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Start of a scary week

“Jason!”

What was that? Jason was terrified, because he had never been really alone, there was always someone home, watching over him. Could it be a ghost? Or a zombie! Jason turned around slowly. Or maybe it’s a skeleton? “Ah, phieuw, it’s just a rat.” Jason was clearly relieved, but apparently to soon. “Jason!” There is that voice again! Or maybe he’s imagining it. “I’m out of here! This house is creeping me out!” Jason ran to the door and tried to open it. “Dang, it’s locked! There must be a key somewhere!” “Jason!” There it is again! I’m sure it came from behind me… Jason turned around slowly, afraid of what he might see.

“Jason, wake up!” “Ah, what?” Jason woke up, still thinking about what just happened. His mom was sitting next to him. “Jason, we arrived.” Jason was confused, what did she mean? “What do you mean, mom?” He still looked puzzled “Jason, we arrived at our new house. Remember? We moved.” Jason remembered now, he moved with his parents to a big, old villa somewhere in the north of Texas. Jason’s Dad, Richard, worked as an engineer and owned a company in Minnesota, so he was never home, and his mother, Lilly, inherited a big sum of money, because some of her great-grand parents left all their possessions to her. Jason was used to big houses and being served, but never really got spoiled. They were riding to the villa in their car, which wasn’t really Jason’s favorite way to travel. He always got sick and dizzy or fell asleep, and then, when he had woken up, he mostly had to vomit. Luckily, not this time. “Oh, I must have fallen asleep. I dreamt that the house was haunted! There was a rat, and a creepy voice that kept calling my name!” His mom giggled and said: “I think you just heard me call. Jason, you don’t really think this place is haunted, do you?” Jason saw the expression on his moms face and replied: “No mom, I guess not!” “Let’s just go inside. We’ll get William to get the luggage when he arrives.” “Sure…”

“Thanks William,” William, one of their servants, just dropped of Jason’s luggage, “I guess I’ll start unpacking.” Jason sounded bored. “Whenever you need me, I will be around.” William was one of their most loyal servants, but he was more like a friend to Jason, he always did what they asked and he even wanted to play games with Jason. He was not just some servant, William was family.

He had just arrived from his own house, and decided to stay with Jason and his mother in the big villa. He got his own room, and he had already unpacked his bags when Jason’s mom came to his room and asked what he’d like for dinner. “Whatever Jason is having,” he humbly said, but Lilly replied. “You don’t have to do that William, he might be your boss, and also your friend, but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything he does. So what do you want to eat?” William doubted for a second, but then said what he would like to eat, his favorite dish: “Tagliatelle, that’s pasta, with a tomato-like sauce with some vegetables, mushrooms and little pieces of bacon.” “Okay, then that’s what we’re eating. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.” William thanked her, and Lilly told him she went to the mall, by car of course, because otherwise, she wouldn’t be home before 9 o’clock.

When Lilly got back home and had cooked the meal, she called Jason and William for dinner. “So, what are we eating, mom?” Jason yelled while he ran down the stairs. “Some pasta,” William replied “with tomato-sauce and bacon.” Jason looked puzzled and said: “How in the world do you know that? Can you smell that or something?” William smiled and sat down, while Lilly walked in with three plates of Tagliatelle. Jason was still confused but also sat down and they all started eating.

“Are you all done unpacking, boys?” Lilly asked when the boys seemed bored. At first, the boys kept eating, but when Lilly looked irritated William quickly said: “Oh, you meant me, yes, I’m already done unpacking, how about you, Jason?” Jason swallowed a lot of pasta, so that he didn’t have to answer directly. He still had to make up an excuse for not being done yet. “No, I’m sorry; I found a good book about ancient magic. I couldn’t stop reading. If you’re mad at me, I understand.” Jason said, truly filled with guilt. His mother looked puzzled and replied, laughing “Why would I be mad, I’m happy you’re reading at all! But why about magic?” Jason looked at her and said: “I don’t really know. It just caught my eye, when I was looking in my shelf.

When they were done eating, William offered Lilly to help doing the dishes, but Lilly said he could better help Jason unpacking. They both started laughing when Lilly said that, but Jason didn’t think it was funny at all. He got angry and decided to quickly unpack his bags. When he was done, Jason started to look around, and explored the house. He came across a living room, found five rooms with beds in them, a bathroom, an attic filled with old stuff, and he also found a door that he couldn’t open. He knew that he hadn’t been everywhere yet, but Jason got tired while walking through the house and got a drink.