Gridlocked Guesthouse (Locked House Hauntings Book 1) by Mixi J Applebottom Page A

the young people) scrambled out of the car. Mike caught them both in his big man arms and fumbled with their collars. He wondered where their leash went. But gently he sat on the ground with them. Both goats munched and grumbled at his grip on their collars. They had been locked up a while.
    Zane managed to get her gag off and he helped her climb out of the little bug. She was still sobbing, and he gently brushed the shattered glass off of her when she was out. Both Zane and Ricky hugged her simultaneously; she was a little girl in a man sandwich. And that thought slowly stopped her frightened tears. "I thought I'd never get out."
    "What happened?" Ricky said, his voice soft and warm. "Who tied you up?"
    "I'll tell you inside. I don't want to have to repeat myself--did you leave their leash in the car?" she asked suddenly.
    "What?"
    "That's what was around my hands..." she said softly.
    Zane reached in, grabbed the leash, and noticed the blood stains on the worn leather. He handed the leash to Mike, who quickly hooked up the goats. Zane couldn't help but stare at her wrists. They were raw and bloody. Her face had deep scratches across it. He cringed. What was going on here?
    They walked to the front door and tried to pull it open. But it was stuck. Inside, they could hear screaming.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
     
    Inside, there was a ghost finally making itself very fucking known. First Tiffany, despite her careful attempt to descend the steps, fell. She tumbled with no time to scream and thumped hard on the basement door. It was a loud, cracking noise that made the whole house tremor.
    Ben, having heard the crash, let out a frightened scream and batted at the air with his hands. It was too much; he couldn't take anymore. He couldn't do it. He was out of here! He stood up and started to run--fight and flight and all that. He was no longer a person, or a man; he was just a ball of fear running like hell.
    He ran into Beezer, completely mindless and thoughtless, crashing into the couch like it didn't exist. Beezer's broken bone ground against its own raw, jagged edges and he too let out a scream.
    Rachel tried to run to Tiffany, but John was already there. He looked like a wild creature and he was wielding a chair. He charged down the stairs, chair overhead, throwing it forward.
    Rachel shouted, "John, stop! Stop!" Fight or flight, and he was fighting whatever it was he saw. I like to think he saw something, and not that he had the sudden, unrelenting urge to beat the shit out of Tiffany. Rachel screamed at the sight of it, completely unable to move. Flight or fright, baby, and she just froze like an ice cube.
    Beth, instead, was the one leaping down the wooden steps, tackling John to the ground, the chair now a splintered mess from his smashing it into the locked door.
    Everyone stopped, though, when they heard it. Beezer stopped screaming, Lucy stopped covering her ears, John stopped attacking Tiffany, and Ben stopped running. All together, they gasped and turned and looked at the thing that was happening.
    The house was moving. The floorboards croaked as it shifted in the dirt. The windows opened and shut quickly, one after another, as if they were dominoes. The basement door had one padlock open and fall off.
    The front door finally popped open and the three frightened men and the one straight-up terrified Jenny stood, a loud crack of thunder behind them so loud and petrifying that they leapt, charging inside. "What's going on!" Mike shouted. Rachel and John hurried to the safe room.
    Beth carried the mangled Tiffany, her thin, bare midriff spiked with little bits of chair. She was sobbing. Beth too was sobbing. But even beaten and terrified, they all instinctively knew they had to gather in the safe room.
    And Jenny started to explain. She was standing next to the bear, the big stuffed, ragged brown bear. God, I love that bear.
    "I went outside last night before I was gonna