Darkwood Falls Paranormal Investigators Book One: The Dead Truth

Chapter Nine

"Things were going very fast now.   Too fast to suit him.  Fantasy and reality had merged." - Stephen King, 'Salem's Lot

     When I opened my eyes, all I could see was the dark sky above me sprinkled with stars.  I moved my fingers and felt wet grass between them.  Water splashed in my eye, almost blinding me.  I was trying to figure out where I was and how the hell I got there.

     "Shawn?" Brandon appeared above me, his face etched with concern.

     "Am I dead?" I said.

     "What?  No, of course not!"

     I sat up slowly.  Axl, Brandon, and Ruby all knelt down beside me in the grass, rain pouring down on us all.

     "Where am I?" I asked, looking around for anything familiar.

     "You're outside the Martin house next to the van.  Nick carried you out here," Ruby said, her eyes wide and her voice shaky.

     I looked around and saw the van to my right.  Nick was leaning against it, arms crossed over his chest, barely visible in the shadows.  I couldn't see his face to gauge how pissed he was for having to drag an unconscious girl out of the house.  A flash of movement caught my eye and I thought I was about to be attacked by another ghost, but it was just Richard jumping out the back of the van.

     He started to make his way over to us.  Seeing his angry figure marching toward me in the pouring rain was not any help to my anxiety.

     "It looks like the cameras are working again," he said.

     I had no idea what he was talking about.  He looked down at me, hands on his hips and his eyes narrowed. "You're awake."

     Seeing him in the classic dad-is-pissed-off-pose, it was hard not to feel shitty.  Nick and I had separated just as Richard had advised not to do, and there had been consequences.  Serious consequences.  Flashes flew through my mind of the inside of that closet and I started to panic.  I tried to scramble to my feet, but Axl and Brandon pulled me back down.

     "Whoa!  Slow down!  You just passed out," Axl said, tightening his grip on my arm.

     "I don't care!  I need to get away from this house.  I'm not going back in there!"

     "What did you see?" Brandon asked.

     "Nothing!  That's the point!  There was nothing there, but something grabbed me by my ankles, dragged me across the floor, and threw me into the closet.  There's something in there, but I don't know what it is.  Brandon, I'm sorry for not believing you about all this paranormal shit.  I believe you now, okay?  I fucking believe you!  Just get me out of here!" I said, frantically trying to get up again, only to be pulled right back down.

     Richard's expression softened a bit and he removed his hands from his hips.  "Well, conveniently all the cameras stopped working a little while ago right after we saw you two arguing in the kitchen.  We tried to get them back on, but that's when we heard you screaming.  Where was Nick when you were thrown in the closet?"

     "He . . . " I hesitated.

     As much as I hated Nick, he had pulled me out of the closet.  I thought about the moment we were both holding onto each other after falling in the floor.  When he pulled me closer to him and told me I was okay, it had seemed strange and out of character . . . but was it really?  Had the rest of the team been right when they told me Nick really was a good guy just going through a tough time?