The Madrona Heroes Register: Underneath It All

Chapter 39 - The House in the Weeds

“I guess.” Binny let the matter drop.

“Why didn’t we think of looking here before?” Zoe pointed to the teal roof that was now just visible over the fence and overgrowth.

“When we did our search before, I assumed that Ollie wouldn’t be in someone’s private home, because who would let him in? So I figured it had to be a public place. It never occurred to me that there would be an abandoned house in the neighborhood. I guess I didn’t know there were any abandoned houses around here.” Zach said.

“The plants are doing a good job of hiding it.” Penny joked.

The home sat directly in back of and across the alley behind the row of shops in Madrona’s retail district.

“Hey, we’re behind Soul Repair.” Binny said.

“Yes. That’s their back door.” Zach pointed to the door with the darkened inset window featuring the Soul Repair logo.

“It’s open.” Directly opposite the Soul Repair door, Gabe tugged on a gate that had been set into the fence that bordered the home. It was easily missed as the surrounding overgrown shrubbery had almost concealed it. 

“How did you find that?” Binny asked in surprise.

“Some things are easier to see from my height.” Gabe was beaming.

“Maybe that’s your power, finding things nobody else can find.” Cassie added.

“It’s not open exactly. More like broken.” Zach traced his finger along the chain that hung loose on the fence. “Some of your handiwork?” Zach joked to Penny.

“I had nothing to do with it.” Penny smiled.

“It means he’s here.” Zach said.

The excitement at Zoe’s new power seemed to evaporate with Zach’s pronouncement. The faint sound of distant thunder echoed and the sky got noticeably darker.

§

“Did you hear that?” Julie Jordan asked.

“You worried about them?” Quincy Yang said.

Julie smiled sheepishly. “Yeah.”

“Thanks for coming over to help us eat all this food.” Jay said to everyone at the Jordan’s kitchen table.

“Thank you for inviting us over. Your daughters weren’t exaggerating about your cooking.” Serena said.

“What did they say?” Jay raised his eyebrows in mock fear.

Everyone laughed.

“I know I’m the only one of you who isn’t a parent. But I think it’s great that you trust your kids to run around the neighborhood on their own.” Jonathan said.

“We do?” Jay joked.

Julie and Serena gave Jay a look.

“I mean, we do.” Jay retreated.

§

The structure sat in the heart of Madrona like a corpse buried just below the earth. Rotting and invisible. It looked like it had once been a home. Zach thought it had really been more of a mansion really. The dilapidated structure stretched twice as wide as even the biggest homes in the neighborhood. And the grounds could have fit at least three, maybe four other houses on them.

In the fading light, Zach could still tell that the house had once been painted white, but just barely. Paint was peeling. But the teal clay roof tiles still shone bright.