The Blackham Mansion Haunting (The Downwinders Book 4)

by Michael Richan

  Except his parents. Oh yeah, forgot about that for a second. He felt bad, and the resentment dissipated. However privileged David might have been, he didn’t deserve to lose his parents, especially not the way he lost them; throats slit, their eyes burst.

  Of course, before he lost them, he had parents who loved him and he loved back, he thought. I never had that. Not for a moment. I have no idea how that feels. The resentment returned.

  Why am I riding this stupid rollercoaster? he thought. Don’t be more pathetic that you already are. Stop.

  “Winn?” David asked. “Winn? Are you alright?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

  “I asked you if you liked flying and you didn’t answer,” David replied. “You were just staring out the windows.”

  “I don’t mind flying,” Winn said, clearing his thoughts and putting on his happy face. “What about you?”

  ▪ ▪ ▪

  Deem watched Warren as he walked back to the horses. They’d heard a whinny, and Warren wanted to check it out, worried about rattlesnakes. Deem reclined on the blanket that was spread out under a large tree. They’d gone for a short horse ride on Hinton’s property, to a quiet spot next to a creek. It had been several years of drought, but there was still enough water tumbling through the creek to keep the vegetation on both sides lush and green, compared to the arid brush that took over just fifty feet beyond.

  “Don’t know what spooked ’em,” Warren said when he returned, falling to the blanket. She felt him staring at her. “You seem preoccupied.”

  “Worried about David,” she replied. “Winn is taking him to Missoula to see a specialist. Something Carma arranged.”

  “I’m guessing it’s not a normal specialist,” Warren replied.

  “If he needed a normal specialist, I’m sure we could have found one in St. George. Or Vegas, for that matter.”

  “Is he going to be OK?”

  “He seems fine to me. A little tired. Carma’s convinced something is wrong with him.”

  “And this is related to when you went up to Paragonah? Winn sure was worried that day. I would have been too, had I known. I wish you’d be more careful.”

  “I thought I was being careful,” Deem replied. “That’s why I took David. That house had a lot more happening in it than I realized.”

  “Like what?”

  She zoned out for a moment. “It’s too depressing. I don’t want to talk about it. I want to forget about it for a while, while I’m here with you. You don’t need to have all this crap laid at your feet.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  “What about you? What happened to you today?”

  “Nothing so wild,” he said, lowering himself to the blanket and staring up into the branches of the tree. “Want anything more to eat?”

  “No, I’m stuffed.”

  “When I was picking up the meats, guess who I ran into?”

  “Who?”

  “President Dayton.”

  “Oh,” Deem replied, her tone changing from a feigned lightness, returning to her former level of concern. “And?”

  “And what?”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “We shook hands and he asked me how I was doing. I don’t think he’s aware that I’ve slacked off from church recently. Asked if I was seeing anyone, and I told him I was.”

  Deem shot up from the blanket. “You didn’t tell him it was me, did you?”

  “Of course not,” Warren replied. “I know how you feel about him.”

  “The feelings are mutual. If he knew you were seeing me, you’d be on his hit list, too.”

  Warren scoffed. “Hit list. Sometimes you sound so dramatic.”

  “Well, it wasn’t you with a needle at her throat, was it?” Deem shot back at him.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Warren said, rolling his eyes.

  “What did you mean, then?” she asked.

  Warren sat up and looked at her. “Are you really sure he was behind it all, Deem? I mean, really. Based on what I know about the guy, and meeting him today, I just find it so hard to believe he’s wrapped up in the things you say he is. The man’s a Stake President now. He’s entitled to respect.”

  “I respect him,” Deem replied. “Just not for the same reasons you do.”

  “How? I don’t see respect in the things you say about him.”

  “I respect that he’s a cold-blooded killer who wouldn’t think twice to take someone out — or have someone taken out — whom he considers a threat. I have a healthy respect for that, let me assure you.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  “I mean positive respect. Respect for the fact that he’s a man of God.”

  Deem felt confused. Warren had never come to Dayton’s defense before. She wondered why it was surfacing now.

  “So you don’t believe the things I told you he’s done? You think I’m a liar? Because if you believed any of what I’ve told you, you’d have to think the man is a monster.”

  “I believe you,” he replied hesitantly.

  “But?” she asked. “There’s more, isn’t there? You believe me, but what?”

  “I think you might exaggerate things sometimes,” Warren replied. “You might be a little paranoid about him.”

  Deem’s mind whirled. Up until today, things had been going pretty well with Warren. Their dates had been enjoyable and lighthearted, and he seemed attentive and focused on her, going out of his way to make their time together pleasant. To hear that he doubted what she had to say about one of her most hated enemies was making her head spin. Where’s he coming from with this? she thought. He really doesn’t believe me? He thinks I’m being too dramatic about Dayton? He thinks I’m exaggerating?

  Her previous worries about David came rushing back, and she realized that she wasn’t going to be able to clear her mind and have a few hours of carefree downtime with Warren. Not tonight, not with the things he was saying.

  “I think we should call it a night,” Deem said, standing up.

  Warren hung his head. “What, are you pissed at me now?”

  Deem tried to pick up the blanket, but Warren was still sitting on it. “If you make me regret coming out here with you by slowing down my ability to go home, I’ll be ten times more pissed than I am right now.”

  Warren stood up and walked off the blanket. He tried to reach down and grab it, to help her fold it, but she had it pulled up and away from him before he could reach an edge.

  “Wow, I can’t believe you’re reacting like this,” he said.

  He doesn’t know when to shut up, she thought.

  “Fine,” she said, dropping the blanket. “You deal with this stuff.” She walked off, back to where the horses were tied up by the creek.

  “Deem! Wait!” he called behind her, but she marched on. When she reached the horse, she mounted it and took off before he could catch up.

  Twenty minutes later she had the horse back at Hinton’s stables. She tied it up where she knew Warren would find it, and walked to her truck, parked around the barn. As she drove off, she could see Warren just crossing the road from the trailhead, watching her as she sped away.

  “Man of God,” she muttered, shaking her head. “With all I’ve been through, how could he say that?”

  Because he doesn’t really believe you, she thought. If he did, he wouldn’t have said it.

  And if he doesn’t really believe you, he doesn’t really trust you, either. Which means maybe you can’t trust him.

  “Fuck!” she spat in frustration and anger, wishing she was up north with Winn and David, doing something useful. She knew she’d just go home back to Leeds and commiserate with Carma. Carma would say the right things to make her feel better, and she’d mope a bit. Didn’t sound like fun. She wanted to do something constructive, something that would help solve things.

  I’ve got to go back to that house, she thought. Lorenzo’s in there, somewhere,
I know it. I’ve got to find him.

  She sped back up the highway. When she reached the turn for Leeds, she found herself heading north instead, getting on the interstate.

  Don’t go by yourself, she heard Winn saying to her. That’s risky and dumb.

  Funny, she thought. A few months ago that little voice in her head would have been her father speaking to her, reminding her of the things he’d taught her. Now it was Winn’s voice.

  He’ll be pissed, but I know what I’m doing. I can drop out at any time and be back in my body.

  As long as I avoid whatever happened to David.

  Chapter Five

  Winn stopped at an Old Navy on the west side of the valley and picked up a few things. He offered to buy something for David, but David passed, saying he didn’t need anything.

  Probably only shops at Abercrombie and Fitch, Winn thought.

  After they ate, Winn drove to the hotel. It was a large complex that took up an entire city block in downtown Salt Lake. He parked the car and they checked in. When Winn walked into the room, he saw a king size bed. Just one.

  “That’s a mistake,” Winn said. “I’ll go back down and get a room with two.”

  “I don’t mind,” David said, dropping his bag at the base of the bed and falling onto it. “It’s big. Unless you have a problem with it.”

  Winn considered the idea. The bed is big. Looks huge. Might be alright. David was checking his phone, already resigned to the idea, as though the two of them sharing a bed didn’t bother him in the slightest.

  “Fine with me,” Winn said, and dropped his bag next to David’s. “I’m taking a shower.” He pulled some clothes out of his bag and went to the bathroom.

  It’s enormous, Winn thought as he checked out the bathtub. Of course, I’m used to a trailer where I can hardly turn around in the bathroom. Try not to embarrass yourself in front of David.

  He showered quickly and emerged wearing his new clothes. He found a note on the bed.

  “Gone to the pool, 2nd floor. Join me.” Sitting next to the note was a pair of swimming trunks. David had obviously brought a second pair.

  He stripped out of his clothes and tried on the trunks — they fit perfectly. He slipped on a robe from the closet and walked out of the room.

  When he reached the pool, David was the only one in it. Winn watched as David swam the length of it and back. He wanted to dive in and join him, but there were “No Diving” signs posted everywhere. Too shallow, he assumed. He slipped into the water instead and watched as David finished another length. Then David swam over to him.

  “Training regimen?” Winn asked.

  “I wanted to be on the swim team in high school, but football won out,” David replied, spitting water. “Come on, race you.”

  David pushed off from the side of the pool, leaving Winn in a spray.

  I’ll show him, Winn thought, and followed right behind, rapidly catching up and passing him. He could hear David behind him, trying to keep up. Winn reached the end of the pool, flipped, and pushed off again, sailing ten feet before surfacing. David was right at his heels, but not able to pass him.

  Then David seemed to fall back. He’s given up, Winn thought.

  When he reached the other end of the pool, Winn stopped, wiping the water from his face. David wasn’t on the surface. David was sinking.

  Winn dived, propelling himself to David’s body. He grabbed David’s arms and pulled him upward. David was completely unresponsive. Once he broke the surface he pulled David up and over himself, walking through the water to place David on the side of the pool.

  Winn crawled out of the water and checked David’s breathing; there was no movement, no sign that David was inhaling. He began compressions on his chest, and within a moment David’s eyes fluttered open as he spit up water.

  “What happened?” David sputtered, turning to look at Winn, who stopped pressing on David’s chest and sat back.

  “I pulled you out!” Winn replied. “You had me scared for a second! You were sinking. You weren’t breathing.”

  David suddenly reacted as though he’d been speared through the torso. He grabbed at his ribs, looking for something that had struck him.

  “What is it?” Winn asked.

  “It’s…it’s in me…” David said, reaching all over his chest and abdomen, searching for something but not finding anything. “It went in me…”

  “What?” Winn asked. “What went in you? Something in the pool?”

  “No, something in the house,” David replied, still searching. “Pull it out of me!”

  “I can’t see anything there, David! There’s nothing sticking out of you!”

  An attendant who had just walked into the area with a stack of towels noticed Winn and David at the side of the pool and came over to investigate.

  “He OK?” the attendant asked.

  “Yeah, he’s fine,” Winn replied. “I think he’s a little light headed, that’s all.”

  “I can call for an ambulance,” the attendant offered.

  Winn could see that David was still in the throes of some kind of hallucination. If this is related to the Blackham mansion, he thought, sending the kid to the ER isn’t going to help.

  “Nah, he’ll be OK,” Winn said. “He has episodes. I’ve seen it before.” Winn reached down to David’s arm and lifted him up. “A little rest and he’ll be fine.”

  David seemed in a daze as he accepted Winn’s help, still searching his body for a wound.

  “You sure?” the attendant asked.

  “Yeah, he just needs to lie down, that’s all,” Winn replied. “Thanks for your help, though.”

  “No problem.”

  Winn wrapped a robe around David and began ushering him back through the halls of the hotel until they reached the elevator. He was grateful the elevator was empty as they rode it to their floor.

  “What was that all about?” Winn asked.

  “I…I don’t know exactly…” David answered haltingly. “I was racing to catch up with you, and the next moment I was lying by the pool.”

  “You were worried something was in you,” Winn asked. “What? You said it was something from the house.”

  David suddenly began searching his chest again.

  “What are you looking for?” Winn asked, wishing the kid would communicate with him so he could help.

  “It stabbed me…” he muttered, then stopped when he realized he was fine. Winn saw him slowly raise his face from his chest, looking him in the eyes. “Something’s wrong with me. It put something in me.”

  “What?” Winn asked. “What put something in you?”

  “The thing at the house,” David said, his eyes glazing over. Winn could see David starting to fall and he ran to him, catching him just as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. He lifted David up and carried him down the hallway to their room, stopping to prop him up against the wall as he opened the door. Once inside, he laid him on the bed. David was completely out again.

  Winn tried to revive him by calling to him and lightly slapping his face. David slowly came back, opening his eyes. Winn could see fear in the eyes, before they rolled around to settle on him. Once they did, David seemed to calm.

  “I’m here,” Winn said. “It’s me. What’s wrong?”

  “It crawls over me and stabs me, then I pass out,” David said, reaching up to check his chest again. “But I’m here, I’m not there. I don’t understand.”

  “What stabs you?”

  “I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t have the right words.”

  “It’s inside the Blackham mansion?”

  “Yes,” David said, closing his eyes. “Deem goes upstairs, and I check out the bedrooms on the ground floor. I come out of one of them, and it’s on me. I didn’t hear it coming, I had no idea it was there. It rises up and knocks me down. It’s like a man, but it doesn’t have a head. Then it crawls over me, and it stabs me with something.” David raised his hand to his chest again, ru
bbing at it. “It feels like I’m dying. Then I fall asleep.”

  Winn saw him open his eyes and look right at him. He could tell the kid was very frightened, but trying hard not to let it show. Winn felt his earlier resentment fade away as he understood how terrified David was at that moment — he needed reassurance; he needed to know that he wasn’t alone.

  Winn reached out and took his hand. “It’s OK. We’re here. I’m here. We’re not going to let anything happen to you. That’s why we’re going to Missoula. We just gotta get up there and back without a scene, without them pulling you into an ER.”

  “I can’t control it,” David replied, grabbing Winn’s hand more tightly. “In the pool, it just happened. And the elevator. There was nothing I could do to stop it.”

  “If it happens again, don’t freak out,” Winn said. “Don’t grab all over yourself looking for a wound. It’ll wig people out. Just go with it, and I’ll be there to catch you if you fall. I’ll keep you safe.”

  Winn saw David look at him appreciatively, tears forming in his eyes. “I’m scared, Winn.”

  “I know,” Winn replied. “We’ll figure it out. Deem, Carma, and me, we’re all on your side. We’ll find out what it is tomorrow, and do what we have to do to fix it. I promise.”

  He saw David summon a weak smile. I hope that helps him a little, Winn thought. And I hope it isn’t a total lie, because right now I have no idea what we’re going to do.

  ▪ ▪ ▪

  Deem pulled her truck to the side of the house that would hide it from any late night visitors to the cemetery, and walked over the dry dirt to the back door of the house, the kitchen entrance. She opened it and stepped up, assaulted by the smell of rotting wood that had baked all day in the desert sun. She walked through the house, stepping carefully over piles of dusty plaster, eventually reaching the living room where Winn had unceremoniously pulled her out. Dropping to the ground, cross-legged, she pulled off her backpack and set it in front of her. Inside she retrieved a flask, swallowing a couple gulps of protection, and then she reached for Lorenzo’s journal and placed it in her lap, observing the leather binding and scuff marks on its cover before she opened it carefully to the page showing the mirror. It became a point of meditation for a moment, then she closed her eyes and jumped into the River. Again the image shifted on the page, as it had done at Carma’s. It startled her briefly, making her wonder if coming alone to the house was a good idea. As she saw it settle on the page, her confidence returned.