Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror #1)

CHAPTER NINE

Despite the fact that we would be returning to the lighthouse later that evening, I was especially glad (and relieved) when we came back to the house to find it warm and cozy, with the twins playing video games and a giant mess of Chinese food on the kitchen table.

“Right on time!” Uncle Al exclaimed as we walked in the door. “Please sit, you must be hungry. You’re both pale as...ghosts!” He laughed at that last line.

I managed a wry smile and plopped down in the chair.

“Boys!” Al yelled at the living room, his voice booming. “Put down those video games and come eat your damn food!”

I heard the twins moan from the other room, and in a few moments they appeared, looking bleary-eyed as if they had just gotten up from a nap or a graphic-induced coma.

“Hey, cuz!” Matt slapped me hard on the back. He looked over at Dex then back at me. “This one of the ghosts you found at the lighthouse?” He exchanged a mocking look with his brother.

I rolled my eyes. “Har har. This is Dex. Dex, these are my cousins Matt and Tony.”

Dex gave them a casual salute and nod. “I’d ask which one is the evil one but you’re probably both evil. Am I right?”

Matt and Tony exchanged a worried glance but smiled once they realized Dex was kidding.

Tony laughed and looked at me. “Where did you find this joker?”

“At the lighthouse, sheesh,” Dex joked.

“Boys, sit and shut up!” commanded Al, throwing paper plates down on the table in front of us and keeping his eyes on Dex and the twins. I could tell he wasn’t sure how well his sons would mesh would Dex. Something told me that he had been in a similar situation before. The twins did seem volatile at times, but I didn’t know Dex well enough (or at all) to know what to expect from him either. “Expect the unexpected” seemed to be his life’s motto.

The boys sat down obediently and started scooping mounds of chow mein on their plates.

“Boys!” Al barked again. “The guests eat first.”

He shot Dex and me an apologetic look.

“Don’t worry about it, Uncle Al,” Dex said. I couldn’t help but smile at his choice of words. “Back where I come from, it’s customary for guests to eat last. You know, how like the lioness eats first before feeding her cubs.”

“And where do you come from?”

“Seattle,” was Dex’s sincere reply.

Al laughed. “Remind me not to eat at your house then!”

“Oh, but you’d be missing out. My girlfriend is an amazing cook.” He leaned back in his chair, the smug smile returning. His eyes sparkled brightly. I did not appreciate how much more relaxed, and adorable, he looked when he mentioned her.

“Girlfriend?” Matt questioned and looked over at me suspiciously as he handed over a carton of sweet and sour pork. I gave him a look, trying to let him know that Dex was in no way a love interest to me. “Is she hot?”

“Oh phfff,” I chided him. ”What does that matter?”

Dex looked at me, surprised. “Of course it matters.” He looked at the boys and Al. “For your information, yes, she is.”

Oh geez. Please don’t say it’s Jennifer.

“How hot?” Tony asked, goading him.

Dex pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and took out a wallet-sized photo. He handed it across the table to Tony, who shared it with Matt. I couldn’t see it from where I was.

Tony and Matt’s eyes widened. Even Al looked over and let out a low whistle.

“Seriously? This is your girlfriend?” Matt asked incredulously.

“Either that or it’s some random hot girl I’m groping in a photo booth. Still win-win.” Dex grinned, and for the first time I was not charmed by his smile. I felt low. Lower than cave dweller in a really low cave. I busily stuffed food in my face.

“She looks really familiar,” Tony mused.

“Well, she was in Maxim,” Dex announced.

I choked on a piece of pork at the same time the twins cried out “Maxim?!?”

I started coughing, my face turning red. Everyone turned to look at me.

“Are you OK, Perry?” Al asked, about to get up.

I nodded frantically and waved for him to sit back down. This was the last thing I needed.

The boys turned their attention back to the photo, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dex was watching me. I refused to look at him.

“Why was she in Maxim? Is she famous?” Tony asked.

“Ever seen the show Wine Babes? It’s on the Shownet website but also gets viewed a lot on YouTube.” Dex was still looking at me as he said this.

“No way!” Matt cried out. “I love that show! I mean, I’ve seen it. She’s one of the babes.”

“Is this the video of the girls with wine who recommended what McDonald’s hamburger it should go with?” Al asked. I looked at him, surprised. He gave me an explanatory look. “I don’t even know how to operate the internet half the time, but I’ve seen that show.”

Dex turned his attention to Al (thank God). “You have? That’s excellent! Good to know the demographic is broadening. Yes, that’s my girlfriend Jennifer Rodriguez, and I’m the show’s cameraman and music composer.”

“She’s your girlfriend? What the hell are doing with her?” Tony said, looking disgusted and obviously referring to me.

“Hey!” I exclaimed indignantly.

Dex laughed. “Management. Gotta do what the boss says!”

My jaw dropped. I looked at Dex, livid. Management? Boss? This whole damn show was his f*cking idea, excuse my language, that dirty stinking liar! >

But there was no one there. I shone the light in the direction of the noise but only saw deepening darkness.

I felt the immense unknown behind me. I whirled around to the other side. I hadn’t heard anything but had that feeling that you get when you’re watching a scary movie and the person goes into the dark room without checking the corners or behind them. You know that the minute you focus too much on what’s in front of you, something comes up and snatches you from behind.

To say I was terrified was an understatement. My arms and legs were tingling with a mad case of goose bumps. My breath was getting shorter by the second. I didn’t want to stay in that forest a second longer, but the open plain and roaring ocean didn’t seem like a great alternative.

The only thing I could suss out was that this path in the woods was, in fact, a road. I crouched down and examined the leaves. There were faint marks of muddy tire tracks on some parts of them and the path was wide enough for a car to drive down.

Maybe if I followed the road away from the beach, I would come across a main road or, even better yet, a house. Then I could call my uncle and get picked up.

But who was I kidding? Why didn’t I just call my uncle right now?

Excited, I carefully placed the lamp back on the dead tree’s limb and fished out my phone. I could call him to explain what happened and where I thought I was and everything would be fine.

Then there was Dex. I should probably wait around and see if I could find him. Better yet, I could call him too.

I dialed Dex’s cell number and put the phone to my ear.

It rang twice, then a click.

“Who is this?”

My blood ran cold. The voice belonged to a woman. She sounded like an old Ingrid Bergman.

“Hello? Is...Dex...Declan Foray there?” I asked, heart in my throat.

“No. He’s not,” the woman answered slowly.

“I—I’m sorry. I must have gotten the wrong number.” I looked around me and pulled my coat in closer against the darkness.

“It’s not the wrong number, dear. He can’t talk right now,” she drawled on, her voice sounding rather...wicked.

Ridiculous, I told myself. You dial the wrong number because it’s dark out, and you’re in the middle of a storm in the woods, and you get some old woman on the line who just wants to talk.

“You’re right. I do want to talk,” the woman continued. “That’s why I called.”

Had I just said that all out loud? I put my head to my forehead. It was clammy with cold sweat.

“I called you,” I said, barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry. I was calling for my friend Dex and I got the wrong number.”

I quickly hung up and stared at the phone for a few seconds. It was my familiar iPhone, filled with music and useless applications, but it felt alien to me.

I was about to press the home button to dial my uncle when my sight began to dim. I looked to the lamp; the flame was going out.

“No!” I yelled and plucked it off the tree. I frantically turned the knob, hoping it would release more gas or wax, or whatever was inside. If it didn’t, in a few seconds I would be alone in the dark again.

My actions did nothing. But just as the flame was almost extinguished, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.

I looked to my left. There was another lamp further down the road. It flickered just as the one I was holding went out for good.

I didn’t know how it happened to be alight like that. I didn’t know if there was someone down there who turned it on. Perhaps that person had been hiding in the trees the whole time, watching me. Maybe it was the old woman on the phone.

I shuddered at my morbid thoughts. I could either stand in the dark thinking about it, or I could move towards the light. At least in the light I could see what was trying to kill me. I know there was no indication that someone was trying to kill me, but whatever was going on was not normal, to say the very least. And my imagination and adrenaline were on maximum overdrive. I could almost feel a hand reaching out of the dark behind me and grasping my....

I didn’t finish that thought. I ran toward the next lamp until I was plucking it off the tree.

It was the same as the other lamp. The tree was the same as the previous tree. Had I ran around in a circle?

No, that was impossible. Thinking about it made my head spin. Lack of thought would serve me well and preserve my sanity.

With the lamp dangling from one hand, I decided to follow the road while I could and get the f*ck out of there.

I plowed forward through the heavy woods of wet fir and dying oak trees, musty smells rising up with each step I took. The path ahead shook with the sway of the lamp. The way curved and I was soon able to make out the depression that could have only been created by tires. My internal navigation system was placing me as heading northeast, which was the direction of Uncle Al’s and exactly where I wanted to go.

I didn’t even care if I left Dex alone on the beach. For all I knew, he could be back at the house waiting for me. Or not waiting for me and playing video games. Or back at his motel room talking to his hot girlfriend on the phone.

That last thought made me angry and I was happy about it. It was better to stew like a jilted teenager over Dex than it was to fully grasp the terrifying situation I was in.

I ran for what seemed like a couple of minutes, the road steadily curving into the dimness. Then, like before, the flame started to go out again.

“Oh, for f*ck’s sake!” I screamed, the strength of my voice surprising me. It was embarrassing in a way, yet I still hoped that someone was nearby to hear it.

I shook the lamp back and forth, screaming, “Fuuuuuck! F*ck you, lamp!”

Terror and temper at an all time high, I took the lamp and threw it as hard as I could against a tree. The glass smashed everywhere and flickers of flame splayed out onto the leaves and roots. For a minute there it looked like the whole tree would go up in flames; something that wouldn’t be all that bad. A forest fire would at least attract attention. But in the end, the leaves were just too wet and all light faded.

Tears formed at the back of my eyes. I wanted to crawl up into a ball and cry my eyes out. My heart was stressed, my limbs felt numb, and I wasn’t sure how much more horror I could take. I was lost in the woods, in the dark, with nowhere to turn.

The blackness was disorienting as well. Dizzy, I put my hand out for a tree to support me. But my hand hit something that was more soft than solid. Soft and warm. Like wool. Like a sweater. Like someone wearing a sweater.

My hand was on someone’s chest.

I screamed, retracted my hand, and started booking it down the path as fast as I could.

I was running blind. The ground was undulating and I could have smashed face first into a tree at any moment, but somehow my feet kept moving, one foot in front of the other. Before I knew it, I felt the wind in my face, the taste of salt in the air and wet grass beneath me.

Though it was in the opposite direction of where I was certain the road was leading, I was on the plateau again, where the lighthouse should be. I kept running until my feet started to slip; I instinctively knew I was near the edge.

I stopped, not a moment too soon, and put my weight back on my heels. If the wind wasn’t there, whipping off the waves and pushing me back, I probably would have gone over.

I could see the gleam on the crests of the waves below and grasped the height of the cliff as it dropped beneath me. I took in the deepest breath I could and said a silent prayer, willing myself not to think about what had just happened. Now that I was out of the woods, so to speak, and had found the coast, all I had to do was follow it with the ocean to the left of me, and there was no doubt I would come across my uncle’s house.

I exhaled and turned north, ready to jog back.

A light came on beside me. It slowly flickered to life in the empty dark.

I cautiously turned my head to my right and saw the lamp—that same oil lamp I had just smashed to ground moments earlier—floating beside me in mid-air.

But I knew better.

The lamp lowered and a face came into my view, lit up by the flickering glow. It was the face of a forgotten man. Dead and bloated. Skin was peeling off in oozing chunks; tiny lice crawled out of its ears and nose. I had seen that face before in my darkest nightmares. And now it was right in front of me.

“You dropped this,” it said, a low growl from its lipless mouth.

Whatever strength I had left at that moment, I used all of it to turn and run.

I made it several feet before the ground abruptly gave way, and I found myself airborne. I landed hard on the slope and tumbled down in dizzying circles.

Churning, rolling, falling and falling forever.

Until something broke my fall.

Someone.

They screamed.

I screamed.

I had crashed into them at full speed and was launched again, finally coming to a painful rest on top of a dune. My hipbone bore the brunt of my weight and I let out a yelp at the pain.

“Perry!” A voice yelled. It was also low and deep. I remembered why I was running in the first place. The face of that skinless, pussing man was everywhere inside my head.

I opened my eyes and tried to get to my feet as quickly as I could when a pair of arms came out from the night and grabbed me.

“Perry!”

It sounded like Dex. Oh God, I prayed it was Dex.

“Jesus, Perry. Are you OK?” It was Dex. He was on his knees leaning over me.

“It’s me,” I managed to say meekly. I could barely speak.

I felt him shuffle closer and put his hand on my face, feeling my cheekbones. “Oh, shit. I didn’t know where you went. One second you were beside me and the next I saw this light, so I went over to investigate it and you were gone. I swear, I only took two steps away from you and then I lost you. I didn’t know it would be so dark. I used my flashlight, but I couldn’t see shit.”

He was talking fast, his voice brimming with fear. “And I heard someone scream and I knew it must have been you. I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?”

He moved his hand up to my forehead and brushed my hair off of my face. It was at that moment that I noticed the wind wasn’t as intense anymore. The storm seemed to be passing. I could even make out the outline of Dex’s face, which was a major relief since I was still afraid of something else.

“Just my hip. And my sanity.”

He breathed out slowly. I saw his shoulders fall. He took his hand away from my face and gingerly placed it on my shoulder. My skin felt cold without his hand there.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice so low it was barely audible.

“Can we go home?” I couldn’t function like a rational human being out here. I felt like the wires in my brain had short-circuited and fried themselves.

“Of course.” He got to his knees and gently helped me up to mine. “Can you walk? Do you want me to carry you?”

I laughed despite myself. “You wouldn’t make it more than five feet without dropping me. I’m fine.”

He hoisted his camera onto his shoulder—I suppose I may have damaged it when I ran into him, but I honestly didn’t give a shit—and grabbed the crook of my arm with his other hand.

We walked quickly, raggedly, back toward the house. For the second time in a week, I felt like Uncle Al’s place was the most wonderful sight on Earth.