8:14am
Peter hobbled into the conference room. There was a colorful mural on the screen at the back of the room. 'Welcome back, Peter!' it read. Claire, who was standing just inside the door, turned and gave Peter a hug. Anton was already sitting in his place; Claire, Lindsay and Matt, who had followed Peter in, all sat down.
"What'd you find?" Matt asked, going straight to the main problem right now.
"Ever since just after Peter disappeared, there has been nothing unusual. Everything is back to normal," Claire told the group.
"I don't think it's ever been normal around here," Peter joked. His voice was much better, so he didn't need the computer to communicate with them.
Anton shook slightly, laughing.
"Andrew told me about some curse on the house. He said that when he bought the house from Mr. Kortz, the previous owner, Mr. Kortz warned him that there was a curse on the house, that no one but the owner could stay in the house, otherwise... bad things might happen. He said 'beware the prophecy,' but that's all he remembered Mr. Kortz telling him, word by word," Lindsay interjected.
"Anton? What did you find?" Matt asked.
"I found... the record for this house. I ran the address through the information banks, and came up with names. Three people have disappeared here. In this house." Anton was sinister.
Peter was struck by the realization of what could have happened to him.
"It wasn't the owners, either. The owner had gone away and left the first victim to house-sit. When the owner came back, all the victim's things were still there, and there was no sign of where he had gone. He was never seen again.
"The same owner left soon after, letting his brother and sister-in-law stay in his house after their wedding, as kind of a honeymoon. When he came back, they were gone. After going into the house, they were never seen leaving.
"Strangely enough, there was an ax found at the scene, covered in blood."
"The ax," Peter said wonderingly.
Matt, Anton and Claire looked to Lindsay for an explanation.
"A while back, he woke up on top of the Suburban with an ax in his hands. I guess that's why he had it," she explained.
Peter played with his tie, trying not to be involved. He kept his eyes down to his toes, which he could see at the end of his cast.
After an awkward period of silence, everyone knew Peter was extremely uncomfortable. The conversation turned to a lighter note.
"When's the cast coming off?" Claire asked the scientist.
"In four weeks," Peter replied. He sighed, wishing it could be sooner. "God, this thing's itchy!"
Matt knew he had to tell Peter what they had found. "Pete, I think you need to know what happened. We ran extensive tests- thermal scanning, electromagnetic pulsing, et cetera, and we found evidence of... ghosts, or something like that. We've decided that this house is a threat to anyone staying in it, and we're going to have to tear it down. Andrew agreed, but he needs a place to stay. I was thinking you and him could stay with another friend, while you're in your cast and Andrew's house-hunting."
"Who would we stay with?" Peter didn't mind the idea, seeing he knew he would just be a burden on the team, not being able to do much with the cast on.
"Andrew called a friend of both of you and confirmed, you'll be staying with Jay Wesst, your friend from high school, in his house not far from here."
"Alright. When am I leaving?"
"You can go whenever you like, if you think you can drive there alone. I have directions, and Andrew's already there. We have to go to Toronto to work on another case soon. Rollins' team needs backup."
"I'll go pack." Peter rose and left them to talk quietly about the upcoming case. 
Peter loaded his suitcases into the back of the Suburban, which Andrew had lent to him. Lindsay, Matt, Anton and Claire were nearby, packing up their stuff from the house and lab, preparing to leave. Peter said goodbye, and gave Lindsay a hug. He clambered into the seat of the truck, waving farewell through the open window. Lindsay and Matt, standing next to each other, watched the truck disappear down the street, Peter's hand still waving out the window.
"Bye, Pete," Lindsay said quietly, waving. They turned back to the lab to finish their work. |
