“The kitchen?” Shawn swallowed hard, and she trembled.
“Yes. I understand it’s never been remodeled,” Carey said. “Are you all right? Is there a reason I shouldn’t go into the kitchen?”
“You?” Shawn laughed. “No, you’ll be just fine. I, on the other hand, would rather walk through fire than set foot in there again.” Shawn was filled with a sudden sense of panic as she realized that, as the host of the special, Faith would have to accompany Carey into the kitchen while her investigation was being filmed.
“Oh, my God,” she squeaked out in horror.
Chapter 40
Stewart, Massachusetts
1957
“This has to be the lamest task yet,” Mitchell whispered to his best friend, Frank, as they stood on the porch of the dilapidated old house. Frank shrugged in agreement.
“No talking,” one of upperclassmen scolded them. Mitchell glanced over his shoulder and spied his future fraternity brothers standing on the front lawn, drinking beer. Mitchell dutifully turned his attention back towards the manor. He couldn’t understand what the big deal was. It was just an old house; spending the night should be the easiest task they would have to endure. Much better than when they were forced to run across the campus quad wearing nothing but their BVDs.
During the drive up to Stewart, the upperclassmen tried their level best to scare them with wild stories of a crazy old sea captain who went on a murderous rampage. He and Frank rolled their eyes at the ghost stories. A couple of the other pledges didn’t seem as unaffected.
“It’s time, if you dare,” the pledge master challenged the small group of five freshmen. Mitchell was eager to get the task over with, since he had studying to do. He reached for the doorknob and wasn’t worried when he discovered that the door was locked. He simply gripped his flashlight tightly and approached the window.
He raised his fist and smashed the flashlight against the glass. He yelped in pain when his hand recoiled and the glass remained unbroken.
“Whatever,” he grumbled while the upperclassmen laughed at his plight. He nudged Harry, who was a member of the football team.
“Kick the door in,” he told the large teenager, who smiled eagerly at the suggestion.
Harry lunged, shoving his large shoulder into the door.
“What the fuck?” Frank asked when Harry slammed into the door and nothing happened.
“There must be a way in. Let’s scout around,” Mitchell insisted as the snickering from the drunken frat boys continued. Just when he turned to step off the porch, the door slowly opened.
“Cool.” He noticed his fellow pledges turning pale and staring at the open door. “Let’s go in.”
They switched their stares to him as if he’d lost his mind.
“What? Harry loosened the door.” He stepped inside and turned on his flashlight. The others finally followed him into the abandoned house.
“I didn’t,” Harry whispered in his ear. Mitchell looked up, stunned to find Harry shaking like a leaf. “The door didn’t budge when I slammed into it.”
“Chill out, man.” He shook his head. The others began to wander about. “I wonder why the locals didn’t mess up the place?” he asked, thinking it would be the perfect spot for the local teens to throw a party.
“Man, you guys should see the kitchen,” Frank exclaimed as he darted into the foyer. “The cabinets are all hacked up.”
“I guess the locals did do a little partying.” Mitchell followed the others towards the kitchen. He felt a cold wind blow past him but dismissed it as the night air. He stumbled backwards when Harry bolted past him with a look of sheer terror on his face.
“What the fuck?” he grumbled. “Stan, go get him, all of us have to stay the night,” he said as he stepped into the freezing room. “I know what you are,” he heard a voice say. He felt hands on his throat as he dropped his flashlight. “Sinner!” an unseen person howled.
Mitchell bolted out of the room after Harry, this time not to stop him from leaving, but to join him in his escape. Belonging to Phi Delta wasn’t worth the fear that was pounding through his body. He found Harry standing in the foyer, hugging his body. The others followed after them.
“How did it know?” Harry stammered, the tears streaming down his face.
Mitchell stared at Harry as the startling realization hit him. His secret. It knew his secret. How?
“What’s with the two of you?” Stan demanded.
“I’m not staying,” Harry squeaked out.
“We have to stay.” Frank tried to reason with the whimpering linebacker.
Suddenly the sound of a woman wailing echoed through the house.
“It’s just the guys goofing on us,” Stan said. Then the doors and windows all shot open. Everyone stood in stunned silence as the doors and windows just as suddenly snapped shut.
“Leave!” a woman’s voice screeched, sending the five young men rushing from the house.
Their feet didn’t stop moving until they were face to face with their fraternity brothers.
“Something wrong, boys?” Tom, the pledge master taunted them.
“The lady didn’t seem happy that we were in her house,” Mitchell said; his entire body was shaking.
“You mean her?” Tom asked quietly, pointing to one of the upstairs windows.
Mitchell’s heart clenched when he spied the glowing image of a woman watching them.
“That’s it.” He decided that his brothers had set them up. “They’re yanking our chains. Let’s go back inside.”
“Are you shitting me?” Harry bellowed with a murderous gaze.
“You want to go back?” Tom seemed truly surprised by Mitchell’s bravado.
“Yeah,” Mitchell said, silently praying that the other pledges would talk him out of it. The front door swung open, and he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” Tom said. “You don’t have to. We can head back to campus now.”
“I don’t get it,” Frank muttered. “Who was in the window? Your sister?”
“I don’t know,” Tom said. “Guys, we aren’t messing with you, and just so you know, none of us has lasted any longer in there than you did.”
On the drive back to campus, everyone laughed at how frightened they had been, and no matter how much they coaxed the upperclassmen, they failed to get any of them to admit they had been behind the pranks.
A few months later, Mitchell and his frat brothers were hanging out in a local pub, trying to pick up girls. Mitchell did his best to pretend to be playing the game as well. He managed to sidestep a Vassar girl who eagerly accepted his advances. He spied Harry lurking alone in the corner. Something had been troubling him since the night they went to the old house, something that only he and Harry seemed to share.
“Hey,” he greeted the football player and handed him a beer. “Can I talk to you about something? Outside?”
“Sure,” Harry said, and they carried their beer outside. “What do you want to talk about?”
“That old house the guys dragged us up to,” Mitchell carefully began to say. “What did you mean when you said it knew?”
Harry spun around and glared down at him. For some unknown reason, Mitchell stood his ground. “Tell me?” he asked as he felt his knees shake.
Harry’s features softened as their eyes met.
“This,” was all he said, cupping Mitchell’s face in his hands and capturing him in a searing kiss. Mitchell melted into the kiss before reality struck him.
“I’m a sinner,” he whimpered and jerked away.
“No, you’re not,” Harry said. “And neither am I. Whatever’s trapped in that house is evil, not us.”
Mitchell felt years of fear fading as Harry held him in a tender gaze.
“We should get back inside,” he said softly.
“Or,” Harry said brightly, “we could pretend we got lucky and just sneak off.”
* * *
Houston Texas,
> Halloween Night, 2002
“Mitch, get in here!” The shout came from the den of their home.
“What?” Mitchell grumbled, joining his lover. “Another special on football? We’re going to be late for the party,” he told the larger man as he scratched his graying beard and looked over at the television with disinterest.
“My God, are those boobs fake or what?” Mitchell snickered as he listened to the blonde prattling on. “Whispering Pines?” He was startled. “I can’t believe it.”
“We can be a little late for the party,” Harry said, pulling him down onto his lap. They watched, trembling slightly as they remembered the past.
“Oh, no, honey, you and little blondie really shouldn’t go in that kitchen,” Mitchell squealed, covering his eyes. Harry snapped off the television.
“I can’t watch,” Harry said. “It feels like yesterday.”
“As frightening as it was,” Mitchell said, “it did bring us together.”
Months later, Harry forced Mitchell to go with him when Dr. Williams was in Houston signing copies of her book, Whispering Pines. Harry was normally quiet and reserved, but once he met Shawn he wouldn’t shut up until Mitchell pulled him away. “Jesus Mary, give the girl a break,” Mitchell told his lover before dragging him from the bookstore.
Chapter 41
Arlington, Massachusetts
2005
Faith stood looking out the window of her parents’ living room.
“Dinner will be ready soon,” she heard her father say as he approached. She kept staring out the window, wondering if she would ever forgive him.
“It’s nice to have you home,” Stan Charles said. “Will Shawn be joining you soon?”
“No.” She bristled, turning towards him. “I’m heading to New York in a couple of days.”
“Good.” He sighed with obvious relief. “I was afraid that something might have happened between the two of you.”
“We broke up.” She was surprised when his eyes dimmed.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “Shawn was good for you. I was hoping that just maybe you were finally going to settle down. Of course, it couldn’t have been easy on either of you after you went overseas.”
“Strange, you giving me advice about relationships,” she said harshly. She instantly regretted her words, seeing the hurt in his eyes.
“Faith, someday you really should take that chip off of your shoulder,” he said. “It was a long time ago. Your mother forgave me. And frankly, based on the way you treat women, you really don’t have any right to judge me.”
“You’re right,” she said. “I keep telling myself that Dad just had a midlife crisis. No big deal, except you sneaked around and started a new family.”
“All of which happened when you were just a child. And I’ll forever regret what I did, and how you found out.”
“I’m sorry,” Faith said. “Being a teenager and discovering that I had a sister was a shock. Poor Jessica. I was so cruel to her. I really am sorry, Dad. I don’t mean to dredge all of this up every time I come home. But you’ll be happy to know that Shawn and I are trying to work things out.”
“That’s good,” he said. “I really like her and the way she makes you smile. I’m also very happy that you’re back in the United States.”
“For now.” She shrugged as her mother called them into the dining room. “I’m heading to Scotland soon.”
“What’s in Scotland?” her mother asked as they took their respective spots at the dining room table.
“City of the Dead.” Faith chuckled as her mother’s eyes widened. “Covenanters Prison, to be more precise. It’s supposed to be very spooky.”
“Sounds a lot safer than your last assignment,” Myra Charles said.
“Kansas? Oh, you mean the war. Don’t worry, I’m not going back into the hot spots. In fact, I mostly visit cold spots.”
“You seem to have neglected telling us about Kansas,” Myra said. “Why don’t you tell us about Kansas, and then about your trip to Edinburgh?”
“How did you know I was going to Edinburgh?” Faith asked, busy loading her plate with mashed potatoes.
“Covenanters Prison, the Black Mausoleum?” Myra said. “I am a history professor. I don’t know the ghost stories, but I can only imagine, given what happened there.”
“So, is it haunted?” Stan asked. Faith smiled. Her father was as much of a skeptic as she once was.
“What happened at the prison?” Faith asked, eager to hear about her next assignment.
“Later. First tell us about Kansas,” Myra said. “Was Shawn with you?”
“Kansas was boring, and Shawn was in Salem,” Faith grumbled. “After Edinburgh, I’ll be coming back to Massachusetts,” she said in an effort to derail her mother from any further inquiries regarding Shawn.
“Lizzie Borden House?” Stan asked.
“Why don’t you just drive down to Fall River?” Faith knew he was fascinated by the infamous murders. “I think I’m hitting Fall River later this year. If I do, why don’t you take some time off and join me?” she offered, hoping to finally end the tension between them.
“Can I?”
“Of course.” She rolled her eyes.
“Okay, so what are you working on here? It can’t be Salem, you said Shawn was just there,” Myra asked.
“Stewart,” she mumbled. Stan dropped his fork.
“Faith? Are you going back to Whispering Pines? Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Want to? No,” she said. “I feel like I have to go.”
“But, Faith,” Myra said.
“I’m going.”
“At least Shawn will be with you.”
Faith began to chew on the inside of her mouth but didn’t answer.
“You didn’t finish telling us about Kansas,” Stan said, perhaps sensing that Faith didn’t want to talk about Shawn.
Later that evening, Faith was relaxing on the front porch, enjoying the night air and a cup of coffee. “Shawn’s not going with you, is she?” her father asked as he sat down beside her.
“No.” She sighed. “I wish she was. I don’t know how I’m going to handle that place without her. She just can’t go back.”
“Maybe you should follow her example?” he said. Faith gave him a curious glance. “I read your book and…”
“And?”
“When I was in college, my fraternity used to think it was funny to bring new pledges to Whispering Pines,” he said. “I don’t buy a lot of that hokey spooky stuff, but I can’t forget how two of the pledges went running from the house.”
“That wouldn’t be Uncle Mitch and Uncle Harry would it?” Faith laughed. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d been there?”
“I don’t like talking about it. And I didn’t know you were going there until your mother and I saw you on television. It isn’t as if you’re big on sharing your whereabouts.”
“I’ll try to be better,” Faith said. “What happened when you were there?” she asked, feeling closer to her father than she had in years.
“Not much.” He shivered slightly. “It was just a big dark house, then Mitch and Harry bolted out of the kitchen. The doors and windows opened and shut. Then a strange voice told us to get out.”
“What did you do?”
“After I almost crapped my pants, I ran like the dickens,” he said. “For the longest time, all of us convinced ourselves that the older guys had played a joke on us. I think I still believed that was the truth until you went there. I had seen a woman in the upstairs window,” he added.
“Second or third floor?”
“Third, I think.” He shuddered once again.
“Catherine.” She nodded. “That was her room. How much of the house did you see?”
“Just the entryway and the kitchen. Really couldn’t see much. It was at night, and all we had were flashlights.”
“Want to go back?”
“No.”
“Oh, come on,
Dad, it’s a great mystery,” she teased him. “They even have a cop investigating the case.”
“No, thank you,” he repeated. “I’d rather go to my grave lying to myself that my fraternity brothers set the whole thing up.”
“Wuss.” She snickered.
“I’ll go if you need me to,” he said. “I don’t want you going alone.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Want to talk about Shawn?” he asked gently.
“Well, you and Mom aren’t the only ones I neglect telling where I’m going to be working. I failed to take her feelings into consideration when I took the assignment overseas.”
“Bad call,” he said. She bit her tongue to keep from snapping at him. They were finally getting along, and she didn’t want to ruin the moment. “Sorry, like you said, I shouldn’t be giving relationship advice.”
“I almost said it again.” She laughed and laced her fingers together. “I’m trying, Dad. I really am. I need to let the past go. And on that note, how’s Jessica doing?”
“She hasn’t talked to me for quite some time now,” he said wearily. “You weren’t the only one I hurt.”
“No, that one falls in my lap,” she said. “I was the one who hurt her. She was just a kid who didn’t even know what was going on.” She glanced over at her father. Her heart sank when she caught the look of sadness clearly written on his face.
“For a little over one month in my life,” he said, “I acted like an ass. The end result was that I caused a great many people a lifetime of pain.”
“I never realized that the affair was so short,” she said.
“Frankly, it wasn’t any of your business.”
“True.” Faith couldn’t help wondering if he had simply come to his senses one day or had her mother found out? Then again, it really wasn’t any of her business. It was, however, time to let it go.
“So what do you think about what Mom told us about the prison?”
“A mass grave and all those people locked up in deplorable conditions? No wonder it’s haunted.”
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