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

something. And Lucy didn't eat breakfast. She was pretty much a lump on a log at this point. She sat mindlessly on her chair, staring at nothing. Mikaela brought her coffee and eventually coaxed her to sip some. But Lucy was somewhere else now. She was half the girl she used to be. She just stared at nothing.
    Anyways, the rest of them, though, they ran around the house quickly searching each room. And then more thoroughly searching each room. And then just as Rachel stood in the hallway between the dining area and the safe room, at the top of the basement stairs--
    At that same time Zane and Beth went outside, looking for Jenny and the goats; surely they were outside--
    And at the same time as that--Mike and Mikaela found Rafael.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
     
    I might add it's hard to explain when multiple people are screaming at once. Over different things. I guess I could go from mouth to mouth--
    Rachel, peering down the dark wooden stairs, seeing a crumpled body at the bottom, began screaming her bloody head off.
    Zane and Beth, outdoors, seeing Jenny in her car, screaming at the sight of her. The terrifying sight of her!
    And Mike and Mikaela, up in the master bedroom; she opened a wardrobe and Rafael fell out. Just tumbled across her.
    Or I could give them each a moment, a long, sweet paragraph.
    Rachel stood at the top of the stairs and let out a long, terrifying scream. She stepped down gingerly. Nobody came running. They couldn't; they were too busy listening to other, louder screams. She could see the body crumpled, lying at the bottom of the stairs. Had someone fallen? Had Jenny fallen? Rachel stepped down again, "Hello?" She stepped down again, slowly whispering, "Are you okay? Jenny? Is that you?" And the crumpled body didn't move, it didn't moan. A new thought struck her. Was it Rafael? She almost said it aloud but then hesitated. He was dead; he couldn't answer her. And why would someone toss his body down a flight of steps? He was dead.
    Zane stepped out onto the porch. The daylight was bright and strong, it being noon and all. Beth stepped after him. She wasn't sure what to say to him quite yet. They hadn't talked after their kissy face episode and slept all snuggled up. But in the morning, it was as though it never happened. Beth awoke alone, Zane was in the kitchen, with a mug shattered. He barely even looked at her. She was feeling insecure and timidly following him, hoping that he'd catch her hand or wink at her or something. Some sort of love code that she could follow. And she got one, for when he let out a manly shout and blocked her with his arms, she knew he wanted her safe. She stood on her toes and looked past him, and she could see in Jenny's car. There was the missing girl--and her goats. Locked in the vehicle. Jenny's face was pale and she had blood dripping from her head. Her mouth was gagged with some sort of cloth. What the hell happened to her?
    Mikaela stepped into the room and she did hold Mike's hand, gently dragging him into the still cold master bedroom. It wasn't icy anymore, but it was certainly frigid. She kissed him suddenly again. She couldn't help herself; she wanted to touch him, to love him, to be loved by him. She hadn't been loved in years. Somehow, she had forgotten how bright it could be. He kissed her back, but then released her with a wink and started searching the cupboards in the bathroom. That was, after all, where they found John. She turned and opened the wardrobe and a swollen and stiff black-faced Rafael fell out on to the floor. She screamed an unnaturally loud shout into the dark.
    So, I don't know which way you like better, but I swear, I can't even make this up; all this crap happened at the same moment. Beezer was shouting bloody murder. "What's going on, guys!" He could hear the screams. Lucy said nothing, sitting nearby, still staring at nothing. John and Tiffany looked up from the kitchen table nervously.