Drive, Davis...Just Drive!
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The silver Cherokee was pulled over to the side of the road, but none of the occupants had dared to step outside. The landscape was dark, pitch black with only a few stars hovering in the night sky. Beams from the truck's headlights shone before the vehicle, only to disperse several feet ahead. There was a stillness about the area, smothering the natural calls of the wild usually found in cottage country.

"Aaachhoooo!"

The four men in the seats jumped, grasping their chests, slack-jawed and stunned. "Sorry," came Jimmy's voice from the rear.

Davis pulled himself together first. He turned off the ignition and waited, his hands in his lap, while he stared out the front windshield into the great ebon expanse.

"Try turning the car on again," suggested Bosco, his voice uncertain. "Then we'll know for sure if this is the right place."

Davis pushed the key into the ignition and turned. No noise nor movement came from the engine. "So, I guess this is the spot," he said, pulling out the key. He swallowed hard, reached for the door handle and slowly opened the door. Stepping into the night air, Davis could feel a chill run down his spine. He leaned back into the truck. "You guys coming?"

Quickly, Bosco and Carlos both scrambled from the car- not wanting to stay behind in the dead vehicle. Somehow, the idea of anything 'dead' was not boding well with them. They joined Davis on his side of the truck, standing close and hovering over a different shoulder of their friends.

Jimmy, rapidly trying to unravel himself from his cocoon of blankets, finally gave up and called for help. A moment later, Davis was at the back door untangling his friend and helping him out. This left Bobby alone in the dead truck.

"Yeah, like I'm really this stupid," he bemused to himself, opening his door and stepping out.

"I thought you said you were gonna stay in the truck?" asked Davis, a smile playing on his lips.

"Forget what I said," replied Bobby, taking up position amongst the group closely huddled around Davis. "Change of plans. I ain't staying here alone."

With the group united and sticking close, they slowly backed away from the vehicle. One by one they started to peel off Davis' back, and the newcomer to the area was finally able to stretch his arms. He stepped ahead and turned back to the group- huddled together, their eyes darting about feverishly.

"Guys," Davis said. "Relax. There's nothing here that's all that bad." He spread his arms and circled the spot, looking out into the night. He couldn't understand why he had been so scared a few minutes ago. It didn't seem all that bad. The area was dark, he'd give the guys that, but so was every other road at night.

It was a little cooler than usual, but again, nothing too surreal. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "This isn't scary at all," he proclaimed. "Where's all the fog and mist?" He waved his fingers, mimicking a man in fear. "Ooooooh, scary."

A fog ascended unto them.

It seemed to come from the ground up, circling their feet and winding it's way up their legs till the entire landscape was shrouded in a misty haze. Above them, the dark sky was barely visible and any trace of previous stars had disappeared. The five co-workers were engulfed in an eery predicament, all too familiar to four of them.

"You had to say fog, didn't you!" reprimanded Jimmy, throwing his arms in the air. "Now look what you've done."

Davis stood speechless, letting his hands caress the smoky gossamer around him. It was thick and relentless, like no fog he had ever seen. "That was spooky," he said, glancing back at his friends. "So, now what?"

"Now I hit you in the head," replied Bobby, waving the fog from his face. "For a minute I thought just *maybe* we'd be able to find the house without all this supernatural crap."

Unpleasantries now aside, they decided to do what they had come to do- find the house. They started walking away from the truck, abandoning their only link to civilization. As they stepped further into the fog, and away from the road, they could hear their footsteps change from shuffling on gravel to sloshing through mud.

"We just left the road," reported Carlos, proud he'd been able to detect it this time.

"Is that what the mud means?" asked Davis, looking back over his shoulder to the rest of the group. He'd been nominated point in an unverbalized vote. Actually, none of the others seemed to move unless he did first, so he really hadn't had any choice in the matter. But scared or not, Davis was still interested in seeing this house, so he trudged on.

After a few minutes into their journey, Davis stopped, causing his friends to collide with each other like railroad cars. He cocked an ear to the wind with intent. "Do you hear something?" he asked quietly.

"Panting?" chorused Jimmy and Bobby.

Davis shook his head. "No. It sounds like footsteps. Like someone's running."

The rest bent forward, craning to hear the sounds.

*Slosh. Slosh. Slosh. Slosh*

They froze, listening to the approaching footsteps. This was new. No one had heard this before. They stood, motionless and gripped in both fear and anticipation as the footsteps picked up speed. They were approaching fast and gaining in momentum.

"Oh, shit, this isn't good," breathed Bobby, remembering the last time he and Jimmy and been in this position. "Maybe it's Sarah."

Jimmy shook his head. "No. These sound like an adults. They're too loud for a little girls."

Carlos waved his hand at the talking co-workers and hushed them both. "Would you be quiet," he warned in a whisper. "Maybe they'll run right past us."

Stagnant and silent, they stood waiting to see what would emerge from out of the mist. Each man, eyes wide and with an ear to the wind, refused to even breath as they listened and waited.

"Aaachhoooo!"

The stillness was broken, and Jimmy found himself apologizing emphatically for the sudden scare. Then, they all reverted back to their silent statuesque positions. But this time it was different- no one could hear the approaching footsteps.

"Hey, Carlos, you were right," Davis said. "I guess they did just run past us." He turned around, ready to continue. "Which way was I going?" he asked over his shoulder. Jimmy pointed a direction, so Davis took the cue. He walked on, but stopped again.

A woman was before him, serene and silent. She just stood there, watching with curious eyes as the five men grabbed their chests.

"Is she one of them?" asked Davis from the corner of his mouth.

"That's the one I threw water on," replied Jimmy, leaving the rest of the group and cautiously taking up position beside Davis. "And the one we thought we hit with the car."

Bobby threw his arms in the air. "Here we go again with the 'we'!. You were driving. You hit her...Not me. I'm just an innocent bystander."

"Shut up, Bobby," Carlos said, also stepping up to Davis and Jimmy. He looked the woman over, noting her elegant gold gown and black dress shoes. Her neck was enjeweled with a silver amulet dangling from a thin chain. "Yep, she's the one I saw in the parlor."

Bosco just breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god she's not the one from the painting," he said. "I don't think I could stand for that again."

Davis looked back at him, his brow furrowed. "You know, I'm beginning to believe the rest of the guys and their stories, but this painting woman...She still sounds fishy to me."

"Why doesn't someone ask her what she wants?" Jimmy said, pushing Davis out front.

"Why me?" he retorted, stepping back.

"You're the one that wanted to come and experience this," replied Jimmy. "So go experience." He pushed him forward again.

Davis stumbled into the woman, but she caught him before he fell. "My poor baby," she cooed, an endearing smile etching across her face. She raised her hands in a beckoning embrace. "You must be more careful."

Davis blushed despite himself and kicked absently at the mud. "She likes me. She called me baby."

The woman stepped forward, her arms outreached before her. But she brushed past Davis and went straight for the one blowing his nose. "My poor child, you must come in from the cold. You'll catch a death."

Davis' face dropped as the rest couldn't help but laugh. The woman coddled Jimmy's head in her chest, patting his hair motheringly. "What have I told you about playing in the rain?" she continued, snagging Jimmy away from the group.

The firefighter was lost momentarily in the comforting embrace, but once he had regained his senses- which occurred after a forceful sneeze, he pushed her off and back stepped to the group. "No," he urged, arms waving. "You ain't sucking me into you freaky world."

But Davis, having gotten over his rejection, was beginning to see some fun in this. He leaned into Jimmy and whispered in his ear. "Just play along," he said. "Maybe she'll take us to the house."

"After all this, you still want to see the house?!" cried Bosco, his arms spread in astonishment.

Davis smiled a yes, so Jimmy stomped his foot and played into the game. He let the woman coddled his head once again as she drew him into her embrace. Davis, Carlos, Bobby and Bosco hung a few steps behind, following the two further into the fog. And every so often, Jimmy would sneak a look at them over his shoulder, only to find them giggling and mimicking.

After several minutes, the fog began to thin. They had arrived at the clearing where the ominous house stood surrounded by dense trees and darkness. Having already experienced it's awesome appearance, Bosco, Carlos and Bobby continued to follow Jimmy and his nursemaid towards the entrance. But Davis stood back to stare at it's almost grotesque presentation.

The walls were constructed of stone, but mix-matched in a mosaic of odd patterns. Ivy crawled up the sides and over the roof, it's long tentacles twisting and turning it's way around the great structure. To Davis, they looked like they were trying to eat the house- creeping and scavenging across its victim before taking the initial killing bite. He shuddered and quickly ran to catch up with the others.

They were just entering the house through the auspicious oak door located in the center of the building's face. It was illuminated by one lamp, hanging over it's mantle and flickering in the wind. Davis was beginning to regret his decision to come- this was alarming than the guys had described.

But he was there now, and he couldn't show fear. He stepped into the house and joined the rest in the grand lobby. Bosco was standing in the middle of the foyer, his arms crossed and surveying the room. Carlos leaned against a wall, also watching the room for unexpected spookiness. Whereas, Jimmy was sitting on a long bench with the mysterious woman cradling him in her arms. Bobby was right beside them, tapping his foot irritably and rolling his eyes at the display.

A moment later the butler appeared, wearing the same suit and snide, bitter expression as before. He came from down the hall where the parlor was and stopped at the foot of the staircase. "The electrician, I presume?" he said to Davis, as deadpan as ever.

Four hands pointed in Davis' direction. Davis stood back, his eyes wide. "Me?"

The butler took this as affirmation and approached the shaking newcomer. "I suppose you will do the job accurately," he accused, glancing at the others with disdain. "The fuse box is right this way." He grabbed Davis' elbow and led him towards the door behind the staircase.

Davis struggled and pleaded with eager eyes to his friends, but they merely replied with waves and good byes. "You wanted to come here, remember?" said Bosco with a smile and little remorse.

"Go forth and tame the house," jeered Carlos.

"Watch your step," warned Bobby, waving like a baby.

"Aaachhoooo!" sneezed Jimmy, who received further cooing from the woman.

Davis, scowling and realizing he wasn't going to get any help or sympathy, turned to the basement door and decided to be the man they obviously couldn't be. He'd show these babies he could handle the house, and he didn't need them to hold his hand either. "Got a flashlight?" he asked, peering down the dark, winding staircase.

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(Read on...Please.)