“Okay, fine, I’ll go.” I huffed after an hour long argument with my parents.

“Your cousins aren’t THAT bad!” My mom said. Truthfully, I wasn’t really scared of THEM. It’s all the insane people who live in that neighborhood.

“Yea, whatever.” I said, then stormed up to my room to pack. I slammed the door.

I went to my closet and managed to pull my suitcase out of it without causing an avalanche. I put it on my bed and started shoving clothes and other various things in it. Don’t ask – I was really ticked off. I have no clue what I put in there. I hauled my suitcase and pillow out the door into the car and threw them in the back. I slowly made my way to the front of the car and jumped in the car.

“Please, forgive us. I need to go to the conference and your dad’s gone on a work trip. You know that. Your cousins VOLUNTEERED to take you. That’s never happened before.” My mom said. Even I noted that as weird. Nobody ever volunteers to take me anywhere, ever. I’m the person who’s left out of everything, but still knows what the heck is going on.

My mom kept saying how sorry she was for the rest of the way. I honestly didn’t care. I had heard it many times before. I sat and stared out of the window. Cows, cows, horses, dead deer, cat, cows……Eeww. After like six more hours of driving, we got there.

“Hi, Evan!” said my slightly older cousin, Alex.
Drew said nothing; he just stood there and gave me a well-practiced death stare, which I didn’t find unusual. He pretty much hates me.

“Yea, whatever. Hi.” I replied. They just smiled. I noted this as weird, like REALLY weird. As in, alien-on-your-front-porch-asking-for-rice-weird.

“Okay……” I said.

“Come on in!” Alex said, unusually happy. I hesitated and glanced back at my mom. She nodded as if to say, ‘Go on’ I sighed and followed. I felt like I’ve never been here before. This isn’t their original house……I wonder…

“Like the remodeling we’ve done?” Alex asked, as if reading my mind. Okay, so that solves that. But still, this place feels different, like I’ve never been here before. It has an eerie feeling to it. Alex showed me my room.

“Here you go. The one next to MINE.” He said, as if he actually cared.

“Riiiiight…”I replied. Alex walked out.

I set my stuff on the floor and looked around. It wasn’t that bad, it had a bed, a bathroom, a chair in the corner, flowers, a stuffed cow, a lamp……… a stuffed cow? Wait, what?

I walked over to the little cow in the corner and gingerly picked it up, like it could explode any minute. Nothing happened, fortunately, but I still hated it. I mean, a stuffed cow is SUCH a weird thing to have in a room? What’s the point of it? IT DOESN’T EVEN MATCH!!!
I sighed and threw the cow on my bed and sat next to it. I really hate this. No, I don’t REALLY hate Alex or Drew, I just hate traveling overall. And the fact that there are known creepers in this neighborhood doesn’t help anything.

I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I could vaguely make out a face, which scared the heck out of me. I turned over and tried to sleep. I’ve had enough of this day already. But I couldn’t sleep. This place just doesn’t feel right. It’s not normal, it’s…

“Can’t sleep?” A voice said. I jumped off my bed and turned around. Alex.

I nodded, “I guess so.”

“You’re going to be here for…a while, so get used to it.” Alex replied.

“What? My mom is coming back tomorrow.” I said. Alex smiled, but looked sad.

“Right. Forgot.” He said then left. How odd. Alex came back.

“Supper in 15 minutes.” He said, and then turned to leave again. He stopped.

“Evan…I’m sorry.” He muttered, and then ran out. That’s odd. What would he be sorry for? I sat up.

“Evaaannn…” a voice whispered. I turned around. Nobody.

“EVAAAAANNNNNN…” I heard it again. NOBODY WAS THERE!! I could feel my heart beating. Something is wrong. REALLY wrong. Somebody tapped me on the shoulder. Nothing. I ran out of the room and nearly broke my neck running down the stairs.

“Alex, I heard…voices…in my room.” I said, panting. He smiled a clearly fake smile.

“It’s okay. You’re just nervous. We KNOW you don’t like traveling.” Alex tried to reassure me.
Now that’s REALLY weird. I’ve never told anybody that. Well, other than my mom. But she doesn’t count.

“I’m not buying it.” I replied, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. You’re fine.” said Drew, who had somehow appeared behind Alex. Something was odd about these two, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I needed to remember……Then it hit me.

“I…uh…need something from my room. Be right back.” I said, and then ran off. I ran up the stairs (and almost injured myself again) and up to my room. I grabbed my suitcase and started rifling through it. Aha! My laptop! I opened it up and turned it on.

“Come on……come on……”I muttered to the laptop. I had a hunch and I needed to figure out if it was right. I opened up internet and went to Google. I typed in Alex’s full name.
I clicked on the first link. It showed all obituaries from the past year, so I was right. Alex IS dead. My head started spinning. How can this be true? This can’t be happening. I threw the laptop on the floor and ran downstairs. When I got there, I pointed to Alex.

“A-A-Alex! How can you-you be here?!? You’re DEAD!!” I managed to stutter. He smiled.

“Oh, I thought you knew. You died last Tuesday.”