Day 25: Cliffhanger

“Be careful,” Katrina said as Jake slowly opened the door at the end of the hall. He stepped through and immediately gagged on the stale air as it hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Holy crap,” he wheezed. “What the hell is that?”

“Death,” Elise whispered. “Just like Georgia’s greenhouse.”

Josh pushed forward and Katrina followed after him with Elise trailing behind, being careful and watching every step she took. “It’s so dark in here,” she said as they barely made it inside the shadowy tunnel.

“Yeah it is. We should have probably grabbed a light or something before coming in here.”

“Wait, try this.” Jake patted his jeans pocket before revealing a book of matches.

“You don’t look like a smoker,” Katrina said as he lit one and held it out in front of them.

“I’m not,” he replied, showing her the matchbook. “I got it from some club in town.”

“It has a number in it.” She squinted her eyes as she read. “Melissa; not the girlfriend I assume?”

He snatched the book back with a grin. “Hey I didn’t go trolling for ass. If some hot babe wanted to give me her phone number for a hookup, who am I to say no?”

“Wow. Just when I thought you couldn’t be any more of a jerk, you go and shoot for the stars,” Katrina sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Ow!” The match burned down to his fingers and he dropped it before sucking the singed tip of his index.

“Instant karma,” Katrina laughed, making Jake frown in her direction.

“Hey let me see that matchbook,” Josh said, catching it as Jake tossed it his way. Walking over to the wall, he struck another match and lit a torch he saw hanging on the wall.

“Dude, nice going,” Jake commended, pocketing the booklet again. Josh lit another torch and he and Jake moved to each side, systematically lighting their path.

“It’s great to have light but it’s also bad,” Elise said, looking down at her feet as she stepped in something moist and squishy. “So gross! God! This place is disgusting.”

They reached a door and with enough force, Jake and Josh were about to pry it open. Dust floated through the air in front of them and they fanned it away as they stepped out one at a time. “Where the hell are we?” Jake asked.

“King’s Point,” Katrina replied. “This is the place the ghosts are most often seen.

“Ghosts?” Jake coughed and cleared his throat. “What do you mean ghosts?”

“Oh, you missed it, Kat retold the history of the lighthouse which involved a gruesome murder motivated by greed and a suicide possibly brought on by lunacy. There are three ghosts living in the lighthouse.”

“Well, technically, I never said they lived in the lighthouse only that they haunted it.”

“Right, because that’s better,” Elise replied.

“I think there’s a bit more to it than that,” Josh said, his attention on a hill just ahead of them. “That would probably explain the reason the tunnel smelled so rank.” The others turned in the direction he pointed and took in the sight of the graveyard overlooking the bluff. Some of the graves were freshly overturned and there were drag marks in the dirt leading away from the plots and towards the road.

“So am I the only one that thinks this is a really bad idea?” Elise asked, cocking her weapon as she glanced at the cemetery. “Chemical spill, dead people coming back to life and here we are standing in the middle of a graveyard.”

“Nope, the irony is not lost on me. Although, I can’t understand why the tunnel let out here,” Josh said. He stepped back and as he did, something grabbed his foot. “What the…” Two rotting corpses pushed their way up through the loose dirt of their graves.

Josh immediately aimed and fired, hitting the creature in his exposed brain while Jake dispatched the other. “As I was saying, bad idea,” Elise said. “And I thought you said the bodies were never found.” 

“They weren’t. I don’t know who they were but it wasn’t Oliver, Elsnor or Sherman,” Katrina replied. “I think it might be best to get inside now,” Katrina said, slowly backing up.

“Shh,” Josh hushed his cousin. “Did you hear that?” The group stood completely still while everyone strained their ears in concentration. Moments later, what sounded like a man screaming rumbled over the crashing waves.

“OVER THERE!” Elise exclaimed and moved closer to the edge of the cliff. “I think someone’s down there!”

“Damn. They might as well be forty miles away,” Jake said as the screams grew louder.

“We can’t let them die,” Josh sighed. “We have to give it a try.”

Continue---->

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