Chapter 1
There were three things I knew for certain about my life.
One: the mansion was haunted.
Two: my family was insane.
And three: nobody was allowed to touch my cereal.
The third rule was the most important.
“Y/N.” Jeff called.
I froze halfway down the staircase.
Slowly, I looked toward the kitchen.
Jeff was standing there.
He was holding my cereal.
My cereal.
The box I’d specifically written my name on.
In permanent marker.
Twice.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Put it down.”
Jeff looked at the box.
Then at me.
Then back at the box.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“That’s my cereal.”
“Was.”
“Jeff.”
“Y/N.”
“Put. It. Down.”
He took another handful.
I gasped.
“You absolute—”
“Children.”
The voice came from behind me.
I jumped. A bit.
I turned.
Slenderman stood at the bottom of the staircase, watching us. And although he has no face, I could tell he was annoyed by us.
I pointed at Jeff.
“Tell him.”
Jeff pointed at me.
“She’s being dramatic.”
“He’s eating my cereal.”
Slendy slowly lowered the newspaper.
“Jeff.”
Jeff sighed.
“Fine.”
He put the cereal box down.
I immediately grabbed it and hugged it to my chest.
“Thank you.”
Jeff rolled his eyes.
“Greedy.”
“You literally have your own.”
“Yours tastes better.”
“Because mine isn’t expired.”
He glared at me.
I glared back.
From somewhere upstairs came a loud crash. Neither of us moved.
Another crash.
Then someone yelled.
“WHO PUT GLITTER IN THE BATHROOM?!”
Jeff sighed.
“Not my problem.”
“You live here.”
“Exactly.”
He walked away.
I followed.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“Not to the bathroom.”
“Why?”
A pause.
“...Because there is glitter in there.”
Fair enough.
This was normal.
At least, it was normal for me.
I’d grown up in the mansion for as long as I could remember.
The strange corridors.
The creaking floors.
The locked rooms.
The people who occasionally disappeared into shadows and returned like nothing had happened.
It was home.
And despite how weird it sounded, I loved it.
I didn’t know much about my life before the mansion.
Actually, I knew almost nothing.
I had no memories of my parents.
No photographs.
No stories.
Whenever I asked Slendy about them, he’d change the subject.
Sometimes I’d ask Jeff.
He’d just say,
“You’re stuck with us now.”
And honestly?
That was enough.
I had Jeff. I had the others. I had the mansion. I had my room. I had my books. I had cereal that was apparently impossible to keep safe. I didn’t need anything else.
At least, that’s what I thought.
Then I heard another crash, and Jeff walked in my room, looking like something had exploded, his face covered in dust and the end of his hair singed.
"Ben's fault!" He told me, with his too loud voice.
Another crash. "No, it's not!" Ben's voice was drowned by another crash.
I ran downstairs because, well, if Sally was down there, she could be hurt and EJ was nowhere in sight, so I can't rely on him to cover everybody's wounds.
I ran to Sally's room and-
'oh, shit she's not here" I muttered, running down the stairs shoving every one of my ways.
When I got down, I breathed a sighed of relieve when I saw Clockwork Tugged Sally from the 'explosive' room.
I knelt down in front of her; she was covered with dust and soot.
"Clockwork, what the hell happened in there?" I asked as I wiped dust, soot, and filth from Sally's face with my handkerchief.
"Sender dropped her bomb!" coughed Clockwork, as I handed her another handkerchief.
