Horror - The Murder House

             Everyone called it the murder house, but Julianne was fairly confident there had never been a murder there.  Instead, she insisted that the house got its name because of the murder of crows that tended to accumulate on the house’s gables.  Nevertheless, when the house went on the market there was little interest, other than teenage boys who broke in to draw chalk outlines on the dirty hardwood floors.  Julianne was greatly interested the murder house.  She had driven past it regularly all her life, and the large, looming old mansion had always sparked her imagination.  Now all that stood between her and the mysterious but perfectly harmless murder house was the large sum of money she’d need for a downpayment and the extensive renovations to make it habitable.

            Julianne had some of her own money, but not enough.  Her mother had always promised to help her buy a house one day, but her mother had died before Julianne had finished university.  Julianne’s mother’s money had gone to her husband, so now it was Julianne’s stepfather Lex who she had to negotiate with.  Lex had no children besides his stepdaughter, so was not opposed on principal to providing a large financial gift to Julianne.  Though a large financial gift to be used to buy the murder house was something else entirely.

            “Terrible things will happen if you buy that house!”  Lex had insisted.  Julianne challenged him to find any news reports covering murders at the house, but Lex trusted the collective memory of the town more than what had or hadn’t been printed in the newspaper.  Julianne did everything she could to change his mind and show him she was serious about owning the murder house.  She dragged her realtor, the famed Mandy ‘The Dealer’ Deeley, out for tour after tour of the house, once even at night just to prove how unhaunted it was.  She took pictures of every possibly suspicious nook and cranny.  She got quotes from contractors and drew up plans for a new layout.  Every day she took a detour on her way home from work to look at the house and toss bread to the crows.  If they were the fabled murder in the murder house name, Julianne figured it would be best to be on their good side.

            When Julianne got the dreaded call from Mandy Deeley that there was another party interested in the murder house, she became even more frantic.  She drove immediately to Lex’s house to try to impart the urgency of the situation to him.

“Calm down, Julianne.  There are so many nicer houses on the market, why don’t you look at them?” he beseeched.  He was laying on the couch and looked rather tired, but Julianne didn’t have time to laze around with him.  Instead, she went to the house, where she loitered in front of it, hoping to see whoever it was dared to try to snatch the murder house from her.  By dusk they hadn’t shown up – Julianne hoped they were only a marketing ploy by the murder house’s realtor.

 

The next morning Lex called Julianne.  At first she felt hopeful, but he just asked her to drive him to the walk-in clinic to get something looked at.

“I’m meeting with a broker about the murder house this morning,” Julianne informed him shortly.  Lex’s sigh was more like a wheeze.

“I’m not discussing this now,” he said.

“Fine.  Then I’ll drive you later on.”  Julianne hung up the phone and got in her car.

Julianne spent most of the day on a wild goose chase, trying to find someone who would lend her enough for the house.  Once she thought she’d had a breakthrough with a private lender that was willing to do an interest-only loan, but then they’d asked for the address of the property in question.

“I didn’t think there were many houses on that road,” they’d said, suddenly wary for reasons unrelated to Julianne’s financial situation.  They left the room, and when they came back, they thanked Julianne for her time and hustled her out of the office.  In between appointments, Julianne drove to the house just to look at it, and mentally promise it that one day soon it would be hers.  Lex kept calling her, but Julianne ignored the calls.  He’d made it clear he was an enemy of the murder house.  She was about to give up for the day and go see what Lex wanted when she got a call from Mandy – the other interested party would be viewing the house again that evening.

Julianne sped across town and parked down the street from the murder house.  She slowly made her way towards the house, pretending she was merely out for an evening walk.  Her timing was immaculate – a young couple was leaving the house just as Julianne approached.

“Hi there!  Looking to buy?” Julianne greeted the couple cheerfully.

“Yes, with a bit of love we reckon it could be quite beautiful,” the woman replied.  “Do you live around here?”

“Yeah, just down there,” said Julianne, gesturing vaguely down the dead-end street where she had parked her car.  “You must be brave to take on the murder house,” she added.  The couple exchange an uneasy glance.

“Our realtor said it was because of the crows.  I don’t mind birds,” the woman said, eyeing the birds on the roof that were studying her back in silence.

“Oh, I’m sure they told you that.  But I’ve lived here all my life, and there’s terrible things that have happened because of that house that never made the papers,” Julianne said knowingly.

“Nonsense,” said the man firmly.

“I’d tell you to ask the owner, but I’m sure you know that it’s an estate sale.  All I know is, every time the house changes hands, there’s death,” Julianne finished ominously.  Deciding she’d done all she could, she headed home for the night.

 

The next day Julianne had to work, but she checked her phone at every break, waiting for news from Mandy.  At lunch she had a new voicemail.  She listened with eagerness and trepidation, ending with relief when it was revealed that the couple had chosen not to put in an offer.  Julianne was about to put her phone away when the next voicemail started.  It was Lex from yesterday, his voice weak and his words jumbled.  Julianne felt a stab of guilt at forgetting about him.  She called, but he didn’t answer.  She’d stop by after work.

The murder house was almost on the way to Lex’s, so she made a quick detour.  She threw bread to the crows, who seemed more agitated than usual.  One kept coming right up to Julianne, cawing loudly, then hopping a few feet away, watching her intensely.  After a few rounds of this Julianne got the idea to follow the crow.  The crow gave a squawk and a flap of his wings, then continued hopping.  Julianne followed him to the weeds along the side of the house that she supposed used to be a garden.  The crow rooted around in the foliage for a moment before giving a muffled caw of triumph.  Julianne took a step closer just as the crow flung something shiny at her feet.  Laughing, Julianne stooped to pick it up.  She had heard about crows giving gifts to people they liked, so she supposed all of her bread hadn’t been in vain.

She thanked the crow with more bread before taking a closer look at the present.  It was a gold chain with a heavy gold locket attached.  It looked dirty and old, and it took some effort to open.  Inside was what probably had once been a picture, but now was merely a dirty and faded piece of paper.  Julianne weighed the locket in her hand.  She didn’t know much about gold, but it had to be worth a tidy sum.  She thought back to her own jewelry box at home.  Her mother had adored gold jewelry, and had left quite a few fine pieces to Julianne.  Julianne hadn’t given them much thought since her mother died; she wasn’t one to wear such fancy accessories.  But now, between the necklace in her hand and the gold in her jewelry box, Julianne began to wonder how much it was all worth, and if it would be enough.

 

After an evening of research, Julianne was back at the mortgage broker’s early the next morning.  She presented her revised downpayment number to the broker, who hemmed and hawed some more.

“Get another twenty-five grand off the purchase price and we’ll talk,” he finally concluded.  Julianne scowled, left a message for Mandy, then headed to work.

That evening, Julianne sat tensely in the realtor office while Mandy called the murder house’s realtor.  Julianne listened to Mandy’s side of the conversation while her heart hammered.  She was so close.

“Mmhmm.  Mmhmm.  Ah.  Yes.  Okay.  Goodbye.”  Mandy finally put down the phone.  Julianne looked at her expectantly.

“They’ll go down ten thousand,” she said.  Julianne dropped her head into her hands.

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t think I can get any more.  You don’t think you could get your stepfather to make up the difference?” Mandy asked.  Julianne shook her head.

“I don’t think so, I haven’t even heard from him…” she trailed off as she realized she had never stopped in a Lex’s.  “Well, I’d better go see him anyway,” she said with a dejected sigh.

Julianne pulled into Lex’s driveway.  She could see the flicker of the television through the front curtains.  She knocked on the door, but there was no answer.  She knocked three more times.  Impatient, she tried the door and found it unlocked.  Julianne knew Lex considered it an insult to the trustworthiness of his neighbours to lock his door while he was home.  Julianne called his name as she entered the house, letting the light of the TV guide her into the living room.  Lex was laying on the couch, much as he had the last time she had seen him.  What was it he had wanted Julianne to take him to the walk-in for?  Julianne crossed the room, crouched down beside him, and touched her fingers to his neck.  Whatever it was, it had been fatal.

           

The next morning Julianne called Mandy.

            “I have the money for the murder house.”

            “Excellent!  But really, you don’t have to keep calling it the murder house.  I’m sure it’s not going to be dangerous at all for you,” Mandy reasoned.

            “No, not for me,” Julianne agreed.