The Traveler (The Great Rift Book 2) Page 4

  "This place must have been gorgeous back in the day," Stacy said.

  "And expensive," Roger added. "I wonder if there's anything left behind."

  "We're not here to pick the bones," Trina said. "We're here to discover her secrets."

  "I'm here to get stoned and sit around the campfire," Geoff laughed. "Don't think you're going to see my ass walking around in there. That's just asking for trouble."

  "What trouble might that be?" Stacy asked. "Sounds like you're scared to me."

  "Not scared. Smart. If one of us falls through the floor, it's going to take a while for anyone to get out here. I agreed to come, and here I am. My responsibility has ended. If you want to go inside, knock yourselves out, but if you break your legs, don't cry to me."

  "How about we set up camp?" Romeo said. "Then we can talk about what comes next."

  "We can talk all night," Geoff said, "but I am not going in there."

  Trina clucked like a chicken and pranced around in the dirt, squawking like a five-year-old. "Someone's scared of the Boogeyman! Bwak, bwak, BWAK!"

  "Can we send her in first?" Stacy asked.

  "Oh, fuck you Miss Goody Two-Shoes!" Trina shouted. "Are you scared too? Afraid you'll ruin your hair?"

  "What are you talking about?" Stacy asked. "Seriously, what is she talking about?"

  Romeo grabbed Trina lightly by the arm and led her several feet away. The others looked at one another with varying degrees of exasperation.

  "If she ruins this, I swear I'm going to kill her and leave her here," Stacy hissed.

  "I second that," Beth agreed. "Her voice goes right through me. It's like having carving knives jammed into my eardrums."

  "Let's just try and keep the peace," Dink said. "It's not an ideal situation for anyone, but we can't allow her to ruin it, huh? Don't you think Romeo feels bad enough already?"

  Trina and Romeo walked back into the circle. "I'm sorry," Trina said quietly. "I didn't mean to be a jerk."

  "Apology accepted," Geoff said. "How about we all set up the tents and get a fire going? We'll all feel a little better after we're settled."

  "A fire?" Trina asked. "It's eighty degrees out here."

  "Yes," Roger said, "but it's going to get chilly tonight and we're going to need light and something to cook the hot dogs. We can't just let them bake in the sun, can we?"

  Trina laughed and nodded.

  They all felt bad for Romeo. He was a nice guy and certainly didn't need to deal with Trina's immature nonsense. Every date or gathering turned into Bring-Your-Daughter-To-Work Day. It was embarrassing and more than a little annoying.

  Geoff, Dink, and Romeo made quick work of setting up the tents and laying out their bedrolls while the ladies looked for stones to line the fire pit. Dink had brought up the idea of foregoing the tents and just sleeping on the front porch of the house, but everyone balked at the idea, mostly for safety purposes. No one wanted to admit they were hesitant about getting near the place.

  "I say we finish up here and check it out," Dink said. "We have plenty of daylight left; no sense wasting it."

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Trina exclaimed. "I want to go."

  "Feel free to go in ahead of us and make sure it's safe," Beth said.

  Trina stuck out her tongue, but said nothing.

  "Why else did we drive all the way out to Bumfuck, Pennsylvania?" Romeo asked. "It sure wasn't to roast marshmallows."

  "Do we have marshmallows?" Trina asked excitedly.

  "I think we forgot them," Stacy replied. "So sorry."

  Dink tossed his knapsack into the tent as Roger and Lisa smoothed out their sleeping bags. The house loomed over them like a dead giant. Stacy's eyes darted from window to window, as she expected to catch a glimpse of something staring back. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Geoff walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and turn on him angrily.

  "Don't fucking do that," she shouted.

  Geoff laughed and backed up a step. "Calm down, killer. Don't go getting yourself all freaked out over nothing."

  "I'm not freaked out. You just don't sneak up on people."

  "Someone's scared," Lisa joked.

  "I'm not scared," she huffed. "Can we just do this already? I'm tired of standing around."

  "After you," Geoff said. He'd given up on the idea of remaining outside. Romeo had made a good point; why drive all this way if the only thing to do was get drunk? He could have just as easily done that at home.

  Slowly, Stacy led the group toward the house. They chatted back and forth, laughing nervously, joking about what they might find inside. Once they walked into the house's shadow, all of that ended. No one wanted to come out and say what they were all thinking. It felt wrong. Being near the place was like walking past a graveyard; there was no real reason to be afraid, but yet they all felt the same way. The hair stood up on their necks and their arms broke out in goosebumps. They looked at one another with forced smiles, trying to lighten the mood.

  "We're like a bunch of kids going into a Halloween haunted house," Lisa laughed.

  "There's nothing to be scared of," Roger said. "The worst thing we'll find in there is a lot of dust and mouse turds."

  "Oh, hold on," Romeo said. "I'll be right back."

  He jogged back to the campsite, dug around in his bag, and produced a small hand-held video camera.

  "Oh, you've got to be joking," Geoff scoffed. "You're really going to film this?"

  "I really am," he said as he rejoined the group. "Maybe it's all bullshit and maybe it's not, but what's the harm in having a document of our little excursion? Just in case."

  "Just in case," Beth said. "You know? Like if we spot a demon crawling around on the ceiling or something."

  "Can you not bring up anything crawling on the ceiling?" Trina said. "No demons. No bats. No spiders. Nothing."

  "Don't worry, Trina," Dink said, "I'm sure the maid has taken care of all that."

  Trina rolled her eyes and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Romeo held the camera out in one hand and nodded. "And we're rolling. Let's do this."

  One by one they climbed the stone stairs leading to the porch. They stepped carefully on the soft wood, expecting to fall through the rotten boards at any second.

  Dink reached out, grabbed the doorknob, and pushed.

  ***

  "This place is enormous," Lisa exclaimed. Her voice echoed off the high ceiling and boomed down the empty corridor. She looked up at the massive chandelier hanging overhead and stepped to the side, afraid it could fall and crush them at any second. On the right, a wide, curved staircase climbed up to the second floor; on the left was a doorway leading into a giant dining hall. A long hallway stretched out in front of them, disappearing into deep shadow as it reached the back of the house. It smelled of rotten wood, dust, and the musky odor of animals that called this place home.

  "Jeez, it's chilly in here," Stacy said. "Do you feel that?"

  Roger nodded and exhaled, expecting to see his breath in the frigid air.

  Romeo walked off and started filming the vaulted ceiling of the dining hall. "This is amazing," he said. "Who would leave something like this behind to rot? The architecture is beautiful."

  "Okay Bob Vila, put your erection back in your pants," Geoff laughed.

  The longer they walked the crumbling halls, the lighter their moods grew. They poked their heads into empty rooms, opened cupboards, turned rusty faucets, flicked on dead light switches. After twenty minutes, they grew bored. It wasn't what they'd expected. Stacy, in particular, was very underwhelmed by the experience. She'd hoped to have stories to tell, but instead got nothing more than a sinus headache and a shirt covered in cobwebs.

  "Hey guys," Lisa called. "This door is locked." She turned the knob and pushed but the door wouldn't budge. "What do you think is in there?"

  "A lot more nothing," Geoff replied. "I don't think ghosts lock the door behind them."r />
  "Maybe it leads to the basement," Beth said.

  "If there's nothing up here, I seriously doubt there's anything down there," Romeo said.

  Lisa, undeterred, tried the door again, pushing with her shoulder until the dry wood groaned from the pressure. "I guess we'll never know."

  From above came a loud screech, followed by several hollow thuds. They involuntarily drew closer together, holding their breath. Stacy reached out and grabbed Geoff's hand; her face had lost all color.

  "What the hell was that?" Trina whispered.

  They suddenly felt very claustrophobic. The hall seemed to grow narrower, the shadows darker.

  "I think that's our cue to get the hell out of here," Lisa said.

  "I'm going upstairs," Romeo said. "I want to know what it is."

  "Are you fucking retarded?" Trina said. "I'm not going up there."

  "Then stay down here. I don't care."

  Romeo walked down the hall, filming everything. The others followed closely, afraid to split up, afraid to be left behind. The light in the main room had grown a dim, sickly yellow. Romeo climbed several steps before pausing, listening carefully to the sounds above. There was a weird, muffled chatter that sounded like distant conversation, but he couldn't pick out individual words. Another loud thump echoed down the upstairs hall, followed by what sounded like scratching.

  "Maybe you want to think about going up there?" Dink asked.

  "No guts, no glory," he replied.

  He continued slowly, step by step, listening for any new sounds. It wasn't a question of there being something up there, it was a question of what.

  Dink, Geoff, and Stacy followed close behind. Roger and Beth brought up the rear. Trina and Lisa stood by the front door, weighing their options, watching as their friends disappeared at the top of the stairs.

  "I guess it's just you and me," Trina laughed, hooking her arm around Lisa's elbow.

  "No offense Trina, but I'd rather be dragged to Hell than stay here alone with you."

  Trina watched Lisa walk away and climb the stairs to the second floor. "Bitch," she muttered, running up behind her.

  They gathered in the hall at the top of the stairs, standing close together, motionless and silent. The noises had stopped as soon as Romeo reached the hall.

  "Okay, see that?" Beth asked. "Nothing. Now can we please go outside?"

  Up ahead, the floor creaked quietly.

  "There's something up here," Roger whispered.

  "No shit Sherlock," Romeo replied. "Isn't that why we came up here in the first place?"

  Ten feet ahead of them, the nearest door began to open, screaming on rusty hinges. In the dusty shaft of light, shadows danced eerily. Romeo's resolve crumbled. He backed up a step and bumped into Geoff, who in turn backed into Dink. Trina uttered a brief squeak and reached out for Lisa's hand only to have it swatted away.

  Claws clicked across the dusty floor as the shadow grew larger.

  "Go back," Romeo said. "Go, now. Go, go, GO!"

  The eight of them scrambled down the steps as the staircase trembled beneath their feet. The door screeched behind them as something slid into the hall and scraped across the floor. Beth whimpered deep in her throat as she tripped and nearly fell. They reached the first floor in a tangled mass, jockeying for position. Trina approached the door first, suddenly fearing it wouldn't open. She reached out, turned the knob, and flung it wide, running onto the porch and down into the grass without looking back.

  Geoff stumbled and fell into the dirt, rolling onto his back and watching the darkened doorway to see what they'd awakened. Dink stopped and grabbed him by the hand, pulling him back to his feet, but neither of them moved, transfixed by the wild sound of their pursuer. The others had run halfway to the campsite before stopping and turning. Romeo had dropped the camera in the grass, no longer interested in filming what was to come.

  When it exited the house and stood on the front porch, Beth screamed harshly and covered her eyes. Trina had started running again, tripping over the fire pit and tumbling face first into one of the tents.

  Lisa trembled as Roger clutched her hand.

  "Get away from the house," Romeo shouted.

  Stacy sat down hard in a tangle of grass, and after a second of flailing wildly to regain her feet, she stopped, looked up, and laughed.

  Geoff and Dink had also begun laughing, reaching out for one another to keep their balance.

  Before long, they were all laughing, relieved and feeling completely ridiculous for letting this place get to them.

  At the top of the porch steps, a family of fat raccoons chattered and screeched as they watched the silly humans do silly human tricks. One by one they turned and re-entered the house.

  "Well, it's official," Geoff shouted, choking back laughter. "I'm completely sober, but I'm pretty sure I still shit my pants."

  "I'd better get Trina," Romeo said.

  "Where the hell did she go?" Lisa asked.

  "I think she's hiding in one of the sleeping bags."

  Chapter 3

  After an hour of gathering firewood, fixing the crumpled tent, and freeing Trina from her hiding place, they sat in a circle and joked about their experience. Geoff passed beers to everyone except for Trina, who pulled a bottle of some fruity malt bullshit from her personal cooler. She drank half the bottle, burped loudly, and sat beside Romeo who was picking grass and dirt from the lens of his camera.

  "That's the last thing I was prepared for out here," Beth laughed. "Ghosts, fine. Raccoons? Nope."

  "We probably looked like a bunch of idiots," Geoff said.

  "I wasn't scared," Trina said, and she believed it.

  "You weren't? Really?" Lisa asked. "Why did we have to drag you out of the sleeping bag then?"

  "I was cold."

  "You're a laugh a minute."

  "Whatever, I know the truth and you don't, so who cares?"

  "I thought I heard something," Stacy interrupted. "Inside, when we started running."

  "Like what?" Beth asked.

  "I don't know, it was hard to tell with all the commotion, but it sounded like a voice. A very low, deep voice."

  "Now you're playing."

  "I'm not, I swear."

  "Then what did it say?" Trina asked.

  Stacy thought about it for a second and sipped at her beer. "It sounded like welcome."

  "Welcome?" Dink asked. "Well, that's not disturbing at all."

  "We all saw what was inside," Roger said. "Empty rooms and a family of pissed off raccoons."

  "You're probably right," Stacy agreed. "Just my mind playing tricks on me or something."

  "Maybe it's on the camera," Lisa said.

  "If there's anything on the camera," Romeo said, "we'll have to wait until we get home to see it. I think it's fried."

  "Your first day as an urban explorer and you went and fucked up your camera," Geoff laughed. "You're fired!"

  "Yeah, my first day and my last," he agreed.

  They chatted amongst themselves as they put a dent in the beer and passed a joint around the fire. A few were cooking hot dogs over the flames while others were content snacking on chips and trail mix. The sky was just beginning to darken as the sun slipped behind the house. After all the excitement had run its course, they simply enjoyed each other's company and caught up on boring gossip. Crickets fired up their comforting night song and a pair of squirrels came close enough to eat peanuts that had been dropped on the ground. Once the initial fear of the unknown had turned out to be nothing more than a few furry critters, the house didn't seem nearly as foreboding as before. Just an abandoned house in an overgrown field, and nothing more.

  "Did anyone find out anything about this house? Who built it? Why it's out here in the sticks?" Roger asked.

  "Funny you should ask," Stacy laughed. "I did have a few minutes to dig around on the computer. There's not a lot, but what I found is pretty weird."

  "I better get another beer for this," Geoff said.

>   "Oh, hush, it'll only take a few minutes."

  "I want to hear it," Trina said.

  "I rest my case," Geoff said. Beth laughed and spit out a mouthful of beer. Romeo frowned but remained silent.

  Everyone got comfortable and settled in for Stacy's tale, casually glancing at the house looming over them. It may not have turned out to be the supernatural hot spot they'd all expected, but that didn't mean it wasn't creepy as hell.

  Stacy shivered, sipped her beer, and started her history lesson.

  ***

  "Our story begins in the 1880's," Stacy began.

  "This feels like a script reading," Geoff joked.

  "Do you want to hear it or not?"

  Geoff put up his hands and let her continue.

  "The town of Elmview was really starting to grow," she continued. "Coal mining had become big business in this area, and Elmview was at the center of it. They started expanding, building parks and theaters and houses for all the miners who'd moved into the area looking for work. The population doubled in a few years, and a man named John Royale came to town in hopes of using his wealth to buy into one of the local mining operations. He built a house, moved his wife and daughter in, and soon owned half the collieries in the surrounding area."

  "Elmview." Roger said. "There's a lot of stories about that place. It's just a few miles down the road from here if I remember."

  "I just found out about it," Stacy grumbled. "Geoff didn't think it was important enough to let me in on the local secrets."

  "It's an empty town," Geoff yelled. "What's to tell?"

  "Quite a bit from what I read, but we'll get to that."

  Geoff shrugged and poked around in the fire with a stick.

  "Anyway, this Royale guy was a real prick. He ran his workers into the ground, paraded around town like royalty, started buying up local businesses. He even petitioned at one point to have the town renamed Royale, but it was shot down. He had to settle for acquiring property piece by piece, and by 1900 he owned half the damn town.