Two weeks later:
Neil adjusted nicely at Boynton Middle school. He made a few friends and the blonde he saw playing catch a few weeks ago, Melissa, was in his home room. He hadn’t really spoken with her since school started but he would today. When the bell rang Neil made sure he would walk with her out of the class room. He waited nervously until 2:40 p.m. When the bell rang he got out of his seat and caught up with Melissa.“Hey, was that your little brother I sawing you playing catch with a couple of weeks ago?” Neil asked as they stepped into the bustling hall filled with sounds of slamming lockers.“Yeah, that’s Bobby. My dad makes me play catch with him,” Melissa answered. “I thought that was you. You rode by on the bike. So, where did you move here from?”
“We’re from Vermont. My dad got a job here so we…”“Hey Melissa!” a red headed girl shouted as she approached them in the hall. “Come on, the student council meeting starts in a few minutes! They’re going to count the votes! She grabbed Melissa’s arm and pulled her through the crowded middle school hall. “Sorry, I have to go. But maybe we can talk later. See ya,” Melissa said and disappeared within the mob.“By the way, I’m Neil,” he uttered. Melissa didn’t hear him.Neil hung out in the tree house that night and every other night after. He brought the flashlight but kept the beam low so no one could see the light from outside, especially Walter from across the street.It was the perfect get away, especially when his parents fought, which was occurring more often. He couldn’t stand the screaming and so much cursing. Even though Neil didn’t like the house on Willard, the tree house was his refuge. It’s where he listened to music, read magazines, and often thought about Melissa at school. When she smiled at him the day he first saw her it was it for him. But Neil didn’t know how to let her know how he felt. Surely he didn’t want to end up in the friend zone.The sun went down and the street lights came on. Neil wanted to make it home for dinner, if mom bothered to cook that night. He climbed down the tree trunk and retrieved his bike from its hiding spot in the backyard bushes then headed out from the front gate.“Hey kid.” Neil looked across the street, Walter walked toward him. “Wait up. I want to talk to you for a second.” Neil froze and Walter stepped on the sidewalk next to him. “I noticed you’ve been going up in that tree house that past few weeks.”“Yeah, umm, I’ve just been hanging out, doing homework and stuff.”“Yeah… homework.” “I’m not bothering anybody. I’m just hanging out, that’s all.”“You’re right, you’re not be bothering anyone. But this is not your house, its still for sale.”“I don’t ever go into the house for sale, just the tree house.”“You know, I usually mind my own business,” Walter said. “But I have to tell you, it might be a good idea to stop going into that yard. That house has a lot of bad mojo if you know what I mean, it’s not safe.”“It’s just a house,” Neil said.“No, it’s not just a house. There’s something really wrong with it. Bad things have happened there, real bad. If I were you I’d stay away.” “Are you going to tell anybody that I’ve been going in the tree house?”“I will, if you keep it up. I’m just giving a warning kid: for your own good, stay out of that tree house.”Walter said not one more word and crossed the street, hands in his pockets. Neil peddled away back home. What the hell did that old guy know? He never set a foot in that stupid house. Neil didn’t see a problem and as long as nobody lived there he would continue to visit the tree house. He needed it. After bland frozen dinners with his family, Neil played video games in his room until bed time. He fell asleep easily that night but the fighting started at 3:00 in the morning. The shouting and insults traveled down the hall to his room.“If you keep this up,” Neil’s mom screamed, “I’m leaving!”“What the hell are you going to do? Leave me and Neil? You got no where to go! Even your own mom doesn’t want you over at her place!”“Anywhere’s better than living here with your drunk ass! You stay with the Neil, I don’t care! I’ve got a damn life of my own and don’t need anyone!”Did mom just say what I thought, Neil wondered. Would she leave her own son?“You ain’t going nowhere!” Neil’s dad shrieked.Neil had enough; if his own mother didn’t want him then he’d leave himself. Neil quickly got dressed, opened the window and took his bike down to the tree house to think. He had to plan something out.Neil entered the backyard of the Willard house from the alley this time, so nosey Walter across the street wouldn’t see him. Neil lifted up his bike over the wooden fence and set it in the yard. He then hopped the fence, hid the bike in the bushes and went up into his tree house. Neil sat on the soft couch in the dark, thinking about where to go, what to do, who he could live with. He had and aunt on his dad’s side in Texas. Perhaps he should catch a Gray Hound bus down there? If his aunt would have him.A flash of light glimmered from of the corner of Neil’s eye out in the yard. It took him out of his train of thought. He got up from the sofa and looked out of the tree house window at the ugly house for sale. A dim light was in one of the windows, the very last window at back of the house, the bedroom. Neil kept low and kept his eyes on the dimly lit window. There was movement inside the room. Something dark shifted back and forth in front of the window. He could tell it was a person by the shape. Finally the figure stopped dead center in the window. Neil saw the silhouette of a female, thin and shapely with long hair. Neil looked to the front lawn; the for sale sign still there. Who was in the house this late at night?The person moved closer to the window, pressing her hands on the glass and peered out into the yard. Neil recognized her immediately, Melissa was in the house. She looked dead at the tree house and made eye contact with Neil. A small Mona Lisa like smile appeared across her gentle face.Melissa must have known that he was spending time in the tree house. She must have followed him there; she only lived around the corner. Melissa raised her right hand. She made a “come hither” movement with her forefinger. She then silently moved backward into the room, transforming into a silhouette once more.Neil climbed down the hatch and tree trunk then walked toward the window. Melissa stood there alone in the room, only her dark figure visible in the dim light. A few feet before Neil reached the window, Melissa raised her thin arm, pointing toward the front of the house. She wanted him to go to the front door.“Okay,” Neil said then changed direction to the front of the house. He climbed the front steps and found the door to the enclosed porch unlocked. He spied across the street to see if Walter was watching out his window. Nothing, the shades were drawn. Neil walked into the porch and headed toward the front door of the house. The door opened inward by itself before Neil had a chance to grasp the doorknob. Neil could see nothing but pitch darkness of the empty living room. Neil expected to see Melissa standing somewhere inside but she was absent. Neil’s eyes adjusted and he could make out the layout of the living room. The dining room was right next to it and a shadowy hallway led toward the back of the house. “Melissa?” Neil called out, keeping himself on the front porch. A small feminine giggle came out of the darkness from the hallway. The wooden floor creaked as Neil stepped into the living room. “Melissa?” The door behind Neil slammed shut with a bang causing him to jump. He quickly turned around to see no one there. Neil reached for the knob but the door was locked. Neil struggled with the door but it wouldn’t budge. “Melissa, what’s going on?” Neil said in a quivering voice. He stood alone in the shadows and it instantly grew cold, his breath became visible. Footsteps came from the back of the house toward the living room and became louder with each creaking step. Something stepped into the living room from the hall but it wasn’t Melissa. Not a soul heard Neil’s scream or cry for help, not even Walter from across the street.
