Somewhere outside Austin, Texas

Mia slept less and less these days. She knew that some day she would become famous around the world, but she just didn't know it would be so soon.
Her dream was to become a world famous chef, but she wasn't going to be famous for that.
She sighed and looked outside her window, the moon close enough to be able to touch. It was a cloudless night and all the stars shown bright enough to where you wouldn't need a candle or a light to be able to see outside. She turned away from the window so she wouldn't have to see the sky. She hated the sky. It reminded her of how she always questioned things like if God was real or if there was a Devil or a Heaven or Hell. She wasn't even sure if Humans existed.
She sighed deeply again and gave up on sleeping. She wasn't getting any more than she had the last night.
She yanked her covers off of her warm body and slipped over to her window, where she climbed out of it into the night, still in her PJ's.
She jumped down her ivy plant in the front yard that intertwined with the brick wall of her house and landed on the damp ground with a THUD! of both of her feet.
She looked around for her boyfriend, who she wouldn't be able to see anymore because she was moving to a stupid small town that isn't even on a single map.
She spotted him, standing against a light post across the street and she jogged over to him, hugging him from the back.
"Hey," He said, kissing her on the lips. It hurt her to kiss him when she wouldn't be able to kiss him anymore.
"Hi. How long have you been standing here?" Mia asks him, returning his kiss.
"Not long. I would wait for years if I had to for you," he said, smiling down at her.
She giggled. He was so good to her, and it wasn't fair that she had to move to a dumb dusty town far away from him. The only way that they would keep in contact is by email or calling over the phone since she didn't have a cell phone with texting.
"Really?" Mia asks, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "I wish I could stay here with you forever!" She kisses him again.
He pulls away. "Hey, look. I need to tell you something. I don't think that I could do this whole long-distance thing or whatever. We can still call each other, but I don't think we would be able to actually see each other, and I want to be able to see you. I don't want you to leave me, so run away with me."
She gapes at him. She never thought a guy her age would tell her something like that. She was about to say yes, when she got this gut feeling that she shouldn't. She told him yes anyways.
"You will?" he asks, picking her up and swinging her around once and then he kissed her hard on the lips.
She nods. "I will. We could get married or something!"
He stops kissing her and frowns. "Well, we are still pretty young, so I don't know about that."
She frowns, but understands him. "I was just kidding, you know." She wasn't so sure she was kidding, but it was better not to bring that topic up again with him unless he starts it.
He smiles at her. "Good. We are so too young to do that. But on the other hand..." he raises his eyebrows up and down three or four times and grabs her butt, squeezing it. She giggles.
"Not going to happen, and you know it!" Mia giggles. She took his hand off her right butt cheek and kissed him, but it did no good to take it off.
He laughs with her. "So, I was thinking, we should meet at some place where my dad and brother won't think to look. I was thinking that we should meet at the public library."
He looks at her, then bursts out laughing. "You want to meet at a library and run away from there?"
She nods. It was the perfect plan: once her brother and dad were in the moving truck, she would say she forgot her bags and run inside on last time to get them and run out the back door, leaving a note once her dad comes in to look for her to see what was taking her so long with her bags. He would find the note, saying that she was going away and no one could stop her no matter what he did to try and stop it. She would run to the library and meet up with her boyfriend and then they would go from there.
And you know what? She had just thought of that plan a few seconds earlier!
"Yeah, we go there and our family members don't think to look there because that would be the last place anyone would find us there! You know how I hate books and the quiet. Its perfect!" Mia said, laughing.
"I don't think so," said a voice that sent a chill up both her spine and her boyfriends.
Mia turns around to see a man with short-cut jet-black hair that obviously had gel in it with a black leather jacket on him with tight black leather pants. He reminded Mia of Danny off of Grease.
"Who are you?" Mia asked, frowning. She knew everyone in this town, and he wasn't someone she knew, so he had to be either a newbie, or a passer.
"I have a lot of different names. But for you, Mia, you can call me Lucas. I see that your boyfriend Jake just pissed his pants at the sight of me, but not you, Mia. Your not scared of me, are you?" Lucas said, raising an eyebrow at her.
Mia's boyfriend ran. "Jake! Where are you going? Are we still running away together?"
Mia heard him yell back to her, "Like Hell I am!"
Mia's heart felt like it had been ripped out of her chest. He really didn't care about her. He probably only wanted to get into her pants and then dump her off on the street.
"You are right again, Mia. He was going to fuck you and then get rid of you. Do you want that to happen to you, Mia?" Lucas asked.
Mia's blood started boiling in her veins. She wasn't hurt like she thought she was, but mad now. She had to get back at him before she left town.
She looked at the strange man in all black. "How did you know I was thinking that?"
He smirks. "I know everything. Nothing is a secret when I am around. And I know you really don't believe in anything but what is living. So, let me ask you something, Mia. Do you believe in Hell?"
Mia's lips curled into a smile for not reason at all. Lucas was the bad boy she was looking for, and she could use him to get revenge on Jake. He had to pay for deceiving her. He had to.
Lucas smiled. "That's my girl. Come, your cold, and I do not like cold girls in my home town. Go inside your house and I will meet you at your new house tomorrow. Do not tell anyone about me, Mia, okay?"
Mia nods, jogging to her front door. She didn't even care if her dad woke up to find her from outside. She was steaming mad.

The next day, at her new home

Mia sat her luggage down, choking as she breathed in the dusty air. She could tell that no one had been in the house since the Dark Ages, way back then probably, and she already told herself that she didn't like it. The house was an old one that looked like all the carvings in the furniture was made by famous people like Leonardo Da Vinci or whoever carves in wood.
She raced up the new stairs that were so old they squeaked with each step she took. Once she was at the top, she looked around for a room to have for herself. She turned the corner and opened one of the doors to find a room with a dusty old bedroom full of baby dolls. And they were all looking at her.
She screamed and ran out of the room. Why did she have to have gone into that room when she knew she had a fear of baby dolls. Or dolls for that matter. Also called The Pediophobia--fear of dolls. She's had Pediophobia since she was ten years old when she got her first baby doll for her birthday.
She didn't want to think about it, and so she ran down the stairs and ran right into her brother.
They fell to the dusty floor and she closed her eyes, feeling her forehead from the gash she had just gotten from slamming into her brother. She was bleeding, and she gasped at the pain.
She opened her eyes and saw her brother staring at her with widened eyes. "Mia, I think you need to find a mirror right now."
She frowned. What was he talking about? "Huh?" She stared back at her brother and stood, walking out the front door. "Dad!"
She found her dad unpacking some of his garden tools in the back yard of the new house. He looked up and smiled at her, then saw her gash on her forehead.
"What did you do to your forehead, Mia?" her dad asked, standing to take a closer look.
She shrugged. "I ran into Kyle on the way down the stairs."
"Well, Honey," her dad said, laughing, "why did you do that? And why were you running?"
Her cheeks turned a bright red. She never liked to talk about her fear of dolls. "I went into a room upstairs and found a bunch of freaky looking dolls so I ran back down the stairs to help you, is all."
"Oh, well. No thanks. What room did you pick out? There seems to be almost a million rooms to choose from. I think that the last owners had a daughter too and she was younger than you, but she died. I think that's why her stuff is still here if that's what you were talking about, sweetie."
"Well, there is no way that I am taking that room she used to have. Is there any downstairs?" she asked, hoping he would say yes.
"Oh, yeah. Lots. Pick any of them. Oh, what the heck. Pick two out!" he said sarcastically. He bent down to the ground and Mia walked away.
She turned the corner of the house as she looked around the fogged-up back yard and saw a large figure out in the yard. She stopped to take a look, but got curious and decided to take a closer look. She walked closer to it and saw that it was a statue of an angel that wore a white gown and was holding a harp in her hands, looking up to the sky.
Mia touched the angel's fingers. They were smooth in her hand.
"Like it?" A voice said behind her. Mia turned around to see the strange man named Lucas standing behind her.
She nods. "Yes, it looks old. How did you know I was here?" Mia couldn't remember if she told him where she was moving to.
"I was born in this house. I told you when we first met that I would meet you at your new house. I am here now."
"What do you want?" Mia asked rudely.
He smiled, then turned to the angel statue. "This angel was put here by my father's father. My grandfather. He was a brilliant man who loved it here, but I never liked him at all. Nor my father. I hated my whole family."
Mia looked at Lucas in the eyes and gasped. He didn't have any pupils.
"What's wrong with your eyes?" Mia asked.
Lucas looks at her and smiles. "Hmm? Oh, my eyes. I was born like this. I wish I could see, but I cannot. I can only see the evil on this planet."
"What do you mean?" MIa looks back to the angel, but something was different about it. She looked scared now rather than what she had been looking like before Lucas came over here.
"Do you remember when I asked you if you believed in Hell?" Lucas asked, ignoring her question.
She nods. "Yes, I do. But I didn't answer you."
"Right. Please, don't answer me just yet," he said, turning away from her.
"Where are you going?" Mia asked, not wanting him to go.
He twisted back to look at her and he smiled. Something about his smile sent chills up her spine. "No where. I'll be back, but for now, lets just keep this little conversation to yourself, alright?"
She nods and blinked slowly. When her eyes opened again, Lucas was gone. Who was this strange man that knew so much? Was he really born in her new house? What was wrong with his eyes and why did he say he could only see evil?
She was confused, but she dropped her thoughts as she looked around the foggy yard. Something was strange about all this, but she didn't know what. She walked farther into the foggy yard and the fog got thicker as she went farther into the yard.
Then suddenly, a shadow caught her eyes to the left, then another and another. She gasped when she finally realized that she was standing in a cemetery. She looked down and saw she was standing on a grave sight and she looked closer to see who's grave she was standing on.

Lucas Malcolm Sands
September 4th, 1324-September 4th, 1765

A son, a father and a wonderful grandfather

Mia blinked. Was she seeing what she thought she was seeing? How was that even possible? Was this the same Lucas that kept appearing out of nowhere? She shook her head and blinked a couple times.
This didn't make any sense. Someone named Lucas was buried here and had died on his birthday more than four hundred and fifty years after his birthday! That couldn't be right. She blinked again and looked back at the grave stone, but it was blank.
Could she have imagined it? She shook the chills she was getting and walked back to the house, flabbergasted.

"Hey," her brother Kyle said as she walked into the old house, silent.
She nodded to him. "Hi. Where's dad?"
"Kitchen. He's trying to figure out what to make for dinner. You better go in there and stop him from making something nasty like he always does."
She nodded again and walked into the kitchen and found her dad running a pan that was on fire to the kitchen sink. She sighed and looked around. The kitchen was an old fashioned on and she already didn't want to cook in here, even though she loved to cook. Everything was old fashioned even the stove, which you had to light to get it started.
"Dad, do you want me to make dinner?" Mia asked him, taking the now burnt pan away from him. He swiped sweat off of his neck and nodded.


After a sucky dinner

Once dinner was done, she went to take another look around the house, peeking in every room trying to find a place to have her space. She wasn't even going to go upstairs in the room with the dolls, so she finally found a room with a window seat and a large bare bed and a side table. She liked the room.
She stood in the middle of the room as the sky turned a deep red and orange. Back in her old town, there was never a sky that beautiful.
Suddenly, she heard a crash coming from somewhere in the house and she ran out of her room and into the living room where her dad was sitting reading the news paper and drinking something that probably had alcohol in it. He didn't even look up when she walked into the living room.
"Dad?" Mia asked, standing in front of her dad. He looked up from his paper. "Did you hear that crash?"
"What crash? I didn't hear anything," he said and went back to his paper. Mia groaned and called Kyle's name.
Kyle came running down the stairs. He looked scared. "Mia? I need you."
Mia's heart raced as she and her brother ran back up the stairs and into the room with the dolls.
She didn't want to go in the room, but something told her to. She took a step into the room with Kyle right behind her. "What happened?"
Kyle shrugged. "I don't know. I heard a crash and went looking for whatever it was and opened the door to see all these dolls on the floor."
Mia suddenly got mad. "I cannot believe you did this!"
Kyle looked at her. "What? I didn't! I was in my room all the way down the hallway and I heard a crash and I just opened the door and found them on the floor! I swear I didn't do it! They were not like that when I first looked in the room!" Tears fell from his eyes.
Mia hugged her brother. She knew now that he hadn't done that because he only cries when he was innocent. "I'm sorry I even thought it was you. How do you like your new room?"
They walk out of the room with the dolls still all over the floor.
"I don't know. It seems too dark up here. Do you think that we could be neighbors?" Kyle said with a smile. Mia liked having her brother near her. They were that close. She nodded.
"Okay. There's a room to the left of me. I still wish we never moved here. I want to go home, don't you?" Mia asked, as they walked down the stairs.
"Mia! Kyle!" their dad called up the stairs. Mia and Kyle looked at each other and then ran down the stairs two at a time. They hated it when their dad yelled their names because they knew it wouldn't be good.
"Dad?" Mia asked him as she turned the corner of the stairs on the ground floor. "What is it?"
"I want you to meet someone," her dad said, moving out of the way. Standing behind her dad was an old lay with silver hair. She was wearing something that looked like she was from the twentieth century and Mia could tell that she was Spanish.
"HI," Mia and Kyle say in synch.
"Hello, sweet hearts! I'm going to be your nanny!" she said, smiling at them. "You must be Mia, and you must be Kyle! I'm Hally, but you can just call me Nanny."
Mia almost wanted to burst out laughing. She exchanged a look with Kyle and she could tell that he was thinking the same thing.
Her dad smiled at them, obviously hoping they would say something nice to her because they just stood there in the living room staring at each other.
"Okay, well. I have to go see my new boss, so you can get to know Hally more," her dad said, kissing them both on the head. "Oh, and Mia. You still should clean your dried blood off of your forehead. Its looking gross."
He smiled again at her and Kyle then grabbed his coat and walked out the open door, closing it behind him. He never liked the door to be open.
Suddenly, Hally started to speak in Spanish. "Oh, Dios! Esta casa está llena de espíritus!" She waved her hands up in the air and began to cross her hand over her chest, in the shape of a cross.
"What's wrong?" Mia asked, hiding her smile.
Hally looked at them and frowned. "There are spirits here. You must leave now! Bad things will happen if you do not!"
What was she talking about? Spirits? Mia didn't believe in them. "I think you've breathed in too much dust, Hally."
She walked away from the crazy nanny and Kyle followed her behind her.
"Want to go take a look around the town? I already asked dad and he said he didn't mind as long as we came back before it gets dark outside."
Mia nods and opens the door, calling to her new nanny that they were going out to town and began laughing when Kyle closes the front door behind him. "Wow, I think our nanny is crazy. There are spirits in your house!" She mimicked how the nanny threw her hands up in the air and laughed again as they walked down the street.
Kyle laughed with her. "Yeah, I think so too. Hey," he pointed to someone walking towards them. "who's that?"
Mia shrugs and squints, looking at the boy coming towards them. She waves and a second later, he waved back.
"Hi!" Kyle said, stopping a few paces in front of the boy. The boy looked Mia's age and had brownish hair that was so wavy, it made Mia choke on the breath she was taking in when she saw him.
"Hey," he said and smiled at her, making her heart race. He was really cute and wore a white tank top that hugged his muscles. "You the new family in the old house over there?" he pointed to their house.
"Yeah, just moved in. Has a ton of rooms."
"Cool. What's your name?" he asked Mia more than he asked Kyle.
"Mia. Yours?" she said, smiling her best smile to him.
"Zeth. Are you going to be going to our school? It over on Humbing Street. I can show you around if you want me to. This your brother?" Zeth asked, looking at Kyle.
"Yeah, his name is Kyle. How old are you?" Mia asked.
"How old are you?" Zeth asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Sixteen. Kyle's only thirteen."
"Cool, I'm the same. As you, I mean."
Mia nods. "So, how long have you lived here?"
"Long enough. So, can I show you around?" Zeth asked, holding his arm out for Mia to take. She links her arm with his and they begin to walk away. She turns her head back to look at her brother who mouths, "Have a good time!"
She nods and smiles at him, thanking him in her head that he didn't want to go with her.
They walked to the end of the street. "So, what do you think of the town since you got here?"
Mia shrugs. "I don't know. Not much to say other than it seems to small and too friendly for my taste. Not including you, of course."
They laugh. "Well, I agree. I usually don't talk to strangers, but you seem like an exception."
"Ditto. So, where do you live?" Mia asked, not sure why she asked him that.
"Just down the street from your place. I heard that your house is haunted. Must take a lot of balls to move into a place like that. Never been in it, though," Zeth said.
"What do you mean by that?" Mia asked.
"Well, people say that there was this family that lived there a long time ago way before there was a cemetery in your back yard. They say that when the person built the house, there was only two people, a man and a woman and they were just married and they soon had a daughter and not long after came another child, a boy this time and he was crazy when he got older. People also say that he talked to the devil and worshipped him or something like that and the devil told him to kill his family and they never left after they did die."
Mia's heart was racing, but it wasn't because she was arm in arm with a cute guy, but because of what he was telling her. They turned another corner and now she couldn't see her house anymore. "You mean he killed his family and they stayed there, even after death?"
"Yeah. Or so people say. No one has been in that house since the sheriff closed it for investigation."
"What do you mean?" Mia asked.
"Well, there used to be a museum in the house you live in now and one day a woman went in there and never came out. A boy found her body a couple of days later, on the floor in the living room covered in blood."
"Who was the boy?" Mia asked.
"No one knows. The sheriff closed the museum and didn't let anyone in it until a couple of months later where its been for sale ever since then. Pretty scary huh?" Zeth asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
She nods, not sure what to say. "Did the boy who killed his family die?"
"Not that I know of. Why?" Zeth asked, looking at her. "You okay? You look like your going to pass out."
Mia stopped on the sidewalk and looked behind her, looking for her house, but she couldn't see it anymore. "I don't know. Do you know what year it was when the family died?"
"Uh, I'll have to ask my teacher or someone. Why do you want to know?" Zeth asked, holding Mia up from falling. "You sure your okay? You are looking really pale."
She nods. "I think I should go." She started running in the direction she had come from.
"Wait! Will I see you again?" Zeth calls to her. "Are you going to go to my school tomorrow?"
"Yeah! See you then!" Mia calls and starts running faster. She couldn't think straight and almost stumbled as she ran.
She tripped over a rock and fell to the ground, scraping her hands and knees..
"Hey, you okay?" Zeth said, panting as he ran up to her to help her up. She shakes her head.
"Can you walk me home? I need to talk to me dad. Please, just walk me home." He nods and helps her up and takes her home.

Back at home after Zeth leaves

Inside her room, Mia sat on her bed and tried to wrap her head on everything that Zeth had just told her about the family that used to live in the house. Was it possible that her new nanny was right about the spirits being in the house?
She didn't know.
Suddenly, a knock came at her door and Kyle's head pops around the door.
"Hey," Mia barely gets out.
"Hey," Kyle said. "You okay? I talked to that Zeth kid and said you freaked out or something and fell so he brought you home."
Mia looks up at her brother, wanting so bad to cry. She didn't know why, but she needed to.
Kyle's eyes widened and saw tears swell up in his sister's eyes and he sat on her bed and let her cry on his shoulders until she fell asleep.


The next morning

Mia awoke to the smell of bacon. She loved bacon. She smiled and yanked her covers off of her body, not even remembering putting any on her bed.
She walked out of her room and into the kitchen and saw Kyle standing over the stove, cooking.
"Morning," Kyle said, turning around to look at her. "You awake yet?"
"I'm awake. I didn't even know you cooked, Kyle. When did you learn?" Mia asked, sitting down at the table.
"I don't know how, but I thought it couldn't be too hard since I watch you cook all the time. Want burnt bacon and burnt toast and burnt OJ?" He asked sarcastically.
Mia laughed. "I love burnt everything, so give me two of each. So you ready for school today?"
He nods and goes back to burning the bacon on the pan. "Yeah. Are you going to tell me what happened yesterday when I left you with that guy named Zeth or whatever?"
Mia frowns. She didn't want to think about him right now, no matter how cute he is. "Uh, I don't know. It was about this house and who used to live here. I'm starting to think that something pushed those dolls over yesterday."
"Well, I sure didn't," Kyle said, putting burnt bacon on her plate. She grabbed one and took a bite out of it. Not bad for his first time, Mia thought. "Hey, did you happen to get into my boxes of stuff and put my covers over me last night?"
Kyle turns to look at her. "No, why?"
"Well, I awoke with them on me. Not bad, the bacon, Kyle," Mia said, just to be nice. It wasn't that the bacon was bad or anything, she just felt like she should tell him that. "So, I thought Nannies were supposed to cook for us while dad is gone. By the way, is he at work right now? When did he leave?"
"Oh, I don't know. I awoke to a note saying see you after school, so I assumed that he left for work." He looked at his watch and groaned. "Looks like we're going to be late for school. We slept in too late. And speaking of our nanny, dad told me last night that she quite. She grabbed her things or something and went to talk to dad while I was in the room and started speaking in Spanish to him or something like that. Lets get to school before we're marked absent."
Mia frowned. She wondered why Hally quite. Maybe it was because of the 'spirits' she was talking about yesterday.
She shrugged to herself and stood. "We might as well be late than not at school at all. I need to get dressed and set my alarm so we both wake up before school starts. Meet my outside in ten."
She walked back to her room and sat on her bed, wondering which box she put all her clothes in.

Ten minutes later, outside

Mia closed and locked the front door with the spare key and shoved it underneath the porch stair on the very bottom so she could find it when she got back home from school and Kyle and her began walking to the school that Zeth had pointed to yesterday.
They walked fast and when they hit the school's street, they jogged onto the campus and yanked open the front door to the school.
Immediately, Mia and Kyle were welcomed by a staff member.
"Hi, you guys must be Mia and Kyle!" said a tall man with a wig on to hide his bald spot.
Mia and Kyle waved. "HI."
"So, I will be taking Kyle with me to his classes today and my secretary Maggy will be taking you, Mia. Oh, by the way, I am Principal Jenkins."
"HI, Principal Jenkins," Mia said, looking at his secretary. She was very short and had very long hair.
"Hello, Mia," she said to her as she put a hand on her back to guide her. "I hear that you live in one of the oldest houses in town, am I right?"
Mia nods. "Yeah, people have already said that its haunted or something. I don't really believe in that kind of stuff." She laughed nervously.
“How come?” Maggy asked, smiling. Mia could tell that she was trying not to laugh at her.
“Well, it never happened to me, so why believe in something that I have never seen before?” Mia said, shrugging. She didn’t know what else to say.


Sometime after school at home

Mia didn’t have a very good day at school, and she wished she had seen Zeth, but unfortunately, she didn’t have any classes with him. She did see him at lunch, but he didn’t see her, and she didn’t want to go over and ask to sit with him, so she sat with Kyle and ate her lunch in silence.
Mia sighed and flopped on her bed, making the bed shift from its spot in the room.
Suddenly, she heard something from another room and she sat up, listening to whatever was making the scratching noise. She held her breath as she suddenly got a strange, but familiar feeling and she stood up from her bed and walked out of her room. She peeked around the corner of the hallway and saw nothing, so she slowly walked into the kitchen where she still saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“Kyle?” Mia called, hoping it wasn’t Kyle doing anything to scare her.
“Hello, Mia,” a familiar voice said from behind her. She twisted around to see Lucas standing behind her, wearing all black leather again as when he had when they first met.
“Oh, geez! You scared me, Lucas! How did you get in here? I locked the door behind me when Kyle and I came home,” Mia said, shaking her head.
He shrugs. “I have my ways. So, do you still want to get back at your little ex-boyfriend?”
Mia frowned. She hadn’t even thought of Jake since she moved here. She didn’t want to deal with him right now, or ever, for that matter. She didn’t really care about him as much as she thought she did. She shrugged.
“Hmm,” Lucas said, frowning. “I thought you would surely want to…but I can see you have other things on your mind. Would you care to have a cup of coffee with me later tonight?”
Mia hated coffee. Why was he asking this? Mia hardly knew him and he was acting like he knew her all his life. He even walked right into her locked-up house without a key and acted like he’s been doing that for ages now. And something about him just didn’t add up. He had said once to her that he grew up in this house, so he had to know who the other Lucas was outside in the cemetery.
“Uh, I don’t know,” Mia said. “I have homework to do.”
Lucas frowns again. “Hmm. Well, maybe I was wrong about you after all.”
Mia narrows her eyes at him. What was he talking about? “Huh? What do you mean by that?”
He shrugs. “Nothing really. I just thought you were those kinds of girls that liked to be on the edge, but I can see that your not.”
“What are you talking about? Who said that I was one of those kinds of girls?” Mia asked, suddenly getting angry.
“Well, for one, when your boy-friend ran off at the sight of me and you didn’t told me that something was different about you.”
“Uh, I’m just a regular girl. Nothing more. I wasn’t thinking straight then because I was in shock, that’s all!” Mia said, defending herself. “And who are you anyways? And what are you even doing in my house? Don’t you know how to knock?”
Suddenly, Lucas’ face went white with anger. “Well then. I can see that I am not wanted here. And for your information, I have been here longer than you have. This is my house. And you do not belong here. But, I have moved on to a different place and I am allowing you to stay here as long as you do what I say.”
Mia was so shocked. Who was this man? How did he know so much about her and what is he talking about? “Excuse me?”
“Mia?” Kyle’s voice rang out down the hallway. “Who are you talking to?”
Mia peeked around the corner of the kitchen and saw her brother’s head, pocked out of his bedroom doorway. “No one, just some kid I met.”
Kyle walked out into the hallway and frowned at Mia, who was staring at Lucas.
“Who is it?” Kyle asked, walking around the corner of the room. “I don’t see anyone.”
Mia gasped. “He’s right here. Are you blind or something?” She pointed to Lucas, who was smiling at Kyle.
Kyle looked to where she was pointing, but all he saw was the stove. “Your talking to a stove?”
“What?” Mia asked, frowning. “Seriously? His name is Lucas and I met him on the night before we moved here. He’s been following me and claims to have lived here a long time ago,” she said, looking back at Lucas, who was hiding a laugh. “but looks way to young to have lived here. And now he won’t leave me alone.”
Kyle stared at his sister. “Okay, then. I’m going to leave now. Have fun talking to your imaginary friend.”
Kyle walked out of the hallway and Mia heard his door shut behind him.
“Why didn’t you say anything to him?” Mia asked, staring at Lucas.
“He cannot see me.”
“Why not?” Mia asked; hardly believe what he was telling her.
“Oh, Mia. In time you will learn my ways. Oh, and Mia, I would advise you not to go out into the cemetery out back. People say its haunted.” Lucas turned to leave, but suddenly Mia had the urge. She grabbed his wrist and stared at him in the eyes. She gasped and saw the same eyes she had seen before. His eyes intrigued her and it felt like all she could see was him.
“Mia…” Lucas said, turning away from her gaze. He seemed different as she looked at him. Not the way he always did with being mysterious and all, but somehow vulnerable and weak and small on the inside. “Help me.”
Mia almost didn’t hear what he said and blinked. When her eyelids came open, he was gone from her grip and out of her sight.
She fell to the floor, dizzy and fainted.

Hours later


“Mia? You awake yet?” her brother stood over her, staring down.
She nodded and blinked the black dots away. She felt tired and weak and stiff in one whole moment and it pained her to think about what Lucas had said to her. Help me. He had said, and then he was gone. Was it possible that something strange was going on with this strange man? He seemed to know enough about her and her knew home, but she knew nothing about him or thins town and this house.
“Yeah, what happened?” Mia asked, sitting up once the black dots were gone from her eyesight.
Kyle stood. “Well, you passed out I think and I didn’t find you until later last night. Did someone do something to you? I mean, ever since we moved here, you’ve been acting really weird lately. You can tell me, you know.”
Mia nods. “I don’t think you would believe me if I told you, anyways, so I don’t think I should tell you.”
Kyle made a sound in his throat, obviously thinking that her statement was wrong. “Come on, Mia. You know me better than that. You can tell me anything. I promise I will not laugh at you.”
Mia thought about that for a minute. If she was right about what she was thinking, then he probably would laugh at her because it even seemed silly to her!
“I don’t know, Kyle. It’s nothing really. Were you really not lying when you couldn’t see Lucas?” Mia asked, her heart racing.
Kyle’s face went white. “Mia, I think that you are hallucinating or something. I swear I didn’t see anything. Please, you really are scaring me. Especially when you hurt yourself falling when you were with that Zeth kid and then you fainted in the kitchen. Something is going on, and I want to help you. I am your brother, and I don’t want anything to happen to you, so please, just tell me.”
Mia nodded. “Okay. Let’s get something to eat first, my stomach is growling at me to feed it. I’ll tell you while we’re eating.”
Kyle nodded and waited for Mia to lead the way to the kitchen to make sure she didn’t faint on him again.


A few minutes later, eating a sandwich


Kyle was listening to every word that came out of Mia’s mouth. He at first didn’t believe her when she said that she thought that this Lucas person was real, but was only letting her see him because he is a ghost.
“But,” Kyle said after Mia was done talking. “If this Lucas guy is supposedly real, then how is it possible for you to only see him and I want to see the grave that you saw.”
“So, you believe me?” Mia asked, shocked.
“I don’t know. I just think that some of this doesn’t add up. I mean, how would he know where we used to live?” Kyle asked, a suspicious look on his face. He obviously didn’t believe her and was just saying he did.
Mia stood. “You don’t believe me, do you? Just forget about everything I said.”
Kyle stood. “Wait, Mia. I never said that I didn’t believe you. I just think that some of this is hard to believe. I told you that I wasn’t going to laugh and I am not. I want to see the grave stone out back. So lets go.”
Mia nodded and they walked out the back door to where Mia had seen the grave stone, and sure enough, the grave stone was there, but this time, it didn’t read: September 4th, 1324-September 4th, 1765, It read:

September 4th, 1324-September 4th, 1408

Mia stood in front of the grave stone in disbelief. She looked at Kyle, who most definitly wasn't looking at Mia because he was staring at the grave stone.
"Do you believe me now?" Mia asked Kyle, who stared at her.
He nodded. "But didn't you say that the grave stone said something like the seventeen-hundreds or something?" Kyle asked.
Mia looked back at the grave stone. Had she imagined the writing? She was in fact very tired when she saw it. "I dont know. I think so, but maybe I was seeing things or something. But I think it is really weird because this Lucas person that keeps coming to me, I think this is him. And maybe his ghost is haunting me or something and that is why you didn't see him. Do you think we should look this up or something?"
Kyle looked back at the grave stone and then back at her and nodded. "I think so. We shouldn't tell dad about this because he might think we're just playing a trick on him or something. I don't want to seem like a crazy person or anything."
Mia nodded and turned to walk away but then stopped when she got the familiar feeling she always got when someone was about to come up behind her. She slowly turned around and saw Lucas standing behind her, frowning at her.
"I thought I told you to stay away from here," Lucas said, a grave look on his face.
Mia caught her breath as Kyle cussed under his breath.
"Kyle?" Mia whispered and backed up and grabbed Kyle's arm.
Kyle nodded, which told Mia that he was seeing Lucas now.
"Kyle, is it? Nice to meet you. I'm Lucas."
Kyle nodded in aknowledgement and backed up with Mia, who's heart was beating so fast and loudly, Lucas could probably hear it.
Lucas took a step towards them, but then suddenly dropped to the ground and he hit his head on the grave Kyle and Mia had been looking at. He landed on the ground, face down with blood gushing out of his head.
Mia screamed and her first thought was to run, but then Lucas looked up and she saw something she hadn't before in his eyes. She didn't know what it was, but she ran to him and helped him up.
"Mia..." Lucas said, looking into her eyes. "You need to leave. Leave me. You cannot help me. He is too powerful for you to do anything to him! He's here! Leave!" He gasped and Mia accidently let go of him and he once again fell to the damp ground and lay there, bleeding.
She screamed again and looked around for Kyle, but he was standing far away from her, pertrified. He looked at her, then back at Lucas, who was now thrashing around on the ground as if someone was kicking him.
"Lucas?" Mia asked, bending down to stop him from thrashing himself around. "What's going on?"
Lucas suddenly stopped and dropped his head, so it dangled in Mia's arms. She pulled herself up and dragged Lucas over to Kyle, who backed up as if he was a paracite.
"Help me ccarry him into the house before someone sees this!" Mia said, grabbing his arms. Kyle grabbed his feet and they carried him into the house.


The next day


Lucas was in the bedroom that she, Kyle, and her dad had decided was a guest room, and he was still in the bed, sleeping. Or what seemed to be sleeping. He hadn't changed since the day before, and Mia was starting to think that he was in a coma.
Mia didn't know if she should tell her dad anything yet, but he was starting to question why she had an unconcious teenage boy in the room to her right of hers.
She didn't know what to tell him, so she and Kyle tried their best to say he was wondering around, dazed, not knowing where he was and fell to the ground, (which fit in with all the blood bit, thankfully for Kyle and Mia), unconcious. And so they brought him into the house and let him use the guest bedroom. Their dad believed them, thankfully.
He had said when he saw the boy in the room, "Who's the boy? I hope your not dating him, Mia. He doesn't look your type. What's he doing in their and why is there dried blood everywhere?"
Mia sighed and closed the front door behind her, making sure it was locked. She couldn't help but think that she had to go to school and not be with Lucas, who hadn't changed since the last time she checked on him, which was only a few seconds ago. Hopefully he would know where he was when he did awaken, and hopefully he wouldn't leave until she got back from school.
She walked to the end of her front gate and closed it also and thought about the note she left him just in case he awoke saying:

Dear Lucas,

Hope you feel better when you awaken. There is some food in the fridge if you want, and don't worry about where Kyle and I are, we are at school. Please don't leave the house until I know your better,

Sincerely,
Mia


She sighed and looked at Kyle as they walked and wished he would say something to her. He hadn't said anything to her since they brought Lucas into the house, and she thought it had something to do with her.
But then Kyle looked at her and smiled one of his weak smiles, telling Mia that he was just as flabbergasted as she was.
The night that Lucas was brought into the house, Mia had a nightmare when she went to bed. She had dreamed that Lucas was being possessed by a creature. The creature had looked almost devilish and Mia had screamed for him to stop, but he just laughed at her and swung his clawed hand at her and sliced her neck open. Mia had woken up drenched in sweat and a long, red scratch on her neck.
"Kyle?" Mia whispered as they turned the corner of their street.
Kyle looked at her. "Hmm?"
"What do you think happened?" She asked, not knowing what else to say to him.
He shrugged. Obviously he didn't want to talk about it. She sighed and looked up at the school. This would be the second day that she's been at the school, and so far, she hadn't had a chance to talk to Zeth, who seemed to avoid her for some unknown reason.
"Mia?" Kyle asked, not looking up from the ground.
"Yes?" Mia asked, still staring at the school.
"Do you think that he could be possessed?" Kyle asked after another minute or so.
Mia shrugged. It could be anything for all they knew. "I don't know, Kyle. Lets just not talk about this until we get home, okay?"
Kyle nodded and they entered the school and they went their seperate ways to their classes before the bell rang.
Mia already had her classes memorized, so she didn't need to look at her schedule. She entered her science class, not wanting to even have to work her brain and her teacher, Mr. Bee was sitting at his desk, grading the test Mia didn't have to take on her first day of school. She sat down at the desk she had sat at on her first day of school and shuffled through her backpack to find her notebook and pencil.
"Good morning, Miss Mia," Mr. Bee said, smiling at her. She didn't smile back.
"Morning," she said, not looking up from her notebook.
"Having a bad morning?" Mr. Bee asked, standing. He walked over to the chalk board and began to write the next assignment on the board before everyone else came to class.
"Sort of. I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Mia said, holding back some tears she didn't even want to cry out.
Mr. Bee turned around and frowned. "Are you the family living in the old Sands house?"
Mia looked up and nodded. "Yes, why?"
Mr. Bee walked over to her desk and frowned. "The last family that lived in there left the second day they moved in because their son had committed suicide. That was five years ago. I thought you should know that no one else knows this because the family wanted it to be kept a secret and that you can come and talk to me anytime you want to. I know how it can be. I've been in that house before. Its scary and I believe what other peope say about it being haunted and everything."
Mia nodded. "How did you know about the family? Even I didn't know about it."
Mr. Bee sighed. "I used to live right next to the house and moved out once I saw what happened to the boy. I hope that your doing okay there. Have you seen the cemetery out back?"
Mia nodded again, an image flashing before her eyes of Lucas falling the the ground, bleeding.
"Mr. Bee? Do you know a boy named Lucas? I don't know his last name, but he's about my age."
Mr. Bee wrinkled his eyesbrows, thinking. "I don't think so, but if I remember, I'll let you know."
He walked back to the board to finish writing the assignment and Mia looked down at her paper. She had broken her pencil.
She stood and looked around for a pencil sharpener, but couldn't find one, so she took a pen out of her backpack and waited for the bell to ring.


Later, during lunch


Mia walked to the lunch line, even though she wasn't hungry. She sighed for the millionth time and looked around for Kyle, who was sitting down at a table with the nerds.
"Next!" the lunch lady called and Mia grabbed a tray and stood in front of the lunch lady. "What can I get you?"
Mia looked at the options and frowned. There--like always--wasn't anything good to eat. "Uh, just give me the salad. Some OJ too, please."
"Alright," the lunch lady said and handed Mia the salad and the OJ. "here you go. Hey, are you the one that lives in that haunted house?"
Mia groaned. She'd heard that question so many times today from students and teachers she didn't have. "Yes."
She walked to the paying area and stopped in front of the man who was waiting impatiantly for her to hand him the money she owed. She felt in her pockets, but couldn't find her ten dollars, so she checked her jacket pocket.
"Hold on just a second. Its here somewhere," Mia said to the man.
"Hey, I got it," said a voice from behind her. She turned around to see Zeth standing next to her. She sighed with relief.
"Thanks. I couldn't find my money," Mia said while Zeth handed the man the money. "I'll pay you back when I can find my money."
Zeth smiled at her. "No need. I have enough that I can stomp on and burn and it wouldn't do anything to the money."
Zeth put a hand on the small of her back and they walked to a table Zeth was leading her to and she sat down at a table for two. Mia blushed, thinking of the first time she and Jake went out for lunch and sat down at a table for two.
Zeth sat down in front of her. "So, how do you like the school so far?"
Mia shrugged, taking a bite of her salad. "I don't know, people keep asking if I'm the one who lives in the haunted house."
"I bet you get tired of that," Zeth said, smiling. He was staring at her in a strange way.
Mia blushed again and looked down at her salad. She suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. She sat her fork down and looked at Zeth, who hadn't moved his eyes from her since she last looked at him.
"Zeth, why are you staring at me like that?" Mia asked, looking around to see if anyone else was like that.
Zeth shrugged. "I think your interesting."
"What do you mean?" Mia asked, feeling her cheeks turn a deep red.
"Remember when we first met? You just came up to me like we've known each other since forever. No one likes to talk to me but my closest friends. No girl for that matter has talked to me."
Mia looked down at her plate. "Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe they think I look weird or something. Who cares anyways? I don't care how many friends I have or not. I just think it was strange for you to come up to me like you did."
Mia thought about what he said for a minute, realizing that he was right. It felt like she's known him all her life. "Well, I think your interesting too."
"Do you now?" Zeth asked, a little shocked. "Why?"
"I don't know, maybe its because you helped a girl pick herself off the ground after he told her a story about the house she lived in and took me home and didn't laugh at me."
Zeth stared at her. "I would never laugh at you. Mia, would you like to go to the lake with me after school?"
Mia looked up at him and blushed. Was he asking me out on a date?
"You mean like a date?" Mia asked, her heart racing. She couldn't remember her heart beating this much when Jake first asked her out.
"If you calll it that. You might want to bring a swimming suit too," Zeth said, smiling at her. "I already asked Kyle to come. He's pretty cool."
Mia didn't know Zeth had been talking to her brother. "You talk to Kyle?"
"Sure, no one else will, though. I think he's cool and I think it would be fun to go to the lake together."
Mia blushed, thinking of herself being in a swimming suit in front of Zeth. It seemed so different then it had been with Jake. She's been in one in front of Jake, and it felt so uncomfortable.
"Okay, what are we going to do at the lake?" Mia asked.
"I was thinking I could show you something."
Mia blushed again. What was with her blushing so much in front of him? "Like what?"
"Something. You can stop blushing now, you know, even though I do like to see the color of your cheeks like that. It brings out your eyes."
Mia blushed even harder and looked down at her untouched salad.
"They do?" Mia asked.
Zeth nodded. "They do. I like your eyes color anyways. They remind me of the ocean."
Mia smiled at him. Not even Jake had said that to her before. "Really? I've never been to the ocean beach before. I bet its beautiful there."
Zet smiled back. "Well, I wouldn't say it unless it isn't true."
Suddenly, the phone Mia had taken from her dad so that he could call anytime that he wanted to started to vibrate and she took it out of her pocket.
"Sorry, Zeth. Hold on, my phone is ringing." She opened the phone and held it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Mia?" a familiar voice said from the other line.
"Lucas?" Mia asked, standing up from her chair so fast, it fell to the floor with a clatter, making everyone around her look to see what had happened. "Your awake! Where are you?"
"Still at your house. How did I get in your bed?" Lucas asked.
"I'll explain it to you when I get there. Kyle and I will be there in a minute."
"Okay, bye." The phone clicked and Mia shut hers.
"Zeth, my friend just woke up from a coma and I have to go see him. Do you want to come?" Mia asked, already grabbing her bag.
Zeth stood and nodded. "Lets get your brother."
"Okay," Mia said and looked around for Kyle, who was still sitting with the nerds. "Kyle!"
Kyle turned to look to where she yelled his name and the look on her face told him that he was awake.
He stood up from his seat and jogged over to her. "Is he awake?"
"He called me on dad's cell phone. I told him that we would be over in a few minutes and Zeth is coming with us."
Kyle nodded towards Zeth, who returned it and they began to jog to the front door, where they were stopped by a teacher Mia didn't know.
"What do you three think your doing?" the teacher asked, frowning at them.
Mia groaned. "Uh, we really need to get by so that I can go home." She didn't know what else to say to her.
"If you are to leave the school, you have to go to the office and with a parent. And you must sign out," the teacher said, staring the three down.
"well, we don't have time for that," Kyle said and shoved the teacher out of the way. Mia, Kyle and Zeth ran past the teacher, who was staring at the no the ground with a shocked look on her face.
"You get back here!" the teacher yelled, but let them go anyways.


A few minutes later, at home


Mia, Kyle and Zeth ran into the house and burst into the kitchen, where Lucas was sitting down at the table, eating something from their fridge.
"Lucas!" Mia said, hugging Lucas, even though she didn't know why.
"Mia, what happened?" Lucas asked, looking at Mia and Kyle.
"I'll tell you later. When did you wake up?" Mia asked, both sitting down at the table. Zeth and Kyle sat down in front of the two.
"A while ago. All I remember is waking up in your bed and then I walked out into here and saw a number on the fridge, so I called it and you answered."
Mia sighed. She was happy that he was awake, but now she had to explain this to her dad and to Zeth, who was just sitting down at the table, not talking.
"Zeth, I bet your wanting to know about Lucas, right?" Kyle asked before Mia could.
"Uh, yeah. I think. Who is he?" Zeth asked, a questioning look on his face.
Mia and Kyle exchanged a look, which told them that they needed to talk alone and figure out how and what to tell him.
They stood and exited the room and when they thought that Lucas and Zeth were out of ear shot, they started talking in a whisper.
"What are we going to tell Zeth? We can't just tell him the truth, he might think that we're crazy!" Kyle said, looking around the corner.
"I know, but I want to tell him the truth. I think he should know. I mean, if we made something up about how Lucas ended up in one of our beds, he might think something is off and then suspect something. Or, like you said, think that we're crazy!"
"So lets just tell him the truth and if he doesn't believe us, then lets just burst out laughing and say we got you! Like a joke, you know?" Kyle said.
"That could work, but I think he just might believe us!" Mia said and walked back into the kitchen, obviously the conversation was over with.
Kyle followed behind her.
"Zeth, what we are about to tell you is the truth and I don't want you to just laugh and say something like, 'bull shit' or something like that. If you don't believe us, then its your problem, not ours. Okay?"
Zeth nodded, not saying anything, so they told him everything starting with the moment that Lucas showed up in front of Mia when she was talking to Jake to the moment he awoke.
Once they finished, Zeth's face was white as a ghost.
Mia looked at him. "So, do you believe us?"
Zeth didn't say anything for a long time. Then he sighed and looked at Mia. "I believe you."
Mia sighed with relief. She didn't know what she would do without him now that he knew everything they did.
Lucas stood and looked around the kitchen. He began to breath heavily and Mia and Kyle stood and grabbed his arms, which were cutting into his skin.
"Lucas!" Mia said, fearing that he was going to hurt himself. "What's wrong?"
Lucas looked at Mia with wide eyes. "He's here."
"Who's here?" Mia asked.
"Him. He's here and he knows that you know!" Lucas jerked out of Kyle and Mia's grip and knocked her onto the floor, making her hit her head on the side of the table. Zeth was at her side in a split second.
"Mia? You okay?" Zeth asked, grabbing her hand. She nodded and rubbed her head where she had hit it.
Lucas was on the floor, hiding under the table, looking at Mia. "Please, help me, Mia. I need your help. He'll get me unless you get rid of him. Please."
Mia gasped at the pain in her head. She could see that Lucas was in need of her help, but she didn't know how to help him or what he was talking about.
"Lucas, I want to help you, but I don't know how. Please, just tell me what your talking about!" She stood with Zeth at her side and ran out of the room, a dosen emotions flooding her all at once. She ran and flopped onto the couch and let the tears fall. She didn't even know why she was crying.
She felt Zeth put his arms around her and held her until she stopped crying. When she was done crying, she looked up at Zeth and looked him in the eyes, seeing that it hurt him to see her like that. She had never seen Jake look at her like that.
"We'll help him, Mia. I promise," Zeth said and laid her head on his chest again and Mia didn't remember anything after that.


Unknown time of day or night


Mia awoke to see Lucas and Zeth standing over her. She sat up and smiled at Zeth, who looked really tired.
Zeth looked at her and smiled back, but then it faded away within seconds.
"Mia, how are you feeling?" Lucas asked.
"I don't know. My head still hurts. What happened? All I remember was Zeth sitting on the couch with me crying all over him. Did I fall asleep?"
Zeth and Lucas exchanged a look. "Uh, not exactly."
"What happened?" Mia asked.
"Well, we figured out what was going on with Lucas," Zeth said, turning to the door as Kyle walked in.
"Kyle!" Mia said, holding her arms out for him to hug her. She needed a hug right now. Kyle smiled at her and sat down in the farthest chair in her room away from her.
"Kyle, what's wrong? And why are you all bandaged up?" Mia asked, getting a bad feeling in her stomach.
Suddenly, Lucas sniffed and Mmia and Zeth looked at him and saw tears rolling down his face. "its all my fault. I should never have asked for your help, Mia. He over took you and you attacked Kyle and Zeth. But then you fell to the floor and past out, which told me that you were back to normal."
"What are you talking about?" Mia asked, looking at all three.
"Lets just say that you were possessed and then you attacked us and Kyle and Zeth ended up in the hospital and then your dad came home and found Kyle and Zeth bandaged up and he freaked, so we kind of had to tell him everything that happened."
"What did he say to you?" Mia asked, dreading what was coming next.
"Well, lets just say he freaked out some more, but then finally calmed down and I think he is still sceptical, but I think he sort of believes us from what he saw in front of him."
"Oh, my God. So this whole time, Lucas has been possessed by something?" Mia asked.
"Yeah, ever since I moved in this house a long time ago. Whenever I am possessed, I don't age, so I look younger than I really am. Remember all those times when I would just appear out of nowhere?" Mia nodded. "Yeah, those times were when I was possessed."
Lucas explained everything that had happened to him over the years. As he talked, Mia, Zeth and Kyle learned that he moved into this house in the late 1300's and didn't even know that this house had been haunted by the devil.
"When I was first possessed by him, I reseached this house and found out that the previous owners who had built this house had a daughter who was obssessed with the devil and made a deal with him that the first man in the house he could take over and have as long as she had kept the deal they had made. My family eventually died, but I stayed because I had to. I didn't want any other man to end up like I did. So, I learned that you were moving here, and so I went to warn you, but I was taken over again by the devil and that's how we met."
"I don't understand any of this," Mia said once he was done talking. "So, a girl made a deal with the devil and her part of the deal was to give up the first guy that lived in this house to him and she would get his part od the deal? What was her part?"
"Immortality," Lucas said and bowed his head.
"Is she still living?" Mia asked, looking at Zeth, who was still looking at her with wide eyes.
Lucas nodded. "As long as I stay here she is."


Two weeks later, lunch time


Zeth looked at Mia and smiled. So far nothing has happened at Mia's house and everything seemed to go back to normal. Lucas had disappeared one night when Mia and Kyle were sleeping and they hadn't heard from him since.
"Mia," Zeth said, grabbing her hand.
"Hmm?" Mia asked, looking up at him. She loved to look at him and know he felt the same way as she did for him.
"Do you and Kyle still want to go to the lake after school? We never got to because of what happened when Lucas woke up, remember?" Zeth said, playing with her fingers.
She nods. She needed to get Lucas out of her head and the lake seemed to be like the thing that would. "Sure, why not?"
"Great, see you after school then," Zeth said and walked away.
She sighed and walked to class, looking down the whole time.


After school, at home


Mia grabbed her bathing suit and grabbed a towel from the bathroom shelf. She hated being in this house now that she knew what had happened in it a long time ago.
Suddenly, she heard something from in the kitchen and she walked into the kitchen to see Kyle raiding the fridge and she sighed with relief.
"You still coming with me and Zeth to the lake?" Mia asked, holding her belongings.
"Yeah, is it today?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah, right now, actually. I'm leaving," Mia said, slipping on her flip flops and turned to the door.
"Tell Zeth that I'll be there in half an hour. I have some things to do," Kyle said, shoving a piece of cake in his mouth.
Mia nodded and headed out the door to meet with Zeth down the street.
Mia looked around for Zeth and finally saw him and waved, almost dropping her towel and bag with a change of clothes in them.
"Hi, Mia. Where's Kyle?" He asked, looking around for him.
"He said he'll meet us at the lake later, he had something to do or something," Mia said, as they walked.
"Oh, cool."
"Yeah. So what is it that you were going to show me?" Mia asked.
"Oh, just something I think you'll like," Zeth said, smiling at her, which made her blush.
"Okay," Mia said and they walked in silence for a while before they heard heavy foot steps from behind them and saw Kyle running to catch up to them.
"Hey, guys. You all walk really slowly, you know," Kyle said with a smile.
They laughed and walked down the next street, where Mia gasped at how big the lake was from where they were.


Down at the lake shore


Mia threw her change of clothes onto the sand and took her shirt off, revieling her top of her swimming suit. She then took off her shorts and threw those down on top of her shirt and ran to the edge of the water, where she jumped in, Zeth following behind her.
She surfaced and a second later saw Zeth's head bob up. She laughed and swam to him and he grabbed her around the waist.
"It feels so great out here," Mia said, leaning her head against his wet bare chest.
"Yeah, I agree. I come out here every morning to swim. What do you think of it?" Zeth asked. Mia lifted her head up and looked around, seeing Kyle sitting on the shore, smiling at them.
She waved at him and he waved back, finally joining them in the water.
"I love it. So, what was it that you wanted to show me?" Mia asked, smiling at him.
He smiled back. "I'll show you. You see that rock over there near the side of the shore?" Zeth asked, pointing. Mia nodded, looking. "We need to swim over there."
They swam over there and Zeth stood in the water and started climbing on the large rock. When he was on top of the rock, he turned back to Mia and held his hand out for her to take and she did, Zeth helping her up to the top of the rock.
Once she was on the top of the rock, she noticed that there was a giant gap in the rock, hiding something she couldn't see very well. Zeth leaned down and put his hand in the gap and pulled out a oxygen tank and a mask and two flippers and handed them to Mia, who sat them down on the rock. He handed her an identical pair of the same thing he had handed her and smiled.
"What is all this for?" Mia asked, confused.
"I'm going to show you something, but you need to put these things on before we can go down there."
Mia looked at him with fright. She didn't know how to use any of these things. "What?"
"Here. Let me help." Zeth turned her around and put the two straps over her shoulders and she almost fell over with the weight of the oxygen tank. "Put these on." He handed her the flippers and she put them on her feet and tried to stand, but she again almost fell over.
Zeth laughed and helped her up and handed her the mask and told her how to put it on without sucking her face off.
Once Zeth was suited up like her, he jumped back into the water and waited for Mia to do the same thing. She jumped and splashed Zeth in the face.
She grabbed his hand and he lowered his head underwater. She followed, making sure she didn't do anything else.
Zeth held her hand and led her out into the lake and it got colder the farther they went.
After some time of just swimming, Zeth stopped and headed down to the bottom of the lake, which took another long time. But as soon as the murky water cleared, Mia gasped through her mouth piece and saw a shape that looked like a building. Zeth turned around to look at her and she saw him smile at her through his mask. He nodded when she pointed to the shape. It was a building.
He grabbed her hand again and they swam some more until she saw that there was an intire city under the lake.
They looked around some more, but Mia was getting tired and she pointed to the surface and Zeth nodded. They swam until they surfaced and saw Kyle laying on the sand, letting the sun dry them off.
She took her mouth piece out of her mouth and waved at Kyle, who sat up when he saw her. He smiled waved back.
"So, what did you think?" Zeth asked, still holding her hand.
She smiled at him. "It was the most extrordinary thing I have ever seen. Was it a whole town under there?" Mia asked.
"Yeah. Before the lake was here there was. Pretty cool huh?" Zeth asked.
She nodded. "What was the town called?"
"I don't know. We should head in. Its starting to cloud up and when it does that, the lake starts to get rough and I wouldn't want to get lost out here. I don't think a human could withstand the kind of weather that is coming."
They headed back to the rock and jumped back into the water to swim back to Kyle, who was already had a suntan.
"Hey," Kyle said as they walked onto the shore. "How was it?"
"Cool," Mia said, smiling. She grabbed Zeth's hand and he looked up at the sky.
"We should head in. Looks like a storm is coming in. And its coming fast!" Zeth said just as rain began to fall.
They grabbed their things and ran for the gate that seperated the lake shore from the street and the rain hit them hard, soaking them to the bone.
Mia was shivering when they made it to the gate and tried to yank to gate open, but it wouldn't open.
"It won't open!" Mia yelled over the hard rain.
Zeth nodded. "I know where we can go so that the rain won't get us! We'll have to go to my place to wait out the storm!"
Kyle and Mia nodded and jogged with Zeth to a shack that looked condemmed. Zeth yanked the door open as fast as he could and by the time they were inside, they were soaked through and through.
"This is where you live? On the lake shore?" Mia asked, looking around.
"Yeah. I was tired of living with my parents. They treated my like shit, so I moved out in the middle of the night and never looked back. They probably don't even notice that I'm gone."
"Nice place," Kyle said, setting his stuff down on the floor by the door.
"We might have to wait out the storm. I heard thunder and saw a couple of lightening bolts a few minutes ago. Its not safe to go out during a storm like this."
Mia sighed. "How long will it take?"
Zeth shrugged. "I don't know. It might be a few minutes or it might be a few days or even a week. Once I was stuck in here for almost a whole two weeks with hardly any food."
Mia sat her stuff down and suddenly needed to pee. "Do you have anywhere to go to the bathroom?"
Zeth pointed to a door in the far right and she took her things and opened the door, closing it behind her.
While she was getting dressed, Zeth and Kyle talked.
"So, Kyle, how are you doing since that one thing happened?" Zeth asked, sitting on his bed.
Kyle shrugged. "I don't know. I'm really worried about Mia. I wish she would talk to me, but we haven't talked since it happened and I'm afraid something is going on with her. I'm glad she has someone to lean on, you know?"
Zeth nodded. "Yeah."
"She likes you, you know," Kyle said, looking around his room.
"I know. I like her to, but I haven't had a girl I really liked as much as her to talk to, so I'm not really one to know what to say to her, you know?" Zeth said.
"Yeah, I do know. You should tell her how you feel. Being around you makes her feel so much at ease. I think she feels safe around you. With her ex-boyfriend, she was always on edge, caring about everything he said to her, but with you, she doesn't have to worry about that."
"Really? She had an ex-boyfriend? I didn't know that."
"She doesn't like to talk about him often. He was a jerk to her and she kept going back to him because he was all she had then. But now she has you and she doesn't even know it."
"What do you mean?" Zeth asked, sitting up on his bed.
"Well, I think that she sort of knows you like her, but she doesn't want to think you do, though. But you might want to ask her yourself," Kyle said, sitting on the other side of his bed.
"I want her to know that I have never felt this way about anyone before. She makes me feel happy. I've never felt that way before about anyone. Well, I've never felt anyway towards someone before," Zeth said in a whisper.
Kyle looked at him and knew he was telling the truth.
Mia walked into the room and saw Kyle and Zeth sitting on his bed in silence.
"Is the storm over?" Mia asked, looking out the single window.
"Nope. I think this one is going to be a long one," Zeth said.
Mia sat her wet suit next to her now empty bag and sat next to Zeth and grabbed his hand. She smiled at him and Zeth smiled back, squeezing her hand.
Suddenly, Kyle's phone rang.
"Hello?" He asked. "We're at Zeth's place. No, we're fine. We don't know when the storm is going to end, and Zeth said that it might take a while so we're going to be here until it stops. Where are you?" He stopped talking for a minute and then gasped and looked at Mia and Zeth who were listening to Kyle. "Lucas is there? What is he doing there?"
Mia sat up when Kyle mentioned Lucas' name. Kyle looked at Mia after he hang the phone up.
"Was that dad?" Mia asked.
"Yeah, Lucas is there looking for you. Dad said he's acting all weird and throwing things around the house without touching them. Do you think its him?" Kyle asked, wide-eyed.
Mia nodded, looking at Zeth, who was thinking.
"It has to be him. But why would Lucas want me?" Mia asked, standing. She walked over to the window and saw that the storm was still going on strong.
"Mia, we cannot leave here until the storm is over. I know you want to go see him, but we can't leave unless you want struck by lightening," Zeth said.
"I can leave, though," Kyle said, grabbing his things.
"What?" Mia and Zeth both said at the same time.
"No, you cannot leave!" Zeth said, grabbing Kyle's wrist as he put his hand on the door handle. "You'll be badly hurt."
"I don't care. Lucas might need my help, and he is our friend, and I want to help, so I am going. Its not that far from our house, so I should be fine."
Kyle didn't wait for Zeth or Mia to say anything else, and he was out the door before they could do anything to stop him.
Mia screamed and ran to the window, but couldn't see anything but rain and wind.
She felt tears rolling down her face and Zeth cradled her in his arms.
"He'll be okay, Mia. I know it."
"How do you know it?" Mia asked, looking into Zeth's eyes. She saw his truthiness and stopped crying and Zeth held her some more.
After a while of silence minus the rain and wind, Mia and Zeth laid down on his bed and fell asleep, holding each other.


The next morning


Mia awoke to the sound of birds outside and she stretched and looked at Zeth, who stirred in his sleep.
She smiled and pulled a lock of hair out of his eyes and he opened his eyes and smiled at her.
"Hey," she said.
He sat up and looked around. "I think we were spooning."
Mia blushed and noticed that they had been. "I can see that."
They laughed for a minute or so and then Mia's smile faded as she remembered what had happened yesterday.
"Where's Kyle?" Mia asked, jumping off the bed. Zeth didn't move.
"He called early this morning saying he was fine. I didn't want to wake you up because you looked so peaceful sleeping," Zeth said and Mia let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, good. Did he say anything about Lucas?" Mia asked and looked out the window and saw that they whole lake shore was covered in trash from the storm had blown around.
Zeth shook his head.
Mia stood at the window and finally walked back over to Zeth and laid beside him and leaned her head on his chest.
"Zeth, what are we doing?" Mia asked almost too low for Zeth to hear barely.
"What do you mean?" he asked, looking at her.
"This. We are still spooning. What does it mean?" Mia asked, knowing what he was going to say.
"Mia, you should know what it means. I like you, you like me. There isn't nothing wrong with it."
Mia nodded and thought for a minute. "My mother told me once that if two people who spooned meant that they love each other," she whispered without looking at Zeth.
He looked into her eyes and realized it was true. He did love her.
"Mia, I think I do love you," Zeth whispered after a while in silence.
"Me too," Mia said, closing her eyes. Zeth kissed her on the forehead and closed his eyes too and they soon fell into a deep sleep.


Later in the afternoon


Mia and Zeth woke up to hear the door open fast and saw Lucas standing in front of them.
"Lucas?" Mia asked, sleepily.
"Mia, Zeth. Kyle's missing."
Mia and Zeth sat up quickly and Mia's heart raced fast in her chest. She yanked the covers off of her body and slipped her flip flops on and ran out the door.
"What are you talking about?" Mia asked, turning back to Lucas, who was staring at the bed Mia and Zeth had slept in.
"Mia, did you and Zeth sleep together in that bed?" Lucas asked, frowning.
Mia stopped and looked at him. She couldn't believe that he even thought that.
"Uh, yeah. I mean no. We fell asleep in the bed, but no we didn't do anything else. Why?" Mia asked, looking around the lake shore with her eyes.
"Just wondering. Isn't it kind of weird to sleep with one of your friends in the same bed?" Lucas asked, glaring at Zeth, who backed away from Lucas.
Mia looked at Lucas. "Excuse me? It isn't any of your business of we did or not. And I think you know that he is more than just a friend to me."
Zeth smiled and grabbed her hand.
Lucas glared harder at Zeth.
"Where's Kyle?" Mia asked Lucas. Lucas shifted his feet back and forth like he knew something, but he didn't want to say anything. "Lucas."
Lucas looked at the ground.
"I cannot tell you."
"What?" Mia asked, all her anger coming out. She let go of Zeth's hand and ran at Lucas, who didn't even move away from her. She grabbed his throat and they fell to the ground and Zeth was trying to pull them apart.
Zeth finally forced Mia off of Lucas and they fell to the sandy ground and Zeth held her while he waited for her to calm down.
Lucas laughed.
"What did you do with my brother you son of a bitch!" Mia screamed at him and he just laughed.
"Where he was supposed to go when he first came here."
Zeth held Mia as she screamed at Lucas, cussing with all her might.
"Lucas, are you possessed right now?" Zeth asked, looking at Lucas, who hissed.
Suddenly, Lucas' body went limp and fell to the ground. Mia stumbled up and backed up grabbing Zeth's hand. A strange black smoke was raising out of Lucas' mouth and she knew that he was possessed.
The smoke raised into the air and finally stopped once all of it was out of Lucas' mouth and formed into a figure.
"What is it?" Zeth asked, still backing up.
"What do you think?" Mia asked, holding her breath.
"You are right, Mia. I am what people call the Devil. But I am not. I an nothing, really," the figure said.
"What did you do with my brother?" Mia screamed and it just made the smoke figure laugh.
"Nothing, really. I will give him back once I am done with him. He made a deal with me last night when he walked into my home, or should I say your home, last night and asked Lucas to call me. When Lucas called me, he made a deal to leave the house if he gave his soul up. I agreed, of course."
Mia screamed and closed her eyes against Zeth's chest. He had to be lying.
"Why would he do that?" Zeth asked, taking a step towards him.
The devil hissed and backed up. "Stay away from me, you!"
Zeth took another step towards him and he hissed some more and disappeared, causing them to fall to the ground from the force of his leaving.
Mia looked up and saw something falling from the sky and saw that it was another figure. She screamed and saw it was her brother.
"Kyle!" Mia yelled and began running to where he landed in the water.
"MIa!" Kyle yelled, spitting up water. Mia jumped into the water and splashed around as she swam to her brother. But the current was too strong.
Mia stopped swimming, knowing she was going nowhere in the rough water.
Suddenly, Mia saw Lucas jump into the water and he began to swim towards Kyle with such force.
"Lucas! What are you doing?" Mia asked.
Lucas turned around and swam over to her and kissed her right on the lips. "Mia, I love you and I should never have let you move to that house. I'm going to save your brother. Once I do, you have to kill me. If you do not kill me, then He will come back and try to take your brother from you again. I don't know why He gave him back, but he did."
Mia was shocked. She should have seen it coming. "You love me?"
"I do. More than anything on this earth, minus Zeth. He loves you just as much as I do, and I hope you both live your life long and full of happiness." Lucas looked into Mia's eyes and kissed her again on the lips and then turned to go save her brother.
She didn't know what to say. She couldn't talk. Her lips were numb. Actually, everything was numb from the cold of the water.
She waded in the water, watching as Lucas helped Kyle over to her. She grabbed Kyle by the arms and pulled him into a hug and they cried together.
"Mia..." Kyle said, looking over her shoulders.
"Kyle, I thought something bad happened to you. What just happened?" Mia asked, looking at Kyle.
"I don't know. I remember coming home during the storm and then I couldn't get a hold of you and then I called in the morning to let you know that I was alright. Lucas wasn't there anymore and then he showed up and killed dad." Kyle began sobbing violently.
"What?" Mia couldn't believe that. He had to have been possessed. "How?"
Kyle just sobbed and she knew it had to be bad.
Zeth waded in and grabbed both of them and they waded to the shore and Mia looked back to see Lucas wading close behind them. Mia let go of Kyle and ran to Lucas and helped him out of the water. He collapsed in her arms.
"Lucas?" Mia asked, holding his face in her hands.
"Hmm?" He asked, rolling his head around.
"You okay now?" Mia asked, looking into his eyes.
He nodded but then closed his eyes again.
"Mia, we need to get him some warm clothes or he is going to die."
Mia looked up at Zeth. "No. He told me that he had to die or He will come back and get Kyle. I think he wants to die anyways."
Lucas stirred in Mia's arms. "I do, I really do. Please, let God take me. I don't want to be alive when He has a hold of me! Please!"
Zeth looked at Mia then back at Lucas, who's eyes kept rolling in the back of his head.
"I don't think so," Kyle said and grabbed a log that had a sharp edge and Mia gasped.
"NO!" Mia yelled and Zeth ran to take the log from him, but he held it up to his neck.
"I have to. If I do this, then the devil will leave all of you alone and he won't need Lucas anymore! I have to!" Kyle began to cry hard and he barely couldn't see through the tears and Zeth took the chance and grabbed the log from him and turned, but then Lucas grabbed it from him and thrust it into his heart making Mia scream as blood seeped out of his mouth.
"Lucas!" Mia, Zeth and Kyle said at the same time.
Lucas didn't answer back.


Two days later


Mia didn't know what day it was, and she surely didn't care what day it was. All she knew was that Lucas was dead and she had almost lost her brother. They were orphans now, and they didn't tell anyone, either. Kyle and Mia just kept it a secret and stayed with Zeth.
They had quite school because they didn't care about that anymore, either.
Mia was laying on Zeth's bed, looking at the ceiling when Zeth and Kyle came in.
"Hey," Zeth said, kissing her on the cheek.
She didn't reply back and she just stared at the ceiling until she needed to blink again.
"Mia, please, talk to me," her brother said from her left side.
Zeth laid down next to her and grabbed her hand, but she didn't notice.
"Mia," Zeth said moving a lock her hair out of her face.
She turned to look at him, which was a start considering that she hadn't done anything for two whole days since Lucas killed himself.
"What?" She asked in a whisper.
"Mia, I know its really hard for you, but I do think that he wanted to die anyways. Being possessed by the devil is hard, you know. I wanted to show you something that Kyle and I made just for you."
Mia looked to where Kyle was standing. He smiled and looked at her.
She nodded and Zeth and Kyle helped her out of his bed and walked her out the door of the old shack and made her close her eyes.
They walked her over to where a bunch of rocks were and stopped.
"Okay, Mia. You can open your eyes now," Zeth said into her ear.
She slowly opened her eyes and gasped when she saw a clay figure of Lucas, standing on the rock, looking out to the lake. It was the most beautiful figure she had ever seen and it brought tears to her eyes.
"How long did this take you to make? How did you make it? Its so beautiful!" Mia walked over to the rock and ran her fingers over the lining of his shirt and for some reason, she felt that he was there, watching over her and her brother and Zeth, keeping all evil away from them.
"We've been working on it since we sat you on my bed. We stayed up all night working on it, too. We wanted to make it just for you because he loved you, you know," Zeth said quietly.
Mia nodded, knowing he had. "I know. He told me when he went to get Kyle out of the water."
"He did? I hadn't seen him," Kyle said.
She nodded and turned to look at Kyle and Zeth. Then like a wave of water coming to crash against you, her emotions rushed over her and she fell to the ground and cried.
"What have I been doing?" She asked, shaking her head. Zeth sat down next to her.
"Its okay, Mia. No one blames you," Zeth said into her hair.
Mia stopped crying and looked up. In front of her she saw Lucas, standing in front of her, for once smiling and actually looking happy.
"Lucas!" Mia stood and ran to him and hugged him with all her might.
"Mia," Lucas said. "I came to say goodbye."
Mia stopped hugging him and looked into his eyes. They somehow looked different. "Why? I don't want you to leave!" Tears rolled down her face again.
Lucas smiled, but his smile only showed sadness. "I know you don't, but I am more happier. You have a good life ahead of you and Zeth is a good man. You should be happy now that I am gone. I should never have asked for your help and I should have burned the house down when I had the chance to, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't think that He will bother you anymore. But I know some other people will, though. I could not stop them from being there."
"You mean like ghosts?" Mia asked.
Lucas nodded. "Yes, for one, the little girl that was there. She likes you and promises not to do anything to hurt or scare you."
Mia laughed through her wet eyes. "I don't think that I will ever go back to that house. Not since He had killed my dad," Mia said quietly.
Lucas nodded. "I hope you live to your fullest!" He smiled again and then disappeared from Mia's sight.
Mia stood there for a long time before she walked back over to Zeth. Lucas was right. She needed to live her life to the fullest instead of carrying this horrible memory. So she smiled to Zeth and Kyle and hugged them both and let them memories of the past month slid into her mind, hidden well in the back of her mind.


A month later


Mia knocked on the door of Zeth's place, even though she knew she didn't have to and Zeth opened the door.
She had been crying and needed to have his company.
Zeth led her into the one-room house and she sat on his bed. He followed her and they laid together on the bed, staring at each other, probably thinking the same thing.
"I love you, Zeth," Mia whispered and kissed him on the lips. It was the first time that she had kissed Zeth, and it made her head spin.
He kissed her back and they didn't stop there.


Seventeen years later


Mia awoke to the sound of her first born kid named Lucas standing in front of her, looking to the door.
She sat up and shook Zeth awake, who rubbed his eyes.
"What's wrong, baby?" Mia asked, bringing Lucas into her arms.
"There is a man standing outside the house, mama!" he said, shaking in her arms.
Mia yanked the covers off and sat Lucas on her bed and kissed him on the forehead and pulled her robe over her body.
"I'll go with you," Zeth said, getting out of bed.
Mia nodded and walked down the hallway towards the door. Her youngest daughter, Milana, stood by the door and looked back at her mother.
"Sweetie, step away from the door."
"There's a man outside who wants to talk to you and daddy, mama," Milana said, pointing to the door.
Zeth grabbed Milana and picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Mia opened the door and gasped. "Lucas?"

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 10.11.2011

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