn around and saw a boy just a head taller than her with black hair and blue eyes, he gave her a gentle smile as Tina returned the gesture.

The boy spoke first, "Pardon me for interrupting you but are you new here in town? It is my first time seeing you here." He said with that smile plastered on his face.

Tina was hesitant to answer after what just happened awhile ago. The boy noticed her uneasiness and added, "Sorry for my rudeness...I haven't said my name, please call me Charles. I am the son of the owner here." He then bowed in a gentleman way while still smiling.

Tina gasped and blushed, "Oh no...I'm the one who must apologize. My name is Tina Sy, and yes Charles...I am new here, my family just moved from this town yesterday."

"Oh really? Well I hope you will enjoy this town Tina, it maybe small but you will find great things here. It's quite different here before but atleast it is not that bad...I did saw what happened at the alleyway, I must apologize on behalf of those kids. In return for your candies, you can borrow any book you want and return it after a month" Charles explained.

Tina blushed, "no its fine. It was my fault for being absentminded, but um...you said it was different here before. Why?"

"Well...this town used to be a great town with business flourishing everywhere, the owner of most of the shops here was Mr Lee. He was a great man and a father but sadly you can't meet him anymore," Charles replied. He then gestured Tina to sit at one of the stools in front of the desk he was sitting, Tina nodded.

"So you met him before? What happened to him?" Tina questioned.

Charles face became sad, "Well I met him when I was 14 years old. He was really kind although he seemed like a serious man when doing business, anyway I don't really know what happened but after he and his wife left for a trip...when they came back home something must have happened because the next day he and his family were---."

The story was cut off when Charles's father called him, the little boy gave an apologetic smile and went inside the stock room to meet his father. Tina looked around and played with her fingers as she wait for Charles to come back, minutes passed and Charles came back holding 2 Spanish bread placed on a plate. He sat down again and offered Tina one of the bread, the two of them ate it and Tina enjoyed it very well as it was very delicious and filled her hungry stomach. Tina then spoke in between bites, "so what happened to him? Did he have a daughter/son?"

Charles replied, "let us just finish eating this and you should pick a book you like...I will let you borrow it."

Tina pouted, "but I want to know more about him. You seem fond of him."

Charles made a sad smile, "well everyone that lived here does. He did have a daughter, that's just all. Let's stop talking about him since that was all in the past. By the way where do you live?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. That was the reason I came here, you see I need to do some cleaning in the house while my parents are gone so I was hoping to find someone here to assist me" Tina said with a smile.

Charles raised a brow and showed a sheepish grin, "No problem about that, I can help you since there are just a few people here. I am sure my father can manage this alone, is your house big?"

Tina nodded, "Let us just finish this up and I will bring you to our house. Oh and I want to borrow that book." She said as she pointed at one of the romance novels displayed, Charles nodded and took the book. The two of them finished eating the breads and went out of the library.

"So where is it Tina?" Charles asked.

"We need a ride going there, do you have a bike or is there someone here that is willing to drive us there?" Tina asked as she looked around.

Charles smiled, "there is this shop that lets you borrow a bike. We can go there and ask one for each of us."

Tina nodded, "let's go."

After getting two bikes, the two rode it as Tina led the way to their house. It took them an hour and a half to arrive at the big ebony house. As they enter the gates, Charles stopped just before entering and looked at the house with unease. Tina then called his attention, "aren't you coming?"

Charles took a deep breath, he then went inside and followed Tina. The two entered the house and the sound of the door creaking echoed through the whole house, Charles still can't get the uneasiness he felt and remained quiet the whole time. "So here we are, this is our home...quite big right?" Tina said with a smile as she sat on the sofa at the living room.

Charles followed her, walking slowly as he looked at the house quietly. He stood in front of Tina and asked, "Are you and your family just alone here?"

Tina nodded, "that is why I really need help in cleaning this house. Why? Are you backing out?"

Charles shook his head, "I will help you clean but I can't stay here for long."

"Why? Does this house gives you the creep? Scaredy cat!" Tina teased.

"Anyway, let us choose one area to clean. It will soon be past noon and there are a lot to do...which one do you want to clean first?" Charles asked focusing back on the subject he came in here for.

"Well, let us clean my room first then maybe get the cobwebs on the lights" Tina suggested.

Charles nodded, Tina then showed him the way towards her room. As they were walking past the rooms, one room on the left opened and Charles thought he saw a blonde girl sitting on the bed smiling and holding a dirty torn out doll. He stopped walking and went towards the room on the left, he was surprised to see the room was locked. He felt nervous and thought that he was just imagining it, so he ignored it and entered Tina's room. Upon entering, he saw how dusty it was. "This will take most of the time to clean, so what should we do?" Charles asked as he put on a mask.

Tina was also putting on her mask and replied, "We will dust off the light here and take of the curtains. Then the rest will be wiping the furnitures and floor, oh we also need to check if there are some things that was left by the previous owner here...if there is, let us remove it."

"Yes maam," Charles agreed as he saluted Tina and acted like a soldier giving respect to his commander.

Tina laughed and Charles followed, the two cleaned the whole room but it took them four to five hours to clean the whole thing. They are now dusting off the lights downstairs when they heard footsteps upstairs. The two stopped on what they were doing and looked at each other, Charles then resumed cleaning and Tina followed. They were able to finish their task in 30 minutes, so the two decided to take a rest on the living room. Tina looked at Charles as if she was about to ask something but then just played with the book she borrowed from the library. Charles noticed her and took the initiative, "Is there something bothering you?"

Tina looked at him and he looked back with a raised brow, she sighed and slumped on the sofa. "Please tell me you heard that awhile ago," she said.

"Heard what?" Charles lied as he sat beside her.

Tina groaned, "you know what I mean."

Charles didn't say anything and sigh afterwards, "ok if it will ease you up then...yes I did. So what? Maybe that was just a cat or a mouse?"

"Just that?" Tina asked with fear showing on her face.

"What do you want me to say? That is the most logical thing I can think of, besides you just moved here...I don't want to scare you Tina," Charles replied.

Tina looked at Charles with a confused expression, "gonna scare me of what?"

Charles looked at her with a look saying you know what I mean, but when Tina gave him a blank look Charles slapped his face. "Don't tell me you don't know..." Charles said with disbelief.

"Don't know of what? Is there anything I need to know?" Tina asked.

Charles sigh for the nth time, he then looked at Tina with concern. "The agent that sold this house didn't say something? Not even to your parents?" Charles asked.

Tina pondered and replied, "the only thing I heard from dad was that he bought this at such a low price and that the previous owners didn't last long here."

"That's all?" Charles asked and Tina nodded. Charles was dumbfounded. "You know what, it is getting dark. I should leave, and just an advice...you guys can sue the agent that sold this house to you because he/she left such important details out" he added and was about to leave when Tina grabbed his right arm.

"Why? Charles do you know something?" Tina asked.

Charles was silent, he then looked at the clock and saw it was quarter to 6. He took off Tina's hand on his own but answered Tina, "I am your friend and I will only tell you this because you are a nice person...This house you see is the house of the one I was telling you about, the Lee family. Look, I cannot tell you the whole details right now but I promise I will tell you tomorrow or some other time. Just go to my place and we will talk there."

"Why not here?" Tina asked with concern but at the same time, there was fear on her expression.

"It is better if it's not here because I will let you see pictures of them, the Lee family. Anyway, why did you guys bought this place? Didn't you feel it was strange the price was low and the previous owners didn't last long?" Charles asked, the clock then striked to 6 and Charles hurriedly went to leave. "I have to leave now, Tina. Let us meet tomorrow at town, goodbye" he added and without glancing back went out of the house and left immediately.

Tina was speechless but at the same time felt very nervous, she thought that it was all a bad idea coming to this house in the first place. She got more curious to know what happened to the Lee family and she thinks that the strange things happening on the house is connected, she sat on the sofa and prayed that her parents would arrive soon because she can't be at ease being alone in the house for so long.

There was a loud thud on the sink that caught Tina's attention, she immediately sat up and looked at the source of the noise. She found her mother busy taking out all the groceries she had bought and looked at Tina with a smile, "Sweetie! Did I woke you up? I am very sorry ok, I arrived home late so you must have been very hungry...don't worry, I will prepare dinner after this."

Tina breath in relief and smiled, "it's ok mom...I didn't know I fell asleep waiting. By the way, where is dad?"

"Oh his upstairs replacing the old bulbs with new ones, he already finished here so he went up immediately. He said he will put on the new curtains I bought for your room, it is your favourite color...blue. I also bought new bedsheets, its white so be careful not to have your period on them" Mrs Sy said and Tina smiled at the thought of her room being filled with white and blue, she always liked those two colors for it gave her peacefulness whenever she sees it.

"Thanks mom, is there any help you need there?" Tina asked and her mother only laughed, "Its ok sweetie. You can just sleep or better yet take a bath so you can eat dinner afterwards, you did well in cleaning your room and the lights around the house. Tomorrow I hope you will help in cleaning the remaining areas here, just leave the basement for me."

"Ok mom, then I will be taking my bath now" Tina replied and went upstairs. When she went inside her room, she found her father finishing the blue curtains on her windows. "Dad, I will be taking a bath and mom is preparing dinner right now" she informed her father who smiled and nodded.

Tina took off her clothes and hit the shower, as soon as the cold water hit her skin she felt her body relaxed. It was a very hot day that morning so the water helped her ease the heat she was exposed, not to mention cleanse the dirt and sweat that she accumulated from cleaning. She was humming a song when she saw someone passed from her pixelated shower glass, she gasped and opened the glass door but found no one there. She shook her head, it is just another one of my imagination she thought and finished showering while maintaining the door opened. After she got dressed, she went downstairs and ate dinner with her parents. The three of them shared a very delightful meal not knowing what will happen the very next day.

(to be continued...)