Helena was the “it” girl in high school. Tim and Max were nerds basically. Tim was in jazz band and Max was in science club. They were friends back then, Helena included. No matter how popular she became she never forgot the boys who had been her friend since second grade. Now Helena was an executive for a makeup company. Her husband, Auburn Morrison, was a stay at home dad.
“I’m still thinking about it.” Max said. “Since Jasper Torrelli joined, all the fun of it is gone. All he cares about is winning.” Max rolled his eyes.
“Yeah that guy’s an asshole but I’m not letting him ruin a night out.” Timothy said.
“Wish I had your outlook on it.” Max said as they reached the corner. He looked at his watch and swore. “Hey look I’ll see you around. I’ve got two more places to show today.”
“Alright.” Tim said smiling. “See you at the troop meeting tonight.”
“Yeah. I’ll be the one with the giant smile on his face because I just got a fifty grand commission for selling ‘the Golden house’.” Max said walking backwards down the street.
He was referring to a mansion on the rich side of town that seemed unsellable. With its history, Tim couldn’t blame people for passing it over. It was beautiful outside but there was something so off about that place. Something awful seemed to live in its bones.
Five murders had happened in that house over the span of fifty years. In 1910 a man murdered his father after fighting with him. Twenty years later a woman killed her abusive husband and the oldest of her nine kids. Ten years later a man killed himself after finding out about his wife’s extramarital affair, guilt drove the wife to end her own life when she found him hanging from the rafters in the attic.
The house had some bad juju, that was for certain and it was believed to be built on top of an Indian burial ground, but Tim doubted that. Every time something bad happened in a house, some idiot would say, “You know it’s built on top of an Indian burial ground right?”
Tim shook his head to himself just thinking about it. Even though he was skeptical of the burial ground theory, when he was a little boy he would ride past that house on his bike as fast as his little legs could carry him. He would breathe a sigh of relief when no monsters jumped out of the bushes to grab him.
“Congrats.” Tim said smiling at Max.
“I love this job.” Max said pumping his fist in a small gesture of excitement. Who wouldn’t? When things were good in the market, the guy could easily clear a hundred grand a year selling houses around the tri-boro.
Timothy waved at Max as he got into his car. His mind went back to his new neighbor. She didn’t know him from Adam but the whole purse clutching thing had been a little extra. He remembered his cousin Dave being upset when it had happened to him . . . but not for nothing, Tim understood how he could have been mistaken for a criminal.
Dave was a little scary looking with his spiked hair, piercings, and tattoos. Tim would always laugh when Dave complained about how offensive it was but now he could sympathize. He decided not to let it bother him anymore. Her stupidity was her stupidity. Now he understood the saying, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, a little better.
*****
Kassie got back to her luxury apartment, full of packed boxes, and put down her purse on the mail table. She stared at the black leather high end furniture, her seventy inch flat screen, and the thousands of dollars worth of artwork on the walls . . . and she broke.
She sobbed with everything she was worth. She was needlessly miserable. It filled her, flooding her heart and soul, bubbling out of the expensive clothes and shoes, flowing and filling every corner of the room. Kassie felt like a fish out of water. She couldn’t breathe in this world, she wasn’t supposed to be here, and she wasn’t supposed to be alone. He had promised her she would never be alone again and yet . . . here she was, in a million dollar apartment staring at all of her stuff, feeling utterly and completely alone. Kassie hugged herself as she stared at the packed apartment.
Kassie made her way across her apartment, kicking off the red shoes as she reached her room. Sitting down heavily on the overstuffed arm chair in the corner, she gave in to a good cry. She was so filled with pain that she often felt like she would explode. What was it about her that made people want to leave her? It was a question she had been asking herself all of her life.
Kassie undressed and laying across her bed, crying herself to sleep for the umpteenth time in the week. Sometimes she felt as though her life would be stuck in fake smiles and misery.
*~*~*~*
Chapter 2
The inspector went over the house with a fine tooth comb, despite the tongue lashing he received from Kassie for being ten minutes late and wasting her time. He told her everything that was wrong with the house and what needed her attention; Max heard her constant muffled questions from where he stayed upstairs in the kitchen. He was glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of her nonsense today. She was a stone cold bitch!
When they returned to the kitchen, the inspector looked as if he was ready to kill Kassie, a dark crimson flush spreading over his warm features.
“I will get right on those repairs,” Kassie said to the inspector and not in a pleasant voice; she sounded annoyed more than anything else. “I’ll expect to see you in two months when the work is complete?” She arched a manicured brow at him; the question was more of a statement.
“Oh no!” He shook his head. “Someone else will come.”
“Very well.” Kassie snapped. “Gentlemen.” She grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter and walked out of the house.
*****
Timothy got out of his car and Griffin jumped out before Timothy closed the door. The dog ran across the yard jumping on his toy squirrel and shaking it violently, Tim looked up seeing Kassie storm from the house. Be polite, he growled to himself.
“Hello again.”
She ignored his greeting and pointed at Griffin. “Does it bark excessively?”
“It is a dog.” Timothy said smartly and Kassie looked at him like she wanted to deck him.
“I mean at night.” She snapped.
“He’s inside at night.” Timothy said.
“Good.” She put on her sunglasses. “And keep it off my property or I will poison it.”
“What?” He growled.
She turned and walked down to her car. This time the convertible’s top was up. She got into it, started the car and pulled off.
Anger filled Tim from his toenails to the hairs on his head. How dare she say that! He looked down at Griffin and the dog stared at him. She was just out and out an offensive, obnoxious person. Tim knew without a doubt that he didn’t like her and it took a lot for him to not like a person, but threatening his dog was over the line.
*****
Mason Douglas, the inspector, looked pretty upset as he put his things away. This in itself was unusual because Mason rarely got angry. He had a reputation for being nice, cool, and had such a sense of calmness and professionalism about him that homeowners treated him like spiritual counsel at times.
“That is one mean woman.” Mason said as he stood beside Max and watched Kassie drive away. “Like a pissed off cobra just waiting to strike.”
“Mmm-hmm!” Max said. “You know who she is, don’t you?”
Mason shook his head, “Should I?” He asked.
“She is the ex-wife of that movie star Monroe Evans and she’s a popular illustrator, sometimes for kids books believe it or not. My kids have some books she worked on. You would never know it from the Cruella DeVille thing she’s got going on.” Max said.
“Yeah? So she’s semi famous huh?” Mason asked.
“Yeah.” Max answered as they walked out of the house and Max locked the door.
“Wait Monroe Evans? The guy who does all of those action movies?”
“Yeah, my wife told me that apparently paparazzi caught him coming out of some ritzy hotel with a much younger model. She didn’t know about it until some inter
viewer asked her about it. Then a few weeks later she had a miscarriage.”
“Wow, maybe that’s why she’s such a bitch.” Mason said.
“Either that or she’s Satan’s love child. It’s the latter I think.” Max said. The two men laughed as they walked out of the yard.
*****
Kassie walked into her apartment, staring at the mountain of brown boxes, and started to close the door when someone stuck an Italian leather loafer in the way. She looked up quickly, seeing the smiling face of her ex husband Monroe. Still as handsome and carefree as ever, she thought bitterly. She hated that he didn’t seem bothered by their divorce. It annoyed her to no end; of course with that slut hanging off of him at every turn she could see why he wasn’t bothered. Kassie swore that his new girlfriend was guarding him. Trying to make certain he didn’t stray from her. Kassie found it disgusting, the woman had no problem ruining a marriage but tried like hell to make sure he didn’t do the same thing to her as he did to Kassie.
But standing here staring at him with deadly eyes she felt old feelings stirring. Monroe was tall and muscular without being bulky, with chocolate skin and warm brown eyes. He was also very charming which was like an aphrodisiac to most women. Eventually, even she succumbed to his charm when they had started dating in college.
“Move your foot Monroe.” She said frostily
“I think we should talk.” He said. “Can I come in?”
“No, I have nothing to say to you.” She replied, not budging.
“Please Kass.” He said gently
“Why should I let you anywhere near me?” She said, her tears were bubbling to the surface, threatening to undue all of the hard work she had put into being cold. “You killed us Monroe. What did I ever do to you but be a good wife?”
Her tears had let Monroe know that there was still something there, had made him feel as if there was a chance to reason with her and he took it.
“Kass, I’m sorry, listen-,”
Kassie then did something he hadn’t expected at all . . . she sucked it up. All of the oncoming tears and the tremble in her voice disappeared as if it was nothing.
In a calm, cool and slightly scary voice she said, “No matter, I’m used to being on my own.”
“Kass, baby-,”
“No, no baby! You go and baby her, not me.” Kassie realized in that moment, despite the pain and anger, she meant it.
“Ok fine.” He said exasperatedly, stepping back in the face of her rejection. “I just wanted to tell you that Amber and I are getting married.”
Kassie stared at him for a long and uncomfortable moment.
“Really?” She said softly. “Well, I hope you two will be very happy together.” Kassie then slammed the door in his face.
“Thanks.” He said from the other side. But he felt so awful that he wanted to bust that door down, grab her up in his arms and beg forgiveness.
Kassie waited a moment before sighing and lowering her head. Surprisingly, for the first time in months, she didn’t break into tears the moment the door was closed. She couldn’t believe he was marrying his mistress but in the same breath, she knew it was time to stop mourning her failed marriage and move on.
Kassie pulled herself from the door and walked through her apartment. A part of her was unable to believe that she wasn’t utterly destroyed about him getting married. Kassie wondered if it was because she was starting a new life and leaving her old one behind. She only hoped that she could forget him all together. Even when she tried to tell herself that he was losing out she somehow felt that this wasn’t true; no matter how she wished for it to be true. Toward the end of their relationship, she was horrible to him but she felt now that maybe it was because some part of her knew he had been cheating all along.
Sitting on her bed, she sighed. Kassie looked around at the room and a feeling of calm covered her. She had to move on with her life; she couldn’t worry about Monroe anymore. This was her new start and Kassie planned to make this her last one. She’d watch her step and close off her heart. Never would she allow herself to fall in love with another man. Never would she allow one into her world, no matter what. From now on her life was her own.
*~*~*~*
Chapter 3
Over the next few months, work crews were in and out of her house and so was she, watching everything like a hawk. Kassie spent thousands of dollars having woodworkers add additional little touches to her house, like hand carved wooden railings on the stairs and bookshelves built into the walls of her living room.
At Kassie’s request, the craftsmen searched all over the state finding pieces and products that were used in houses of that time period. Because Kassie was so pleased with their work, she gave each worker an extra five hundred dollars at the end of the job. She even wrote the owner of the company a letter and signed it with a little doodle of a man carrying a box with the moving companies name on it. She found that when she was pleased with a company and sent a letter with a doodle, many of the company owners kept and displayed them. Most of the people had kids and knew who she was.
*****
By the end of summer, she moved in on a Saturday and he swore the neighborhood cleared out the moment her convoy of moving vans pulled up to the house. They’d all heard about her treatment of Max and knew she was cold and unfriendly. Everyone watched from inside their homes as she ordered the movers around like a drill sergeant.
Timothy wasn’t daunted though and sat on his porch swing watching her move in; she was tough if he could put it nicely, but there was something else going on there that he couldn’t quite understand and he found that intriguing. Kassie looked at him staring at her and stopped in the middle of her walkway.
“Yes?” She snapped.
Timothy cocked a brow at her and stood up.
Kassie noted again how tall he was; she had a serious thing for tall guys. Monroe was six foot four and Tim had to be six foot two or three.
“Come on, boy, suddenly it’s really cold out here.” He said opening his door.
She glared at him as the dog ran inside, and he followed letting the screen door snap shut behind him.
Kassie lowered her head for just a moment. Sometimes she couldn’t believe the things she said to people or how she acted toward them. She didn’t know why she was so mean; it was just something she had developed. Not many people in her life had been nice to her, why should she be sweet to anyone else. There were only a few people who had meant something to her in her life and only one person that was still alive, in her life that had always had her back and that was her best friend, Rose. Rose had never let her down in their twenty something years of friendship.
Kassie nearly turned and walked back out the fence but decided not to go over to his house. Why should she apologize to him? He was a jackass to her. She raised her chin pushing her shoulders back and walked up the path into her house.
*****
By six, all of her things were moved into the house and placed where she wanted them. She may have been mean, but she was neither cheap nor unfair and the movers were shocked when she gave all seven of them two hundred dollars each before they left. Secretly though she felt badly about the way she treated them. They did their job well; they had even put all of her bedroom furniture into her room exactly the way she demanded. She’d have to assemble her bed on her own tonight but she didn’t mind. It gave her something to do for a while.
Kassie looked around the large house and sighed hard. This was the first time in a very long time that she was completely and totally on her own and she had to admit . . . she was scared. She had gotten used to not being alone even in her apartment. Monroe had insisted on a live in maid. When they had separated, the woman had asked to work for Kassie. But Kassie always had a thing about people working for her so she gave the woman a large severance payment of six hundred thousand and let her go. Kassie was now regretting that decision, the first night alone in a new house was scary.
*****
Kassie
spent the night listening to jazz, putting her bed together and unpacking some of her things. By two in the morning, she collapsed in her bed. She slept until eleven the next day, later than she had slept in a long, long time and it felt good. When she awoke she went out to lunch and took a long walk around the town, she wanted to see what there was to offer here.
Twenty minutes into her tour she saw a large box store, a smaller supermarket, a bakery, several boutiques and big brand stores, a pet store, a comic bookstore, a bookstore, a small pharmacy and a hardware store.
Kassie kept walking until she reached the town library. It was large with beautiful gothic architecture and seemed somewhat out of place in such a simple town. But she was happy to find it and went inside to fill out for a card. Kassie loved libraries. Since she was a child they had been sanctuaries for her. A magical place where she could go and hide from the world, especially since her world was not so great. She could always escape her pain by heading to the library.
*****
The librarian kept staring at her as she filled out the form for a library card. The older woman had to be nearing eighty if not already there, she had long white hair and glittery silver eyes. She stood maybe five foot two and was about ninety pounds; she seemed so gentle and fragile. But the staring made Kassie uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry. You look a lot like someone.” She said softly as if sensing Kassie’s discomfort. Kassie smiled, she may have been nasty to people on the street but she had a tender spot for elder people.
“I’m Kassie Lawton.” Kassie said.
“The illustrator.” Her silver eyes smiled knowingly. “I thought I knew your face dear. What are you doing here?”
“I just moved to town.” Kassie said handing back her form. “The house on Walter Street.”
“The old Parker house?” The librarian asked.
“I guess.” Kassie smiled at the older woman.
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