Page 57 of Fated Redemption
Abby felt sorry for the smaller man. He was pale and nearly shaking.
“It’s okay, Ashers. I won’t let anything hurt you.” Rebecca wrapped an arm around Ashby and dragged him forward.
“Let’s do this,” Abby said, plucking up her courage. She and her men needed space and she wasn’t about to let a ghost keep her from what could be her dream home. She took the key that Ma had given her out of her pocket and walked past Rebecca and Ashby. She unlocked the door and let it swing open. A musty smell greeted them.
“I don’t like it.” Ashby quivered.
“Oh, Abby, look at the hardwood floors. They are in almost perfect condition.” Rebecca walked past the foyer into what looked like the parlor on the left.
“There’s no electricity, we’d have to have someone run a line to the house. That means there’s no appliances.” Abby made a mental note to ask Moe and Rhys what their carpentry and electrician skills were like.
“Here ghostie, ghostie, ghostie,” Rebecca called out.
Sebastian, Ashby and Giddey edged closer to Abby.
Rebecca turned and looked at them, her face beaming. “We should split up, we’ll cover more ground that way.”
“We’re going to stick with Abby,” Ashby squeaked.
“Yeah, she’ll need our help upstairs looking at all the rooms.” Sebastian explained.
Bullshit, y’all are sticking with me because I’m not inviting ghosts to start up conversations.
“Good idea. I got down here covered. Now, if I were a ghost where would I be?” Rebecca turned and started taking pictures with her digital camera.
“On that note, let’s go, boys,” Abby said, and started up the stairs.
Sebastian, Ashby and Giddey stayed close behind Abby as they made their way to the second floor. Once upstairs, even Abby had to admit Rebecca was right. The house was in surprisingly good condition for being so old. The detail in the woodwork alone was gorgeous.
“It’s actually really nice,” Giddey said, sounding as surprised as she felt.
“I know, I was just thinking the same thing.” Abby noticed that the second floor was divided by a large guest suite with bathroom. On the left of the guest suite was the master bedroom and bathroom complete with sitting room. On the right, there were three smaller bedrooms that shared a bathroom. Ma told her the third story was an open space that used to be a children’s playroom. She was hoping to turn that space into her office and research lab.
“You’d have lots of room here,” Ashby said, taking in the size of the bedrooms.
“Where do you think that door leads to?” Sebastian asked, pointing to the door at the end of the hallway.
“Probably the attic, like inBeetlejuice,” Giddey remarked.
“Yeah, the ghosts were in the attic in that movie,” Abby said, then realized what she said. Everyone looked at each other.
“That was just a movie, right?” Ashby asked, moving closer to Abby.
“Yup, Ashby, there are no such things as ghosts.” Abby nodded.
No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than they heard the first of five slams.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
One by one the opened bedroom doors slammed shut.
Abby tittered nervously. “That was just the wind, nothing to worry about.” Abby patted Ashby’s arm. A second later they heard five latches click open.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Again the five bedroom doors slammed shut.
“Okay, fuck this shit!” Abby yelled. When she turned, she realized the boys were already making their way downstairs. When the small wooden table at the end of the hall tipped over her nerve broke and she ran down the stairs behind them. She came skidding to a halt in the foyer. Sebastian, Giddey and Ashby were staring into the parlor with identical looks of horror on their faces.
