Blackwater Springs

Chapter Twenty-One

1

    Audrey stepped forward. The house was black, the only illumination coming from the infrequent bursts of lightning. Her entire body tensed, and every hair stood on end. "Bradley," she hissed. "Bradley, are you in here?"

    "I'm right behind you," he whispered back. "Do you have a flashlight or anything we can use for a light?"

    She felt her pockets. Dammit, my cell's in the cupholder of my car. "Not on me, but there should be a flashlight in one of the kitchen drawers. Here, grab my hand and follow me." He did as she said. Audrey couldn't deny the tingle that traveled from their entwined hands up her arm, and she wondered if maybe Charles Stevens was onto something. She led him toward the kitchen. "We should be almost there," she said, seconds before she ran headfirst into the door frame. "Goddammit!" she cried, clutching her head. The sound of her voice carried through the empty house.

    "Shh. What if whoever broke in is still here? Do you want him to hear you?"

    "No." Truth was, Audrey wasn't worried about the intruder. She was more concerned with what was in the basement.

    They made it to the kitchen without further incident. With a little help from the lightning, Audrey was able to find the junk drawer no problem. She opened it and rummaged around until her hand touched what felt like the handle to the flashlight. She pulled it out, half expecting it to work. If she were being honest with herself, part of her was hoping the batteries would be dead; if so, she wouldn't have to make the dreaded trip to the basement. She held her breath and pressed the button.

    The light worked.

    Audrey led the way to the locked basement door.

   "Okay, I highly doubt the intruder is in the basement." Bradley rattled the doorknob. "See? Locked."

   "Bradley, this isn't about the house getting broken into."

    Bradley looked confused. "It's not?"

    Audrey shook her head. "Not really."

    "Then what is it about?"

    Audrey took a deep breath. "Remember when I told you I'd been having weird dreams? Well, I had another one when I fell asleep in your car."

   "About the basement?" Audrey nodded. "What was it about?"

    "I don't remember the biggest part of it," she lied, "but I do remember that there was a dead body down there." She didn't say what she was thinking, that the house had cut its power so they wouldn't go downstairs.

    Bradley went into detective mode. "Did you know the person?"

    "I don't know. It was dark, I couldn't really see anything."

    "Then how do you know it was human and not an animal?"

   "I felt the skin. Also, my foot got tangled in the hair." The details rushed back to her mind.

    "So it was a woman?"

    "I don't know."

    "Are you sure it was dead? Maybe whoever it was was sleeping?" Bradley sounded excited.

    "It was dead. I could smell it," she confirmed.

    "And you're sure that we'll find it down there?"

    "Yeah, I'm sure."

    "Well then, unlock the door, and we'll check it out." It didn't take much to get Bradley on board.