The Curse (Seacliff High Mystery Book 2) (6 page)

“Yeah.” Mac buckled her seat belt. “But if they didn’t take off, where are they? I pocketed Spyder’s toothbrush. That should be personal enough. Let’s drop it by the occult shop before we pick up Eli and Trevor.”

“Good idea.” Alyson felt her heart rate accelerate in anticipation of seeing the odd little man from the shop again. She had the strangest feeling he had looked right through her and into her soul to discover all of her most hidden secrets.

The bell over the door jangled as the trio walked in. Chan was behind the counter, as if he had been waiting for them. “Were you able to get a personal item?”

“Will a toothbrush work?” Mac held up the black brush.

“It should do the trick.” Chan held the brush between both of his hands and closed his eyes. He didn’t say anything for several minutes. Alyson looked at Mac and shrugged.

“I sense darkness, and fear. Your friend is alive, but he is trapped and cannot find his way back. You will find him beyond the door that cannot be seen,” the man said, his eyes still closed. “A messenger will show you the way.”

“What does that mean?” Devon asked. “We could really use an address or something tangible.”

“I’m sorry. I just get flashes. That’s all I was able to see. At least for now.”

“Okay, but what messenger? Who is it? How do we find this person?” Alyson asked.

“I do not know. The messenger will find you. You need only recognize it when it comes.”

“It? Is it a person or something else?”

“I do not know. The answer is not mine to know. The answer lies with you. Follow your instincts.”

“Isn’t there anything more specific you can tell us? Anything at all?” Alyson persuaded.

“I’m sorry. I’ve told you all I know. I sense you will find your answer. Just be patient and let the answer come.”

Alyson grabbed Devon’s arm and started toward the door. “Now what?” she asked as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Seriously, I have no idea what that guy was talking about.”

“He’s obviously a fake,” Mac grumbled as they walked toward the SUV.

“Yeah, but we had to try,” Devon said.

“Let’s pick up the guys and get out to the barn before we lose our light.” Alyson wrapped her arms around her body to suppress a shiver. The man hadn’t said much, but she had the distinct impression he’d been speaking directly to her rather than the group as a whole.

The answer was in the dark beyond the door that couldn’t be seen.

The sun was starting its descent toward the distant horizon when they reached the barn. If they were going to find anything they didn’t have much time; it would be dark in less than half of an hour.

“Does anyone know what we’re looking for?” Eli asked as they pulled up in front.

“Not really,” Devon answered. “Just anything that doesn’t fit. Let’s start inside.”

The gang, each of them armed with a flashlight, got out of the SUV and headed toward the barn. They looked around the interior in the hope of finding something they’d missed the last time they were there, as well as any remnant of the props and decorations they’d dropped off earlier in the week.

“Here’s where we left the decorations the other day.” Mac pointed toward the center of the barn. “And here are the tire tracks from Devon’s Expedition. I don’t see any evidence of another vehicle having been here. Don’t you think that if someone was going to cart that stuff away they would have had to pull a vehicle in to load it up? Some of it was pretty heavy.”

“You’d think,” Alyson agreed. “There are a lot of footprints, but that doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people have been here recently. Us, the kids in the drama club, Spyder and V, and whoever took the props and decorations.”

“Why would anyone want that stuff?” Mac asked. “I mean, the decorations were cool and all, but why go to the trouble of stealing them? And other than the kids helping Caleb, who would even know they were here?”

“Good question.” Devon walked along the back wall, shining his light on the ground. “Maybe whoever stole the stuff didn’t necessarily want it but was simply trying to ruin or even stop the hayride.”

“Yeah, but why?” Alyson knelt down to study the ground near the spot where they’d left the second set of decorations more carefully.

“Who knows? Revenge, maybe. Maybe it’s a case of someone being angry with Caleb or the drama club or whoever, and they’re trying to mess things up. Caleb did seem pretty stressed out about the missing stuff.”

“There’s nothing here.” Devon joined the others in the center of the barn. “I say we call it a day.”

“We still have a few minutes of daylight left. Let’s look around outside,” Alyson suggested. “It was dark when we were here the other day.”

“We can try, but I doubt we’ll find much after all the rain we’ve had.” Devon followed Alyson around the side of the barn.

After several minutes of searching Alyson had to conclude that Devon was right. The heavy rains had wiped out any potential footprints or tire tracks.

“Check this out,” Trevor said from the back of the clearing behind the barn. “It looks like something may have been dragged through here. The grass is matted down and the brush has broken branches.”

The rest of them joined Trevor near the dense brush line. The trees from the orchard grew thick in this area and had protected the underbrush from the ravages of the heavy rain. Something had definitely matted the tall grass.

Tucker began to bark as he dug a hole near a sharp rock formation.

“Looks like that dog found another rabbit,” Mac said with a laugh.

“Yeah, but last time we thought he had a rabbit it didn’t turn out to be a rabbit at all,” Alyson reminded her of the skeleton they had found the month before while looking for Barkley Cutter’s heir. “Maybe we should check it out.”

Alyson knelt down in the grass near the spot where Tucker was digging. Moving several of the loose rocks aside to better expose the hole, she sat back on her heels.

“Oh my God. Check this out,” Alyson gasped.

Mac knelt down beside her. “It looks like blood. A whole lot of blood.”

The guys gathered around to see what the girls were staring at. Inside the hole under the rocks was a pool of what appeared to be dried blood.

“Do you think it’s human?” Alyson asked.

“I have no idea,” Trevor replied.

“How’d it get there?” Eli asked. “I don’t see blood anywhere else.”

“It could be that the rain washed away the rest of the blood, but the puddle under the rocks was protected from the rain by the rocks and heavy foliage,” Devon speculated.

“It looks like something was dragged through here.” Alyson walked over to the path of broken foliage and matted grass that had originally attracted their attention. “Maybe something—or someone—was killed or injured and then pulled through here.”

“Oh. God, what if it was Spyder or V.” Mac knelt down near the blood.

“Maybe we should follow the trail to see where it leads,” Alyson suggested. “I’d hate to think of someone laying hurt and unconscious and we just left.”

“We’d better hurry.” Devon clicked on his flashlight. “It’s getting dark.”

They followed the trail of matted grass and broken foliage through the orchard. The cover of the trees made it even darker than the sky beyond.

“It’s spooky in here.” Mac grabbed Alyson’s arm as they slowly made their way along the trail. “The branches of the trees look like giant arms reaching out toward us. I wouldn’t want to be in here once it gets really dark. We’d better hurry.”

“Shh, what was that?” Alyson stopped walking and listened. A high-pitched screeching came from somewhere to their left.

”I think it’s a bird,” Devon whispered.

“Hey, what’s this?” Trevor knelt down near a bush that had been partially flattened by whatever had been dragged through the orchard.

“It looks like a piece of the jumpsuit the man in the diner was wearing,” Alyson said. “Maybe he really was an escaped convict and not a utility repairman. Maybe he killed Spyder and V and ripped his jumpsuit on that bush as he dragged them through here.”

“Maybe.” Trevor nodded. “Or maybe it really is a scrap of cloth from the uniform of a utility repairman. There are utility wires running overhead here.”

“Let’s keep following the trail to see where it leads,” Eli urged.

They continued on for another ten minutes, taking their time to look under bushes and through the long turf. Eventually the trail ended at the dirt road that ran through the property. There were signs of tire tracks but no further evidence.

“These tracks are new.” Trevor bent down to examine them more closely. “They were made after the rain ended. The storm brought down a lot of power lines. Maybe these tracks, as well as the scrap of material, really were left by a repairman.”

“That makes sense,” Devon agreed. “It’s possible the drag tracks we found were left by a repairman dragging something. Maybe a roll of wire or some other supplies.”

“What about the blood?” Eli asked.

“We don’t even know if the blood is human. People often poach on these deserted farms and ranches. It may be the blood of a deer.”

“Maybe we should look around in the other buildings,” Trevor suggested. “I was here once as a kid, and I remember there’s a big farmhouse and some other outbuildings up the road.”

“It’s getting late and it’ll be completely dark soon. I say we save that for tomorrow. We’ll be out here for a few days; maybe we can look around some more,” Devon said. “I know Caleb and Stretch think something happened to Spyder and V, but I think they just split.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Mac said. “It’s getting late and I have a date with a Chem paper.”

The gang walked out of the orchard into the increasingly dark sky. “Look over there.” Alyson pointed toward the distant horizon. “It looks like light dancing. What do you think it is?”

“The reflection on headlights from the highway maybe?” Devon ventured.

“But the highway is behind us,” Mac pointed out. “The only thing in that direction are some rocky hills, then a sheer cliff to the ocean.”

Alyson got into the passenger seat of the SUV and buckled her seat belt. “Maybe it was just a trick of light from the sun setting. A reflection or something.”

It was completely dark by the time Alyson got home. “Sorry I’m so late,” she said to her mom, who was stirring something on the stove. “What’s for dinner?”

“Roast beef with potatoes and carrots. I’m making the gravy now. Can you come stir while I get the salad tossed?”

“Sure. So how was your day? How’s the museum coming along?”

“Fine. Things are progressing nicely. So what’s up? I could see the worry on your face when you walked in.”

“I never could pull anything over on you, could I?” Alyson continued to stir the gravy as she spoke. “I told you about Spyder and V being missing. Caleb doesn’t think they ran away like the police do, so the gang and I have been doing a little investigating ourselves. It’s gotten . . . complicated.”

Alyson filled her mom in as they ate. “Anyway,” she continued, “I’m caught up to the me-asking-you-for-a-favor part of the story.”

“And that favor would be?”

“Caleb wants to take the stuff to the barn tomorrow because he won’t have time on Friday to take everything out there
and
set it up. He plans to stay overnight to keep an eye on things, and the gang and I volunteered to help. Don’t worry,” Alyson added quickly, before her mom could respond, “I’m taking Tucker with me and I’ll be with the guys, so I’ll be fine. The favor I need to ask is for you to put some food together for our little outing. We’re leaving right after school tomorrow and no one else has time. I thought if you weren’t doing anything in the morning . . .”

Sarah Prescott just sat for a minute without saying anything. Alyson nervously folded and refolded the corner of her napkin while she waited for her mom to speak. In all fairness, it was a lot to take in. She had spilled out the whole story in what seemed like a single breath, never giving her mom time to respond.

“I’m happy to help with the food,” Alyson’s mom began. Alyson let out the breath she’d been holding. “However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more than a little concerned about you staying overnight in a barn from which two people may have disappeared.”

Alyson opened her mouth to speak, but her mom held up her hand and continued. “Having said that, I’ve learned you seem to have a knack for getting involved in all types of dangerous situations, and as much as I’d like to, I’m not sure I can protect you from that. You’ve always been one to follow your heart, and your heart seems to land you right in the middle of whatever drama is going on at the moment. In the end, though, you’ve accomplished some pretty amazing things, and you’ve helped a lot of people. If anyone can find Caleb’s friends, you can. It’s your gift. You have these very accurate instincts. So,” she paused, “I’ll get your food for you and worry from afar, but I won’t try to stop you. Just be careful.”

“I will, Mom.” Alyson got up from her chair and came around to hug her from behind. “I love you. Please don’t worry. I’ll be fine, really.”

“So what type of food are we talking about?” Mom asked, getting up to clear the table.

Alyson pitched in and started rinsing dishes in the sink as she spoke. “Mac requested s’mores, so we need chocolate bars, those big marshmallows, and graham crackers. Other than that, whatever we come up with will be fine.”

“Should I assume you’ll be staying there Friday night also?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“So you’ll need dinner for two nights. How about Friday? Will you be eating at school?”

“Uh, no,” Alyson hedged. “We sort of planned to cut on Friday. Caleb needs so much help, and I’m getting straight As so far.”

Alyson’s mom didn’t even blink. “Okay, then, you’ll need breakfast and lunch on Friday too, and probably some snacks.”

“We won’t really have a way to cook other than the fire, so anything precooked or that doesn’t need cooking would be best. I guess we’ll need a couple of ice chests. Do we have any?”

“No, but I can pick a couple up when I go shopping tomorrow. Be sure to charge up your cell phone tonight. I want you to be able to call if you run into any trouble. And maybe just to check in once or twice.”

“No problem. I’ll put it in the charger before I go to bed, and I’ll be happy to check in. As often as you want.”

“A couple of times a day will be plenty.”

“Okay; what else?”

“You’ll need paper plates, plastic utensils, napkins, drinks. Maybe we should start a list. It’s not like we’re camping experts. I’d hate to forget something vital, like a can opener. People always forget the can opener.”

“We’ll make a list, but if we do forget something we’re only twenty minutes from town. We can always send someone back for forgotten supplies.”

Alyson and her mother spent the next thirty minutes trying to come up with the most complete list possible. “Maybe Devon should get two rental trucks,” Alyson teased.

“You’ll be happy you have all this stuff when you’re cold and hungry. What about a sleeping bag? You’ll need a sleeping bag.”

“Already covered. I’m borrowing one from Devon.”

“Okay, I’ll go to the store in the morning. What time do you think you’ll be by to get the stuff?”

“I’m not sure exactly. We have to load all the props and stuff up first. It probably won’t be until after four at least.”

“That’ll give me plenty of time to bake a ham and fry up a couple of chickens.”