Ghostly Image

1998

Hunter's POV:

It was 1998 and my mom, sister and I were in the process of moving to Lakehurst from New York. I was as excited about the move as my 17-year-old twin sister was.

I stared out of the window and sighed deeply as I watched the scenery pass by. We passed a big sign which read Welcome to Lakehurst, population, 4687. I turned to take another look and disappointment set in, smaller than I thought, much smaller.

I sat in the passenger seat next to my mom driving, listening to my sisters incessantly bad singing. “Could you please stop singing” she just ignored me and belted out the next verse. I turned to my mother, who just smiled and stared in front of her.

The town of Lakehurst appeared through the abandoned trees and all hope of my mother ever turning back to New York left me.

I changed the radio station hoping to hear anything rather than my sister's singing. I gave my mom another side glance and I could see the frown lines on her forehead. She was trying to be optimistic but she was trying too hard, her fake smile never reached her eyes. They were still filled with sadness. A rush of anger washed through me, I couldn’t believe we had to leave New York when my dad was the f*****g asshole, the criminal.

We moved here to be closer to him. He was serving a 25-year sentence about two hours from here. He got drunk one night and killed a family of four. He should have known better than to drive drunk. I was so filled with hate for him. Why did we have to change our whole lives for him? I was also angry with my mother and sister, who didn’t seem to hate him at all, they just kept excusing his behaviour.

Driving through the town, it looked to be quiet. There were the usual sights: an ice-cream shop, a diner and some other stores. Nothing really jumped out at me and screamed excitement.

I turned to my mom, already bored, and I lifted my one eyebrow. She just gave me a small smile. “It won’t be that bad kid, I promise.”

“Yeah, it looks pretty exciting already” I said, giving her a sarcastic look.

I turned around and caught sight of my sister. She was staring at the same thing but in her eyes there was excitement and I didn’t know why.

My mom stopped at the side of a road, got out of the car and opened a map. “Okay, so where right here, and this is our new house”. She pointed to a place on the map. She then started looking around for a street sign or landmark. I got out as well to just stretch my legs.

“Okay, I think I got it, we’re not that far off.”

I whispered under my breath “Jesus, only you can get lost in a town this small.”

My mom scoffed at me “I heard that, kid.”

I got back into the car and slammed the door.

She got in next to me “Could you please just give this place a chance, please Hunt for me.”

I nodded my head. “I’m still not going to visit him.”

She gave me a small smile as if to say that this conversation wasn’t over yet.

We got back into the car and she started driving. “Look there it is.”

She seemed excited but I felt a little depressed as I looked at the house she was pointing at.

The small white house came into view. We stopped in front of it and my mom ran to retrieve the key from the mail box. I watched as the neighbours closed their windows. We were obviously not wanted and I could guess why.

I grabbed a box from the trunk and started walking towards the house.

I walked through it and noticed it was a two bedroom, which meant we would have to discuss the sleeping arrangements. I didn’t feel like sharing a room with my twin sister. Even though we were twins, we never got along, we were just so different.

She was good at sports and academics and I honestly hated both. I spent most of my time reading. To keep my mom happy I would go running and pick up some weights, nothing spectacular though.

My sister ran through the house and dropped her stuff in the biggest bedroom. “Mine”

I sneered at her as I dropped mine next to her. “Not so much, looks like we're sharing because this is a two bedroom”. I laughed as I saw the priceless expression on her face.

She pushed past me and started yelling for my mom. “Mom, you can’t be serious, I am 17. I can’t share a room with my brother.”

“Ashley, this is all we could afford, but your right”. I saw a smile on her face which quickly disappeared when my mom uttered her next sentence.

“Your brother can have the smallest room and you and I can share, how’s that.”

I picked up my stuff and started for the smallest room, when I heard my sister bitching “No, I would rather share with him then”

My mom exhaled loudly before she spoke to Ashley again. “That’s final Ash, he needs his privacy to”

“So do I”

“Yes, but we are both girls, so it just makes sense.”

Ashley stormed out of her room and into the back garden.

I laughed when I walked into my room. It was very small but at least I could be by myself.

I looked out of the small window over a very deserted lot next to our house. I turned around as I heard my mom stepped into my

room. “Everything okay kid”

“Yeah it’s fine mom”, I walked over to her and gave her a tight hug. She deserved it after putting up with everyone’s s**t.

“We’ll make this work kid, I promise.”

I looked down, not wanting to look my mom in the eye as I lied to her. “Yeah sure mom”.