by K. F. Breene
“That was probably just the wind,” Braiden said. “Right, DJ? All this spirit stuff is stupid. It isn’t real.”
DJ, standing next to Cliff, stiffened. “Yeah,” he said, though his quivering voice wasn’t selling it. “Yeah. Stupid. I never seen anything like that at my house—”
“Saw,” Scarlet muttered.
DJ’s chest puffed out slightly. “It was probably the wind, yeah. The weather was weird when we came in. The clouds was scattering in a hurry.”
“Does fear negate grammar all of a sudden— Ow! Stop pinching me, Ella!” Scarlet twisted away from me again.
“Exactly,” Braiden said. “Right, Dirk? You’ve never seen anything out of the ordinary in your house, either.”
Dirk’s lips pressed together, holding back his comment.
Braiden motioned for us to follow him before starting off with a straight back and squared shoulders. He didn’t once look back to see if anyone was heeding him, like I would’ve done. But they did—hesitantly at first, then in a frightened flock.
“Ella, here.” Scarlet grabbed me and yanked me closer, positioning me in front of her. Odis was directly behind us and the popular crowd was trailing after. “If one of those big lugs comes tearing through here, he’ll have to get through Odis before he knocks us down.”
“Hey,” Odis said from behind.
I had to hand it to Scarlet: she was good in a messed-up survival situation. I still couldn’t believe she’d gotten the crew of jocks and cheerleaders to listen to her.
“Ella, what do you think?” Braiden asked in a loud, clear voice.
“I think you shouldn’t speak so loudly.” I realized that he was trying to make sure everyone knew I was a co-leader, but under the circumstances, that was not the most important consideration.
The hallway curved around, opening up as it did so. The ceiling and walls gave us some breathing room until we entered a larger area with more windows. “Should we try to break one of these?” I asked quietly.
Braiden studied one of the windows for a moment before shaking his head. “That’s the one DJ opened.”
It wasn’t open anymore.
“I have a bad feeling,” Braiden whispered, “that if these windows turn out like the others, this crew won’t shrug off their fear for much longer. Unless you think things have changed…”
An otherworldly presence pulsed all around us, draping the walls and slithering across the floor.
“No, nothing has changed,” I answered.
Scarlet groaned from behind me.
“What?” Odis said.
“Don’t ask,” she answered. “Trust me, do not ask.”
“Don’t ask about what?”
“What it means when Ella’s voice sounds like that.”
“Like what?”
“I literally said, two seconds ago, not to ask.” Scarlet scoffed. “I thought you were supposed to be one of the smart ones on this journey.”
Braiden glanced back, shifting his flashlight as he did so, and I could barely make out the grin on his face. It didn’t stay long. As his eyes took in the house around us, all evidence of good humor fled.
“Scarlet,” I said, motioning for her to walk beside me. Her beam danced across the floor in front of us. “You did a research paper on this house once, right?”
“I started to, but my mother made me stop when the librarian told her I was looking into ‘morbid and unseemly affairs.’ Her words.”
“Because you were researching a house?” Braiden asked.
“This place isn’t just a house.” I saw a stairwell up ahead. “It is the pinnacle of all things evil in this town, whether you believe the stories or not. Its presence is like a black cloud following you around, saturating your mood. Everyone feels it; they just try to ignore it. Don’t talk about it—don’t even think about it—and it’s like they think it will stop existing. It’s crazy.”
“Ah. Ignorance is bliss.” Braiden shined his light on the bottom of the stairwell. The beam slid upward a ways before moving on. “I wouldn’t believe half of this stuff if I weren’t here witnessing it.”
“And you’ve only been in Larkin for a few days. Wait until you’re here a couple years. The way people talk around the weird things that happen will bend your mind.” A double doorway to the left opened up into a room beyond. I tugged on Braiden’s shirt to slow him.
“Except for on Halloween,” Scarlet whispered, hunching beside me, her light trained through the open doorway. “If you read between the lines in the jokes and ghost stories people tell, you can get a better picture of what they’re usually trying to keep under wraps.”
“If so many people are having the same problem, I don’t get why everyone tries so hard to pretend it isn’t real. Or just leave.” Braiden shook his head. “What’s up, do you want to go that way?”
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip in indecision, checking in with my inner paranormal compass.
“Some people can’t leave, because of the cost of moving,” Scarlet said. “We aren’t a wealthy town. Most people are just scraping by.” She paused, and I nearly commented on the pull I knew we’d all felt earlier. The unexplainable draw of this place. But before I could, she continued. “But believing in it is going against the grain. Even with picture evidence, people shrug it off. If you’ve been taught about heaven and hell all your life, your belief system doesn’t support spirits lingering in the world of the living. The odds are stacked against a bunch of grown adults having a lively discussion about hauntings if there’s even one naysayer in the group. And there are a great many naysayers in any place, including this one.”
“What are we doing?” one of the girls asked from the rear.
“Make a decision, Ella,” Braiden urged.
The flashlight beam plunged into the gloom beyond the doorway, swallowed by the blackness. An eerie sort of feeling came over me, like the room wanted us to get closer so it could suck us into its depths.
“Let’s keep go—”
Before I could finish, a gasp sucked the words back into my mouth. A shape zipped through the light. Someone screamed. Braiden jerked backward, his hands coming up to his chest, a defensive move.
“Did you see that?” a guy shouted.
“What?”
“What’s happening?”
“See what?”
“Go, Ella.” Braiden grabbed me by the arm and pulled me forward. “Keep moving. Keep them moving.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“What did you see?” I asked, panic squeezing my chest.
“A shape. Same as you. We need to keep everyone moving. If they feel like they’re actively doing something—” Braiden staggered to the right.
A feeling of vertigo swept over me. I slowed and put out my hands, one of them hitting Scarlet. She clutched on, standing stock-still.
“Did you feel that?” I asked her.
“What?”
It was hard to hear her over the babbling behind us.
A door to the side drifted open, silent on well-greased hinges. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes widened. A moment later, a dim light flared off to the side, an old-timey gas lamp resting on a dresser that sat below a window.
Someone gasped. Heads swiveled. Some of the others had likely missed the opening of the door and were now searching for the source of the extra light.
“There,” someone shouted. “There’s a door.”
Before I could protest, Cliff knocked people aside and broke for the door.
“Where’s he going?” a girl screeched.
“Cliff, wait!” DJ yelled.
He didn’t.
“Who lit that lamp?” Maria pointed, her face as white as her shirt.
“How could there still be oil in that lamp?” Scarlet asked quietly.
Cliff barreled through the door, swallowed by shadow.
“Do we go after him?” I asked Braiden, poised on the balls of my feet. Goosebumps coated my arms, and I knew, without a doubt, that
following Cliff was the very last thing we should do.
A flame ignited on a candle, held with four others in an ornate candelabrum stationed on a small table next to the door that had originally caught my attention. The one through which I’d seen movement.
Another candle flared to life, lit by itself.
“Look!” Buffy pointed.
A third candle blazed, followed by the other two.
“What’s happening?” a girl screamed.
“Those candles just lit themselves,” DJ shouted. A curse word was drowned out by wailing.
“Do we follow him?” I asked Braiden again, trying to stay steady despite the group’s rising panic. But the fear had locked me up, freezing my limbs, and my teeth started to chatter. There was no bed to hide in, no curtains to shut. I had no escape this time.
“Is that an exit?” one of the guys stuttered. It sounded like Carl.
“No,” Scarlet said, her voice quivering. “It can’t be. Not in that direction. That’s likely a solarium or something.”
“A what?” Carl edged that direction, his eyes wide and confused.
“A sol—a room that gets lots of sun, likely in the middle of a cluster of rooms so the natural light can help people see.”
“Th-those ju-just…those just…” Odis was holding out a shaking finger. “Those just…”
“Those just lit themselves, yes. Now who thinks Ella has been lying all these years?” Scarlet audibly swallowed. “I will say, light is very helpful. Of all the scary things that could happen, this is by far the least frightening.”
Braiden’s fingers wrapped around my upper arm. “Ella, let’s keep moving.”
“What about Cliff?” I licked my lips.
“I’ll get him.” Dirk, amazingly calm in comparison to everyone else, moved around the huddle of terrified spectators. He even mumbled, “Excuse me,” and ducked his head past the beams of light zipping around the room.
Soft music reached my ears, bleeding through the walls. String instruments, with no bass or drum accompaniment. Footsteps sounded overhead, light and agile.
One of the flashlight beams swung up to the ceiling. “Did you hear that?” Buffy said, her voice choked.
“He’s not in there,” Dirk announced, reappearing in the threshold of the door. “Scarlet was right—this isn’t an exit. It’s…like…” He looked upward. “It’s a big open space. It goes three floors up. It must be glass at the top, because I can see the sky but can’t feel any breeze or anything.”
“A solarium,” Scarlet said, just barely on this side of patient.
“If it’s not an exit, then where did he go?” the unknown girl asked, clutching her earlobe for some reason.
Dirk disappeared for a moment as Braiden put his hand on my shoulder. We heard doors open and close. “There are other doors…they are all unlocked. I bet he went through the open one…these rooms are all furnished. Like…completely furnished. And…they all have—”
His voice cut off and I instinctively held my breath. Braiden’s fingers tightened on my shoulder.
“Ella,” Braiden whispered.
Dirk walked through the open door before turning, taking the handle, and shutting the door firmly behind him. “Cliff took off,” he said in a monotone.
“That’s it?” Buffy asked, and though she sounded angry, tears were threatening to overflow.
Someone giggled.
“Really? You think this is funny?” Buffy turned on Maria, who was standing next to her.
“Ella,” Braiden said insistently.
“That wasn’t me! That must’ve been Clarissa.” Maria jerked her head toward the pretty girl next to her, still holding her earlobe.
“Ella!” Braiden’s circle of light was directed at the base of the doorway in which we’d seen the shape. The beam crawled up the side of the door before shifting to the interior of the room and covering the floor. At the very edge of the glow, hardly noticeable, was a black half-moon, disrupting the arc of the beam.
It took a moment for my eyes to make sense of it, and then they slid over just a bit farther, landing on a pair of legs. Small legs, covered in strange stockings.
No…those weren’t stockings. The effect was caused by the translucence of someone no longer living.
“Take your light away,” I whispered furiously. “Don’t let the others see. They’ll flip and probably scatter deeper into the house.”
“I didn’t laugh,” Clarissa said, clutching the fabric of her sweater over her chest.
Braiden’s light swung the other way, the wrong way, in time for Scarlet to suck in a loud breath. Her eyes widened, staring at the little girl from the porch, who had a tight grin spread across her pixie face. That smile wasn’t sweet and innocent.
It was predatory.
“Keep it to yourself.” I clutched Scarlet’s arm, tight bands of panic wrapping around my chest.
“Is Cliff gone, then?” Braiden asked, amazingly blasé.
The little girl moved her head slowly, surveying everyone in the corridor. Her grin spread a little wider, showing teeth.
“Yeah,” Dirk said without emotion. “He went through another door.”
“All right, let’s keep going.” Braiden grabbed my hand, and for the first time, his hand was shaking as badly as mine.
“Aren’t we going to go after him?” Leo asked.
“He’s the one that ran off,” Buffy said, wiping her nose. “Leave him.”
“That’s what he deserves.” Maria looked at her hurt hand.
“As soon as we get out, we’ll send someone back for him.” Braiden took up a fast pace. “This house is massive and he isn’t making rational decisions. It’ll either be a wild goose chase, or he’ll find his way out while we’re all wandering around inside looking for him.”
“Take a lesson, everyone,” Scarlet said over her shoulder. “Stay close. Don’t be Cliff.”
“The li-lights came on by themselves,” Odis said.
The hall came to a closed door. Braiden took a deep breath before opening it. A small room, almost like a nook, awaited us on the other side. Trays filled with half-empty glasses littered a circular table. Gas lamps flickered along the side walls.
The music from string instruments was much louder here, emanating from the swinging door on the other side of the space.
“We are absolutely, one hundred percent sure this house isn’t in use, right?” Scarlet asked, crowded in behind me.
“It is definitely in use,” Braiden said, staring at the other door before looking back the way we’d come.
“I mean…by living people.” Scarlet picked up one of the glasses on the tray and swirled the contents. “This looks fresh.”
“Don’t touch it.” Odis ran forward and swatted at her hand. The glass tumbled free, falling end over end until it shattered against the floor. Red splashed out, spraying our shoes.
“Dang it, Odis,” she said, backing up to avoid the liquid.
“What was that?”
“What happened?”
Those behind Odis shoved him forward so they could see.
“Should we find a different way around…” Braiden paused as a long note hung in the air before the music faded. Talking and laughter filled in the space. “Or maybe we should just hunker down and wait for them to use up their energy?”
“The thing is, we have no idea how long that might take.” My whisper was barely heard over the demands of those gathered behind us and the clamor of the ghosts. “This house has been abandoned for years. If it’s been dormant, it could have a whole store of energy at its disposal.”
“Except it hasn’t been dormant.” Scarlet looked over the other glasses without touching. “It’s lured kids back here, hasn’t it? It must’ve been active in those instances. Or else where did all of the kids go?”
“How can we be sure the kids actually came back here, though?” Braiden asked. “Has anyone else ever followed the Old Woman?”
“That’s a good point. T
here is no actual proof.” Scarlet gave him a flat stare. “The ghost of the woman who owned this house walks through the town, and kids go missing afterward. For all we know, she takes them to New Orleans for a good time, and they have so much fun, they don’t want to come back. It’s certainly possible. We have no way of knowing.”
“All right fine, point made.” Another melody started, drawing Braiden’s attention. “The question remains—go through, or go around?”
“Go around.” I made a circle in the air for Scarlet to turn. “Let’s try to avoid anything…odd as much as we can. Watch out for that creepy little girl. Give her a wide berth if you see her.”
“Like I’d drift in close and try to shake her hand,” Scarlet muttered. “Just so you know, that’s probably the ballroom. Clearly there’s some sort of spectral ball going on. Beside that would be a formal dining room, probably large. Behind that…maybe a sitting room or something. The sitting room would have windows. I’m not sure about a door, but it would definitely have windows.”
We pushed the others back through the door, ignoring their demands to keep going. Through the press of anxious bodies, I couldn’t see the periphery of the group. I wondered if that little girl was still watching, and if so, what she intended.
“This way,” I murmured to Braiden, sliding by Maria and scooting past Clarissa. There was only one path we had yet to try beside the stairs. I had a feeling it wouldn’t take us to a sitting room as fast as the other way might’ve, but the less active areas of the house were likely less dangerous. With the amount of energy surging throughout the house, there was no telling what they might throw at us.
“What’s the problem?” DJ crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly, which did nothing to detract from his paleness. “Why are you turning back?”
“Scarlet?” I said, walking softly to the far door, the one we had not yet explored.
“Forcing them to use logic is exhausting,” Scarlet whined, her back bowing.
“You’re really good at it, though,” Odis mumbled, stuck to her side like a Velcro suit. For once, she wasn’t pushing him away. “Your explanations are too smart and dry for anyone to get mad at you.”