The Haunting Of Hastings House

The sky was a bruised canvas, threatening to burst. Emily hurried across the parking lot, the wind tugging at her red hair, a harbinger of the storm. Just as she stepped into the cool, quiet embrace of the real estate office, the heavens opened, unleashing a torrential downpour.

"Looks like you made it just in time," the receptionist chuckled, her voice a gentle contrast to the drumming rain outside. Emily managed a weak smile, feeling a familiar wave of self-consciousness as she spotted her high school friend, Amori Black, approaching. Amori, a vision of polished perfection, her platinum blonde hair in a high ponytail, her smile a blinding flash of 'Knock Em Dead Red,' embraced Emily. The scent of Coach Floral, a fragrance from their shared past, enveloped Emily, but it was the subtle bump beneath Amori’s smart red pantsuit that truly struck her. Pregnant. Glowing.

Emily, still reeling from a loss that had shattered her world just six months prior, felt the familiar ache in her chest. Amori, sensing her discomfort, quickly steered her into her office, a cheerful yellow room that seemed to mock Emily’s internal gloom. With a flourish, Amori presented a folder containing a grainy black-and-white photo of an old mansion. Hastings House. A proposition, Amori called it. A caretaker position. Free housing.

Emily's only choice. As she signed the papers, clutching the old brass keys, a sense of foreboding settled deep within her. The house, even in the faded photograph, seemed to hold dark secrets. Driving away in her white Camaro, the rain mirroring the tears on her face, Emily couldn't shake the feeling that something ominous awaited her. "Fuck Luke," she whispered to the empty car. "I do not know if I can do this."