I woke up feeling good for some reason. The morning light was streaming through the curtains thawing my face. I was thinking of Chazmon and also how nice it was to have a friend like Diego to pal around with. I had totally forgotten about the murder I witnessed the night before at the hands of that ghost, that thing, that.. whatever it was. Why did it spare me?
There was a hard knock at the front door and all the details came flooding back. I could hear my mother answer the door and her muddled conversation with a man. I couldn’t make out what they were saying but it sounded serious from the tone of their voices.
A minute later there was another knock. This time on my bedroom door. “Bobby?” It was mom. “Come out here dear, there’s a police detective who needs to talk to you.”
I got half dressed and threw a robe on and went downstairs to face the music. There’s no way I’m telling him the truth. But what then? I plopped down into the recliner in the living room and mom slapped a hot cup of java in my hand as the cop towered in front of me eyeing me head to toe.
“You Bobby Freck?”, he asked sternly.
“I am.”
“I got word from some other kids that you were at a party last night over at Daniel Newman’s house. That right?” He was one of those square jawed guys with a crew cut and a light blue shirt with deep tan suit jacket that didn’t hide his shoulder holster.
“I was there with my friend Diego. We danced with a couple of girls from school and had some Hawaiian punch. Was it spiked or something? Is that what this is about?”
He leaned down and stared me straight in the eyes. “I don’t like your tone boy. I’m gonna ask you just once and by God you better tell me straight with no wise cracks. What happened to Jeff Holdson?”
I sipped my coffee to buy a few microseconds of time. “The guy helping out the DJ? What do you mean what happened to him? Is he missing or something?”
“You know damn well he’s missing god damn it! I got two witnesses that saw you leave out the back of the house with him and the next time anybody saw him he was laying a pool of his own blood with his neck twisted almost clean off! I could put you in cuffs right now!” His pale peach face had turned a most exquisite shade of red at this point.
“What? Is this some kind of trick? Did Mrs. Calfrey put you up to this? Testing me to see if I got over the anger management issues? She needs cash again?” I was thinking fast.
“Who in god’s green earth is Mrs. Calfrey son?”
My mom piped in to back me up after taking her curled fingers away from her mouth. “That was Bobby’s last therapist. She strung us on for an extra nine months before she signed off on his court ordered therapy sessions.”
“Well that sounds about right to me. Anger management huh? What happened Bob, Jeff making eyes at the girl you like? Couldn’t control yourself?”
This guy was starting to get on my nerves. I gently set my cup down on the coffee table and calmly looked back at detective red face. “I tell you what detective. I’ve had a string of social workers, cops, teachers, school administrators, psychiatrists, parents, and classmates projecting their assumptions and personal prejudices onto me for years. And frankly, I no longer care what any of them think of me. I learned a long time ago that people like you are going to think what you want to about me no matter what I say or do or what the truth is. Fact is, I didn’t kill Jeff and I only briefly spoke to him one time in my life over the course of a single cigarette. I’m done answering your questions and discussing this matter with you or anyone else so you arrest me for something or get the fuck out of my house.”
He looked up at my mother in surprise. “Well you heard him Mr. Red. Cuff him or get out.”
“Wait. His name is actually Red?”, I asked amused.
He looked back at me with a kind of vulnerable expression. “Yeah, Detective Red.”
I busted out laughing. “Oh shit. No way! Oh ha ha ha ha!”
“What?”, he looked back at mom. “What’s funny?”
“Nothing Mr. Red. Have a nice drive back to the station”, she showed him to the door.
I actually felt kinda bad for him as I watched him through the window headed to his car. Yeah he was accusing me of a heinous murder which I did not commit, but he was just doing his job trying to ‘shake the tree’ as they call it. But then something happened that shook me right. He opened the door to his car and paused to look back at the house. His eyes seemed to fix right on mine although I know he couldn’t see me through the curtain. But as it did, his face morphed into that same face from the night before. The emaciated, shriveled dead mans face of the ghost that killed poor Jeff.
A chill swept my entire body from head to toe. My hands started to mildly tremble. The rising dread inside was interrupted by the sudden slam of my mother’s voice.
“So what did happen last night Bobby?”, she asked quietly.
“I didn’t kill him mom”, I replied.
“I know baby. I know you’d never hurt anyone. But maybe… I don’t know. You hear stories about withdrawals from some of those meds. Just…”.
I sighed out loud. “This is exasperating”, I stated flatly.
“I know. You’ve been through a lot these past few years but just tell me…. did your visions come back?”
I’m not the kind to lie to my mom but she’s been through hell as much as me and the last thing she needs is to think that’s it’s all starting again. “No ma. It’s got nothing to do with this. Jeff must have been in with the wrong crowd or something.”
After breakfast I noticed Diego’s car parked on the street in front of my next door neighbor’s house. It looked like he was at the wheel. I went out to see what he was doing. As I approached the car he rolled the window down.
“Hey Bobby. How you doing?, he started.
“A little shaken up to be honest”, I said.
“I’m not gonna lie, me too. I just got grilled for hour by a cop about Jeff getting killed. They been around to talk to you yet?”
“Yeah but we threw him out”, I told him.
“You kidding me? You threw the police out of your house?”, he asked amused.
“Well, my mom had my back.”
“Oh shit! I wish I coulda seen that”, Diego laughed. “Anyway, what the fuck did happen to Jeff? You see anything? Anybody suspicious around the house?”
I shook my head. “You can tell Detective Red I said no. I didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious and next time just ask me yourself.”
Now it was Diego’s face that was getting red. “I’m sorry man. They had me scared like they thought I did it. They said you’d be more likely to talk to me since we’re friends.”
“I know bro. It’s ok. This ain’t my first rodeo. I expected them to use you. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something while you’re here. My mom is making me go to this upscale party at her boss’ Mansion tonight. These things are boring as hell but she said I could bring a friend if I wanted. You up for it?”
He looked surprised. “Yeah that sounds cool. I never been to anything like that.”
Diego came back about 6 PM and tried on a few of my older tux’s until we found one that fit him. My mom always had to go to these things and so we just splurged and bought appropriate clothes.
Her boss sent a limo to pick us up and we both had cokes from the built in fridge on the way there. Just outside the mansion’s gate I thought I saw Detective Red’s car parked in a neighbor’s driveway.
The driver dropped us off at the rotunda in front of the main entrance and we walked inside where we were greeted by some hired help who took our coats and showed us the way to the lounge where the guests were mingling.
The room was ornate to say the least. Red carpet, plush red cushioned and patent leather chairs, crystal chandeliers glowing above, full bar and wait staff. Mr. Coddard lived in luxury while penny pinching every aspect of his business, especially my mom’s salary.
“Wow Bob, this place is really something”, Diego was impressed. And for good reason. The whole estate was like something out of an old movie. One of those flicks where everyone gathers at a rich old man’s castle or mansion and the star has to solve a murder.
There was a huge dining room, a banquet hall/ballroom, and a hanging garden out back with fish ponds, bridges, and lots of those little constructed waterfalls that people love. I think mom said the ponds were stocked with Coy.
The outside of the manor had vines and ivy crawling up the sides of it’s red stone exterior walls - not brick, but stone. The inside was laden with wood and very cozy for a mansion. It had lots of expensive looking rugs on the hardwood floors and a fireplace that you could stand inside.
There was a long corridor that led past the kitchen and ended at a large arched wooden door. It was always dimly lit and I heard someone say once that there was a stairway behind it that led to the wine cellar.
Diego was marveling at the place when a waiter asked him if he wanted a coke. He tried to get alcohol but the man just sniffled and handed him a coke anyway.
After a while things got boring. There was no one there under 21 except the two of us and all the adults did was chit chat while sipping on glasses of wine or liquor. We decided to check out the coy ponds out back.
The hanging gardens were set up with hydroponic root systems above the walkways and the vines of the plants fell over the sides and stretched down to the ground on both sides of the walkway forming a kind of plant hallway. These would end just before the walk way reached a small bridge over the canals that connected the ponds.
The sound of the water falls was soothing and we both just kind of stared at the fish in silence. “Chazmon would probably love this place”, I pointed out.
“Yeah, and so would Alexis. That’s her friend I was chillin with last night,” he responded.
“We should have invited them. I guess my mind was on other things,” I explained.
“Like the electric chair,” Diego joked.
I chuckled. “Hey I gotta go pee. I’ll be back in a few.” Diego nodded and I walked back inside.
The bathrooms were down the hallway that led to the wine cellar. It was quiet back there and the noisey lounge became a background drone as my footsteps grew louder. I found the men’s room and did my thing and came back out into the hall where I noticed the door to the wine cellar was open.
I stepped towards it and cocked my head to try to see if anyone was there. I could see some dim light coming up from somewhere down there and then some movement. It wasn’t the waiter, instead a small girl about 3 or 4 years of age pushed the door a little more open so I could see her. She looked at me and smiled and then fell backwards right down the stairs.
I could hear her body banging on each wooden step as she fell. I was shocked and horrified. I quickly rushed to the door and opened it the rest of the way. Peering down I couldn’t see the bottom through the darkness. “She must be there curled up at the foot of the stairs,” I thought. I jogged down the steps to see if she was okay.
When I arrived at the bottom there was no girl there at all. I felt some warm moisture on the floor with my hand and so I held it up where there was a bit more light to check it out and sure enough it was fresh blood. I called out to her but heard nothing. I slowly scanned the room thinking maybe she crawled away.
The room had those traditional wooden racks of wine bottles in rows very much like a library. At the very top of the ceiling were small semicircle windows where the ground ended and the air began. I thought I heard the sound of someone scooting on the floor between two wine racks and so I walked over there. Just then it started raining outside and the sound of the drops hitting those little windows is all I could hear. That and some occasional thunder.
I was about to go back and get help when I heard a moan that indeed sounded like it was coming from a child. It was coming from the next room where a muted yellow glow was emanating. Must be a small light. I walked into the room under a stone archway and started to feel like something wasn’t right. How could she have survived that tumble and then crawled in here in the amount of time it took me to get down the stairs? It didn’t seem plausible.
I felt a sense of danger but saw nothing. In the small room were a few wine racks that were about half the height of the others due to the lower ceiling in there. I tried to walk back out when I felt the sensation of a single index fingertip touch my elbow from behind. Ever so slightly as to make me question whether it was real or just some random body itch.
It started moving slowly up my arm from my elbow towards my shoulder and as it did I could feel it more solidly until it was clear and obvious that it was a real sensation. Something was actually touching me. I was frozen still. Too afraid to move as if acknowledging it were to make it attack. But it felt like a child’s finger so it might be her and she might need help.
I had goosebumps all over as the little finger tip was slowly moved up across my shoulder and up the side of my neck pushing the fine hairs there upward against the natural direction the hairs had grown in.
I couldn’t take another moment and spun around as fast as I could while jumping back about three feet and raising my hands expecting to block something. And no one was there.
But protruding from behind a wine rack I saw a finger on the ground. Someone was there; but how did I miss it? The thunder rumbled around the sky outside, shaking the old wooden beams and boards of the dusty cellar as I stepped forward enough to see. Expecting the girl I was confused when I saw the whole body. It was one of the men serving drinks. His neck had been broken and there was blood on the cellar floor.
Later that night Detective Red would take samples of the blood on my hands to compare to the victim and grill me again for two hours. This time I made no snarky comments and mom wasn’t even in the room. By the time he was done I had come to the realization of what the ghost was doing. It was setting me up.
PART ONE: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/16hcgls/this_haunted_life_part_one/