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By the time Arden and Max made it to Cliff House, they were drenched to the bone.
They hurried inside as fast as they could in order to escape the torrential downpour and to get help. Arden hesitated at the doorway and looked around as Max strode to the telephone near the staircase.
A flickering light from a fire in the parlor spilled out and provided some light and warmth.
She tried the light switch by the door. “Power’s still out.”
“Phone’s still out too,” Max said slamming down the phone with a shake of his head.
“It’s no use,” Reese slurred from the parlor doorway. He staggered to them, spilling his drink on the floor. “Where have you two been?” he slurred as he wrapped his arm around Arden’s shoulders.
Max took the glass from Reese’s hand. “How much have you had to drink?”
Reese leaned into Arden and grinned. “All of them.”
“Wonderful,” Max said, turning the man around and pushing him away from Arden.
Reese fell into a chair by the door like a rag doll.
“Where is everyone, Reese?” Arden asked.
Reese’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know. I thought I heard a scream...” He snorted. “Maybe I just imagined it.”
“When’s the last time you saw Savannah or Paige?” Arden asked in exasperation.
“How should I know? I just know they’re gone. Dennis went looking for them an hour...no wait, it was a few minutes ago...or maybe it was an hour ago. I really don’t know.” He struggled to sit up. “Where’s my drink?”
“Don’t give him anything,” Dennis said striding out of the banquet hall. He pointed a flashlight in their direction. “He’s emptied out the liquor cabinet. I’m so glad to see you. I was afraid you two had disappeared as well.”
“Where’s Savannah and Paige?” Arden asked.
“I have no idea.” He opened a hallway closet and pulled out a flashlight which he handed to Arden. “I’ve been searching for them for the last hour, but they’re not answering.”
Arden fought against the rising feeling of panic. She gripped Max’s hand tighter earning a reassuring look from him.
“Haskell’s missing too,” Dennis added.
“Good,” Reese shouted then mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.
Dennis gave Reese a disgusted look. “Savannah found some kind of letter in the banquet hall. She and Paige took off running and I haven’t seen them since. The phones went out shortly after. That’s not all. Our cars have been disabled too. Someone slashed the tires and gutted the insides. Even the old rusted bicycle is of no use. I tried to find that fake cop, but he’s not out there and the gates are padlocked shut.”
Max walked to the window and looked out.
“My gun’s missing too,” Dennis said. “The hunting guns are gone too. Zeke must have them or maybe Walter if he’s really alive. Either way, it’s not good news.”
“Walter didn’t take them,” Max said turning back to the window.
“I’d say we’re trapped here,” Arden said.
Reese started laughing.
Dennis held up his hands. “No, we’re not trapped. There’s a phone in the cottage. We can call the police from there.”
“Those phones are out too,” Arden said. “We already tried it.”
A vein in Dennis’ jaw began to throb. “Then I’ll walk to town. I can take the staircase to the cottage and then walk from there to the main road. I should reach there before midnight.”
“The tide is rising,” Max said. “We barely made it here.”
“He’s right,” Arden said. “Unless there’s another way from here to there, you’ll never make it.”
“We have to do something,” Dennis snapped. He turned in a circle. “Who else is missing? Where is Kevin?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Arden said, trying not to let disappointment color her voice. “He . . . well, he...”
“Ran away,” Max said bluntly. “We were at the cottage and he got scared and took off and left us.”
Reese started laughing. “Of course, he did,” he said, burying his face into his hands.
“Why did he run away?” Dennis asked softly.
Arden glanced at Dennis then to Max. Realizing they couldn’t keep Yvette’s death a secret from her own husband, she gently broke the news to them.
Dennis reacted as if struck. “Wh—what?”
Reese started moaning. “I knew it. We’re going to die. We’re all going to die.”
Dennis turned to Reese. “Reese, shut up!” In shaky voice, he asked, “How did she die?”
“She was strangled,” Max said. “Walter’s dead too. We’re not sure how he died, but it looks like he was struck several times about the head.”
Dennis blinked rapidly. “I see. Well...” He pressed his hands together then looked down. “I think...” He spun on his heel, muttering, “Excuse me,” as he rushed out of the room.
Grunting, Reese came to his feet. He swayed unsteadily for a moment before bracing himself against the wall. “What are we going to do now?” He stumbled to the door. “We could make a run for it.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Arden said striding from the room, “until I find Savannah and Paige.”
“I’ll go with you,” Max said following her into the foyer. He looked back at Reese. “Stay here and lock the door. We’ll be back.”
“No, you won’t,” Reese muttered. “We’re all going to die.”
Max came up behind her as she walked through the banquet hall towards the kitchen. “Where are we going?”
“We’ll start in the basement and work our way up.”
Moving quickly, they walked through the bottom level, then made their way up checking each room they came too. It took longer than she expected. Several of rooms on the third floor were locked and they required a skeleton key to open. They eventually found one in Haskell’s quarters, but wasted a lot of time looking for it. The minutes ticked by as they thoroughly searched each room for any sign of her missing friends or a clue as to what happened to them. It was only when they reached the attic that Arden found a letter addressed to Sunny Sutton. She shined the flashlight down on the letter and began reading out loud.
Come on, Sunny. I thought you were a detective. I’m so disappointed in you. You know, you used to be my hero. I’ve been waiting all weekend for you to come out and play.
You used to have the clues right at your fingertips. It all came so easy for you but now your muse has died, what will you do? And if you think your star power will save you from this mystery of the macabre don’t forget that all stars burn out and die eventually.
Love,
Zeke
“Well, this is the first note we’ve found signed by Zeke,” she said.
“I wonder what brought Savannah and Paige up here,” Max said, looking around.
“Maybe they were just searching everywhere like us.”
Max held up his finger as he cocked his head to the side.
“What?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “I thought I heard something.” He gave her a sheepish smile as he tucked his hands into his back pockets. “Must have been the wind.”
Arden picked up a folded white sheet lying at the foot of the bed. “This wasn’t here yesterday. I wonder where it came from.” Her gaze roved around the room looking for anything else out of place and that’s when she noticed the dollhouse at the far end of the attic. “It was over there, covering the dollhouse yesterday. What did the letter say? Something about how he wanted her to come out and play.” She walked along the length of the room then knelt in front of the giant dollhouse. She stared at it in awe. “It’s Cliff House.” She pointed to a room on the second floor. “This is my room.”
Max reached in and pulled out a Sunny Sutton doll. “I take it this was Savannah’s room,” he said placing the doll back on the bed. He leaned forward his gaze moving from room to room. “See anything strange?”
“No, do you?”
He shook his head before turning away. “If there’s a clue in there, I don’t see it.”
Her gaze dropped to the first floor where a family of Barbie dolls sat in the library. “This must have cost a fortune.”
“Come on, let’s keep searching.”
Folding the letter, she placed it back into her pocket and then followed him downstairs. By the time, they reached the first floor, darkness and an eerie quiet had descended on the house.
With a sickening feeling, Arden walked to the banquet hall. “Dennis? Reese?” She threw a worried glance towards Max. “Well, this is just great.”
Max and Arden strode across the foyer and into the parlor calling their names. To their relief, they found Reese lying on the couch, snoring softly, his arms wrapped around a half full bottle of wine.
“Well, at least we found someone,” Max said taking the bottle out of Reese’s arms and setting it on the table. He reached down and shook Reese’s shoulders. “Wake up!”
Reese roughly shoved Max’s arms away. Mumbling something unintelligible, he rolled over on his side.
“Oh, just let him sleep,” Arden said shoving her hair away from her face. “We have to find Savannah and Paige.”
They both froze as a series of dull thumps echoed through the room.
Reese lifted his head and looked around. “Would you knock it off? I’m trying to sleep!”
Max scowled down at the man. “How long has that been going on?”
“I don’t know,” Reese said, pressing a pillow against his ear. “I thought it was you.” He lifted the pillow off of his head, as the thumps grew louder. “Who is that...”
“Shh,” Max said as another series of thumps sounded then died.
“It must be Savannah or Paige,” Arden said as relief flooded through her. “They must be locked up somewhere.”
“Where?” Max tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “We checked each room.”
“We must have missed one.”
“We didn’t,” he insisted turning in a circle and looking around. “I opened every door we came to.”
Arden turned around and started for the foyer.
“Where are you going?” Max asked.
“The attic,” she said as she raced up the stairs.
Once in the attic, she dropped to her knees in front of the dollhouse. Training her flashlight on the dollhouse, she examined each floor looking for something they had missed. She touched the fireplace in the library, gasping as it moved to reveal a small room. “Reese was right. There is a little room back there.”
Max tilted his head to the side. “That’s not all. There’s a staircase too.”
Arden’s gaze moved up, tracing the hidden staircase up to the miniature dollhouse in the attic.
She pushed the little dollhouse to the side, revealing a small door.
Before she could react, Max was pulling her up and moving her to the side as he grabbed the edge of the dollhouse and tugged it away from the wall. It gave away with a groan, revealing a small door.
Max looked at her with a grin, excitement lighting up his eyes. “Shall we?”
“You couldn’t make me leave at this point.”
He pulled open the door, revealing a brightly lit room. “I’d say ladies first, but if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go first this time.”
“By all means,” she said gesturing to the door.
Ducking his head, he stepped through the opening. Arden didn’t hesitate. She followed inside as soon as he was out of the way.
She straightened and turned to the door, surprised when it swung shut. Her eyes widened at the sound of a click and the dollhouse groaning as it swung back against the wall. “Uh oh.”
While Max attempted to reopen the door, Arden examined the little room. A dusty child’s table with chairs sat in the middle of the little room along with a half a dozen or so stuffed toys. At the end of the room was a staircase. They could hear banging from somewhere below them and the faint sound of voices. She grabbed Max by the hand, dragging him away from the door and towards the staircase. As soon as they got to the second floor, she recognized Savannah’s voice floating up the stairs.
“I’d swear,” Savannah said, “you’d think these people were deaf. Try hitting the pipe harder.”
“Yes, Madam,” Haskell responded promptly.
When Arden reached the first floor, she found Haskell, standing near a cobweb-laden door and her friends seated on a cot behind him. The only light came from a single candelabrum in the corner of the room.
Arden’s face broke out in a relieved grin as she dashed down the remaining steps. Her hand accidently collided with a gargoyle sitting on a newel post and it fell to the floor. The plaster gargoyle shattered into pieces at their feet. Too excited and happy to find her friends safe and sound, she hopped over the pieces.
Savannah and Paige cheered in excitement as soon as they saw her. They both jumped from the cot they had been sitting on to rush into Arden’s arms.
“I’ve been looking for you two forever,” Arden said, looking around at the pictures of Savannah and Elaine wallpapering the walls. It was like a shrine to both women at once.
“Well, we’ve been waiting forever,” Paige said. “What took you?”
“You’ll never believe what Max and I found at the cottage.”
Savannah smirked. “Well, you’ll never believe what we found in here,” she said taking a step back and gesturing to the cot where Zeke Tapper was lying.
