Chapter 5: A Little Visit

Night came and the first on the scene were Jay, Dino, Paco, and Ralph. Jay and Dino were definitely the most excited for this, yet equally nervous. Paco was felt like could be interesting, but he also wasn't fully confident in doing this, even if the house had been abandoned since the couple's arrest in 1973. Ralph didn't want to do this at all, but he knew that his friends wanted him for this one, so he went along with them despite voicing the opposite opinion. He had also brought his ball with him that he liked to bring places. It was a red-ish orange with the picture on the front looking like a carving of a pumpkin.

"We're here, now all we have to do is wait for the other two," said Paco. "I've said it before and I will say it again," Ralph said, "We don't know what that house has been through in the last 7 years! There could be creeps living in there. There could be spiders all over the place. Heck, the house might have fallen apart with the condition it's been in!" "Save it Ralph," Jay said, rolling her eyes. "Save!" said Dino.

After a couple minutes of waiting around, Duckie and Tammy had arrived. Although, they seemed a bit out of breath. "Quite the hill to climb," said Tammy, "Ugh, that took a lot out of me." "At least we made it," said Duckie, "Not the worst hill we've climbed." The two then went over to where Jay and the others were.

"Ah, you made it!" said Jay. "Made it!" added Dino. "Barely," said Duckie, still trying to catch his breath. The group then looked at the house for a solid 30 seconds, observing the front of it. Many of the windows were boarded up and grass had grown around the place quite a bit. It was clear that nobody had upkept the property for any future buyers, but Lorenzo and Rachel were also known for neglecting their own property. Nobody had interest in buying the old Waterman home due to it's former reputation and unwell conditions, so it's entirely possible that the town of Nash-Lake unlisted the home and just left it to rot more than it already had for the last 20 something years.

Ralph didn't like the looks of the house, just the sight of it was enough to creep him the hell out. What he didn't know however was Paco sneaking up behind him. "Boo!" Paco said, scaring his friend. This got some laughing out of Jay, Dino, and even Paco himself. "You guys are jerks!" Ralph yelled. "Jerks!" Dino said, repeating what anyone else said as per usual.

"So um, are we going in?" asked Jay. "You bet we are!" replied Tammy. "On second thought, I don't know about this," said Paco, "Like Ralph said, we don't know what the house has been through within the last 7 years." "Thank you!" said Ralph, in a tone as if nobody had listened to him the whole time. "Tammy and Duckie did not walk 30 minutes just to look at this place!" Jay said sternly, "We are going in that house, with or without you and Ralph. But if you did, think of what could become of it! We'd be the toughest kids in town, going into the Waterman household alone!"

Paco thought about it, then begrudgingly said, "Fine, l-let's do this." "What?!" yelled Ralph, "You have to be kidding me. You guys can go in, I will stay right here!" "Your loss dude," said Paco. "No, your loss!" Ralph fired back, "You're gonna get in big trouble when our parents find out!" "Trouble!" Dino said with enthusiasm. "At least keep an eye out when we go in," said Duckie. With that, everyone but Ralph went into the Waterman home.

The door was unlocked, so they were able to get it almost as quick as they arrived to the front. "Woah," Jay said in awe, looking at how wreaked the inside was, "It's just like how I had imagined it!" "It stinks!" said Paco. There seemed to be no light switches anywhere, so there was no way they could turn on any lights.

While there weren't any spiders or people living in the place as far as they knew, something felt very off. As much as Tammy, Duckie, and Jay didn't want to admit it, the inside of the home sent off creepier vibes than outside. Even if nobody was there, the fresh pumpkin sitting on the couch was suspicious. The kids noticed this, but didn't think much of it.

"Talk about a mess," said Duckie. "May I add, what the hell is a fresh pumpkin doing here?" asked Tammy. "Hell!" Dino repeated. "Shh! Don't say that!" Jay said to Dino. "Now that we are in, do we just explore?" asked Paco. Tammy considered it, believing they were the only ones here, despite evidence suggesting otherwise. "Yeah, sounds about right," said Tammy, "If we don't find anything in 5 to 10 minutes, let's meet back outside in the front where Ralph is."

Tammy went straight ahead to where the kitchen was while Duckie decided to go upstairs. As Duckie made his way upstairs to wherever he went, Tammy found a light switch for the kitchen and turned it on. After that, she seemingly disappeared. This now left Jay, Dino, and Paco by themselves.

Suddenly, Jay took out a lighter. "Hey!" Paco said, "Your dad told you not to bring that!" "Oh it's fine, he's not gonna know," said Jay. She then lit the pumpkin up which had a fresh candle in it. At this point, anyone would know that something was seriously wrong. Fresh pumpkin with a candle prepared was a sign that someone was expecting visitors. By now, Paco was starting to realize that this little visit to the Waterman home might have been a big mistake. Jay and Dino didn't seem to get the hint, as they didn't notice the look on Paco. "Now," Jay said, "Let's see if-"

Out of the blue, the tv coming from the living room played indistinctly. It sounded like an old broadcast playing. "Oh no," Paco muttered. Jay then sneakily crept towards the living room. "Jay!" Paco whispered, "Jay! Get back here!"

Meanwhile, Ralph was bouncing his ball in boredom. There was really nothing he could do but wait for his friends to come back. As expected, he was still unhappy that they entered the house. "What a stupid choice," Ralph muttered, "Oh, let's go investigate a couple's old home. Hell, let's spend half the night climbing the town hill with two teenagers we barely know! Ugh, screw them!" Ralph then threw his ball in anger, but farther than he wanted it to go. "Oh!" he said, then realizing he threw it in an area where he wasn't wanting it go, "Oh no! No no!"

Ralph walked towards the right side of the house. It was very dark and he couldn't find his ball anywhere. He then came across two scarecrows and a fence, yet still couldn't find his ball. Ralph was getting really creeped out being in the area alone. Even if he was creeped out, he was still determined to get his ball.

Normally, Ralph wouldn't go after such small things, but this ball ment the world to him. Why was this? He got the ball from his mother when he was 3 years old, and when she passed away sometime later, he kept it in memory of her. Jay, Dino, and Paco were the only ones who knew this, as Ralph didn't like talking about it to anyone he wasn't close to.

He checked along the fence, but there was nothing. To Ralph, it felt like the only way to know if his ball was still around was to check the other side. Deep down, he didn't want to, but it may have been the only option left. With it being the last resort, Ralph opened the fence door, went past the scarecrows and going on the other side.

Back in the house, Jay peaked around the corner. Paco and Dino did the same thing. They saw a familiar black sheep sitting in the chair, as the TV played Amazing Grace. It was the one and only Rachel Waterman, but where was Lorenzo?

"Oh...my...god..." Paco whispered, "Someone is living in the house!" "It's Rachel Waterman," Jay whispered back, "But where is Lorenzo?" She then felt a horrible feeling in her gut. "Maybe he's somewhere else?" Paco whispered, not having much knowledge on the Waterman couple compared to Jay, Tammy, and Duckie. "We need to get out of here," Jay whispered, "Paco, go find Duckie upstairs. Dino, go outside in the front where Ralph is. I'll go find Tammy wherever she is. We are leaving this house!" "House!" Dino blurted out, in which both Jay and Dino wanted him to be quiet.

"Hello," Rachel said, sounding very monotone, "I see you. There's no need to hide." Jay, Dino, and Paco were officially freaked out. Jay ran to go find Tammy, Paco ran upstairs to go find Duckie, and Dino got the hell out of the house.

Rachel sensed this, as her face was revealed. Barely any emotion was present on her face, as she said, "I know you're here. Come out little ones..." The sheep then got out of her chair, looking like she was now going to search the house.

Paco ran down the hall and to where Duckie was. Duckie had been searching through the guest bedroom, but found nothing of interest. He was surprised when he saw Paco rush in, catching his breath. "You alright?" he asked. "Duckie, we need to get out of here!" said Paco, "We saw Rachel Waterman in the living room and we don't know where Lorenzo is!" "You saw what?!" "Rachel, but Lorenzo is missing!"

The two then heard a creak and slowly looked behind themselves to see a masked man in a dark suit. "Mister and Misses Waterman were very, very bad people," he said in a low tone, before shutting off the light, slamming the door, and locking it. The man then laughed as he walked away.

"No! No please!" Paco panicked, trying to open the locked door, "I don't want us to be locked in here! Please don't do this!" Duckie was in complete shock. "Oh my god, this isn't happening, tell me this isn't happening..." "I don't want us to be locked in!" Paco continued, this time trying to kick the door down, "Please don't do this! Please! Please don't do this! Please!" Eventually, Paco stopped knowing there was no sense in trying to break the door down.

Dino went outside as instructed, but he couldn't see Ralph anywhere. This made him very clueless and very worried. Dino was by himself, with only the sounds of crickets keeping the little penguin company.

Ralph was in the backyard which had been filled with pumpkins all over the place. Besides a scarecrow and a few flowers, the only other thing that wasn't pumpkins were a few weeds, some small yet nice looking outside lights, and a shed. "Oh no," he said, feeling like it was going to be impossible to find his ball now.

Ralph looked through the pumpkins, hoping he'd find his ball. He then heard a child's laughter. What he saw next made his blood run cold. It looked like a blue figure wearing something, before it suddenly disappeared. "Hello?" he asked, slowly making his way towards the shed as that was almost directly where it had come from.

Ralph then heard loud footsteps from a good couple of feet away from him. The moment he saw the figure, his heart dropped. It was Lorenzo Waterman, as still as a statue. "Hello there, little child," he said, "Are you...lost?" Ralph didn't answer, he just looked at where he was and the distance of where the fence door was. There wasn't a chance of him getting out of there with the likelihood of Lorenzo getting to him before he could escape.

"I think I have something you're looking for," Lorenzo said, revealing had had been holding onto Ralph's ball, "Isn't this yours?" "Yes. Yes it is," Ralph replied nervously, "C-can I have it back, please?" Lorenzo laughed a little, "Heh. Of course. Here." It didn't take long for Ralph to realize that Lorenzo was trying to lure him in. He knew he had to make the difficult decision of either risking his life for the ball, or attempt to leave even if the chances seemed slim.

Jay saw the basement door open right nearby, and without any second guesses, she went downstairs to look for Tammy. All the while, a song was playing from a record player. There was an open door that Jay had entered, and with that were 3 more open doors. She checked the first one, there was nothing in there besides some chairs. She checked the second one, nothing put a picture that seemed too grainy to describe. She checked the third one, it was a very open room and Tammy was inside.

Tammy had been searching all rooms, but there was nothing of interest. When she saw Jay, she was very surprised. "What's wrong Jay?" Tammy asked, seeing the panic on her face. "We saw Rachel Waterman!" said Jay, "We need to get out of the house!" Tammy knew this was serious, so they quickly ran out of the room and down the hall, until they heard footsteps from above. They then decided to hide under the staircase, given how Rachel could possibly search downstairs.

The sounds of two seperate footsteps came down. One was of Rachel, the other was the masked man. Both Tammy and Jay did their best to maintain being quiet. "I heard them go down here," Rachel said, sounding irritated but still somewhat monotone. "I told you staying here wasn't the best idea!" The two didn't look behind the stairs luckily, they just went over to where the rooms were.

Tammy and Jay got their chance to escape as they climbed up the stairs. "Does Duckie know about this?" Tammy asked. "I sent Paco upstairs to let him know," Jay replied. In just a matter of seconds, they were back in the kitchen. Jay closed the door, while Tammy quickly got ahold of one of the furniture and blocked the door with it. "I'm going to check on Duckie and your friend," said Tammy. "Wait, be careful!" said Jay, only to not be listened.

Unknown to either of them, Dino had snuck back into the house and picked something up before sneaking back outside. It was a photo book that was sitting right near where Rachel had previously been sitting. Dino's motivations were not clear, but it's possible he stumbled upon it when wanting to sneak back in for whatever reasons.

Outside, Ralph knew it wasn't worth it. The ball was a complete loss, whether he liked it or not. "Nevermind, I-I think I'll get out of here," Ralph said, about to run for it. "Wait," Lorenzo said, "Don't you want your ball back? You came here just for it, remember?" Ralph ran at this point.

Out of nowhere, the mutt bumped into a scarecrow. This scarecrow however was different from the other one, as it wore a torn and stained suit. Ralph then noticed a picture just bellow where the scarecrow was. It was a missing person photo of a wolf wearing a suit and purple tie in some kind of office. The name of the missing wolf said: Paxton Raglan.

Ralph felt sick at this. Why? Because this was a police detective of Nash-Lake who was reported missing just a day ago. Not even just that, this was his dad's friend who he had known for many years. The scarecrow itself was just a typical scarecrow, but what made Ralph feel the way he did was the clothes the scarecrow wore were the exact clothes Detective Raglan wore. That, combined with what Ralph knew about him, made the situation both sad and sickening.

Footsteps could be heard. Ralph looked behind himself, only to see Lorenzo fastly approaching him with a stance that mimicked a scarecrow. He got up and ran the fastest he possibly could. Right as he was getting close towards the exit, he got his foot stuck in one of the pumpkin. Ralph was unsuccessful at getting it out, as Lorenzo launched towards him.

Ralph screamed bloody murder as Lorenzo tried to do harm to him. Lorenzo meanwhile laughed at what he was doing. Ralph was able to avoid getting hurt by him, and even by surprise held his arms back. However, Ralph wasn't sure how long he could hold Lorenzo back for.

Tammy arrived to the door where Duckie and Paco were locked in. "Duckie?" she said. "Oh thank goodness!" Duckie replied, "We were locked in here by some guy wearing dark clothes!" Tammy then unlocked the door, only to get a hug from Duckie. "Alright, we're free," Paco stated, "Now how about we-"

They then suddenly heard Ralph's screams from outside. Not just Tammy, Duckie and Paco, everyone within or just outside of the house. Jay heard it within the kitchen, and Dino heard it from outside. Dino quivered, fearing the worst had happened to Ralph.

In the kitchen, Jay was frozen in fear. She knew it was Ralph in an instant. A slam at the basement door was heard. "Oh...you bastards," said the man, as slamming continued. The door wouldn't open due to the furniture in the way. "If they want to do things the hard way, then so be it," Rachel said as her tone turned from monotone to growling. The slams became so much more powerful now that she was making contact with the basement door.

Jay decided to open the door that lead out back and she was greeted with Lorenzo and Ralph struggling for control. She screamed for a moment, seeing what was going on. Jay looked around to see if there was anything she could hit Lorenzo with.

Upstairs, Paco's face went from fear and anger. "Nobody is hurting my friend on my watch!" he shouted, heading straight for the boarded up window. "Woah! Hold on dude!" said Tammy. "Paco don't!" added Duckie. Paco didn't listen, he crashed right through the wood planks.

Jay, Lorenzo, and Ralph got distracted by a loud slam of wood breaking, they looked to where the sound came from. Paco fell from the second floor and onto a wooden wagon that had a pumpkin on it. The wagon broke on it's front side, but due to the impact of where it was, it sent the pumpkin flying. By sheer luck or the force of gravity, the pumpkin hit Lorenzo straight in the head, causing him to fall over.

Jay rushed to where Ralph was, "Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" Ralph got up and dusted himself off, "I'm fine. Let's leave, sound like a plan?" Paco got up and out of the wooden wagon. "Ow, my ass hurts! Maybe even my spine!" He then noticed Ralph and went over to him. "You alright dude?" he asked. "Not a scratch," Ralph said.

They then made their way to the back door and were about go through the house to escape, but Rachel successfully broke through the door and moved the furniture. She and the man were visibly angry. Jay then yelled to Duckie and Tammy, "Leave now! We'll meet you up front!" before she, Ralph, and Paco escaped through the side.

Duckie and Tammy wasted no time. After running downstairs, they burst through the front door at conveniently the same time as Jay, Ralph, and Paco making it to the front. Dino was relieved that everyone he knew was alright and back to the front. Nobody noticed him holding onto the photo book though, as they were too focused on making sure everyone was accounted for. "We got everyone!" said Tammy as she and Duckie ran away from the house. "Everyone!" Dino said, as he, Jay, Ralph, and Paco followed Duckie and Tammy.

By the time Lorenzo, Rachel, and the mystery man got to the front of the house, nobody was present. The kids were out of sight and likely in a populated area.

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 5 published 1/21/25)

In case anyone is wondering, this story takes place a year after the events of my Duckie and Tammy series. So while Duckie and Tammy took place in 1979, The Fundraiser Saboteur takes place in 1980.