Redcoats

Chapter 6

Simon led Tiff and Barbara back to through the gate as quickly as possible. They ran for the part of the old brick wall that neighbored Sammy's yard. Simon helped Tiff over first then Barbara before he leapt the fence and made his way towards the houses back steps.

They were too afraid to look back to see if they were followed, yet somehow they knew they were. As they made their way into the house and closed the door Simon looked for something he could jam in front of it. He grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and slid it underneath the door handle before slowly backing into the kitchen.

Tiff ran to the window and looked out into the back yard. She could see several figures walking along the cemetery wall. When they came close to the yard the figures simply walked through it before vanishing from sight.

"There's something out there, what are we gonna do?" she said, backing away from the window.

Simon started towards the main hall, "Sammy's got a lounge on the second floor, probably the most secure room in the place, plus easy access to the roof and a tree we could climb down to the street if we had to."

He led them up the stairs and into the lounge, closing and securing the door behind them. He walked to the fireplace grabbing a fire poker and the fire shovel. He handed the shovel to Barbara and pulled Tiff behind him.

"We should be safe here, did you see any of the others outside?"

Tiff shook her head, "I'm not sure what I saw, it wasn't them though."

Barbara was clearly upset, "Tiff you did see something though what was it."

Tiff shook her head, "I don't know, it looked like people but they just walked through the wall."

Barbara looked at Simon, "Are we running from ghosts? Did we let a buch of fucking ghosts out?"

Simon shook his head, "We should've never gone out there, damn this is fucking crazy. Where did everybody else go?"

Tiff stood back against the fireplace, "If they walked through the wall can't they just come right in the house, Can they walk through the door?"

Simon did not have an answer, he had never actually believed in ghost stories. He was a believer in science and in the real world. Ghosts and goblins were fantasy. He began scanning the room when he eye landed on a large cross hung up on the wall next to the door.

Sammy's family was very religious, there were crosses all over the house. Maybe they would be safe because of them. He gripped this hope with ever fiber of his being, steeling his resolve to it. He had to believe it was true otherwise they could never be safe.

It was then the door began to rattle as if someone was trying to force it opened. Tiff wanted to scream but was too scared to create the sound. The door flew open and Barbara charged forward swinging the iron shovel she was holding.

Dave dove back towards the steps, "Whoa what the fuck Barb?"

Barbara stared momentarily at him before wrapping her arms around him, "Oh thank god we thought you were them."

Dave looked at Simon and Tiff, "Wait you saw the creepy soldier guys too."

Simon paused for a moment, "Creepy soldier guys, what are you talking about?"

Tiff chimed in, "Were they ghosts, we saw ghosts."

Dave nodded his head, "Yeah I think they were, Jasmine and Sammy have a place they think is safe, I'll get you guys there but I gotta find Mike."

Simon slapped the top of his head, "Jesus we forgot about Mike and Sarah, where could they be?"

Dave shook his head, "Maybe they're upstairs, in Sammy's old room, Mike always like the view from up there."

Simon nodded his head and handed Dave the fire poker, "Ok I'll take them down stairs to wait for you."

The three of them made their way downstairs as Dave began checking the other rooms. He'd knock on a door and call out Mike's name then open the door and find nothing.

Suddenly a reply came from the third floor, "I'm up here," came Mike's voice.

Dave began following the sound upstairs slowly climbing to the top of the spiraling staircase. He watched from the last landing as Mike disappeared into one of the rooms. Dave assumed he must be grabbing Sarah so he moved faster.

"Mike come on man we got downstairs, something happened man it's bad."

No reply came so he called again, "Mike you ok can you hear me."

"Up here man," was the only reply he received.

As he reached the top of the stairs he could see Mikes form standing just inside the darkened room. He stood motionless, his head down, arms laying in front of him. Dave felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he started across the landing towards the door.

Simon called up from below, "Dave we found Mike, they're down here."

Dave looked down over the railing for a moment then back at the figure in the room. It's head raised revealing a sickening grin and with unholy speed it charged at Dave. He stepped back to avoid the creature, tripping over the banister. Dave plummeted to the first floor landing on his neck with a sickening thud.

The last sight he saw was the smile on the face of the figure staring down at him as everything faded to black.