House no.9

Chapter Two

The morning sunlight slipped through the curtains, waking me far earlier than I wanted.

I reached across the bed.

Empty.

"Harper?" I called, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"I'm downstairs!" she shouted back.

I smiled to myself and dragged my tired body out of bed.

The house looked completely different during the day. The shadows that had frightened me the night before were gone, replaced by warm sunlight pouring through the tall windows.

Maybe Harper had been right.

Maybe I really was just exhausted.

I made my way downstairs, following the smell of coffee and toast.

Harper stood in the kitchen wearing one of my oversized hoodies, humming to herself as she scrambled eggs.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she teased.

"I was beginning to think you'd abandoned me."

She laughed.

"In this house? Never."

I frowned.

"What?"

"Nothing." She shrugged. "Just... this place feels lonely."

I looked around.

The kitchen was silent except for the ticking of an old clock hanging above the doorway.

"I think it'll feel like home once we finish unpacking."

"I hope so."

After breakfast, we spent hours unpacking boxes.

Books filled the shelves.

Pictures found their places on the walls.

Plants sat by the windows.

Little by little, House No. 9 began to look less abandoned.

By late afternoon, Harper stretched and smiled proudly.

"We're making progress."

"I vote we order pizza."

"I second that."

As Harper reached for her phone, the lights flickered once.

Then again.

We both looked up.

"Power outage?" I asked.

"Maybe."

The lights steadied.

Harper shrugged and went back to scrolling through pizza menus.

I tried to do the same.

But something made me glance toward the hallway.

The front door...

was standing open.

A cold breeze drifted into the house.

I stared at it.

"I'm sure we locked that," I whispered.

Harper looked up.

"What?"

"The front door..."

She turned toward it.

"Oh."

She frowned.

"I could've sworn I locked it too."

Neither of us moved.

For some reason...

Neither of us wanted to be the one to close it.

The cold breeze drifted through the doorway, carrying the scent of damp earth and fallen leaves.

Harper was the first to move.

"Maybe we forgot to lock it," she said, though she didn't sound convinced.

I followed her to the front door, hugging my arms around myself.

"I remember locking it," I said quietly.

"So do I."

Harper stepped onto the porch and looked up and down the street.

It was empty.

Not a single person walked past. Not even a stray dog.

She frowned before stepping back inside.

"See? Probably just the wind."

I nodded, trying to believe her.

She pushed the door shut and turned the lock.

Click.

"There," she said with a smile. "Problem solved."

I forced a smile in return, but something still felt... off.

As we turned to head back into the living room, I glanced through the small glass panel in the front door.

For the briefest second, I thought I saw someone standing across the street.

A tall figure dressed in black.

Watching the house.

I blinked.

The figure was gone.

"Sage?"

Harper's voice pulled me back.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I lied. "I thought I saw someone."

She walked over and looked outside.

"There's no one there."

"I know."

I looked away from the window.

"It was probably my imagination."

Harper slipped her fingers through mine and gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

"Come on," she said. "Let's finish unpacking before this place buries us in cardboard boxes."

I laughed softly.

"Deal."

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly.

By evening, the living room finally looked lived in.

The only thing left unopened was a large cardboard box tucked away in the corner.

Neither of us remembered packing it.

Harper looked at me.

"Is that yours?"

I shook my head.

"No..."

"It's not mine either."

For a long moment, neither of us moved.

The box sat there in complete silence.

Waiting.