Ashley Ridge (Haunted Hearts Series Book 3)

by Denise Moncrief

  Laurel took two more steps closer to the book. Gray once again moved to stand next to her, and Josh brought up the rear. Gray glanced back at him.

  Josh smiled. “I got your back.”

  “Ha. You’re hanging back because you wanna be the first one out the door if anything weird happens.”

  Josh wagged his head at his friend’s misinterpretation of his actions. “Not so. I always allow a lady to exit the room first.”

  “Will you two shut up?” Laurel bit out her demand in a stern whisper.

  She wiggled her fingers, bent toward the book, placed her hand on the spine, and lifted it from the floor. And nothing happened. No drop in temperature. No swirling chaos. No brilliant eruptions of light. No creepy voices that could only be heard in his head. Nothing.

  Gray pointed toward the book in her hand. “That was rather anti-climatic.”

  Laurel exhaled. “I really thought…”

  Josh circled Gray and Laurel and stared at the leather-bound book. “I expected something, but this is…nothing.”

  He reached out and touched it with the tip of his finger and waited for a jolt of electrical energy or a chilling of his soul or a loud bang or…something.

  “I don’t get it. I thought for sure something would happen when she picked it up. Like Celeste appearing or… I don’t know. This…this is just weird.”

  Laurel pressed the book against her chest. “Thank you. Both of you. If there’s anything in here that either of you need to know, I promise I’ll tell you. But for right now, I just want to hold it. In a few days, I’ll read it.”

  Josh kind of understood that, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t disappointed. He was curious as hell what was inside the book. Without a doubt, Laurel was holding Celeste’s diary. When she had turned the thing over, Celeste’s name was engraved on the cover.

  ****

  Ashley descended narrow steps into the dark. Her better judgment kept shouting that going down a staircase into the unknown was never a good idea. It was the kind of stupid thing idiots did in slasher movies.

  She had left the crowbar just outside the door, preferring not to carry the heavy tool down the stairs in the semi-darkness, but she still gripped the flashlight in her left hand while she braced against the wall with her right. After her third step, she regretted leaving the crowbar behind. She might need it as a weapon. Twice she considered returning for it, but kept pressing forward instead.

  Everywhere she touched, her fingers met moisture and slime. The stairs kept curving lower and lower into the mountain beneath the cabin. She scrunched her nose. The smell reminded her of the dank odor inside caves.

  It was unlikely that she would find anything down the stairs that would give her any leverage in her battle to escape Terrance’s tyranny, yet a sense of urgency deep in her gut propelled her to continue her mission.

  When she finally reached the bottom step, she stopped for a moment, mostly to catch her breath. The heavy air made it difficult to suck in enough oxygen. An unsettling claustrophobic fear swept over her. She stared upward toward the door at the top of the stairs, unseen in the heavy darkness she had just passed through on her way down. The flashlight had done little to penetrate the pitch black, barely affording her enough light to put one foot in front of the other without tripping and falling down the steep steps.

  An archway opened up in the wall in front of her. After she passed through it and walked a few paces, she realized she was in a tunnel that narrowed the further she went. She wanted to go back, but the driving curiosity to discover what was at the end of the passageway compelled her to continue.

  The rock sides brushed her elbows. Her shoes squished in goopy mud. Occasionally a drop of water would drip into her hair from above. The muffled splashing of fast-moving water filtered from the dark passage ahead of her.

  It seemed to take forever to travel the length of the tunnel, but she finally emerged into a large room, a hollowed out place in the rock shaped like a half dome. Not exactly a cave. More like a natural amphitheater. If it had been daytime, there might have been enough light to fully explore her surroundings, but the overcast night, made even darker by the thunderstorm pounding the mountainside, kept the edges of the large space shrouded in eerie darkness.

  A waterfall fell in front of the opening that probably hid the entrance from the outside world. Crossing the large room to the cascading water took more than a few seconds. She skirted the edge of the pool at the base and peeked out the opening. The rushing water of the creek had eroded the mountain over the millennia until it had created a sheer drop off on that side. The natural cliff-side entrance faced the interior of the National Forest. Limited access. No doubt, the light of day would reveal a panoramic view, but in the middle of a stormy night, all she could see was the torrential downpour pounding the trees and brush of the dense forest.

  Disappointment washed over her. Terrance’s locked door hid nothing more than a secluded scenic hideaway. Her bold scheme to free herself from him had failed.

  She turned to head back the direction she came. Something brushed her arm and she swiveled to face whoever or whatever had touched her. The beam of her flashlight swept over the farther reaches of the hollow. Carved into the side of the hollow was a semi-circle shaped room. Across the opening to the room someone had installed chain link fencing. A heavy security chain and padlock hung from the hook of the open gate. Bedding had been shoved into a recess under a small rock overhang.

  For a moment, Ashley couldn’t breathe. What if this was Terrance’s secret? What if… She had to tell someone, so she yanked her cellphone from her front pants pocket, grateful that she hadn’t dropped it on her way down the stairs. Her eyes remained riveted on her discovery while she tapped Josh’s numbers on the keypad. Miraculously, she had a couple of bars of cell service, unlike at the top of the mountain where service was non-existent.

  After ten rings, the call went to voice mail.

  “Josh, you gotta come help me. I’m at Terrance’s cabin on old Baxter Road—”

  The display flashed a couple of times like the battery was about to die, and the call disconnected. That’s weird. She could have sworn she had fully charged the battery before she left the house.

  Chapter Twelve

  The lights flickered. A bad time for a power outage. When the electricity remained on, Josh drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. His relief was short-lived when he realized Gray and Laurel had left and he was alone with the bad vibe that Laurel’s bedroom gave off, so he rushed to follow them into the hall.

  So where is the ghost of Celeste Standridge? Maybe all she wanted was for us to find the book for Laurel. Maybe…maybe nothing. Stuff like this can’t be explained.

  Gray’s teasing voice broke into his inner dialogue. “Josh, are you talking to yourself again?”

  “No, I am not.”

  “Your mouth is moving.”

  “I talk to myself all the time,” Laurel said over her shoulder as she descended the back stairs across the hallway from her bedroom door.

  He smiled his appreciation of her defense of his weird behavior.

  “Yeah, but Josh argues with himself...loudly.”

  “I was not arguing and I was not loud.” Josh hadn’t meant to sound defensive, but he did.

  Getting caught talking to himself was embarrassing. When they were in high school, Gray used to tease Josh about it all the time. Was this Gray’s weird way of trying to restore their lost friendship? He might need to try another tactic.

  “But you were talking. I heard you.”

  “Really, Gray? Shut up.”

  Gray emitted a small noise of amusement. Josh made a face at the back of Gray’s head just as he reached the last step. Could things ever be the way they used to be between them? Probably not, but maybe they could at least work toward a new normal. Josh missed the stability of their friendship. The loss had left a hole in his life as big as the one Ashley had left in his heart.

  Josh was the la
st one to enter the kitchen just as Gray skirted the table to stand next to Tori. If anything, she appeared paler than before they’d gone upstairs. Chase stopped what he was saying mid-sentence when Laurel went to stand in front of him. He glanced at the book in her hands and then looked up into her eyes.

  “Nothing happened?”

  She shook her head and hung onto the book as if it were a life preserver.

  “I have some reading to do.”

  Chase nodded. “I’ll stay with you when you do.”

  She dragged in a ragged breath and dropped the book on the kitchen table. It hit the wood with a loud thud. “Thanks. When I read it, I don’t want to be alone and I don’t want to be in this house.”

  It was almost as if she’d lost interest in discovering what Celeste was trying to tell her through the book.

  Josh recognized her contradictory behavior for what it was: an attempt to protect her heart from more hurt from the woman who had birthed her but hadn’t wanted to keep her around.

  Chase stared at the book as if it would suddenly come alive and reveal Celeste’s motivation for her decision to give Laurel away. Tori glared at Shaw where he stood by the refrigerator with a cold soda in his hand.

  He sipped and then nodded. “Go ahead, Tori. You know you want to.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “No, I do not.”

  Shaw grinned as if he could read her mind and had every right to dispute her denial. “Yes, you do. You can hardly stand to look at it and not touch it.”

  Tori growled something at Shaw, low and mean, that Josh couldn’t hear.

  A confused frown appeared on Laurel’s face. “Why does Tori want to touch it?”

  “I don’t.”

  Shaw placed his soda can on the other end of the table from the book. “Because she hears things when she touches objects that once belonged to dead people.”

  Tori groaned. “Shaw, don’t start.”

  Gray placed his hand on her shoulder. “Touch it if you want. If you don’t, then don’t. Don’t let Shaw push you into doing something you don’t want to do. He’s a bully.”

  Shaw spluttered his objection. “I am not a bully.”

  Josh joined the fray. “Oh yeah, you are.”

  “McCord, you hardly know me.”

  “Doesn’t take long.”

  “Will you guys just be quiet a minute,” Laurel yelled.

  Conversation ceased as if it had smacked into a wall.

  Laurel turned to Tori. “Will you touch it? For me?”

  Tori flinched. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

  “No, I don’t, but if you can somehow warn me of what’s coming…”

  Tori blinked at her. Josh could only imagine all the things spinning around in Tori’s mind. He recognized the exact second when Tori decided she would do as Laurel asked. It was like a wave of panic mixed with sympathy spread across her face.

  Tori placed one trembling hand over her heart and drew in several deep breaths. She reached for the book. The moment she touched the leather cover, a bright flood of light burst from beneath her fingers, pushing its rays around her, casting her in a ghostly silhouette. Her fingers curved like five claws, snatching the book up from the table.

  Her eyes went wide and then she closed them tight as if she were trying to shut out what she didn’t want to see. She jerked and convulsed, somehow remaining upright with her fingers clinched around the binding of the book.

  Laurel gasped and Chase covered her with his body, protecting her from the intense energy the light generated. Josh shielded his eyes, peeking at the scene between his fingers. Gray jerked and made a move toward Tori, and then halted as if he didn’t know if it was safe to touch her—either for him or for her.

  He yelled into the brightness surrounding her. “Tori, let go of the book.”

  From behind his hand, Josh watched as Gray shoved his arm into the stream of light, probably to pry Tori’s fingers lose. She didn’t seem to notice Gray. Didn’t even twitch.

  Gray shouted into the light. “Let go of her, whoever you are. She’ll give the book back to Laurel. On my word, I’ll make sure that she does.”

  Tori released her grip with a jerk and stumbled backwards. The book thudded onto the tabletop and flopped a few times before it settled. The storm outside increased until the wind whistled like a freight train passing them, and then the bright light dissipated in one quick swoosh as if it had never been, as if the book had sucked the brilliance back into its pages.

  The wind and the rain and the storm outside ceased suddenly. Strangely. Gray’s eyes met Josh’s across the room. No one spoke for what seemed like forever. All of them breathing heavy, sucking down deep fractured intakes of air.

  “What did you hear, Tori?” Shaw’s scratchy voice boomed around the room.

  Gray grabbed her by her upper arms and eased her into a chair, patted her hand, and stroked her cheek.

  “Tori, are you all right? Talk to me, baby.”

  Laurel wet a towel for her. She accepted the cloth with a thin smile, and Josh was relieved when she seemed to come out of the trance.

  “Thanks.” Tori’s eyes darted everywhere until they landed on Shaw. “You son of a bitch. You knew this is what would happen. I should kick you where it—”

  “Tori.” Gray’s quiet admonition stopped her mid-threat.

  Laurel took her free hand. “Please, Tori. What happened? What did you hear?”

  Tori closed her eyes and tilted her head first one way and then the other.

  “When you read the book, you’re going to be really angry, and she wants you to promise you won’t stay angry forever.”

  Laurel laughed and the sound of her laughter seemed surreal. “I’m already angry with her. How much angrier could I possibly get?”

  Tori flinched. “She saved your life, not once, but twice.” The tone of Tori’s voice made Josh believe that somehow Tori had become Celeste’s advocate.

  Laurel seemed confused by Tori’s revelation. “Twice? Of course, when Tino… But when else has she saved my life. I don’t understand.”

  “You should read her diary. Then, you’ll understand everything.” Tori shifted to face Josh. “You need to go. Ashley’s in trouble.”

  ****

  The desire to get back up the tunnel to Terrance’s cabin and get far, far away from the prison she’d found inside the mountain twanged on every one of Ashley’s nerves until her whole system was practically pinging with urgency. A panic attack was only one more heartbeat away, one more breath, one more gulp of heavy air. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. The oppressive claustrophobia of being under tons of earth tore at her mind.

  She finally made it all the way across the underground room and reached the entrance to the tunnel. Her heart pounded harder as she stared into darkness. Out of the pitch black, a shadow moved toward her. The shadow took shape, an amorphous blob of dark that was blacker than the darkness surrounding it. The figure shot past her, brushing her as it passed. A scream should have erupted but it stuck in her throat.

  Deep in her soul, a warning echoed, almost as if someone had whispered to her heart instead of in her ear. Run, little girl.

  She remained immobile, remembering the words that had terrified her long ago. Words that often awoke her in the night, sweating and shaking from a nightmare. How had her worst fears followed her there?

  She flicked her flashlight on and began a panicked rush through the tunnel. Coming down, she hadn’t realized what a steep downhill slope the tunnel had. Her calf muscles ached from the slant as she trudged higher and higher up the path. She skidded to a halt when a loud bang echoed in the passage above her. Another black form rushed passed her. Once. Twice. Three times it bumped her. You’d better run now.

  She gasped and released her grip on the flashlight. It hit the ground with a hard clunk and switched off. She bent and reached for it, but it wasn’t at her feet. Clink clink clink echoed through the tunnel as the flashlight rolled fu
rther and further away down the path she had just traveled. She backtracked a few feet and dropped to the dirt, patting the floor with her hands, desperately searching for the light.

  In the dark, her fingers found debris that felt like bones and skin and hair. Surely, that was just her imagination working her into a frenzy. If anything like that had been in the passage when she first traversed it, she would have noticed.

  Ashley used the slimy walls to push up into a standing position. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. Sucked in several heavy breaths of air. Shook out her arms and legs to relieve some pent up nervous energy. She reached out and pressed her palm against goo on the rock surface. Her overactive brain imagined buckets of blood cascading down the tunnel walls.

  Her mind kept conjuring intensely sick and horrid scenes from the last five episodes of Criminal Minds she’d watched. Why? She hadn’t really seen anything in the underground room so terrible that it should freak her out. No blood. No guts. No chain saws or meat cleavers. Just a makeshift bed and a fenced area with a gate and a lock. Nothing really to incite this kind of terror. Surely, there was an explanation for what she’d found. Some other reason besides the possibility that Terrance was a psychopathic pervert who kidnapped women and held them captive for days or months, feeding them little bits of dried bread and an ounce or two of tepid water.

  And the feeling that something was harassing her by bumping into her? Just her imagination.

  She forced herself to stop her hysterical thinking and logically consider her situation. There was a way out. It was above her. She just had to keep from going crazy before she could get to the exit.

  With some intense effort, she slowed her breathing and concentrated on doing what she needed to do. With the toe of her shoe, she searched the floor for the wayward flashlight. Finally, after several minutes of frustration, she gave up. No telling how far the stupid thing had rolled. She had no choice but to ascend to the surface in the dark. Rather than stare blindly ahead of her, she closed her eyes, braced on the wall beside her, and took a few tentative steps forward. The approach seemed to work, so she kept moving.