There were three things I knew for sure:744Please respect copyright.PENANAuuH8aCS7Na
1. Everyone in my school believed my house was haunted.744Please respect copyright.PENANAax6NYd5Nsd
2. I was telling stories to get myself attention and money.
3. I wasn’t sure my stories were just stories.744Please respect copyright.PENANAEGnnwmbEZW
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‘…whoever’s wearing this pendant gets you control over the haunted house. That’s why I’m not dead yet. You can borrow it for a week, for a thousand dollars. It’s definitely worth it.’744Please respect copyright.PENANAIPd9aEgHJt
In truth, I was just desperate for money. Mum was drinking - had been since Dad died last year. We were forced out of a our villa and into this house which was sold to us for a ridiculously cheap price. Even then, we were almost broke.744Please respect copyright.PENANA0TGhhp7IW6
‘Sure. I’ll fish a thousand dollars from my dad’s drawer. See me tomorrow,’ said Valentine, the one who’d listened intently to my stories, even when no one else was.744Please respect copyright.PENANA8Hj9FNU9y6
To be honest, I had no idea why he was buying it. He was one of the brightest people in our school - surely he wasn’t fooled. I’d put his attention down to his love for mythology - he was always reading mythology. I was surprised he was really going to give me money.744Please respect copyright.PENANAw4nYnTxNj5
Valentine wasn’t giving the money out of kindness. I knew that much. He’d been giving me the strange, killer look from the day I started school here. It was as if he recognised me - and hated me - how-ever impossible that was.744Please respect copyright.PENANAgBsCjQdylz
I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he knew something I didn’t. I wasn’t sure my pendant was just a pendant anymore. Ugh. The number of times I told the stories must have been making me insane.
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I held the ten sheets of one-hundred dollar notes as I walked up to my doorstep. I was in disbelief. I didn’t think Valentine was really going to steal a thousand dollars for a worthless plastic pendant.744Please respect copyright.PENANA6gvvohoKfO
A worthless plastic pendant. I wasn’t sure I believed that anymore. Okay. The stories are making me insane.744Please respect copyright.PENANA6s8ROr9Wzf
Something felt different as I entered my house. It was the first time I truly felt that the house was haunted. My heart was pounding - hard. I realised then that the lines between fact and fiction were blurring - and I couldn’t separate them.744Please respect copyright.PENANA9r1VT1sK6E
Okay. Breathe. Anything about this pendant being anything other than a pendant is not real. Anything about this house being anything other than a house is not real. What is real is that I now have the money to keep me going for a while.744Please respect copyright.PENANAPOERIZrx2E
I stopped. I found myself facing a steel door. I didn’t think there were any steel doors in this house. I had no idea how I managed to walk myself here. 744Please respect copyright.PENANAhSHQ2su3uB
Come.744Please respect copyright.PENANACT3Y593dBB
What? I could swear I heard a voice telling me to walk through that door. Things were really getting crazy. I needed to get away.
No you don’t.744Please respect copyright.PENANANVD276e4Mv
I was insane. I knew that now. Except, I couldn’t turn and walk away. I couldn’t make myself sane.
Author's Note744Please respect copyright.PENANAKHPxX3Ubab
This is all I have at the moment. Did you feel engaged reading the story? Does it make you want to read more? Any feedback would be appreciated!
I honestly don't think I will finish it. Feel free to finish it if that's what you want to do - as long as you don't pretend it's solely your work. Perhaps Message or Comment on this Issue, and I can change the settings to Collaborative Work for you. I would love to share the credits of this story with someone.
Thanks for reading!
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