Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Haunts ❯ Double Dog Dare ( Chapter 1 )

This is what I originally started with before I made the prologue chapter.

 

Haunts

Chapter One: Double Dog Dare

 

Upon recollection, Gar really should've seen this coming.

 

All his short, unfulfilled life, Garfield Logan had lived three houses down and across the street from the creepy broken down home no one lived in.

 

(Well, there were rumors a witch lived there, but those were just stupid stories they made up as kids to explain the upstairs light turning on when no one ever saw a car approach or anyone enter or leave.)

 

(They honestly didn't seem so stupid now.)

 

As a child (so happy and innocent), there had been dares to reach up and stand on the porch or knock on the door or just peer through a window to see inside. (An old childhood chum once swore somebody knocked back. Though he probably just said it because he ran screaming down the street two seconds later.)

 

They had outgrown stupid pranks and dares like that though. Now it was all beer-drinking and peer-pressuring to do stuff that got you arrested. (Gar was small and fast enough to get away though. He'd gotten good at that.)

 

He admitted it. He was the tiniest bit tipsy. Halloween consisted of the usual wild costume parties (he'd dyed his hair green, wore all black, and called it a night), but somehow they'd ended up back here, staring into the face of doom.

 

Remembering his tenth Halloween, his friends had convinced him to once again travel into the unknown. They didn't go in the front (because that's what all the little kids were doing, and they were big boys now), instead sliding to the side for a little breaking and entering.

 

(He couldn't remember how he agreed to it. Though he had eaten two whole bags of Smarties and chugged one or two beers. That could've been a cause.)

 

But here he was, slithering in through the cellar window (only he was big enough to fit), coughing up dust and trying to find the perfect artifact to take back.

 

And now he was trying to proclaim his innocence to a house.

 

Yes, two minutes in, and he realized he might've trespassed on more than just a house. All he'd seen so far were taped up boxes and dusty portraits, but there was something almost… sacred about the artifacts. He almost decided to grab the nearest thing and climb back out, but then he heard something that stopped him.

 

Footsteps.

 

It wasn't the footsteps of children too scared to climb onto the rotted wooden porch, or anything outside the house. No.

 

They were coming from inside.

 

Right above him, best he could tell. Of course his instincts screamed at him: Run away. Some crazy hermit loner obviously lives here so turn around before you get shot or he calls the police.

 

And then Gar's curious side took over.

 

It was a curse, really. He couldn't leave well enough alone. The worst thoughts ran through his mind (serial killer, burglar, maybe a ghost or two), but he managed to find the stairs and climb up them, peeking through the door before stepping into the main part of the house.

 

It was just as dusty and old as downstairs (less so, because it was probably lived in more.) A heavy chandelier hung down, spider webs streaming away from it as webs covered the spaces between lamps. He'd come out from beneath a stairway, one that looked too dangerous to climb. A molted rug covered the steps and continued out to the doorway. The windows were dirty and impossible to see out of. It wasn't completely dark. Something was illuminating it, though he couldn't quite tell what. He carefully walked into the next room, finding a beautiful marble kitchen.

 

It was marble and wood merged so beautifully together, it almost seemed like someone still lived there. In fact, as he leaned forward, examining the cupboards and counters carefully, a lot of the dust had been wiped away, showing clear signs of a recent visitor.

 

(He wasn't Sherlock, but he wasn't stupid either.)

 

This fact only proved to peak his curiosity further, as he continued to explore the home. The main room was wide with a heavy fireplace and a loveseat pushed beside a bookcase. A C-shaped couch curled before the fireplace, and a chess table was set up with large wooden pieces. They were already moved in discontinued game, and he picked up a knight that had fallen over, putting it back in place. The game showed signs of recent usage as well, and he stared at the bookshelf a minute, which showed no sign of dust at all. In fact, most of the books looked well used and read. He fingered one, a leather bound red one that had spidery gold writing that he couldn't read. He didn't bother to actually open it, deciding the words weren't worth his time. He was more interested in the mystery guest the house seemed to host, and sincerely hoped it wasn't a spectral spirit of any kind.

 

The next room was a dining hall with one of those impossibly long tables. The chairs had indented into the rug (he saw this has he pulled them back), and he instantly let them resume their positions. It was not his place to change the seats. For all he knew the guest had friends, and their party was all planned out.

 

The main rooms were searched well and hard. Gar now stood at the base of the same staircase, staring up at the chandelier as he tried to determine his next course of action. Certainly the footsteps were of the mystery guest he'd yet to uncover, but he wasn't quite ready to brave the stairs. They would most likely give in to any weight put upon them, and he'd rather not die because no one was around to call 911 after he broke his arm.

 

He strolled over to hat rack beside the door, touching an old hat that had been left abandoned. It was a testament to its time and its owner, because he surely felt some spirit hanging off it. He pursed his lips at indecision and decided to reach for the nearest door to see where it would take him. This door happened to be a closet, which happened to be filled with musty jackets and dresses and boots and a surprise he had not quite anticipated.

 

That was, of course, when the ghost launched upon him.

 

Notes:

Hm. Chapters still not quite as long. I guess I don't have to leave it as a cliffhanger, but that's the main reason I write fanfiction: the torturing of characters and readers.

Review, or Gar will be eaten by a ghost.