Johnny could feel the adrenaline slowly loosen its grip on his body as
Bruce guided him out the front door of the hospital. The shaking had
slowed to be almost undetectable, so he was finally able to lean on his
cane rather than relying on Bruce. He gave his friend a small nod to lat
him know he was fine to walk on his own, so Bruce reluctantly released
Johnny's arm.
"So what the hell happened in there, Johnny?" Bruce asked as soon as they were down the front steps. "And don't even try to give me that 'Nothing, I'm fine' answer that you're so fond of."
"That was going to be my answer. Have I really become that predictable?" Johnny joked, hoping to alleviate the grim expression on Bruce's face. Bruce didn't smile, only fixed his friend with a disapproving glare.
Johnny took the hint. "It's hard to say. Where to start?"
"You could start with why you were screaming bloody murder as soon as you touched that door. What did you see?"
"It was the same as this morning. But more."
Johnny stopped to think about how to phrase it so Bruce would understand, but the words seemed to escape him. Somewhere between his mind and his mouth, the words were getting lost, and Bruce was getting impatient.
"Care to elaborate?"
"It was the same as this morning," Johnny began. "The darkness, the cold, it was all the same. The voices were all around me, but there was something else. It was really confining. I felt trapped, like the world was collapsing down on me and there was no way out.
"Wow."
"That's not the best part," Johnny continued. "Then a door opened in front of me, blinding me. I looked up, and there was a huge monster standing there."
There was a moment of silence before Bruce spoke with skepticism saturating his voice. "A monster?"
"I don't write the visions, I just interpret them," Johnny said, raising his hands in innocence.
"Could this vision have some symbolic meaning?"
"It's possible, but if it is symbolic, I have no idea what it means."
"Of course you don't because that would make this a whole lot easier."
"Hey, I've got an idea," Johnny said. "How about you have the visions and I'll be the sarcastic, smart aleck, tag along this time around?"
"Someone's touchy," Bruce chuckled.
Johnny opened his mouth to counter with a wise retort, but stopped when he was a familiar convertible pulling into the long hospital driveway. Dana parked her car next to the two and stepped out. By the slight smile on her face, Johnny knew her trip had been productive.
"Have fun in town?" Johnny asked as she approached them.
"Tons," she replied with a grin. "You?"
"We had a great time," Bruce jumped in. "Johnny was having visions about monsters, and he got us kicked out."
"Monsters?" Dana asked, casting Johnny a questioning look.
"It's a long story," Johnny replied, then quickly changed the subject. "What'd you find?"
Dana noticed the obvious change of subject, but figured now wasn't the time to push. "I found where her old house is, and where her aunt and uncle are living here in Bangor."
"You've been busy in the short time you've been gone," Bruce said.
"I know how to make use of the time I have."
"What's the uncle's name?" Johnny asked.
Dana pulled her small notepad out of her pocket and flipped through a few pages before she found the answered she was seeking. "Alex Desmond. Why do you ask?"
"Another vision. I'll explain later."
"So what's the game plan, team?" Bruce asked.
"Well, since being here is kind of shot, let's go visit the aunt and uncle. She was Jessica's mother's sister, and she and her husband were the most vocal in trying to get the money from Jessica, so I figure they'd be a good place to start," Dana told them.
"Sounds good to me," Johnny said. "Let's hope they can give us some answers without giving us more questions."
* * *
Dana led the way into the center of Bangor. Johnny watched out the window of Bruce's PT Cruiser as the small shops that occupied the streets cruised past. While Bangor was a city by Maine's standards, it was still small and sleepy. The streets were basically empty except for the occasional shopper.
Dana continued through Bangor's center to the north, leaving the commercial part of the town to the residential. Bruce stuck close to Dana's bumper even though he could've left half a mile between them and still be able to follow, there was so little traffic.
Bruce kept his eyes on the road and very little conversation was exchanged between him and Johnny. For that, Johnny was grateful. The more he thought about it, the less sense his vision made. Trying to explain it to Bruce made it even harder to interpret, so he was happy to have the time to himself to think. Johnny sighed in frustration which caused Bruce to glance in his direction.
"Was that an 'ask me what's wrong' sigh, or a 'leave me alone' sigh?"
Johnny chuckled. "Neither. More of a 'why can't I figure this out' sigh."
"Ah."
A few minutes later, Dana pulled down a tree lined dirt road to the left and Bruce followed. The convertible kicked up a considerable amount of dust, obscuring Bruce's and Johnny's vision. Through the haze, Bruce saw Dana's yellow blinker flash on the right, then the glaring red of her brake lights as she pulled off the road.
Bruce pulled over and parked his car behind hers as Dana climbed out of her car. The two friends got out of the car as the cloud of dust settled around them. Johnny brushed the dirt off of his black leather jacket before walking over to Dana's car where the redhead stood waiting.
"This is it," she told them, waving a hand at the split level ranch across the dirt road.
"Not too shabby," Bruce commented at the nicely painted light blue house.
Johnny glanced around at the neighborhood, finally able to get a good look now that the dust had finally fallen from the air. It was a very quiet road lined with mostly maple trees. Spring had just begun to touch the branches, sprinkling them with green buds.
Johnny turned around, surprised to see a very familiar white, Victorian- style house behind him. There was a black wrought-iron fence surrounding what he guessed to be at least two acres of land around the large two story house. There was a large black chain and lock holding together a large pair of gates that led to a winding driveway to the front of the house. A "for sale" sign was attached to the gate with a phone number on it, but no other information was available on the sign.
"Is that-?" Johnny began to ask.
"Yes," Dana answered, anticipating his question. "That's Jessica Richardson's house."
"Creepy," Bruce commented.
"The house has been for sale since the family was killed, but no one has bought it. Local rumors say it's haunted," Dana explained.
"Haunted?"
"So the urban legend says."
"The yard is well kept," Johnny observed. "Someone's been caring for it."
"The family kept the gardening staff on, hoping to sell the property, but no luck so far."
"Is it the same staff the Richardsons had?"
"Some," Dana replied. "A good portion of them left after what happened."
"How do you find out this stuff?" Bruce asked incredulously.
"I have my ways," Dana said with a knowing smirk. "I can be very persuasive when I want something."
"So I've noticed," Bruce said, casting a glance as Johnny.
"What?" the blond said innocently.
"Nothing," Bruce smirked then turned back to Dana. "What do you have on this family?"
"Her name is Laura, his is Alex. She is Lillah's baby sister. They moved here twelve years ago because Laura wanted to be closer to her sister. They're the ones that tried to get the estate from Jessica, but obviously failed in doing so."
"You never cease to amaze me, Dana," Bruce said with a shake of his head.
"I'm just doing what I'm good at," she replied.
The two didn't notice Johnny as he walked past them up the cement walkway to the front door. He tried to think of what he was going to say to them, but nothing seemed to come to mind. He could hear birds chirping, but they seemed miles away. He concentrated on the quiet click of his cane against the cement as he ascended the stairs, hoping that the steady beat would steady his thoughts. He barely heard Bruce and Dana come up the stairs behind him.
Finally, Johnny took a deep breath and knocked.
"So what the hell happened in there, Johnny?" Bruce asked as soon as they were down the front steps. "And don't even try to give me that 'Nothing, I'm fine' answer that you're so fond of."
"That was going to be my answer. Have I really become that predictable?" Johnny joked, hoping to alleviate the grim expression on Bruce's face. Bruce didn't smile, only fixed his friend with a disapproving glare.
Johnny took the hint. "It's hard to say. Where to start?"
"You could start with why you were screaming bloody murder as soon as you touched that door. What did you see?"
"It was the same as this morning. But more."
Johnny stopped to think about how to phrase it so Bruce would understand, but the words seemed to escape him. Somewhere between his mind and his mouth, the words were getting lost, and Bruce was getting impatient.
"Care to elaborate?"
"It was the same as this morning," Johnny began. "The darkness, the cold, it was all the same. The voices were all around me, but there was something else. It was really confining. I felt trapped, like the world was collapsing down on me and there was no way out.
"Wow."
"That's not the best part," Johnny continued. "Then a door opened in front of me, blinding me. I looked up, and there was a huge monster standing there."
There was a moment of silence before Bruce spoke with skepticism saturating his voice. "A monster?"
"I don't write the visions, I just interpret them," Johnny said, raising his hands in innocence.
"Could this vision have some symbolic meaning?"
"It's possible, but if it is symbolic, I have no idea what it means."
"Of course you don't because that would make this a whole lot easier."
"Hey, I've got an idea," Johnny said. "How about you have the visions and I'll be the sarcastic, smart aleck, tag along this time around?"
"Someone's touchy," Bruce chuckled.
Johnny opened his mouth to counter with a wise retort, but stopped when he was a familiar convertible pulling into the long hospital driveway. Dana parked her car next to the two and stepped out. By the slight smile on her face, Johnny knew her trip had been productive.
"Have fun in town?" Johnny asked as she approached them.
"Tons," she replied with a grin. "You?"
"We had a great time," Bruce jumped in. "Johnny was having visions about monsters, and he got us kicked out."
"Monsters?" Dana asked, casting Johnny a questioning look.
"It's a long story," Johnny replied, then quickly changed the subject. "What'd you find?"
Dana noticed the obvious change of subject, but figured now wasn't the time to push. "I found where her old house is, and where her aunt and uncle are living here in Bangor."
"You've been busy in the short time you've been gone," Bruce said.
"I know how to make use of the time I have."
"What's the uncle's name?" Johnny asked.
Dana pulled her small notepad out of her pocket and flipped through a few pages before she found the answered she was seeking. "Alex Desmond. Why do you ask?"
"Another vision. I'll explain later."
"So what's the game plan, team?" Bruce asked.
"Well, since being here is kind of shot, let's go visit the aunt and uncle. She was Jessica's mother's sister, and she and her husband were the most vocal in trying to get the money from Jessica, so I figure they'd be a good place to start," Dana told them.
"Sounds good to me," Johnny said. "Let's hope they can give us some answers without giving us more questions."
* * *
Dana led the way into the center of Bangor. Johnny watched out the window of Bruce's PT Cruiser as the small shops that occupied the streets cruised past. While Bangor was a city by Maine's standards, it was still small and sleepy. The streets were basically empty except for the occasional shopper.
Dana continued through Bangor's center to the north, leaving the commercial part of the town to the residential. Bruce stuck close to Dana's bumper even though he could've left half a mile between them and still be able to follow, there was so little traffic.
Bruce kept his eyes on the road and very little conversation was exchanged between him and Johnny. For that, Johnny was grateful. The more he thought about it, the less sense his vision made. Trying to explain it to Bruce made it even harder to interpret, so he was happy to have the time to himself to think. Johnny sighed in frustration which caused Bruce to glance in his direction.
"Was that an 'ask me what's wrong' sigh, or a 'leave me alone' sigh?"
Johnny chuckled. "Neither. More of a 'why can't I figure this out' sigh."
"Ah."
A few minutes later, Dana pulled down a tree lined dirt road to the left and Bruce followed. The convertible kicked up a considerable amount of dust, obscuring Bruce's and Johnny's vision. Through the haze, Bruce saw Dana's yellow blinker flash on the right, then the glaring red of her brake lights as she pulled off the road.
Bruce pulled over and parked his car behind hers as Dana climbed out of her car. The two friends got out of the car as the cloud of dust settled around them. Johnny brushed the dirt off of his black leather jacket before walking over to Dana's car where the redhead stood waiting.
"This is it," she told them, waving a hand at the split level ranch across the dirt road.
"Not too shabby," Bruce commented at the nicely painted light blue house.
Johnny glanced around at the neighborhood, finally able to get a good look now that the dust had finally fallen from the air. It was a very quiet road lined with mostly maple trees. Spring had just begun to touch the branches, sprinkling them with green buds.
Johnny turned around, surprised to see a very familiar white, Victorian- style house behind him. There was a black wrought-iron fence surrounding what he guessed to be at least two acres of land around the large two story house. There was a large black chain and lock holding together a large pair of gates that led to a winding driveway to the front of the house. A "for sale" sign was attached to the gate with a phone number on it, but no other information was available on the sign.
"Is that-?" Johnny began to ask.
"Yes," Dana answered, anticipating his question. "That's Jessica Richardson's house."
"Creepy," Bruce commented.
"The house has been for sale since the family was killed, but no one has bought it. Local rumors say it's haunted," Dana explained.
"Haunted?"
"So the urban legend says."
"The yard is well kept," Johnny observed. "Someone's been caring for it."
"The family kept the gardening staff on, hoping to sell the property, but no luck so far."
"Is it the same staff the Richardsons had?"
"Some," Dana replied. "A good portion of them left after what happened."
"How do you find out this stuff?" Bruce asked incredulously.
"I have my ways," Dana said with a knowing smirk. "I can be very persuasive when I want something."
"So I've noticed," Bruce said, casting a glance as Johnny.
"What?" the blond said innocently.
"Nothing," Bruce smirked then turned back to Dana. "What do you have on this family?"
"Her name is Laura, his is Alex. She is Lillah's baby sister. They moved here twelve years ago because Laura wanted to be closer to her sister. They're the ones that tried to get the estate from Jessica, but obviously failed in doing so."
"You never cease to amaze me, Dana," Bruce said with a shake of his head.
"I'm just doing what I'm good at," she replied.
The two didn't notice Johnny as he walked past them up the cement walkway to the front door. He tried to think of what he was going to say to them, but nothing seemed to come to mind. He could hear birds chirping, but they seemed miles away. He concentrated on the quiet click of his cane against the cement as he ascended the stairs, hoping that the steady beat would steady his thoughts. He barely heard Bruce and Dana come up the stairs behind him.
Finally, Johnny took a deep breath and knocked.