Читать книгу Castle's Fortress - Rhonda Lee Carver - Страница 4

Chapter 1

Marietta, Ohio

Summer, 1989

“But I’m afraid.” Ten-year-old Fall Winters tugged at one long braid, and the corners of her mouth lowered in a pout.

“I promise I won’t let nothin’ happen to you, Fall,” Jake Castle declared with a proud tilt of his chin. “I can keep you safe. I’m twelve now. I’m grown up.”

Her head bobbed in a jerky nod. “I trust ’ya, Jake. I know you won’t let a ghost get me.”

“We gotta do this, Fall. We have to go in and check it out. What if my sister’s in there?”

With a loud gulp of air, Fall slid her hand into his. Usually, Jake would shrug away in a huff and say, “Girls ain’t cool.” This time, he didn’t say a word, but gave her fingers a gentle squeeze.

Side by side, they ascended the ratty old stairs to the porch of the dilapidated farmhouse. With each careful step, the warped wood gave a loud creak of resistance. The railing had long been broken and the remnants of spindles lay forgotten in the overgrowth of weeds.

Their reward for making it to the porch should have been their safety, but instead the gaping holes in the slab flooring looked like a minefield. One wrong step and they’d fall into the depths of the dark abyss.

“Be careful, Fall. The boards are loose,” Jake warned as he gripped her hand tighter.

“You sure we should be doing this?” Fall dug her tattered, two-sizes too big Converse sneakers into the weathered gray boards. It didn’t do any good. Jake dragged her anyway.

“We can’t stop now.” His voice cut through the shadows. “If you ain’t brave enough then turn around and go back home. I’m stayin’ and checkin’ things out.”

Fall glanced over her shoulder at her creepy surroundings. The sky started to turn a purplish haze and the crickets sang a warning that night had fallen. Wispy clouds streaked across the full moon and pale beauty of the sky.

She debated the alternative.

Going home would mean walking the country road back into town alone. Forget that. She’d stay and show Jake she wasn’t a yellow-belly afraid of some dumb house.

“I’m staying.” Her teeth buried into her bottom lip as fear penetrated every layer of her skin. Feeling a strong urge to pee, she squeezed her inner thighs together and looked around. All she could see was darkness. The only place nearby was the tall grass. She’d rather go in her jean overalls than take the risk of squatting in the weeds. She didn’t like snakes.

“Let’s go in. It’s getting late.” Jake dug into his back pocket and pulled out the small plastic flashlight he’d gotten out of a cereal box. He clicked it on as he crossed the threshold. Fall followed close behind.

The house hadn’t been occupied in forever and the horrible smell made Fall grimace. The stink reminded her of the pond she and Jake had fished in all summer. They’d sit along the bank and plug their noses with clothespins as they cast homemade fishing lines. They had never caught a fish, but they didn’t care. Jake said he liked it because real men fished. She enjoyed it just to be with Jake. She’d do almost anything as long as Jake hung out with her. Like the time he’d talked her into egging old man Willard’s house. Egging a house wasn’t fun for her, but Jake sure had found it funny. He had laughed all the way home.

She got another whiff of a pungent odor. “It smells,” Fall grumbled while squeezing her nose with the index finger and thumb of her free hand. The other still was clamped tightly in Jake’s.

“It’s supposed to stink, Fall. It’s an old house. It ain’t any worse than Old Hickson’s farm with all the cow poop. You don’t complain there. Try not to breathe too much and you’ll get used to it.” Jake flashed the dim light around the entrance of the house. Cobwebs stretched from one corner to the other in waves of silken curtains. Reaching up, he dragged his hand through the middle and flicked the threads from his fingers.

Fall scooted closer to Jake. Jake was skinnier than a broomstick, but he still towered over her, making her feel safe. “Yuck. I don’t like spiders.”

He rolled his green eyes upward. “You big baby.” He swiped a hand over his buzz cut as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“I ain’t a baby!” She hated when Jake called her names. “You’re mean.” She stepped away and stuck her tongue out at him.

He moved forward and the floor made weird popping sounds beneath his feet. She snuck up close to him again and together they inched through the otherwise eerily quiet room.

Fall looked around at the vacant place. No furniture, no pictures, nothing. A mouse snuck back into its hole in the wall and she shivered. “I remember Mom saying the family moved a long time ago and anything left behind was taken out back and burned.” She sniffed loudly. “I don’t understand why anyone would want to burn someone’s furniture. Mom said people were afraid and wanted to get rid of everything.”

“That’s because they believed ghosts lingered here because their stuff was still around.” He stopped and sighed. “It’s empty.”

“I told you we wouldn’t find anything. Let’s get outta here.” She tugged on his hand, but he stayed rooted to the spot.

“We haven’t looked upstairs yet. Stop naggin’ and whinin’ and follow me.” He shot her a pinched expression.

She brushed off his bossiness with a flip of her long braid over one shoulder. “One day, Jake Castle, you will worship the ground I walk on.”

His eyes widened and he shook his head. “Where’d you hear that from?”

She snorted. “Crystal told me that.”

He didn’t say another word.

Fall gave up on pestering him. Once Jake made his mind up to do something, she knew there was no stopping him. However, that didn’t mean she had to like it.

She backed up, kicking something with her foot.

Jake bent and picked up the broken piece of glass, holding it up. Her reflection was blurred but Fall could see that her eyes looked like saucers, and stood out against her pale skin. Her teeth were too big. She wrinkled her nose. “I’m ugly.”

“You ain’t so bad. You look weird because you’re scared.” He set the mirror down, propping it against the wall.

Jake was her best friend, and her only friend. Most of the kids made fun of her. Being poor didn’t help, and the kids didn’t want to be her pal because her parents were weird. She thought her parents were a little weird, too. They weren’t like all the other nice parents in the neighborhood. Her dad drank a lot and her mom worked all the time. Yet Jake said she was okay, even if she wore hand-me-down clothes and needed a bath more often than not.

Jake always had clean skin and never wore clothes with holes. His mom took good care of him. And she made the best peanut butter cookies and grilled cheese sandwiches in the whole wide world. Fall ate at the Castle house most days. She got tired of eating stale peanut butter sandwiches at her own house.

Jake’s house was the best place to be until Crystal disappeared. Everything changed after that horrible day.

She pushed the thoughts aside as they got to the upstairs. It looked like the downstairs; run down, empty, full of cobwebs, and dusty. “This place stinks like the old shoes mom buys from the second-hand store.” Fall waved her hand in front of her face.

“She’s not here, Fall. Crystal isn’t here.” Jake’s words were loud through the musty, cool air.

“It’s okay, Jake. They’ll find her. When they do your mom will be normal again, smiling all the time, and baking peanut butter cookies. She’ll even take you to the zoo like she promised.” She patted his thin shoulder in support.

A loud boom made them jump. Fall’s scream echoed off the bare, cracked walls as the trepidation washed over her.

A screeching moan made her jerk again.

“It’s okay, Fall. It’s only the tree branch hitting the window. See?” Jake pointed and then patted her on the arm.

Fall swallowed a sob but she couldn’t hold back the tears as they fell like rain drops on her cheeks. “I wanna go, Jake! I want to go now!” She swiped the moisture away.

His face softened. “Okay. We’ll go.”

They stepped toward the door and the flashlight shut off. Without the golden beam of light the room was swathed in darkness. “Turn it back on, Jake. Quit playin’ and turn it back on.” Fall tugged on his arm. She didn’t care if he called her a baby.

“I ain’t playing,” he whispered. She heard the snapping of the on-off switch but nothing happened. “This ain’t possible. I put new batteries in before I left home. Let go for a second.” Jake pulled his hand away from her tight grasp. Fall listened as he flipped the switch a few more times before he smacked the plastic against the palm of his hand.

A scratching sound, like fingernails sliding down a chalkboard, filled the shadows.

“What’s that noise, Jake?” She listened closely. “You better not be joking or I swear I won’t play with you ever again, you hear? I don’t care if I have to play alone.”

“Shh. Quiet, Fall.” He elbowed her shoulder. “I hear it, too.”

“That’s not the tree limb again.” Fall pushed her trembling hands into her pockets and fingered the rabbit’s foot she carried for good luck. Jake had given it to her on her birthday.

The noise stopped as the blue haze of the moonlight filtered in. Fall adjusted her eyes, watching the shadows from the tree dance in the pale glow.

Jake gasped, and Fall saw the shadow crouched in the far corner. The silhouette slowly moved and the air turned icy. Fall shivered as goose bumps popped out on her skin. The window was blanketed with a layer of frost and Fall’s breath made a translucent mist.

From the blurred image, a girl’s shape formed. Her long golden hair hung in thick ringlets down her bony shoulders. The torn dress she wore clung to her like willowy curtains. She kept her face hidden toward the floor. A soft whimpering sound came from her.

“This ain’t Crystal, Jake.”

“Who are you?” Jake whispered. No answer came. “You better tell me now. Who are you?” he asked again.

The girl’s head lifted slowly. Her hair hung like a drape, covering her features. The only things visible were the black orbs of her eyes and her lips, which were like liquid crimson.

Fall stood deathly still. She pulled her hands out of her pockets and clenched them into fists. Watching and waiting, she wanted to move, her brain screamed for her to run, but her feet were heavy and wouldn’t budge.

She heard something. It reminded her of a rake being dragged across the floor. It was a swirling sound that grew louder until it became so loud that it deafened Fall’s ears. Then it stopped, and a warm sensation spread through her toes, up the length of her legs and shot into her chest. Her heart banged against her ribs. She couldn’t breathe.

Fall wanted to reach for Jake but her hand was frozen to her side.

“Fall? Fall? Are you okay?”

Jake’s voice resonated from far away, as though he had yelled through a tunnel.

The glowing shape moved closer and Fall opened her mouth wide. She wanted to scream but no sound came. She tried to jolt away but the prickly sensation spreading through her muscles halted her, and tears moistened her eyes. Her vision became fuzzy as a cloud passed over her. She squirmed but she was lost. She found herself thrust into the woods, running fast.

Her breathing grew louder in her ears as tree branches scratched at her face and shoulders. Somehow she’d lost her shoes. Her bare feet hurt as she stumbled over the twigs and rocks embedded in the dirt. She wanted to stop to catch a lungful of air, but someone was chasing her. She could hear their thumping footsteps and heavy wheezing.

Weeds from the overgrown path tangled around her ankles and pulled her to her knees. Her skin stung at the feeling of sharp rocks cutting into her. She whimpered and crawled over a fallen tree. The rough bark scratched her skin and a thin branch caught hold of her pants leg. She jerked and tugged until finally the wood snapped and she was set free. From the force, she went rolling backward. She started to get up but she heard the rustling of leaves nearby and froze, statue-still.

Loud, pounding footsteps grew closer, deafening her ears as she pressed her face against the cold dirt. She buried her eyes into her palms as a hand slammed into her hair, tugging her to her feet. The roots of her hair made hollow popping sounds as clumps ripped from her scalp.

The sting in her head went numb as cold, thick fingers circled the tender skin on her neck.

She screamed in silent horror as the grip on her throat closed off her air. She flailed her arms and legs, hitting and kicking through empty space. The power became too strong to fight. Her vision became hazy and her lungs hurt.

With dwindling strength, she clawed at the hand squeezing her neck. Something dropped into the line of her fuzzy sight. A gold cross dangled from a chain.

Then everything went black.

Fall was transported through a black tunnel back to the old, cold house. Her vision slowly cleared and she darted a glance around for the image of the girl, but it was gone.

A grip on her shoulder alarmed Fall and she swung a fist hard into the air, contacting with soft flesh. “No!” Her voice pounded the walls. “Leave me alone!”

“Fall?” Jake lay sprawled on the floor from her punch to his jaw.

She moved backward, slabs of wood shifting underneath her feet. Jake sat up, his expression white with fear.

“Look out, Fall!”

Her foot slipped on the top rung of the stairs, sending her body off balance. She reached out and grasped the banister. In that split second, her gaze connected with Jake’s. He was wide-eyed with terror.

The loud snap of wood splintering burst through the empty house as Fall lost her grip. She watched in horror as Jake lurched forward to grab onto her. Too late.

A bright light flashed before her eyes.

A loud scream split the air.

Then came darkness.