Disclaimer:  In first chapter.

Chapter 3

Gun drawn, Miss Parker stepped in front of Jarod, taking the lead as they slowly made their way down the hall.  Taking a quick glance behind her, she could see Jarod had a tight grip on the small pistol as he kept it pointed down to the ground.  Obviously she wasn’t the only one getting anxious from the thumping sounds that continued within the hall.

Stopping at the first door on the right, Jarod stood to the side, holding his gun at chest level as Miss Parker cautiously opened the door.  Waving her gun back and forth, she found the room to be empty.  Letting out a small sigh of relief, she stepped back out into the hallway.  One room down, three more to go, she thought warily.

The next room they checked was the one across from them.  This time, Parker stood off to the side while Jarod made his way into the room.  Once again, there were no signs that anyone occupied the room.  Stepping back out into the hallway, they made their way down to the next room.  Miss Parker was just about to open the door when Jarod laid a hand on top of her shoulder, stopping her.

“What is it now Pez head?” she asked with annoyance.  Turning her gaze to Jarod, she found his eyes fixated on something down the hall.  Following his line of vision, they found a soft glowing light coming from behind the last room—the one that remained unchecked.  Still keeping her eyes on the door, she leaned towards Jarod and commented, “Well, let’s go see if we have a Casper the friendly ghost to deal with.”

Jarod halted her movements as he grabbed her shoulder.  “Miss Parker, maybe…maybe we should forget this.  Who knows what’s behind that door?” he replied with uneasiness.

Miss Parker rolled her eyes at him.  “You’ve got to be kidding me.  Jarod, weren’t you the one cracking jokes on the staircase a few minutes ago?”  Pausing, she took a step closer to him.  “Don’t tell me boy genius is scared of a wittle ghost,” she teased.

“I’m not scared,” he snapped back at her.  Face softening he added, “I just think we should take better precautions against whoever is in there.  I can’t shake these ominous feelings that once we step through that door are lives will change forever…and I don’t think it’s going to be a good change.”

“God Jarod, would you lighten up.  There’s most likely nothing in there except for some homeless people looking for a warm place to stay.  You need to give that overactive brain of yours a vacation before…” she stopped mid-sentence when she heard the clicking of a doorknob turning.  She ceased breathing, watching as the door cracked open a few inches, as if it was signaling for the them to come inside.

Always being a curious one, Miss Parker gradually made her way down the hall.  She could feel Jarod’s presence behind her.  For some reason, that gave her comfort.  Taking a few deep breaths, Miss Parker held her gun out, pushing the door aside.

“What is it?” asked Jarod.

Glancing at him she answered, “It’s our imaginations running wild.”

Giving her a perplexed look, Jarod walked over to her to look inside the room.  He let his eyes roam over the large, spacious library.  Old, hard-back books lined the many bookshelves.  Feeling a little braver, Jarod stepped onto the balcony that lined the walls of the library.  Resting his hands on the railing, he found most of the furniture covered with dusty, white cloths.  The only furniture that wasn’t covered was two wingback leather chairs with a small end table sitting in between.  “Now, that’s weird,” he muttered under his breath.

Standing beside him Miss Parker asked, “What’s weird?”

“That,” he answered, pointing at the two leather chairs.  “Why is it that those two chairs are the only ones not covered?  That doesn’t make sense.”  Intrigued, Jarod walked over to the ladder that led down to the floor.  Reaching the last step, he waited patiently as Miss Parker made her way down.  Seeing the ladder was slightly shaking, he grabbed it, holding the ladder still, to make it sturdier for Miss Parker’s descent.  “Be careful,” he advised worriedly.

“Jarod, I know what I’m doing.  It’s not like I’ve never climbed down…”  Miss Parker shrieked as she lost her balance, falling from the ladder.  Dropping the pistol, Jarod was able to catch her just in time before she fell to the hard wood floor.

“You were saying,” he grinned down at her, enjoying the incensed look within her eyes.  Well, Lyle was right about one thing, she is beautiful when she’s angry, he thought with amusement.

Miss Parker glared at him.  “Shut up and put me down!” she commented as she struggled in his arms to get down.

“Whatever you say my lady,” he smiled, settling her back on her feet.

“Damn annoying geniuses,” she mumbled as she turned away from him, moving towards the chairs.  Turning around, Miss Parker expected Jarod to be behind her, but he was still by the ladder enjoying his pathetic heroic memory of her falling off the ladder and landing in his arms.  “Hey Lab Rat, get a grip will you?  It wasn’t anything that special,” she yelled out over to him, becoming annoyed once again.

Grabbing the pistol off the floor, Jarod walked over to her with a more confident strut as his free hand dug into his jean pocket.  Seconds later, he pulled out a key chain.

Miss Parker gave him a skeptical look.  “What the hell are you going to do with those?  Fend off the ghosts with your all powerful keys,” she bit out. 

Jarod ignored her snide remarks as he clicked on the small flashlight that dangled from his key chain.  Taking a step closer to the chairs, he waved the light over the black leather.  Reaching out, he ran his fingers over the chair.  Running the flashlight over his fingertips, he found no traces of dust.  Filing the small tidbit inside his mind, he did the same test with the other chair and table.  Again, the same results, not a speck of dust was to be found.

“Do you smell that?” asked Miss Parker, sniffing the air.

Straightening his stance, Jarod sniffed the air also.

Realizing what the smell was both turned their attention to the fireplace.  Kneeling down together, Jarod let the flashlight wander over the slightly burned logs.  “Someone was here, I can see smoke,” noted Miss Parker.

“I know I couldn’t find any traces of dust on the chairs or table.”  Standing back up, he glanced nervously around the room.  “We’re definitely not alone here.  I’ve had enough mind games to last me a lifetime thanks to the Centre, and the last thing I want is to become an unwilling participant in a new one.”  Looking over at Miss Parker he suggested, “Let’s get out of here.”

For once, Miss Parker didn’t argue with him as she readily agreed.  The faster they got out of here the better.  Both hurried over to the ladder only to find it missing.  “What the hell?” she said with disbelief.  “Jarod, how the hell does a fifteen foot ladder just disappear?”  Miss Parker didn’t like this one bit.  Her heart pounded in her chest as the hairs on the back of her neck rose.  Trying her best to remain calm, she rubbed the back of her neck, hoping to ease her fears away, however it wasn’t helping.

Jarod shrugged his shoulders.  “I don’t know, maybe the ghosts did it.”

“Stop saying that!  There’s no such thing as ghosts,” she snapped back.

Jarod was about to reply back, but stopped when he heard a loud, thumping sound coming from somewhere beneath them.  Miss Parker took a step closer to him as she held her gun out, ready to shoot anything that threatened them bodily harm.  “You can’t shoot a ghost,” Jarod whispered in her ear.  Really, he was just as scared as she was, but he couldn’t stop himself from teasing her.  It helped to ease the nervousness that was growing by the second within him.

“It’s not a ghost damn it!  How many times do I have to tell you,” she shouted at him, fear evident in her voice.

“Miss Parker, calm down.  Everything is going to be okay.  I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Her eyes looked up at him for a brief second before her attention fell back onto the room.  “Jarod, I can take care of myself.  I don’t you need to save me.”

“Fine, whatever,” he replied bitterly.  Hearing the thumping sounds coming from the area by the fireplace, Jarod walked over to it, leaving Miss Parker to herself.  Letting his flashlight wander over the floor, he found the floorboards bouncing up and down, as if someone was trapped underneath, demanding to be let out.  Dropping to his knees, he tried to pry the floorboards loose, but to no avail.  Glancing up, he found Miss Parker trying frantically to open the two doors, but she was having no such look. 

With her back facing him, Jarod couldn’t fight the mischievous thought that floated through his head.  Standing up, he slowly crept over to the unsuspecting Miss Parker.  Flashlight pointed under his chin, he waited for his huntress to turn around, hoping to startle her.  Yeah, it was cruel, but he couldn’t let an opportunity like this pass him by.

Miss Parker was beyond frustrated.  She just wanted to get out of here and forget this whole night ever existed.  Turning around, she let out a startled cry.  Acting on pure instinct, she swiftly brought up her fist, punching Jarod in the mouth.

“Ow!” he yelled as he fell back onto the floor.

“Damn it Jarod, what the hell were you doing, trying to give me a heart attack or something,” she snarled, “If you want to get rid of me, there are easier ways to do it.”

Sitting up, he leaned on his left elbow for support as his right hand tried to rub away the throbbing, intense pain away from his face.  Feeling wetness between his lips, he darted his tongue out, tasting blood.  “I’m bleeding,” he said with surprise.

Miss Parker folded her arms across her chest.  “Well, be lucky it’s a cut lip and not a bullet between your eyes.”  She paused momentarily an added, “It serves you right for doing that to me.” 

Jarod remained quiet as he pulled out his handkerchief, trying his best to use it as a bandage to stop the bleeding.  When he grazed his nose he winced in pain.  “I think you broke my nose,” he commented in a nasally voice.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Miss Parker knelt down beside him.  When she tried to grab his face, he scooted away from her.  “Jarod, would you stop acting like a damn baby and let me take a look at it,” she said with annoyance.

Jarod gave her a disbelieving look.  “No, I think that’s alright.  You’ve already done enough.”

Becoming more aggravated with him, she roughly grabbed Jarod’s shirt, pulling him closer to her.  Sitting down on the floor, she rested his head in her lap.  She noticed the thumping from earlier had stopped.  She was grateful for that, but she had a feeling the silence wouldn’t last long. 

Taking Jarod’s flashlight, she inspected his face.  He did have a nasty cut on lip, but his nose appeared to fine.  “Men, what a bunch of babies,” she commented sarcastically.

“Excuse me, but have you ever been on the receiving end of one of your punches, well let me tell you, they’re not very fun,” he replied back, holding the handkerchief to his lip.  He was surprised when Miss Parker started laughing.

“Jarod, you have such a flare for the dramatics.  You should give up your pretender shtick and become a drama queen,” she joked.

“A drama what?” he asked with confusion.

“Never mind.”  Miss Parker stared down at him for a few moments, absently brushing away the hair from his forehead.  With Jarod’s eyes closed, she was able to study his face more closely. 

Jarod always had a handsome face; no one could deny that, not even herself.  She could see a five o’clock shadow growing on his cheeks and chin, which only added to his sex appeal.  Miss Parker smiled inwardly; the poor boy probably didn’t even realize how powerful a tool like that could be to the opposite sex.  Soon, her eyes wandered up to his lips, she was tempted, very tempted, to press her own mouth to his and nibble on his bottom lip.  Unconsciously, she licked her own lips.  The next stop on her little journey of Jarod’s face was his eyes, or more particularly the mole beneath his right eye.  A blemish to some, but to her it was an imperfection she adored.  Without thinking of the consequences, she leaned over Jarod, ready to kiss that blemish, but froze when Jarod’s eyes flew open.

“What are you doing?” he asked inquisitively.

“I…I was doing nothing,” she stammered quickly, “I was just seeing if you…you were okay, that’s all.”  God, she sounded just like Broots, how pathetic.

Jarod stared at her for a brief moment before a knowing smile graced his lips.  “Miss Parker, I think you’re lying.  I believe you were trying to—oh what they call it—‘police’ a feel.”

Miss Parker tried to act nonchalant, but she failed miserably as her own face betrayed her, becoming flushed.  Trying to stifle a smile she corrected Jarod.  “It’s ‘cop’ a feel, not police a feel, and you’re wrong, I would never do such thing.”

Jarod’s grin got broader as he replied back, “Whatever you say, Miss Parker, whatever you say.”

Becoming annoyed with his smugness once again, she pushed his head off her lap, getting up from the floor.  “Let’s go Jarod, unfortunately play time is over.  Time to get back to the task at hand, like how we’re going to get out of here.”

Jarod slowly eased himself off the floor, swaying slightly.  Miss Parker reached out to steady him as he rested his arm across her shoulders.  “Earlier, before you punched me,” he smiled wryly, “I found out where that thumping sound was coming from.”

“Where?”

Easing off of her, he walked over to the spot in front of the fireplace.  “From here,” he answered, pointing his finger down at the floor.  Then, as if on cue, the floorboards once again began their banging as they bounced up and down.  Grabbing a fire poker from near the fireplace, Jarod handed his flashlight to Miss Parker.  As she kept the light on the spot, Jarod knelt down and began the task of removing the floorboards.  When he removed the third one, both let out a startled gasp at what they saw.

“It’s a dead body,” Miss Parker gasped.

Looking more closely Jarod could see something lying beside the skeleton.  Sitting back up, he glanced over his shoulder at Miss Parker and said, “Not one dead body, but two.”  Removing the remaining floor boards, both were greeted to the two skeletons, one man and one woman.

“Is there any I.D. on them?” asked Miss Parker.

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to dig through their pockets in case this is a crime scene.  I don’t want to ruin any evidence,” he replied back.  Looking back down at the corpses, he studied their profiles.  The woman had dark brown hair, and seemed fairly tall.  The man also had dark brown hair, almost black, and was wearing a black leather jacket.  Just like the ones I wear, Jarod thought.  He found a gunshot wound in the woman’s abdomen area, while the man had one in his chest, near his heart. 

Jarod couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something oddly familiar about the two corpses, but what was it?  As if reading his thoughts, Miss Parker asked behind him, “Don’t they look familiar to you?”

“Yes, they do, but I can’t figure it out.  There’s something about the man’s jacket that’s making me feel uneasy about this whole situation.”

Miss Parker pondered Jarod’s words as she looked back and forth between the two corpses, and then looked back at Jarod.  That’s odd, the man has on the same outfit as Jarod, she mused.  Looking down at her own clothes, she glanced down at the woman corpse once more.  In fact, the female corpse has on the exact same clothes I’m wearing right now, she thought uneasily.  Then it dawned on her.  Taking a step back she said, “Jarod, I think I know who these people are.”

Turning around, he could see Miss Parker was a shade paler.  “Who?”

Locking eyes with Jarod she answered, “They’re…us.”

XXXXXX

To Be Continued…