Had that been there the whole time? How come I hadn’t heard it before? I hadn’t noticed it last night. The birds. There was no more tweeting and calling from the trees outside. The birds were silent. Not a single animal sound was making its way into the bedroom. I’d seen enough documentaries to know that some animals can sense danger, so I jumped to my feet to look outside.
The stillness of the night air was spooky to say the least. The water lapping at the foot of the cliff was distant. I opened the windows and stepped out onto the narrow balcony, the humidity still thick and stifling. The only distinct sound was that of the clock. I looked down at the lawn and saw a shadow move quickly across the grass; someone was down there.
I considered shouting out to them, it was probably just Honey, right? Why would she be creeping around in the dark though? I realized that, with the light on my nightstand turned on, I was fully visible. I looked over my shoulder at the lamp and it simply turned off, my magic must have worked in connection with my thoughts. Interesting.
Now I was able to step forward on the balcony without being seen, but somehow my eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough that I could still see the figure moving around below. They seemed to be walking in a circle over and over. There was something in their hands. Was someone trying to mess with the pit that had exposed the bunker? Maybe it was the treasure hunters again.
After seeing the photograph Effie had taken of Robert’s body in the water, I knew that something paranormal had taken hold of this mystery. We still didn’t know who had dug the pit in Honey’s lawn, but if they had come back now then maybe it was because they knew something. Whatever that person was doing down there was probably sketchy, why else do it in the middle of the night?
I crept backwards through my room and carefully crept out of the door to the stairs. The corridor was dark, but I could see well enough that I didn’t bump into anything. I thought about the quietest way to get to the back yard; the door from the dining room onto the back porch might make a sound that would spook who ever was out there. I walked through the front door and kept my back to the outside of the building as I moved.
The birds were still silent in the trees, meaning that the sound of a chanting voice was audible even though they were whispering. The voice was saying something over and over in a language I didn’t understand. I got close enough to peer around the corner of the guest house and look out at the lawn.
I still couldn’t see a face. Suddenly flames sprouted from the earth and wrapped themselves around the pit above the bunker. The fire was a strange blue-green and burning in a dome shape, it wasn’t like any fire I’d ever seen. I saw the back of someone as they turned to run towards the woods and for some reason, I decided to follow.
The birds suddenly started to tweet again, so much louder than they had before. They were almost shouting by the time I reached the tree line, running across the undergrowth in pursuit of the arsonist. I was trying to follow the sound of the retreating footsteps, my eyes still able to see well enough in the dark that I didn’t run into anything.
Innocent people don’t run. I kept repeating that to myself over and over as I moved through the palm trees. I regretted not knocking on Miller’s door, if he were here then I would feel infinitely safer. The trees began to thin, and I found myself standing on grass again, the stars above providing enough light to see that I was close to a huge house.
The floodlights at the base of the building all turned on at once, shining upward like they do at a museum or a monument. What was this place?
Something grabbed my wrist and pulled me backwards. I stumbled trying to stay upright. The floodlights were in the distance, but they were enough to illuminate the face of the person next to me. “Effie? What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“Me? Me? What am I doing here?” she hissed. “Are you kidding? I just watched the back yard of that guest house go up in dark flame and then saw you running off into the woods! Dude! You have some explaining to do!”
“I didn’t set the place on fire!” I replied. “What is dark flame?”
“Oh, I know it wasn’t you. There is no way you have the skill to pull that off yet,” she laughed. “Who are you following?”
“I have no idea,” I admitted.
“But you decided to run after them? They could be a warlock or a demon or… or someone that puts pineapple on pizza!” she shrieked.
“Keep your voice down!” I said. We were crouching by the edge of the trees having taken a few steps back off the lawn. We both looked back up at the giant house in front of us.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“I was kinda hoping you could tell me,” I said. “I didn’t have a plan. I still don’t.”
“Is this about the photograph?” she asked. “I saw the look on your face when you saw the picture, you know something that you aren’t telling me.”
“All I know is that the man in the picture is the dead guy from the bunker. It makes no sense,
