The Curse Оf Hollister House

Sunday

I closed my eyes and cringed when I realized which barn we were heading toward. Of all the barns in all the world, why did the haunted barn have to be here? This barn and I had history, a very embarrassing history I’d just as soon forget.

“Something wrong, dear?” Aunt Gracie asked as she headed toward the dirt lot set up for parking.

“No. I just hadn’t realized the haunted barn was going to be held here on old man Logan’s property.”

“The barn we used when you lived here before burned to the ground, and the town has been using this one for years. I seem to remember that you and Cass used to go fishing here at Logan Pond.”

I tried to prevent the blush that I knew was about to redden my cheeks. “Yes. We did. When we were kids.”

The truth of the matter was, in addition to fishing here as kids, Cass and I had shared our one and only kiss right here in this barn. Actually, it was more than a kiss, so very, very much more. It hadn’t been planned and definitely hadn’t been wise, but it had occurred nonetheless.

We’d been at the pond fishing, as we often did when it wasn’t frozen over. The day had started out cool but had gotten hot, so we’d decided to go for a swim. We hadn’t planned to swim, so we hadn’t worn bathing suits, but we were kids, and Cass and I had swum together many times wearing just our underwear. I pulled off my T-shirt and shorts without giving it a second thought. As I stood before him in only my panties, while he wore only his boxers, I’d noticed a shift in his attention. It was early spring, and we hadn’t swum together since the previous summer, so when I pulled off my shirt, I hadn’t stopped to consider that I’d begun to develop breasts over the winter. I’m petite and small-breasted, and I was also a late bloomer, so the fact that I had breasts at all had sort of crept up on me. Long story short, our seemingly innocent swim had turned into something else altogether.

Not that anything had happened. Not really. We were, after all, just thirteen. But there was no denying the fact that the energy between us had changed on that muggy afternoon. An unforeseen storm had rolled in, and somehow we’d ended up in the old barn. I’m still not sure how it happened, but before that late spring storm had rolled through, we’d shared our first kiss.

I swallowed hard. My first kiss, if I was being perfectly honest. How naive had I been not to realize that a thirteen-year-old girl and a thirteen-year-old boy shouldn’t swim together in only their underwear?

“Things have changed quite a bit since the last haunted barn you attended,” Gracie continued, seemingly unaware that my heart was pounding and my face was flush. “Not only the location but things have become much more animated with all the new technology.”

I glanced at the cars already parked in the lot, hoping that Cass’s wouldn’t be there, but as he’d indicated he would be, he was already here. The fact that I knew that he would remember the same thing I had had me blushing clear up to the roots of my hair.

“They have a mechanical skeleton that is actually quite lifelike. We’ve even had to post a warning for young children,” Gracie continued. “It moves its arms and legs, and when the building is dark, and you can’t see the cables, it looks like it is chasing you.”

“Sounds like fun,” I choked out.

“Personally, I worry that they’ve made it too frightening, though it is, after all, a haunted barn. I suppose children who are too young to attend still have a lot of child-friendlier options in town.” Gracie pulled into a parking spot two cars down from where Cass had parked.

I took a deep breath and prayed that my face didn’t look as hot and flustered as it felt.

Thankfully the place was packed with enthusiastic volunteers, and I was greeted immediately after walking through the door, which prevented the awkwardness of standing in front of the room looking for a friendly face. Gracie headed toward the back of the barn where a group from her bridge club were hanging rubber bats along the ceiling.

“Oh my God, Callie. I’m so happy you came.”

“It’s good to see you, Chelsea.” I hugged the woman who was about to squeeze the life out of me. Not that I wasn’t happy to see her. Chelsea Garber and I had been good friends back in the day.

“I heard about your accident. I just want you to know how sorry I am.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at the perky woman. “You look great. Very fit.”

“I own a Pilates studio now. Can you believe that? I mean, I am the one who flunked out of PE when I was a sophomore because I didn’t want to get sweaty, but then I found Pilates as an adult and fell in love with everything about it.”

“Well, it seems to agree with you. As I said, you look fantastic.”

“You should come by. It will totally change your life. Seriously, I can’t say enough about not only the physical benefits but the mental and emotional ones as well.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” I looked around the barn. “I should probably check in with Hope. Have you seen her?”

“She’s in the back under the loft. Just so you know, there have been a few hiccups and she has been somewhat frantic, so don’t take it personally if she snaps at you.”

I nodded. “Thanks for the warning. And it was nice to see you again.”

“Don’t forget to come by for a class. The first one is on the house.”

“I will. And thanks.” I put my head down and went toward the loft. While I was eager to catch up with everyone, having all the people I needed to catch up with all together in one place was overwhelming.

“Oh good, you made it.” Hope smiled despite the fact that the smile seemed tense and almost forced.

“I’m here and ready to work. What do you want me to do?”

She held up two extension cords that were still rolled and wrapped in cardboard, indicating they were new. “Cass is up in the loft working on the electrical. Can you run these up to him?”

“Uh, sure,” I replied, although I’d been hoping to delay our eventual meeting for a little while longer.

“Tell him that the long cord he wanted is on the way. They were out of them at the hardware store, so I sent someone to Rivers Bend to get one.”

“Okay. I’m on it.” I hoped my tone communicated confidence and not the nervousness I was feeling. I took a deep breath as I climbed the ladder to the loft. I was being ridiculous. I knew that. This was Cass. Arguably, the best friend I had left in the world, even though I’d gone more than a decade without seeing him. He knew all my dirty little secrets. No reason to be nervous. Right?

“Hey, Cass,” I said as I stepped from the ladder onto the floor of the loft. “I have the extension cords you asked for. At least two of them. Someone had to drive to Rivers Bend to the get the extra-long one.”

“Great. Just set them there on that bale of hay. Can you hand me those pliers?”

I did as requested. “The place really looks fantastic. Very high-tech compared to the haunted barns you and I attended as kids.”

“Personally, I think the guy who designs this thing goes a little overboard with the mechanics, but I’m just here to help, so what do I know? Do you see a screwdriver around anywhere?”

I looked around the loft. “Yeah, hang on.” Our hands touched as I handed him the tool he’d asked for, creating thoughts in my mind one should not have after just coming from church. “So, how did you end up being in charge of the electrical? Shouldn’t they have an electrician see to such things?” I asked, trying to get my mind off the tingling in my fingers that might have been caused by the accident but might have been caused by something else altogether.

“Troy Wheeler from Wheeler Electrical came by and hooked up the electrical panel. I’m just figuring out which extension cords are going to run which gadgets.”

“I remember Troy. Short with blond hair. He had an older brother. Tony.”

“Yep. They both went to work for their father. Seems like they do okay.” Cass stood up. He rubbed his lower back, I assumed to work out a kink. “Do you remember Vanessa Vanderbilt?”

“Sure, I remember Vanessa. She was a year behind us in school.”

“She and Troy are married now, with three kids, a white picket fence, and a minivan. Did you ever think that Vanessa would be the sort to settle down and have a family?”

“Actually, no. She was, well, she was sort of …”

“Crazy,” Cass supplied.

“Well, yeah. I was trying to come up with a kinder way to put it.”

“If I had to guess, her teenage hormones got the best of her. She works for the middle school as a secretary, and as hard as it is to believe, she seems perfectly normal now.”

I leaned a hip against the wall. “Middle school? Have you spoken to her about Tracy?”

He nodded. “When Tracy first went missing, I interviewed every single staff member. Of course, everyone was shocked about what had happened, and no one remembered seeing anything that would help me find her. I’ve spoken to a few of the staff since Tracy’s body was found, but not Vanessa. I suppose I should call to set up an interview if the lead involving the three temp workers doesn’t pan out.”

“Do you think it will? Do any of the three seem like real suspects?”

“I didn’t have the sense that Veronica Jones is the killer I’m looking for. When we spoke, she appeared to be a perfectly nice woman who really cares about the students she spends time with. As for Harvey Underwood, as I said on Friday, while nothing he said seemed to implicate him, I did get an odd vibe from him. If I had to guess, he is hiding something.”

“And the creepy janitor?”

“If I had to pick one of the three as the killer, he’d be the one, but I’ve thought about it, and he didn’t appear to know any of the three girls, and he really doesn’t seem to have a motive, although I doubt motive was involved in any of the three deaths. Perhaps there is something ritualistic going on here.”

“Okay, so what is the link? Why these three girls? Were they chosen, or were they in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

Cass groaned. “I wish I knew. Can you check to see if there is an electrical strip on that far wall?”

I crossed the musty loft and did as Cass asked. “Yeah, there is one of those safety strips tacked to the wall.”

“Okay, great. I think we are in business.”

He stood up and reached overhead to grab the end of an extension cord that had been fed up along one of the walls from somewhere downstairs. The movement exposed his belly just above his belt. The dark hair and firm abs left no doubt in my mind that Cass Wylander wasn’t a kid any longer. He lowered his arms, and in that instant, he caught me staring. Nothing I could do could prevent the blush that followed. “I guess I should head downstairs to see what needs to get done.”

“Thanks for your help.”

I turned to leave and then turned back. “It’s weird being here again.”

He smiled. “I guess it is the first time we’ve been here together in this barn since that time we,” he paused briefly, “went fishing in Logan Pond.”

“Yeah.” I couldn’t help but remember Cass’s hands on my body.

“Just so you know,” Cass added as I turned toward the stairs once again, “I consider that to be the best fishing trip of my life.”

I paused and looked him in the eye. “Yeah. Me too.” With that, I climbed down the ladder.