6
Michael made sure that he and Max were in front of the others. He half expected Maria to complain on principle, but she kept quiet.
She must be scared, Michael thought.
'You know, we can handle anything that might be in there or that shows up. They can't be tougher than the aliens in Stonewall,' he said.
'Okay, your powers work on humans and aliens. But what if they don't work on ghosts?' she said petulantly.
'Max and I have a plan for that,' Michael replied.
'Yeah?' she said.
'Sure, we're going to scream like women and run away,' he said.
That earned Michael a sudden whack in the shoulder from Maria, but he could see a momentary smile on her lips. Well, if he accomplished nothing else tonight, he had made her smile for one second.
The covered walk ended in front of a large wooden door that looked like some sort of servants' entrance.
Michael put his hand on the knob.
'Why do you go first?' Max said.
'I took a vote,' Michael replied, and pushed on the door. He wasn't surprised when it was locked.
Max gestured to the deadbolt lock and said, 'You want me to get that?'
Michael thought about it and said, 'Then we'll go in together?'
Max shrugged and took a position next to Michael. Then he put his hand over the lock. There was a click inside, and Michael turned the doorknob and pushed. The door opened easily at first but came to a stop about six inches in. Michael pushed and felt a springy resistance back there. Max tried to look through the opening, but it was too dark to see anything inside.
'What is it?' Liz asked.
'I don't know. Something's back there,' Michael said. Then he turned to Max. 'Ready?'
'Quietly, okay?' Max said.
Michael nodded and, together, they started pushing on the door with their shoulders. For a moment the door pushed back, and then there was a tearing sound and Michael shot forward.
'Look at this,' Max said, pointing to plastic sheeting on the door frame.
'Someone sealed this place up tight,' Michael said.
By then the others had stepped inside and were looking with them. 'Why do that? They didn't bother to do anything on the outside.'
Michael tried to look into the room. It was so dark that he couldn't even see the opposite wall. He could, however,
see a big, commercial-looking stove on the wall next to him. 'Looks like we're in the kitchen,' he said. 'Next time we explore a creepy old house at midnight, would somebody please remember to bring a flashlight?'
'We could just try the lights,' Kyle suggested. There was a click and suddenly the room lit up.
'Well, the good news is, we have power,' Michael said.
'That doesn't make sense. No one has been here in years. The place was locked up tight and abandoned. There shouldn't be power,' Max said.
'Maybe someone's still here,' Maria said.
'I don't think so,' Michael said. 'If someone was around, there would have been lights on when we arrived. And they would have heard us and come to investigate.' Still, Michael listened carefully and didn't hear any sounds in the house. He was sure they were alone. It didn't make much sense, but he was sure it was true.
'You guys should check the place out before we go anywhere,' Maria said.
'Okay,' Michael said. Then he turned to Max and said, 'Maxwell?'
'You can't leave us!' Maria said.
'Hard to check the place out, then,' Michael replied.
'Why don't we all go together,' Liz said.
'Right,' Maria said. 'That's very important. We shouldn't split up. In the movies that's when things start to go wrong. People split up and they start disappearing.'
'Sounds good to me,' Michael said under his breath.
'I heard that,' Maria said. 'Remember what I said before: The smart-ass jokester is always the first to go.'
'Guys. Just keep it down and let's get going,' Liz said.
They started making their way through the kitchen, and Michael was amazed at the size of it. There were two large commercial stoves, much bigger than the one at the Crash-down. There were also rows of cabinets and a large metal door that he recognized as a walk-in freezer. Somebody had really lived pretty well in this house. You could jit Hank's whole trailer in a corner of the kitchen, Michael thought, shaking his head. Somehow, he couldn't believe the trailer that had been his home for more time than he cared to remember and this house existed in the same universe. When Michael had left Hank and the Chisholm Trailer Park for good to get his own apartment, he swore he would never live in a mobile home again. And here 1 am living in a van, he realized. Though he recognized that living with his friends in the van was the first taste of real freedom he had ever known. He had chosen the van, and that was the difference. They were on the run, but Michael felt more in control than he had since waking in the desert after getting out of his pod. 'Wonder what's in the fridge?' he said, walking over to the door to the walk-in.
He opened the door and saw that not only was the freezer on, but it was stocked from floor to ceiling with meat and boxes of who knew what else. 'Someone's been here, and recently,' he said.
'Maybe they had all the lights on and that's what we saw from the road,' Kyle said.
'Well, it would explain the light we saw, but then… where did they go?' Michael asked.
Looking inside, Michael saw that there was enough food there to last his friends weeks, maybe longer. If no one was here now, someone was expecting some company… a lot of company.
7
Okay, I'm getting just a little bit freaked out here,' Maria said, looking into the freezer.
'No kidding,' Isabel said. She was getting impatient with Maria and her outbursts.
'Excuse me, but it's midnight. We're in the liber-creepy haunted house from hell. It's sealed up like a tomb… irony intended… and no one's been here for years except that the meat fairy filled up the fridge recently. Oh, and I left out the fact that, according to Madame Sees-the-Future over there, I'm scheduled to get chased down these stairs by the bogeyman.'
'Actually, I think it was more in the front of the house,' Liz said, smiling and pointing the other way down the hall.
'You think this is funny?' Maria said, her voice rising even higher in pitch. Then she smiled in spite of herself.
Liz clearly had patience for Maria. For that matter, so did Michael… a seemingly endless supply, on this trip.
Better them than me, Isabel thought.
'Look, there's no reason to panic. I'm. sure there's a logical explanation for everything,' Liz said.
'Why?' Isabel said, more sharply than she had intended.
For a second, Liz didn't respond; then she said, 'Well… there usually is.'
Isabel just shook her head.
It's getting late.
Where did that thought come from? Isabel wondered.
'What?' Max said to her. She realized she must have spoken it out loud.
