Day 17: Ground Zero

The group continued driving, multiple ideas being shouted from every corner of the SUV. Jake drove towards the beach, the one place everyone could agree on. Hoping it was as secluded and empty as they believed with it being mid-fall and too cool for swimming. “Hey, pull over up here,” Josh said as something outside the window caught his attention.

Jake slowly rolled to a stop just on the sand and the four of them exited the vehicle. “What’s up, Josh?” Katrina asked, moving beside her cousin.

“Take a look at that.” He pointed a ways up the beach and they followed with their eyes. Situated along the coast overlooking the breakers was the town’s iconic red and white lighthouse. And like so many ships on approach to Cabot Creek’s shore, it was a sight for sore eyes. “What do you think? One entrance, a great lookout and most have rooms for where the keepers would spend the night.”

“A lighthouse?” Elise asked still trying to follow his logic.

“It’ll be fine for now but there’s no way it’ll be permanent,” Jake added. “Come on, let’s check it out.”

The group grabbed the bags from the truck and hurried along the sandy oceanfront and over the rickety wooden pier to the stone steps of the lighthouse. “Just our luck, it’ll be locked,” Katrina said as they circled around to the front.

“No, our luck there will be 8 zombies inside ready to make a meal of us,” Elise replied. Josh and Jake pushed at the door and it opened with a loud squeal. Dust and spider webs hit them first as they stepped inside. The smell of sea water and rotting wood surrounded them, swirling in the stale air as it blew through the narrow corridor. “Yeah. This is definitely not permanent,” Elise echoed Jake’s earlier statement.

They sat the bags on the ground beside the door and Katrina flipped the light switch on. “We should look around. See if anything or anyone is here.”

“That’s a good idea,” Josh replied and unzipped the bag closest to him. “Here, everyone take a gun. Be vigilant and try not to shoot each other. Jake and I will take the lower levels. You girls search the top. We’ll meet back here once done.”

“This place gives me the creeps,” Elise said as she and Katrina made their way up the first flight of stairs. “It’s like ground zero for a nice haunted house or ghost story.”

“You weren’t born here, were you?” Katrina asked, glancing in Elise’s direction.

“No, why?”

“Because this place IS ground zero for a ghost story. In 1872, newlyweds Oliver and Elsnor Finche finished building the lighthouse as an add-on to their home on the shore. Oliver was governor then and known to be a bit hardheaded and naïve. He was also the second richest resident of Cabot Creek. Elsnor was a shrewd and cruel woman with a heart as hard as stone and as cold as the sea. Despite numerous objections from his friends and family, he proposed. They believed Elsnor had her sights set on Oliver’s wealth and was even willing to murder him for it,” Katrina began as they rounded a corner to another door.

“Well that day came, two weeks after the couple said their vows. Elsnor tried to burn Oliver alive by setting fire to their home but her plan backfired and the roof collapsed on them both. Rescue workers searched throughout the night and most of the next day but their bodies were never recovered. Weeks after the accident, many residents reported seeing the ghosts of the couple aimlessly wandering around the burnt out shell of their home. People say Oliver still walks the five flights to the top to burn the lamplight for Elsnor, still unaware of her intentions.”

“With rumors circulating quickly, it became nearly impossible to sell the lighthouse and it continued to decline until 1938, when a lonely, washed up Navy man Sherman O’Cannan purchased the lighthouse. He didn’t get many visitors, but those who spoke to him said he would go on about seeing “entities” at night. Two years after he bought the lighthouse, he mysteriously disappeared. Some say he was driven mad by loneliness and jumped into the rocky ocean from the lighthouse balcony. Others claim the ghosts pushed him over the railing. Either way, his body also was never found. When people come to marvel at the beauty of the lighthouse, many swear to see the ghost of O’Cannan standing on the balcony. To this day, people still claim to hear O’Cannan lamenting over the waves crashing ashore: ‘Beware the ghosts, beware the ghosts…’” 

“Geez, Katrina, as if I wasn’t already scared enough!” Katrina shrugged and followed Elise into the next room. “Oh my god, a shower!” Elise clapped and turned the faucet to check the water. “I feel so grimy.”

“Yeah but, what are you going to change into once you’re done? None of us have extra clothes,” Katrina said and saw the corners of Elise’s mouth turn down.

“Crap!” she replied. “Should have grabbed some t-shirts and shorts from that sports place.”

“Let’s keep moving. I’m curious to see the top of this place.”

“In a rush to check out that balcony?” Elise teased.

“Locked,” Josh announced, pulling the handle to another door. “Maybe the keys are in the top of the tower or something. There’s gotta be like a control station or something right?”

“Maybe. Let’s hope the girls are having better luck.”

Twenty minutes passed and the groups finished their search. Everyone met back at the front entrance, neither teams finding anything significant. “We should try and sleep. Maybe in the morning we can figure out what to do,” Katrina said. The lights began to flicker and a loud buzzing noise emanated from the hall to the right.

“Seriously!” Elise shrieked as it became instantly dark. “What kind of lighthouse has no lights? I thought these places never went out!”

“It’s probably just a generator thing,” Katrina offered.

“The controls are near the boiler room,” Jake said. “It was locked tight but I think you could get in there, no problem,” Jake said, nodding at Katrina. 

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*Author’s note: The lot I used was Lighthouse Point by Squircle. The story Katrina tells Elise is property of Squircle. It was nice and creepy and there was no way I couldn’t include it! Thank you, Squircle!*

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