The words that I had spoken just three days earlier rang through my ears. I could see the whole thing, playing back in my mind.

“I’ll take it. how much?”

I had said.

“$460,000.”

“Alright. here you go.”

I remember saying as I handed him the check.

And then I remember the fearful look in his eyes as he ran backwards to his car. The thing that I remember best though was what I saw in the window that he appeared to be watching as he ran. How could I not remember it. For it was this very same creature that had been crouching over me just then.. That thought brought me back to the present moment.

“What do you... want from... me”

I gasped.

“Only for you to stop screaming and listen. I mean, honesty, I haven't heard screams like this since my mother woke up George Washington because his troops were under attack.”

It was a magnificent creature filled with startlingly frightening beauty. It had scales, the color of freshly cut grass. It looked kind-of like a … well, I actually can’t relate it to anything I’d ever seen before. It stood about eight and a half feet tall. It looked to have a bone structure like that of a … werewolf, I suppose. It had wings about six feet tall on either side of her back (And yes, I do believe it was female), with a wingspan of maybe thirteen feet, and a long-ish snout, with the black nose of a dog. It’s eyes were about as big as the pit of a large avocado, with about the same shape. They were the color of sand. it’s ears were pointed and faced back like a dog lays it’s ears back when it knows it’s done something wrong, and it spoke in an accent that was almost French, but not quite.

I was shocked to hear it speak in a language that I could understand. I decided not to respond for fear that it might start screaming again. after about two minutes it backed off and sat down on the sofa.

“Now”

It began.

“You just moved into this house. You didn’t know what it was that made the previous owner so scared of the house. Now you do. He had only been here for two hours before he realized that there was someone else here. As soon as he realized this he called out for me to show myself, and so I did. He instantly ran outside and called the former owner, the one before him, and tried to talk him into taking the house back. He refused. Because he was so scared he decided to sell the house. Now you live here. What I want to know is, are you going to stay?”

I hesitantly replied,

“I- I suppose.”

“Good.”

it replied.

“Do you have a name?”

I asked.

“A what?”

I was slightly surprised at this creature’s response. It looked so knowing, so knowledgeable. And yet here it was, Asking me what a name is.

“What are you called?”

I finally said.

“Oh... I... A name.”

It paused, as though it’s brain went into a working hibernation. After a couple minutes, It softly said,

“I don’t have a name.”

I was, once again, shocked by this creatures response.

“Well then,”

I began.

“What shall we call you?”

“... Jackie.”

she finally replied.

“Jackie it is then. So, what exactly are-”

“NO!”

She yelled.

“Alright, sorry. How long have you been here?”

I asked.

“... I was born where this house now stands. I left when I was three, went to France, stayed there for a couple hundred years. After that I traveled around and saw all the other civilizations that stood at the time. Then I came back here about three thousand years ago. Got tired of being here, so I went back to what is now Germany. Then when I came back here, to discover that this house had been built. Now it’s my home.”

I was curious by this point.

“So how old are you?”

I asked.

“... 4,256.”

"Oh wow. Forgive my saying so, but... Ur old."

I said. Once I had said this I instantly remember having done so, for I found myself pinned to a wall, almost five feet off the ground.

"I'm sorry."

I tried to apologize.

"You'd better be. Otherwise I'll..."

She stopped and dropped me, almost as though she had been hurt.

“You alright?”

I had to ask.

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just...”

She paused.

“I... well, my father, he...”

“Yes?”

I pushed...

"He was killed. I remember his murderer holding him against a wall like that."

With this I found I was rather shocked.

"Oh. I'm sorry I-"

"Please. Don't appologize. I just...”