Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“It’s creepy, that’s for sure.” Nik closes his door and looks at the house, clearly having second thoughts. As a half-faery, he’s much more sensitive to the supernatural than the others in our party. “And it’s giving off bad vibes.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “There’s one dark energy that’s stronger than the others. It’s oppressive and intelligent.”
“Then let’s do this.” Ethan goes to the back of the Jeep and gets out two large duffle bags. I go around to help and grab an armload of pillows. Nik gets the sleeping bags as well as a bag of food.
“Welcome home,” Keith says, sticking to the rough script we came up with, going with the premise that we all are going to be moving in. There’s one large bedroom upstairs with an attached bathroom that Lauren had intended on living in during the renovation process. It was the first thing she tackled since it didn’t need a crazy amount of work to make it livable.
The room and bathroom have been cleared, cleaned, and disinfected, and while there’s no way I’m getting in the shower—both because it’s gross and there’s no hot water— but the toilet will get the job done.
“This place has so much potential,” Rene says, shining a flashlight around as she feels for the light switch on the wall. “It’ll be perfect for us.”
“It’s definitely big enough,” Ethan goes on.
“With Hill House vibes,” Nik mumbles and I shoot him a look, seeing that his discomfort is visible on his face. I wonder if he’s feeling the same sense of unwelcome as I did, like whoever or whatever is radiating dark energy doesn’t like nonhumans.
“It’s great, isn’t it?” Keith pushes his shoulders back and motions for us to follow him. “We can do the grand tour once we get our stuff set up.”
The stairs creak and groan under our weight, and the hall light flickers above us. The wiring in the place needs to be completely redone and I only hope nothing blows a fuse or starts a fire tonight.
“This is it,” Keith says, swinging his arm out in front of him. We go into the room and get started right away setting up. Ethan gets the air mattresses blown up while Rene and I hang towels and put soaps in the bathroom. I put two rolls of toilet paper on the back of the toilet and go back into the room, taking a minute to take it in.
It’s a rectangular room, with two windows. This would have been marketed as one of the “large studio” units, though it’s not even as big as my master bedroom. There’s a little kitchenette to the right, with one of the windows above the sink. There’s a stovetop with two burners and an empty space next to the counter for a fridge.
The same female energy I felt the first time I came to the house lingers nearby. It wants to reach out but it can’t. Because he doesn’t want the truth to get out. I blink and go about getting things set up. If the spirits suspect we’re here to do an investigation, they might hide. I want to draw them out and force them to confront me.
“You think the bed will go here eventually?” I ask, watching Ethan disconnect the motorized fan from one of the mattresses and move it into a corner. “Or maybe over there, once we get that counter and stuff removed, of course.”
“I kinda like the kitchen area in the bedroom.” Ethan hooks up the fan to another mattress. “We could keep pizza and beer up here and never have to leave.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “And after some marathon sessions we can refuel and go at it again.”
“Yeah, because pizza and beer are so hot to smell on your breath.”
He laughs and turns on the fan, inflating the second mattress. I put the pillows and sleeping bags on the mattresses and arrange a little nightstand area next to mine. I move one of the other bags over, carefully taking out just a few items and leaving the salt, iron fire poker, and other weapons hidden away. Ethan might have overpacked when it came to the weapons, but since the last time we went on a “ghost hunt” ended with us getting attacked by goblins, I can’t blame him for being overly cautious this time around. Though Hunter already canvassed the area and Keith and his aunt had been here before without getting eaten.
About twenty minutes later we’re all set up and I’m actually quite comfy in my sleeping bag, snuggled up next to Ethan.
“Oh, shit,” Rene huffs.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan and I ask at the same time.
“There’s no microwave.” She holds up three bags of microwave popcorn and then motions to Keith’s laptop, which is set up on a box in front of us. “Ya know, for the movie.”