FicWad

Bob’s heart raced and he took deep breaths for a few moments to try to calm it. He had waited a few minutes, in the darkness, hoping that his eyes would adjust, but he had nothing to adjust to. There was simply a complete and utter absence of light. He held his hand up within one inch of his eyes and couldn’t even distinguish an outline. Totally and suddenly without vision in a strange and unfamiliar place, Bob tried hard not to feel scared, but he knew without even checking that his pulse was rising and he had very possibly made a huge mistake – possibly his last. What if he remained trapped within the walls of the house? What if no one ever found him?

“Calm down!” Bob told himself, unsuccessfully as his breathing quickened. “Calm down, they’ll come for you, you won’t be there, but if you shout, they’ll hear you.”

Part of him couldn’t believe he was talking to himself, but then, now he couldn’t believe he’d done something so stupid as to get himself trapped in an unknown passage. Terrible thoughts of not being able to escape leaked into his mind again and he clenched his fists as he tried to concentrate.

“Help!” he yelled, hoping to be heard. Pressing his hands to the wall, he called again, even louder than before. “Help!”

After a few more minutes of shouting, he sighed.
“If they’re not there, they can’t hear me, if they are, they still can’t hear me.”
With much trepidation, Bob decided to head down the passageway. He had no clue as to which way to head and spent a moment contemplating over left or right. Just as he considered it, to his right he saw a dim light appear, partially lighting the passage. In many ways he wished he couldn’t see it; filled, as it was, with cobwebs and dust. Heading along the passage towards the light, Bob moved carefully checking how his feet moved on the uneven floor – now would not be a good time to fall and hurt himself.

*

Frank opened the cell door and sighed.
“Okay,” he shrugged, “the joke’s on me. Who did it?”
“Did what?” Ray asked picking up on the confusion in Frank’s tone.
“One of you let Bob out.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Gerard.
“Was it you? Just to scare me?”
“Frank, we’ve all been with you, the whole time. None of us could have done it.” Gerard shook his head. “Are you serious?” he asked moving forward to inspect the cell.
“How did he do that?” Ray asked bewildered as he too saw the cell empty.
“You don’t suppose…” Frank began.
Gerard shook his head, but with a degree of uncertainty.
“No, he’s playing a trick on us,” he tried to convince himself as much as the others. “We’ll go upstairs and he’ll be there waiting.”
“I’m not so sure,” Mikey commented.
“Mikey, the Devil did not take Bob,” Gerard insisted.
“I didn’t say it was the Devil, I just said I…”
“Well, where is he then?
Mikey offered a slight frown to his brother’s reaction.
“I don’t know, Gee, but somehow I don’t think he’s upstairs. I don’t really know what I think.”
“Well, that’s useful, Mikey.”
Mikey looked down to the floor and over his shoulder at the same time.
“I’m sorry,” Gerard conceded. “I… no, there’s no excuse.”
Mikey offered a half smile.
“Let’s go upstairs. If he’s there he can laugh at us, if not, we can start worrying for real.”
All three nodded; Mikey had made a very real point.

*

Reaching the end of the passageway, Bob was somewhat disconcerted to discover that whatever was the source of the distant light had now moved to the opposite end of the second passageway.

“Is someone there?” he called, hoping desperately that no one replied. Shaking his head as he got his wish, Bob continued along the corridor, dimly lit by the mysterious light. He seemed to be walking for a very long time, but in reality, because his steps were so careful in the gloom, he had only travelled about fifty feet. Bob’s eyes widened as the passageway opened out into a hi-tec room full of computer equipment and monitors. Flipping a few switches, including a light switch, he sighed with welcome relief as the room lit up around him. Several of the computers fired up and he realised that the monitors were fed from strategically placed hidden cameras around the building. As a former sound engineer, Bob had no trouble getting to grips with what he realised were lighting and sound effects, animatronics controls and a comprehensive set of security cameras.

“So this is how they make it appear haunted!” Bob allowed himself a wry smile. “And oh, would you look at that!” Glancing at the monitor, Bob could see his four friends on one of the monitors looking somewhat confused and disconcerted. Turning a dial, he listened to their conversation.

*

“He’s got to be somewhere!” Gerard reasoned.
“Gerard,” Frank replied with an edge to his voice, “your ability to state the glaringly obvious knows no bounds.”
“Oh, well if it’s that obvious,” Gerard pouted, “why don’t you tell me where he is?”
“Guys,” Ray interjected, “I don’t think this is the time to argue. What if he’s in trouble? What if he’s somewhere but can’t get to us?”
“You do mean somewhere in ‘this life’, don’t you?” Gerard asked warily.

Bob laughed; if the house and the legend were getting to them now, how would they feel after he had finished with them?

“Of course I do!” Ray sighed. “I think we should split into pairs and find him.”

Bob watched as nods of consent abounded and he rubbed his hands excitedly.
“Oh, boy! It’s payback time!” he cried with glee as he discovered a map of all the secret passages around the house and which rooms they connected. “Am I going to have some fun!”