Dad ended up ordering pizza since James had retreated to his room and I refused to leave the house unless it involved my cold dead body being carted away on a stretcher. We were all giving each other the cold shoulder right now, but I knew that the ice would eventually crack. 

Instead of sitting at the dinner table, which the furniture store still hadn't shipped, we all grab our respective pizza slices on paper plates and retreat to our own corners of the house without so much as a grunt passing between us.

I kept thinking of what Asa had said about eight neighbours moving out of the house within a few years, and I could see what he meant as I walked around the house to get a feel of the place. Ghosts of the previous owners had been left behind in furniture hidden under white sheets. There was an entire room with what looked like a large pool table and motionless deer heads mounted on the walls.

I pause to stare into the room at the taxidermied animals as they gaze back at me with black-glazed eyes like marbles, and take a bite of my pizza. "Sick bastard," I mumble, wondering what kind of freak liked to display their kills on the wall. The previous owner had everything from deer, to raccoons, and worst of all, an owl left behind under a tattered blanket.

Stomach in knots at the sight, I abandon my pizza on the pool table and go over to the dusty creatures lined up on the floor, gingerly picking up the blanket before I tug it off.

For a brief moment, it felt like I was in a nightmare. The dark room, the wind making the tree branches tap against the window, and the lifeless owl positioned in mid-flight on a fake tree branch, dust covering it in a layer of gray.

I stare at it until something slams violently against the window and scream in terror until a familiar figure pokes his head into view and bobs back and forth.

It was that stupid owl again, but this time, he wasn't alone. A small gray fuzzball dangles from its mouth. This guy had brought me a flipping mouse this time around.

I run to the window and throw it open as fast as I can. "Hey! Get the heck out of here with that crap!" I snarl, and the owl goes scrambling backward with a screech and tumbles off the edge of the roof, the mouse tumbling out of its beak and into the air.

Oh, shit.

For a second, I wonder if I killed the thing until it pops its head back up over the edge of the roof and bounces back over, though cautiously this time around. Was that possible? For an owl to be wary? Frowning, I watch the strange bird gently pick up the dead mouse and come over to the window before dropping it right in front of me, which was gross as hell, and weird.

"Why are you here, birdbrain?" I ask the weird owl, and then I reach down and pick up the mouse by its tail, dangling it away from me. "I don't want you covering my house in dead carcasses, man. People are going to start thinking we're witches or cursed or something. Annabel? The Conjuring? You ever heard of those movies? This is what this shit feels like."

The owl stares at me somewhat in astonishment, its big black eyes round and unblinking.

"Why don't you bring me something good next time?" I ask him, mostly joking because owls couldn't understand humans or their petty desires for expensive shit. "A necklace from somewhere nice. I like gold chains, but nothing too big. You got it, buddy?" I tell the owl, and he bobs his head in a circle, his wings flapping before he takes off, into the night sky. "You got this!" I shout after him, "Make me proud!"

As soon as he's gone, I chuck the dead rodent down the side of the roof and close the window with a bang. A second later, I toss the blanket over the dead owl on the floor and leave the room, exhausted from the day's events. 

I knew tomorrow would be an even crazier day of unpacking once the movers brought the rest of our stuff, so I stay up playing on my phone for only an hour or two and scroll through my friend's posts to see what they were up to back home.

Brady Bishop, the guy who was going to take my place as quarterback had gone to a party a few days ago with the rest of the football team, which pissed me off until I see that my ex-girlfriend had hooked up with some blonde with pretty eyes and straight teeth. 

I quickly exit the page and fiddle around a little more until I end up on a dating app with a bunch of cute guys available in the area that I could meet up with if I wanted. Half of them were too old for me and the rest were just pictures of ripped abs without actual faces, but I stay on that page for a while, just staring, trying to picture myself with random guys and how that would work.

"Enjoys baked goods, and seafood and is willing to travel for love."

"If you enjoy death, then I do, too, my darling."

"I am a man looking for a sugar daddy who can take care of me for the rest of my life."

Um. Ew.

I flip to another profile and that's when a familiar, heart-shaped face comes into view. His hair is loose around his shoulders and he's smiling the smallest smile. 

"My name is Asa Moon, I'm looking for a boy who can also be my best friend. I recently lost the love of my life two years ago, so I--"

There's a banging against the window and I bolt upright in bed, my phone clattering against the hardwood floor. "Shit!" I hiss, and I throw back the sheets and stand up. "What the fuck?"

"Micha!" Dad calls from outside the door, "What was that banging noise?"

I go to the window and look out in time to see a small figure fly away, then look down and catch sight of something glinting on the windowsill. A gold chain, with the price tag still attached to it.

"Nothing!" I shout back at my dad, "A tree branch just hit the window! I'm good!"