Retaliation: the beginning

Chapter 33: "Haunted house cliché"

He'd never admit it to anyone, but Timothy Tomson had a secret love for ghost stories and horror. Every now and then he'd take himself on a little "weekend", claiming he was heading to a 'gaming thing' or other such nonsense. Instead, he was going on weekend retreats to haunted locales, unexplained murder sites, ghost hunting adventures and other such ghoulish diversions.

He was certain that given enough time, he could find the truth behind some of the killer legends that stalked the States. It was his own shameful little secret. Right now, with his cousins otherwise occupied planning their big heist seemed like the perfect time for another getaway.

This one was in Nashville, Clay had called them in the middle of the party and asked them to investigate a house supposedly victim to some kind of malevolent spirit that went on deadly rampages on Halloween.

The idea was ludicrous, of course, but the Asian boy couldn't resist at least checking it all out. He wasn't enjoying the party anyways unlike his siblings; Kimberly left him alone and went showing off her costume that she spent a whole week making, Shane in the other hand spent the whole time talking to some guy with a pan.

So here he was, a thrill running down his spine as he stepped out of the car, his overnight bag clutched firmly in one hand. The failing light of dusk certainly gave the place an ominous feel.

Shane gave the door a small kick that busted the lock, his eyes swiped the area before his hands reached for the dagger on the back of his black jeans.

"What's wrong?" Kimberly peeked in.

"Neh-interesting." Timothy started "Four footprints came in and none came out." Shane nodded in agreement. "which leaves us with probably two dead bodies inside." With a grim smile he let himself inside.

"Oh Timmy you're so optimistic." Kim walked in behind him.

Bag weighing heavily on his shoulder, Tim entered the home of the famed 'ghost' . It took him a few moments of fumbling to find the light switch, but finally the thread illumination of disuses fixtures brightened the room.

Kimberly knelt before a bag pack resting on the dusty floor, brushing it gently before she got into her feet. "Football team."

"That's neh-t good news." The Asian wrinkled his nose in mild distaste, he wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but there was a fine veneer of dust over everything, and the decor was more than a tad dated.

The lights flickered for a moment and went off.

"Scratch that, THAT'S not good news."

"Stay here." Moving cautiously, Shane held up a flashlight, sweeping a wide swath back and forth down the hall, he pursued the sounds he was certain he had heard.

At first he encountered only silence, broken by the sound of his steps, the heart beating excitedly in his chest, and the panting breaths that he could not quiet. he'd made it to the stairs, and was about to complete the circuit of the house, ready to call it all a failure, when a discordant note entered the harmony he was producing with his own cautious progress. A breath out of sync with his own, muffled. His head jerked upward and he flicked the flashlight off, standing silently, holding his breath now as he waited for the sound to come again.

Someone was there, he just knew it. Whether they were among the living or the dead, he had yet to determine. Snapping the flashlight back on he moved towards where he thought the breath had sounded from. A startled squeak echoed when he turned the corner, a horrified girl held up her hands against her mouth tightly breathing heavily at the sight of the dagger on his hand.

"Lilly?" he heard a recognizable voice call, golden eyes fixated on the old door slowly swinging open up ahead. He nervously chewed at his lip, pupils dilating in fear and anticipation as he considered the possibilities. Perhaps it was her friend or perhaps there was someone, or something, there... waiting for him, taunting him to come closer.

Stepping into the room with more than just a touch of trepidation, Elias scanned the light around the corners.

"Dude! wait for me!" Aaron Blake walked in from the shadows eyes following the slim figure of his friend.

"Oh god-" A shriek escaped from Ely as the door suddenly shut behind him, and he swung around, dropping the flashlight in the process. The gloomy beam rolled across the room, area of illumination spinning wildly until it stopped in front of the hunter.

"Shane?" Settling his bag on the side table, Timmy moved briskly through the corridors looking for the sound source, until he bumped into Shane's back.

"Hey what are you doing here?" he said as soon as his eyes found Ely's.

"They followed us" Shane spit bitterly.

And that's when Elia started to panic because they did follow them, they got lost at first but they did follow them. "What? No! I did not" he tried to be convincing "Did you?"

Aaron rolled his eyes insulted "Pft no."

"Get out," Shane ordered "we have enough dead bodies to take care of already."

"Don't tell us what to do," Aaron protested "This is our rescue mission."

Timmy snorted "rescue who? They 'all dead"

"I found someone." Shane brought up, a bit late, Kimberly was standing behind him with her arm around the frightened blond girl.

"No we found her," Elias corrected "and then she ran away thinking that we weren't real."

"It's not a rescue mission if the person runs away from you." Timothy shot back with a smug look on his face.

"Okay boys this is not a competition" Kimberly felt the need to intervene before things escalated "Can we just get this girl out of here?"

"Yeah here's the thing about that" Aaron started "we can't find the way out."