The Arringtons drove up the long, bush lined driveway. Slowly, the car screeched to a stop in front of the large doors of the house. Four doors opened simultaneously.

“Here we are, kids. It’s going to be a fun weekend, trust me!” Mrs. Arrington squealed excitedly.

“I’m sure it is, mum,” Fiona, her sixteen year old pulled out the suitcases from the trunk. Mr. Arrington heaved a sleeping six month old Charlotte into the house.

“You’re kidding, right, Fi? This place is a wreck; it’s away from civilization, this weekend is going to be a bum. I can’t believe this! We are going to be stuck in this wretched place all weekend because of Mum and Dad’s stupid job!” Veronica, Fiona’s twin grumbled.

“Veronica!” Fiona glared at her sister and threw a sideways glance towards their mother.

“You seem to be forgetting that it is the same stupid job that puts food on the table,” Mrs. Arrington said in a warning tone.

“Whatever,” Veronica scoffed and matched towards the house.

“Your bags!” her mother called after her.

“It’s okay, Mum. I’ll take them in,” Fiona said. Mrs.Arrington nodded and headed to the house with her bag.

With a sigh, Fiona pulled the bags out. She heard a sound and looked up to the sky. It had sounded like rumbling but the sky was clear. She looked around searchingly. The house was to her right; the driveway they had just come up was behind her, to her left was a shrub lined path which she saw led towards the woods. That was as far as she could see. Her parents had mentioned that the house sat close to a lake so, the lake was either beyond the woods or beyond the house. It was already quite late so she would just explore the following day.

Fiona came out of the house to carry the remaining bags. The rumbling sound seemed more pronounced. As she got to the car, she saw a shadow hovering over. As she moved closer, it seemed to dissipate before her eyes. She shook her head. It had probably been a trick of the light. She pulled out the bags and shut the trunk. As she made to shut the doors of the house, she saw the same shadow again, still hovering over. She yawned, and then blinked. It was gone. She needed some sleep, she concluded.

The next day, Saturday, they woke up to find their father talking on the phone angrily.

“What’s wrong, mum?”

“The car, the tires have been slashed. We have no way to get to town and apparently, we can’t get a mechanic up here till Monday, we can’t return home on Sunday anymore.”

“Just great... so we can’t even go to town? We are going to be stuck in this blasted house till it’s time to go home!”

“Language, Veronica.”

“I wonder what could have happened. The car was in perfect condition when we arrived,” their father said as he walked in.

“Yeah... it was,” Fiona agreed thoughtfully. She thought of the shadow she had seen hovering the previous night. She shook her head as she felt goosebumps.

The parents of the girls were surveyors and had come to evaluate the layout of the old house and its surroundings. New owners intended to buy it and tear it down to construct a mall. After breakfast, they set out into the woods.

“How was your day? Any progress?” Fiona asked during dinner on Sunday night.

“Oh, a lot. From what we’ve seen, this area would be a perfect place for the mall,” their father said.

“Yes,” their mother agreed, “Our results are very conclusive. From what we’ve seen so far, we are going to advise our clients to buy the land and tear this old house down.”

Just then, the house started creaking, a low murmur vibrated through.

“What was that?” Fiona’s head snapped up.

“The wind, stupid. This house is old and drab,” Veronica replied.

An already sleepy Fiona stood by the sink washing the dishes. She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt something warm. She looked down and saw her hand was turning red as a red liquid pumped out of the faucet.

Everyone came running when they heard Fiona’s scream.

“Fiona, must you wake the house up just because you cut yourself?”

“I didn’t cut myself. This– this isn’t my blood. It came from the tap.”

“Oh dear, don’t be silly. Come on, let’s clean that up.”

No one listened to Fiona and she stormed off to her room. Something happened in that kitchen, she couldn’t explain it but she knew.

A squeaking sound woke Fiona up. She heard sounds and headed to her window. Looking out, aided by the bright rays of the moon, she saw dark shadows rising from the lake. They floated towards the house and she quickly ducked.What was that? What was going on? She shook her twin awake.

“Something’s going on, V,” she whispered.

“There’s nothing going on in this stupid house, Fi. Go to sleep. This house is dead and in a couple of weeks it will be gone.”

Oh really? We’ll show you, dead... a cold voice loomed.

“Did you hear that?” suddenly, all the shutters in the room shut close and the lamp went off. They lunged for their phones and put on the torches. As they tried to open the door, it did not budge. They started screaming.

They heard a sound behind them and with their hearts at their throats, they turned, backs to the door. The girls watched as a shadow approached them. It lunged for Veronica, lifted her up and started choking her. Fiona lunged for the shadow but was flung towards the wall, knocked unconscious.

Waking up a few minutes later, she saw her sister hanging on the wall, head lolled over, neck snapped. Fiona screamed and ran to the door which was wide open. She ran to her parents room and saw them scurrying out of bed.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s V, she’s dead. Something killed her!”

“What?” her mother cried. “What’s it?”

Fiona’s eyes widened as she saw the shadow enter the room through the wall. Her parents saw it at the same time and her father threw himself at it. The shadows flung him against the wall, back and forth.

“Run!” he shouted. Fiona grabbed her baby sister and her and her mother who was weeping hysterically ran out of the room. As they ran towards the entrance, all the lights and doors closed behind them. They ran towards the large doors and a frantic Mrs. Arrington tried to get it open.

You are not getting rid of us... you are not getting rid of the house. We will make sure of that...” the same chilly voice boomed through the house.

They managed to get the door open and ran out. As they got out, the car flew at them and hit Mrs. Arrington squarely. Blood gushed out of her mouth.

Fiona turned and fled towards the driveway. She had to get to town. As she ran, she stopped involuntarily. She was glued to the spot. From the inside, she felt her bones shattering and then, she felt nothing.

By morning, the town mechanic came for the car repair and got a shock. With trembling hands, he called the authorities. Amidst the bodies, a baby girl was found, cold and trembling, underneath the foundation of the house.