I left for school and drove in silence, thinking about life—especially what was going to happen when I got to California in January. It was supposed to be the beginning of my dreams, but I was getting cold feet about leaving Bakersfield. Being a writer had been my dream for so long, and I finally had a real opportunity to make the kind of connections that could one day land me a job. If I wanted to chase my dreams, the first step was going to be the hardest. It was easier to plan that sort of thing when it felt like it would never come, but that was no longer the case. I had everything I wanted in front of me if I could get out of my own head. I continued thinking about it as I sat through my classes, and left the radio off on the way home with my head still locked in turmoil. I almost forgot to buy candy, but a Halloween decoration on the corner of Main Street reminded me that I had another stop to make.
“Are you feeding an army this Halloween, Brianna?” The white haired clerk that had been working the same register since I was a little girl picked up the first bag and scanned it.
“No, Mr. Smith.” I shook my head and laughed. “We’re volunteering at the church again this year, and we’ll get more kids than normal since it’s Wednesday.”
“Ah yes. Everyone will be going to church anyway.” He nodded in understanding.
“What’s the gossip?” I motioned towards three women that had paused their shopping and seemed to be locked in conversation.
“Oh, you haven’t heard about the Overlook Mansion?” He picked up another bag and scanned it.
“Uh—oh, yeah. I heard someone bought it.” I nodded and shrugged.
“Yeah, but that was last week’s gossip. This week everyone is talking about all the Halloween decorations they put up.” He chuckled and grabbed another bag. “You should drive by there and check them out.”
I hadn’t completely forgotten my brief encounter with Shane and Dante, especially Dante’s mesmerizing eyes. I dismissed their invitation because I was supposed to be spending the holiday with Jackie. It was crazy anyway—me, alone with two guys on Halloween. If they did want something from me, they would be quickly disappointed when they found out I was a virgin. I was curious to see what kind of decorations had caused people to talk about them, so I decided that a quick drive-by wouldn’t hurt. It would at least take my mind off everything else that was nagging me, and I loved it when people went all out for Halloween. I drove to the edge of town, and turned down the street that would take me past the old mansion.
I wonder why Shane and Dante bought that place to begin with? It can’t be worth very much money and it needs tons of work.
Overlook Mansion had been empty since before I was born. The family that owned it left Bakersfield, but were never able to find a buyer for such an extravagant mansion in a small town. According to my parents, the family had so much money that they just gave up on trying to sell it once they moved away. The years of neglect had left it looking fairly spooky, and that led to all sorts of scary stories about the place being haunted. My parents said some shady stuff went on there when the family still lived in Bakersfield, and called their wealth blood money. That was long before my time and my parents were just telling second hand stories, so I wasn’t sure how much of it was actually true.
“Wow, how did they do all this? It looks handmade.” I stared out my window as I got closer.
Shane and Dante were definitely creative. The front part of the house had a rather authentic looking graveyard. Once I got closer, I could see that they were made of wood, but they were painted in such a way that they looked like stone. They even put a mound of dirt over some of the graves to make them look fresh. There was a pumpkin patch near the house that had scary images painted on all the pumpkins in vibrant colors, along with several scarecrows. It looked phenomenal, especially with the Gothic mansion as a backdrop. What I didn’t see was any sign of the decorations they were looking at in the store, which suggested there might be even more stuff inside. I was curious, but not curious enough to actually go knock on the door. As it turned out, that wasn’t an issue. Before I could put my foot on the accelerator and drive away, the front door opened, and I saw Dante step out onto the porch.
Oh god, he saw me.
Dante didn’t hesitate for a moment when he looked in my direction. He started walking towards my car with a purpose and I felt my heart thumping in my chest. There was a part of me that just wanted to press on the gas and drive away, but when I saw his onyx colored eyes, I felt compelled to stay. He was dirtier than when I saw him in the store, with a black sleeveless t-shirt that showed even more of his tattoos and a pair of faded blue jeans. He was a walking wet dream even without his mesmerizing eyes. When he got close to my car, I rolled down the passenger side window, realizing that I had no choice but to engage in conversation.
“You’re early.” Dante leaned down and looked in my window. “It isn’t Halloween yet.”
“I already told you—I have plans.” That was a lie at that point, but I wasn’t ready to admit that quite yet. “Your decorations are causing quite a stir in town. I figured I’d come up here and see what the fuss was about.”
“Well, you’re already here, at least get out of the car and come inside.” He patted the side of my window and motioned with his hand.
This is a bad idea. No, this is the worst idea. I need Jackie to talk me out of it. Why is my hand already moving towards the door?
“You made all this stuff?” I stepped out of my car apprehensively.
“Yep—well, I painted it. Shane did most of the cutting.” Dante walked over to one of the tombstones. “Nothing but wood under the paint.”
“You guys must really like Halloween.” I walked over and looked at the fake tombstone.
“No, it’s not quite that.” Dante chuckled and motioned with his hand again. “Come on inside, let me show you the rest of the work we’re doing.”
Am I really about to walk into this house all by myself? What if these guys really do try to roofie me…
“I should probably get going.” I shook my head back and forth. “You know this place is supposed to be haunted, right?”
“That’s nonsense.” Dante laughed. “And if there are any ghosts in there, we’ll make too much noise for them to stick around very long.”
“What are you doing here, anyway? Why did you buy this place?” I looked up at the Gothic exterior and back to Dante.
“Shane and I flip houses. We buy old houses nobody wants and turn them into works of art.” Dante put his hands on his hips. “Why else would anyone buy a place like this?”
“Oh.” I blinked in surprise.
“Yeah, we’ve been doing this for years. You can Google us if you want.” He chuckled under his breath. “You really don’t want to come inside?”