Never I Thought

Chapter 24 - A Hidden Gem

Of all places, I didn't expect Robin to take us to the old home on Rock Rose Drive.

It had been abandoned ever since I could remember, the vines growing on the old, dusty stones and covering the windows from their view.

Marcus used to tell Leon and I about an old man who went missing for two years only to be dead in his home the entire time. I couldn't go to sleep alone for a week after that.

Ever since that story though, I avoided this street. I avoided the home despite its overgrown beauty being so delicate to me. The other homes on this street were also old, it all gave me an eerie feeling.

"What are we doing here?" Nikki whispered.

Robin turned to us three and laughed, "you all look terrified. It's just some old home... maybe haunted."

"Haunted?" Mila gulped. At least she wasn't upset anymore, but her eyes were going to pop out of her head from fear any second now.

"Robin..." I warned him not to try anything.

He gave me a reassuring smile. It didn't work.

"Matt and I were exploring. We found this hidden gem no one else knows about," he grinned and started to walk away.

"Let's just take a peak then we can go?" Nikki suggested, curiosity getting the better.

Mila and I shared a glance, "just a peak?" She shrugged.

"Fine. But only for a minute. Maybe less," I shivered.

We followed Robin who was hacking through some tall dead grass. The haunted home had a large stone fence surrounding it, I was hoping Robin didn't want us to jump the fence. I really wasn't wearing the right attire.

"Now Matt and I were too tall and— might I say it— very buff, but I think one of you two will be able to fit," Robin pointed at the twins.

"What do you plan on doing?" I groaned.

He gave me a look, "obviously I plan on going into the haunted house and conducting a sacrificial ritual, duh?"

I gave him a look but still put some distance between us just in case. Logic and common sense I had but sometimes the mind's anxious thoughts got so empowering that I would convince myself irrational things existed.

We got to the back of the house and Robin stopped in front of a wooden gate that had been sealed shut with vines and weeds from the ground.

However, the lock on it had been loose, leaving an opened gap just big enough for the girls to maybe squeeze through.

"So, who wants to go first?" Robin looked at the girls cheerily.

Mila looked at the gap, "you're not for real?"

"I just need one of you to fit through and open it from the inside. That's it. I couldn't reach the lock."

Nikki was on board. She peaked through the gap to see where she was going and then pushed herself through, turning sideways to fit her shoulders.

Almost instantly she was in and fiddling with the lock.

"I got it!" She said. Robin cheered and started to push on the gate.

Mila and I helped him push the gate while Nikki pulled on the other side. It swung open, breaking the vines and weeds.

The other side was a courtyard. The ground was made up of stone that was in perfect condition apart from the dirt and grass that stuck to it. What once was a beautiful garden of pink roses was now a big overgrown bush with its stems along the fence. The roses were turning brown due to autumn.