Chapter 28: Chapter 22 – Screams in the Night – part 1

"Did I make too much?" I looked at the still half full pot of spaghetti.

Janet giggled, "Well, Aife's group is still exploring, but... yeah, you made too much."

I frowned, "I wonder if the show team wants any." I was sure there was a bunch of people outside messing with us. I now knew from the girl’s younger brother that I hadn’t been the only one hearing or seeing things. His story about a ghostly apparition reaching for me along with his sisters account of what she heard upstairs confirmed that. I only asked because I didn't want the food to go to waste. I didn't expect that half the girls would refuse to eat it. They just looked at me like I was a monster when I told them I made it for them. Instead, they made salads or ate vegetables.

Janet stood up and said, "I'll go check."

The boy, happy to help, replied, "Don't bother, the doors are locked." When we looked at him in doubt he added, “I wanted to check the root cellar, but we couldn't get out." I didn't give him a good look even though he explained why he screamed. My arm still hurt, and I wasn't sure if the man he said was behind me was real or not. Ok, there probably was but I didn't like being spooked like that.

“Well, I’ll just leave it for now and come back to clean up later. That way people can eat more if they get hungry.” Saying that, I got up to go exploring with my team members. I was going to have to be in the camera sooner or later. There was no getting out of it since I volunteered.

Janet told me where they explored before and led us to the library. Janet wanted to go room-to-room, but because she didn’t want to miss anything, she ended up spending a lot of time in any room she went into. So far, she had only been in two rooms due to her slow pace.

We headed for the library, but it wasn’t like I imagined. Movies, like Beauty and the Beast, had me picturing an elaborate multi-floor room stuffed with books. Instead, I was greeted by a simple fourteen by fourteen room with homemade bookcases that were built into the walls. There was another door that led into a smaller room that was the old owner’s study. We didn’t go into the other room but focused on the books here.

The first thing I noticed was that while each bookcase held a certain subject, the lower shelves always held educational and story books. The top shelves held handwritten ones and after flipping through them, it became clear he had been some type of merchant. A pretty good one if the growing numbers on the pages were to be believed. We spent a few hours flipping through the books. Because they were in a specific order, I made sure to keep it that way just in case a future clue led us back here.

Since it was getting late, Janet and I went to go clean up, while Mary went to claim a room to sleep in. We walked into the kitchen, only to see that somebody had cleaned up already. As we walked to go upstairs there was a loud 'BOOM’, and the house shook. A male's voice sounded beside me, "Oh, the master doesn't like it when people take advantage of his hospitality." His voice was crisp and formal, but it was also cold and held a hint of anger. It was the first time the voices showed any displeasure. It sent a chill down my spine and for the first time since I came here, my confidence wavered.

We ran up the stairs and into a bedroom only to see two girls in disarray. They were the girls that had been with Lightning Johnson. Mary beat us here and was comforting the shorter girl’s friend. Janet went to join here leaving me with a girl that was sobbing on the bed. Snot and tears were running down her face as she stared at a wall.

Her mouth was moving but I had to put my head closer to her to hear what she was saying. I finally heard, “He’s gone. He’s gone.”

I figured she meant Johnson so replied, "I'm sure he's just exploring somewhere. Maybe there was a hidden room," I said but I wasn't convinced that was the case. Still, I tried my best to reassure the chubby girl that was still bawling. Janet and Mary had their hands full dealing with her friend, who seemed to be in shock. Leaving me to deal with the crying girl. I wasn't good at it and my words didn't help.

She looked at me and sniffled out, "You don't understand. The wall ate him!" Her voice raised and her eyes widened as she recalled what happened. I patted her arm and did my best to comfort her but wasn't having any luck.

I paused, thought of the boom we had heard and finally said, "That's just the shows effects. Look how nice this house is. If Johnson did something to destroy the show teams hard work restoring it, he probably got eliminated and pulled out before he could do anything else." But my explanation was more for my mom. I knew she was watching and if she thought I was in real danger, she would be concerned. I didn't need a hysterical mother when I went home.

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I don't know if it was my words or something Janet or Mary did, but her friend stuttered out, "He did hit the wall first."

I latched onto her words and quickly said, "See, I'm right. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Just when I thought I had everything settled, more groups came into the large bedroom. Everybody wanted to know what was going on and the chaos they were causing wasn’t helping. We finally managed to calm everybody down and spread out to see if we could find Johnson. It wasn’t until after eleven before we finally gave up. By then, the ghostly noises became more distinct. There were all types of them from heavy footsteps walking beside us, a woman’s startled yipe, a younger girl’s protest to a man’s advances, and a maid gossiping about a gardener. It really depended on where you were in the house.

But it was getting late and because he couldn’t be found, we decided to settle down for the night. I hadn't been the only one who said that it might be the show group looking for effects. Others were a little cold hearted and simply didn't care. They hadn't said it but their perfunctory search before giving up said it all. By the time we finally gave up, the two girls had calmed down enough to tell the others that Johnson was sure the gold was hidden in the master bedroom's walls and had decided to grab it before anybody else could. His attack had been the boom we had heard, but the wall had been undamaged. In retaliation, it consumed him.

There were enough rooms for everybody, so we didn't have to share, but most people were creeped the hell out, and didn’t want to sleep alone. Janet was one of those people and I volunteered to share the room with her. Sadly, the one we ended up in only had one narrow bed. Judging from the lace bed skirt and knickknacks placed around the room, I was guessing it was one of his daughters. Because the bed was made for one person, we either had to snuggle like lovers or one of us would have to sleep on the floor. I looked at the bed and then Janet. When I did, she asked, “Do you want the floor or the bed?”

I thought about it. What option was best for her future path? After a pause, I finally said, “I’ll take the bed tonight and you can have it tomorrow.” I wanted to let her fans see that she could deal with hardships. She just nodded in acceptance and tossed an extra blanket, we had found earlier, onto the floor and settled down for the night.

It was late so sleep came quickly. I felt Janet climbing into the bed but didn’t care. The only reason I hadn’t suggested it was because she spoke first about the floor. Her cold skin pressed against me, making me shiver. Did it get that cold? Now, I felt bad for letting her sleep on the floor and let her share my warmth.

The bed dipped and I woke up to the sound of a girl's cry. Startled, I sat up causing the covers to fall away from me. Her cry turned to a groan, and I saw my fallen covers now had the outline of another person's legs other than weren't mine. Her knees were bent making my legs hard to see but I was sure her waist and mine were in the same spot. We were just in different poses. Another throaty scream came from a different room, followed by a terrified shriek from a different location. Several cries joined in, combined, and filled the mansion as if I was at ground zero of a group murder.

I looked at Janet who was sitting on the floor. She had woken up when I did, but she wasn’t looking at me. Her gaze was on something behind me, and I twisted to see what it was. The pillow was still deformed as if there was still somebody laying there. As I looked, I could barely make out the shape of a translucent girl. She was young, maybe thirteen with curly brown hair. Her head shook as her mouth opened and shut, as if she was in great pain and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was currently sitting “in” her. Spooked, I tried jumping out of the haunted bed, but my body was cold and stiff, and ended up falling on top of Janet. We ended up in a tangled mess, but we quickly got to our feet and ran out the door.

We didn’t stop and were soon downstairs trying to open the door to get out. But like the boy had said, it was sealed shut. Even when the lock was open, it didn’t budge. The male voice I had heard earlier sounded behind me, “Young madam, it is unbecoming to be out of your room in such an outfit. May I recommend you return to your room before your father comes out of the study. It wouldn’t do for him to become angry with the big day approaching.”

Wait what? Father? Big day? Janet didn’t seem to notice and was still yanking on the unmoving door, but my mind reeled. When neither of us responded, the voice continued, “If you are unwell, I will send Sir Glen to check up on you.” I was wearing a yellow ducky night shirt that fell to mid-thigh and covered all my important bits, so I didn’t understand what he meant about my outfit. But the ghost didn’t sound upset. Instead, he sounded like an uncle giving advice.

“Umm, no, no, I will go back to my room.” I grabbed Janet’s arm and said, “Let’s go back, since the door is locked. The ghosts don’t seem malicious, and I don’t want whoever Sir Glen is to come visit us, just in case.”

But she wasn’t listening and yanked her arm free of my grip. I watched as she spun around and ran into the kitchen. I gave a “sorry” and followed her. I found her and the Professor at the back door, but like the front it wasn’t moving.

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