No Place Like Home
Ch 1
Opening: Oooo spooky house with secrets crawling in it, wary of newcomers, something/ someone in it??
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Mike Schmidt pulled up to the driveway of the dreary old building known as the Purple Palace, stalling as long as he could til he’d have to go inside. Based on the exterior he didn't really want to see what was in it, but he had to.
He turned around in his seat to look at his passengers, the two children staring out the window judgmentally. “Alright guy’s, what do you think?”
“It looks like it’s gonna collapse on us.“ sneered the boy with a disgusted look on his face. “It looks dirty,” said the girl, only slightly more polite.
Mike sighed, internally agreeing with them but not about to show it. “C’mon it can’t be that bad… probably. At least not as bad as our last place”
The two had nothing to say to this, though Gregory still seemed unimpressed.
And with that he turned the engine off and finally climbed out of the car.
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It was early morning and the ‘palace’ was likely empty as the tenants went to work for the day. The entire building was silent as Mike approached the front door with the keys in his hand, finding the appropriate one and slipping it in the lock. He opened the door and stepped aside to let the little ones in.
The first room was a hallway. The ceiling lights were off but enough natural light was let in by the windows that they could all see the wear and tear of the walls easily. Mike shut the front door behind him as the kids wandered in, feeling a little uneasy.
Making the first move, Gregory crossed into the kitchen, Chrissy following closely. There was just as much light in it as they wandered around. The small kitchen looked normal enough, slightly cleaner than the outside of the house, with counters, a stove, and a small table in the middle. Gregory walked over to the fridge and yanked it open, he immediately wrinkled his nose at the smell of the single rotten…thing inside. “Yuck.”
Chrissy approached the windowsill, which housed a red vase with a few shriveled flowers in it, past the window she could see the car they had come in, and the items strapped to the top. Not seeing Mike outside she wandered back through the doorway to look for him.
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She found him further down the hallway, opening doors and inspecting the place.
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“Admittedly this might be a fire trap.” he said offhandedly as she caught up, though she was unsure if he knew she was there or was simply speaking to himself out loud again.
Gregory, having had enough of the kitchen, caught up too, glancing at the uninteresting room the two were looking at.
“Can we go upstairs?” he asked, slightly louder than necessary.
Mike glanced at him, then to the stairs, considering them for a moment.
“Uh, sure, if they’re not too creaky or anything. Call me if anything falls through ok?” he turned back to the front door and started out to collect their things from the car.
The kids wobbled up the stairs, which were oddly disorienting. On the second floor was a second hallway, with many doors to either side of the stairs. They both stood there for a moment, the house unbearably quiet around them as they wondered which door to open first.
Eventually Gregory boldly approached the furthest door at the end, and opened it.
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The room was small and very peculiar. It looked like a child had lived there, with a small bed and dresser, with shades of blue on the walls, sheets and floor, and what looked like a big toy box.
Chrissy padded across the room and opened it, surprised to find that it was full of plushes and dolls. She pulled each out carefully one by one, revealing more and more lovely dolls that had obviously been well cared for.
“Someone left these? They're so pretty,” she was already thinking of claiming the small room, or at least the dolls inside, sure that Gregory wouldn't argue.
“Maybe there are bugs inside, or spiders.” he sneered, looking at the only doll that hadn’t been in the box, it was a ratty yellow bear placed on the bed, that clearly hadn’t been as treated as well as the others.
“Gross! Stop it, there aren't spiders in them.” she snapped. She left the room huffily, taking some of the dolls with her.
She led the way to the next room, which was much bigger, and very pink. ‘It must have been nice to have that much space to play,’ she thought. Looking around the two saw more toys, and dollhouses, many either pink or purple. 'It must have been a girl’s room.'
Gregory meanwhile opened a closet in the wall to their left. Oddly enough there were many boxes inside, like someone had begun packing but stopped halfway through. He turned to Chrissy, already ready to leave, but she was leaning over another doll, oddly enough also torn and ratty.
“I’m going to the next room.” he said, she hummed her acknowledgement without turning to him, still poking at the toys around the room.
He opened the door opposite the pink room. Inside he found an unbelievably dirty bathroom he was surprised wasn't growing mold.
“Ea-ckh” he gagged and shut the door hurriedly.
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He made his way down the hallway to a door on the other side of the stairs and opened it.
The room was as big as the pink one, though not nearly as vibrant. It was hard to make out much as the heavy curtains blocked out most of the light, but the room might have belonged to a teenager; with less toys and more sports equipment lying around. Tired of rooms, Gregory went back to the stairs and called out to the other.
“I’m going downstairs!” Chrissy rushed out and joined him, still holding the plushes from the blue room. She looked at the last door he hadn’t opened.
“You didn't look in there?” she asked curiously.
“I’m bored.” he said, “I’m going back downstairs.”
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Mike had just finished bringing various boxes into the house, piled up by the doorway. Done with that, he glanced around the dubious house they would now call a home. Strictly speaking they didn't need this much space for three people, but it was the only part of the house left uninhabited. Other parts filled by other residents.
He sighed and grabbed a medium-sized box to put in the closet he’d found. As he placed it and turned to get another one he heard an odd noise behind him. Almost like a far away windchime.
Confused, he stopped and turned around. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he walked further towards the back of the house.
As the sound got louder, the man wondered if it had started just now or if he simply hadn’t heard it earlier. He creeped up to the room he thought the chimes were coming from, now sounding more like a music box. He wrapped his hand around the handle cautiously.
“What am I doing?” he mumbled to himself, “there’s gonna be something in there.” He ignored this reasonable comment in favor of knowing that if there was something in there, not knowing what it was could hurt the kids.
Gathering himself, he swung the door open abruptly, only to find… nothing.
There was nothing. Inside was simply an empty room, with a table, some boxes, and a single painting of a sad girl above the fireplace.
Bewildered he searched for the origin of the music, but it had stopped when he swung the door in. He made to walk further in but at that moment he heard more noises in the opposite direction, he spun to face them, but quickly realized it was just the kids coming down the stairs.
With one last look into the room, he warily closed the door and walked toward them.
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“Look look! We found a bunch of toys!” Chrissy smiled, eagerly showing Mike the dolls she found. Gregory huffed, lightly jealous at the praise he knew she’d get for something that took no effort.
Predictably, Mike smiled back at her and knelt down.
“Nice, they’re very cute. But I think you should take your things up to your room now.” he said abruptly.
Both kids were surprised at how quick he changed the topic, but agreed to take their boxes upstairs without question. Quietly discussing which rooms they wanted.
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In the room where nothing was, behind the boxes, behind the walls, the music still played softly.
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