The House On Leafy Hill: Chapter One.

The house was beautiful. It was covered in beautiful flowers and rich greenery. The windows were small sliding glass panes, and the old, rich textured grey walls made it very warm and welcoming.

"Let's buy it, I love it!" I said to my husband.

"Let's see inside first. There is no point in buying it if it's too small," my husband told me.

My husband was always cautious when it came to buying homes. He knew that the market could be tricky, and he never bought anything without checking it out thoroughly first.

Or so I thought.

We stepped inside to view the house.

It was just right for us.

It consisted of three large bedrooms, a medium-sized kitchen and lounge, a medium-sized bathroom and a small dining room.

My only grudge was that it was on top of a hill.

"I really do love this place, but I'm not too keen about living on top of a hill. It kinda wigs me out," I tell my husband.

My husband rolled his eyes, unamused. We had spent months trying to find the right place, and this was the first one that I had said I liked.

"Come on Leyla, we can at least make one exception right? The house is the perfect size for us, and you won't find one cheaper than this on the market. It's only going for $100,000." My husband told me in his impatient voice.

I couldn't argue with him. The house was perfectly sized, and the kids would like it here. We were surrounded by fields at the back where they could play, and the schools and parks were within walking distance. Plus, the schools were close by, which meant that we could use the car less. The house was also appropriately priced and within our budget, even though it might have been worth more. I thought about this for a while.

I decided to go through with the sale,

though I was sure that this was going to be a bad move.

I'm not entirely certain why I felt that something was going to be bad about moving here, apart from the hill which was something that I disliked. I didn't dislike the house, though it gave me the chills.

It felt weird.

The hill was very steep, with a sharp, narrow winding road which would make driving the car awkward. Not only this, from what I could see, there were only a few people living here and the narrow road leading up the hill was very stony.

This was not going to be good for my car!

We went through with the purchase anyway, regardless of how I felt.

It was only a stupid road, but at least the house made up for it.

Moving day finally arrived.

"Cherie, don't run up the stairs. You'll fall down them!" I firmly told my seven-year-old daughter as she repeatedly ran up and down the stairs.

Cherie was a small, blonde curly-haired, blue-eyed, energetic little girl who was always on the go.

Even when she was supposed to be sleeping, she was always on the go!

"Sorry, Mum. I only wanted to see upstairs. Can I have the front bedroom? I really like the window in that room. I can see fields and trees and the river." Cherie explained.

The front room was a beautiful room. It didn't need decorating as it had been freshly painted in Rose before we bought the house. Rose was Cherie's favourite colour so no wonder she chose that room. There was a nice window in there, and the view made it look like painted scenery rather than a window.

I told Cherie that her wish was granted, and she proceeded to unpack her clothes without me having to instruct her.

My husband and his friend Jack came in through the front door in a hurry, with a large box containing a new television for the front wall.

"Yes, that wall will do Jack," my husband told his friend.

", it might not fit there. Wouldn't the left wall be better?" Jack told him.

"No, it will fit that wall!" My husband snapped back at Jack.

Jack sighed; he knew better than to argue with my husband, Steve.

"Alright, Steve; if you say so," Jack told him.

Jack placed the television against the wall.

It wouldn't fit.

The corners were too tight against the edges of the chimney breast wall, and there was no room for adjusting the bracket which held it. He brought it up with Steve, who after wasting an entire hour arguing over it, finally agreed to move it to the opposite wall.

"Yes, that looks perfect there. It's not exactly where I wanted it, but at least I can still watch Star Trek later," Steve told Jack.

"Finally, that's settled then. Maybe if you hadn't been so stubborn, the bloody thing would have been up and running earlier," Jack snapped, then left, slamming the door behind him.

Steve shrugged it off.

I had watched the whole silly argument play out from the lounge door.

The whole argument was stupid!

I glared at my husband, shaking my head and walked into the kitchen to start tea without saying a word.

Steve followed me in.

"Come on love! I really thought that television would fit that wall," Steve tried explaining.

"I don't want to know Steve. I have tea to do, and kids to put to bed. I don't get why everything has to be done your way all the time. I can't blame Jack for his attitude tonight. He was going to stay for tea until you upset him." I snapped.

"I don't get why you always stick up for him Leyla," Steve replied, then stormed out of the kitchen.

It was almost 6:30 p.m.

The kids were having tea, amongst bickering with each other.

They always did this at night!

"Stop it, Daniel. I'll tell mum!" Cherie winced as her brother kicked her under the table for the third time.

"Go on then! She won't care!" Daniel responded laughing.

I had just about had enough for one day, so I glared at Daniel and told him to stop. Daniel carried on for over twenty minutes. Eventually, I became fed up with it.

"Daniel. Eat your tea or you can go to bed without it!" I snapped.

I don't usually snap at the kids, but today had been stressful enough. I just wanted them to finish their tea so that I could get them to bed, and maybe get some peace for the rest of the night.

If peace existed when you had kids.

"Cherie started it," Daniel whined.

"I don't care who started it. Just eat your tea!" I told him firmly.

Daniel could be a pain. He was over-active and he spent most of his time winding Cherie up. He loved causing arguments.

Tonight was not going to be one of those nights.

"I've finished mum. I'm going to get ready for bed now." Cherie told me.

"Of you go then. Be back down for your hot chocolate in 10 minutes," I told her.

Cherie had spent longer than I expected getting ready for bed, so I went upstairs to check that she was alright. When I entered her room, Cherie was staring out of the window. She was wide-eyed and pale. She didn't blink once; she just kept staring out of the window.

"Are you going to get ready for bed now, Cherie?" I asked her.

Cheri ignored the question.

She kept her eyes glued to the window.

Eventually, she started talking, but it wasn't to me.

"Do you live here little girl? Maybe we can play out together in the morning."

I looked out of the window, but I couldn't see anybody.

"Cherie! Get ready for bed!" I told her firmly, though she ignored me again.

"I don't know your mummy or daddy," she said, still staring out of that window.

It was almost as if someone out there was hypnotizing my daughter, though I looked three times and there was no one there.

I tried again, "CHERIE!" I shouted.

"Mum shush! You'll scare her away," Cherie replied.

"Who?" I asked.

"The little girl who is talking to me out there!" Cherie replied.

I rolled my eyes and looked out of the window again.

There really was nobody there at all!

I picked Cherie up, and her Pyjamas, and took her downstairs kicking and screaming.

We can continue this discussion in the lounge, I thought.

I made Cherie get ready for bed and then sat her on the couch with a warm hot chocolate. I proceeded to ask her some questions.

"Who was the little girl you were talking to outside your window?"

"I wasn't talking to anyone," Cherie replied.

"Cherie, when I came to see you in your room, you were at the window, talking to someone." I continued.

"I wasn't mum! I was getting ready for bed."

I decided to leave the conversation, and allow Cherie to believe what she wanted. It had been a stressful day; so I thought

maybe she's tired.

Once Cherie had finished her drink, I tucked her soundly into bed. She slept until about midnight,

then she woke up screaming...

I ran upstairs as fast as I could. I swung Cherie's bedroom door open wide in a frenzy of panic. I observed the room, but nothing had been touched and Cherie was fast asleep.

maybe she has had a nightmare

I thought.

Cherie was fast asleep now, so I left the room, careful not to wake her.

Steve was sitting in his chair drinking coffee and watching the news.

"Cherie was screaming so I went to check on her. My first thought was that she had a nightmare, though Cherie never has nightmares!" I told my husband while he rudely stared at the television instead of listening.

"Oh, she'll be fine. She's sleeping now isn't she?" was all my ignorant husband could say.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Steve was always ignorant when he was watching the television,

but, I had to tell him about what had happened tonight.

"She was staring out of her bedroom window earlier, talking to a child. When I looked, there was nobody there," I tried explaining.

"Oooh! I'm so spooked! What were you expecting, a ghost? For pity's sake Leyla, kids imagine things like this all the time," Steve responded.

Steve was getting impatient.

He had had a stressful day too, and he really didn't need Leyla's drama tonight.

He knew that Leyla wasn't going to let this drop, so he decided to go upstairs and check on Cherie.

Cherie was sleeping soundly.

He stared out of the bedroom window, but he couldn't see anything. He heard a voice calling to him from beyond the woods in the field.

"Are you coming out to play with me, Daddy?"

He shrugged it off, deciding that he must be imagining it. He was tired, and he thought that he just needed a good night's sleep.

Whatever that was in his household.

Leyla had already gone to bed, so steve chose to join her. There was no point in talking after today's stress; some things were best left until the morning.

He turned all the lights off, ensuring that the kids were actually in bed first, and then he joined his wife for a good night's sleep.

The little girl in the woods had been watching.

She let out a huge cackle, then said

"Don't worry, I'm coming for you, Cherie."

This story is the first of a ten-part fiction series. I hope you enjoyed reading it. If so please heart or optionally, you could tip me. You can also subscribe in order to stay updated on my next chapter, and future chapters of my other stories. While you are waiting for the second chapter of this story, you might enjoy the stories below: