Eli Fletcher: The Golden Orb

Chapter Four: The Haunted House On Nevada

Chapter Four

The Haunted House

Something weird happens that night after my fight with Fiona. I have a normal dream; just confusing scenes about nothing that make no sense at all. No nightmares warning me about something, or a conversation with Jesus. I don't even see what Fiona sees. I wonder if my connection with her has been healed; then immediately I wonder if she's okay. I fear the worst. I quickly get dressed to see if she's okay.

I'm fine, she says. Go relieve Billy. He's been watching Marco all night.

Okay. I'm glad you're okay.

She doesn't respond. In fact, I can't feel her presence at all. Has she found a way to block me?

I find Billy fighting sleep as he makes sure Marco stays asleep. After Marco had attacked me, the three of us decided to take turns keeping an eye on him. Since Fiona isn't allowed in the boys' quarters, Billy has to watch him at night. Fiona pretty much just helps us watching him during the day.

"Oh good I can sleep now," Billy says as I walk into the room. He collapses onto his mattress and passes out in seconds. Marco wakes up in that moment and he and I go get some breakfast in the cafeteria before everyone else.

"How'd you sleep?" I ask him.

"Okay, I guess. I had some weird dreams; like I was actually in the dream."

I look at him out of the corner of my eye. He's experiencing the same thing I do when I sleep, until last night anyway. I tell him I know what he's going through, which is a big relief for him.

"I was seriously starting to feel like I was going crazy," he says, letting his shoulders sag as if he just let go of something heavy.

"No, you're just cursed by a demon," I say dryly sarcastic.

"Is that all?" he replies in a similar tone, cracking a smile.

"Yep! You're just as cursed as me," I say, pushing the door to the cafeteria open.

He chuckles slightly. "It's better than being then only one."

I squeeze his shoulder. "You're not alone, bud."

We take our food to a table and eat in relative silence as more kids begin to arrive. I wonder who Marco is connected to. There's a really good chance it's Allaryce. He'd told me how he feels about her when we were all stuck up on Pikes Peak, so connecting him to her only makes sense. She's still with the Dragon Army, so they could be using him to assassinate me.

"Eli, come with me," Miss O says from the doors of the cafeteria. I look at my barely touched breakfast, grab my milk and toast and then follow her. I doubt Allaryce would use Marco to hurt the kids, so I should be safe leaving him alone. The Dragon Army isn't after them and as far as I can tell, Tentatio has even lost interest.

"What's going on?" I ask as I enter the hall and see Billy and Fiona there as well.

"There's some trouble we need to take care of. Let's go."

I eat as we get into Miss O's van and drive through Downtown. She takes us to a row of older houses along Nevada Avenue and stops in front of one particularly creepy looking one. The light blue paint is chipping off of the outside walls and some of the screens on the windows are torn and flapping in the light breeze. As I get out of the van and make my way up the walkway to the front door, I notice that the cement is as cracked and worn as the two-story house; the once white cement slabs are a sad shade of gray.

The creepiest thing about this house, though, is the blue glow coming from some of the windows and a strange hum that grows louder the closer I get. I take my first step up to the front porch and the wood creaks beneath my foot. The wooden planks feel as if they're threatening to break at any moment. The humming continues to grow louder and louder and actually throbs in my ears, causing me to grow dizzy, but when I touch the doorknob, it stops.