A family of four people stopped slowly at an old yet luxurious villa in their personal car.
The family had progressed to a new town to enjoy their vacations.
They had heard of the rumors surrounding the area known as Knoxvil Cento near Pegasus.
It was a town located next to the infamous Grabeliod Filta Town with a graveyard. It was known as the city hosted by the ghosts and black magic.
Many people were afraid to live there. However the family of Belton were not afraid of that threat.
As Mr Belton had served in the forces and Mrs Belton was a physiologist. They never cared much about these entities.
They had 2 kids, a thin boy (Milo) & a fat boy (Mino).
Both were aged 10 with a difference of a month between their birthdays.
Mino was extremely extroverted while Milo was the exact opposite.
Mino was their own offspring while Milo was adopted from a nearby orphanage. Milo had no clue about all this.
He never got the chance to complain much.
Milo just used to face a little abuse when he would made Mino hurt somehow but the same treatment was somehow not given to Mino. A third one was on the way.
"Seems like a quiet place, away from the noise of the city." Mr Belton (Gorty) said with a smile.
"Yeah hope so. We will make this a memorable trip like the picnic we had recently." Mrs Belton (Curry) responded with a friendly gesture.
"I believe so honey." Mr Belton said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey daddy, can we play in the street there?" Mino said with excitement in his voice.
"Yeah sure but don't go too far. Remember we are new to this place kids." Mrs Belton said with softness.
After a small talk, the couple entered the house along with their luggage.
The kids started playing in the street. They were curious and happy to find themselves in a completely new area.
"Do you think we can get new friends here?" Milo said, biting his finger.
"I am not sure, I just want to get some burgers for dinner." Mino responded, looking around the area.
"Oh you hungry hippo." Milo replied, pushing Mino.
"Stop it. Food comes before people." Mino said with an annoyed face.
"More people can feed you more food." Milo said sitting back near Mino.
"That's incorrect cause more people mean more consumers so lesser amount left for me." Mino said, biting his nails.
"Think about kinships instead of food sometimes." Milo responded looking with a side eye.
As they both were engaging in this talk, they saw a man in a black suit approach them.
He was neither smiling nor angry but his facial expressions were really off.
Both the children felt scared.
They thought that they were endangered.
They decided to ignore the man but he stood right next to them.
They wanted to run away but were too scared to make a move.
They thought the man was carrying a weapon and secondly neither of the siblings were comfortable leaving the other one stranded alone.
"Hello children. My name is Fletcher." The man said with a slight smile.
They didn't utter a single word.
"Don't be afraid. I also live in this town." Fletcher said with the smile remaining constant.
Milo signalled Mino to get up and leave slowly. He nodded back.
As soon as they both were a few steps away, the guy known as Fletcher said in a loud friendly voice "Do you two like burgers?"
This made both of the kids stop in their tracks. One of them was in the state shock and the other one was excited.
"Can I have one?" Mino said without hesitation.
Milo punched him slowly on the chest.
"Yeah sure dear. I would serve you with a tasty one in my home." Fletcher said slowly coming towards them with arms crossed behind his back.
"I don't think we should accept that." Milo whispered to Mino.
"Dude, I am really hungry at this moment." Mino said, his mouth getting watery.
"Our mom warned us to never trust strangers." Milo whispered to Mino, pulling his arm to take him towards the home.
"Oh my dear child. I live two houses away. Inform your parents in case you don't trust me." The strange man said confidently.
Milo was confused about Fletcher overhearing everything he said even in silence or with a whispering tone.
"Thanks for your offer but we are not interested." Milo said with a rude face.
"But..but...but.." Mino said with disappointment.
Without anything said further, Milo grabbed his brother by the collar and forcefully took him towards the home.
While he looked back to check if the man had gone. To his surprise, he was standing still without even making a move.
He kept looking back waiting if he could make a move to harm them but fortunately that didn't occur.
Both reached the house arguing the complete way.
While he was about to close the door behind, he locked at the man. This time his facial features had gone really horrific.
Milo looked closely and saw that his teeth had tripled the original size.
A horrific fur covered most of his face and his eyes came wide out with a fierce look.
Milo quickly closed the door and locked it immediately. His heart was beating continuously but he couldn't move.
He froze there for a moment before he controlled himself and moved inside.
Meanwhile Mino was lying in his bedroom with a sad face because he thought he had missed on a big feasting session.
That night, Milo was frankly not feeling well and comfortable to visit the supermarket along with his dad and brother. He couldn't believe what he had witnessed in the morning.
He didn't even eat his dinner as that haunting face came in his thoughts.
His parents didn't notice much cause they thought that it was maybe due to the new weather and location.
They were well informed about the behaviour of Milo in new locations. He would always feel the same discomfort at new location. He preferred to be a stay at home person.
At around 10pm, all of them decided to sleep.
At every trip, Milo and Mino would sleep in separate rooms but that day Milo decided to sleep along with Mino.
Around 2am Milo got up as he had the urge to drink some water.
He was feeling really thirsty.
He was afraid to go alone. He wanted Mino to go along with him to the kitchen.
Mino was in a deep sleep and wouldn't answer much.
Milo whispered: "Hey big boy, I heard mommy bring pizzas for us."
Mino responded in a sleepy voice: "Grab them and bring them here."
Milo was sure that this lazy ass wouldn't do the task so he decided to go alone.
That was one of the worst things he did as a kid.
He wasn't sure what he was going to face next.
At that moment he had completely forgotten that man.
Strange man, Fletcher.
He heard the clock tickle so clearly because the place was so quiet.
Tick tick tick..the clock read 2:09 am & 35 seconds to be approximate.
He looked at the alarm clock and picked up the torch.
He wasn't sure where the kitchen as he paid no attention after that tragic exchange.
He picked the torch and slowly came down the stairs. He was feeling really dizzy.
He slowly threw the light across the whole house. There he found a lounge with a scratched sofa.
A broken vase.
An aquarium with no fishes.
Dusty mats.
None functional electrical appliances & a TV not fit for use.
He saw that the walls had great portraits and animal heads attached to show dominance.
Milo picked up the water from the fridge and started drinking quickly.
He drank quite half of the bottle and then placed it back.
He started heading back towards the room upstairs until the portrait near the stairs got his attention.
As he was about to take the first step upwards, he heard the glass of the portrait cracking as if hit by a stone.
Milo came back to look what he happened.
He placed his torch on the portrait and couldn't move an inch. He got completely frozen.
The portrait had the same man.
Same figure.
Same attire.
Same looks.
Fletcher Fleetwood (1800-1845)
Milo couldn't believe what he saw.
The portrait moves a little bit.
He took a step or two back with shivering foot.
Suddenly a hand came behind him.
He felt his life flash before his eyes.
He knew the entity standing behind him would kill him with bare hands.
He tried to look behind but he didn't had the nerves to do so.
"What are you doing here at this hour Milo?" Mr Belton said with a slow tone.
"Oh dad. It's you." Milo said with relief and turned around.
"Who else were you expecting at this hour?" Belton said with a suspicious look.
"Ahm I thought it would be Mino." Milo said with a slight smile and tried to rush up before his dad interrupted him.
"Are you okay son? I felt that you were really off today." Belton said trying to comfort his son.
"Nah dad. It's nothing. I was just feeling a bit....dizzy." Milo said with a smile again.
"Alright son. Go upstairs and sleep." Belton said heading towards the kitchen.
"Okay dad. You also sleep on time or I am gonna tell mom you eat sweets at this hour." Milo said with a laugh and disappeared.
"Aah silly children. Can't let a grown man love in peace." Belton said going towards the closet.
While Belton was eating his bunch of sweets, he saw a shadow figure at the kitchen window.
He didn't pay much attention but he got shook a bit about what he saw.
He enjoyed the little chewing session and went back to sleep.
Milo didn't sleep that night. The thought of the entity meeting him that day made him awake all night.
He slept at around 5am when he felt dawn drop on his greenish eyes.
He and his family had no idea who would invite them for dinner that night.