Read Part One
So I went back to the old club, and I took the advice from the last thread. I bought a cheap three-pack of road flares and brought them along in case of emergency.
There’s a two-hour window where the sun shines right over the club. I drove out there with anxiety brimming in my chest, and followed the dirt road up the hill. The sun made me feel a bit better. But in a few hours I knew this whole area would be cold, gloomy overcast – and I intended to be gone by then.
The makeshift parking lot was just an empty patch of dirt now. Everything was gone including an old abandoned RV which had been there for years. I don’t know what prompted this shutdown, but whatever it was, the authorities were real serious about it.
I had my gear in a duffel bag: Bolt cutters, a flashlight, heavy work gloves, and my flares. I put on the gloves and took the cutters and strapped the duffel bag over my back.
The Death Rattle was unrecognizable in the daylight. The contorted roof ebbed and flowed with the building’s unnatural architecture. The painted sign had been removed and the door padlocked with a set of chains. There was no sign that this had once been a place of entertainment for residents of Santa Cruz with off-kilter tastes.
It was hard for me to come back to this place. The last time I was here was with Theo. We saw the place was shut down but didn’t investigate any further. He didn’t really seem interested in getting to the bottom of things.
I grabbed the six-pack of beers from under the passenger seat and I opened the first one. I sat in the driver seat of my car and watched the building while I drank. I finished the drink but I still wasn’t ready. Then about two and a half beers deep, I grabbed the duffel bag and the bolt cutters and I went in.
It was extremely hard to get inside. I started cutting the chain before I realized it wasn’t just one lock. There were three of them with chains crisscrossed over the door. By the time I got it open, I was sweating and exhausted.
I pushed open the front door. It was empty inside. The doors in the hall that looked like closets were all open. I turned on my flashlight and went inside.
The interior was pitch black except for the aperture of sunlight flooding in through the long hall. I waved the beam of light across the dilapidated interior. The floor was black with moisture and mold, and there was a huge stain on the ceiling.
I went through the hall and checked the upstairs rooms. They were all empty, including the sloped room. The floors and walls were riddled with mold stains. I went back to the hallway and stood at the top of the staircase.
The flashlight illuminated the concrete stairs. I took a deep breath and went down the stairs.
But the basement was empty. There was no bathtub, no chains. The door in the back was open, all the tape removed. I peered into the door and it led to a small closet with nothing inside.
At this point I felt really weird. On the one hand I was relieved knowing the police scoured the place and presumably figured out whatever sketchy shit was going on.
But on the other hand, here I was with no answers about Sam. I went back up the stairs and left the building with a heavy sense of crushing disappointment.
And from here I can’t really explain what I saw. I just need you guys to trust me that this really happened, I’m not making things up, and I definitely didn’t hallucinate it.
When I left the club, Theo stood next to my car. His new truck was parked at the edge of the dirt patch. He looked at me and said:
“Hey, man. How you been?”
I was stunned but how different he looked. His clothes were clean and professional, his hair was slicked with pomade. He flicked the butt of his cigarette and stomped it into the dirt.
I couldn’t find any words, so I just said his name:
“Theo?”
“It’s been a while,” he said.
“What are you doing here?” I said.
“Same as you, I guess,” he said. “I couldn’t get Sam out of my mind.”
“Have you been back inside?” I said. “The cops stripped it clean. There’s nothing left.”
“Not quite nothing,” he said. “There’s a hidden compartment under the bar with some bottles of Jack.”
“Really?”
He laughed and said, “Nah, I’m just messing around. Hey, you wanna split? We should grab a couple beers and catch up.”
We both drove to some sports bar in downtown Santa Cruz which he frequented. The bartender was happy to see him. They exchanged some friendly words before the bartender served our drinks and left us to chat. We drank heavily and avoided the subject of Sam.
Around three in the morning, Theo stood up to excuse himself. But I interrupted him and said:
“You wanna go look for Sam?”
He was dumbstruck by this question. After an awkward silence he said:
“Why bother? The police did their jobs.”
“Maybe we’ll find something we missed,” I said.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
I offered to buy him a round of drinks in exchange for humoring me. So he agreed.
After we finished our beers, we drove to the old Death Rattle and parked in the empty lot. It was early in the evening, but the trees cast shadows over the property.
I switched off the ignition and grabbed the last three beers from behind my seat. Theo gave me a look, and I just shrugged. Then I grabbed my flashlight and duffel bag, and I led the way through the breached front door. Theo followed closely and we trekked down the stairs into the dank basement. I scanned the room with the flashlight.
Somebody had shut the door.
“What’s the matter?” Theo said.
I said, “Hold this,” and handed the flashlight to Theo. He fixed the light on me while I approached the door and tried opening it.
The door was stuck.
“What’s wrong?” he said.
“It’s stuck,” I replied.
I tugged harder and the door yanked open. Then nothing happened. No wind, no energy. Just a dark and empty closet. I couldn’t make out anything inside.
“Give me the flashlight,” I said.
There was no reply.
I turned around and the person behind me shined the light in my eyes. I covered my face and tried to make out who was standing there.
“What’s the matter?” I said.
A figure loomed behind Theo. Tall, heavyset, bald. The man didn’t speak or move. I was scared out of my mind. He clicked a switch in his hand and the basement was engulfed in darkness. Theo gasped quietly, and dropped his flashlight to the floor. It cracked open and the light died.
Then there was silence.
I grabbed a road flare from my bag and twisted it alight. The basement illuminated with a ghastly red glow, and I saw the bald man standing there.
It was the bald man in the genie costume, only now he stood bare naked. We made eye contact and I saw a sick look in his eyes that I’ll never forget.
He came toward me, and I stuck the tip of the flare into his gut. The flame died out and he screamed loudly. I could smell the scent of burning flesh and all light died. He charged into me and I fell to the floor.
Dazed, I grabbed another flare from my bag and twisted it alight. Then I stuck it ahead of me.
The stranger’s bare feet thudded against the concrete stairs. He was holding his stomach and panting like an overworked dog while he ran up the stairs. Theo lay on the ground before me with thin wire tied around his neck. He thrashed his feet and clawed at his neck, and he looked at me with begging eyes.
I turned him over and worked at the back of the wire. The edges were sharp and it was too tight to undo by hand. I promised Theo a quick return before I went up the stairs.
The stranger hadn’t bothered to shut the door behind him. I glanced around in the dark hall but couldn’t see anything past the red glow in my hand. The front door was wide open. In the back of my mind I thought the man would jump me the moment I stepped outside.
But the stranger was nowhere to be seen. I went to my car and grabbed a switchblade from the glovebox, then I ran back to Theo.
He was barely moving when I got back down to the basement. His mouth opened and closed while foam spilling onto the concrete. His bloodred eyes protruded from their sockets. I kneeled down and carefully dug the blade of my knife under the wire and I started sawing at the metal.
It was tough as hell and wouldn’t cut. I told Theo he’d be okay. But it took forever to cut the thing loose, and by then Theo was dead. I released the wire from his throat and he rolled over totally limp. Bloody foam oozed out of his mouth and his eyes stared at the ceiling devoid of speculation.
I stayed with him for a while before I went home. I didn’t mess with his body, but I grabbed his keys so nobody could steal his truck. I don’t know what to do. I want to reach out to Rachel but I’m worried she’ll get angry and think I’m joking.
But she’s the only one that knows what happened that night. I have to talk to her.