Drive Jimmy!...Just Drive!
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Bobby watched his friend disappear into the night, then turned back to the situation at hand- the lack of power. He returned to the parlor to find the once sleeping woman sitting up, lighting a cigarette. The elderly woman had joined her on the couch and was fussing over her decision to light up. The distinguished younger man had returned to his vigil at the fireplace while the girl, Sarah, had found something to play with over in the corner.
He couldn't figure this family out. A moment ago the man was spouting Shakespeare, and moments before that he was being accused of attempted murder...? And now they seemed like one big happy family. It looked to Bobby like a case of collective schizophrenia. He was beginning to think Jimmy had the right idea. But, he had promised the girl.
Bobby decided to check on the woman before going off in search off the fuse box. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.
"Yes, thank-you," she returned, taking a long drag of her cigarette. "I get excited very easily and I tend to pass out. I'm sorry to have bothered you."
"It's all right," answered Bobby. Since she seemed to be all right, and he had no intentions on finding out what had scared her- that seemed obvious, he decided to hurry. But one thing still bothered him.
"I was just wondering one thing," he added, scratching his head. "How did you know we were out there on the road? I mean, it seemed like Sarah knew where we would be. She just came running out of the fog like she expected to see us?"
Sarah turned her attention away from the object she found so interesting in the corner, and gave Bobby a mischievous smile. "I didn't know you would be there," she said in a sweet, innocent voice. "I just went running for help when I couldn't wake up mother." She batted her long lashes at Bobby and grinned. "I guess I was just lucky you were there."
"Yeah, lucky," replied Bobby, swallowing hard. He turned around to face the butler, or at least he presumed he was the butler, and gestured towards the door. "Can you show me where the fuse box is?"
"Right this way." The butler gestured into the hallway, so Bobby removed his jacket and draped it over the couch and followed obligingly.
Just as Bobby was about to disappear around the corner he looked back into the room. "I don't suppose any of you know anything about a car accident do you?" he asked, already knowing the answer. The occupants of the room stared back at him curiously, like he had just grown a second nose. "Never mind," he said shaking his head.
He went after the butler and was led through the dark hallway to a door underneath the staircase. It was a small door and he had to lower his head as he crossed the threshold.
"Is there anyone else in the house?" he asked.
"No," the butler replied sourly, then passed him a flashlight from a shelf at the top of the stairs and pointed down the spiral staircase.
Bobby took the light and began his slow decent. It wasn't until he was halfway down that he realized he was alone. He flashed his light back up the stairs to find nothing but empty steps- the butler had not followed. He shook his head. "Great," he muttered. "Now watch me get lost."
And lost he became.
Bobby had wandered around the labyrinth of a basement for over ten minutes trying to find the fuse box. He had turned so many corners, ran into so many dead ends, he was about to give up and return to the parlor. Also, the strong musty smell of the dungeon, that's what he was calling it, was making him nauseous. And he was getting sick of bumping into things in the dark.
He only hoped someone had put new batteries in the flashlight he was using, cause if it went out, he was sure people would find his dead, rotted bodies years from now in some small, bleak corner covered in cobwebs. The image sent shivers down his spine as he finally decided to call it quits.
Now, if only Bobby could find the staircase again.
After another ten minutes he finally found one. It was a staircase, but he wasn't sure if it was the same one he had climbed down. Either way, it was up and that was the direction he wanted.
He started his ascent, taking each step carefully as he trudged one foot after the other up the winding staircase. Each step creaked and moaned under his foot as he continued to climb. It seemed longer going up than it did going down. Bobby was sure he had climbed at least two stories when he finally came across a landing. He opened the door and peered out into an abandoned hallway.
He had no idea where he was, but he was certain he wasn't in the front hallway. Stepping into the hall, he scanned the area with his flashlight. It appeared to be some sort of corridor which ran in two different directions.
It was richly decorated with a crimson red carpet and dark hardwood walls and flooring. Spread out in intervals along the walls were oil lamps, but they were not lit- leaving the hall dark and portentous. The ceiling was high and vaulted, which left Bobby feeling smaller than he already felt in the great house.
"Hello!" he called, hoping to hear some sort of response to follow back. "I'm lost!" Bobby called again when he received no answer, except the sound of his own voice bouncing back to him.
*Damn.* He thought, and started down the hallway.
Having no intentions to return to the basement, Bobby decided to find another staircase. He walked down the hall bouncing the light of his flashlight off the walls. There were numerous doors, but all were locked when he tried to open them. At the end of the hall he could hear branches scrapping against a window and quickly picked up his pace.
Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder resounded throughout the old house and another flash of lightening lit up the entire hall. He caught a quick glimpse of a familiar young woman standing in front of the window at the end of the hall, but she disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared when the lightening dispersed. He flashed his light where the woman had been standing, but couldn't see her anymore.
With his heart racing, Bobby ran towards where she had once been. He tried both doors at the end of the hallway and found one that opened. Peeking his head in first, he stepped gingerly into the room. To his surprise a light was on. Upon closer examination he noticed it was a candle burning under a homemade light shade. It seemed extremely careless and hazardous, and he felt compelled to put it out.
Bobby crossed the room, careful not to trip. And as he blew it out he felt a sudden chill. Aside from the light of his flashlight, he was once again in darkness.
"Why did you do that?" asked a small voice behind him.
He spun around and aimed his flashlight in the direction of the voice. A woman in a light chiffon nightgown was standing in the corner looking at him with dismay. Bobby took in a deep breath when he recognized the woman from the road earlier. "I didn't know you were there..." was all he could muster to say in his sudden state of fear and shock. The butler had informed him that no one else was in the house, and as far as he was concerned, this woman constituted a someone.
"I wish you hadn't done that," the woman continued in her soft voice. "I don't have any matches to relight it."
Bobby didn't know what to say. His mind was racing with possible options, and the one most prevalent was GET OUT! Finally, he decided to say something logical. "It's not a good idea to leave a burning candle under fabric like that," he said, his voice quivering slightly. "It's a fire hazard."
He looked back at the extinguished flame and noticed it had suddenly sprang back to life. He shuddered and jerked his head back to the woman in the corner. She was gone.
Bobby spun around the room aiming his flashlight everywhere- trying to find the woman. But his search came up empty. With his heart trying very successfully to pound it's way out of his ribcage, he gave the candle one more blow and darted for the door before it relit itself again.
This was it for Bobby.
He ran down the hallway as fast as he could. Power or no power, the paramedic was leaving this place. Strange people was one thing, but disappearing ones- that was something all together different.
He ran past the open doorway where the staircase led to the basement and paused before shaking his head and continuing further down the hall. He came to a screeching halt as the wall to his right suddenly opened up and revealed another one. Without thinking, he bounded down the stairs and found himself back where he started- the front hallway.
With a sigh of relief, Bobby jogged towards the front door with every intention of continuing out into the night and back to the Jeep. He threw open the door as a crash of thunder filled his ears, and lightening lit up the front doorway. He saw a tall figure with no head standing in the rain sporting a long cape.
The figure suddenly reached for Bobby, so he jumped back and slammed the door shut. He stumbled backwards trying to aim the flashlight back at the door, and watched in horror as the knob turned slowly and the door creaked open. Bobby stood frozen with fear as the figure in the rain framed the dark berth.
"What the hell are you doing, Bobby?" asked the figure, stepping in from the rain.
"Jimmy?"
"Yeah, it's Jimmy. Who'd you expect, the Boogie Man?" the firefighter retorted, shaking the rain from the blanket draped over him. He had gotten soaked running back to the Jeep and decided to put on some extra layers to keep warm before driving back.
"At this point I wouldn't have been surprised," replied Bobby, brushing past his friend on his way out the door. He continued out into the rain a few steps before looking back. "Where are you going?" Bobby asked, shading his head from the down pour when he noticed Jimmy wasn't following him.
"I thought you were going to fix the power problem?" Jimmy yelled back, noticing the lights had not been restored. "Aren't you going to fix it?!" he continued, as he watched Bobby start down the front lawn towards the parked Jeep.
"Forget it!" Bobby yelled back. "I've had enough of this place. Let's get out of here!"
"What about your jacket?!" replied Jimmy, now noticing his friend's naked arms.
"You get it! I'll wait in the car where it's safe and normal!" Bobby exclaimed, throwing open the door and climbing into the passenger seat. He quickly locked the door behind him.
Jimmy shrugged. "All right," he muttered to himself as he headed down the hallway. When he got to the parlor he found the fire still burning, but no one was there. Bobby's jacket was folded neatly on the couch ready to go. Hesitantly, Jimmy walked over to retrieve it.
He shivered as the room grew cold- even though the fire was still burning strong in the fireplace. Jimmy noticed the pipe the man had been smoking earlier resting on the mantle giving off a slight trickle of smoke. It was still lit, but there was no one around to smoke it.
Jimmy didn't take the time to figure out where everyone had gone- he grabbed the jacket and ran for the door. As he rounded the corner into the hall he could swear he heard a small, childlike laugh emanating from the walls. Without another thought he warped to the front door and ran out to the Jeep; afraid to look back.
He jumped into his seat, threw the jacket at Bobby, and slammed the door shut. Then he pushed down the lock and let out a sigh of relief.
And when Bobby turned to look at his friend, he caught a glimpse out Jimmy's window. "Uh Jimmy," he stammered, his mouth suddenly dry and uncooperative. "Drive...Don't look, just drive," he ordered, starring in panic out the driver's side window.
Unable to resist the urge, Jimmy whipped his head around to see what had suddenly caused Bobby's face to turn whiter than snow. It didn't take long for him to become as enthralled by the view as his friend. And he suddenly found it very difficult to convince his muscles to move.
"Drive!" screamed Bobby, jolting him back to reality.
Jimmy flinched and threw the Jeep into drive. He pressed on the gas, causing the tires to kick up dirt behind them as they sped across the lawn. Driveway or no driveway, he didn't care. He just wanted to get out of there.
Meanwhile, Bobby kept staring at his sideview mirror in utter shock. The tableau was empty. There was no ominous house with ivy creeping across it's structure. There was no man smoking a pipe in a blue smoking jacket. There was no butler waving good-bye. Only a large empty clearing slowly being consumed by the thick fog rolling across the landscape.
"There's nothing there is there?" asked Jimmy, keeping his eyes glued forward.
"Nope," replied Bobby, joining his friend in his stare out the front windshield. "Nothing."
"I won't say anything if you don't?"
"Drive Jimmy...Just drive."
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~The End... Now go read the next in the series 'Drive, Bosco!... Just Drive!'~