The Birth of Bane Read Online Free

arms.
    Chagrined, I
followed everyone else up the stairs and walked onto the grounds
proper.
    To this day, I
will never forget my first impression of the front yard. It
reminded me of something straight out of Lord of the Rings . It
could’ve been the Plains of
Rohan , it was so overgrown and
wild looking. Where the lawn should’ve been grew a two-foot high
morass of untended grass and weeds, probably more weeds than grass.
Above that sprouted great tangles of Birds-of-Paradise, looking as
though they hadn’t been cut back in more than a decade. And that
was only on my right hand side. To my left, it was even worse.
Great knots of trees and bushes loomed, held fast by an invasive
Ivy plant, growing everywhere. Nowhere was this more in evidence
than upon the towering magnolia. The ivy clung to every square inch
of its’ trunk and nearly every branch, up to the highest reaches of
the massive tree. I had never seen anything like it. It was like
being in the Amazon.
    Of course,
covering all else, was the broad-leafed elm. Like the Great Mother
herself, she blanketed all, screened the front yard from prying
eyes beyond.
    “ Tell me, Jess, why is the house really priced so low? And
be honest,” she said quickly, a stern. “Remember, I’ve always known
when you were lying…” Her brows arched.
    Jeez, what had
gone on between these two? Did I really want to know? Maybe Jessie had been as slick and sly
back in the day as he appeared now. Had he been a player?
    He breathed
loudly, glancing upward into the colossal underbelly of the
elm.
    “ Jessie,”
implored my mother, using the same tone she’d use on one of us when
we weren’t acting with our best behavior.
    He shifted his
weight to stand on one foot, one hand on his hips, the other
gesturing toward the domicile before us. “Someone died in the
house, ok?”
    “ What?!?” exclaimed my
mom.
    “ Oh god, that’s
creepy,” muttered Valerie, peering at the house with haunted
eyes.
    I felt my face
wrinkle with distaste, all thoughts of Myra and her luscious body
banished forthwith.
    Jessie raised
both hands in supplication. “It wasn’t a murder, or anything
nefarious for that matter.”
    “ Jesus, Jess,
does it really matter?”
    My mother’s
friend stood erect once again. “Well, yeah. I think it does. She
was a nice old lady. The house had been built for her by her
husband way back in 1909. She lived in it her entire life and when
she got old, she silently passed away in her rocking chair in the
sunroom, overlooking the northern side of the property. It was all
very pleasant and neat. No big fuss.”
    “ Mom, I want to
go,” stated Valerie, her face drained of color.
    “ Yeah, mommy,
let’s go,” urged Eli, tugging at her hand.
    “ If it’s as
‘neat’ as you say, then how come no one’s bought the house in over
three years?” inquired my mother. I could see her ire was on the
rise. Jessie having brought her out to look at a potential home for
them with a checkered past wasn’t sitting well with her. My mother
wasn’t an overly religious or superstitious person, but hey,
everyone has their limits, right?
    “ Well,” began
the realtor, “the last owners used it as a rental home and a series
of bad tenants left the house in sorry shape. When they put it up
for sale, there weren’t any takers. All this time, the house has
sat here, for sale, getting all the more dilapidated, while the
asking price continued to plummet.” He stopped, scratching at his
neck in contemplation. “It’s one of those Catch 22 things. It’s
really a beautiful home. It’s just been on a continuous downward
spiral for the few years...” He trailed off, looking away from us.
His eyes darted about the front of the house. “It really has a lot
of potential.” He was speaking more to himself, then to us. “If I’d
have known about it earlier, I would’ve bought myself. I would’ve
made a good chunk of change when I flipped it too.” He
sighed.
    He sounded
genuine,