Scary House

by Sean Thomas Fisher

  “Thank you.” It’s all I can say and it’ll never be enough.

  He clears his throat and hedges before speaking again. “Do you have money for a ticket?”

  I nearly smile and then make sure the safety is off on my gun for the umpteenth time.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Catching Out

  Sunday, October 30th, Back Then

  Detective Olson studied the group through suspicious eyes, thick arms stretching the London Fog trench coat holding in his heat. He was the third cop to question them and the first to smell something fishy. Glancing at Teddy’s flashlight and flask resting on the hood of a police car parked in the dark backyard, he flattened his lips. “So…you never went inside the house?”

  They shook their heads again, red and blue pulses of light splashing across their blank expressions. Olson tipped his chin down as two men emerged from the machine shed, each one manning the end of a stretcher on wheels with a long, black bag lying across the top.

  “Who broke the lamp in the house?” he asked again.

  “How should we know? We never went inside,” Gavin repeated, sticking to his guns.

  The detective puckered his lips. “It looks like a fresh break, or else there would be a layer of dust coating the broken edges.”

  “It was probably Hank,” Boone said, shivering in the wind.

  Sweeping a hand over his crewcut, Olson released a visible stream of breath. “Gentlemen, I have a deceased individual on my hands here. A successful real estate agent who, for no apparent reason at all, just suddenly snapped and murdered his wife and two little girls before someone cut his head off with an axe. Now, I want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Do we understand each other?”

  Boone cleared his throat. “We didn’t go into the house, sir.”

  “But you were thinking about it, weren’t ya?”

  They dropped their heads in feigned shame and kicked at the weedy gravel, mumbling yes at the same time.

  “What’s that? I can’t hear you.”

  “Yes!”

  “We told you, we were just trying to find a haunted house for Halloween that didn’t cost a fortune with two-hour lines,” Gavin told him, which was partially true.

  “You take anything from inside the shed?”

  They shook their heads no in the flashing lights.

  “Did you remove anything from inside the house?”

  “No, sir.”

  “You break that truck window in the shed?”

  “No,” they answered as one.

  “What’d ya do? Shoot it out with a BB gun?”

  Teddy spoke with a surprisingly calm voice. “It must’ve been Hank, the poor guy was out of his mind with that axe.”

  “So you said.” Olson cocked his head to the side. “You got any weapons on ya?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Maybe I should search all of you just to be safe.”

  Nonchalantly, Gavin straightened his coat to ensure the wooden stake stayed hidden. He’d wiped the realtor’s blood off it in the weeds the best he could but it was still there. He could smell it.

  Detective Olson looked at him. “You see there? Soon as I say something about searching ya, you start shifting your coat around.” His eyebrows went up. “You hiding something in there, son?”

  “No.”

  “What is it? A BB gun?”

  “No, sir,” he replied, the weight of the ash stake suddenly pulling on his coat like it was made of gold.

  “Knives? Fireworks? The evil weed?”

  “Nothing.”

  He jerked his chin at him. “Open the coat,” he said, making Gavin’s heart flutter like a bird trapped in a cage.

  Scotty stepped in front of Gavin. “Don’t you need our parents’ permission to search us? We’re minors.”

  Olson’s eyes thinned. “Don’t get smart with me, kid.”

  “I at least want a female-cop to search me,” Scotty replied, challenging the detective with a pointed stare of his own.

  Olson pulled his trench coat back and rested a hand on a hip, revealing a silver badge and black sidearm clipped to his belt. Glancing at the shed where an officer was busy roping the place off with yellow tape, a tired sigh puffed his cheeks out. “I don’t need this crap tonight. Okay? Last thing we need around here is some vigilante a-hole thinking he’s Superman. That’s our job!” Adjusting the gun riding his hip, his eyes shot to Teddy. “What’d you say you were you doing here again? Looking for some copper to strip before catching out?”

  Teddy swallowed hard. “No sir, just lookin for a place to get out of the cold for a bit.”

  The detective stepped closer, staring up into Teddy’s big eyes, a sweet-smelling cologne floating on the breeze. “I catch you around here again and I’ll find a place for you to get out of the cold, but it won’t be for a bit.” His eyebrows went up. “You got me?”

  “Yes, sir. I understand.”

  Sweeping a notepad up off the hood of the cop car, he pointed a pen at them. “And if I find out any of you gave me fake names and numbers, I’ll find a place for all of you.” He pulled a card from a shirt pocket while the two men slid the stretcher into the back of a black coroner van. “You see this Hank guy again, or think of anything else, call me straight away. Okay?”

  Gavin took the card and Scotty jumped when the van doors slammed shut at the same time. The two men hopped in and drove away while a fit man wearing a black leather coat and silver badge hanging from his neck came over and whispered something in Olson’s ear. Olson nodded along with the man’s barely moving lips, keeping his eyes fixed on Teddy and the boys. “All right, thanks Sanderson.”

  Detective Sanderson slapped him on the back and went back into the outbuilding.

  Olson exhaled another tired breath, pausing long enough to store their faces into some type of mental rolodex. “Find a new hobby and don’t let me catch any of you around here again, and that goes double for you,” he said, pointing the pen at Teddy. “Now, take your stuff and go.”

  Teddy grabbed his flashlight and flask from the car before hurrying for the tree line to retrieve his pack. Gavin followed, letting the sweet comfort of the shadows slip over him as the trees took them into their bony arms. Entering the field on the other side, Teddy pulled his ballcap off and mopped his brow, blowing out a long breath that tickled his mustache. “Shoot, that was a close one.”

  “What do we do now?” Scotty asked.

  “Now, we go home and call Pincher,” Gavin replied, watching his uneven steps in the dark. “Make sure he’s okay.”

  “What if he’s not?”

  Boone looked at Scotty. “Then we end him.”

  “Boone,” Gavin groaned, stumbling over a short cornstalk. “Quit being so melodramatic.”

  “Me?”

  On the other side of the field, Boone’s Camaro RS sat parked on the gravel road just where they left it. Free of visitors – dead or alive. Sliding a key into the driver’s door, Boone popped the lock up. “Mom is going to kill us; we have to hurry.”

  A dinosaur roar punctured the calm night. Scotty flipped the cover open on his Jurassic Park watch and frowned. “Crap, it’s my mom!”

  “Don’t answer it,” Gavin said, biting his lip.

  “I have to! I’m super late.” He met their resolute stares one at a time, finger hovering over the Answer button on the side of the watch. Exhaling, he closed the cover. “I am going to be in so much trouble.”

  Gavin shook his head at him. “I wish you could call out on that thing so we could try Pincher.”

  “We’ll just have to call him when we get home because I can’t go anywhere else tonight. It’s way too late.”

  Gavin opened the passenger side door and turned back around. “What about you, Teddy? What’re you going to do?”

  Teddy smiled, his missing front tooth a black hole next to the Chiclet-sized ones around it. His gaze gravitated back toward the house, which was completely out of view from the road now.
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine.”

  The others exchanged somber glances without speaking. Crickets sang out from the ditches while a lone owl issued a warning from a treetop off in the distance.

  Scotty cocked his head to one side. “But aren’t you scared to be by yourself tonight? After all of that?”

  Teddy tried to stop a shamefaced smile from sliding down his gristly cheeks but it was too heavy to lift. “Scared?” he chuckled nervously. “Naw, I ain’t scared.”

  Boone gave him a quick wave over the roof of the car. “Well, thanks for, you know, saving our butts back there and everything. That was super cool.”

  “My pleasure, son.” He looked to the others and spoke in a soft voice. “I hope y’all find whatever it is you’re lookin for out there, and don’t go lettin no one tell ya you can’t because you can do anything you set your mind to. I can see you got the glow in your eyes.” He tipped the flask back and frowned, pulling it away to find it empty. Shrugging, he slipped it back in his coat and hiked up his backpack.

  They stared at him with empty expressions, holding his heavy gaze and not knowing what to say next. A swirling breeze picked up some dry leaves and sent them spiraling down the roadway, a mini version of the tornado of emotions twisting Gavin’s insides into knots.

  “Be careful now, okay fellas?” Teddy smiled tightly, his words whisking away on the wind.

  Boone nodded and climbed into the car, making it dip. Scotty pushed past Gavin and ran over, bear hugging the gray-haired traveler with all his might.

  “Oh brother,” Teddy wheezed, patting Scotty on the back. “Here we go again.”

  Pulling his face from Teddy’s stomach, he looked up. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “You should come with us.” Gavin stepped closer. “You can stay at our place.”

  Boone’s jaw fell into his lap. “What!”

  Teddy struggled to free himself from Scotty’s warm embrace. “Oh no, I’ll be fine, partner. But thank you for thinkin of me. You’re a good kid. Y’all are.”

  Scotty dug in tighter, making Teddy’s eyes bulge. “Come on, Teddy. Come live with Gavin. His mom makes awesome cupcakes.”

  Teddy laughed, squirming in Scotty’s arms. “You bring me home to your house and your parents will have me arrested faster than moss grows on a turtle’s back!”

  Boone started the car and revved the engine, sending exhaust chugging out the back. “Come on, Gavin, let’s go!”

  Gavin stood firmly planted outside the open passenger door and folded his arms across his chest, glaring defiantly at Teddy. “I’m not going anywhere until you get in the car.”

  “Are you insane?” Boone leaned over the console. “He can’t come home with us! Mom will call the cops.”

  “He has nowhere to go, Boone, and he just saved our lives!” Gavin’s chest swelled beneath his coat. “I have a funny feeling we should stick together until we check on Pinch.” Swallowing hard, his eyes drifted out over the field, retracing their darkened steps. “Like maybe this isn’t over yet.”

  Teddy swallowed thickly. “You know something, you sure are some scary boys.”

  “It’s over already!” Boone yelled out the door. “Now get in!”

  Teddy finally pried Scotty off him. “Thank you, Gavin. It’s much appreciated; it really is, but I’m sure your parents got their hands full already.”

  “It’s just his mom,” Scotty blurted. “His dad ran off with another woman two years ago and they haven’t seen him since but they have Sega and an air mattress you can sleep on in the dining room.” Scotty inhaled a deep breath. “When we explain what happened, Cindy will be totally cool.”

  “No, she won’t, Scotty,” Boone angrily replied. “Now, get in the car before we end up grounded for the rest of our lives!”

  “Thanks for the offer, men, but I’ll be fine,” Teddy said, flashing them a tightlipped smile. “Always am.”

  Scotty glanced over his shoulder to intercept Boone’s twisted scowl, the country silence as thick as the woods on the other side of the Camaro. Turning back to Teddy, Scotty drew in a ragged breath and threw his hands out. “They have a wet bar in the dining room!”

  Teddy’s bushy eyebrows shot into the middle of his forehead, lips pulling down at the corners. “Slide on over, boys, Uncle Teddy’s comin home!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Creamy Peach Roses

  Removing his ballcap, Teddy licked his fingers and smoothed his hair under the hallway lights, shifting from one boot to the other. “You sure about this, fellas?” he whispered, slapping the hat back on and straightening his coat. “This suddenly seems like a very bad idea.”

  Boone snorted. “Suddenly?”

  Gavin came back up with the keys he just dropped and unlocked the apartment door. “Relax, our mom is super cool,” he whispered, quietly turning the knob and creeping inside. A coat rack stood in the corner with different colored jackets hanging from its branches like autumn-colored leaves. He startled, catching their reflection in an oval mirror hanging above a sofa table as they filed inside. They were a motley looking crew, grimy and smelly from the day’s trying events. In the brighter light, Teddy especially looked like a deranged fugitive and bringing a strange man into their home with their single, and pretty, mother now seemed like the single dumbest idea in the world. Obviously, after what happened at the Campbell house, Gavin was suffering from PTSD and not thinking clearly. Turning, he pushed Teddy and Boone toward the hallway for a further discussion on the matter.

  “Where’ve you been?” Cindy called out from the kitchen around the corner, her heels rapidly clicking closer. “I was about to call the…” The words died on her lips when she rounded the corner and saw Teddy standing behind Gavin and Boone, his height accentuated by their youth.

  Removing his hat, he smiled weakly, wringing the sun faded cap in both hands. “Evenin, ma’am.”

  The color fled her rosy cheeks, running down a silky red blouse she must’ve worn to lunch with her friends at Chi-Chi’s earlier this afternoon. “Oh, my God,” she gasped, clapping a hand over her chest. “All of my jewels are in a safe in the master bedroom; just don’t hurt us.”

  “Mom, try to stay calm.” Gavin held a palm out to defuse her panic. “His name is Teddy and he just saved our lives.”

  Boone stuck a finger in the air. “And just for the record, I was against this whole thing,” he added, giving Teddy a weak shrug. “Sorry.”

  Cindy backpedaled, mouth gaping as widely as her blue eyes. “Okay, I-uh-just have to-uh-turn off the oven in the-uh-bathroom. Kitchen!” she panted, peeling around the corner.

  “Mom!” Gavin sprinted after her, catching her yank a butcher’s knife from the block on the counter. “We found a dead body.”

  Spinning around, she wrapped the hilt in a fist, brow creasing. “You what?”

  “We found the guy they were looking for on TV.” Gavin held her swollen stare. “The guy from Morgan Realty who killed his family.”

  Her chest throbbed beneath her shiny top. “What! Where? How?”

  “We explored this abandoned house on the outskirts of town for Halloween and found him in this old pickup stored in an outbuilding.” Gavin looked over his shoulder, meeting Boone’s wide eyes. “Someone killed him.”

  “What!” Her chest rose with a sharp intake of air, head vehemently shaking back and forth to clear it. “Are you okay?” she asked, eyes flitting to Boone.

  “We’re fine, Mom, and this is what happened…”

  ****

  Gavin kicked his feet up onto a coffee table littered with soda cans, popcorn bowls and assorted Halloween snack bars. Leaning back into the couch, he interlocked his fingers behind his head and watched the Halloween marathon airing on a Toshiba television across the room. Smiling smugly, he nudged Teddy with an elbow. “Told ya.”

  Teddy smiled thinly, squirming for more room between Gavin and Boone on the couch.

  “Here ya go, Ted
dy,” Cindy said, gliding out from the dining room and handing him a rocks glass with two finger’s worth of an amber-colored liquid swishing around inside.

  His eyes lit up as he took the glass. “Much obliged, Ms. Lewis,” he said, taking an eager sip. Ice cubes rattled against the glass. Swallowing with a sigh, he leaned back into the couch and cleared his mustache with the webbing of his hand.

  “Call me Cindy.” She cheered him with a glass of red wine, eyes brimming with sympathy or fear. Gavin couldn’t tell which. Taking a slow sip, she let out another weary breath. “Well, I can’t thank you enough, Teddy. That was a very brave thing to do.”

  He pushed a hand through the air at her. “It was my pleasure to be of service, ma’am.”

  “You could’ve been killed.”

  “Mom, Teddy was in Vietnam,” Gavin piped in, popping a Junior Mint into his mouth. “He knows how to take down the enemy.”

  Teddy chased a short laugh with another drink while Cindy swirled the wine around in the glass, letting it breathe. “I just hope the police catch him,” she said. “We don’t need some crazed vigilante roaming the streets; two wrongs don’t make a right.”

  “The guy’s a hero in my book,” Boone added, accidentally spitting a piece of candy across the room and acting like it didn’t happen.

  “And you’d never seen this man before?”

  They all shook their heads no, exchanging innocent glances with Hank flashing in the back of their minds.

  “He’ll slip up,” Gavin said, unwrapping a tiny Milky Way. “The dumb ones always do.”

  She stared at them over the rim of her glass, chewing on something inside her head. They didn’t tell her the full story because the truth would only keep her up at night. She didn’t need to know Hank’s connection to Teddy; she’d just think Teddy was guilty by association. And the strange pictures of their bikes, the Camaro, and Teddy’s backpack would only bring her nightmares. But they had to give her something or Teddy wouldn’t be sitting here right now.