The Open Door (8 page)

Knowing nothing had entered the room; Scott
felt satisfied, and rolled on his side for some much needed
rest.

Silence filled the air, Cody had stopped
snoring, and the quiet was so dense that Scott could actually hear
his heart beat.

His eyes had just closed when he heard a loud
thud. This time he was alarmed, and his attention was brought
immediately to the door. The luggage bag was lying on its side.
Scott’s eyes quickly shifted to the door—it was closed. If the door
was closed, what pushed over the luggage?

Cody was still sleeping and oblivious to
anything that was going on around him. Scott shined the flashlight
on the door handle—no movement.

Bringing the light down to the base of the
door due to another noise he heard, he noticed that one of the wood
chips had been pushed in, and sat at least three inches from the
inside of the door. Something had pushed the wood chip and knocked
over the luggage, but what?
Pop!
Another chip seemingly
ejected itself out from underneath the door where it was tightly
pressed by Cody’s stubby desperate hands.

Grabbing his already loaded .45, Scott sat
the flashlight down and positioned it so it pointed at the door,
and took aim.

He kicked Cody’s foot with zero results.
Pop!
Another wood chip went flying from under the door with
more force than the last, and struck Cody in the head. Alarmed,
Cody rolled over to his knees and scurried his way to Scott’s side
of the room.

Staring at the area of the door where the
flashlight was focused, Cody asked, “What’s happening? Why is the
luggage knocked over?”

Scott didn’t say a word—Cody knew.

After he realized what had happened, Cody
began to cry like a small child. “We should have never slept in
this house!” He said in a shaky voice.

Both terrified at what awaited them on the
other side of the door, they sat and stared motionless, waiting for
another wood chip to fly across the floor.

“Shoot it!” Cody yelled while pointing at the
door.

Scott wasn’t about to shoot anything unless
he knew exactly what it was and whether or not it meant them harm.
What if it was just a cat, or another animal, like a raccoon?

Flick.
Another piece of wood—and then
another—until just one remained. Staring at the final wood chip,
waiting for whatever it was to enter, and wondering if he would
have to shoot it, Scott thought to himself,
What if it’s not of
the physical realm, and bullets have no effect?
The thought
terrified him, and Cody was on the brink of losing it, so Scott
didn’t dare share his thoughts with him.

An unwelcome sound suddenly came out of
nowhere; it was as if the door was being sucked off of its hinges
while being pulled towards the hallway.

They both watched the door handle and the
last wood chip for any signs of movement. At first, nothing, and
then the wood chip squirmed like a maggot riding on fresh kill. The
door again pulled away from the hinges, and then the piece of wood
quickly vanished underneath the door.

Quiet filled the house, the door relaxed, and
the only noise to be heard was heavy breathing conducted by both
Cody and Scott. Still, they waited for a sound, movement, any sign
at all of life other than their own.

Two hours had passed by ever so slowly. It
was 5:00 A.M. and there was still no movement on the other
side.

“Cody, you open the door while I stand ready
with the gun.”

“Are you kidding? Something had the strength
to pull that piece of wood under the door, hard enough to nearly
take the door off! And you want me to open it? No! The answer is
No!” Cody forcefully replied.

“We’ve got two hours before sunrise. Do you
really want to wait here, staring at the door for that long?”

“I’ll hold the gun, and you open the
door!”

“You’ve never held a firearm in your life.
I’ve fired over a-thousand rounds through this gun, and I’m
certified, so I’m the only one that is handling a firearm
tonight.”

Cody gathered his confidence and slowly rose
to his feet. He carefully planted one foot in front of the other in
an attempt to keep the wooden floor from creaking. Slowly inching
his way to the door, Scott stood behind him in a stable firing
stance with the .45 pointed down at an angle so it wasn’t aimed at
Cody.

Grabbing the handle, Cody took a deep breath,
and then squeezed the handle tightly with his sweaty palm. Yanking
the door open as fast as he could, Cody quickly stepped out of the
way while Scott raised his gun at the black hole that was the
hallway. Tension was high, and his nerves caused him to nearly
squeeze the trigger.

Staring into the dark, he waited for a sound
indicating movement—anything at all that would give him reason to
send a .45 slug into an unsuspecting beast. There was nothing—no
glowing eyes, no movement, no breathing, and no
footsteps—nothing.

Cody held the flashlight, but forgot to point
it in the hallway out of fear. “Cody! Shine the light in the hall!”
Cody kept his back to the wall, refusing to look into the hall as
he extended his arm, and pointed the light into the dark narrow
abyss.

Scott’s eyes didn’t deceive him, the hall was
vacant. He didn’t know whether to feel relief or frustration.

Glad that there was no immediate danger, he
was also upset that they might never find out what lurked on the
other side of the door.

Morning finally came; casting light
throughout the catacomb where evil dwells, and transforming it to a
welcoming place that looked more like home.

Like zombies, they appeared lifeless from
lack of rest—having spent an entire evening in the house of
horrors.

Hesitant to spend another night, Scott
contemplated packing up and driving home. Pride quickly overwhelmed
his initial feeling of flight and the decision was made to stay and
complete his mission. Nothing would push him away from his own home
and stop him from finally being able obtain answers to questions
that haunted him for so many years. He would not falter.

Surprisingly, Cody didn’t have anything to
say—he just followed Scott’s lead like a mute servant.

They ate a breakfast consisting of dry whole
grain bread, chocolate flavored whey protein powder mixed with
water, and a banana.

Scott brought very basic foods that didn’t
require refrigeration, and that were healthy and nutritious—a long
cry from Cody’s usual fast food diet.

“How about we set-up the recording equipment
throughout the house, and then get some sleep while there’s still
light?” Scott suggested.

“What are we going to do after the sun
sets?”

“We’ll sleep during the day, and monitor at
night. I need to capture something convincing before leaving.”

“I’m not sure I can do another night in this
house. No offense, man, but there’s something in here—something
other than cats and mice.”

“We can drive around the neighborhood, and
locate something that we can use to barricade the door. I’ll also
remove the window screen so we can escape if needed. How does that
sound?”

“Well . . . I don’t know.”

“Come on, Cody! Aren’t you just a little
curious? Do this for me, and I’ll introduce you to that personal
trainer at my gym. What’s her name?”

“Laura. Her name is, Laura.”

“That’s it! You’ve been begging for months,
now here’s your chance!”

“We can try another night and see how it
goes, but you’re introducing me to Laura the second we get back! I
won’t forget!”

Cody despised working out, but would join
Scott at the gym from time to time, specifically on days a
particular trainer was working. It became painfully obvious that he
was only there to gaze upon the unattainable beauty, with no
intentions of actually speaking with her, and certainly no
intentions of working out.

They set up three cameras in the basement:
one pointed at the dining area and fireplace, one in the bedroom
facing the adjoining door to the second bedroom, and one facing up
the stairs to capture the landing and door that led to the
garage.

In the upstairs they set up three more
cameras: one in the room where they made camp, one in the hallway,
facing the door to the room where they were staying, and one in the
living room facing the front door.

All of the cameras were wireless, and ran off
batteries. Each camera had two backup batteries, as did Scott’s
laptop/monitor. If the equipment were to die before capturing the
needed footage, he could drive to the nearest gas station, and
recharge the batteries. The rest of the equipment was set up in the
room in hopes that they would capture the demonic horse.

The alarm on Scott’s cell phone went off at
exactly 6:20 P.M.—the time the sun laid to rest behind the Rocky
Mountains that silhouetted the October sky.

They woke from their uninterrupted slumber
feeling somewhat rested after receiving five hours of creep free
sleep.

Running to set all six cameras to record,
Scott had a sick feeling as dark fell upon the bleak home.

They met back at the room just moments before
dusk, giving them little time to set up the audio recorder,
thermometer, and EMF detector.

Managing to get everything set up before dark
completely blanketed the home; they pushed the small freezer they
found two houses down against the door. Weighing approximately
a-hundred pounds, the freezer offered more resistance than the
luggage, and if something should manage to push the door open, the
freezer was bulky enough to only allow about six-inches of
clearance before hitting the wall. Nothing larger than the average
cat could enter, and if anything larger reared its ugly head
through the limited opening, Scott could easily blow its evil,
maggot laden brains all over the walls with a well placed .45
hollow-point.

Feeling more secure than the night before,
Cody was actually able to relax.

“This is more like it. I can actually sit
here without my heart pounding out of my chest.” Cody said.

“I concur. If something comes near our door
tonight, it’ll have a rude awakening.”

“You need a nick name. How about,
Spookster?”

Cody’s sense of humor was returning.

“I like it. What shall we call you?”

“You’re the one heading this expedition, I
don’t need a moniker. Cody will do just fine, thank you.” He said
with a smirk on his round squinty-eyed face.

Six hours had passed, and there was no
activity detected by the high tech equipment, or their natural,
organic, God given senses. It was almost as if the creatures of the
night knew what a camera was, and were avoiding them.

Midnight was now upon them, and Cody’s
eyelids were becoming heavy. Every once in a while they would stand
up and walk around to get their blood pumping, but the confinement
was getting to both of them.

“Did you see that?” Cody asked. He pointed to
the monitor, which had the basement bedroom on display.

“I thought I saw movement on camera-six! It
looked like a shadow—nothing clear.”

Scott looked closely at the monitor, hoping
and praying that something would show itself. His prayers were
answered. The door the camera was facing was open. A black, blurred
object came from the lurid adjoined room, and closed in on the
camera lens. Suddenly, the blurred image was gone. The camera
started to shake violently, and then the picture from the camera
became lined and grainy, as if something had interfered with the
signal. A few moments later, the monitor went black. They lost
their signal completely.

“What was that, Spookster? There’s no way
that was a cat!” Cody fearfully said.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t make it out. Maybe
tomorrow we can review the footage and enlarge it.”

“Whatever it was went right for our camera
and disabled it! What if it finds the rest of the cameras?”

Cody made a good point. The camera sat four
feet above the ground, which ruled out any type of small animal.
Besides, whatever it was, it appeared shapeless, formless, and was
intelligent enough to take out the camera.

“We’re going to be all right. Even if it
takes out the cameras, it won’t be able to open our door far enough
to enter, and I have the ability to blow a hole right through it.”
Scott said in an attempt to convince Cody.

Cody calmed down a little, but Scott wasn’t
convinced. If what they were dealing with came from the spiritual
realm, his gun would be of no consequence.

Watching the number-four camera closely to
see if their mystery guest would attempt to head up the stairs,
Scott contemplated whether or not Cody and he should leave out the
front door while, IT was still in the basement. Scott didn’t dare
mention his thoughts to Cody, as he knew he would jump on the idea
and be out the door before he could finish his sentence. He had to
think things through before suggesting anything.

Camera-four started moving forward and
backward, as if the tripod sat atop a rocking horse that had been
put into motion. Ever so slightly, the image displayed on the
monitor—via the camera—swung in a downward motion and then upward.
Gradually picking up speed, the camera went from rocking only a few
inches to nearly touching the ground, and then as it rolled back it
pointed directly at the ceiling.

The movement became violently nauseating.
Faster and faster it rocked, until finally . . . the camera thrust
forward one final time, smashing against the floor. The image on
the monitor went blank.