Storm Read online

  A cool breeze drifted across my shoulders and I noticed Maggie shudder. “Did you feel that?”

  “Why do I get the feeling that this is where all the patients came to die?”

  I shook my head slightly. “They were already dead when they got here.”

  “Okay, I think I’m officially creeped out.”

  “So we can leave now?”

  “Hell yes.”

  We spun around just as something drifted past us, gone as quickly as it came. My heart raced out of control and I searched in the dark for Maggie’s hand. She clasped onto mine, and together, we stood there, waiting for whatever happened next.

  “I suppose this would be a bad time to tell you that I started having contractions when we got to the house,” she whispered.

  The slamming of the dumbwaiter doors had us jerking at the sudden noise with a screech. The sound of running filled the room and as Maggie held her phone up to shine the light around the room, she pulled a gun from her back and handed it to me.

  “What is this for?”

  “It’s either us or them.”

  “They’re already dead,” I pointed out. “I don’t think shooting them is going to do any good.”

  “Maybe not, but it’ll sure make me feel better.”

  There were noises filling the room, each from different directions. I couldn’t keep track of where to look next. Wisps floated through the air that I knew Storm would tell me were dust particles. I knew better. They were the ghosts of the men and women that were burned down here. And what of their ashes? Were they ever properly buried? Through heaving breaths and frantic searching of the room, I kept my body snug against Maggie’s. “Do we head for the dumbwaiter or find another way out?”

  “Um…”

  I held the gun steady, not even knowing how to use it, and tried to find whatever was making all the racket down here. “Any day now,” I said urgently.

  “I’m thinking,” she shouted.

  “Think faster or we won’t make it out of here to have that baby.”

  She squeezed my hand tight and took a deep breath. “They always take at least twelve hours to be born. I have plenty of time.”

  “Right, plenty of time.”

  “Hey, it could be worse. My water could break.”

  I flinched as something slammed to my left, spinning to fire if needed. “Okay, there has to be another way out of here. They wouldn’t have access only through the tunnels, right?”

  “Right,” Maggie nodded.

  “So, we should move to my left and head for the far wall. Once we get there, we’ll search for a door.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Maggie and I moved along the wall. Something slithered across my hand and I screamed as I shook it off, trying not to lose my mind.

  “What was it?”

  “I don’t know. A snake, a ghost, hell, it could have been a rat. This is insane. I’m insane! Why did I let you talk me into coming down here?”

  “You’re insane?” Maggie exclaimed. “I’m pregnant and I talked you into coming down here to go exploring tunnels. I think I win the award for the insane. But if you tell Sebastian that I said that, I’ll tell him that you dragged me down here against my will at gunpoint.”

  I snorted and felt my way to the corner. “Yeah, I’m sure he’d believe that. I haven’t known you more than twenty-four hours and I already know you’re certifiable.”

  A howl sounded behind us and my breath caught in my throat. I slowly turned at the same time Maggie did. There was transparent whiteness slowly moving toward us from the far wall.

  “Still think there aren’t any ghosts down here?”

  “Okay, I’m convinced. You’re right and I’m wrong. Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

  We turned and ran hand in hand through the darkness. My other hand was latched onto the wall, searching for anything that would lead us out of here. Finally, after what felt like an hour, I felt a crack in the wall.

  “Here!”

  I placed Maggie’s hand on the crack so she could feel it also. Our breathing was so heavy and loud that I couldn’t even hear her when she spoke to me. All I could think about was getting the hell out of here.

  “There’s no latch,” she shouted.

  No, this had to be it. It was the outline of a door. It had to be here. “Push!”

  We both threw our weight against the door and shoved. I felt a little give and pushed even harder. Slowly, the door started to push open. When we were far enough in, we slipped into the other room and shoved the door closed. Spinning around, I leaned heavily against the door, trying not to sink to the floor on my shaky legs.

  “They’ll stay on that side, right?”

  “Sure,” she nodded. “Ghosts can’t go through walls.” She held up her light, but it wasn’t necessary. On the far side of the room was some kind of brick wall and above it was a roof that was caved in. Light shined inside.

  “Finally!”

  We raced over to it, but groaned in frustration when we saw how high up the wall went.

  “How are we going to get out of here?”

  “I’ll have to call Sebastian,” Maggie groaned. “I’m not going back through the house of horrors.”

  “Oh, thank God.”

  She dialed Sebastian, putting him on speakerphone so she could keep her flashlight shining into the rest of the room. It didn’t matter that we had light pouring in on us. There was a whole room of darkness down here with us and we had no idea what happened in here.

  “Freckles, where are you? I thought you were just driving Jessica home.”

  “Um, about that…”

  I heard his groan and then I heard another voice. “What’d she do now?”

  “Sinner,” Maggie laughed nervously. “I’m kind of stuck and I need help.”

  “Of course you do,” Sebastian said.

  “Hey, come on, Cap. This is Freckles we’re talking about. You should have known that she wouldn’t be gone just a few minutes when she heard haunted house.”

  “Most people would stay away when they hear that,” Cap argued.

  “Well, Freckles isn’t most people. Just be glad she hasn’t gone into labor.” There was a pause and I waited for Maggie to say that she was in fact in labor, but she stayed quiet. “You aren’t in labor, are you?”

  “What?” Maggie laughed. “No, do you really think I would do anything to put myself into labor?”

  Again it was quiet on the other end.

  “Hello?” Maggie asked through the phone.

  “Yeah, Cap’s consulting his list. Doesn’t want to say the wrong thing,” Sinner said.

  I gave her a funny look, but she waved it off.

  “Just forget about the list. Jessica and I are stuck in some creepy room underground. There’s a hole in the roof, but it’s too high for us to climb out of.”

  “Do you know where on the property?” Cap sighed.

  “Yeah, I drew out a map as I ran through the dark tunnels underneath the house. I even went to the town hall and had them draw up plans. You should be able to get a copy if you want to swing by there first.”

  “I’ll do that. I’ll even stop and get you some lunch first. God knows how cranky you are when you haven’t eaten.”

  “Yeah?” Maggie snapped. “Then make sure to grab me a cookie too. And Jessica wants a latte. Extra whip with skim milk.”

  “I’ll pick some up for the ghosts too. I’m sure they’d love a hot beverage about now.”

  “I’m sure they would,” Maggie snapped. “Maybe that would convince them to stop chasing us! Now get your ass over here!”

  She hung up the phone and closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. I stared at her, a little in awe of how she just handled her husband, and also a little frightened that I was the one stuck down in the dark with her.

  “Everything good?” I finally asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” she snorted. “I get a little sarcastic when I get all hyped up.”


  “You don’t say.” We sat there for a few minutes in silence, just staring into the darkness and praying that we didn’t see anything else paranormal. Maggie would wince every once in a while, but she never made a peep. Finally, not being able to take the silence anymore, I turned to her. “He isn’t actually going to stop for lattes is he?”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Cap

  “Now, let’s think this through, Cap. Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

  “Like what?”

  I rushed out of the office, fury building inside me with every minute. My wife had done it again. She had run off to an old estate and decided to explore. When she was nine months pregnant.

  “Like…pretty much anything that’s running through your mind right now,” Sinner said. “I know you want to strangle her, but try to think rationally.”

  “This is Freckles.”

  “Right…okay, let me do the talking and you just hang back.”

  “And what good would that do me? You know that she’ll manipulate you just as much as she will me.”

  “Cap,” Sinner placed his hand on my chest, stopping me from heading to the elevator and driving over to the estate to kill my wife. “Believe it or not, there are a few things that I have more control over than you.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  “Like my dick. She can’t manipulate that. And…well, I can’t think of anything else right now, but I know there’s more.”

  I took a deep breath and blew it out. “Fine. You can deal with Freckles.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  “But if she pulls any shit, I’m smacking her ass.”

  Sinner cleared his throat and took a step back. “Right, well, that’s all up to you. I’m not really into spanking your wife. It doesn’t really do anything for me.”

  We made our way to the elevator and waited as it came to our floor. After a moment, Sinner leaned over and whispered to me.

  “Honestly, I never would have pictured that in your relationship.”

  “Pictured what?”

  “You know,” he grinned.

  I turned to face him and crossed my arms over my chest. “No, apparently I don’t.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say Freckles never struck me as the submissive type. Unless, you’re the submissive in your relationship. I could definitely see that.”

  “Sinner, what the fuck are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the status of your relationship in the bedroom. You know…” He looked behind us and leaned in again. “That she would dominate you in the bedroom. Does she use a whip?”

  I stared at him for a moment and then let it fly. My hand snaked out from behind my back and slapped him upside the head. He flinched and stepped away from me.

  “What the fuck was that for?”

  “You’re a dumbass.” The doors opened and Thunders and Tacos stood there, probably just finishing up training based on their appearance. “Good. Just the man I was looking for. Come on, your woman went exploring in the tunnels with my very pregnant wife.”

  Thunders groaned and Tacos grimaced.

  “You don’t…I mean, we don’t have to go looking for them, right?” Tacos asked.

  “I thought you liked this chick?” I asked Tacos.

  “Well, yeah, but ghosts are scary as shit.”

  “There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Storm said.

  “Isn’t it a little dangerous for your wife to go traipsing through the tunnels?” Tacos asked.

  “If there’s one thing you’ll learn about Freckles, it’s that she doesn’t really give a shit what is or isn’t good for her.”

  We rode the elevator down and loaded into two SUV’s, Sinner in mine.

  “So, what’s our plan of attack?” Sinner asked.

  “What do you mean?” I asked incredulously. “You said that I needed to let you handle Freckles. I’m too emotional. I’ll fly off the rails in a rage and kill her before I can even get her out of the house!”

  “Okay, in my defense, I only said that I would handle Freckles. While the rest of that shit is true, I wouldn’t dare say that to you.”

  “Yes you would.”

  “You’re right, I would, but I didn’t think of it. The point is, she’s your wife. You know her. We have to think logically here. If we handle this wrong, one or both of us is going to end up in a world of shit.”

  “It can’t be worse than anything I’ve ever dealt with.”

  He snorted and shook his head. “Remember what it feels like to have that feeling of your balls being sucked into a vacuum cleaner?”

  “Uh…can’t say I do.”

  “Well, imagine that, only they’re being twisted and yanked on until you’d rather cut them off yourself than deal with the pain any longer. And just when you think Freckles is coming to help you, she’ll pull the pin on a grenade and tape it to your dick just to take away any shred of your dignity. That’s what Freckles will do to you if you fuck this up.”

  “If I fuck this up?” I shot him an incredulous look. “How is it that I’m the one that would be guilty here? She’s the one that can’t control herself.”

  “Are you gonna tell her that? Cuz I could see that going really well. You’ll yell at her and tell her that she’s the one that fucked up and then I’m the one that’ll end up with a broken leg or something.”

  “Why would you end up with a broken leg?”

  “Because that’s how this relationship works,” he practically shouted. “I’m not in it, but you two use me as some kind of therapy outlet.”

  “Name one time that’s happened.”

  “The first time Maggie was pregnant,” he ticked off on his fingers. “When you and Maggie were dating and you thought I was trying to make a move on her. When she ran off to New York and I got dragged into it. Do you remember her having a baby on the side of the road? Because I remember that day very well and the punch that went along with it.”

  I thought about it and it was true. Wherever Maggie and I were, Sinner didn’t seem too far behind. Which usually led to him getting drawn into our arguments. “Fine, it’s possible that you have had the misfortune of being involved in our spats.”

  He snorted, shaking head slightly. “Anyway, back to the problem at hand. Here’s what I’m thinking. What you need is to make Freckles realize that she’s fucked up. I mean, when you say to her that she made a mistake, she gets her back up against the wall and goes all psycho Freckles on you. I’m telling you, she’s probably got grenades shoved between her boobs or something.”

  “They wouldn’t fit. Have you seen the size of her breasts right now?”

  He snorted, “Have you seen Freckles in general? Let’s face it, when she’s pregnant, there’s nothing small about her.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Just don’t say that shit to her. I’ve already gotten myself in too much trouble over the years.”

  “Ditto. Alright, so anyway, what I propose is that we scare the shit out of her. You know, she’s already freaked out about being in a haunted house and stuck in this room. We send Tacocheese and Thunders into the house and through the tunnels. They make a commotion, maybe send some flour up into the air to freak them out, and maybe make some spooky noises. She’ll never do that shit again.”

  “Because she heard spooky noises,” I deadpanned.

  “I’m telling you, scare the shit out of her and set that woman straight. She’s been running the marriage for too long. It’s time you put your foot down and tell her who’s in charge.”

  “Sinner, may I remind you that I impregnated my wife without her permission and plan to do so again in the future?”

  “What’s your point?”

  “My point is that I’m the one running this marriage.”

  “The only thing you’re running is yourself. Into an early grave. And it just so happens that we’re on our way to a haunted house. Maybe there’s a plot open for you.”

  I pulled into the drive of the
estate and put the truck in park. “Scaring the shit out of my very pregnant wife is a good way to put her in labor. How about we try to avoid that?”

  “Fine, play it safe like you always do. Just remember to get a steel cup for your balls.”

  I got out and slammed the door. Taking out my phone, I quickly pulled up the tracking app and we all started our way across the property to where the dot led me.

  “I found the hole,” Storm shouted. I rushed over and looked down in the huge hole.

  “How did you find us so fast?” Freckles asked.

  “Your chip.”

  She thrust her hands to her hips and glared at me. “If you knew you could track me, then why the hell did you have to do all that back and forth about where we were?”

  “What can I say? I like to rile you up.”

  “Well, you’d better figure out how to get us out of here or there’ll be one more human and she’s gonna be really riled up.”

  “What?” I asked in confusion. “Is someone else looking for you?”

  “No, dipshit! I’m about to have a baby.”

  “Hey,” Sinner pointed at her, mouth gaping. “You said that you weren’t in labor.”

  “Well, I lied.”

  “Hey,” Jessica snapped before I could start yelling liar, liar pants on fire. “Can we just get out of here? Her contractions are coming faster and unless your wife just peed herself, her water just broke.”

  “Shit.” I glanced around the property, trying to find something that we could use to help her out, but the hole was too fucking deep to just give her a hand out. “We need to get the truck and use the winch.”

  “The winch won’t be long enough,” Tacos said. “We’ll need to attach a rope to the end and then make a pulley out of it. We could attach a harness to the end.”

  “That’ll take too long,” Sinner pointed out. “Cap should just belay down and then we’ll pull them up with Freckles on his back.”

  “Have you seen the size of her stomach?” I asked. “How the fuck am I going to carry her up on my back?”

  “Hey,” Freckles shouted from below. “I heard that.”

  “So, we send Tony Tacos and Thunders back through the tunnels with them to get the girls out safely. Makes more sense than trying to pull her out.”