Haven't updated anything in a while. All I'm gonna say is: college preparation.
I own nothing but the plot line. The Almighty Larson owns the rest.
The bohemians, Benny, Alison, and Alfred sat in silence in the family room. None of them were even breathing loudly. The only sound that could be heard was the soft roar of the flames from the fireplace and the occasional whimper that came from Collins while Angel applied slight pressure to his hand. At Alison's request, Alfred had placed the now empty urn back on the mantel and everyone had been staring at it since. Maureen suddenly stood up from her spot on the floor next to Joanne.
"Well, it's been fun, but I think we should all be going now," she said. "Who's with me?"
"I am!" Roger, Mark, and Mimi chorused.
"Guys, we can't leave Benny, Alison, and Alfred here all alone," Angel pointed out.
"And why the hell can't we?" Collins asked his lover.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but the house is completely destroyed. Well, with the exception of this room."
"Then they should be safe as long as they stay here."
"But we don't even know if our homes are still standing."
"And we won't know until we leave."
"I hate to say it, Angel, but I agree," Joanne said, standing up and grabbing Maureen's hand. A deafening clap of thunder sounded and was followed by a blinding strike of lighting. Angel gave his friends a look of disappointment.
"Mark, go start the van," Roger said.
"Why do I have to do it?" Mark asked.
"You have the keys."
"Well, I'm not going out there alone. And how do we know the van's still in one piece? There was an earthquake, remember?"
"Rog, go with him," Mimi told her boyfriend. She pushed him toward the doorway of the family room before he could protest. He and Mark then left the room. They were gone for a record thirteen seconds.
"It's gone," Mark said, his eyes wide.
"What's gone?" Maureen asked.
"The van," Roger answered. "It's not out there."
"So, we're stuck here?" Mimi asked. Roger went to his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.
"Benny's Range Rover is still out there," Mark said.
"Well, Benny, take us home!" Maureen demanded.
"Why should I do that?" Benny asked, folding his arms across his chest. "You were going to leave us here."
"Well, I guess we can't do that now! Take us home!"
"No, take us to a hospital first," Angel said. "If there is a hospital that's still standing. Collins' hand might be broken."
"I'm not taking you guys anywhere. You're stuck here with us!"
"Benny, his hand could be broken," Alison told her husband. "And it's our clock that fell on it."
"That's right, it is," Collins said. He turned to Joanne. "I can sue for that, can't I?" The lawyer nodded.
"Ha!" Maureen exclaimed. "Now you have to take us! Pookie can get you thrown in jail with one phone call!" Benny looked at the smirk on Maureen's face. He knew she was exaggerating, but he didn't want to take any chances.
"Dammit," he said.
While Collins was having his hand examined with Angel by his side, the rest of the bohemians, Benny, Alison, and Alfred all sat in the waiting room and discussed the fact that even though they all, save Alfred, clearly felt the earthquake that happened not too long ago and Benny and Alison's house was destroyed because of said earthquake, nothing else seemed to have been affected by it. They were sure that no one else even felt it.
Once a splint had been put on Collins' wrist and he had been discharged, everyone piled into the Range Rover. Benny hesitated before starting the car and pulling out of the hospital parking lot.
"Okay, Benny, take us home now!" Maureen exclaimed.
"Maureen, sweetie, we can't leave Benny, Alison, and Alfred to fend for themselves," Angel said. "That's just mean."
"Well, what else are we supposed to do? They're not staying with me and Joanne!"
"And they're definitely not staying with us!" Roger added.
"They can stay with Collins and me," Angel said.
"Their clock smashed my hand," Collins reminded his lover.
"We're really sorry about that," Alison told the anarchist.
"It's okay," Angel replied. "And you all can stay with us as long as you need to."
"Baby, we don't have room for them," Collins told Angel.
"We'll make room, sweetheart."
"Thank you, Angel," Alison said to the drag queen. "Benny, I think we should go back to our house to see if any overnight essentials survived the earthquake." Benny nodded and the rest of the car ride was silent. That is, until the landlord slammed on the brakes when they arrived back at the house, causing everyone in the back of the car to hit their heads on the seat in front of them or on someone else's head.
"Jesus, Benny!" Roger exclaimed clutching his forehead.
"That's impossible," Benny said quietly, ignoring Roger's comment. He and Alison quickly unbuckled their seatbelts and leapt out of the car. The bohemians and Alfred followed their example and stopped in their tracks as soon as they realized what had made Benny stop so suddenly.
"Holy fucking shit!" Maureen exclaimed, her eyes wide. Benny and Alison's house was completely intact. Everyone stared in silence for a moment.
"This is the weirdest night ever," Collins said. "And I'm pretty sure I'm not high."
"I honestly wish I was high right now," Benny commented.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the fact that the house is somehow fixed a good thing?" Alfred asked.
"I think creepy trumps good," Joanne retorted. Maureen moved closer to the lawyer and grabbed her hand.
"Well . . . this is still our house," Alison said, trying to sound fearless. "I say we go in, grab what we need, and get out. We'll figure everything else out in the morning." Benny nodded as he and Alfred followed Alison toward the house.
"I don't think they should go in there alone," Angel said. He walked quickly to catch up.
"Baby, hold up!" Collins exclaimed, following his lover. The rest of the bohemians followed Collins just as it began to rain. On the porch, Benny turned the doorknob and was surprised to find that the door was unlocked. Everyone quietly filed into the house and immediately noticed that the lights weren't on. After they had made it halfway down the hallway, the front door slammed shut, causing the ten of them to quickly turn and face it.
"Who did that?" Angel asked worriedly. Collins wrapped an arm around him and held him close.
"Relax, Ang, I'm sure it was just . . . the wind or . . . somethin'," Collins replied in an unsure tone.
"Something like that ghost you said you saw earlier?" Mimi asked the anarchist.
"If that's what . . . who did it, we are so fucked," Roger commented.
"How many times must I say it?" Alfred asked. "There are no such things as ghosts. No matter what the stoner says he saw, they do not exist."
"Goddamn-it, Alfred, if you keep sayin' I made this up, I will hurt you," Collins threatened, taking his arm from around Angel.
"With your splinted hand?" Collins held up his right hand and flipped Alfred off.
"This is my good hand and it's still fully functional, asshole."
"Now is not the time for fighting," Alison said. "I think figuring out if we can still get in and out of the house is more important than figuring out what-"
"Or who," Collins interjected.
"Closed the door," Alison finished. She turned to her husband. "Benny, go see if we can get back out."
"Why do I have to do it?" Benny asked.
"Because you're the man of the house."
"Fine." Benny slowly made his way toward the door. Once he was standing in front of it, he hesitated before grabbing the doorknob and turning it. Just as he was about to open it, it flew open and he was knocked backwards by an invisible force, ending up on his back on the floor at Mark's feet. Before anyone could say anything, Benny was lifted off of the ground by his neck by the same invisible force that had pushed him away from the door.
"Oh my God!" Alison shrieked. "Somebody help him!"
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Roger asked, his eyes glued to Benny, who was grabbing at his neck in an attempt to free himself from whatever was choking him so he could breathe. He was suddenly dropped and he fell to the floor, gasping for air. Alison rushed to him. She then knelt next to her husband as she helped him sit up.
"Are you okay?" she asked. All eyes were on Benny as he pointed toward the door. Everyone looked from him to where he was pointing and saw, standing halfway between the door and where they were, was the same man Collins had seen earlier.
"This is your first and final warning," he said. His expression was even angrier than Collins remembered. "If all of you are not out of here before the clock strikes midnight, there will be hell to pay." The man then vanished and the door slammed shut. It was silent as Alison helped Benny to his feet.
"I think it's safe to say . . . we can't get out of the house," Benny informed everyone.
"Suddenly me saying I saw a ghost doesn't sound so absurd, does it?" Collins said, giving Alfred a slight glare. The butler refused to make eye contact with the anarchist.
"Honey, now is not a good time for gloating," Angel told his boyfriend.
"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Maureen asked in a panicked tone. "If we don't leave, we'll die and since we can't get out, we can't leave! That means we'll die! I don't wanna die!" Joanne held her arms out to her girlfriend, who dove into them.
"We don't know for sure if we'll die, Maureen," Mark pointed out.
"What other hell do you think we're gonna pay if we don't do what the ghost said?"
"Maureen's right," Mimi said. "We have to get out of here somehow."
"I say since the family room seems to be the safest room in the house, we go back there and figure it out," Collins suggested. The nine others agreed and made their way to the family room. It looked exactly as it had when they'd left it about an hour before. The only source of light in the room came from the fireplace. Benny, Alison, Maureen, Joanne, Roger, and Mimi sat on the couch, Angel and Collins sat on the love seat, and Mark and Alfred remained standing. Roger looked at the clock that was on the wall above the fireplace.
"It's ten o' clock," he said. "We've got two hours to get the hell out of here."
"Something tells me that won't be easy," Joanne commented.
"Well, we have to try something," Benny said. "We can't just stay here and wait for the ghost to come back."
"Benny, I think we should tell them," Alison told her husband.
"Tell us what?" Roger asked.
"No!" Benny exclaimed. "We swore we'd take that to our graves!"
"Tell us what?" Angel asked.
"I know, but maybe they can help if they know," Alison said.
"What the fuck are you two talking about?" Maureen shouted. Benny looked to Alison. She returned his gaze and took his hand in hers.
"This isn't the first time we've been threatened by that ghost," Benny told the bohemians and his butler.
"It's not?" Joanne asked in shock.
"No, it's not," Alison replied. "Granted, we've never actually seen the ghost until tonight, but we've known for a while that it's been here."
"Wait a second," Collins said. "You bought the house, figured out it was haunted, and you still stayed in it?"
"We thought it might go away after a while."
"Anything else you realized and ignored?"
"Well, the urn and there's a painting that looks exactly like the ghost upstairs in the gallery."
"And there was whole bunch of other weird things in the basement, but we threw all that out and turned it into a wine cellar," Benny added. Collins stood up and walked over to the fireplace. He stared at the urn on the mantel.
"Honey, what are you doing?" Angel asked him.
"Lookin' for some sort of clue or somethin' that can help us figure out who the ghost is," the anarchist answered.
"Why on earth would we waste our time trying to figure that out?" Alfred asked.
"If we figure out who he is, maybe we can reason with him. I mean, if wants us to leave, he's gonna have to let us out." Collins carefully used his good hand to take the urn off of the mantel so he could study it closely.
"This is completely idiotic. What do you expect to find on that urn?"
"Well, I was hopin' for a name or somethin', but I don't see one."
"Of course you don't. It's just an urn. An empty urn at that. Leave it alone."
"Wait a minute. There are initials on it." Collins squinted at the urn. "I . . . K."
"'I. K.?'" Mimi repeated. "Well, what does that stand for?"
"THE BOOK!" both Benny and Alison exclaimed. The bohemians and Alfred all looked at them.
"What book?" Roger asked. The married couple said nothing and stood up. Everyone watched as they walked over to a picture of them on their wedding day that was hanging on a wall. Alison removed the picture, revealing a small door. Benny opened the door, stuck his hands inside the opening, and pulled out a rather large book with a lock attached to it. He blew a layer of dust off of it before he and Alison went back to their spots on the couch.
"Okay, what is that?" Maureen asked.
"That door was the first thing we noticed in this room when we were taking a tour of it," Benny explained. Collins placed the urn back on the mantel and made his way back to his place next to Angel. "When we opened it, we found this book."
"Well, what's in it?" Mark asked.
"We don't know," Alison answered. "We've never opened it. But the initials engraved on the spine are I.K. just like the ones on the urn. That has to mean something, right?"
"It could," Joanne agreed. "So, where's the key?"
"No idea," Benny replied.
"Are you sure it wasn't with the book?" Collins asked.
"I don't think it was." Angel stood up and walked over to the now opened small door. He stuck his hand inside, felt around for a bit, and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He then walked back to the love seat as Benny placed the book on the coffee table.
"This was all that was in there," he said. He passed the paper to Collins, who passed it to Mimi, who passed it to Roger, who passed it to Joanne, who passed it to Maureen, who passed it to Alison, who unfolded it.
"It's just a blank piece of paper," she told everyone. Angel, Collins, Mark, and Alfred all moved behind the couch to get a better view of the paper.
"Maybe there are instructions on how to open it written on the paper that are like some kind of watermark and you can only see them if the light hits it just right," Collins suggested.
"I'm sure there has been a power surge in the house," Alfred replied.
"The fire still creates light." Alison held the paper a little above her head and everyone moved closer to see if Collins' suggestion was right. Nothing happened. "Damn."
"So much for that theory," Alfred commented. Collins glared at the butler.
"Alison, can I see the paper?" Mark asked before an argument could break out. "I think Collins might be on to something with the whole watermark thing." Alison allowed Mark to take the paper out of her hand and he stared at it for a long moment as if he could make something appear.
"Hey, can't we just get out of here through a window?" Roger asked.
"Do you wanna test that out?" Mimi asked. "I mean, you saw what happened to Benny when he tried opening the door."
"Oh yeah." Roger looked to Mark, who was still studying the blank paper. "Nothing's gonna happen, Mark. Give it up." The filmmaker ignored his roommate and walked around the couch and toward the fireplace. He sat down in front of it and continued to stare at the paper. Slowly, words began to appear on it one by one.
"Words!" Mark exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Words! There are words on the paper!" The nine others rushed to him. The looked at the paper over his shoulder and saw nothing.
"Mark, sweetie, there's still nothing on the paper," Angel told him.
"Yes there are! There's a whole sentence here! It looks like calligraphy or something!"
"I have a question for you, Mark," Collins said. "What are you smokin' and can I have some?" Mark stood up and faced his friends, Benny, Alison, and Alfred. He held the paper out to them.
"You . . . you guys really don't see the words?" He sounded a bit hurt and he frowned when everyone shook their heads. "Oh . . . they're really here though! I'm not making it up!"
"Well . . . read them to us," Joanne said. Mark turned the paper back around and squinted at the words.
"'By the blood of the good and the wings of the gull, I now wish to open the book of Ichabod Kull,'" the filmmaker read. He looked up from the paper and saw the book floating in midair behind everyone else. His eyes widened. "Holy . . . shit."
"What's wrong, Mark?" Roger asked. Mark was at a loss for words. Suddenly, the lock fell off the book and onto the coffee table with a loud clink caused the nine others to turn around. Everyone gasped as the book began to give off a bright, white light.
Sorry about any typos and such you may find. This was started at an ungodly hour of the morning and finished today.
Review please