by Kevin Ryan
When lightning lit up the immediate area, Liz saw a tennis court and what looked like a large pool. There was also a fountain that must have been the center of a large garden, which was now overgrown.
Liz was sure no one had lived here in a long time. That should have made her feel better, because it meant they would likely not be disturbed. But the decay made the place only creepier. That, plus the memory of her vision, made Liz want to be just about anywhere else.
Sensing some of what she was feeling, Max took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Wow," Kyle said. "Someone lived pretty large."
It was true. Liz had been too caught up in the creepi-ness of the place to consider the unbelievable wealth it must have represented in its day.
"Yeah, but why build this out here in the middle of nowhere?" Isabel asked.
"Must have been built by someone who owned a logging company," Max said.
"I guess there's a lot of money in trees," Kyle said.
"What this place must have been like when it was full of people…," Isabel said, looking outside with interest.
"I think it was probably still spooky," Liz said.
"Seriously. What is up with Dracula’s castle?" Kyle said. "I think somebody saw too many horror movies."
"And I think I saw this one," Michael added. "It's the one where it's the old groundskeeper in a mask, and Shaggy and Scooby… "
"Just stop!" Maria said. "This isn't a joke, you know. The Special Unit is still out there looking for us, and God knows what's in there." She took a deep breath and glared
at Michael. "Besides," she continued, "everyone knows that the first one to go is the guy who makes bad jokes and tries to get everyone scared."
"Maybe," Michael replied, "and everyone knows that the next to go is the nasty girl who yells all the time."
Maria was silent after that, but she continued to glare at Michael.
"We should park in the garage and wait it out in the house. In the morning, Kyle can take a look at the van and we'll get out of here," Max said. He pulled up to one of the four triple-sized garage doors and jumped out again to open it. When they pulled in, the van's headlights lit up the cavernous interior of the garage.
It really was huge, except for some boxes and what looked like various tools, tires, and other things Liz couldn't identify along the back wall. Max quickly pulled the van around so that it was pointing toward the door. Liz knew he was doing it in case they had to get away in a hurry.
"Come on, let's get you guys inside," Liz said. Max was soaked, and so were Michael and Kyle. Liz opened her door and hopped out. It felt good to stretch her legs. Checking her watch, she saw that it was almost midnight. As if this wasn't creepy enough, she thought as they headed down a covered path that led from the garage to the rear of the house.
6
Michael made sure that he and Max were in front of the others. He half expected Maria to complain on principle, but she kept quiet.
She must be scared, Michael thought.
"You know, we can handle anything that might be in there or that shows up. They can't be tougher than the aliens in Stonewall," he said.
"Okay, your powers work on humans and aliens. But what if they don't work on ghosts?" she said petulantly.
"Max and I have a plan for that," Michael replied.
"Yeah?" she said.
"Sure, we're going to scream like women and run away," he said.
That earned Michael a sudden whack in the shoulder from Maria, but he could see a momentary smile on her lips. Well, if he accomplished nothing else tonight, he had made her smile for one second.
The covered walk ended in front of a large wooden door that looked like some sort of servants' entrance.
Michael put his hand on the knob.
"Why do you go first?" Max said.
"I took a vote," Michael replied, and pushed on the door. He wasn't surprised when it was locked.
Max gestured to the deadbolt lock and said, "You want me to get that?"
Michael thought about it and said, "Then we'll go in together?"
Max shrugged and took a position next to Michael. Then he put his hand over the lock. There was a click inside, and Michael turned the doorknob and pushed. The door opened easily at first but came to a stop about six inches in. Michael pushed and felt a springy resistance back there. Max tried to look through the opening, but it was too dark to see anything inside.
"What is it?" Liz asked.
"I don't know. Something's back there," Michael said. Then he turned to Max. "Ready?"
"Quietly, okay?" Max said.
Michael nodded and, together, they started pushing on the door with their shoulders. For a moment the door pushed back, and then there was a tearing sound and Michael shot forward.
"Look at this," Max said, pointing to plastic sheeting on the door frame.
"Someone sealed this place up tight," Michael said.
By then the others had stepped inside and were looking with them. "Why do that? They didn't bother to do anything on the outside."
Michael tried to look into the room. It was so dark that he couldn't even see the opposite wall. He could, however,
see a big, commercial-looking stove on the wall next to him. "Looks like we're in the kitchen," he said. "Next time we explore a creepy old house at midnight, would somebody please remember to bring a flashlight?"
"We could just try the lights," Kyle suggested. There was a click and suddenly the room lit up.
"Well, the good news is, we have power," Michael said.
"That doesn't make sense. No one has been here in years. The place was locked up tight and abandoned. There shouldn't be power," Max said.
"Maybe someone's still here," Maria said.
"I don't think so," Michael said. "If someone was around, there would have been lights on when we arrived. And they would have heard us and come to investigate." Still, Michael listened carefully and didn't hear any sounds in the house. He was sure they were alone. It didn't make much sense, but he was sure it was true.
"You guys should check the place out before we go anywhere," Maria said.
"Okay," Michael said. Then he turned to Max and said, "Maxwell?"
"You can't leave us!" Maria said.
"Hard to check the place out, then," Michael replied.
"Why don't we all go together," Liz said.
"Right," Maria said. "That's very important. We shouldn't split up. In the movies that's when things start to go wrong. People split up and they start disappearing."
"Sounds good to me," Michael said under his breath.
"I heard that," Maria said. "Remember what I said before: The smart-ass jokester is always the first to go."
"Guys. Just keep it down and let's get going," Liz said.
They started making their way through the kitchen, and Michael was amazed at the size of it. There were two large commercial stoves, much bigger than the one at the Crash-down. There were also rows of cabinets and a large metal door that he recognized as a walk-in freezer. Somebody had really lived pretty well in this house. You could jit Hank's whole trailer in a corner of the kitchen, Michael thought, shaking his head. Somehow, he couldn't believe the trailer that had been his home for more time than he cared to remember and this house existed in the same universe. When Michael had left Hank and the Chisholm Trailer Park for good to get his own apartment, he swore he would never live in a mobile home again. And here 1 am living in a van, he realized. Though he recognized that living with his friends in the van was the first taste of real freedom he had ever known. He had chosen the van, and that was the difference. They were on the run, but Michael felt more in control than he had since waking in the desert after getting out of his pod. "Wonder what's in the fridge?" he said, walking over to the door to the walk-in.
He opened the door and saw that not only was the freezer on, but it was stocked from floor to ceiling with meat and boxes of who knew what else. "Someone's been here, and recently,
" he said.
"Maybe they had all the lights on and that's what we saw from the road," Kyle said.
"Well, it would explain the light we saw, but then… where did they go?" Michael asked.
Looking inside, Michael saw that there was enough food there to last his friends weeks, maybe longer. If no one was here now, someone was expecting some company… a lot of company.
7
Okay, I'm getting just a little bit freaked out here," Maria said, looking into the freezer.
"No kidding," Isabel said. She was getting impatient with Maria and her outbursts.
"Excuse me, but it's midnight. We're in the liber-creepy haunted house from hell. It's sealed up like a tomb… irony intended… and no one's been here for years except that the meat fairy filled up the fridge recently. Oh, and I left out the fact that, according to Madame Sees-the-Future over there, I'm scheduled to get chased down these stairs by the bogeyman."
"Actually, I think it was more in the front of the house," Liz said, smiling and pointing the other way down the hall.
"You think this is funny?" Maria said, her voice rising even higher in pitch. Then she smiled in spite of herself.
Liz clearly had patience for Maria. For that matter, so did Michael… a seemingly endless supply, on this trip.
Better them than me, Isabel thought.
"Look, there's no reason to panic. I'm. sure there's a logical explanation for everything," Liz said.
"Why?" Isabel said, more sharply than she had intended.
For a second, Liz didn't respond; then she said, "Well… there usually is."
Isabel just shook her head.
It's getting late.
Where did that thought come from? Isabel wondered.
"What?" Max said to her. She realized she must have spoken it out loud.
"I said it's getting late," Isabel said, more testily than she had intended.
Max just nodded and said, "Right, we should settle in for the night."
Maria started to protest, but Max waved her off, "After we've searched the house to make sure it's empty."
"If you think I'm going upstairs…," Maria said.
"Then you can stay by yourself down here," Isabel said.
Maria just glared at her.
Michael stepped up to Maria and put an arm around her shoulder. "Stay close to me and you'll be fine."
That seemed to satisfy her, and she was… thankfully… quiet.
"What if we find someone?" Liz asked.
"Then we'll tell them our car broke down and politely ask if we can stay the night," Max said.
"We'd better leave out the part about being alien human hybrids on the run from a ruthless secret organization within the federal government," Michael said.
Max nodded and gave a small smile. "Probably a good idea."
"What if the place isn't empty, but there's nothing alive here?" Maria said.
"What?" Isabel said.
"You know, ghosts," Maria said.
"Come on, there's no such thing," Liz said.
"How can you be sure?" Isabel found herself asking, surprised for a moment that she was on Maria's side of the discussion.
For a second, Liz was unsure, then she said, "Well, you can't see them. And there's no proof… "
"You grew up in Roswell believing the same things about aliens, until you started dating one, right?" Isabel said, immediately regretting her harsh tone.
"I guess we can keep an open mind," Liz said, giving her a strange look.
I don't need to keep an open mind, Isabel thought. I used to talk to a ghost all the time. Not so much lately, though. In fact, the last time we talked, he complained, "You newer call, you never write."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure that any ghosts we meet will be wisecracking but friendly and join our little troupe," Michael said. "Now, can we get on with this?"
"Yes, let's," Isabel said, pushing her way past the others and stepping into the hallway that led to the rest of the house.
"Hold on," Max said, but Isabel continued down the hallway. Max didn't catch up to Isabel until she was standing in the next room.
He stepped inside and started to say something to Isabel but he was too startled by his surroundings to finish the sentence. He was in the largest dining room he had
ever seen. There was a long table in the center. Max quickly counted ten chairs on each side, plus one on each end. Someone behind him hit a switch, and the chandelier over the table came to life, filling the room with a soft, yellow light. With the light on, Max could make out more detail. The walls were a rich, dark wood and had candle-holders mounted every few feet.
He couldn't get over the scale of the room. You could fit the entire Crashdown in here and have room to spare, he thought.
"Remind me to go into the lumber business," Kyle said.
Unlike the outside of the house, the inside was in good shape. In fact, it had been impeccably maintained. And there was something wrong with that fact, Max realized.
"There's no dust," Liz said, speaking his next thought out loud.
"That's right… if no one's used this house in years, there should be dust covering everything, even with the Saran Wrap over all the windows and doors," Maria said.
Just then, there was a bright flash outside that illuminated the three large windows on one side of the room. The loud thunderclap followed a split second later.
"Ahhhh!" Maria screamed.
"Oh, please," Isabel said.
Max saw that Isabel had been annoyed with Maria ever since they'd arrived at the house. The girls had never been great friends, but they had reached some sort of detente shortly after Maria had learned their secret. Now, Isabel seemed to have a very short fuse with Maria. True, Isabel had not been herself since they left Roswell and she left
Jesse, but she had mostly been quiet and withdrawn. This was something else.
Maybe this is a good sign, Max thought. Maybe she's coming back to herself.
It was possible, Max knew, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something else, something new, was bothering her. He made a mental note to ask her about it when and if they were ever alone. Even then, he doubted it would work. Isabel rarely opened up to him anymore.
Liz calmed Maria down with a hand on her shoulder, and Max noted that the plastic covering the windows made the outside world look distorted, as if he were looking at it through a fog. It gave him a claustrophobic feeling, even though he was standing in such a large room. It also made it more difficult to see what was happening outside. Well, he hoped they would leave early enough that that wouldn't be much of an issue. With any luck, they would be gone long before anyone showed up.
"Maria, it's okay. There's nothing to worry about," Liz said.
"Really," Maria challenged, "then what about the dust? You said it yourself, where did it all go?"
"Yes, because no human being could have dusted a place like this," Michael said.
"Look outside," Maria said defiantly. "No one's been here in years."
Max saw that it was time to put a stop to all this. He raised his hands to shush them both. "Look, clearly someone has been here. They turned on the power, cleaned the place up, and left some food. That's it. No one's here now but us… and we'll search to confirm that," he added before
Maria could protest. "The important thing is to stay calm and not be at one another's throats," he said, giving both Maria and Isabel serious looks.
"Nice to see you taking charge, Max, but as you've said yourself, you are not the leader here," Isabel said. Then, before he could respond, she turned and started heading for the next room.
It was a library and sitting room. Books lined the walls almost to the twenty-foot ceiling. There were also antique sofas and chairs, as well as low tables. The furniture was clearly old, but all in good condition. The bookshelves were intricately carved dark wood. In the center of one wall was also a large fireplace that was big enough for four of them to stand up inside it.
Liz immed
iately started scanning the books on the shelves. Even Isabel and Michael were doing it.
"I wouldn't mind staying here for a few days," Liz said. "Exploring would be fun."
"And you haven't seen the mad scientist's lab in the basement yet," Michael said with a grin.
Maria was shaking her head. "It's like I'm taking crazy pills. Have any of you been paying attention?"
"Come on," Max said. He wouldn't have minded staying here for a while, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure the rest of the house was clear. He was sure Maria was just nervous, but a quick search might relax her.
Next, they found an office with a giant desk and some more bookcases.
"Look at this," Liz said, pointing to a plaque on the wall.
Max walked over and saw that it was a newspaper article
mounted on a piece of hardwood. The piece was from the front of the Washington State Times. The headline read, "Benton Lumber Celebrates Thirty Years." It was dated November 3, 1937.
From his position by the desk, Kyle said, "I found some newspapers."
Max went over to where Kyle had laid out half a dozen yellowed copies of the Washington State Times. Several of them carried front-page stories about Benton Lumber.
"Looks like business was pretty good," Kyle said.
"What's been going on here since then?" Liz said.
"I'm guessing that the owner holed up here, getting more and more eccentric, or more paranoid, until he died and started haunting the place," Michael said.
Maria just glared at him.
"Come on," Max said, and they continued. Their next stop was a large, open room.
"It's a ballroom," Liz said.
It was a large space, as big as a wedding reception hall, and very elegant, with chandeliers hanging throughout the room.
"Jackpot," Kyle said, heading for the far end of the floor.
"What is it?" Max asked as he and the others followed.
Kyle reached the bar first and vaulted over it. When he turned to face his friends, he was smiling. "This haunted house comes with an open bar," he said, producing a bottle from under the counter. "Looks like a party."