House of Spooks (COMPLETE)

Chapter 12

The three phantoms loaded me up with all sorts of weapons, which made me feel like a soldier going into war. I didn't know what most of the things were, but I felt like a member of the Ghostbusters at last.

"I think you're ready." Collin said, stepping back and admiring my full armada of weaponry.

"I don't like this." I groaned.

"It's not about the gear, son. It takes a lot more than gear to outsmart a demon. And this is coming from a blind old lady." Mabelle said, shuffling onto her feet with the help of her cane.

"Words of wisdom."

"Are you ready?" Samantha asked.

"Where we dropping, boys?" I remarked, shoving my phone in the last military pocket I didn't have a weapon in.

"The place where it all started. Where I got my headstart."

~

The portal dropped us off at a tall building in what I presumed was France.

On the burgundy front door was a worn-out, browned sign, with words in cursive print, "Jarvis Exterminators: We Get Rid of Bugs in a Jiffy!"

"Well, this is the place." Mabelle said, tapping her cane on the bricks leading up to the steps.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Don't need to see. I can smell it. Smells like bug shit and cigars."

Samantha sniffed the air and scowled. "Ugh! It's an enemy extermination base! Why can't they get rid of all these pests? And look at the sanitation rate! An absolutely disgusting rating of 1.2!"

I nudged the door and to my surprise it opened. "Uh, guys...the door's unlocked. They knew we were coming."

"Hm, yeah. Hey, how about you go first?" Collin recommended.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I can barely get near a moth without getting uncomfortable! How do you expect me to go in there?"

"Fine. I'll go first." Samantha said.

Samantha cautiously stepped into the abode, whimpering as beetles skittered away onto the walls and behind dusty and tattered pieces of furniture.

"Should not have worn my nice loafers. Ugh..."

As soon as I stepped in, the stench of mud, grime, rust, and roaches taking a shit overwhelmed me. I gagged, covering my nose and stepping over an anthill.

"I see what you meant, Sam."

Samantha took large, broad steps towards the twisting stairs. "Mère de dieu! Je vais tuer Camilla!"

"What does that mean?"

"I think it means, 'mother of god! I'm going to kill Camilla!' Very vulgar, yes?" Mabelle said.

"This is unimaginably revolting." Collin said, rushing up the stairs, not even touching a bit of the stairs as he glided.

"At least your ankles are broken and you can float, idiote." Samantha groaned.

"Hm? Oh, yes, true." Collin agreed sarcastically.

In front of us was an iron door, rusty and covered in what was most likely bug shit. If I touched it I'd probably have to take a bath in hand sanitizer.

"I'm not opening that." I said, shaking my head.

"Well, great. You can't anyways. It's locked from the inside." Collin said, attempting to jimmy open the door.

"Tell you what," Samantha said, crouching down and looking through the rat hole in the door. "I bet I can get through this."

"Woman, you've lost your mind!" Collin exclaimed.

"No, actually, I haven't. But I do have a handy helper that will do the trick."