Chapter 5
Joseph and Chris were up doing night activities such as reading and doing crossword puzzles. It was getting late, however, and Joseph and Chris were starting to get sleepy. They needed their energy so they could explore more rooms the next day.
"I'm getting tired," Joseph said.
"Me too," Chris said. "I'm going to stop and get some sleep."
Joseph got up and put his crossword puzzle in his box. He also took Chris's book and put it away in his backpack. Then, Joseph walked over to the door and turned out the overhead lights. Then, Chris and he turned out their bed lights and went to sleep.
At 12:30 in the morning, there was a mysterious cold spot in the room. Joseph's dad usually turned the air-conditioner on at night, and Chris's family sometimes left their windows open at night, bringing in drafts. However, this cold spot was even colder than any of those things. It felt like being in Antarctica, except with no wind blowing.
Joseph and Chris slowly woke up. "Do you feel cold?" Chris asked.
"Yeah. Extremely cold," Joseph said.
"I've never felt this cold in my life!" exclaimed Chris.
"I'll start a fire in the fireplace and see if that helps any," Joseph said. Joseph pulled his emergency matches out of his ear and lit a match. The dark room lit up with candlelight. "We should be even warmer with a large fire," Joseph said.
Joseph noticed there were already some logs in the fireplace. Joseph threw the match in there, and then, a huge fire started in the fireplace. There was a lot more light in the room but no changes at all in the heat. "I'll build a huge and efficient heating system for this room," Joseph said.
Joseph turned on the overhead lights again, and then, he took out more tools from his box. Joseph also pulled out some notes on a notebook piece of paper on how to build a heater. Joseph began taking metal parts out and started to construct a heater. After putting in motors and computerized operating systems, he finally finished the furnace.
Then, he built heating ducts and had them circle the room. Then, he placed vents on some places on the heating ducts. Joseph turned on the furnace, and it began operating. Both boys noticed a dramatic improvement in the temperature, but there was still a trace of the cold spot. Joseph smiled happily and turned off the lights. Then, he went back to bed and started to go back to sleep.
An hour later, Joseph and Chris heard noticeable footsteps in the hall. They were loud enough to wake the boys up. Joseph got out of bed slowly and clutched to the wall. Joseph slowly opened the door. Joseph saw huge clouds of steam. Joseph looked both ways in the hall. Nothing or no one except steam was seen in the hall.
"What is it?" Chris asked. Chris was out of bed standing in front of Joseph's bed in his robe.
"Nothing except…steam." Joseph paused and said the last word softly and slowly.
"Steam?" Chris asked. Chris walked over to the door and opened it. There, once again, was all the steam in the hall. "That's even more than I imagined!" Chris said. "It's like it's a steam world," he said. Suddenly, some of the steam turned into the shape of Stauf's face.
The face looked angry. "Stay out of my house!" he said again. Then, all of the steam disappeared.
"That's it! I can not get any sleep in this house!" Joseph yelled. "I'm out of here!" Suddenly, the door closed. "All right, all right, I'll stay," said Joseph.
Joseph and Chris went back to sleep. Two hours later, at 3:30 in the morning, Joseph and Chris felt something strange was in the transom window. They opened their eyes and looked at it. In the dark, they could make out two evil eyes. Joseph slowly walked out of bed and turned on the lights. There was nothing in the transom window.
Joseph sleepily and angrily walked over to his bed and tried to get some sleep. Not long afterwards, Chris and he felt something strange watching them. They both peeked out of bed, and saw a strange white, glowing mist just over the fireplace. It then began to stretch downward and soon began developing the shape of a human. When it was about to form its detailed face, it disappeared. Then, Joseph and Chris heard chains, rattling, and whips cracking upstairs. They also heard stabbing and screaming. They also heard someone laughing, who they believed to be Stauf.
That was the last time they woke up during the middle of the night, but even so, strange things still happened. In addition, they always felt they were being watched.