The Dead Game (12 page)

Chapter 19

B
y Wednesday morning the town was back to normal: stores were bustling with activity; people could be seen walking and jogging.

Todd slept every night at Linda’s house, driving her to and from work every day. Each night, Sam continued his careful watch over Shana while she slept peacefully. Deputy Carl had stayed only one night with Mike and David, claiming that he hadn’t been able to handle their constant bickering.

Linda was sitting alone at her counter; gloomily staring into space, despondent over David finding a dead body on the beach. She couldn’t fully comprehend how one town could be cursed with so many bizarre events and suspicious deaths.

Shana hurried in, all excited. “We should see how Louise is doing today. I haven’t heard from her since she returned from the dead.” Turning to look at Linda, she asked, “Are you okay? You look awful—”

“Thanks…I’m totally fine,” Linda assured her. “I’m worried about Tom and Edward…and now the dead woman on the beach…”

“We can’t do anything to help the woman anymore, but we can still try to locate Tom and Edward. They could have run away…or maybe they were just frightened away. First and foremost, we must figure out who was behind the awful party. We can begin with Louise and see what she knows—I’m positive that she knows much more than she’s telling.”

Determined to shake off her sad mood, she gave Shana a timid smile. “Okay. I’ll follow you…as always. Lead away.”

Linda locked her book shop before they proceeded across the street. Entering Louise’s store, they were surprised to find it empty of any customers. And Louise wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“This is strange. She’s never left the front desk unattended before…” commented Shana.

“She did seem different after the accident…I hope she’s all right.” A cold wind whipped past Linda just as Louise ran over to them from the back of the store. She seemed harried and upset.

“I’m sorry, but I’m leaving for the day. Could we get together another time?”

“Sure, as long as you are okay…” responded Linda. She wondered why she’d felt the sudden chill just as Louise had appeared—almost as if she carried a cold presence with her. Maybe she was now the walking dead. She shuddered while scolding herself for having such ridiculous thoughts. She wasn’t going to share that one even with Shana, who was the queen of weird thoughts.

“I’m just fine,” replied Louise, ushering them quickly out of her store.

They found themselves back across the street in Linda’s bookstore, without any new leads from Louise.

“All I really wanted to know was if Louise had remembered anything from that night. I’ve never liked her too much anyway,” confessed Shana.

“I really don’t like the way she’d hurried us out of her store,” declared Linda. “Maybe we should stay away from her permanently.”

“We could try acquiring information from another source. We’ve never asked Shirley, Hank, or Minnie and Frank what they thought about the party.”

“There are all so secretive, but it’s worth a try.”

“We can interview them tomorrow.”

At closing time, Todd arrived to walk Linda home. He didn’t like the way she was sitting at the counter all alone, just staring into space. Sitting on the stool beside her, he placed his arm reassuringly around her shoulder. “I just spoke with Sam. Finally, we have some news!” he said, trying to cheer her up. “He’s uncovered new information about the dead woman on the beach. It turns out that she was a private investigator who’d been hired by the family of the girl who’d disappeared last year. Other girls have disappeared over the years. Unfortunately, people are going to want answers, and if we don’t find any soon, the whole town will be under investigation.” Well, that last bit of information took care of any cheering up. But he did want to keep her updated on the severity of their situation.

“What do you know about these disappearances?” inquired Linda quietly, without looking up at him.

He was startled by her unexpectedly harsh question. “Are you actually suspicious of me?” Was it possible that she was now thinking that he was the one responsible for all the disturbing events in town? Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned the disappearances.

“No! Of course not! I just wanted to know what you thought about these troubling cases….”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I intend to find some answers at the party Diane is throwing Friday night.”

“Could you take me to the party?” asked Linda.

“I’m going with Sam…I don’t want to have to worry about you.”

“The sheriff could take Shana—it would be a great cover for the two of you,” offered Linda.

“We’ll see.” He didn’t want her anywhere near Diane’s meeting.

They walked home together. Todd watched as the warm breeze blew her long hair around her pretty face. He longed to touch the silky tendrils that flowed down her back, but he kept his distance, as always: they were not meant for each other and never would be.

She had her face tilted away from him; she always shied away from him. Was she shy, or indifferent to him? It didn’t really matter either way…it was better this way for all concerned. He had a job to do and didn’t need the added distraction.

Once home, he offered to make dinner. While he was busy in the kitchen, Linda disappeared upstairs. He didn’t see her again until they were ready to sit down for the meal.

This time he wanted to have a real conversation with her. Then he realized that he knew nothing about her: her hobbies, likes, or dislikes.... He curiously asked, “What do you enjoy besides swimming?”

He was rewarded with a shy smile as she quickly responded, “I love to read, which is obvious since I own a bookstore. I also love to cook, which is also obvious since the bookstore has a coffee shop.”

Instead of pursuing this line of questioning, he decided to speak frankly about what was really on his mind. “Who do you think is responsible for the convoluted scheme at End House?” Afterward, he regretted his hasty words. He shouldn’t have brought up this topic so soon; he should have continued with a much more innocent subject.

However, Linda immediately sat up straighter and seemed eager to pursue this new turn in their conversation. She vehemently exclaimed, “I think Wolf is behind everything that has happened in town! But he isn’t working alone…I don’t know if his accomplices are human or not, but they are definitely evil.”

“What about the complex computer system in the house, which controlled the rooms?” He prodded her further.

This time, she looked him straight in the eye as she gave her answer. “You know as well as I do that the computers and monitors could have been set up just to lead us off the track. Wolf could still be a demon of some kind…or if he is human, he could have used the illusions upstairs and in the basement to confuse us and lead us to suspect supernatural beings.”

Todd was stunned by how astute and impassioned she was about the topic. He didn’t know if she suspected him or not—and he wasn’t going to ask. Instead he politely suggested, “Do you want to watch TV before we retire to bed?”

“No thanks…I’m much too tired tonight… I think I’ll just go to sleep.” Slowly standing up, she waved good night and headed upstairs.

He felt hurt, even though he knew that it was the best thing for both of them.

Chapter 20

T
he next day Shana entered the bookstore whistling, with a bright smile on her face. Linda knew that she looked this way only when she had a new plan up her sleeve.

As expected, Shana promptly suggested, “I’m ready to begin questioning everyone in town. We might be able to accomplish all this in one afternoon. This time around, we must ask tougher questions to force them to lower their guards.”

“How are we going to get invited to this mysterious party at Diane’s house?”

“Don’t worry,” Shana replied assuredly. “I have a few plans in the works.”

Linda was afraid to find out what those plans might be: her plans usually got them into trouble.

“Let’s begin with Hank, since we are the least familiar with him,” suggested Shana.

“Okay,” agreed Linda, following her outside.

The bell over the door tinkled merrily as they entered Hank’s Auto Body Shop. Hank promptly came out from behind a car that he was working on to greet them warmly. 
He has kind eyes
, mused Linda, as she watched him walk over; he was always so nice and friendly to everyone in town.

“What can I help you ladies with today?” asked Hank. The store was noisy from all the work being done on the cars lined up along the two side walls. The front of the store had two large windows on either side of the door, while the back wall had a glass window to the back room. Hank had ten mechanics working for him up front, and around that many salesmen working in the back office, selling the new cars on the lot behind the store. Even though he was very busy managing his two groups of employees, contemplated Linda, he always had a ready smile for visitors.

“We’re questioning everyone in town about the party last Friday night. We don’t know who planned it, but it tragically ended with two of our friends missing. Maybe you saw or heard something that might help us?” asked Shana.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with that. I went to bed early and heard only the storm raging outside,” offered a sad Hank.

“What about the party this Friday night? I heard that Diane throws two parties each year on exactly the same dates. What goes on at her parties?” prompted Linda.

“Diane’s parties are very innocent: there’s dancing and food; everyone gets a chance to get dressed up,” explained Hank.

“Who are the strangers that are invited each year?” queried Shana.

“They’re not strangers, but Diane’s friends and business clients,” answered Hank, beginning to sound annoyed with them.

“I guess we were misinformed,” apologized Linda. It didn’t look like they were going to get anything else from him.

As she glanced around at the employees, she noticed that all the mechanics had stopped working to glare at them very warily. She could even see the salesmen watching them through the back window. The climate of the store had quickly changed from a friendly workplace to an uncomfortable atmosphere full of distrust and suspicion.

Linda hurried out of the store, pulling Shana along behind her. As soon as they returned to the coffee shop, Linda locked the door and slowly sank to the floor. Shana sat down beside her.

“I’m afraid that we’re never going to get a straight answer from anyone,” lamented Linda. “Even Sam and Todd are holding back vital information from us. I don’t want to have to leave this town.” Not when she was beginning to like Todd so much.

“We have to attend this party ourselves in order to find any answers,” announced Shana. “Hank wants us to believe that these parties only have food and dancing. He must think that we’re pretty stupid: any idiot could figure out from the last party that something evil is loose in town. Somehow, we must find a way to get invited to this party.”

Their next stop was Minnie and Frank’s grocery store. As soon as they entered the store, they realized that Minnie and Frank had their hands full with their screaming baby. No one else seemed to be around. Their little girl always seemed to be crying whenever they entered the store, realized Linda—no matter the time of day.

Walking over to the playpen, Linda saw that Minnie was busy singing and anxiously shaking toys for her baby, in a desperate attempt to make her stop crying—which didn’t seem to be helping at all. Meanwhile, Frank just stood at the side of the playpen with an irritated expression on his dour face. Linda couldn’t figure out if he was annoyed at the baby, or at them.

“We just stopped in for a quick hello. I see that both of you are busy, so we’ll come back another time.” This was all Linda could come up with during all the crying and subsequent hiccupping of the baby, before escaping the hectic scene.

“The only one remaining is Shirley. At least she likes to talk and gossip about everyone,” commented Linda.

“We still don’t know if this is the real Shirley, or just a good cover.” Looking over her shoulder, Shana made one of her creepy faces.

“You’re beginning to sound like one of my mystery books. Now I won’t have to read them because we are faced with a mystery of our own,” sighed Linda, opening the door to Shirley’s store.

“I’m just becoming more cynical and paranoid,” commented a frustrated Shana.

Shirley looked genuinely happy to see them: jumping up, directing them to sit at her couch. Her office was homey-looking and she always acted very grandmotherly to them, mused Linda. 
She must conduct most of her business on the phone, since customers are rarely ever seen entering or leaving her store
.

“I’m so happy to see you girls. I hardly ever get visitors,” fluttered an excited Shirley, looking nervous for some reason.

“Are you attending Diane’s party? I hope it turns out better than that dreadful party at End House,” remarked Linda.

“We weren’t invited to this party, but we really wanted to be at one of Diane’s famous events,” exclaimed Shana.

“All of Diane’s parties turn out so nice. Both of you can come as my guests. We dress up, eat, and dance. What could be bad about that?”

“We’d love to join you,” Shana replied and then politely asked, “Should we pick you up on the way?”

“You can pick me up at 8:45 at my store,” answered Shirley very sweetly. Maybe too sweetly, noted Linda. She seemed very eager to have them as her guests—almost as if she had thought about this before and had something planned for them. 
Now I’m the one being paranoid: Shirley has never done anything to make us doubt her innocence before.

“We’ll see you tomorrow night,” promised Linda.

Returning to the coffee shop, Shana perked up and exclaimed, “Let’s bring Mike and David with us to the party. Since we are now invited guests, we could bring along our own dates. They also have a personal interest in solving the crimes at End House, since Tom and Edward are also their close friends.”

“Okay.” Linda hesitated. “I guess that could work.”

On their way over to the antique store next door, Shana suddenly queried Linda, “Do you really believe Shirley is for real, or is her grandmother routine fake?”

“I don’t know—we can’t write anyone off our list of suspects. We have to check out each person very carefully—even Todd and Sam. By the way, I liked the way you got Shirley to invite us to accompany her to the party.”

“All in a day’s work,” replied Shana flippantly.

Once inside the antique shop, Linda realized that something was wrong: the lights were off and David’s bright chatter was missing. They made their way through the rooms of antique furniture and the small room devoted to modern art.

At the back of the store, they located Mike and David sitting behind a huge antique desk with sad expressions mounted on their long faces.

Shana announced, “Linda and I are invited to Diane’s big party tomorrow night and we would like you to be our dates!”

“We’re not in the mood for a party—we’re upset about Tom and Edward. Where are they? Are they alive or dead? I’m afraid that we’ll never know….And what do I tell their parents, who have been persistently calling and searching for their sons?” moaned David.

“You can’t inform their parents about what really happened to them: no one is going to believe the true story. People don’t exit through disappearing doorways—never to be seen again. You could just tell them that they closed their shop and then left town together…” suggested Shana.

“Great! Now I have to lie to the poor people!” grumbled David.

“I’ll call them today to tell them that their sons have left town together…without informing anyone where they were going. I agree that this way will be better for everyone,” declared Mike.

“I’m sure that this is the best way,” agreed Linda. “Meanwhile, we can attend this party and find out why the hill residents meet secretly at Diane’s house twice a year. The more we find out, the better chance we have of finding Tom and Edward. We can’t give up!

“Oh! By the way, we haven’t had a chance to tell you about our visit to the village. At the diner, some of the villagers had related to us two strange legends—that their families actually believe in. One legend claims that the people living on the hill are vampires. The villagers have also noticed dark figures lurking around town at the time of Diane’s parties.”

“There’s also a second legend being told by the villagers,” added Shana, putting on a scary voice to enhance the tale. ”The hill people are depicted as good vampires, who are combating a group of bad vampires called The Dead—who kill people just for sport. To me, it sounds like what happened at End House.”

David enthusiastically agreed, “That party made no sense whatsoever: it may have been executed by real vampires, who were trying to kill us. This is beginning to sound a lot like those vampire movies that I’m usually too terrified to watch. That would explain everything—even the creatures that tried to knock us off the cliff!”

“And don’t forget the hooded figures I saw circling Louise in the gazebo,” added Mike.

“A lot of weird things have happened that don’t make any sense,” added Shana.

“But why were the upstairs rooms controlled by a computer system, while the illusions in the basement seemed to be have been under some kind of supernatural force?” asked Linda. She wanted to hear what they thought about this, knowing that this inconsistency had also greatly puzzled the great know-it-all Todd.

“Maybe this evil being wanted to appear human and therefore, rigged the fancy computer system to confuse us,” guessed Shana, “or on the other hand, he could be human and only created a trick basement to make us think that a demon was in control.”

Linda nodded her head in agreement: that was exactly what she had told Todd.

“Well, it definitely worked: I’m so confused and frightened that I can’t think straight anymore,” cried David.

“Like you ever thought clearly,” joked Mike.

“Ha! Ha!” responded David.

“Since you guys seem back to normal…we’ll leave you now. Be ready at your store at 8:45 tonight. We’re also picking up Shirley—she offered to take us as her guests. Remember to wear tuxedos,” advised Linda.

“I don’t own a tuxedo!” wailed David.

“I should have known. You can wear one of mine,” offered Mike.

“Gee! Thanks!” responded David.

They walked outside into the brilliant sunshine. Shana proposed another idea that had Linda sighing unhappily to herself. “Let’s continue interviewing people: we could take a leisurely walk down the gravel road, and even swing by the pretty bed and breakfast.”

“We can’t come back too late, because Todd will be waiting for me. Although it is nice outside for a brisk walk…” agreed Linda. She looked around at all the residents and tourists who were out and about, enjoying the beautiful day. She nodded hello to people along the way, including her friends, Ralph and Lewis, who were bartenders at the Oasis Hotel. They lived in another town and commuted every day to work. 
It would be nice, for once,
she thought, 
to be like everyone else and simply enjoy an innocent stroll through town.

They followed Main Street until it abruptly ended at the sheriff’s office. A narrow dirt road led the rest of the way from town. It ran past the bed and breakfast and the huge isolated mansion, before it curved farther inland to join the bustling highway.

The sun was perched extremely low in the sky, making everything around them appear hazy. In the distance, Linda caught a quick glimpse of the bed and breakfast with its purple gingerbread trim. Then the building seemed to be floating in the air. Linda had to rapidly blink her eyes several times to clear her vision so that she could clearly make out the pretty house with its wide porch. She was afraid that she was beginning to lose touch with reality.

They turned off the road to walk up the pebble path leading up to the front door. Nothing seemed to grow anywhere near the house, realized Linda: only sand and pebbles. They climbed the stairs and walked right in, since the door was standing wide open. Taking time for her eyes to adjust to the dark room, she noticed Abe sitting alone at the front desk. His wife, Anna, was standing nearby, busily dusting the dainty furniture with a feather duster.

Abe came around from the desk to stand before them. Anna stopped dusting to stand beside him. To Linda, they looked like they’d just stepped out of the American Gothic painting of the overalls-clad farmers—they just needed a pitchfork between the two of them. She didn’t understand why Abe always dressed in overalls, while Anna constantly wore dresses from another century.

They were both smiling pleasantly now, so Linda walked over to greet them with a huge smile plastered on her face. “Hi! We were just taking a walk and realized that we haven’t visited this house in a long time. We never see either of you in town anymore.”

They didn’t answer, but just watched her. Linda decided to attempt a different approach—it might not be as tactful, but what the hell; they were in real trouble. “Something bad is going on in town. People are disappearing and are even getting killed. Not only are we afraid, but so are the fishermen and their families. Have you heard anything about the weird goings-on in town?”

Abe glanced at his wife, who just shrugged back at him, before he began to explain. “This town has been cursed for a very long time. Years ago, after the vampires on the hill had peacefully resolved their internal struggles, they began treating the people in town better and things quieted down for many years to come. Then in the last few years, a new group of vampires—called The Dead—have risen up and brought bloodlust to a new cruel level. They not only love to kill, but they have also made a deadly game out of it. At first, their evil was basically centered upon End House.”