Dirty pots, pans, and dishes filled the sink and covered the counter.  The smell of rotten food and mildew in the cabinets overtook the senses.  Every hallway, corridor, and stairwell were lined with trash, litter, and what one would hope was not animal carcasses.  The ceiling was painted with evidence of past water leaks.  A series of cracks ran around every light fixture, air vent, and crown molding.  Every step felt as if the entire place could crash down at any moment.  Every window that wasn’t smashed was well on its way there.  Every second inside there gave an impending sense of dread, as if the walls themselves were going to lash out and attack you at any moment.  The exterior was just as bad, if not worse.  The shingles were all warped and rotten from years of neglect, every column seemed as if it were about to fall.  The once beautiful red brick siding was now a horrendous shade of brown, broken up only by black mold.  The appearance of the lawn gave the impression that no one had ever set foot anywhere near it, let alone tend to the overgrown grass.  The curb stopped once it got to the house and began again on the other side.  There was no driveway, not even so much as a dirt road.  Any attempt to drive to the house would end in one parking in the street, and navigating through the wild, unkempt grass.  But as Valerie Drummond approached in her deceased grandmother’s used van, she had only one thought: “It’s perfect.”

“You’re dreaming if you think I’m going anywhere near that house, do you even know what happened there?” asked her roommate, Alice Carpenter.

“Oh yes,” said Val, “That’s what makes it so perfect.”  Alice looked at her as if Val had told her she was pregnant with quadruplets.

“Are you actually insane?” questioned Alice.  “There’s been at least ten murders there. And all of them had nothing to do with each other.  It’s a literal murder house like you’d see on TV.  Even the street is afraid to touch it.”

“Have you listened to a word I said?” asked Val accusingly.  “That was the whole point in coming down here.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“How slow are you? Jesus.  From the beginning I thought I made it perfectly clear.  We move to the scary house no one likes, fix it up, make it look all nice and pretty.  But as soon as the buzz around us being there dies down, we claim to be haunted, tell some spooky story like we saw crying children in the mirror, crazies love crap like that.  And then at the peak of our attention, we run away, suddenly, just like Amityville horror.” She explained.

“Val, people DIED in Amityville horror, an entire family, murdered by their oldest son.  And that’s not even a movie, that boy actually murdered his family! You’re crazy Valerie, you are actually crazy.”

“I’m not crazy Alice, I’m a marketing genius.  My grandma had nothing but this van and that cat my sister decided to take care of.  I was broke before she died, and since my loving sister decided to sell the only home I ever knew, I have nothing.  Nothing but you, and I intend to keep you.  This house is an investment, and I intend to make some money.”

Alice no longer saw Val the same. “You- so you- you- oh my god Val. You not only spent your entire inheritance on some Amityville horror knock-off but dragged me into your ‘marketing scheme’ AKA exploiting several tragedies, and never even so much as ASKED me.  I won’t be a part of this, I intend to actually live a life and not disappear mysteriously in a damp, decrepit, musty SHANTY.  Have fun chasing ghosts.”  Alice got out of the van and slammed the door as hard as she could.  Tears in her eyes, Valerie watched her best friend of ten years walk away. And then suddenly, a bus came out of nowhere and struck Alice where she stood.

3 weeks later, Alice woke up in a hospital bed, surrounded by only Val.

“Val? What happened?” she asked.

“Oh my god, She’s alive!” Val said excitedly.

“Am I not supposed to be? What’s going on?”  Alice was confused and frightened.  Last thing she could remember was getting in the van with Val.  “Did we get into an accident?” she questioned.

“What?  No. Well- I mean… you were.” Answered Val.

“I don’t understand.”

“You were hit by a bus as soon as you got out of the car.”

“Oh…” Alice looked around, the last thing she wanted to do was sit in the hospital.  She then noticed that Val was staring at her with wide eyes and a frown from ear to ear.  Was Val… scared?  “The heck Val?”

“What?” she replied.

“You’re looking at me like I’m about to explode.”

“Oh- no- Alice I just-.”

“Whatever I don’t care.  Let’s go home.”

“Home? Are you sure?”  Val was nervous, how would Alice react?

“Yes I want to go home, get me out of here.” Alice retorted.  Not wanting to deal with an angry Alice, Val took her home.

As Val approached the house, she stared apprehensively at her sleeping roommate in the rearview mirror.  What would Alice say?  Would she be mad about Val not only fixing the house, but moving in?  She decided not to think about it, surely Alice would just be glad to be out of the hospital.  Val pulled into the driveway, turned off the ignition with shaky hands, and woke Alice.  “We’re home,” she said.  Just as Alice’s eyes opened, they widened in horror.

“Say you’re joking,” she started, “TELL ME YOU’RE JOKING!”

“Do not scream at me like that! I swear Alice you are the most ungrateful person I’ve ever met.  Who has been driving your sorry butt around?  Who took you to the hospital when you got run over?  Who paid your medical bills?  Who fixed up this house so YOU COULD LIVE THERE?!” Val was not having it.  Alice had been her boss long enough, she was tired of doing all this work and getting nothing in return but screaming, yelling, and gnashing of teeth.  “You are going into that house, and you’re going to love it.”

“You don’t get it Valerie,” she begged. “Everyone to ever live in that house at any given time was two girls.  And every time a new set of girls moved in, one of them was murdered.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that from the beginning?” Val answered.  “I wouldn’t have judged you for being afraid.  And I promise I won’t murder you.”

“Oh, I don’t know I just- I don’t know…  let’s just go inside.”

That night, they both slept soundly, only Valerie was having the strangest dream.  She dreamt she was in the house, only it appeared to brand new, and full of guests.  She could see from the top of the stairwell that the living room was completely free of couches and tables and appeared to be a… ballroom? The guests in the house were wearing strange masks, and all appeared as if this was a masquerade ball.  But no one was dancing, and their masks resembled distorted human faces.  Val was able to make out a trio of women in flamboyant, elegant ball gowns, gathered in a circle. The tallest woman had pale blonde hair tied together in a circled plait on the top of her head.  The women were standing in a circle around a man and woman dressed in rags tied together on the floor. They were the only ones not wearing masks. 

“No, please,” begged the woman.  Something about her voice seemed familiar. 

“One more word and I’ll cut out your tongue!” Yelled the blonde woman.  Val saw her pull a knife from the garter under her dress.  Val blinked, and suddenly was holding the knife, and standing over the bound couple.  The woman on the ground once again began to plead for her life.

“Please, I didn’t know she was your grandmother!” the girl exclaimed. Her voice seemed familiar still, like an old friend with whom you haven’t spoken to in a long time.

“You killed the woman who raised me for a sack of coins,” Val felt the words leave her mouth, but didn’t recognize her own voice.  “I don’t care what you did or did not know, nor do I care why you did what you did.  When someone messes with my own flesh and blood, I don’t take kindly to it.” She felt her body involuntarily move toward the bound woman, and watched her hand press the knife against her face.  Hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to wound.  “You may remove your masks,” she said.  The other two women removed their masks. The other two women had their hair done the same as the blonde woman, only Val could recognize them this time. She watched in silent horror as her sister and deceased grandmother stood before her. Shock crept across the bound woman’s face.

“She’s alive? But- but- I murdered that miserable old woman!” the bound woman cried.  The old woman simply stared.  “I don’t understand!” belted the bound woman.

“Women in our… shall we say, ‘expertise’ don’t go down that easily,” Val heard her mouth say. 

“What is going on here Valerie!” the woman exclaimed.

“You attempted to kill my grandmother!” Val heard. “But she survived and told me not only what you did to her, but also told me about you sleeping with my brother!” Before the woman on the ground could make any final plea for her life, Val watched her own hand drive the knife deep into the woman’s throat.  Valerie woke up screaming madly.  Alice hobbled into her room on crutches, swinging one about the room as if to hit a potential assailant.

“What is going on here Valerie!” exclaimed Alice.  Suddenly Val recognized the voice from her dream as that of Alice, only in the dream she sounded much older, and had a certain raspiness that Alice lacked in the real world.

“Alice,” she said blankly. “What did you do?”

“What?” replied Alice. “I don’t understand.  I’ve been asleep all night long until I heard you screaming.”

Valerie rose from bed and started toward her injured roommate.  Alice’s eyes widened.  Limited by her injuries, she attempted to hobble towards the stairwell.  Unfortunately, she was stopped by the sudden realization of how difficult it was to descend a staircase while using crutches. Alice tumbled to the bottom of the stairs in a mangled heap of broken bones.

“No, please!” begged Alice.

“One more word and I’ll cut your tongue!” Yelled Valerie.  She didn’t know why she was doing this; it was as if something had come over her, convincing her that Alice had done something.

“Valerie I swear if you’re trying to scare me,” started Alice.

“Maybe not everything is about you!” yelled Val, only this time, she knew for sure that she was saying this in her own voice.  Alice crawled towards the front door, cutting through the kitchen.  Val stepped over her, walking towards the knife block.  “You killed the woman who raised me for a sack of coins.”

“Valerie what are you doing? Is this because I didn’t want to move here?”

“You slept with my brother!”

“YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE A BROTHER!” 

“Women in our… shall we say, ‘expertise’ don’t go down that easily,” Val said.  Val had no desire to hurt Alice, but some mysterious force was compelling her to do so.  Alice was alo telling the truth Val really didn’t have a brother and was by her grandmother’s side when she passed away. 

“What in the world are you even talking about!” yelled Alice.

Val grabbed a knife, and pressed against Alice’s throat, hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to wound. 

“Goodbye old friend.”  Valerie brought down the knife, and felt it penetrate her oldest partner.

Valerie stood, admiring the trail of blood running from the bottom of the stairwell, then looked toward the front door.  She watched her reflection, watched it morph before her.  Her image resembled that of the blonde woman in her dream.  With her mouth agape, she watched the woman in the window leave the frame and outstretch her hand.  In the palm of her hand, she held a mask. With one final look back at her roommate, Valerie put on the mask resembling her victim’s face.