Chapter 1 The haunted house

*** POV - Melaena Blackburn - age 6 years old "Ilkay, I m going to the park with some friends!" I shout to my brother as I close the front door, not waiting for his response. He s busy studying like usual and probably won t even hear me. I struggle to get my helmet over my 2 blond ponytails, but manage eventually, strapping it under my chin, I quickly peddle my bike down the street to where the rest of my preschool class is waiting. We re not really going to the park, but to investigate the haunted house at the start of the wood and I just know that my bloody family would for certain kill me if they ever find out about this. The building previously belonged to some or other rich dude, but it s been deserted for years. According to legend, the whole family disappeared overnight into thin air, never to be heard from again. Rumors have it that they were taken by the devil himself and now a demon guards the place ripping anyone who dares to trespass on the property into shreds. Well, that s where we re heading right now and there s no backing out. Jason Steward, the class bully, dared the whole class to go investigate the place with him. Anybody that chickens out will be labeled as a namby-pamby, and knowing Jason, he ll make it stick till we graduate for sure. Yeah, I know that s a long way off, but I for one am not going through the rest of my educational experience with a coward stamp on my back, no sirree. I look to my left meeting Kiara s grey eyes as she rides alongside me and I know that she s got my back and vice-versa. After all, it s not our first outing together – we ve been friends since the first day of kindergarten and since then landed in more trouble than I can count on my fingers. Then Jason drops his bike and walks up to the rusty gate. It makes a loud shrieking noise, leaving a trail of goosebumps on my skin – I m not scared, it s just freaking eerie. Kiara hangs her helmet onto her steering bar and we walk up the overgrown pathway. The grass is almost as high as our shoulders, but then again, neither I nor Kiara is that big. We might just be the smallest in our class. Axel, a classmate, pushes open the wooden door and I notice some nasty purple-blue bruises on his wrist when the sleeve of his oversized hoody pulls up slightly. He s always wearing a hoody as if he s some kind of spy, the mysterious kid hiding in a corner, not talking to anybody, and always getting into fights. But I think he s a vampire, wearing those hoodies as not to sparkle in the sun or burn to ash … whichever one is real. The door is quite impressive even though the wood is cracked and weathered by exposure. I can make out the shape of a rearing horse carved in the rotten wood and I trace my finger over the slimy, spongy surface, covered by moss and other fungi before I step into a dimly lit room. My sneakers stick on the muggy floor tiles as I slowly move deeper into the room. My eyes follow a giant curved staircase up to the next floor and then my gaze moves up to the ceiling where an old chandelier clings in the light breeze coming from the open door. This must have been one heck of a house in its prime and suddenly I wonder what really happened here. Jason shuffles a little forward, but I notice that his face seems paler than his usual faded complexion, no dump that, he seems bleached white. Could it be that Jason is a pissy-pants? I bump Kiara with my elbow, gesturing in the direction of Jason, and a small smile creeps across her face. She takes out her phone and starts filming Jason with a sly expression. Hell, we ve learned that with Jason you have to shoot low, just in case you need backup. She hates him just as much as me, cause he tries to ruin our lives around every nook and corner. Then within one second, all hell breaks loose. Jason steps on a loose tile – aka a pressure plate - and almost immediately a sharp pain shoots through my arm. I look down and see an arrow pierced right through my upper ligament. It looks kind of like a fake Halloween accessory and I stare at it, trying to figure out if it s real or just a prank, when somebody lets out a high-pitched yell, sending poor little Jason running for the door. In his rush, he shoves Kiara (still filming) out of his way and she falls down a gap where the floor caved in. I run to the edge and peep over the side, my one hand clamping my arm to try and control the pain, for some weird reason it s not bleeding much. I can make out her body lying a few meters below me in the dark. "Kiara, are you ok?" I shout, cursing Jason in my mind, already thinking of ways to get him back. "Yes, only my ankle. I think it might be broken." She sniffs and I know she s crying, and the image of me yanking all Jason s hair out fuels my cruel mind. "Just hang on, I ll get the others to come help get you out." But before I can even move a bone-piercing growl shakes through the house, swinging the chandelier fiercely from side to side. The rest of the class follows Jason pushing and shuffling to get out first. "Yellow-bellies!" I shout at them, while my mind is working overtime, trying to think how the hell I m going to pull Kiara up all by myself, with only one arm. Then I feel a small hand on my shoulder. "SHIP!" I jump with fright but at least remembers that according to my mother a lady doesn t swear. So shit gets transformed into a more feminine version instead. I look up to see a pair of apple-green eyes that belongs to an annoying-looking boy, covered in dirt. He gives me a big toothless grin and for some reason, I feel calm and anxious at the same time. Weird. "I ll try and pull her up with this." He walks up to the edge of the hole and drops the one end of the vine down to Kiara. She grabs on, twisting her arms around the vine. I try to help him pull her up. "Can you just sit on your but and keep your arm still, little girl." He orders me, pushing me back. Oh no, he didn t. "You can t tell me what to do, nitwit," I yell at him but he just keeps on looking at me as if he s going to suck out my blood. Maybe he s a vampire too. Nope, his skin is not pale enough and he doesn t sparkle in the few rays of sunlight shining through the windows. I've seen Twilight and will know a vampire when I see one. But vampire or not, this guy is scary. I give a step back and swallow. Usually, I don t let the opposite sex shunt me around, having 4 older brothers I ve learned to stand my ground, but something in this boy s eyes tells me to back the hell up. Axel comes back with another vein, but it also breaks. Then the strange boy with messy black hair, who s not in my class, by the way, jumps into the hole and pushes Kiara up while Axel pulls from the top. Then he climbs out as if he s some kind of strong demon ninja. Maybe he s the demon watching over the house. You know, I ve read somewhere that demons have strange eyes, and this boy s gaze is anything but normal. "Thanks" Kiara smiles at him and then we hear some strange sounds coming from somewhere upstairs. "I think we better go." Axel helps Kiara onto his back, while green-eyes puts an arm around my shoulders and we move quickly to the entrance. As we leave through the mossy door, I look back and see a man standing at the top of the stairs, sparkling eyes shining in his hideous beastlike mess of a face. I swear he s looking right through me. The demon guard is not as scary as I thought him to be, but he sure is ugly.