I couldn't help but laugh. She was as flabbergasted about Inspector Pierce as I had been--and still was. I explained to her who Pierce was, and as much as I knew about him--which wasn't much. "And why he's after me, I haven't a clue. I am, however, sure he suspects me of something pretty serious. I only wish he'd come clean with me."
"That was a policeman?" Melissa asked in disbelief.
"Or something close to that," I replied. "He's pretty big stuff to be snooping around this hole-in-the-ground town." I didn't say anything to Melissa about my suspicions that Pierce was here because of something to do with Reed's death.
We found Sly and Tabitha napping in the living room upon our return to the mansion. My leg was hurting from the walk, though it wasn't nearly as bad as it was yesterday, so I sank into the leather couch at Tabby's feet and rested it on the cocktail table.
Melissa gave me a doleful look. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have let you go on that walk."
"Nonsense," I replied quietly, as not to wake our two sleeping friends. "It feels better now than before." It was a lie, of course. But I could see Melissa felt better--so the end justified the means.
"I'm going into the kitchen for something to drink,” she said. "Can I get you anything?”
I told her a glass of orange juice would hit the spot.
Tabitha sat up on the couch next to me and stretched. Her face was a little puffy from the sleep--and also, I thought, from breaking up with Randy. "Where did you guys go?" she asked after a long yawn.
"A walk." I paused, searching for the right words. "How you feeling?"
"You mean about Randy?" she asked. "I'm so sorry he caused you trouble. He won't be around anymore, though. That part of my life is over with."
He'll be back, I thought. No doubt about it. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for," I said. "But I have to admit I am glad you broke up with him. He wasn't good for you. Or for anyone." Right after that comment I realized I must have sounded just like Reed did when he was badmouthing Randy.
And as if to confirm that thought, Tabitha dropped her head and stared into her lap. "He wasn't always this way," she said, almost defensively.
Melissa returned with my glass of orange juice and sat between Tabitha and me on the couch. "What are we talking about?" she asked, feeling the discomfort in the air. "Or let me guess. You were discussing--"
"You know," I said, cutting her off. "I think I'll try calling Mrs. Klaus again."
Tabitha looked up from her lap. "Why?" she asked. "Is there a problem?"
"The pool filter is clogged," I said, lying--again. I would have to stop this. "No big deal." Actually, I didn't even know if pool filters could get clogged.
I pulled the phone number out of my back pocket, picked up the phone next to the couch and punched out the numbers. I let the other end ring ten times again before hanging up. "No answer," I said, beginning to feel even more uneasy. I was definitely going to have to talk with Mr. Klaus. It was already late in the afternoon, so I would have to wait for tomorrow to see him.
"What does a guy have to do for quiet around here?" Sly asked from the reclining chair across the room from us. He only had one eye open. But he was smiling.
"I have an idea," Melissa said. "Let's all go for a swim."
Sly closed his reclining chair and yawned. "Now that is what I call a constructive plan."
"Are you sure we can?" Tabitha asked. "With its filter clogged."
"What?" Sly asked, confused.
I glared at him. "We won't even notice it," I said. He appeared, at least, to have gotten the message. I would have to explain the lie to him later, though. "Last one to get changed and in the pool is a horse's behind." And I limped hurriedly toward the stairs.
Julie arrived about the same time as we were tiring of our afternoon swim. She stood next to the pool with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken tucked under her right arm. "I hope you guys are hungry," she said. "Or I'm going to be mighty hurt for my efforts."
"Last one to change and be sitting at the table is a horse's behind," I shouted, scampering for the ladder.
For the second time in the same day I was a horse's behind.
Later, as we relaxed in the living room after a filling meal (Sly even had unbuttoned his pants), Julie brought up the subject of Inspector Pierce--much to my chagrin. "He stopped by Dad's while I there," she said. "And he was looking for you, Stephen." She paused. "What exactly have you done?"
"When was this?" I asked.
"Oh, about a half hour before I got here," she replied.
Melissa said, "That was after we ran into him this afternoon. He knew where you were. Why would he go to Mr. Price's?"
"Well, he actually asked if you were staying there," Julie said. "I didn't tell him you were out here, though. There was just something about him that I didn't like."
"I know what you mean," Melissa added. "Stephen thinks that he suspects him of something."
Everyone looked at me for an explanation. I sighed. “All right," I said, relenting. "It seems someone name Del Smith was murdered a couple of nights ago. I arrived in town the night of the murder, and he questioned me about it."
They continued to stare at me.
"I didn't do it," I said.
They laughed. "No one thinks you did, Stephen," Julie said.
"I don't know," Sly said from his recliner. "He does have shifty eyes."
Tabitha hit him lightly on the shoulder. "Cut it out."
"Anyway," I said, "I think I’ll drop by the police station tomorrow and have a little chat with him." Right after I paid Mr. Klaus a visit, that was. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
"Anyone up for a set or two of tennis before the sun sets?" Melissa asked, changing the subject.
Everyone was, until they remembered my leg. But I convinced them to play doubles without me. After a couple of minutes of bantering, they left me to myself in the mansion. I watched them enviously from a back window for a few games, then made my way to the library. The room was filled with more than ten thousand books, and I was pretty sure that I would be able to find one to my liking.
As I limped down the east wing of the mansion, I began to feel a bit nervous. The logic center of my brain had already done its duty in convincing me that the ghost I thought I saw last night was only my overworked imagination, but there was still the matter of the unlocking/locking door. Add the fact that Mrs. Klaus had asked us here in the first place to see if it was haunted or not, and how could I not feel a trifle nervous? The library was well lit, however, and after closing its door behind me, I felt a whole lot better.
I ended a fifteen-minute search for the right book by choosing The Complete Tales and Poem of Edgar Allen Poe. He was famous for his horror stories, yes, but I planned on only reading his detective stories. I curled up in a comfortable chair and began reading "The Gold Bug." Harmless enough. However, by the time the other four had finished with their tennis, I found myself in the middle of "The Premature Burial." Not actually a horror story, but frightening enough in its own way. I heard my name called from the other end of the mansion and put the book back in its slot on the shelf.
Julie left early to get back to her dad, and the four of us remaining behind spent the duration of the evening in the living room talking about any subject that came up. Before long my fourth night in Dodsville came to a close. I went to bed at the same time as everyone else this time. Thoughts of the previous evening crept their way into my mind and no way was I about to stay downstairs by myself. I would get to sleep early and stay asleep until morning.
I made sure the closet door was shut tight, even pushing a chair in front of it. It would have been easier on me if I just moved to another bedroom, but, then, I would have had to explain my motive to the others. I would endure another night here. Then if anything else happened, I could change rooms tomorrow.
As I was unbuttoning my shirt just before crawling into bed, someone knocked at my door. Melissa stood just outside in the hallway,
and I asked her what she wanted. I thought that maybe she was here to ask me about the blatant lie I had told Tabitha earlier about the pool filter.
"You're not going to bed already?" she asked. She was still fully dressed. "It's not even eleven o'clock yet."
I shrugged. "Had nothing better to do," I replied. "Anyway, I thought you were an early-to-bed type."
"Not if I don't have to work the next morning." Then, after a pause: "Um, mind if I come in for a bit?"
"No problem," I said, standing aside to let her pass.
She walked by me and into my room. "I thought that maybe you wouldn't mind talking for a while."
"Fine with me. What do you want to talk about?"
She sat on the edge of my bed. "For starters, you can tell me what you're hiding from the rest of us. I know that--"
The closet door clicked, and I turned just in time to see it open the half-inch up to where it butted up against the chair.
Melissa looked at the door, then back at me. "What caused that?" she asked.
I walked up to the closet and pulled the chair away. I was glad that Melissa was here and I didn't have to deal with this alone. I opened the door the rest of way and looked inside. It was empty, as it had been before when I checked, except for a few dangling hangers. They wavered from the breeze I started from opening the door and clicked casually against one another.
"What is it about the doors in this place?" I said. "Or actually--" The problem was only with two doors: this one and the one down the west wing. I left the door open and turned to face Melissa. "If I tell you something, you promise not to tell the others?"
"Sure," she said. "What?"
"Last night I watched as this door opened by itself and the disembodied head of a most lovely woman floated out of it as though she were drifting on a breeze."
Melissa's eyes lit up in terror; then she broke into a smile. "Don't joke like that, Stephen," she said. "I was frightened enough about staying here when I found out Mrs. Klaus only wanted us to because she thought it was haunted. Don't start with the--"
"I'm not kidding," I said, cutting her off. "But she disappeared in a second after a lightning flash lit the room.” I paused a second. "And when I turned on the light, I discovered that the closet door was still closed."
"In other words, you imagined the whole thing," Melissa finished for me. "I bet it was from telling that ghost story about Wickerman's. You did get awfully worked up when telling about it."
"I convinced myself that, too," I replied, and then looked at the closet door. "But now I'm not so positive." I sat next to Melissa. "I made sure that door was shut tight just before you knocked on my door." I paused, pondering. Then, at length, I said, "I can see why Mrs. Klaus thinks her home is haunted."
"Yet," Melissa argued, "the closet door was shut all the time you thought you saw something coming out of it."
"The head of a beautiful woman--”
"So, it couldn't have happened. Right?"
"I'll agree that I most likely imagined the ghost," I replied. "But you must admit something is going on around here with the doors--specifically this one and one we had the adventure with in the west wing."
"So what are you planning to do?" she asked. "I can see that brain of yours churning behind your eyes. You're up to something. And I want in."
I looked at her in silence. What was there that I could do?
Melissa suddenly grabbed both my hands and looked directly into my eyes. "You really believe this house is haunted, don't you?"
This time I didn’t turn away. Something deep down in my heart wouldn’t allow me. "Remember, you're asking a guy who fell through a mirror," I replied. "Don't get me wrong. I’m not saying that it's anything more than just a couple of doors having faulty locks. What I am saying, however, is that maybe we should be keeping our eyes open for anything. That is what Mrs. Klaus is paying us for. Right?"
"I know, but there really is no way--"
"At the same time, I don't think we have anything to worry about. I mean, even if there are a few ghosts roaming the halls of this mansion, I still haven't heard of anyone being hurt by one."
"So, what do we do?"
"What would you say to the idea of going on an old fashion ghost hunt?" I asked, still grasping her hands. "You'd be with a professional. Retired, yes, but with experience."
"You mean right now?"
I stood, letting go of her. "No time like the present." I looked at my watch. It read half past eleven. "Or, actually, there's no time like midnight." I pulled her to her feet. "Come on. We have a half hour to get prepared."
"Prepared how?"
I smiled and pointed to my skull. "Mentally."
"What about Tabitha and Sly?" I could tell she was getting excited.
"We'll let them--"
Faintly, because the sound came from the other side of the mansion, we heard a door slam from somewhere on the first floor.
Melissa looked at me blankly, and then smiled. I had made this sound like a game on purpose, and I guessed it worked. "That sounded like our door," she said in a whisper, excitedly.
Twenty minutes later, as we walked cautiously down the west wing of the mansion, the grandfather clock in the living room began to chime. Melissa tensed a little, but smiled and relaxed a few seconds later--after the chiming had ceased.
"It's open," she said, referring to the door we had come to pay a visit. And it was--only about a foot, but definitely open. "Hadn't we shut it when we left the room last night?"
I couldn't remember for sure, but I thought we indeed had. We stopped a few feet before we reached the room. The door almost seemed to be inviting us to enter. Beyond it the room lay in complete and silent darkness.
"Well," I said, taking a deep breath. "Let's do what we’re here for.”
We took one step toward the door, and it slammed shut in our faces. Invitation canceled.
Melissa jumped back a step, reflexively. I remained frozen where I stood.
"Seems to me," I said at length, after my heart dropped down out of my throat and back into my chest, "what we have here is a door that opens and closes by itself at will." No wonder Mrs. Klaus ran away with her tail between her legs, I thought.
"What do we do now?" Melissa asked. She didn't seem to be all that frightened, considering the circumstances. Astonished would be a better word, but not quite right.
We can get the hell out of here, I thought. We can pack our fucking gear and dump this idea. We can forget the deal and blow this fucking joint.
But what actually came out of my mouth was not so elaborate: "I don't know. What do you think we should do?"
"Up in your room a while ago," she retorted, "you said you were an expert on these things."
"I lied. Reed was the expert. I simply followed orders."
Throughout the entire preceding discussion, neither one of us had taken our eyes from the door. I took a deep breath, ran a hand through my hair, and reached for the knob.
"Wait!" Melissa admonished in a hoarse whisper. "Did you hear that?" Now, she did look frightened.
I took a step back. "No." My heartbeat picked up speed again. "What?"
"That."
This time I did hear it. Someone was speaking, albeit very quietly, from the other side of the door.
"Let's get out of here," Melissa whispered at my side.
"Just a second," I replied, also in a low whisper. I stepped softly up to the door and pressed my right ear against the wood grain. And waited for the voice to repeat itself.
I didn't have to wait long. It was garbled, as if to disguise the voice, and the wood of the door helped to drown it out. But someone was speaking on the other side of the door. "Stay. . . away. . . from. . . her. . . Stephen."
I shot back from the door as though I had received an electrical shock.
"What?" Melissa asked, grabbing tightly onto my arm.
"It knows who I am," I replied. "It said my--" Wait a minute. "Stay away from her."
"What
?"
"That's what the voice said." I breathed easier. "Randy is in there, trying to scare me away from Tabitha."
She loosened her grip on my arm. "Are you sure?"
"Who else would tell me to stay away from her?" I asked. "It has to be him." I walked back to the door. "Give it up, Beliwitz," I said loudly. "We know it's you." I waited for his next move.
Nothing happened.
"Come on out, Randy," I persisted, standing ready at the door in case he came barreling out, sporting for a fight.
Nothing.
"All right," I said at length. "Then I'm coming in." I reached for the knob and whipped open the door--and took two steps back.
The left side window was open, and the drapes around it fluttered in a slight breeze. The light from the hallway penetrated deep into the room, showing us that no one was in there. At least, no one was standing out in the open.
"Randy?" I asked, hesitantly.
Just the flutter of the drapes.
I reached quickly around the corner and flipped on the light switch, half expecting Randy to grab my arm and break it.
I stepped silently into the room. No one was hidden up against the wall. That left the one closet to my right. Melissa kept a hand on my shoulder as she followed me to that closet. When we stood in front of it, I waved Melissa aside. Then, without an utterance, I flung open the door.
Empty. Again some hangers clanged quietly amongst each other, as if excited to see me.
"He's gone," I said, turning to Melissa. "He must have climbed back out the window while we were telling him to step out into the hall."
She walked up to me and grabbed my hand. "You sure it was him?" she asked, staring into the empty closet. "I mean, are you really sure?"
"He told me to stay away from Tabby," I replied. "So it had to be him. Right?"
She didn't reply.
CHAPTER NINE:
The Accident
Later, as I lay in bed, I couldn't seem to get my mind off Melissa. After the incident with Randy, we had spent the next hour together. We didn't want Randy sneaking back in while we slept, so we went through each room and made sure that all the windows and doors were securely locked. With a flashlight I discovered in a kitchen cabinet, we walked hand in hand around the grounds. We saw no sign of Randy--or anyone else.
The Revenant: A Horror in Dodsville Page 16
