My House is NOT Haunted

Kelly’s P.O.V

You know, I’d never really thought that you could dream while unconscious from injury, or in a coma, or…something like that. Now, I do. The dreams I’d had would’ve made me cry had I not been, well, asleep.

~Flashback~

You know those days where you wake up in the morning and you knowsomething bad is going to happen? And no matter how many times people tell you you’re paranoid, overreacting, or just plain crazy, you still believe it?

This was one of those days. It was still summer, of course, so we didn’t have school, although Jeff was getting ready to go back to Harvard. I was sad to see him go, like always, but this year I felt more than sad. I was…depressed. Most likely because, like I said before, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Not that anyone believed me, of course.

I’d mentioned my bad vibe to him, but he shrugged it off. That wasn’t like him at all. He always put up with my ramblings, or paranoia, or craziness. So why was he ignoring me?

I walked into his room, where he was sitting on his bed strumming his guitar. Jeff was an excellent musician. He played piano, violin, guitar, and flute, along with his amazing voice. I’d always wondered why he didn’t go to Julliard.

He looked up when I walked in. “Hey, Kel. What’s up?” His usually cheerful voice sounded distant.

“Nothing,” I mumbled, “I need to talk to you.”

He set his guitar down beside him and patted the bed, meaning me to sit. “Ok, talk.”

I sat lightly, and chose my words carefully. “You’ve been acting… strange lately. What’s up?”

His forced smile disappeared. “I’m sorry, Kel, but I can’t really tell you. I don’t want you worrying about me, ok?”

I stood up, and faced him. “What do you mean? You’re my brother, and I’m not supposed to worry about you?”

“I don’t want you getting involved, Kelly! You could get hurt!” he shouted.

“But, Jeff-”

“Look, just… just go. I’ve already said too much. Don’t worry about me.”

I stared at him, wondering why he was acting this way. I turned to leave, and just as I was outside the door, I heard him say, “I’m sorry, Kelly.” It sounded more like he was talking to himself, not me, so I kept walking.

Four hours later, I was sitting on the couch next to Whitney, watching the TV but not remembering anything I was seeing. The phone rang, I thought nothing of it. The phone was always ringing.

My mom got up to answer it. “Hello?... Yes… Yes, he is… He’s… He’s… Oh, my God… Thank you… We’ll be right there.”

“What is it, mom?” Whitney asked, seeing her pale expression.

“Don! Come here! Jeff’s been shot, honey.”

~End flashback~

Consciously, I hadn’t thought of that day in months. It hurt too much, so I pushed it to the back of my mind. When I was asleep, though, I had no control. That day had haunted me in my sleep countless times.

My other dream was…strange.

~Flashback~

I ran out of the car I was in, seeing as how it was parked in front of my house. I didn’t know what I was running from, all I knew was that I had to get away.

The car I’d jumped out of was parked in front of my house. The one in California. I ran up to it, and burst through the door, not caring about the mold or the smell. I ran to the right staircase, and flew up it. When I got to the top, I turned back.

An evil-looking Brandon ran through the door. When he saw me, he raised the gun he was carrying. I turned and ran down the hallway just as I heard a series of gunshots behind me.

My thoughts buzzed a mile a minute. Was that Brandon? Why did he have a gun? More importantly, why was he shooting at me?

I came to the end of the hallway, where my room was. I was just slipping through the door when a searing pain erupted in my shoulder. As much as I wanted to scream, I clamped my mouth shut.

I slammed the door behind me. Brandon pounded on it, swearing left and right. I frantically looked for a way out. My sight landed on the glass doors that led to Jason’s balcony.

I had just gotten outside when the other door fell in, revealing an even angrier Brandon. Uh-oh.

I stared at the balcony, only one scenario running through my mind.

As I rushed over to the edge of the balcony, I heard more shots coming from my bedroom. I hurriedly pulled myself up so that I was standing on the edge. I stared down at the large drop between the two houses.

Suddenly, the glass door shattered, and I jumped. I landed on the other side hard, but at least I’d made it. I looked behind me to see that Brandon had pulled himself up, and was preparing to jump.

He was about to leave it when something incredible happened… his foot slipped.

He fell off the railing, and between the houses. As he went down, he shot his gun as many tomes as possible, though you could tell he’s had no target. A few seconds later, I heard a loud crack, and the shooting stopped.

~End flashback~

“Kelly, wake up! Oh my God, please wake up!” I vaguely heard someone call.

I lifted my eyelids slowly. They felt like they weighed ten pounds.

“Kelly! Oh, you’re awake!” I heard the same person cry.

It took me a minute to realize who was talking. “Whitney?” I croaked.

Her fiery red hair blocked everything out in my line of sight. “Yeah, it’s me, Kelly. Oh my God, I was so scared!”

I tried to sit up, but the room started spinning. A strong hand pushed me back down, one that I knew didn’t belong to Whitney. “Whoa, easy,” a deep voice, obviously a guy’s, said.

Once everything stopped spinning, I got a good look at the guy. He had sandy blonde hair, about to his chin, and luminous ocean-blue eyes. Even to someone who was slightly loopy from just waking up, he was gorgeous. “Who are you?”

Whitney snickered. “That’s Taylor. He’s my… uh… friend.”

Taylor looked at her, confused, but didn’t say anything. It was right about then that I noticed there was another person in the room.

“Brooke?”