The air outside was unnaturally still. No breeze coming off of the ocean, no noise from the town, nothing. Even the ocean was silent, which was fucking impossible.
As I approached the house I started to yell out for Sully again, but my voice was ripped away in a breeze that had been still only moments before. I let out a growl of frustration. These fucking spirits were working against us at this point and I was ready to salt the grounds and buildings and say fuck it.
“You won’t scare us off,” I yelled out. This time my words didn’t get stolen from me and I ran toward the house. Urgency had me sprinting and my fear falling away. I needed to find our new friend, and fast. “Sully?!”
“Ben!” His voice was muffled and came from below me. I tore open every door I reached on the bottom floor before Ethan was rushing inside. We’d just done this area last night but we’d covered the lighthouse and grounds, not the keeper’s home.
“Basement,” was all I got out as I ran past, ripping open the last door. This one led to a utility room, but still no stairs. “Maybe a hatch? Old homes have root cellars. He’s under us.”
“Sully!” Ethan screamed out. We both stopped moving and breathing as we listened for his response. This time it came from under the kitchen. We both ran that way and started moving furniture and rugs. Confusion filled me that it seemed undisturbed, the rugs leaving an outline in the dust around it.
“Got it!” I called out in a huff as I shoved a cabinet from the top of the hatch. Again the dust was ringed around it, meaning it hadn’t been moved. So how the fuck did he get down there?
“I’m checking outside for another entrance,” Ethan said as he came to the same conclusion I had. He ran out as I unlocked and tried to pry open the hatch that had swelled over time, making it near impossible to move. “Ben!”
Ethan’s call had me giving up and going to join him outside. He was standing over an old school basement entrance, two weathered metal doors covering a set of steep stairs that would lead to another door under the house. The doors weren’t locked, but every time he tried to pull, the breeze picked up to nearly knock him over. And Ethan was a sturdy, stocky guy.
“This is fucking nuts,” I growled as I joined him, both of us yanking together. We barely got the chance to pull it free before Sully was rushing outside, gulping at the air like he hadn’t had a free breath in hours.
“Fuck this place,” he bit out before turning toward the house. “You don’t get to control the living! We aren’t the reason for your anger. Back the fuck off!”
The wind cut off at his command and he looked so startled his anger fell away.
“Well, apparently they listened,” I breathed out uneasily.
“Guys?” Brea’s voice called out from a distance. She came around the side of the house a few minutes later, followed by Ryker and Lincoln. Soon we were all surrounding Sully who was breathing like a bull.
“Hey, you’re safe,” Lincoln said soothingly as he stepped up. “You’re not wherever your head is.”
“I know,” Sully answered in a rough tone. “I started to slip down there in the silence and darkness but your voices got me out of it before it could hit.”
“Good,” Lincoln said as he clapped him on the shoulder. “No one would think less of you if you need a few days to clear your head.”
“No,” he said adamantly. “I want this. I’m loving this place, I just didn’t know I was going to get fucked around every day. Ben was talking to me the whole fucking way. It mimicked him perfectly.”
“That’s what I was saying,” Brea said emphatically. “Something is giving these ghosts some major energy.”
“So maybe we group hunt for tonight?” I asked.
“Yes,” Lincoln agreed firmly. “If anyone is against it, too fucking bad.”
“Yes, sir,” Brea joked. Generally he’d threaten to spank her ass for being a brat but he held back since we had a guest with us. But Lincoln’s face gave her the silent warning anyway.
“So where do we go?” I asked.
“Here,” Sully said defiantly. “They want to talk a big game, well we’re all fucking ears.”
“Love that energy,” Lincoln said as he held out his hand for a fist bump. Sully gave him one and smirked, his mood back to normal now. I couldn’t blame the guy for being freaked out, that basement was pitch black and smelled like musty air and mildew.
“I’m going down there,” Brea said. “Someone better come with.”
“Get the Darklings back. We’ll go together,” I said without skipping a beat. She reached up and clicked her glasses, turning to glance at the house.
“We found our missing team member, Darklings! It seems the ghosts on this side of the property were playing games and had lured Ben and Sully apart,” she started, turning to Sully. “Care to tell your side?”
Sully gave a lopsided grin. “It feels stupid now, but I was following behind Ben and both of us were quiet. I was too busy looking around to pay attention and just followed his footsteps. The basement though? I don’t even remember going down any stairs, that’s the wild part.”
“I heard the footsteps too,” I admitted. “That’s why I didn’t notice he was gone until I finally turned around to talk to him.”