My House is NOT Haunted

Whitney’s P.O.V

Brooklyn stormed out of the bathroom with tears streaming down her face. Wait – tears? Brooklyn? Whoa, that’s new.

I shrugged, and headed back to my bed. I didn’t actually have to use the restroom, I just wanted beauty queen out of there. I giggled to myself as I sat on my bed. Taylor had gone to the lounge, not wanting to be around the two of us if he could help it. Personally, I didn’t blame him. I had a crossword puzzle to finish.

I was about halfway done when I heard Brooklyn let out a small sob. I turned to see her in the fetal position on her bed, with her back facing me. I raised an eyebrow. Well, that’s new.

I was just about to go back to my puzzle when I heard her sob again, louder this time. I put the book (yeah, somehow I got a whole book of crossword puzzles) down on my bed and walked over to her. Her sobs were louder, and more often by the time I sat down next to her. Don’t get me wrong, I still hated her. I’m just one of those people that don’t like to see people upset.

When the bed sank under my weight, she turned to me. Seeing who it was, she scowled. How polite.

“What do you want?” she snapped.

“I was going to ask why you were crying. Now, though, I’m wondering why I bother.”

She sat up, wiping her eyes and glaring at me. “If you’d been through half the stuff I’ve been through you’d have some idea of why I’m such a b*tch!”

I opened my mouth to say something else, but stopped once her words registered in my mind. “What happened?”

She sighed and stared down at the bed. “My mom died when I was two or three, and I can’t remember her. My father couldn’t care less about me. I’ve had so many abusive boyfriends I can’t even count them anymore. And now I’m stuck in this dump for the rest of my life!”

I just stared at her. Had she really been through all that? I mean, I’d lost my brother, one of my best friends. But at least my parents were still here, still caredabout me. And, yeah, I’ve had a few crummy boyfriends, but none of them hit me.

“Oh, wow… I’m-”

“Don’t say it!” she snapped. “People always say ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘Poor thing’ or… or… stuff like that! Ugh!” She flopped back onto the bed. “All the pity in the world won’t make my mother come back, or make my father care about me, or make Brandon stop hurting me.”

My eyes widened. “Who hurts you?”

She continued staring at the ceiling. “Brandon Smith. We’d been dating for about three months… and then I broke up with him at the beginning of the year. I just got back together with him about a week ago, seeing as he was dating Kel…ly.”

My eyes widened more, and my jaw dropped. “Brandon was the one who gave you those scars? The same Brandon that went out with my baby sister? Oh my God.”

I’ll admit it: I was scared. Kelly was my only sibling left. I couldn’t lose her.

Brooklyn sat up. “Wait. You’re Whitney Queen? The popular girl?”

I scoffed. “Yeah, I guess. Why do you think Taylor calls me Ice Queen?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t really think about it.”

Taylor stormed into the room then. I stared at him blankly as Jack (whom I’d also become good friends with, despite the fact that he’d tried to kill me) and Aiden followed him into the room. I raised an eyebrow, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Brooklyn cock her head.

“What’s going on?”

Taylor looked at me sadly. “They want me to… to…” He trailed off.

Jack rolled his eyes. “We were bored so we dared Taylor to f*ck you.” He smirked at the thought.

I, however, didn’t think it was funny. “No way! Uh-uh. Not gonna happen. Now, buh-bye.”

“Aw, Whitney! Why’d you have to ruin our fun?” Aiden whined.

“Because I’m not getting anywhere near him! Now, if you don’t mind, I’m kinda in the middle of something.”

“Oooo! What is it?” Aiden squealed like a little girl.

“None of your business,” Brooklyn piped up.

Taylor shot us a pleading look. I sighed. “Look, guys. Get out, or I’ll make you. Ok?”

Aiden nodded, and scurried out of the room. Jack just looked at me funny. “You really think I’m afraid of y-”

I grabbed his wrist, and flipped him over my shoulder. He landed on his back with a loud thud. I brought his hands behind his back, and pinned them there while I sat on his legs.

“You were saying?”

“Ok, ok, I’ll go just get off me!” His words were muffled from the carpet.

Everyone laughed, except Jack, as he got up and hobbled out of the room.

“So…what were you guys talking about?” Taylor wanted to know.

I opened my mouth to tell him off, but Brooklyn shot me a look. “About my… past. Turns out, Whitney and I went to the same school. One of my best friends is her sister.”

Taylor sat on his bed, facing us. “Oh, yeah? What school?”

I didn’t answer. I was too amazed at the fact that the three of us were having a normal, civilized conversation.

“Roosevelt High,” Brooklyn stated.

Taylor’s face paled, yet again. What is with that guy, anyway? “R-Roosevelt? Did you know a Brandon Smith and Amber Foster?”

I snapped out of my daze. “Yeah, why?”

“They used to be agents here. Brandon got kicked out, for some reason, and Amber escaped to be with him. She probably wanted out, seeing as how she’d been forced to kill her own sister about a year earlier. The thing is, though, we’ve kept tabs on Brandon, just to make sure he doesn’t spill our secret. And, well… he killed her. He said something about getting back at his partner, Jason Ryder?”

My jaw dropped again. I tend to do that a lot, I just noticed that. “Jason was his partner?”

He nodded. “Yeah. He was sent to find Amber after she escaped. He lived next door to where she was killed.”

“Amber was killed in my house?” I asked in disbelief.

“You’re the family that moved in there? Oh, man. You’re that Whitney? No wonder they’d kidnapped you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brooklyn watching the conversation like a tennis match.

“It means that you and your family were supposed to be killed, since your parents discovered Amber Foster’s body! They must’ve changed their minds, seeing as how you knew nothing about it.”

I stared at him, questions buzzing through my head. Why would Brandon kill his girlfriend? Why was Jason an agent? Why was Brandon kicked out? What do Kelly and I have to do with this?

I was just about to ask when Mitch walked in, flanked by Aiden and Jack. “Whitney, we have a hostage here who claims to know you.”

“W-who?” I stuttered.

“Come with me. I’ll show you.”

I got up, and followed the men out of the room. I heard Taylor and Brooklyn’s footsteps behind me. When we got to the main room, the warehouse building that I woke up in, Mitch and the guys stopped.

There was a crowd, about ten people or so, crowded around a person in the middle of the room. The closer I got, the more my heart sunk. I could’ve sworn it stopped when I got to the center, and saw the crumpled form of a teenage girl with fiery red hair.

“Oh my God,” I whispered. “Kelly...”