"Are you ready?" I asked, my voice tight.
Ty's boisterous courage seemed to have dwindled since we turned onto the long dirt road that led out here. Trees, I fathomed. They had an ominous way of casting out the sun as if poison. Of course, Ty grew up on the east coast, unlike me. Woods probably went hand in hand with breathing.
She didn't answer, so I turned off the gas. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine," she said. She looked pale, as she stared at the faded blue Victorian.
"This was your idea."
"I know," she said, gently rubbing her temple. "I just didn't think it'd be so..."
"Big? Old?" I asked.
"Creepy."
"We can go back."
"No, no." She shook her head, dropping her hand. "This is important."
I nodded and opened the door, stepping out with a crunch onto the pine needle covered ground. I felt exposed standing outside the car in front of the old place. It didn't feel right. "Why are we doing this again?"
"Charlotte," Ty said with a grumble, grabbing my hand. "Come on."
We started up the creaky front steps to the porch, when I paused, my hands wringing together. "How do we know they're all gone? I only called Liam's cell. Who's to say the others aren't here?"
"Relax," Ty said, squeezing my arm. "We'll knock first. If no one answers, then we'll find a way to get inside."
"Find a way to get inside?" I asked.
Ty gave me a rueful glance. "Charlotte, we don't exactly have a key. I'm sure if no one's here, the door is locked."
This whole escapade screamed bad idea. Ty went to knock on the door and I almost stopped her. But what choice did I have? She wrapped her fingers three times. A scurry of house finches took off out of a nearby tree, making me jump.
"You are nervous," she said.
"Is it that easy to tell?" I rolled my eyes. No one answered. "One more time," I said, "just to make sure."
Ty shook her head, but obliged. Nothing. She tried the handle, but it wouldn't budge.
"I say we head around back to see if we can find an open window or something," Ty said, as she started past me down the steps. If I hadn't known her better, I would have thought she had done this before. "Come on, Charlotte."
The porch groaned as we hopped down from the last step, taking route around the left side of the house. Everything appeared shut up tight. I stepped up to one of the oversized paned windows on the side of the house, and peered in. The large open living room seemed emptier than it did before, dark, the lights off. It helped settle my fears on whether or not anyone was home. I wondered where they had gone. It was still early in the morning on a Saturday. Who else would be up and out at this ridiculous hour? Of course I wouldn't put anything past Liam. He was probably taking one of his overnight walks, or hunting. He was a wolf after all. The thought made me shudder; sharp teeth and blood, all I saw.
"You cold?" Ty asked, moving up from behind me.
"No, I'm fine. It's nothing," I said, ridding myself of the vision. I placed my hands up on the window and shoved. It didn't move. Frustrated, I hopped down from the small vent protruding from house that I had been standing on. The grass squished under my feet, dew still lightly covering the ground.
Ty stood with her sneakers tucked into a large chain linked fence that separated the side of the house from a large drop off down the back. "This view is amazing," she said. "Is this the preserve?"
"Yeah, and be careful. You don't want to fall down there. That material looks a little flimsy."
"Yes, Mom," she said with a giggle.
I rolled my eyes, when I saw a shadow race along the edge of the house. Goosebumps flooded my arms. I turned, but didn't see anything.
"What is it?" Ty asked.
"Nothing," I said. "Let's try the other side of the house."
We headed around the front, past the old winding porch, and the small graveled lot where the CRV sat. Chills still prickled my skin, and I had the strange feeling of being watched. I glanced around, but everything seemed still, vacant. I had to be imagining things.
The other side of the house had been given more attention than this one. Brambles, thorns, and everything known to mankind blocked our path, making walking difficult.
"Ow, my hair," Ty said ahead of me. A low hanging branch had snagged a wad of her blonde curls, twisting them up into a knot. Pushing my way through the shrubs, closer, my fingers went to work, freeing her from the spiny tendrils.
"Thanks," she said, and then pointed in front of her. "I think I found a way in." She kicked a large overgrown bush to the side, revealing an old bulkhead.
"Is it open?"
She reached down for the rusty handle, and pulled. The bulkhead groaned, resisted, but then came free. Swinging it wide, she let it drop to the ground with a crunch.
A small cement stairwell smelling of mold led down to a faded red steel door. Brushing past Ty, I took the lead, and started down the dank steps. A thin trace of cobwebs tickled my arm as I reached for the doorknob, but I ignored them. When I twisted the knob, I was surprised.
"It's unlocked," I said.
With a gentle push, the door swung wide. A draft of moist mildew hit my nose, making me almost sneeze. Save for the small space near the stairwell where light came in, the basement was completely dark. I moved my hand along the inside of the wall in hopes of finding a light switch, but nothing.
"I suppose you don't have a flashlight?" I asked over my shoulder. The irony of the question didn't escape me.
"Sorry," Ty said. She crooned her neck around me, to see. "What do you think?"
"Do we have a choice?"
"Not if we want a look at those photographs."
I groaned, and stepped into the large void of darkness. Ty held my shirt, I think afraid of losing me. She didn't say anything, so I kept moving. My arms splayed out in front of me in hopes that I would find the stairwell and not topple into something sharp and dangerous. Who knew what kinds of things Liam and his friends kept down here. Visions of mauled victims flooded my mind again, and I desperately shook it off.
"Are you okay?" Ty asked.
"Yeah, just nerves," I said, when I saw something move; a flicker of a shadow in the darkness. My heart pounded in my ears. "Did you see that?"
"See what?"
"I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't be here." My hands shook. "What if they're not really gone? We really don't know that much about them."
"They're gone," Ty said. She changed her hold on my shirt to my arm. "Wow, you're cold, Charlotte. Look, relax. Even if Liam or one of the guys did come home, I'm sure they wouldn't do anything. Liam obviously has feelings for you, right?"
I nodded, though Ty couldn't see it. I just wished my mind would stop playing tricks on me. "You're right," I said, trying to shove off the eerie feeling. With a deep breath, I started forward again.
"Over here," Ty said. "I think I found the stairs. I feel a railing."
She pulled me around to where she stood, and when my fingers touched the smooth rounded wood, I sighed. "Thank god," I said with relief.
We carefully ascended the creaky staircase. The daylight seeped through the cracks of the door, giving it an aura like affect in contrast to the dungy cellar. It opened and we stepped into the long, empty, hallway.
"This way," I said, heading down towards the study. The faster we could get out of there, the better.
Warm light greeted us through the now closed and locked up window as I made my way over to the desk. The large leather bound photo album sat, tucked into a small shelf attached to the frame. I glanced around, and then pulled it down. "Here it is," I said. "This is the book."
"What book?" a male voice said.
My head shot up. Prickles of goose bumps rose on the back of my neck as I met an intense blue gaze bearing down at me. He stood, leaning on the door jam, in a way that oddly reminded me of Liam. He appeared about the same age and build too, but instead of Liam's ashy blond hair, he had auburn.