John and Ally’s jaws dropped. John finally spoke up. “Your house?”

“What is there an echo in here?” The old man asked sarcastically. “Yes, my house. In other words, I live here, genious.” He looks at Ally. “What do you see in that doofus any way?” He chuckles to himself.

Ally gives the man a surprized look. “What do you mean? John and I are friends.”

The old man let out a loud laugh. “What ever you say, youngin.” He said in his horse, yet gruff voice. “So back to my questions. Who are you and why are you here?”

“I’m John and this is Ally. We were just looking for a place to stay for a while. We seem to have mistaken this place for a…um…for an abandoned house.”

The old man looked at him. “It is abandoned…or at least, it was. All of this stuff was here when I found the place a few months ago, but I didn’t find anyone livin here, so I decided to call it home. And I see ya found the weak spot in the stairs.”