Scratching The Surface

Chapter 6

Jason and Leo had been busy with the basement all day, trying to fix it up to be used if needed for tornado season or a playroom for the girls. It was dry and not full of any chemicals or mold, but needed touchups here and there. For hours, they focused on putting carpet down.

Jason kept as far away from the walls as possible, but sometimes he would bump into one and feel that unexplained warmness. It seemed to occur in only a certain area and never seemed to fade away.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Leo asked, smirking at his longtime friend. "The last time you zoned out like this was when you lost your vi-"

"Leo, inappropriate." Jason shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I'm just thinking about the house, is all. It's weird."

"Are those ghosts bothering you?" Leo teased, not believing in them himself. None of them had while growing up, never having had an experience to push them to. "Is little Jason afraid of the big, bad, scary ghosts?"

"There are no ghosts, Leo. So shut up." Jason snapped, his exhaustion mixing into his mood. He sat on the hard ground and put his head in his hands, trying to stifle a yawn. "I'm tired. I can't sleep in this place."

Leo was quiet for a minute before he plopped down beside Jason. "Why not? Are you and Piper fighting?"

Jason shook his head. "No, of course not. We're good. It's just... I have trouble sleeping. That's it."

"You've never had trouble sleeping before," Leo argued. "Are you saying you have nightmares? About moving into a new house?"

"No, well, yes, but no." Jason frowned at him. "Don't even say it. I'm not a child, and I can't help it. It feels weird here."

Leo held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'll humor you. What feels weird?"

"First off?" Jason gestured to the wall behind him. "The freaking wall is hotter than the freaking sun."

Leo reached back to where Jason was pointing and laid his palm against the wooden wall, his smirk dropping as he felt what Jason had. "Um,..."

"It isn't normal," Jason told him. "It isn't normal at all. Not to mention the freaking feelings I'm getting and the weird things I've been seeing."

"That can be from stress." Leo wrote off. "What I'm worried about is this wall... Do you have a blueprint of the house?"

"Where would I have possibly gotten that?" Jason questioned. "You saw what that realtor was like. She wanted nothing to do with this place."

"Can I try something?" Leo asked, his teasing manner having fallen away from the curiosity forming under his skin. "I'll repair something if I break it."

Jason looked at him for a long time before the curiosity got the better of him. "Fine. Can I help?"

"Yeah, your muscles will be useful." Leo ran to his toolbox and slammed it open. He pulled out a couple hammers, his signature smirk back again. "Which one do you want? The red or blue?"

"Leo, what are you planning?" Jason grabbed the red hammer and looked at the wall. "You're just gonna hammer it down?"

"Yep," Leo popped his lips at the end of the word before stalking over to the wall. "Ready?"

"Piper's going to kill me," Jason looked around the basement as if to make sure his wife wasn't down there. "You'll repair what you break?"

"Yeah, sure." Leo's voice held no indication if that was truthful or not. "Ready? On three."

Despite the childish way, Jason nodded. "One, two,"

"Three!" Leo brought the hammer up and struck the wall, watching as it went through the old wood with no resistance. Instantly, however, the atmosphere changed. It took everything in Jason not to turn around and run upstairs, and looking at Leo, he felt the same way.