Page 20 of Destined Chaos
I grabbed my crutches and did my best to follow behind them while they were on the ground floor, and when they got to the basement, I stopped them. “You can’t go down there. It’s a mess. The water heater burst last night, and I’m in the process of getting a new one.”
Mr. Johnson smiled. “Libby, I’m not afraid of a little water damage. I’d still like to see the area.”
“Of course,” Dinky said, narrowing his eyes behind Johnson’s back as he pulled the door open and flicked on the light.
They descended the stairs, and I did my best to follow them, using the railing and the drywall as my crutch to hop down the wooden steps.
The air was frigid. “Hugh must have forgotten to close the window after pumping out the water.”
I bounded off the last stair, and my gaze went to the closed window.
“Smart thinking of you to stack things on the shelves when you cleaned out Joseph’s things,” I said to Dinky. The basement was pretty well cleaned up. Nothing was ruined.
“That wasn’t me,” Dinky answered. “I left all the boxes on the floor.”
Hugh. I should send him a fruit basket or something to thank him for saving Joseph’s belongings.
“Like I said. The water heater will be brand-new.”
“And you’ll need to replace the bottom half of the drywall too,” Mr. Johnson added.
“Of course, she will,” Dinky said.
Mr. Johnson kept perusing the area, saying where he was going to keep all of the boxes of liquor for hunting buddies, when the hairs on my arms stood up and I felt a breeze fly by my face.
I spun in the direction it was headed and watched as the entity shoved Dinky. He flew into the drywall face first.
My hand flew to cover my gasp. Mr. Johnson spun toward the commotion.
“Dinky, are you all right?”
His face was red and scratched up as he pulled himself free. “Yeah. Clumsy me,” he said with a scowl aimed at me.
We both knew what had happened, even if we couldn’t say.
“You should be more careful, son, but at least now I can see how sturdy the structure is,” Mr. Johnson said.
Johnson leaned into the new opening and then leaned back out. A confused look crossed his face. No words left his lips as he leaned back in again and returned with the same concerned look. “I’m guessing those bones come with the house?”
“What bones?” My voice rose in pitch as I hobbled over to the opening. I peeked inside and horror filled my gut.
I ripped at the drywall opening, making it bigger for me to see. Bones were protruding out of the ground. “What the…”
“Everyone has skeletons in their closet, only yours aren’t figurative and you keep them in the basement,” Mr. Johnson said. “Personally, I like to leave mine in the woods where no one can find them.”
My mouth parted.
Henry grinned. “Relax. I was joking, Libby.”
“Henry, now, I’m sure there's a good explanation for why those bones are in the wall.”
I wrinkled my brow. There was no good explanation. “No, there’s not.”
“Well, of course, there’s not,” Dinky corrected. “But you can’t let whatever happened here in the past dissuade you from the property. I made you aware that deaths had occurred here. It just seems there might be more than we figured. Come, let me show you the rooms and the excellent view while Libby calls to have these removed.”
“This is fascinating and worrisome.” Mr. Johnson brushed off Dinky’s attempt to lure him out of the basement. “I can market this place as a haunted lodge in the woods. That will draw in a huge market. You know those weirdos go crazy over supernatural stuff. With those bones and your name, they’ll eat this up.”
The butterflies in my stomach turned to lead. Did I want Slaughter House to be a destination for the paranormal community? Would that type of clientele give any of my dead relatives any rest? Was I that cold-hearted not to move them on first?
