Chapter One: A Ghost in My New House
A car was driving at a moderate speed because of the speed limits in Canada. The streets were crowded. Inside the car was a family of four: a father, a mother, a daughter, and a son.
The daughter, Olivia, was sixteen years old and extremely optimistic.
Her brother, Lucas, was fifteen and very reckless.
Olivia said excitedly,
"Alright! A new place, a new city. I'm so excited to see our new house!"
Their mother, Claire, replied,
"You should see a therapist because you're not afraid of anything."
Olivia laughed.
"No, everyone is exaggerating. I'm just optimistic."
Lucas smirked.
"Yeah, right. Like that time at the museum when you started drawing on the exhibits."
Their father, David, groaned.
"Don't remind me. That cost me 100 dollars."
Lucas pointed.
"It wasn't my fault. It was hers."
Olivia shot back,
"And who drew on the school wall?"
Lucas sighed.
"Okay… that was me."
David looked at him.
"Oh, so that's why the school keeps calling me?"
Lucas quickly said,
"I don't think that's the reason… I mean, let's change the subject."
Olivia clapped her hands.
"Anyway! A new house means it has to be better than our old one."
They finally arrived at a wide, beautiful house with a garden about 50 meters wide.
But the car moved slightly to the left.
That beautiful house wasn't theirs.
Olivia looked at their actual house. It was old, worn down, and had a tiny 10-meter garden.
She paused.
"Well… with some changes and a lot of cleaning, it could be very nice."
Lucas shook his head.
"You're always optimistic. This looks like one of those horror movie houses where it suddenly starts raining for no reason. This is not good."
David shrugged.
"What did you expect? It only cost 4,000 dollars."
Claire added,
"It's still better than our old house. With some cleaning, it will look great."
"Exactly!" Olivia said happily. "And I'm taking the attic!"
The family got out of the car and entered the house. Inside, it was actually nice—just very dusty and dirty.
Lucas sat on an old couch.
"Well, not bad for 4,000 dollars."
"Not bad?" Olivia said dramatically. "It's amazing!"
She ran upstairs to the attic, full of excitement. She opened the bedroom door—
—and it suddenly slammed shut behind her.
"Oh, strong wind today," she said cheerfully. "Great ventilation!"
The lights flickered and turned off.
"Old electrical system," she said calmly.
The room became very cold.
"Well, the insulation probably needs work."
Then she heard her name echoing through the air.
"Wow," Olivia said, impressed. "They even installed surround sound."
A ghostly voice whispered,
"Alright… I'll take over."
A ghost appeared in front of her.
Olivia stared at him.
"Wow. You're kind of handsome."
The ghost blinked.
"What? I'm supposed to scare you!"
"Oh. Okay."
She started screaming dramatically—but it was clearly fake.
The ghost sighed and tried to cast a curse to make her leave the attic forever.
Unfortunately, he mispronounced it.
Instead of forcing her out, he accidentally cursed her to stay with him forever.
Olivia smiled brightly.
"Oh, thank you! That's so kind. I'll make the bed bigger so it fits both of us. You're my best friend now… um… my dead best friend."
The ghost stared in disbelief.
Frustrated, the ghost went downstairs to Lucas's room.
Lucas entered his bedroom. The door slammed shut behind him.
"I knew it," Lucas whispered nervously. "What did I expect from a 4,000-dollar house?"
He kicked the door—but it wouldn't open.
The temperature dropped sharply.
"Okay, Canada is cold, but not this cold!"
Objects started moving on their own.
"I knew this from the beginning!"
In panic, Lucas jumped out of the window.
Luckily, his room was in the basement level.
The ghost, trying to regain his dignity, went to Claire's room.
Claire opened the door. It slammed shut behind her.
"Oh, strong wind today," she said calmly. "Good for air circulation."
The ghost, annoyed, moved the entire bed violently.
"I said strong wind," she replied. "But this wind seems a bit heavy."
She calmly took out a bottle of holy water from her pocket.
The ghost screamed and fled to David's room.
In David's room, the lights went out and the temperature dropped.
David immediately ran outside the house.
He muttered to himself,
"My family is sane. They'll run too… right?"
He looked beside him.
Only Lucas was there.
"Did you come out for the same reason?" Lucas asked.
"Exactly," David replied. "Where's your mother and sister?"
"Mom pulled out something called holy water. And Olivia… I think she's planning to become friends with that thing."
David sighed deeply.
"You're the man of the house after me."
Lucas shook his head.
"Nope. That's your job. Go check on them."
David sighed again and went back inside.
He found Olivia drinking tea with the ghost (against the ghost's will), while Claire was cleaning the house—and occasionally splashing holy water at him.
David looked around and sighed.
"Lucas… everything is under control."
Lucas stepped inside, saw the same scene, and said,
"Well… I guess Mom handled it."