So, never have I thought I’d be sitting here and writing this, because I didn’t even believe in the supernatural, but here I am. Nah, I need time to calm down… Okay, so this is what happened to me~
My boyfriend invited me over for a sleepover, or should I say, I invited myself, and before you judge, I wanted to see what his home life was like, and oh dear. My boyfriend would never invite me over to his place. Like, ever. And when I asked him why that was, he’d just say “It’s… dangerous… and you wouldn’t believe me or take anything serious anyway.” Well, it was true that I’m a guy that likes to play around, but who is he to decide if I’d take something seriously?! It kept going on like that until one day he couldn’t resist it anymore and fell prey to my puppy eyes. He did agree, but he also made me promise to follow a list of strange rules I have never seen any household have.
I thought these rules had something to do with his parents and them not knowing he was in a relationship. I mean, we’re both guys, so it’s highly unlikely that they’d suspect anything, but still.
Now the rules go like this~
‘1. No petting Mark (our family god) before it has had its meal.’
“What, is it going to bite my hand off or something?”, a giggle escaped my mouth, but Julian (my boyfriend) didn’t like that remark, and with a tone that meant business he replied “Yes. If not even eat you whole. Also, it’s not funny! You promised to take this seriously!”
“O-okay, man, sorry…” Wow, my stomach dropped, as this was the first time he’s raised his voice at me like that. I don’t like being yelled at, and he knows this. Just by those three sentences, I knew I should take this to heart because Julian is the cutest, nicest, and sweetest guy I know.
‘2. No talking to anyone, past midnight in the house. Not me, not my parents, no one. If you see my parents or anyone past midnight anywhere in the house, ignore them. If they try and talk to you, ignore them, even if they look exactly like me. They are not human! If you want to make sure you’re talking to me, ask me if I love you, to which I will reply ‘no’, which would be a lie of course. If it’s one of them, they will try and tell you what they guess you want to hear. Also, you may talk to them once.’
“Wait, what the hell man? Are you pranking me or something?”, puzzled, I asked.
“What? No!”, and there he was, raising his voice at me. Again.
‘3. Avoid leaving my room past midnight. Do not under any circumstance leave the room if both you and I had fallen asleep past midnight. If you are thirsty, there’s a water bottle on my nightstand. If there isn’t, ask me (wake me up if you need to, that is, if you hadn’t fallen asleep before too) to keep you company. The same goes for using the restroom.’
I was silent as a starry sky on a clear summer night while Julian was staring at me, his gaze piercing through my soul. Damn, I was getting scared.
‘4. Do NOT leave my room from 3 am to 4 am! They are most dangerous at that period.’
“What the hell, Julian? Who even is ‘they’?” I asked Julian, hoping for an explanation for whatever this paper was supposed to mean, but he dismissively shook his head and just said “You don’t want to know.”
Well, that was a fulfilling response. His house sounded like it was from a horror movie or something.
‘5. If you hear sounds, especially from 3 am to 4 a, even if it sounds like Mark wincing in pain, do NOT leave the room! You can’t save him. It’s too late for him. Don’t make me lose two things I love at the same time.’
“Damn, even in this creepy note he knows how to be a sweetheart!”, I thought to myself. “Well, at least I know that you love me,”, to which after a few seconds, again frost cold, replied “Yeah. I do.”, Even though it sounded like he was spitting blizzard, his words warmed my heart because I knew that he meant what he was saying.
‘6. Most important rule – promise me that you will take this seriously, and not do anything against the rules.’
“Heh, I already did that.” It was true, I was going to follow the rules, but my boyfriend doesn’t seem to want to disclose why this is so crucial to him, but it was his home, and I was going to respect his wishes.
“What, rule number six?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Keep your promise.”, I was kind of getting used to this deep, cold-sounding voice of his. It was hot, but let’s not get off topic~
So anyways, I arrived at his house, and damn, do I have to admit that it was beautiful. The house itself was accompanied by a breathtaking garden, rich with flowers of all sorts of colors. Who even has the time to take care of all of this?
The house was painted white and it looked vintage, but before you call it ‘basic’, know that it could be foretold that its design looked like it was done by professionals, who must have taken quite a lot back in the day for this beauty. It was also pretty big – a three-story house.
I knocked on the front door, and Mrs. Miller’s warm smile greeted me. “Hello, you must be Henry, right? Julian has been talking about you nonstop~”, she graciously opened the door for me, and as he stepped into their home, she uttered these words.
“Mum! Stop embarrassing me! And hey Hal!”, I like how he didn’t deny his mother’s statement.
“You came just in time for dinner. I’ve made chicken soup! First, you kids are going to eat and then you can do whatever you want.”
“Oh, it’s fine, Mrs. Miller. I just ate at home~”
“Yeah, you’re not getting out of my family’s dinner, so don’t even try. I promise you’ll like it anyway.”, playfully said Julian.
„O-kay. I guess I have no other choice.” I started to follow my lover as I had no idea where the dining area was. I stop dead in my tracks as I saw their dog. “Oh, is this Mark?”, and as I began to approach him, Julian loudly exclaimed “No! It hasn’t been fed yet.” Knowing what this means, I just rejoined with “Okay. Sorry.”. I was getting used to him scolding me, and dare I even say, I was starting to like this side of him, all dominant and I suppose protective of me, even if I didn’t know what it was from.
Just as we sat at the dining table as Mr. Miller arrived as well. “Good afternoon, Sir,” I said, trying to be as respectful to them as possible.
“Afternoon to you too! Are you Julian’s friend? Henry or something?”
“Yeah. That’s me.” I just replied with a satisfied smile, knowing that his parents seemed to like me.
“Sweet! He’s been eating our ears off the entire day about how excited he is to have you around for a sleepover or something.”
With a giggle, I replied “Yeah… Julian invited me over to sleep at his place.” the moment those words came out of my mouth, with a smirk drawn on my boyfriend’s face he looked at me, knowing well what I was saying was not true.
“And did he introduce you to our household rules?” and just like his son’s, his voice changed to a much deeper and stricter one. The thing is, I can’t say that I liked it, for obvious reasons, which I will not get into.
“Yes, sir. I did.” I was almost starting to sound as if I was conversing with a seasoned general.
“No need to be so formal, son. Julian’s friends are friends of ours as well. You may just call me Andrew.”
“And me Sophia.” Added Mrs. Miller.
“All right. From now on I’ll refer to you just as Sophia and Andrew.” I said while I was pondering in my head if his parents would be okay with the relationship I and their son have. It seems as if they’d be cool, seeing that they give off the vibes of good people in general, but then again, don’t judge a book by its cover. I need to find out what the commotion about those “house rules” is.
After we were done with supper, Julian and I went up to his room, and for a house that looks kind of old on the outside, his room was really pretty. Its yellow décor passed to his cheerful personality. There were a few vinyl records on the wall and a few paintings he made himself. I’d recognize that art style anywhere. He also puts a lot of effort into keeping the bedroom clean. Or maybe he only did that for me? Who knows?
“Wanna play some video games?”
“I didn’t know you played video games.”
“Well, now you do,” I thought, as his response confirmed my theory that understanding his living situation would lead to a deeper understanding of him. I never imagined I could be this right.
It’s said that I was stupid enough to completely and utterly forget about the rules. I woke up at 3:36 am. I remember how his digital clock blasted the red numbers directly into my eyes. I tend to sleep with my mouth open, which is why sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, painfully thirsty. My mouth was like Sahara, and my tongue was like sandpaper.
I checked the bottle on the nightstand, and its water tasted abominable. I wanted to puke my guts out. There was no way I was drinking that month-old water. Julian seldom wakes up during the night to use the bathroom or to drink water, so he forgot to change it for me. I tiptoed my way to the door, carefully to not make any noise that could wake up my lover. When I tried to open the door, I noticed that it was locked. Damn, what would Andrew and Sophia think if they saw this?
Fortunately, the key was on the lock, so all I had to do was just slowly but steadily twist it without making any noise. Julian was a light sleeper, so I had to be even more careful. I wonder why that is.
Suffice it to say, I did reach the kitchen, and the cold water sliding down my throat, moisturizing my mouth gave me the illusion I was on top of the world. I’m not even exaggerating. That water was worth any price because the thirst was painful in a literal sense.
I proceeded to go back to Julian’s room, and as I was halfway up the stairs, it felt like a swarm of piercing sensations, as if an unseen presence was intensely observing me, leaving me with an unsettling feeling of being relentlessly probed. I turn around and voila, there in the shadows, I see Mark. Or whatever was wearing Mark as a vessel. The thing started growling at me, and I was sure something was wrong, because I don’t think natural dog’s eyes will ever be red, let alone shine like that, brighter than Julian’s clock. That was the moment I fully woke up from my slumber, and my mind packed back on the rules Julian strictly and told me to not break.
“Oh…no. I… broke all of them…”, you think? I didn’t just break rule number three by leaving the room even after we had both fallen asleep, but rule number four as well… ‘They are the most powerful at that time.’
Without thinking much, I sprinted like a bullet, missing 2-3 steps along the way, and as I got into my boyfriend’s room, I slammed the door, locking it behind me as if my life depended on it. Get it?
Not even five seconds passed and I started to hear Mark barking again, followed by it wincing. It… the poor thing. Do you know how a dog cries when you accidentally step on it? Well, it cried like that for a few moments. I did nothing but stand there, cowardly, and only hoping that its misery didn’t last long. I will never forgive myself for that. If only I hadn’t gone out of the room… how could I forget something so vital? I broke my promise. What kind of a boyfriend am I? A horrible one, that’s for sure. I just got here and I already… took… their dog…
The next morning I woke up, and I honestly have no idea how I managed to fall asleep after that, to Julian and his parents arguing, and I didn’t need to eavesdrop to know what it was about.
“This is why we don’t have guests, especially why we don’t do sleepovers, Julian! What if the was the one to die~”, yelled Sophia.
“But it was me that left the room that night! I had to pee! Plus, you never told me what could happen~”
“Julia, we know it was your friend who left the room last night. Your two goody shoe butt could never break a rule.”
I mean of course they’d figure out it was me, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why their dog dies suddenly after they get a visit from a guest, that they probably already suspected was going to break a rule. Why was Julian taking the blame though? I can handle them screaming at me, kicking me out, and never wanting to see me again. It’s not like I wouldn’t deserve it. Julian is way too good for me…
“Mum, no! Stop taking your anger out on my boyfriend! It wasn’t him~”
Oh, well at least I get to experience Julian’s coming out to his parents. Not everything is bad I guess.
“Oh, so he’s your boyfriend? An even better reason to take the blame for him.”
Amm… I think he outed himself by accident. Damn, the fact that he would throw himself in a fire like that, for me… it even hurts knowing what I did wrong and he’s the one taking responsibility. I don’t deserve him. If anything, he should hate me. No, despise me even.
His parents never confronted me directly about it, but I could tell that they didn’t believe Julian, as after that day they grew cold towards me. Damn. When he and I got the chance to talk alone, I apologized like 100 times, but nothing I say or do will ever bring poor Mark back. He finally explained to me who ‘they’ were.
Do you remember how I told you that the house was big? Well, don’t you think it’s strange how old three people live in it? The previous owners of the house all died in mysterious ways, and the house was sold for a cheap price. The Miller Family decided to buy it, seeing it as winning the lottery, considering how big the family was, and how cheaply they could afford the place. But the thing is, according to Julian, the previous owners still haunt the house, believing it to be stolen from them, which is kinda true I suppose, and now they want to get revenge.
The thing is, Julian and his parents recognized a pattern, and so they created rules to avoid any dangerous confrontations with the ghosts. The dog, Mark, was just a sacrifice, in case someone broke the rules. Someone like… me. I was irresponsible and forgetful trash, and the poor dog paid the prince. The way it cried… I’ll never forget the sounds it made, for sure. All because I didn’t want to drink that water…
I never went back to that house, both to not face Sophia and Andrew again, and to not die. I hope I can persuade Julian to move in with me, away from those freaky ghosts. I’m… scared for Julian…