Disclaimer: Everyone in the story is 18 years old or older at all points. Any resemblance to any actual person, alive or dead, is just happenstance.
I woke to sunlight streaming into my room and the sounds of birds in the trees outside my window. I got out of bed and opened the window to hear the music they were making. As I opened the curtains, I could see the barn, and everything from last night came back to me.
What was I going to do? I thought, staring out the window.
If Beth was right then, there wasn't a lot of time before the changes we all seemed to be going through would be permanent, ripping my family apart.
I couldn't go to Dad; he would never believe me, and I was afraid that Mom and my siblings were already affected.
I could show him the video to prove what I was saying is the truth, I thought, but he would be crushed at mom's behavior and still would not believe that a house could do this to someone.
I guess the first step was to find out what had happened here before, I thought, turning away from the window and picking up my laptop.
I tried searching online for information about the house, but I couldn't find anything directly related. Finally, I was able to find something about the merchant who built the house, along with an article about the tragic fate of the last of his line in a mental hospital.
While looking for more information, I found that the local courthouse had records that were not online. So I decided to go into town and look, hoping the other documents would give me some answers.
With that goal in mind, I started towards my door when I saw my mirror and stopped. Since I have lived here, the mirror has always pointed towards my bed and the wall behind it. However, the mirror was turned and pointed towards the door more.
Who could have moved my mirror? I wondered, looking to see if anything else was out of place.
Not finding anything else out of place, I decided to set up my laptop to record any movement in my room while I was gone and went downstairs to tell mom I wanted to go into town.
When I got downstairs, I found mom sitting at the table reading the newspaper.
"Hi, Mom," I said as I walked in. "Where is everyone?"
"Hey T, your brother and sister went down to the barn to take care of the pony, and your dad left to help with a work emergency," she said, looking up at me and taking a drink of her coffee.
"Would you mind if I went into town and looked around a little bit?" I asked, sitting across from her at the table.
"Not at all," she responded. "I was wondering how long you would last in the boonies before you went stir crazy," she laughed.
She seemed normal, behaving just like she had before we moved here and nothing like the slut who had fucked Mike and Beth last night at the barn. So, maybe there was still hope if I could find out what was going on.
I grabbed the car keys and headed into town. The drive was boring, just mile after mile of hardwood trees until you got to the city limits.
I spent a few hours at the courthouse and library looking for anything new about the house. Not finding anything, I left and was on the way back to the car when I got a text from my mom asking me to pick up a package from Beth before I came home.
I didn't want to see Beth again, but I could not think of a way around it, so I stopped by the realty office.
The office was a small two-story house with large windows in the front and looked more like a home than an office. As I walked in, I found a large man sitting inside at one of the desks cursing at his computer.
"You stupid piece of shit," he told it while shaking the laptop.
I cleared my throat and said, "Excuse me."
I seemed to have startled him. He looked at me sheepishly and said, "Sorry, miss, I hope you were not standing there very long."
"No, not very long," I told him with a smile. "Would you like some help? I am pretty good with computers."
He looked at the laptop in his hands. "We replaced our old computers with new ones, and I can't find the update to a proposal I was working on yesterday. Beth said she had added some addendums to the contract last night, but I can't find them," he said before shaking his head.
"Where are my manners? My name is Tom Taylor" as he stood and held out his hand for me to shake.
"Tina Robertson," I said as I shook his hand.
"Ah, you must be one of Dave's daughters. Sorry I could not meet you at the new house when you arrived. I had the flu and was confined to my bed by my wife." Tom said, smiling at me.
"No worries, Beth walked us around and showed us everything," I replied, looking around the office.
"I hope you like the house," Tom said. "Your mother was quite taken with the house. Beth showed it to her several times while they were here looking."
"It's beautiful, and I love the pond," I answered back.
"Was there something that you needed? Other than helping an old man find his missing paperwork," he asked, chuckling.
I shrugged, "My mom said that Beth had left a package for her."
"Oh, right, she said something about that. It's upstairs on the counter. I will run and grab it if you wouldn't mind finding the contract for me. The name of the file is Peterson, east main."
I sat in his chair while he went to get the package. I found the file he was looking for and waited for Tom to return. A few minutes later, Tom came back holding a sealed box, sitting it on the counter for me.
"Did you find the contract?" Tom asked, looking over my shoulder.
"I found it, but the date on the file is a few days ago. Didn't you say that Beth was making changes after you had it? So she may have it on her computer," I said.
"Oh, thank you so much. I didn't want to tell Beth I couldn't find it. She knows all about computers, but I only know how to check my email. "
Glancing over at the other desk in the room, "Her laptop is on the other desk if you wouldn't mind seeing if she has a newer version," Tom asked me. "Her credentials are on the monitor."
I walked around the cubicle wall to Beth's desk and logged in. After a quick search of her computer, I found the document she worked on. Next, I asked Tom for his email address and sent them to him.
While I was doing that, I installed the same software I had put on my brother's computer so I could log in later and see what she was doing. Then, I logged out of Beth's computer and walked back to Tom, waiting as he read through the contracts.
"Thanks for finding the contract. I am meeting the Peterson's tonight to get them to sign them. The box on the counter is the one Beth left for your mom. Tell your mom and dad I said Hi," Tom said.
"I am happy I could help," I told him as I walked out the door.
As I got to the car, I was still trying to work out how to keep tabs on things at the house. I had gotten lucky a couple of times, but there was no way I could be everywhere all the time.
Driving away from the realtor's office, I found an electronic store and picked up some IP cameras. The salesman assured me that the batteries in the camera would last for days and that I could monitor everything from my phone or computer.
I packed up the cameras and headed home. I glanced in the kitchen and saw that it was empty, so I took the cameras up the backstairs and got to my room without running into anyone.
Going back down the stairs, I made it to the living room before finding Mom. I handed mom the package and her car keys.
"Did you have any trouble finding the office?" she asked, looking up from the book she was reading.
"Not really. Tom told me to tell you and dad Hi," I told her.
