by A. A. Vacco
"Oh yea, I remember that, somewhat," said Kat. "Weren't you asking about something we said that might have pissed the house off? Or whatever runs the show there?"
"Mhm," Elle shifted and turned to face Kat. "I think you threatened to take...oh god, you threatened to take a doll out of the house to freak me out!"
"Fucking wonderful," muttered Kat. "So there's a chance that all this is linked to these dolls being away from their eerie domain."
Alex filled his mug up with another pour of coffee. "Assuming all of these events are related, it puts us back to the mansion." He took a sip. "I mean, literally, we should go back and see if there's anything else in that place that sheds any light on what happened."
Rubbing her temples, Elle answered, "That sounds terrible."
"It totally does, especially since our entire theory sounds completely insane," agreed Kat. "But, I'm curious. Plus, we have these two," she nodded toward the dolls, “things to return. Doubt the house will attack if we bring 'em back, ya think?"
"I honestly don't know," said Elle, "Nothing that ever happens with that place follows a predictable pattern anymore. Hence why they closed it."
Alex paced back to Elle and Kat, mug in hand. "That's just it, though," he said, "The only connections we've ever made always link back to the house preserving itself. Anything that threatens that preservation suffers some form of ramification."
Too tired to argue, Elle just nodded and took another gulp of coffee. She glanced at the digital clock on the stove that read 4:45. Kat disappeared down the hall and returned with a duffle bag and her purse. "Where do you think you're going?” Elle asked her.
"Millerton. And so are you, so run home and throw some clothes in a bag. Oh, and tell Calvin you'll be MIA for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours."
Before Elle could use the "I have work" excuse, Kat cut her off by saying, "Monday is MLK day. Your office is closed. Nice try."
After a quick chat with Calvin and a mad collection of clothes shoved into her own tote, Elle loaded her stuff into the trunk of Kat's car, along with the two dolls. Alex took off, the women leaving only a few minutes later. Before they pulled out of the driveway, Kat shot Walt a quick text she knew he would read when he woke up: Going to Millerton with E & A; be home in a day or so. Txt if u need me.
She then flipped the phone off and stuffed it into her purse, threw the car in reverse, and drove south.
35
Cara spent a good part of her night watching reruns on her mother's television set in the living room. She fell asleep for a few hours, but woke up to Justin sitting on the other end of the couch. He pulled at the end of her blanket, but she sat up, repositioned him to lay next to her, and they drifted back to sleep for a short time. The back door leading from the garage opened with a click, and then closed, but Cara heard soft footsteps make their way into the family room. She sat up and replaced her arm with a pillow so Justin would stay asleep. Moving across the living room on her tiptoes she met Alex as he entered the dining room. They hugged and chatted about the past night. When Alex told her that Elle and Kat were on their way down too, Cara started rubbing her hands together and pacing across the room.
"W-why are they c-c-coming here, Alexander?" she whispered. She wrapped her pink bathrobe tighter around her shoulders and started rubbing her arms.
"Honey, we need to put this to rest, once and for all."
"This is crazy! And you three know it! It's some childhood witch hunt that somehow y-y-you've all held onto and dwelled on all this time." Alex tried to cut her off, but she interrupted him, saying, "And they aren't staying here! My m-m-mom is already putting herself out keeping us under her roof."
"Oh, c'mon, Cara, they can crash on the couch!"
"They can't! I've been using the couch, a-a-and, well, then there's the food situation, and the dishes-they'll use dishes, and--,"
"Cara, shhh! For god's sake," hushed Alex.
"No, no, I won't! They can't stay here. Mom's too nice to say no, and if I have to be the bad guy, I'll do it."
Alex shook his head. "You're draining me. How is this so much of a problem for you?"
"Yea, if it's this big of an issue, we can crash at the hotel in Uptown," said Elle, entering from the family room and appearing in the doorway of the dining room.
Kat peered over her shoulder, nodding. "We'll head there now. Alex, meet us for breakfast at the cafe at eight and we will go to the mansion afterwards."
Realizing Kat had no intention of including Cara, Elle added, "You're welcome to join us," and turned back to head to Kat's car.
After checking into Riverbend's only hotel and cleaning up a bit, they made their way back to Millerton. They went to the only breakfast cafe there. It popped up right before Elle and Kat left for college. They used it as their go-to meet up spot whenever they were back to visit. It was called Off the Cup, but being the only cafe in town, locals just referred to it as 'the cafe.' The two sat facing each other, wondering if Cara would allow Alex to join their caffeine session, let alone come with him. Five minutes after eight, Alex walked through the double glass doors, unaccompanied. He followed the faded blue carpeting toward their booth next to the giant picture window. Kat slid over on the cream-colored seat and patted the vacancy next to her. "Sit," she said.
Alex plopped into the empty space, caught the server that was passing and ordered a cup of coffee and a stack of pancakes. "Chocolate chip, please."
Elle and Kat stared at him. He looked at their furrowed brows and added, "With whipped cream on top."
Shaking her head and laughing, Elle said, "Can I get a bowl of oatmeal and a scrambled egg?"
"I'll have the Denver omelet, sausage links on the side," said Kat. She leaned back in the booth, rubbed her temples, and added, "And for god's sake, turn off this damn pop music. It's nauseating and frankly, I judge anyone who considers it to be music."
The server, who looked like he was barely sixteen, nodded and jogged back to the counter, flipped the radio station to classic rock, and added their order to the kitchen's ticket rack. He returned with more coffee, sounding winded from the unexpected activity. Once the food arrived, the trio ate in silence, accepting multiple refills on the coffee from their nervous server.
Halfway through her third cup of coffee, Elle raised her eyes to see Cara walking through the glass doors. She was dressed in a bright red pea-coat, yellow pumps, black tights, and wore her thick, dark hair piled on top of her head. She kept a brisk pace as she blew past the server stand. She only stopped once she arrived at their booth. Glancing up and over his shoulder, Alex smiled at her and offered, "Pancake?"
Cara shook her head. "I just came to see if you were actually going through with this, this bone-headed idea!"
"What, breakfast? Why it hardly seems irrational given the time--,"
"Not that!” she hissed, "You know gosh darn well what I'm referring to!"
Kat and Elle stared at her, then Elle said, "Gotta pee," and stood up, with Kat following suit.
"Sit, both of you!” Cara snapped.
Elle sat, but Kat remained standing on the seat of the booth. She leaned her back against the window, arms crossed over her chest. She couldn't get out of the booth without Alex moving, and she doubted that would happen.
"This ends today! All of it. I don't want you three getting killed!"
"You don't get to call the shots on this one. Sorry, Cara, it's out of your hands," said Kat.
"Maybe regarding you two," Cara nodded at Elle and Kat, "but I wanted you to at least hear to my concerns."
"Kinda hard not to," whispered Kat under her breath.
Elle suppressed a smirk, stood, and stepped out from the booth. "Message received. I'm going to use the restroom."
Kat sat on the table, swung her legs to the other side, and walked the length of the worn booth, following Elle’s exit path. "Ditto," she said, making the additional effort to nudge Cara aside with her shoulder.
Once they left, Cara sat in Elle�
��s former spot, facing Alex. She drew in a deep breath. She apologized for the outburst and pleaded him to come home after breakfast. With a mouthful of chocolate chip pancakes and whipped cream smeared on his cheek, Alex explained it wouldn't take long. By the time Elle and Kat returned, both his pancakes and wife were gone. Alex signed the bill, stood up, and asked, "Shall we?"
***
Pinecrest Park, IL
The marshmallow dome engulfed over a third of the parking lot. It held up in all weather, which is what RJ banked on when he invited Cal to the indoor driving range with him that afternoon. The Bubble, as locals referred to it, was the only indoor facility where golfers enjoyed the benefits of the driving range without the harsh conditions of the Midwest winters. The Bubble had two levels to hit from, and just over four hundred yards of AstroTurf with flags, bunkers, and slopes. A bucket of balls was a fair price without additional bells and whistles. Just a bag of clubs, a basket of golf balls, and an artificial fairway, RJ smiled.
“Hey man, over here!” Cal waved as RJ made the transition out of the frigid air and into a heated lobby.
Removing the instantly fogged glasses from his face, RJ nodded and made his way over. Cal finished paying at the counter and took two “Giant Sized” green baskets from the clerk. He passed one to RJ and said, “The dispenser’s inside the range. Load ‘er up and let ‘em fly!”
The forest green Range Servant clamored and shook with each “Giant Sized” load dispensed. Cal ran down the few stray balls that managed to bounce away. They toted their gear to the second floor and turned right. RJ took the furthest box, and Cal, the one left of that. After a few practice swings, some obligatory over-head stretches with the initial club in play, and a couple of curse words following the practice shots, the guys found their rhythm. Cal stifled a chuckle every now and again. Despite RJ’s best efforts, he was an above-average golfer. His hits were clean and his aim was consistent. His stance, swing, and follow-through, however, looked like the disjointed combination of a low-seated squat and upper body pendulum interrupted by a hiccup mid-swing. Not a fluid motion, not even a synchronized movement between his torso and legs, but somehow, he made it work to his advantage.
“I like your weekends when you fly solo. Gives me an excuse to improve my golf game," RJ glanced over his shoulder at Cal with a grin.
Cal chuckled. “Well, an excuse to waste a day on golf, at least.”
“Where’d your other half go again?” RJ asked.
“Millerton. Something with Alex and the kids. Kat went with her, which usually lends itself to a good story once they return.”
RJ launched another ball with his driver toward the red flag. “Walt join them?”
Cal readjusted his stance and took aim at the same flag. “I doubt he knows they even left. Besides, Elle mentioned something about a mansion they used to work at as kids. Doubt Walt would have any interest, even if he was included.”
“Mansion? I thought they grew up in a small, one-horse town.”
“More of a museum...haunted and shit.”
“I’ve heard Elle mention it a time or two. Aren’t they all haunted?”
“This one is known to be haunted. That’s the attraction, or, it was. Place got shut down in the late eighties courtesy of Kat and Elle. The activity of the place became dangerous and Kat got pretty beat up from it.”
Pausing to turn and look at Cal, RJ leaned against his driver and cocked his head to the side. “You do realize how insane this sounds, don’t you?”
Cal laughed and shrugged, “Yes, well, be that as it may, the place exists, was open for a period of time, and isn’t anymore. And the Hardy Boys are convinced Genie’s passing is linked to it somehow.” He sent another ball sailing right of the target, and cursed under his breath.
RJ shook his head and turned back to his tee. “I have a feeling we
are going to have to discuss this further over lunch when we are done here.”
“Not much else to discuss. Elle never mentioned much more about the place. She said that the building housed a collection of dolls from the 1800’s on, and while some people came for that reason, the majority came because the mansion was alive.”
RJ scoffed. “Alive? Seriously, Cal?”
With a smirk, Cal replied, “I’m starting to see why she never said anything about it to ya.”
They changed up their clubs and continued to launch the golf balls onto the range. Finally, RJ asked, “So you gonna leave me hanging or what?”
Studying the angle of his pitching wedge before taking another swing, Cal shrugged again and said, “Well the stuff in the house moved. On its own, of course, which is what made it a tad unique. The dolls’ heads would turn, their eyes would blink, doors would open and close at their leisure, but it was all predictable. So as bizarre as the phenomena was, people didn’t fear it because they expected it.”
“Small towners, man," RJ shook his head.
“Right? That shit would creep me out. But not these people. Until it stopped becoming predictable, that is. Then, for a reason Elle has yet to either determine or divulge, the movements of the building became threatening. That’s when Kat got beat up, they stopped working there, and the place shut down altogether.”
“Still sounds absolutely crazy. And if this was that big of an ordeal, how come no one else outside of this little town has heard of it? Hell, if it weren’t for you, I’d never have known! Something this strange should’ve made headlines!”
Cal collected his now empty basket and nodded in the direction of the stairs to refill it for another round. “You’d think. I don’t have an answer for that either. Maybe it sounded too far-fetched for any news source to capitalize on it, so they left it to the local press.”
RJ tossed him his empty basket as well. “I’ll grab us drinks and meet ya back in 5.”
Cal nodded and headed toward the Range Servant. RJ, still trying to piece together the Millerton story, settled on asking Elle once she returned. For all he knew, Cal was messing with him. But, he smiled, it does make for one hell of a story.
***
Millerton, IL
They piled into Alex’s squad car and drove off. As they coasted down the familiar path and approached the fork that led to either the Marionette Mansion or the Valor property, Kat suggested veering right. Alex shrugged. The Valor house was still unoccupied. The narrow drive ducked down a slope and into a wooded spot.
Emerging from the car, the three trekked up the paved drive toward The Valor's front door. "Looks the same," murmured Elle, glancing around the front porch.
Alex alerted them to a crawl-space entrance on the side of the house that afforded them access to the entire under workings of the home. Climbing, then stooping down, they fumbled through the dark space for several moments. Finally, they came to an area with a lone step ladder. Alex climbed up and pressed on the ceiling, finding a loose panel that let them in the house. With this, he shook his head. “Small town folks are so trusting," he said with a laugh, and climbed into a large closet inside the Valor home.
He helped Elle and Kat through, too. They walked out of the closet and into the kitchen. Surveying the area, Elle smiled and echoed, “Exactly the same.”
It was; everything appeared as it did the few times Elle and Kat visited as teenagers.
“What exactly are we looking for?” asked Alex.
Elle shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, but I’m guessing that the Valors did a lot of work covering up the events that took place back in 1983. If I’m correct, they’ll likely have it stored somewhere in the home.”