Free Night Kill (Private Investigator Andrew Knight Mystery Series) by RL Edinger

flew down the stairs to answer it. When he opened the door, Amber immediately smiled with approval.
    “You two have fun,” Nedra said brushing wisps of grayish blonde hair from her face as she walked into the front room. She’d just gotten home and was still in her nurses’ uniform.
    “Thanks mom,” Chad replied.
    They said their goodbyes and were on their way.
    A full moon was rising as Amber and Chad walked towards the abandoned building at the end of the long gravel driveway. They weren’t alone; Amber’s brother Seth and his girlfriend Gabriel, along with his friend Jazz and girlfriend Melissa were with them.
    “You sure this is okay,” Chad asked. He’d just noticed the ‘no trespassing’ sign.
    “Yeah it’s okay,” Seth answered. His hair was thick and black and he had several earrings in his left ear with a beaded chain running to one in his nose.
    “Look what we hav’ here,” Jazz teased Chad and Amber as he flashed his fangs. He went on, “A couple uv baby bats.” He was a thin, tall kid with frizzy black hair. His eyes looked more like holes in his head because of the dark eye shadow he wore.
    “Knock it off Jazz,” Melissa yelled at him. She had more of a Victorian look but still wore the black makeup and hair like the rest.
    “Just teasin’ that’s all,” Jazz answered.
    “And will you quit using that dumb accent,” Seth warned raising his fist like he was going to punch Jazz.
    “Okay, okay,” Jazz grumbled. He liked the accent.
    The six teenagers stood in front of a formable looking wood door. Chad wondered how they were going to get inside. That’s when Seth produced a homemade lock pick from his trench coat pocket. They all watched as he easily slid the pick into the archaic lock and with a couple of turns had the door open. Seth put the pick back in his pocket and gave the door a shove. The creaking it made upon opening, reminded Chad of all those old horror movies he’d watched on late night TV. He also remembered that no good came from the people going inside those haunted places either.
    The entrance way was very dark, so Seth took his lighter and flicked it on so they could see. Jazz, Melissa, Gabriel and Amber did the same.
    The first thing that caught Chad’s attention was this painting of a nude woman on the wall next to the stairs leading to the second floor. She was breathtakingly beautiful with her cascading layers of golden blonde hair, and very sensuous with her perfect form. The more Chad stared at it, the more he swore she could’ve stepped off the wall and joined them. Chad felt it belonged in an art gallery in New York.
    “They keep trying to cover the damn thing up,” Jazz said all the while copping a feel of the woman’s breasts. “They painted over it, sanded it, and used paint remover on it. But it keeps reappearing. How is weird is that?”
    “It keeps coming back?” Chad swallowed hard.
    “Don’t listen to Jazz,” Amber reassured him. “It’s just one of the stories about this place. They’re just trying to scare people away.”
    “It’s true,” Jazz started to say, but Melissa jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Jazz yelped and backed away. He didn’t like it when she did that.
    “Time to go upstairs,” Seth said as he led the way.
    The rest followed. Chad glanced back over his shoulder at the lady on the wall. He could’ve sworn that at the same moment her eyes turned and she looked back at him.
    When they got to the dorm room, the three girls disappeared into the large walk-in closet. They emerged a few minutes later with a dozen large candles and an Ouji Board. The girls set the candles in a large circle. Jazz took out the Ouji board and game piece. Amber lit the candles and joined the rest whom were already seated on the floor.
    “What should we ask it?” Melissa said.
    “Haven’t a clue,” Gabriel added.
    “I don’t know,” Chad replied.
    “I know, I know,” Jazz answered. “I’ll ask about my family.”
    Jazz