The old Da Vinci place sat on a hill on the west side of town and had once been a successful winery, the wine produced from their grapes was renowned the world over. But after the death in 1972 of the owner of the vineyard and mansion on the property it was passed to his son Lorenzo.
Lorenzo was not a businessman but had graduated from the university as a botanist but his attempts to save the winery failed and the property fell into disrepair. Lorenzo allowed the property to grow over with weeds and trees, he locked the gates and became a hermit.
There were rumors throughout the years of what he might be doing up there on the hill but they were mostly idle gossip. Some believed he was dead and that the house was haunted or that Lorenzo lived there still crazy as a loon.
The house was reported to be 20 rooms and in its day grand parties were held there with dignitaries from around the world.
The place fascinated the town’s teens but no one had ever had the nerve to go up to the place and explore. But tonight my friends and I intend to be the first to explore the old Da Vinci Winery
Teddy, Bill, and I had planned this night many times but now we think we’ve got the perfect plan. We parked the car at Hootersville, so named because that was where everyone went to smoke weed.
From there we walked the mile or so to the property and crossed over the old fence into what used to be one of the vineyards. We couldn’t see the house from where we were but some of the old outbuildings called out to be explored . The sun had already set and the inside of the barn was as dark as a cave. I carried the only flashlight and I was careful about where I let it shine. Finding nothing of interest in the barn or the pruning sheds we moved toward a grove of trees and went over how we would enter the house.
We ran in line to the back of the old mansion and carefully peered in the windows. The house still had furniture in some places but there seemed to be no one around. Maybe the stories about Lorenzo being sent to an insane asylum were true but, that did not mean it wasn’t haunted by some spirit we were going to royally piss off when we made it inside.
And we did make it inside, right through the back door into the kitchen.
“I’m starting to think this ain’t such a good Idea,” Teddy said his voice shaking.
No one said anything in response as we were all thinking the same thing and he had just said it aloud for all of us. But here we are. As we entered what looked to be a library or study, the walls were adorned with various exotic animal heads. Beads that appeared to be from a Mardi gras parade hung on every one of the heads.
Clothing littered the floor, just randomly strewn about. There was a grand staircase that led upstairs. We remained on the ground floor and walked to the backside of the home. I looked through the curtains to the outside and found there was a greenhouse just outside which looked interesting. “Hey guys, look,” I said.
“It’s the greenhouse, we’ve got to look around in there,” Bill said.
I agreed as did Teddy, though not in so many words. We rounded the side of the house and peered inside the greenhouse, it looked empty, dark, and overgrown with plants. Unlike the house, the hothouse was locked tight but we managed to crawl through a very tight space between two doors.
The place smelled, in fact, it was rancid like rotten meat. The place was large like an airplane hangar, it must have been quite an operation in its day. We moved forward through the neglected rows of pots toward the front of the building.
As we moved I began to hear an odd sound, like some sort of slurping. That is when I saw the woman. She was tied to a board and completely engulfed in some sort of a gooey substance.
She was still alive, her eyes wide, mouth agape in a silent scream, and reaching out to us with one free hand. We all gasp in horror and jumped back in revulsion.
The oozing liquid was digesting her alive, It came from a huge plant which was translucent and we could see the woman’s dissolving body iinside it. Just then we heard a metal door clang shut. A large man holding a hurricane lantern appeared behind us.
‘Well, well. Leticia, I guess you won’t go hungry tonight after all,” the man said motioning toward an identical plant just to his right.
Then, from across the room tendrils came twisting and writhing from across the floor and curled up around Teddy’s legs pulling them out from under him. He let out a blood-curdling scream as he was pulled toward one of the plant tables.
Bill and I fell back and tried to run but there was nowhere to go. I looked at the woman on the board who was now fully enveloped in the goo. We looked over to Teddy as he was being pulled into a large red and green pulsating plant.
He screamed and fought to keep from being pulled in but the twines wrapped around him cutting off his breath. Bill and I stood viewing the ghastly scene as if we were watching this all happening on a movie screen, we were both in shock. I looked at the man standing and watching, a smile crossed his face and he burst out in maniacal laughter.
Bill and I both had the same idea at the same time and we both ran at him. I hit him with my metal flashlight and as he fell I grabbed the lantern and tossed it at the plant. Teddy was already either dead or unconscious and he and the plant exploded in an inferno.
The plant that was eating the woman raised up, it tendrils flew from it and grabbed Bill by one leg, I grabbed a pair of pruning shears and chopped the tendril off. I gripped Bill by the leg and dragged him through the building. I picked up a shovel and smashed through the glass . Oxygen rushed in feeding the fire and the heat became intense. I pushed bill outside and we ran blindly. We didn’t know where we were going but anywhere but was better than here.
We ran out into the road and stopped and watched the inferno for a moment before running back to my car and driving back into town to notify the sheriff. I could see the fire in the rearview, Bill was silent, staring straight ahead.
EPILOGUE
The authorities investigated, and we told them our story but it was too farfetched for the authorities to believe. We were charged with trespassing, and we both were charged with negligent homicide and arson and Bill and I both spent five years in prison.
I assume the man with the lantern was Lorenzo but Teddy’s was the only body found. There was no sign of the woman either so our story sort of just didn’t fit with the facts.
I haven’t spoken to Bill since we were sentenced, we both got out ten years ago and I have tried to move on but that incident is forever etched on my psyche. Sometimes it’s better to pay attention to idle gossip.