“She’s mine.” He was so close now, the fine veins in his bloodshot eyes and individual hairs in his beard showed. “Challenge me, eh? Just remember, I drew first blood.” He raised the axe.
“NO!” Tim shot up in bed, his heart racing hard in his chest, looking around the room.
When a warm hand touched his arm, he jumped.
“It’s okay, Tim. It was just a dream.” Carly sat up and put her arm around him.
He was still shaking, the face that he’d first seen in the photo with Brad was etched in his brain. His finger throbbed like a son of a bitch and he looked down at it. A droplet of blood had seeped through the band aid circling his finger.
First blood?
Chapter 17
Brad
Day Five
Brad turned down the lane leading to the house. It was almost noon and he was late getting there. The car business had taken longer than expected and the beer store was crammed with people stocking up for the long holiday weekend. His fingers thrummed on the steering wheel as he wheeled the new car in beside the rental, moving van.
He noticed Tony’s jeep, and Carly’s rust box Ford beside a blue Malibu parked close to the garage. The Malibu must be Tim’s friend Steve from work. He’d met him a couple of times and liked him right away.
“Hey slacker. Got the new wheels, I see.” Tim yelled at him, but only his head and hand could be seen next to the mattress he was helping unload from the van.
“Yeah. Pretty sweet, huh?” He stopped and watched Tim manhandle the mattress, almost losing his footing walking backward down the ramp. “I’ll get the coolers and load ‘em up with beer. First things first, Bro.”
He turned and went back to the car to begin the bar set up. With all the free help, the least they could do was supply the booze and food. With any luck, they’d be done by five and start the bonfire.
Carly appeared next to him and smiled. “I’m not much help with the heavy stuff. Why don’t you let me handle this?”
“Be my guest.” Sure she could figure it out; her day job was working in a bar, after all. He grinned and handed her the car keys. “I was thinking of setting the coolers on the end of the veranda. We can build the bonfire next to the lake and set up there. You might want to drive the car closer, to save your back, lugging stuff.”
She grinned and took the keys, scampering over to the car. Carly was actually pretty nice and unlike Tim’s other girlfriends, she had some common sense. She wasn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty and working as hard as the rest of them. Just don’t put a mouse anywhere near her. Yeah, he liked her.
He wandered over to the van and stepped onto the metal ramp. Tony, their friend from university was lifting an upholstered leather chair from the pile of furniture. His T shirt was stretched tight over a wide chest and the muscles of his arms bulged from his efforts. Brad had seen this many times before at the gym, where they often partnered with the weights.
“Hey Tony! Let me help you with that.” He stepped forward and grabbed the side of the chair.
“Brad! Nice place, you guys got here. I’m going to be visiting you a lot with my kayak.” He nodded to the other side of the chair and then squatted to pick up his end.
“Thanks. Yeah, anytime you want. Did Liz come with you today?” It was a silly question. When the couple weren’t at work, they were usually inseparable.
“She’s inside, helping get the kitchen and bedrooms set up. She likes organizing stuff. She’ll probably write up a list and post it on the fridge for you. She’s got my underwear and socks colour coded, I swear.”
“We really appreciate you guys helping out like this, man.” Brad smiled and stepped backward, the chair firmly in his grasp.
“Any excuse for a party works for me.” He pivoted his head taking in their surroundings. “Hell, we may never leave, it’s so nice out here.” Tony laughed and they continued the rest of the way up to the veranda and into the house.
Tim and Steve were just coming down the stairs, the sweat dripping off their foreheads and soaking their T shirts.
Brad and Tony manoeuvred the chair into the parlour. “Yeah, we’ll have to get a ton more of furniture to fill this place up. There’s an antique place not far from here that’s overstocked and pretty reasonable. We want to maintain a sort of old school, antique kind of atmosphere as much as we can.”
Tony stopped in his tracks as they crossed into the parlour. “Whoa! Do you feel that?” Tony looked across at him, the whites showing around his chocolate brown eyes.
“What? I don’t feel nothing but aching muscles.” He jerked his head to the far wall. “Over there, I think.”
Tony set the chair down and rubbed his hands over his bare arms. “You didn’t get a chill? Seriously, when I stepped into the room, it felt like a freezer. I don’t mind cooling off but that was a too intense for my liking.”
Brad smiled and clapped his friend on the back. “When we first saw the place with the realtor, we noticed it too. Maybe I’m immune to it now. The place is supposed to be haunted, right?”
Tony’s smile fell from his lips and his forehead furrowed. “Wait a minute.” He tilted his head. “I thought that was a scam. But maybe not, huh?” He hurried from the room and out the door.
When Brad followed him into the truck, Tony turned and looked at the floor for a moment. His eyes were serious when he looked up. “You sure you guys know what you’re doing? The place is nice but, Dude, that totally weirded me out.”
Brad decided to ignore the clench in his gut. “That, my friend is what we’ll get the big bucks for. Weird is our bread and butter.”
Tony picked up a cardboard box and handed it to him. “Well, all I can say is I’m glad it’s daytime and I don’t have to spend the night here. I grew up with haunted houses, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
Tony grabbed another box. “My grandparents’ house was creepy and when they died they left the place to my folks and we moved in. Man, it never stopped. Things would go missing, lights turning on by themselves and that awful feeling that someone was watching you all the time.”
Brad laughed. “Where is it? Maybe we’ll buy it and set up a franchise of haunted houses across the country.” He turned and trudged down the ramp.
“Hey dude, it wasn’t funny. It was weird.”
Carly walked across the veranda just as he reached the door. “The bar’s set. I’m going to look for branches and wood for the bonfire. I’ve been dying to wander along that stream since I saw it.”
“Knock yourself out. It’s going to take us at least another hour to empty the van.” Brad brushed by her and into the house. He took the box into the kitchen and set it on the counter.
Liz’s blonde head popped up from where she squatted next to a cabinet. “Hey Brad. Whaddaya’ got there?”
“Dishes.” He smiled and extended a hand to help her to her feet. Her arm was lean and muscled from all the time at the gym with Tony. “Thanks for helping like this.”
“Are you kidding? I can’t wait to tell everyone at work I was in a real haunted house. They’ll be so jealous!” She laughed and flipped the lid of the box off. “Seriously, I’d like to be your first customer!”
Brad’s eyebrows bounced high. “You’ll have to do it alone then. Tony’s too much of a wuss to stay. The place has already freaked him out. And there’s no way we’d charge you to stay. You know that, right?”
She plucked the bubble wrap from the top of the box and began taking the plates out. “Honestly, I’m going to really talk the place up for you. I’d love to arrange a party with the girls at work. Maybe do a séance or something? I noticed the Ouija board in the library.” Her broad smile and glinting blue eyes underscored her excitement.
“That sounds cool.” He stared at her silently for a moment. The possibilities for making money with the house were limitless it seemed. If only Sophie could see it like that. Even if she wasn’t working that day, he doubted that she would have come out to
help with the move. She was still pretty nervous about them being in the house.
***
As expected it was just about five p.m. when the truck was unloaded and the house was more or less organized. Well, the beds were made and they’d rummage in the kitchen in the morning, figuring out Liz’s system of organization.
The day had been a scorcher and the lake was cool. Brad swam out about twenty feet from the dock, enjoying the coldness of the deeper water. Tim’s arms flashed high, swimming out to meet him. The others paddled close to the dock and yelled before jumping and canon-balling off the end of it.
“Hey! The move went pretty well, huh?” Tim treaded water and smiled looking over at him.
“Yeah. I can hardly believe we’re spending the night here.” He dipped down and took a mouthful of water, spraying it high in the air at his friend.
Tim ducked to the side and continued. “About that, Brad...”
“What? We’re not spending the night?” Tim was acting quiet and mysterious now. His neck muscles tightened. What was he up to? Maybe a raucous night with Carly and forewarning him about that?
“You know the cameras...” He looked away for a moment and then turned his eyes to him once more. “Things happen at night in the house.” From the set of his mouth, no smile, Tim was totally serious.
Goose bumps spread like lice under his skin. “What things?” He glanced over at Tony and back to Tim.
“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it.” His mouth clapped shut for a second. “The lights flicker on and off and doors open and then bang shut.” His eyes were wide, waiting for Brad to answer.
For a few seconds Brad couldn’t speak. His heart had picked up speed and he gulped air, trying to stay afloat. With narrow eyes, he pulled through the water to get closer to Tim. “You saw that on the memory card? You didn’t think maybe I needed to see that?” He splashed water into Tim’s face. “Last time I checked my name was on the deed too!”
Tim’s eyes were wide peering at him. “It’s not like that! We’re partners, okay?” His face fell. “But sometimes I feel like I might have talked you into this.”
He swam over and placed his hands on Tim’s shoulders, pushing him under the water.
When Tim arched away and came sputtering to the surface, there was fire in his eyes. “What was that for, asshole?”
“For not levelling with me, jerk! For thinking you’re smarter than me, that you could talk me into this crazy scheme.” He splashed him once more. “Honestly, I should hit you. You didn’t talk me into this. I’m not as stupid as you think I am, asshole.” He shook his head from side to side. “So it’s haunted! We kind of knew that, right? We’ll deal with it. But we have to be upfront and honest with each other. No secrets.”
Tim’s nodded. “Okay, no secrets.” A small smile twitched his lips and he chuckled. “You thought that the noise from my bedroom was bad, with the girlfriends?” He gave a short laugh. “It ain’t got nothin’ on what happens in this house!”
“No shit?” Brad wished he’d had a chance to see the video. “Just don’t try to climb into my bed if you’re scared, okay? Send Carly if you want, but you’re on your own, buddy.” He laughed and together they swam back to their friends.
Tim grabbed the side of the dock and pulled himself up.”Anyone who drinks too much and wants to spend the night, is welcome. You may have to sleep on the sofa but it’s better than driving drunk.”
“No way, man! You couldn’t pay me to sleep here. Scared straight? Try scared sober!” Tony shook his head and emptied the rest of his beer in the lake.
Liz looked over at Tim and Brad. “I wish we could. But, I’ll get a gang of my friends together and we’ll christen the place.”
A horn sounded and another car pulled into the driveway.
“That’ll be Sylvia and her friend. She couldn’t be here earlier but she’s dying to see the place. You don’t mind do you?” Steve got up and looked at them before heading away from the dock.
Tim looked over at Brad and waggled his eyebrows. “Hmm...A friend. This could be interesting Brad.”
Brad’s shoulders slumped and he grabbed the side of the dock. The only girl he’d be interested seeing there was Sophie. But she was too frightened of whatever was in this place to come. And there was something in this place. He definitely knew that now. He fingered the crucifix dangling around his neck.
Chapter 18
Tim
Tim towelled off and went up to the bonfire where Carly was standing. “You’re pretty quiet. Is something wrong?”
She threw another branch into the roaring flames and glanced at him. “It’s nothing...” She gave her head a small shake. “I don’t know.”
“What’s nothing? Tell me.”He pulled her close and planted a wet kiss on her cheek. The fire felt good after being in the lake.
She looked up at him and tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. “When I went to get wood for the fire, I thought I saw something funny by the stream.” She shrugged. “It was probably my imagination.”
“What do you mean funny? What was it?” He gazed into the flames, thinking of the white object he’d seen that first day in the copse of woods lining the brook. There had been something there. He was sure of it and now Carly had seen it too?
He glanced down at Carly. “If it’s any consolation, I saw something odd there the first day we came. I caught something white out of the corner of my eye and then it vanished.”
She pulled away and shook her head. “No. That wasn’t it. I thought I saw a man. For just a split second, then he just vanished. It made me nervous so I came back and grabbed wood closer to the shore.”
Tim shivered and his gut became a tight, empty gourd. “What did he look like? How old?”
She looked into his eyes.”Maybe fifty or so and he had this heavy, black beard.
Tim’s chest froze and the smile dropped from his lips. “Carly?” He sighed and edged in closer to her. “I think that might have been the resident ghost, Baxter. He and his family were the last people to live in this house....and die here. A grisly, murder suicide thing.”
Her head fell to the side and she looked up at him with narrow eyes. “Gee, after the first day, with the taps turned on by themselves, I had a pretty good idea that the place was haunted. And now, I just saw the actual ghost?”
“Yeah...maybe.” He held his breath waiting for her to answer. Would she be weirded out like Tony? He watched her face soften and a grin form on her lips.
“Cool!” She grinned and then turned to look into the flames. “So you may not need me to be the ghost?”
“Hey! I didn’t say that. Who knows if this ghost or whatever it is, will ever show when we have guests? We need to ensure that we put on a show. So, yeah, we’ll still need you.” It was hard to believe but, watching her by the fire, he felt his heart ache at the prospect of her not being there.
He shook his head, watching the fire. HIM of all people! Tim the Player Holland, falling for a waitress.
“You still have to pay me for the appearances...even though we’re sleeping together. I’m trying to get some money together to go to the east coast. I’ve never been and I want to be there by winter.” She nudged him with her shoulder and grinned. “I’m dying to see Newfoundland, you know.”
“Of course you’ll be paid, Carly! We already agreed on that, right?”
She nodded. “Just confirming.”
He sighed inwardly. Yeah, he’d help her get the money together so she can leave him.
Tony and Liz wandered over to the fire, leaning over and holding their hands out close to the blaze. From the look on Tony’s face he wasn’t too happy.
“Is that offer still open? To stay the night?” Liz’s eyes were bright, rubbing her hands together.
He looked at Tony, his lips a straight line. It was obvious that Liz was strong arming him on this. “Sure. Drink as much as you like and go home in the morning.”
“I’m perfec
tly fine driving home after we eat.” Tony cast a hard look over at her.
She sidled up to him, looping her arm through his and tugging him closer. “Please. It’ll be fun. I’ve never stayed in a haunted house. I can’t wait. I packed a sleeping bag just in case. It could be cool.”
“You’re nuts. Trust me, it’s not fun.” He stepped away, trying to slough away from her grasp.
“Wuss! Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” Her chin jutted out and she stood straight, openly daring him.
Tim’s eyes darted back and forth between them, aware that he was walking a tightrope whatever he said. Thankfully, Carly spoke up.
“I’m staying tonight, too. C’mon Tony. It’s not like you’ll be alone or anything. There’s plenty of room and we can have a big feast in the morning. It’s the long weekend. C’mon.” She grinned at him and her eyes flashed to Liz.
“I’m not sleeping in the parlour.” His voice was reluctant and low.
Liz’s eyes lit up and she quivered, she was so excited. “We’ll sleep in one of the bedrooms. Maybe the yellow one overlooking the lake. We could have a séance later!”
“No! I’m not staying if you do that.” Tony wandered off to the cooler of beer and grabbed a couple bottles. “If I’m staying, I might as well get some more liquid courage.”
It was odd. Tim felt relieved that they were going to stay the night. Who knew what would happen later, after seeing the memory card and what happened when no one was in the house?
He looked over at the veranda when Brad, carrying a platter of hamburger patties and buns appeared in the doorway. “Start the barbeque, Bro. We’re starving.”
Tim put his arm around Carly and pulled her close. The day was warm, the lake pristine and cool, with lots of beer, food and good friends—a perfect move-in party. He looked at the house, from the lazy veranda spread around the solid stone walls, the high rounded windows and the top two dormers, like eyes looking over the lake.
His new home and a ticket to a better life. Tonight would be their first night there, a trial run. Liz would be like most of their customers, anxious to be scared silly. He huffed a sigh and smiled. Are you up for that, Baxter, you demented prick?
The Haunted Inn (Haunted House Ghost Story): The Hauntings of Kingston Page 10