CHAPTER I - The house
"Oh-my-God!" were the
only words the thirteen year-old Megan Phillips was able to articulate in
disbelief, while staring at the two story house left by aunt Alice.
"The house needs a couple of
repairs but other than that it is fully functional." Kristie Phillips
heard the annoying attorney say while she tried to recover from the shock of
such dreadful sight.
"A couple!" Megan's
voice hit a high pitched note as if she was about to jump on the man's throat
at any moment. "The house is a wreck! Even the ghosts must have moved out
by now!" the girl complained.
"I beg to differ." Replied the obnoxious attorney
waving his index at the young girl. "Miss Alice took care of her home til
the day she died."
Kristie was aware of the
discussion going on between her younger sister and aunt Alice's attorney, but
her eyes were locked on the somber looking house. The last couple of days had
been a quite dramatic sequence of unfortunate events that began with a dream
she was unable to explain. The only thing she could remember about it, was a
soft silken voice whispering to her ear "will you ignore the calling"? Her skin crawled
remembering the sound of those
words. The news of aunt Alice's sudden death came that very morning and through that greasy looking attorney.
According to Alice's last will, Kristie was to inherit all of her assets, while
to Megan - the niece Alice regretted never to have met - she left a small token
in the form of a necklace with a crystal pendant. Megan loved the necklace and
now used it all the time, but Kristie was still utterly shocked by the entire
situation that led them there.
Kristie had been about ten
years-old when she went to spend her summer holidays with aunt Alice at Emerald
Bay. Megan wasn't even born yet, but she had some very fond memories of those
holidays even though she never returned to spend more time with her aunt. It
was odd, now that she thought about it. She really didn't know why she had
never seen or heard from Alice again. At least not until a couple of days ago.
"Kris! I am not spending the
night here." Megan complained grabbing her sister's arm, dragging her back
to reality.
Kristie's dark eyes settled on
her sister "It's not like we have any other option Meg." she replied
with a tired sigh. And they didn't. Not only were they flat broke, but also
they had started running down a very dangerous path back in the city. Having
Megan moving in with her after her parents tragic accident, placed a heavy and
expensive burden - so to speak - on Kristie's shoulders.
"But we do have
options!" Megan argued. "Anything is better than this..."
"Listen Meg..." Kristie
started, placing both hands on her little sister shoulders - "We've got to do this... I know
this is quite a..." She stared back at the wrecked house trying to think
of a positive word to describe the apocalyptic scenery. "...a challenge...
But I do not have the means to support us both back in the city." Then she
turned back aunt's Alice attorney "we will stay." she decided.
The middle aged man smiled. "Very
Good." He said.
Searching through his briefcase
he took out a keychain and held it towards Kristie. "These are the keys to
your new house and shop. You'll find everything inside, just as your aunt Alice
left it." He said. "Once you and your sister have settled in, I will
drop by so we can finish up with the paperwork."
Kristie presented him with a warm
smile as she shook his hand in agreement to the proposal. "Thank you very
much for your time and help, Mr. Kroes."
"You are most welcome Ms.
Phillips." He replied, holding on to her hand longer than it was actually
needed. " Anything you need, feel free to contact me. You have my card and
my office is right in the town square, you won't miss it."
" I will. " She agreed
out of politeness, gently pulling her hand out of his grip. She had no
intentions of prolonging that particular relationship any longer than stritcly
needed. Even though the man had been extremely helpful, there was something
about him that didn't quite fit.
Watching him leave, Megan wrapped
her arms around her sister's waist.
"Siiiiisss... the dude's
weird." she said in a low tone. Kristie's lips curled in a smile as she
kissed her sister's head.
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