Haunting My Heart

“Hey Asshole, you almost done?”
Matt turned around to see Jimmy walk in, bouncing up and down.
“Yeah… Only have to pack up my clothes, but that will be peanuts after all of that” Matt pointed at the stack of boxes against his wall. He looked around his room, seeing his life in boxes. His parents
bought a new house and much to his dismay, he was moving with them.

He had wanted to move into an apartment with his two best friends Brian and Jimmy, but his parents wouldn’t let him. Instead they promised him two rooms with an adjoined bathroom and little kitchen above the garage. His own little place within the house. They also promised him he could use the garage to practice with his band. That had done the trick and he had caved.

Now he was looking at all the boxes he was kinda happy they took him with them under these conditions, he wasn’t at all ready for the responsibility of living on his own, even though he would never admit it when asked.

“Dude! Hurry up!” Jimmy was pushing him to his closet, forcing him to pack the last things of his room. The movers would be here any minute. He quickly threw his clothes into the boxes and grabbed the tape Jimmy handed him to seal the boxes.

Jimmy got a hold of the tape again when Matt was done and pulled off a piece to stick on Matt’s arm. He held on to the end of it and as soon as Matt turned to face his friend, Jimmy yanked the tape off. The hairs on Matt’s arm were pulled out in a split second, causing Matt’s arm to burn.
“HOLY FUCK!!!” He screamed punching Jimmy’s arm “That fucking hurt, you fucking fucktart!” Jimmy laughed hysterically, pointing at his wounded friend. He bent over, holding his belly, not able to stop the laughing.
“Are you fucking crazy? Come here with your fucking arm, I’m gonna fucking show you how the fuck that hurts!” Matt growled, taking big steps towards Jimmy. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard his mother’s voice.
“Matthew Charles Sanders! Language!” She stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and Matt could only blush under her stare. He had to admit, he was a different guy when his parents weren’t around. He loved to play the rebel, he was the rebel, but maybe, deep down… he mostly played by his parents rules. And if not… he was very good in hiding whatever trouble he cause, he could make people believe he was an innocent sweet boy, while he had been the instigator of all the fun. His dad was harder to fool, but his mom…

“Mom, I’m done packing, can I go over to Brian’s now?”
His mother looked at him and thought about it for a minute, wanting her son to stay and help with the move. She was trying to pick the words carefully, she knew that her son would only do what she wanted if she put it the right way. She was just about to open her mouth to answer Matt when her husband reached the top of the stairs.
“The moving company called, something went wrong, they can only send two of the men. We will need to help them put everything in the truck here and everything out again at the new house” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, meeting the nervous eyes of his wife. They shared a moment of understanding and then looked at their son. Matt knew what that look meant. That look meant that somehow he would end up doing most of the work.
“How are we going to do that? We only have today to get everything out”

Matt heard his mother’s worried voice. He shot a flare at Jimmy who’s smile faltered at Matt’s look.
“What?” He mouthed. Matt waited for the ball to drop and just before his father spoke the dreaded words, Matt could see in his friend’s face that he had put one and one together. Jimmy’s eyes widened and he started shaking his head in denial when Matt’s dad finally said the words out loud.
“Well, Jimmy and Matt are already here. And I’m sure Matt can ask his other friends to help too”

Matt let his shoulders drop, knowing he would never be able to get out of this now, not now his father was involved. His mother looked at him with hopeful eyes and he sighed “I will call Brian, Zack and Johnny”

An hour later the five friends were looking at the boxes that were piled up in the hallway.
“Shadz, are you serious? I thought ‘help move’ mean something different, not actually helping you move!”Johnny complained.
“What did you think it would mean, dipshit!? You knew I was moving today!” Matt smacked the back of Johnny’s head.

The five boys loaded the truck with most of the boxes and then packed up the cars too, before driving to the new house. They were the first to arrive and notice a car standing a little further ahead. Two girls were leaning against it, looking at the house. The guys got out and looked at the house, to be quickly distracted by the two girls. The blonde and the redhead were now also looking their way, their arms crossed over their chests, busy talking to each other. There was no way for the guys to hear what they were saying, seeing they were obviously out of ear’s reach.
“Do you see those girls?” Jimmy said excitedly “They are damn hot! I wonder how much hotter they get if they were smiling” he mused, staring at them openly.
“Jim, seriously, is there only one thing you can think off?” Brian smacked the back of his friends house, secretly catching a glimpse of the two, standing in the distance, too.
“I’m 17, Brian, don’t tell me there is room in your brain for anything else? Maybe a little in the upstairs one, but my downstairs brain is working overtime, nowadays” The tallest guy smirked.

“What do you think they are doing here? They must be here about the house, I mean, there is nothing else to see at this place.” Matt let out, his voice full of question.
The guys turned away from staring at the girls and looked at the large house that was Matt’s new home.
“You are right, there is only place for that house. Holy shit, it is huge! Are your parents planning on taking a few more kids?” Zack mused, while looking at the house curiously.
“My dad want to work more from home. He is planning to change a few of the rooms into offices or something. I don’t know” Matt shrugged. The guys kept staring at the house until Matt’s parents arrived with the moving trucks. His mom having the key in her hand, holding it up proudly.
“Let’s go inside!”
The five guys all looked at where the girls have been to only find themselves to be disappointed. The girls were gone.

Matt’s mom lead the way, quickly followed by the family and then the friends.
“Finally” Matt heard the whisper, and looked around to see who made that remark, but everyone just continued to carry things inside, acting like no one just said the word.
Matt walked over to the truck, getting a few boxes pushed in his arms with instructions to bring them to the kitchen.
In the large kitchen he ran into Jimmy “Sweet house, Matt!” He clapped his shoulder as he smiled at his friend.
“Matt”
“Did you hear that? Someone saying my name” Matt asked his friend, knowing that it wasn’t Jimmy who said it. Jimmy just shook his head.
“I didn’t hear anything but people walking in and out” Matt watched his friend walk out to get more boxes and he looked around the kitchen, not understanding what was happening. He shook his head “Probably just moving jitters” he muttered quietly.

Matt was just about to walk to the trucks again, to get more stuff, when he noticed the garage next to the house. He quickly made his way outside, heading over to the place he would call his own. The door to the little apartment was open, but Matt didn’t find what he was hoping for.
The place was old and badly kept, the paint was coming off and the wallpaper was brown and dirty. Even the windows were broken. He felt his stomach sink to his feet. This was not at all what he imagined.

He looked around at what was supposed to be his place and felt disappointment wash over him. The house was amazing, ready to move in, but this part they never took care off? He sighed and thought of a way to move in here anyway.
Matt gazed over the driveway to the street, trying to get his mood past the disappointment, when he noticed a familiar car standing across the street. The two girls from earlier that day were there again, looking directly at him, or at least, that’s what it seemed. What the fuck were they doing here? What was going on? He would keep an eye on it, but first, this mess. He turned back to his place again, to oversee the damage.
“Matt honey, we will make this alright, but you really can’t sleep here tonight. You have to take a room at the house”
He felt his mom’s hand on his shoulder, he hadn’t even noticed her behind him. He was about to turn around to her, when he heard her beg.
“Matt… Please…”
“Jeez! Give me a second to reply!” He faced his mom with an irritating look. Couldn’t she just understand he had his mind set on this and he needed to adjust?
“Fine!” He walked back to the house, when he heard that voice again.
“Second…. right”
“Mom? What did you say?”
“Nothing dear, let’s just get in the house and see what room should be yours for now” She put her arm around her son’s shoulders and directed him up the stairs. His friends were walking around, putting boxes into the rooms they belonged to.

“I put you here” Brian said pointing at the second door on his right hand “it was the first empty room when you come up the stairs, I’m not going to carry your shit around any further”
Brian turned around to go down again to pick up more boxes, while his mom was showing Johnny where to put the boxes he was carrying.
Matt wondered into the room, taking his time to look around. It was not his style, but it was freshly decorated. At least he didn’t have a room where some old lady died and laid for three weeks. He chuckled at the thought. This house would be perfect for some horror nights. Inviting some girls over, telling horror stories, it would be epical. He needed to tell Jimmy, so they could start making plans right away.
“Matt… Help me”

“I’m coming!!” Matt quickly emerged from the room, jogging down the stairs. Just as he entered the hallway he saw his father shaking the movers hand and closing the door behind them. His friends fell down on the couch.
“Right in time Sanders, for everything to be done already” Brian muttered, shooting Matt an angry glare.
“Why did you dipshits call me then?” He asked confused, knowing he was called just now.
“We didn’t” Johnny sighed.
“Well, now you’re here, you can call for pizza. I think you all earned it after this day of hard work” His mom smiled at him, giving all the guys thankfull pats on their backs.

After they ate pizza with all of them, Matt’s dad dropped all the guys off at their houses. Matt made his way up to his room, exhausted from the busy day. He pulled off his clothes and got into bed, almost immediately falling into a deep sleep.

He stood in a open space. It looked like the garden of their new house, but some things were different. He walked further to the back, reaching a place where the branches of the big oak tree had roofed over. The sunlight was falling through and he was amazed by how beautiful the places was. He knew he was dreaming, but seeing he was stuck in here after all, he decided to look around.

Matt followed the path that nature had created, when he heard a crack, making him look up. At the end of the path he saw a girl. When she looked up at him he was stunned by her appearance. She was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She wore jeans and a cute top, that was covered partly by her dark hair. But the expression on her face gave him the chills. She looked terrified, her eyes darting left and right as if she was waiting for something bad to happen.

Her lips were moving, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. He took a few steps towards her, hoping he would be able to communicate with her.
“Hey. What is your name?” He asked, another few steps forward.
Again her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out.
“Matt…. Help me” the whisper that had been haunting him all day was now in sync with the moving of the girl’s lips and somehow… the sound of that voice suited her.
“The house…… Evil… Matt… Help me…” She sounded so scared now and he felt the need to help her, just like she asked him to.
“I don’t understand what you are saying, how do you know my name?”
He was almost within arm’s reach of the girl now, and motioned his hand to touch her. Her face even more terrified now. Her appearance flickered and just before she disappeared she spoke the only full sentence.

“Help me Matt, please”

Notes

Happy mother´s day to all the mothers out here, one in particular.... MeRi!

We thought we start birthday week on mother's day, especially for you. Tammy might do another chapter later today :-)
We really hope you like the story, enjoy! <3