The meaning of this magnum opus is to show how the point of view that a story is told is indeed the most important aspect of storytelling. The way this first update is told is just the beginning of a two sided story that will unfold as time goes on and more words are written. 

This story is told for many of my classmates, my teachers, and anyone else who finds interest in this type of story. I want to be able to connect with all types of readers and expand to writers that want to see my work as well. 

My intent was to create a scary story that has a build up to it. I would also like pressed feedback.

The House On The Lonely Street

Chapter 1: It Begins

“Our first house!” My wife yelled loudly as we turned the corner onto our driveway. This was our first home we have bought since our marriage, and the home we will build our family in. I was unbelievably excited and yet nervous at the same time. I haven’t seen it in person yet, only my wife went to the open house and she said she loved it. Reluctantly I trusted her and paid for it in full and signed the contract a couple days ago, so it was officially ours. The drive down the pebble driveway took a minute or two, but the views outside were amazing. The autumn leaves varying from red to yellow and a stream running along the side of the treeline was absolutely beautiful. 

I was focusing more on the sights rather than the way I was going because my wife suddenly screamed out “Paul watch out!” Quickly turning to see a man 50 feet in front of my hood I jammed my foot on the brake, only stopping about 15 feet from him. Remembering that we were supposed to meet the previous owner of the house I realized this was him. I step out of my car and go to greet the man. “Hey! You must be Mr. bermhan, we're very excited to meet you.” “It is delightful to meet you as well.” He exclaimed, reaching his hand out towards me. Mr. Bermhan was an older gentleman, maybe in his late seventies. I haven’t fully met him until now, but honestly his first impression just from his look was not as appealing as I had thought. He was wearing a camouflage jacket with dirty jeans and boots, his hair was messy, and he seemed to be missing a couple teeth because of the lisp he had in his voice. I met his hand halfway and gave him a steady handshake, though he gave me a dead one back. He made eye contact with me and then quickly glanced over at my wife who was standing next to me smiling at the sight of the house. “Well how about I bring y'all inside and show you the place, my wife and I have it all cleaned up for ya!” My wife replied “We’d love to!” He turned around and started walking, we guessed that was a signal for us to follow. 

The house was big, a couple stories high, and looked like a broken down castle. As we went up the numerous steps leading to the huge double doorway I glanced at the window above and saw someone briefly gazing down. As they saw me looking up they quickly rushed out of my sight. I’m guessing this was the wife finishing up cleaning the house as the person had long hair. The doors were twice the height of me and creaked when they opened. Mr. Bermhan shouted out “Honey the guests are here!” I was a little confused by this as we bought the house and we were not temporary guests. It seems this man has a couple screws loose somewhere but I ignored his remark. Shortly after he yelled a woman came downstairs looking to be similar age to him, but she was dressed a little more formal for the occasion. “Oh hello there, I am Mrs. Bermhan. We are so glad to have you here today.” She said as she hugged me. My wife then greeted her “Hi Mrs. Bermhan! We are so excited to finally be moving in. The place looks beautiful.” As they conversed I looked around at the foyer. It was decorated with old and dusty looking paintings and a rug that looked to be stale after years of being stepped on. There were initials for each cubby in the room, to which there were five in a line. The first two were crowned as MB and CB, which were most likely Mr. and Mrs. Bermhan. Following their cubbies were three all marked with one letter each. They read S, T, and P. Guessing these were their children who have since moved out as all three were basically empty and looked to haven’t been touched in forever. My wife grabbing my attention to bring me to see through the house kind of made me dismiss the decor of the entryway. As we walked from the kitchen to the living room I started to realize everything was pretty much the same with every room in the house, dusty rooms with garbage lining most of the floor. “So much for cleaning.” I whispered to my wife, which she replied with an elbow to my side. Mrs. Bermhan asked “So do you have any children on the way?” “Not yet, we have recently married and are hoping to raise them here.” I exclaimed. “Well that is exciting! We raised our kids here and it was wonderful. They had so many friends around the house and it was a beautiful time.” We rounded back into the foyer after the full loop inside the house and everything seemed like we had a lot to clean up and change but overall I was excited. “One more thing Paul” Mr. Bermhan signed on his way out the door. “Yes Mr. Bermhan?” “If you hear anything in the walls it probably is just rats, they seem to live deep in our walls here and we haven’t been able to get them out.” “Thanks, wouldn't we want to worry about that would we?” I replied. He smiled and shook my hand as he shut the door behind him. 

“Well they were a couple nails short.” I exclaimed to my wife. “Yes they were a tad off but trust me, they are good people and they are out of our lives now.” I hoped that statement would stay true, I really did not like the vibe I got from them. We started to bring our things inside from our car, which wasn’t much. After that we did the normal things that come with a move-in; we dusted, we cleaned, and planned for the new furniture that we would keep in the house. Mid day came to sunset as we sat by the back window looking out at our huge backyard and the sunset that sat over it. “Do you think there are actually rats in the walls?” I asked my wife. Secretly I hated that thought but I didn’t know if I one hundred percent believed it. “No silly, they probably are just old and heard house noises from time to time. It is an old house, you know.” “Yeah… I just got a weird feeling around them and that remark didn’t help.” “Don’t worry honey, we will be fine.” She replied, and right after those words left her mouth we heard a loud bump from upstairs.

Cover Page #2
The purpose of this magnum opus update is to give a future look on the events that will happen in this story because there are two sides to look from. Following the same intended audience as before because this part of the story is meant for people who want to learn more about the story. The intent for this chapter is to develop the story in a way that doesn’t affect the characters being portrayed from chapter one. 

Chapter 2: Cameras 

“We really hit the jackpot on this one, this place is just what we need.” Pierce said. “We could use this for basically any view we want.” 

This was a classic move for Pierce because he was our director, he controlled where everything was and how it should look. After Pierce there’s Marco, who’s basically on camera at all times during the show. He is the star but he doesn’t really seem like he’s adapted into his role of being the star with his confidence levels being obviously low. Then there's me, the camera guy. No one really knows who I am other than these two but the people watching know I’m here. 

“Are we ready to start the cameras?” Marco asked. “Yes Marco, we just need the right setting for the opening scene.” 

We walked from our van with our equipment to the old condemned house which looked like it hadn't been touched in decades. The windows were nailed shut, boarded up, and decorated with graffiti. I didn’t know much about this place other than that there was a family who lived in this house and shortly after buying it weird things were happening to them. No one really knows what happened to them, they disappeared a couple years ago with all their stuff still here. It was creepy as hell, but this town really didn’t react much to it which was just off. 

“Alright, we’re ready to shoot whenever you’re ready.” Pierce exclaimed to me.

“All good!” I replied. “Awesome! Marco, whenever you’re ready.” 

“Welcome back to fear hunters! The show where we explore America’s most creepy places and discover their stories. We have just arrived at the Bermhan mansion in Abingdon, Virginia. Follow us as we will discover what really happened here and where the family who bought the house a few years ago has turned up.” 

Pierce abruptly exclaimed “Okay cut! That was a good first take, maybe next one we add some danger in it. Maybe we say something about a murderous ghost supposedly living in this house to make it sound scarier.” 

This was so typical of Pierce to do, make the story seem much more scary than it really is. He does this with every place we go, configuring the story to what he thinks his viewers will like to see. Knowing he won’t stop doing this I want to find other work, maybe start my own photoshooting business or something. All I knew was this was my last episode on this show. 

We do a couple more takes of the first shot, changing the story each time until we land on the one Pierce likes. It was dark now though, so we went back to the van in which we would be sleeping in for the week while we filmed here. Not a very ideal place to spend our relaxation time, but it’ll do. Once we pack all our stuff back up I start to edit the takes we had today so I won’t have to do it when Pierce is yelling at me and telling me what to do. I went through all our takes and they all looked smooth, there was just one thing I noticed that was different about a couple of them. There was a window in the background of the shot in front of the house above the door which had shades hanging on each side closed so you couldn’t see inside. But in two of the shots the shade was pulled back and I could make out what looked to be a person standing inside looking through the dusty glass. I leaned over and tapped Marco who was sleeping at the time to wake him up. 

“Marco! Look!” As I pointed at the computer screen.

“Who is that in the window?”

“I have no idea. We are the only ones here, right?” 

It was like clockwork, as soon as I said that we heard a knock on the side of the van, and Pierce woke up to this knock as well. Now Marco and I were freaking out but Pierce seemed to be excited.

“Get your camera! This would be perfect for the episode!”

“I am not going out there with something knocking at the van”

Just as I said this we got a group of knocks at the van which confirmed in our minds that this was not an animal out there. 

“It probably is just a group of teenagers doing that sh*t.” I said with annoyance in my voice.

“Well who cares, we have to do this for the episode.” Pierce replied.

I sighed because I knew there was no dodging going out there with Pierce and Marco. I grabbed my camera and some extra film and nodded for them to open the door. When the door in the back of the van opened it was pitch black, almost like a black hole was coming out of the back of the van. This didn’t feel right. I gave my signal and turned on the camera.