Depart the Darkness Read online

  Depart the Darkness

  The House of Bannerman, book 5

  Melissa R. L. Simonin

  © 2015

  Depart the Darkness

  written by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  copyright 2015 by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in whole or in part in any manner or in any form without the written permission of the author.

  Dedicated to,

  My husband, Brad, without whom I could not have written this book. To my Mom, for being a steady support, listening ear, and a valuable proofreader. Also to my proofreaders Becky Clements and Paula Pavletich.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 1

  The sun dropped behind the mountains. The tower room grew dark, and the shadows cast by the furniture stored there, grew long.

  An antique doll sat in the rocking chair. As the light receded along with the sun, its eyes gleamed for just a moment.

  “Well that was creepy,” said Miles.

  “No kidding,” I agreed.

  “Can you control the sun?” asked Doreen. “Because that was really scary! Or just tilt the earth a little, make it happen again in a minute.”

  “There is no way I would even try that,” said Miles. “Either you’re joking, or you have no idea what a delicate balance there is between order and chaos in the universe.”

  We were crowded around the computer screen in the office of our suite, at the Lodge. Through the webcam feed that streamed from one of the cameras we placed in the tower that morning, we watched as the room grew completely dark. On the screen of Miles’ laptop, which also sat on the desk, we watched a set of stairs moving past as John climbed them.

  “Wonder how much stuff is up there?” we heard Xander say.

  “We’ll soon find out,” John replied.

  Doreen stifled a laugh.

  There was the sound of a footstep on the stairs outside the tower room. A key fumbled in the lock, and the door swung open. As John stepped into the tower, his webcam was plunged into darkness. Miles used the mouse to make a selection. With the press of a button, the screen of the computer split. One side was still dark, but on the other side the contents of the room glowed with a greenish light.

  John fumbled for the light switch and the single bulb which hung from the ceiling flickered, then lit the room anemically. The laptop screen and other side of the monitor also lit up.

  “Aw, man! Get a load of all this!” said Xander. The webcam feed showed him looking from side to side at the conglomeration of items that filled half the room. “Some of this we can carry down, but for the rest we need a dolly.”

  “There’s a dolly for you,” said John. On the screen of the laptop we saw the doll. On the monitor we saw Xander jump back with a disturbed look on his face.

  Doreen and I both stifled laughter, this time.

  “What is that?” Xander exclaimed.

  “That… is probably the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” replied John.

  “The thing even has teeth,” said Xander. He looked both repulsed and mesmerized by the doll.

  The rocker moved almost imperceptibly.

  “Whoa!” Xander jerked back a step, then stared hard.

  The rocker was completely still now. If I didn’t know better, I’d think my imagination was playing tricks on me and that it never moved in the first place.

  “What, Xander?” asked John, focusing on the other side of the pile of items, and a box that was light enough to lift.

  Xander stared hard again, thinking. Finally, he shook his head.

  “Nothing, I guess… the lighting in here’s lousy. It’s kind of hard to see.”

  “I’m carrying this down,” said John, heading toward the stairs with his box. “I’ll be back.”

  Xander moved forward, keeping one eye on the doll. Doreen had both hands pressed tight against her mouth. I hoped all the suppressed laughter wouldn’t blow out her eardrums.

  “Make it flicker,” I said softly, squeezing Miles’ shoulder.

  He smiled, and the bulb that dimly lit the room, did.

  Xander looked around at the bulb suspiciously.

  It shone steadily now.

  Xander turned back to the pile and found a box that could be dislodged without toppling all the rest. As he picked it up, there was the sudden rustling of something running behind the pile from one side to the other.

  Xander jumped back, the box still in his hands.

  “What are you doing?” asked John, reaching the top of the stairs once more.

  Xander jumped again.

  “There’s something back there!”

  “What, like a mouse?”

  “No, like a medieval size rat!”

  John moved forward to look.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Xander exclaimed. He dropped the box he carried and reached out to stop John, as wooden building blocks, a baby rattle, toy horse, and a few other things I didn’t recognize, spilled all over the floor.

  “I thought I’d have a look at your medieval size rat. Miles and Anika are going to want to know what to tell the exterminator when they call.”

  “Whatever’s back there is big enough to do some damage!” said Xander, staring in disbelief as John stepped behind the pile, and rummaged around.

  “I don’t see anything,” said John, shrugging his shoulders and lifting another box. “I don’t know what you heard… but there’s nothing back there.”

  Xander watched John disappear down the stairs, then slowly knelt to gather up the spilled toys and place them back in the box he dropped.

  He looked suspiciously at the pile, and didn’t see the doll’s face as it slowly turned his direction.

  Xander glanced back toward the doll and did a double-take. He froze, staring into the doll’s glass eyes.

  The pile rustled again, and he whipped around to stare at it. For several long seconds he watched, but there was no motion and no sound. Xander grumbled under his breath as he picked up the baby rattle, and put it back in the box of toys.

  A slight motion caught his eye as the rocking chair moved, then was still. His gaze fastened on it now, and he knelt there on the floor of the tower, waiting…. waiting…

  “What are you doing, Xander?” asked John.

  Xander yelled as he whipped around and leaped to his feet, slammed into the pile, and toppled several boxes in the process.

  “Don’t sneak up on me like that, man!” he exclaimed indignantly.

  “O-kay…” said John, holding up his hands in a calming motion. “I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you, I’m just here for another box.”

  As John rummaged through the pile looking for something else light enough to carry, Xander stood back and watched, probably waiting for that medieval size rat to come out and carry off John.

  But it didn’t.

  John picked up a floor lamp and turned toward the stairs, then turned back again.

  “Come on Xander, quit goofing off.”
/>   Xander glared.

  “I’m not goofing off!”

  “Looks that way to me,” John replied. “I’m the only one doing any work here.”

  With a disapproving look over his shoulder, John disappeared down the stairs.

  Xander glared some more at the open tower room door, then turned around so he could keep an eye on the pile and the doll. He knelt suspiciously and picked up several wooden blocks and returned them to their box.

  The rocking chair moved. Xander looked up quickly as he sat back.

  “Ma-ma,” the doll rasped, as it stood and held out its arms.

  Xander let out a blood curdling scream and fell backwards, as Doreen and I crumpled over, laughing.

  “Let’s see Xander give John a hard time ever again,” Miles smiled, then did his best to shush us as John entered the tower room.

  “Xander, what are you yelling about?” he asked, his voice disapproving, but otherwise unconcerned, as he picked up another box from the pile.

  “That doll! It’s like possessed or something!” said Xander, scrambling to his feet.

  “What, this?” asked John, setting down the box and reaching over to pick up the doll.

  “What’s the matter with you, man? Did you not hear me?” exclaimed Xander, grabbing John’s arm and hanging on.

  John looked at Xander, his eyebrows drawn together as if deeply concerned.

  “Are you feeling alright, Xander? I can get this… the boxes, anyway. I’m sure Miles won’t mind helping to move the furniture out after he and Anika get back from dropping off her sister.”

  “No, I’m not feeling alright!” Xander snapped. “That creepy doll’s possessed!”

  John reached out to feel Xander’s forehead, and Xander slapped his hand away indignantly. He also let go of John’s arm, so John picked up the doll.

  Xander stood back and watched warily. John looked the doll over, then shook his head.

  “It’s just an old doll. I admit it’s creepy looking, especially the teeth… but it’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  Xander’s eyes didn’t leave the doll. John shrugged slightly. As he turned away to set the doll back down, it turned its head and winked at Xander.

  Doreen and I doubled over again, as Xander let out another blood curdling scream, and knocked the doll out of John’s hands. For a split second I was afraid it would shatter all over the floor, and if it did, so much for donating it to a museum! But instead, it landed on its feet and turned around.

  “Ma-ma,” it rasped.

  “Whoa, what?!” exclaimed John, jumping back.

  “I told you, man! I told you!” Xander exclaimed, pointing at the doll.

  It walked toward Xander, its arms raised, as the light flickered and went out. The door to the tower slammed shut.

  There was more screaming and yelling, and sounds of “ma-ma” on the part of the doll. On one side of the monitor we saw Xander backed against the wall. John was doubled over holding his face in his hands. He looked suspiciously as though he was trying with superhuman effort to hold in laughter.

  Doreen and I kept our hands clamped tightly over our mouths and tried to hold in our own laughter so that we could hear.

  Eventually the screaming stopped, and the pandemonium in the tower room stilled.

  “Xander,” John whispered.

  “What?” Xander whispered back.

  “Remember when I saw Violet, and I yelled?”

  “What about it?”

  “If you ever mention it again, this is going on You-tube.”

  There was stunned silence.

  I squeezed Miles’ shoulder.

  “You do have a force field around John… right?”

  He laughed. He thought I was joking!

  “I don’t think he needs one, honey. Just watch.”

  The silence was suddenly broken as Xander laughed. Not an “I’ve lost my mind because my friends scared the sanity right out of me” laugh, but a genuine laugh.

  The light in the tower room came back on.

  Xander slid down the wall as he continued to laugh, and John laughed too.

  “Aw, man! That—was so cool! How’d you do that? How in the world did you… You must’ve used webcams! For crying out loud, I can’t believe I fell for it!” Xander exclaimed, and laughed some more.

  “Yeah, we used webcams,” John smiled.

  “That—is awesome,” Xander said, as he looked around. The doll, which sat in the rocker once again, waved. Xander laughed some more as he got to his feet. “You’ve got to do this to my cousin Shawn! Oh, man! This would scare the daylights right out of him!”

  “Yeah, I’m sure it would,” agreed John. “Miles probably has better uses for his time than to turn the tower into a haunted house, though. Consider yourself special. We all do.”

  Xander laughed and slugged John in the arm as he smiled, and they exited through the door and disappeared down the stairs.

  Miles smiled and sat back.

  “That was fun.”

  Doreen and I were still laughing.

  “Oh my goodness!” I exclaimed. “Who knew what an actor John is! I can’t believe he managed not to laugh!”

  “That was very impressive,” Miles agreed.

  Doreen lay on the floor holding her stomach. I was afraid she might get sick, she was laughing so hard.

  I put my arms around Miles’ neck and he pulled me onto his lap.

  “You are so much fun, superhero husband,” I said.

  “So are you, superhero wife,” he smiled. He glanced at Doreen, who lay gasping on the floor. Her full attention was on overcoming the laughter long enough to pull some oxygen into her lungs, not on whatever we were doing, so Miles kissed me until we heard a knock at the door.

  Doreen made a miraculous recovery and bounced to her feet, her eyes gleaming with unsuppressed excitement.

  We walked into the sitting room, where our dogs and cats lay sprawled in front of the fireplace. Chip raised his head sleepily and glanced at the door, then lay back down with a groan and a stretch. Trixie’s ear twitched, but she was intent on resting while she had the chance, and gave no further indication that she was awake at all. Night and Pandora were much too busy absorbing the warmth of the fire to take an interest in anything else.

  The door into the brief hall opened, and Xander and John walked in. They were still laughing, but Xander more so than John.

  “That—was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! I want a copy, man!”

  “You got it,” Miles smiled. “I’m glad to see our calculations were correct, and you didn’t have a heart attack.”

  Xander laughed.

  “No, really, it could’ve been way scarier,” said Doreen. “If it was up to me, it would’ve been.”

  She gave me and Miles a rueful look, which made me laugh some more.

  “We’ll tell you sometime what you missed out on,” Miles said. “We need to get Doreen home, though. Mom wants her back by eight o’ clock, and if we’re late… she may not be so quick to let Doreen spend the weekend with us again.”

  Doreen shot out of the sitting room and into the guest room, to pack her things.

  “It’s amazing how fast she can move when she’s motivated,” Miles commented, and the rest of us laughed.

  “Is there time to pay the pups a visit?” asked John.

  “Sure,” said Miles. “We’ve got thirty minutes before we have to be on our way.”

  John and Xander followed us into our room and through the door of what was once Miles’ walk-in closet. After Trixie made a bed out of several of his suits and sweaters, that’s where she proceeded to have her twelve puppies. Afterward, the rest of Miles’ things joined mine in what is now referred to as our closet, and what was once his, was then dubbed the puppy nursery.

  “I can’t believe how fast they’re growing,” John smiled, as he picked up Linux.

  “Hey there Spaz, how are you buddy?” asked Xander, picking him up and cradling him against his chest. “So
how much longer before this guy’s big enough to move out of the nursery, and in with me?”

  “He’s only two weeks old,” I pointed out. “So you’ve got six to go.”

  “Hey there, Fidget,” Miles said, picking her up.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “You better be talking to the dog,” I said. He laughed, and kissed my cheek.

  “I am. This time.”

  I laughed too, and turned at the sound of feet thundering through our suite.

  Doreen appeared in the doorway of the nursery, breathing hard again.

  “How much time do I have?” she gasped, as she scooped up Lacey.

  “Twenty minutes,” Miles said.

  “Okay, good,” she sighed with relief.

  I picked up Ed, Tryon’s future best friend, and gave him a good petting. Then Miles and I made sure the other seven puppies received equal attention.

  “You’re going to make a great service dog,” Miles said, petting one of them. “Cecilia and the other trainers have no idea just how special you guys are, but in about six weeks they’ll find out.”

  “That’s awesome Trixie thought of that,” said Xander.

  “Yeah. It is,” agreed Miles. “When the Bannerman Foundation built the Service Dog Training Center outside Cedar Oaks, I had no idea less than a year later we’d be supplying them with trainees.”

  “The best trainees ever, huh puppy,” I said, cradling one of them.

  Trixie appeared beside us, and Xander and John both jumped.

  “Man, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that!” said Xander. “It doesn’t faze you guys at all, though.”

  “What took getting used to was the year and a half that she pretended not to have her abilities anymore,” said Miles. “This is back to normal, for me.”

  “Me too,” I agreed.

  Trixie smiled, and lay down to play with the puppies. They wrestled and made funny puppy noises, and I hated that we had to go, but…

  “We better get going,” Miles said.

  We all stood reluctantly and left the nursery. John and Xander rode the elevator with us to their floors and said goodnight, then we proceeded to the ground floor and out the door to our waiting SUV.

  “I had so much fun,” said Doreen. She sighed deeply. “It’s so boring at home. Nothing exciting ever happens.”