Amanda and Sirius had brought out their faded blue pickup truck for once, instead of travelling by horse, as was their usual mode of transport. They figured this would probably consume a few hours and neither wanted to leave the horses outside, as the clouds were threatening another storm.

The gates were open when they arrived and Kass’s sedan was parked out front next to the car belonging to her missing coworker. She’d since filled the group in, via text message about some of the other circumstances and details of the house. There was no sign of Kass.

As they waited in the car a light drizzle started to fall.

“Do you think she’s inside?” Sirius asked.

Amanda shrugged. “Dunno but we might as well wait for the others for a little bit. She peered through the windscreen at the house. It was hard to tell how many floors it had, some widows seemed a little off kilter, perched half way between two floors, slightly too many for one to assume they were all staircases but then Kass had mentioned there were staircases to nowhere, so who knew. The roof was high with an initial steep drop that curved out suddenly near the base. Small towers broke through as if some monster had tried to break free of the house but only succeeded in pushing the tiles higher. Up in one of the highest towers, Amanda noticed a widow that seemed to be open. As she watched a shift of the light made it seem as if something had moved within.

“If we go in now we can avoid running to the door when the clouds really open up.” Sirius pointed out.

Amanda turned her attention to the rapidly darkening sky. “That assumes any kind of reliability in what the weather looks like it’s going to do.”

“Mmm true but you know what is reliable, what the weather’s doing right now.”

Just as he spoke the drizzle ceased. He blinked surprised.

Amanda chuckled. “You’re not wrong.”

They got out of the truck just as sleek black 4-door sports car pulled up.

As they were half way to the front door Kass appeared from around the corner of the house. She met them at the main entrance at the same time as Cat, Indi, and Wolf.

“I was just having a look around the outside of the house,” Kass explained.

“Is it a big garden?” Amanda asked.

Kass nodded. “I’m not sure how far it goes back but there’s a hedge maze and a pond.”

Lightening cracked overhead drawing everyone’s attention.

Cat grimaced. “Let’s get inside before it rains again.”

Kass nodded and turned to open the front door with a large gold key she’d drawn from her purse.

“We’ve still got to wait for Zeph,” Amanda reminded them.

“We can wait inside,” Cat replied with another nervous glance at the sky.

Indi turned her face skyward as well with a completely different look. “Oh I just love storms. Isn’t this exciting?”

“Maybe if we were inside and I was sure of the structure of the exterior.” Cat grumbled.

Indi shot her an enthusiastic smile, as if she found even Cat’s pessimism exciting.

Kass seemed to struggle with getting the lock open but eventually the door swung inward with a piercing creak.

“When was the last time anyone oiled the hinges?” Cat complained.

“It just adds to the excitement,” Indi replied.

“You’ve been watching too many bad horrors,” Cat told her as she stepped over the threshold after Wolf and Kass. “All those sounds they use are just to distract you. There’s nothing more terrifying than a perfectly timed silence. A mother who expects to hear a baby cry but doesn’t, or when someone falls over cliff edge but you never hear a thump because it’s so far down you know there’s no way they survived, a scream cut short...”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Cat let her words go softer as she trailed off until by the time she’d finished everyone was straining so hard to hear her that the only sound that remained was the wind rustling the trees.

“There’s no such thing as true silence,” Wolf observed, finally, breaking the spell.

Indi giggled nervously, obviously still enjoying herself. Even Amanda was grinning. Only Sirius and Kass had more sombre expressions, both were studying the inside of the unexpectedly small foyer they all found themselves in. Compared to the size of the house this was a broom closet. A broom closet with five doors and staircase to what looked like a storage hatch in the ceiling. The walls were half panelled, half wallpapered in a sickly faded pistachio green. Watermarks marred both ceiling and walls.

A car pulled up outside, drawing all their eyes out just as a flash of lightening struck.

“Does everybody have torches?” Amanda asked. For her it wouldn’t be an issue. As a firestarter she could make her own flame, but as always her first concern was the others.

“The electricity should work,” Kass replied. “But I’ve got this just in case. She pulled a small but very solid and heavy looking black torch from her handbag.

Indi shook her head. “I didn’t think of that.”

“But you always bring everything,” Cat teased, emphasizing the word ‘everything’. She sighed then peered reluctantly out at the newly started rain. “I’ve got one in my car...”

She didn’t make a move yet. Instead they all watched as Zephyr made a run from his car to the front door.

The waiting proved to be the right choice as Zephyr held up two large torches and a toolbox.

Cat gave a satisfied grin as she realised he was carrying exactly what she’d suspected and reached to relieve him of one of the torches. He happily handed it to her. They were much larger than the small torch Kass had managed to practically fit inside of her palm.

“What’s in that?” Amanda asked nodding at the toolbox.

“Tools, lock picks, small crowbar. In case we need to pry anything open. And spare batteries. Plus matches and candles, just in case. I also grabbed a couple of other ingredients.”

“Why didn’t you think of that, Cat?” Amanda teased with reference to Cat’s propensity for breaking into things she shouldn’t.

“Sirius can pull anything open we need,” Cat retorted without missing a beat. “And Wolf’s always the one who brings the magical supplies.”

“I’ve got a few things,” Wolf replied patting his satchel.

“I don’t think we want to go around destroying parts of the house.” Kass reminded them.

Zephyr gave the foyer a good look over and replied “Really? It looks pretty destroyed already.”

“Well, we don’t need to make it worse. Keep the destruction to a minimum please.”

Cat caught Amanda’s eye and gave a mischievous grin.

Amanda sighed but the corners of her mouth turned up anyway.

“We’ll be splitting up though won’t we?” Zephyr asked. “So we won’t all have Sirius to break things open.”

“Haven’t you ever watched any horror movies,” Indi objected. “Splitting up is always a bad idea.”

“Well it’s a big house,” Amanda replied. “There’s not really much point in all seven of us exploring it together.”

“We could all check out different rooms,” Sirius suggested, although it sounded more a soft suggestion than a hard one.

Zephyr gazed around the room again. “Five doors...”

“You forgot the creepy ceiling door,” Indi added with a wary look at it.

Zephyr gave it a similar look. “There’s no way I’m going in that and we’re looking for a will right, it’s probably in an office drawer or something. I doubt whats-his-name went up there either, if he’s even still here. Which seems unlikely since the police already looked for him?”

Kass nodded. “We’ll keep our eyes open, just in case. So two groups, I don’t think we should go too small. Indi jokes, but this place does have a history.”

“A spoooky history,” Indi wiggled her fingers not sounding the least bit serious.

“Two groups.” Amanda agreed. “I don’t suppose you have a map of this place?” she asked Kass.

Kass shook her head.

A large gust of wind pulled the door shut with a loud bang causing almost everyone to jump. The foyer suddenly seemed a lot darker. Zephyr switched on a torch followed by Kass doing the same.

“Whoa,” Zephyr remarked at the intensity of Kass’s torch. Despite being about 20 times smaller it was considerably brighter than Zephyr’s own torch, which gave out a soft yellow glow. “I need to get me one of those.” He then stared at the closed door and as if to reassure himself reached to check the handle. He frowned when he twisted and pulled and the door didn’t budge.

He gave a few tugs until Amanda took over. “It’s stuck she remarked.”

Indi shivered and wondered at how the inside of a house could be colder than outside on a rainy day.

Cat rolled her eyes.

Sirius shrugged. “I can yank it off it’s hinges if need be later.”

Amanda nodded. “Shall we agree on a time, say two and a half hours and then meet back here?”

Indi eyed the closed door warily.

Cat gave a nod. Kass was already peering down and around the corner of the one door that was already open.

“We’ll take the north-east, you guys take the south-west.” Amanda nodded at Zephyr and the three others who already stood grouped behind him.

“Does somebody have a watch in your group?” Amanda asked.

Zephyr held up his wrist.

“I have my phone,” Indi replied. “Did anyone else bring theirs?” She asked knowing half the group was inclined to leave them lying around where they weren’t very useful. There were enough nods to keep her satisfied though.

“Okay, two and a half hours then,” Amanda replied as she followed Kass and Sirius out of the room.