Ghost Trapped Read online

  “If things go as bad as we’re expecting, I think he won’t have any choice but to believe. His place is just waking up, once it gets started there, it’s going to be hard to stop. And none of his employees will be safe going down in that basement, alone or otherwise,” Jason said. “And wait, Dean worked at The Vineyard House?”

  Jimbo ignored the question with a grunt, so we said our goodbyes, and he agreed to meet us here, and we’d drive over together.

  I turned to Jason, just as he was turning to me, and we both smiled at how in tune we were to each other. “Want to start packing our kit for Wednesday? I know it’s only Sunday, but we’ll need to gather a few items we won’t want to go in without, for protection,” Jason said.

  “That sounds great, but for now, let’s eat, and get back to bed. I want to feel you wrapped around me one more time tonight.” His eyes smoldered as I glanced over my shoulder at him while walking into the living room.

  “You can’t just say that and walk away,” he joked as he tackled me to the couch, and we forgot about food for a second time that day.

  Chapter Eight

  Jason

  I’d spent the last two days researching any way to protect us from whatever the fuck was in that basement. Janis had mentioned “the master,” but I had found no mention online or in any of the reference books I had at home. I called Jimbo while Wade was at work, and asked him what he thought it was, but he had no idea either. He explained that Janis was connected to the spirit world in ways he didn’t understand, and he didn’t want to. He admitted it scared the fuck out of him, which did nothing to relieve the anxiety I felt clawing at me as we prepared to drive over to The Hitching Post.

  Jimbo walked into the house after parking in the driveway. “Hey, make yourself at home,” I called out to him.

  “Oh I will, thank you very much,” he said, before walking into the kitchen and rummaging around in the refrigerator.

  “And help yourself to anything you want,” I said, rolling my eyes. Wade shoved past me and walked into the kitchen.

  “Hey, Jimbo, you ready for today?” he asked. Jimbo froze, head in the refrigerator and his ass sticking out of the half-open door. He stepped back and closed the door, juggling the soda and leftover Chinese food container he held in his hands.

  “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I didn’t get a chance to eat when I was at work. I went in early and had to clean the fryer before I left. That’s never a good experience.”

  “Uh, okay. Help yourself, we need to leave here soon, though, so we’re not late. I’m hoping Dean can close a little earlier and give us a little more time. As it is, we’ll only get a few hours,” I said.

  “Let’s hit it, I can eat on the way,” Jimbo announced, then walked back out the door he’d just come in. Wade started to follow him, but I hooked his elbow before he got too far.

  “Jason? Did you forget something?” I stood for a moment and looked at him, not wanting to ever forget what he looked like in that moment, his eyes full of excitement and expectation. His hair was slightly longer than he normally wore it, reminding me of how he’d looked when we were kids. Board shorts hung low on his hips, and his T-shirt was just tight enough to show off how lean he was, but not so tight it looked like he was trying to show it off. I loved him, probably more than I’d ever loved anyone. And I’d fight anything or anyone that tried to take him away from me.

  “No, I didn’t forget anything. Just enjoying the view, that’s all.” He stepped close to me and captured my lips in a quick kiss, then pulled me in for a warm hug.

  “Come on, let’s get this over with so we can get back here and figure out what the hell is going on there.” I nodded and followed him out the door to the car.

  “I’m driving,” I said as I brushed past Wade. He walked around and got in the passenger side. “I’m hoping everything goes smooth while we’re there. I don’t want to start out this job having it all go to shit.”

  “I checked everything, we should be good to go,” Wade said.

  I looked in the mirror to see Jimbo eating like he didn’t have a care in the world. We drove down the freeway until we took the exit for Old Sacramento, and since it was midweek, we had no problem finding a parking space. When we walked up to the door for The Hitching Post, Dean met us.

  “I’m so glad you guys are here, I’m not sure what’s changed, but there’s been a lot of activity the past few days.”

  “What’s happened?” I asked. We all walked in and sat at a table while we waited for Dean to speak.

  “I’m not sure how to describe it, but there is just this heaviness here. My whole staff has been on edge, and no one can go into the basement. Anytime we’ve tried, the door won’t open. Or if we get it open it slams shut again. After a few times of that, no one was willing to keep trying,” he said as he brushed two fingers along his forehead.

  “Are you okay?” Jimbo asked. Dean looked up in surprise, I knew how he felt. Jimbo rarely showed any worry for anyone other than Wade’s mom.

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Have you gone down there since we were here last?” Wade asked.

  “No, I made sure the staff never went alone, and we haven’t had any problems until the past few days—it’s been worse than ever. I can’t run a business like this. I mean, we could move the storage room upstairs, but that takes time, and we’d need to clear an area up here for it. It’s just more time that we don’t have.”

  “Let’s get started. Wade, you take the EMF, Jimbo, bring that bag that has the flashlights and the supplies we need to cleanse the area. I’ll bring the Flir camera and the recorder. I want us to be upstairs before the sun goes down. Dean, did you want to go with us?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” he answered.

  “You’re welcome to accompany us, but we’ll need to cleanse your aura first. That way you won’t be as vulnerable to the spirits that may be there,” I explained to him.

  “I think I’ll pass. This isn’t really my thing. I’ll wait up here for you guys, and if you’re not back here by the time it’s dark out, I’ll call someone for help.”

  “Basements aren’t really my thing either,” Wade mumbled, and looked at the door.

  “That’s probably a good idea. Here, let me give you Jimbo’s sister’s number. If anything happens, call her and Wade’s mom, here’s her number too. They’ll know what to do,” I instructed, as I found both numbers and sent them to him in a text. “You guys ready?”

  “Let’s go,” Wade said, and moved toward the basement door like he hadn’t said a word.

  “Fuck,” Jimbo said, and dragged his feet, following Wade.

  “Dean, give us two hours, if we’re not back by then, bring in the reinforcements.”

  “You got it. Good luck, and be careful.” I nodded and walked past Wade so I was the first one down the stairs. Dean was right, something had changed; it felt different this time than the last, heavier, and more foreboding.

  “Do you feel that?” Wade whispered from behind me as he clutched the back of my shirt.

  “I feel it, there’s more of them here now. It’s like something is rounding them up and bringing them to this area. Jimbo, you’ve got your power locked down, right?”

  “Are you kidding me? There is no way in hell I’m opening myself up to this shit.”

  “Okay, just checking, here we go. And remember, Wade, don’t take any chances.” He nodded at me and clenched my shirt even tighter. I turned and opened the door. It swung open easily. The light was on, and it looked the same as it had last week, random items neatly stored. Nothing weird to make me think we were in any danger. I stepped into the room, with Wade right behind me, followed by Jimbo.

  “Something’s not right,” I whispered. The energy in the room started to crackle, as though it was building up for something. I reached back to reassure myself Wade was still close as I walked into the back part of the room, where I’d sensed the spirits the last time we’d been here. I tried ope
ning myself up to their presence, trying to gauge how many there were, and if they meant us harm. Before I could sense anything, the door slammed shut. We all turned at the same time, startled by the sudden noise, and all froze for a second before the lights flicked off and we were drowned in a darkness so black I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed.

  “Jimbo, are you okay?” Wade asked.

  “Yes, but I’m not fucking moving when I can’t see shit,” Jimbo whisper-yelled.

  “Can you get a flashlight out of the bag?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah, man, sorry, give me a second.” I heard him scrambling around, digging in a bag, and then a scraping sound at the opposite side of the room from us. I realized with a start, I couldn’t feel Wade any longer.

  “Wade? Don’t move until we have some light in here,” I said, but he didn’t answer. Jimbo lit a flashlight, and the beam hit me straight in the eyes, blinding me temporarily.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t see where you were,” he said as he moved the beam to look around the area—and froze. “Where’s Wade?” he asked.

  I spun around. While there were crates and shelves filling the room, this wasn’t such a big space that he could hide and go undetected. “Wade?” I asked. Looking around again, I tried to make some sense of where Wade was.

  “Where is he?” Jimbo asked again.

  “I’m not sure, he was right behind me, how the fuck can we not see him? There’s no place for him to hide.” Then we heard it, a scraping sound, outside the basement and in the larger space that made up the underground area. I rushed over to Jimbo and took the flashlight from him and swung it toward the noise. Wade was out there without a light, and in complete darkness.

  “Wade, don’t move. Wait until I can get to you with a flashlight.” I was near panic as I rushed to get to him. I crossed the barrier into the larger area, and as I got closer, Wade turned to look at me. His eyes reflected fear so intense it froze me in place, and then he was gone.

  Chapter Nine

  Wade

  “What happened?” I said, mostly to myself. One minute I was standing in the pitch-black basement, waiting for Jimbo to hand me a flashlight, then I saw a flash of movement outside of the basement area. I went through the barrier that was meant to keep the two areas separate, and ended up in an even darker area, stumbling on uneven ground. I tried to go back the way I’d come, but it was so completely dark I couldn’t tell exactly which direction that was.

  I turned to see where Jason was, and as our eyes locked, a jolt of fear hit me when I realized what was about to happen. There was a scraping sound to my right, and out of the corner of my eye I caught another flash of movement, then the ground seemed to disappear under my feet. I had no time to react before I fell down into a hole. Hitting rocks and what felt like wooden beams all the way to the bottom, I landed with a splash in a few inches of water. For a few seconds I couldn’t breathe. My chest burned, and I wondered if I’d broken ribs, or something else, then in a sudden whoosh, I was able to draw in a much-needed breath.

  Coughing and sputtering, I struggled to fill my lungs, the air was damp and smelled of dirt and mildew. I blinked, trying to see any detail of where I was, but it was so dark I couldn’t see anything. I rolled to my side and felt my pocket for my phone and pulled it out. I fumbled with it, and finally got it to light up. Shining it around, I realized I was in a cave, or maybe a mineshaft. I knew there were many rumored to be all around this area, but I’d never seen one, let alone fallen into one. I sat in the water and shined the light around. I couldn’t see the top of the shaft, but it was a pitch black hole in the area I’d fallen from, so I had no reference to tell how far it actually was.

  I brushed at my hair, and flinched as pain shot through me. My fingers touched a wet and sticky substance and its faint coppery scent made me realize I had blood running from a cut on my head. I swallowed hard to force down the urge to vomit. I had to concentrate on finding a way out of here. I sat still and listened for a second, all I could hear was the trickle of water and more of the complete silence we’d heard in the basement.

  Jason, oh god, he’d be freaking out. I cupped my hands as I yelled up the shaft, “Jason! I’m here, can you hear me?” I strained to hear, but still only heard the faint trickle of water. I shined my phone light around, hoping to find a way to climb out, but there was nothing—the walls were far too smooth for me to be able to climb out on my own.

  I held my phone up and checked for a signal, but there was none. “Fuck!” I yelled, and instantly regretted it as my head pounded and blood now ran into my eye. I wiped it away and clenched my hand. What the fuck was I going to do? I couldn’t go up, and I couldn’t just sit here and wait until Jason and Jimbo found me. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

  I shined the light around the space again and noticed an area that went back deeper into a tunnel from the space I was in. My light didn’t penetrate far, and I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to go wandering around in an underground cave or mineshaft that probably wasn’t on any map. I reached my hand in my pocket, checking to see if I’d brought anything with me that could help. I took out the EMF detector and turned it on. At first there was nothing, then slowly it started to spike. I froze. There was nowhere for me to go, I had nowhere to hide, and nothing to protect myself with.

  Suddenly I could feel it; something was down here with me. I swung my light around again, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever it was before it made its presence known. The dark seemed to get even darker, and it now had a weight to it. The urge to crouch down and clasp my arms over my head to protect myself from whatever was down here was so strong I fought to ignore it, too afraid to give it an advantage over me.

  “H—hello? Is someone there?” I called, fearful there would be a response, and terrified of what it might be. I heard a scraping sound, deep in the tunnel beyond what my light could reach. I backed up to the wall and pressed back against it as flat as I could. My breath started to come in shallow gasps, and I couldn’t control the shivers that seemed to rack my whole body. The scraping slowly moved closer to me, but still I couldn’t see anything. Cold dread coursed through my blood as I fought to not scream. Fear took over and I spun away from the sound, my hands clawed at the dirt and stone walls, hoping to somehow be able to climb out.

  Suddenly there was a bright light that flashed right behind me. I shielded my eyes from it as I slowly turned around while trying to make out what happened. A little girl stood before me, dressed as though she was from the 1800s, her hair in two long braids. The same girl we’d seen at The Vineyard House. And I now realized, in the haunted house we’d visited for Halloween.

  “You need to leave here, I can only distract him for a short time,” she said, looking straight at me before glancing behind her into the dark void.

  “Who? What’s down there?” I asked, trying like hell not to panic and doing a shitty job of it. She looked at me again and took a step in my direction.

  “You know what it is, you’ve been warned about this, and you should have taken heed and been more careful.”

  “Where’s Jason, is he okay?” I asked, frantic that somehow Jason was in more trouble than I was.

  “Wade, you need to leave this place at once, I can only hold him off temporarily,” she said, before turning and running into the dark. As soon as she passed the darkest point, I could no longer see her. Fuck it, I was getting the hell out of here. I wedged my back against one side and braced my legs and hands on the other side. Slowly I started to inch my way up to the surface. I tried not to look down, knowing I would only see a dark hole. Whatever was down there was now closer, and if I fell, there was no way I was getting out of here in one piece. It seemed to take forever, but was probably actually just a few minutes, until I was nearly at the top.

  “Wade,” I heard Jason calling from somewhere just above the top of the hole.

  “Jason, down here, be careful, there’s an opening to a mine,” I yelled as I shimmied closer to
the top. I heard footfalls on the dirt floor, and finally saw Jason and Jimbo poke their heads over the edge to peer down at me.

  “Wade,” Jason yelled, panic clear in his voice. “Are you hurt?” I could tell he was trying to stay calm, but he was near his limit. When he reached down, I was close enough to grip his hand.

  “Pull me up, get me the fuck out of here.” My heart pounded, and I could feel the panic rising up in me again. Jason and Jimbo both pulled at once, and we all landed in a heap on the dirt floor. Jason scrambled over to me and pulled me into his arms.

  “Are you okay? You were gone, we were in the basement and suddenly you were gone. Are you hurt? Oh god, you’re bleeding and you’re soaking wet,” Jason said as he tried to check for injuries, at the same time holding me close. I clung to him, and the shivering I’d had now became severe shaking.

  “We need to get you out of here. Let’s get you upstairs so we can make sure you don’t need a doctor.” He slipped his arm around my back and helped me along to the door. I tried the lights and they came on, illuminating the area that had not changed since we’d entered it. Jimbo turned the doorknob and it opened right up. We climbed the stairs, and Dean sat at the nearest table to the basement door. He looked up from the paperwork he had laid out in front of him, unable to cover his shocked expression as we emerged.

  “What happened?” he asked, rushing over to us.

  “Fucking ghosts, that’s what happened,” Jimbo said. Jason and I looked at each other, and he pulled out a chair for me to sit.

  “We need more help than magic stones,” I said to Jason, but Jimbo was the one who slumped into the chair next to me.

  “I was afraid of that,” he said.