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The house didn’t look like much. The paint had faded to an inconspicuous grey, the windows were boarded up but the wood didn’t cover everything, the front door was missing, and there was a giant hole in the roof. By all rights, it should have been condemned and torn down years ago, but any time someone tried, that someone ended up dead.
And this was the house Phichit wanted to use for a haunted house for Halloween. Christophe had volunteered to check it out, and Seung Gil decided to come with him. There was no way he was letting his boyfriend go alone, capable though he was of handling himself. Seung Gil was the history guy, anyway, and Christophe was very grateful for the company. “What do you think, Seung Gil? Think the ghost will mind if we go in?”
“You’re the expert on all things supernatural,” Seung Gil said.
“Yeah, but you’re the one who knows about the house and the people who lived here.” Christophe pulled out his flashlight. “So, what do you think? Will they mind us trespassing?”
“You should be okay. I’m not so sure about me, but I doubt we’ll be attacked if we just go look around.” Seung Gil climbed the steps to the front porch, aiming the flashlight inside. “The last owners tried to sell the place, but things went wrong any time someone came to look at it. I suspect they were haunting victims, not our ghost or ghosts. The prior owner was a man in his thirties who lived here alone and, one day, people realized no one had seen him in a month. They never found a body, and the people who took over the place were his cousins. That’s my guess for who the ghost is.”
“Sounds reasonable. Do you see anything?”
“Dust. Cobwebs. Some furniture that’s the same kind of faded and dilapidated as the outside of the house.” Seung Gil stepped inside. “Watch your step. The floorboards don’t feel very stable.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Christophe followed him inside and switched on his flashlight. There wasn’t a lot to see other than the dust. “If I were going to disappear, it would probably be easiest from the basement, right? Start our search there?”
“Sounds good.” Seung Gil shined his light around, looking for the stairs down. “Over there. I’m going down.”
“You’re good at that.” Christophe smiled at the slight flush on Seung Gil’s face. “Lead on.”
Seung Gil started coughing as he walked into the basement. Christophe hurried down the last few steps to put a hand on his back. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Seung Gil said between coughs. “It’s just very, very dusty down here.”
“Okay.” Christophe shined his light around. The basement seemed empty except for the stairs and the dust, until Christophe spotted a door on the far side of the room. “Over there.”
Seung Gil coughed one last time, and then looked at the door, eyes narrowed in thought. “It can’t go to the outside. I’d have to check, but I think this basement is supposed to be open. No separated rooms.”
“That’s what I thought. It’s also suspiciously red.”
Seung Gil turned to stare at him instead of the door. “What on earth does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, it’s just that I can see what color it is,” Christophe explained. “No dust, the paint hasn’t faded out…”
Seung Gil nodded in understanding. “And then there’s the boards crossing over and three padlocks. Someone doesn’t want that door opened.”
“Which is perfect for a haunted house. We could rig up something for an actor to jump out of, the monster that has to be held behind a ridiculous amount of locks.” Christophe headed over to the door.
Seung Gil followed. “I don’t think we should set up a haunted house here. Too much work cleaning up before we can even start setting up the haunts.”
“That’s Phichit’s call, but I’m sure he’ll listen to you.” Christophe reached out and touched the top padlock. “What do you think? See if we can find out what’s behind door number one?”
Seung Gil’s eyebrows drew together as he stared at Christophe. “What’s door number two?”
“I don’t know. If we find another strange door. It’s just a saying.”
“It’s a weird saying.” Seung Gil examined the bars nailed across the door. “I think we should try but be prepared to run. If I were going to make someone disappear, locking them up in a hidden room in the basement is a good way to do it. If the ghost doesn’t want his body found, we’ll have trouble.”
“All right. Let’s see here.” Christophe reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a set of lockpicks. “I should be able to get the locks, but how do we get the boards down?”
“The door’s in good shape. The wall around it, however, is not.” Seung Gil reached for the top board and yanked as hard as he could. The entire basement shuddered, and Seung Gil stepped back in a coughing fit. The board was notably loosened, so as soon as he’d recovered from the fit, he yanked again. This time, he fell on his ass, but took the board with him.
Christophe helped him up and knocked some of the dust off him, prompting a coughing fit from both. “Effective. Are you okay? Is your ass okay?”
Seung Gil smiled. “I love that my ass warrants its own question. Yes, we’re both okay.”
“Good. I would hate to think of anything awful happening to that ass.”
Seung Gil didn’t bother to answer, just yanked on the second board. This time, he was more prepared, and managed not to fall when it came free. Once again, the entire basement shuddered, and there was an ominous creaking sound. “What was that?”
“I don’t know. Keep watch, I need to focus on the locks.” Christophe got to work, dropping each padlock to the floor as he unlocked and removed it. When he dropped the final lock, he looked at Seung Gil. “Ready for this?”
“Yes.”
Christophe undid the latch and turned the knob, pulling the door open. It creaked and groaned, and Christophe and Seung Gil were both covered in a shower of dust that had them coughing.
When the coughing passed and the dust cleared enough that they could see into the room, it didn’t take long for them to decide what to do. They’d expected to find a body. They had not expected for that body to still be animated, held in the center of the small room in multiple cages and chained and still thrashing to get to the open door. Christophe immediately slammed the door closed, putting the padlocks back on the door. He then backed slowly away, not taking his eyes off the door until he reached the stairs, and then turned and ran.
Seung Gil was right behind him. When they got outside, they kept running until they were on a completely different street. Seung Gil slowed to a stop. “I think we should tell Phichit to pick another house for his Halloween party.”