A Homecoming

It was such a beautiful drive back to Watertown. They will miss the city, but it will be nice to be around family again. Mona wasn't too happy about the job outlook, but she knew something would come up eventually. Thankfully, Kenny was able to transfer locations and the company even covered some of the moving expenses. It was a long drive and when they finally arrived, they were both exhausted. Mona's sister, Sarah, offered them a place to sleep for the night. They would go sign the lease for their home rental in the morning.

The morning came too quickly for Kenny, but they had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it all. He needed to get the papers signed and get to work. When they arrived at the rental, the owner had not arrived yet. The couple decided to walk around the property. The rental included a small 2 bedroom house, a workshop, a barn, a couple of ponds, a creek, and 10 acres of land. They secretly hoped to buy the property from the owner eventually.

The owner arrived about thirty minutes late, but Kenny and Mona didn't mind. They enjoyed looking around and imagining what they would do with the place once it became theirs. They introduced themselves and found that Mary was not interested in selling the place as it had been in her family for a very long time and she couldn't bare to part with it, no matter what amount was offered. The couple signed the lease for 6-months, figuring that would be enough time to either convince her to sale it or find another place.

It took about two weeks to get everything completely unpacked and put away. Mona worked hard to get it all done, because she knew she needed to find a job as soon as possible. Kenny worked 6 days a week and didn't have time to help much with the process, but she understood. She interviewed at the local pre-school for an administration job and they hired her on the spot. Things were going well and she was happy.

Kenny had been trying to find a way to convince Mary to let them buy the place. He left her several phone messages and emails. He was getting frustrated with her stubbornness. It had been a long time since he was unable to get what he wanted. The last time, well, it didn't go very well for the naysayer. He was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but Mary wasn't budging.

Mary was watching television, frustrated with Kenny's constant requests for her to sell her family's place. He had no idea what he was asking her. He had no idea what had happened there before. Why she doesn't live there, he can never know. She was hoping he would drop it, but there was a knock at the door. She didn't even have time to answer the door before Kenny walked in telling her she was going to give him the house. She didn't have time to warn him before he forced her to sign the deed. Then he strangled her and she was gone.

Mona was so excited when Kenny came home to show her that Mary had signed over the house to them. He convinced her that Mary wanted them to have it, for free. Mona was so gullible and believed everything that Kenny ever said. Neither of them was aware of what Kenny had really done.

The following morning, everything changed. The house was dark and dreary (even with the lights on), the grass had died overnight, and the ponds were dry. They themselves had changed as well. Mona woke up so tired, she felt paralyzed and couldn't speak. Kenny was just laying there staring wild-eyed at the doorway. Almost as though he were seeing something, but Mona couldn't move to see. Then she saw his eyes shift, like a warning that something was coming toward her. She tried to move, but couldn't. Suddenly, she felt something cover her, something heavy that covered all of her. It was like a 500 pound weight was placed on top of her, enveloping her until she was gone. Vanished.

All Kenny could do was watch. He tried to warn Mona, but either she didn't understand, or she couldn't move, because whatever that was just took her. She was no longer there beside him. It was like it swallowed her. Now he was waiting for his turn. What would it do to him. He wanted it to go ahead and make him vanish too. He couldn't bare to imagine not being with Mona. He wanted to go where she went, but he didn't. Instead, he was trapped, paralyzed, unable to speak and now unable to even see his Mona. He didn't understand what was happening, but he knew it was his own fault. There he was laying there, motionless yet breathing, with nothing.

Mary hadn't heard from Kenny or Mona in weeks and she was a little worried. When she arrived at the house, she knew it had happened again. She should have known better. When they mentioned purchasing the property, but she ignored it. She should not have rented to the young couple, they had many years left to live. She went inside and called the Sheriff to let him know it had happened again and to come take the bodies away. Mary wondered if she should advertise the rental now or wait a few days. This time she would try to do a better job at interviewing the tenants.