The Haunting (2 page)

      Tina had come in the very next day with her birth certificate and proved to Kelly that was her name. Kelly laughed hysterically when she saw it. Tina had explained to Kelly that her mother had been a big fan of the singer and since their last name was Turner she thought it would be cute to name her daughter Tina.     

     Kelly felt bad for her though. Tina told her about how all through her childhood people would break out in song when they heard her name. It must have been embarrassing for the child.     

     The door creaked as she opened it, her friend turned around to greet her. "Hey Kel! You're here early."     

     "Don't remind me."     

     "What happened? You look like you've been run over by a truck."     

     "I didn't get enough sleep today. The fucking construction workers were drilling all day and when I did finally go to sleep the damned started leaking again."    

     "Oh no, I'm sorry Kel. Why don't you come to my place tonight after work so you can get some sleep?"     

    "That would be great, thanks."     

     "Yay, sleepover!"     

     Kelly plopped onto the red leather couch and leaned her head back against the squeaky fabric. She closed her eyes for a moment. Tina turned on the television that was mounted on the wall and started flipping through the channels.    

      Kelly only heard a fraction of each channel because Tina kept changing them so fast. Her eyes popped open and she sat straight up. "Wait Tina, go back."    

      "What, this?"   

      "No, go back again"    

      "This?"     

      "Yes, make it louder."     

      "Oh, look! They're making a new reality game show."   

       Kelly waved her hand at Tina and grabbed the remote control. "Shhh!"      

      "Well....excuse me for living."      

      Kelly turned the volume up on the T.V. while the executive producer Alec Sanders was being interviewed on the late night talk show. The new reality game show was to take place at Waverly Mansion, a century old estate that had been abandoned for more than twenty years. It was a place that no one dare to enter. Those who had entered were never seen again. When she was a child she remembered her friends telling her it was haunted. Kelly never believed in such things.     

       As Kelly listened to the producer her interest in calling in to audition for the show was building. "That sounds so cool Tina. We should call and audition."     

      "No, thank you. I want to live."     

      “No one has ever died there Tina."  

       "Not that we know of."     

      "Stop being ridiculous. Those people are only missing."     

      "Well, I don't want to go missing either. Anyway, don't you find it odd that nobody ever came back from visiting that house?"    

      "I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation for it."    

      "Yeah, they're all dead."    

      Kelly turned the television volume up higher to drown out Tina's preposterous notions. "Quiet!"    

       Tina grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down the number so Kelly could audition for the show. "Here" She then took the remote back and shut the T.V. off.     

       "Hey!"    

       Tina held the paper to Kelly again. "Here"     

       "What's this?"     

       "I wrote down the number so you can call. I strongly disagree with this but go ahead. Maybe they'll pick you as a contestant. You deserve to win that money. You don't belong in this place. If you won that money you would be able to go to medical school. It would take you forever to earn that amount of money here."     

    "Maybe you're right. You should call in too."    

     "What? And leave this grand place. No. Besides I was meant to use my body not my head. You go and make me proud." Kelly smiled softly and took the paper out of Tina's hand. She stood and put it in her pocket. She undressed and put on her costume.  Fifteen minutes later she was ready to go stage.      

      Frank pounded on the door and poked his nosey head in. "Kitty, you're up."     

      Kelly walked over to the door and turned to face Tina. "Well, here goes nothing."     

Chapter Two

       An ambulance sped down the street and whizzed past Jace Dalton. Its siren blared through the quiet city street. That wasn't anything out of the ordinary. In fact, it was a regular occurrence. As soon as the sun went down every sick and twisted person would come out of hiding. Women were afraid to come out of their apartment buildings alone after dark. There were a series of unsolved rapes in the area, and the shootings were a whole other story on its own. It wasn't safe for anyone to take a simple walk to the store anymore.     

     So, why would Jace Dalton be out at this time of night on his own? Well, it was a simple. People in the neighborhood feared him. He had nothing to be afraid of. He was a well-known drug dealer and the right hand man to the city's Kingpin, Cesar Gonzales. Jace started working for Cesar when he turned sixteen. The drug lord needed a reckless and fearless kid to do his collecting for him. Someone who was expendable. Over time Cesar grew to like Jace and offered him bigger and better jobs until the time came that the only person he would trust was Jace. It wasn’t long before Jace was overseeing all of Cesar's affairs.    

       When Cesar sent Jace to your house to pick up payment, you paid, or you would suffer the consequences.  A broken leg, a broken arm, or a severe beating would be punishment enough that no one dared to stiff Cesar out of his money again, not without suffering.     

     Jace was known on the street as The Flame. Rumors circulated around the small neighborhood. It was said he had set a man's apartment on fire with him in it. He used the man as an example to everyone. The man survived but he had suffered third degree burns on fifty percent of his body, he would be scarred for life. He spent several months in the hospital recovering.    

      It was never proven that Jace was responsible, but after the incident he saw the power it gave him in the neighborhood so he built on that fear the people had of him. He even got a tattoo which adorned his entire right forearm with red and orange flames.  A symbol of his capabilities.     

     Jace stood on the corner waiting for a customer who owed him money. He had been ignoring Jace's calls.  After having left numerous voice mails Jace had had enough. He’d made a visit to the guy's house earlier that night. But, an elderly woman answered the door. He apologized for bothering her and left immediately.     

     Hours had passed before he finally gave up waiting in front of the apartment building. He walked across the street to watch for the latest victim to feel his wrath. With only one street light working it was easy for him to hide among the shadows. Around three in the morning Jace saw a skinny figure slinking out of the shadows and into the building he was watching. Jace covertly moved off the step he had been sitting on and made his way over to the other side of the street.   

      He followed the man into the building and called his name as he was halfway up the stairwell. "Louis!"     

     Louis turned around and stood motionless. Shock written all over his face. As Jace took another step in his direction, Louis made a run for it up the stairs.   

    Jace darted up the stairs and caught Louis by the ankle causing him to fall on his face. Louis tried desperately to break free of Jace's hold but it was to no avail. Jace was too strong for him. Jace stood tall and began to drag his victim down the staircase by his feet. His head hitting every step on the way down. "Did you think you would be able to avoid me?" Jace picked Louis up by his shirt and slammed him against the wall. "Did you?!" Jace punched him in the face hard and blood spewed out of Louis' mouth. "Did you think you are so much more special than any other asshole that you wouldn’t have to pay me?" He punched him once more sending Louis to the floor in a heap.    

      Jace lifted his foot and brought it down hard on Louis causing him to grab his stomach and bring his knees to his chest. Jace didn't have one ounce of sympathy for the man who lay at his feet in a fetal position. "Fucking answer me!" Jace bent down to haul him up to his feet him, but before he had a chance to get a good hold on him, Louis bolted for the door and ran out of the building and down the street. It didn't take long before Jace caught up with him. He tackled Louis halfway down the block and started beating him against the sidewalk. Punch after punch, kick after kick had been observed by passersby. Each of them watched in horror at what was going on right in front of them.     

      Jace stood over Louis and looked up in the witness’s direction. "Do any of you have a fucking problem?!"     

      They stared into his ice cold blue eyes and quickly shook their heads no. Before Jace had a chance to say anything else they ran away leaving Louis to his own devices.    

     Jace turned his attention back to Lois and punched him again, this time making contact with his teeth. A deep inch long cut along Jace's knuckle finally caused him to stop pummeling on the skinny drug addict. Out of breath he leaned over and forcefully reached into Louis' pocket and pulled out fifty dollars. He stood over him, his voice laced with anger.  "I'll be back for the rest, you better be damned sure you have it all by the time I see you again. Next time you won't be so fucking lucky."     

     Jace turned around and sauntered away as if nothing happened.  He cursed himself all the way back to his house. "Fuck! Why the hell am I doing this?!" This ‘job’ wasn't his first choice as a career, but after his father had left him and his younger brother to go live with another woman he'd had no other choice than to become the man of the house. His mother worked two jobs just to make ends meet and a few years later she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She didn't have much time left and Jace was determined that his mother would be as comfortable as possible before she died. He couldn't have asked for a better parent. She had been both mother and father to her boys, she doted on them every chance she got. Jace wiped the back of his hand on his dark stonewashed blue jeans. He probably needed stitches, but was too tired to do anything but go to bed. As he turned the key in the door he heard his mother coughing. He jerked the door open and ran past his brother over to his mother's side. He took her hand in his and looked over to his younger brother Evan. "How long has she been like this?"     

      "About a half an hour."     

      "Did you give her the medication?"     

      "Yeah. It should take affect soon."     

     Jace handed his mother a glass of water from the nightstand. When she finished drinking he gently laid her down on the pillow and covered her with a blanket.     

    When Evan left the room, Jace followed right behind him leaving the door open just enough so they would be able to hear their mother. Jace walked passed Evan and went into the living room to check the thermostat. "Evan, it's freezing in here! Why didn't you turn the heat up for mom?"    

     "The heat is up. The thermostat broke this afternoon and I couldn't get anyone out here to fix it."    

     "Why the hell not?! Mom, is sick. She can't be here in the house like this."     

      Evan angrily closed the distance between him and his older brother. "Don't you think I know that?! We don't have the money to fix it."     

     Jace fisted his hands and pressed them against his forehead. "Fuck!"     

     Evan almost jumped out of his skin when Jace threw his keys across the room. "Calm down! You're gonna wake her up."     

     Jace plopped down on the sofa and held his head in his hands. "What the fuck are we going to do?"    

   Evan sat next to his brother and leaned his head back against the couch. "Can you ask Cesar for some money? Maybe he can help. He knows our situation."     

     Jace looked up and stared at the wall. "He already gave me an advance on some jobs. That's how I paid for mom's doctor visit and bought her medication."     

     "I really hate that you have to work for Cesar. I should go back to work."      

   "Absolutely not! I need you here to watch mom. Anyway, we can't afford a nurse and you're the only one I trust."