Wicked in Love

Chapter 12 - my

Cameron

"It looks like someone chewed it, spat it out, and took a giant hot shit on it," Caleb commented.

Rick, Caleb, and I stood in front of the dilapidated mansion on my land. Kara was the only person I had brought here before. Since Caleb had found out about it, he hadn't stopped hounding me for a tour.

"It is over a hundred years old," Rick said. "It has a lot of potential."

A huge smile split his face as his eyes scanned the fanciful turrets and towers blanketed in moss, the massive glass dome coated in dirt, the walls ravaged by time and neglect, the boarded windows covered in graffiti.

"Yeah, for a horror house." Caleb rubbed the tip of his nose with his thumb.

"Did some reno with a friend in this small town back in the day," Rick commented. "Brings back memories. I heard this house is haunted."

Caleb smirked. "That's it. Start charging people for an entrance fee. I can do the advertising."

"Kid's got no imagination, but we'll keep him for entertainment," Rick said.

"Use him for firewood later," I said.

"You bet."

Caleb just rolled his eyes. Despite his bitching, he climbed the rotting steps to the crumbling porch, green eyes eager to explore. He might complain about the reno side of it, but I knew he was looking forward to exploring what was inside. He tried to pull the flimsy board serving as the front door when Rick motioned for him to come down.

"I want to see the exterior first," Rick said. "Let's stick together."

"Yes, sir." Caleb easily jumped the stairs to the ground and fell into step beside me. He shook his head. "What were you thinking buying this dump?" But he grinned, looking excited at the adventure of it. "Might be ghosts inside."

Now I rolled my eyes at him.

We followed Rick like two kids following their dad. In every sense of the word, he was mine.

Nature had taken over the courtyard and gardens. What wasn't covered with underbrush and weeds, unidentified debris cluttered it. On the rear of the mansion, chunky vines and the thickest and tallest rosebushes I'd ever seen choked the cracked walls and creeped up to the sagging roof. Their sweet scent perfumed the air. The picture it evoked was strange.

Beauty clings to broken things.

"Looks like you're going to have to replace all the windows," Rick said. "Haven't seen any that's intact."

"Cha-ching, Cam," Caleb said, brows raised.

I sighed. "I know. I've got some saved up. I'll do most of it myself anyway. And I get free labor right here." I slapped Caleb's back hard. He slapped me back just as hard.

"Got some materials in the shop you can pick up if you need," Rick said.

"Thanks. I might just do that."

"You let me know what you need, son." Rick craned his neck as he studied the upper floors. "That chimney looks like it's going to topple over. Get it checked out right away. It might just fall into this pool, take out most of your roof too. Is that a dead body floating—no, it's some sort of a tree branch. Geez Louise. You check the roof yet?"

"How's he going to check the roof?" Caleb asked. "Fly?"

I ignored him.

"Woah. Look at the size of these rosebushes. Must be as old as this house. Who needs a ladder?" Caleb nudged me with his elbow. "Bet you can use these to climb up, check out the roof."