Connor Anderson

Driving down a winding road, dark oak trees loomed above Connor’s small car and the darkness consumed everything except for the small lights that illuminated the path. He was used to the brightness of the city, but the exceeding darkness that engulfed everything made Connor’s hairs stand on end as he drove into the unknown. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and continued to drive as the sense of dread flowed through him like an unstoppable river.

After what felt like years, he finally arrived at his destination–his deceased grandfather’s house, or rather mansion. He never knew his grandfather, but what he heard from his father he was a filthy rich man–keyword “was”. After his divorce with his grandmother, all that he was left with was his otherwise haunted looking house. Why he kept the house Connor had no clue, it looked like it was two seconds away from collapsing from how old it was, but it didn’t matter; It was his now, fair and square. Though, he didn’t know why he got the house instead of his dad since he never met the guy, but oh well.

Connor took a long drag of his cigarette, the smoke filling his lungs with a burn that calmed his nerves as he stared at the house. He got the feeling that this house was... off, strange. He almost didn’t want to go inside, but his curiosity and the hope of finding something cool inside made him overlook the primal fear that consumed his body.

Connor flicked his cigarette onto the ground and walked to his trunk, opening the trunk of his car to see Sumo, his Saint Bernard, curled up within his carrier. Sumo looked up at Connor and wagged his tail, excited to see his owner. “Hey, handsome boy. Excited for your new home?” Connor cooed, letting Sumo out of his cage and onto the cold dirt path that led to the house. Sumo sniffed the ground with curiosity, his tail wagging as he explored his new home “Yeah... Me too. Just wish it wasn’t so creepy....” Connor said with a smile, scratching the underside of Sumo’s chin. “Let’s go inside, yeah? We still have a lot of packing to do.” Connor then stood up, patting his leg to signal Sumo to follow and like a good dog, he did.

As he opened the front door, he was met with the smell of dust, causing him to cough quietly. He looked around the foyer, the house engulfed in a thick darkness. He looked around until he found a small candle, great. The candle would have to do until they got the electricity back up and running through the house. Using one of his matches, he lit the candle and started to look around, the candle only providing enough light to illuminate a few feet in front of him. As he looked around, he noticed that the inside looked way better than the outside–it looked like something out of a castle to Connor, it was way fancier than anything he’s seen before. The walls were the color of clouds, vases with now dead flowers adorned every surface, ivory staircases leading up to the second floor, and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. This was only the foyer? Connor let out a high whistle, impressed by the elegance that surrounded him. “Pretty cool, huh, Sumo?” He asked, looking down at his dog with a grin, but Sumo was already exploring, sniffing everything he could reach as his tail wagged intensely. Connor could tell that his dog was just as excited as he was, and that made him happy.

As he explored, Connor got more and more impressed each room more elaborate and beautiful as the last. He couldn’t believe that his grandfather, the man that he never even met, had given him this house with all of his belongings inside. As fucked up as it sounded, Connor was kind of glad he was dead since it meant he could have all his junk. Though, one thing kept bugging him: When his Grandfather and Grandmother got divorced, why didn’t she take the house instead? He would assume anyone with a brain would fight over this house, so what why didn’t she? Maybe the house looked different then? He didn’t know but he knew one thing for sure, and that was he was moving in as soon as possible!