Havel House, Chapter 6
When their house in Florida sold after three weeks on the market, William wondered if they'd set the price too low. Either way, they'd made a profit of several thousand dollars and had enjoyed the use of it for the past seven years.
The new owners loved the way it was furnished and were willing to pay an extra lump-sum of $6,000 if they left all the furnishings and decorative objects in place. Kathryn was thrilled! She had packed all the keepsakes into the moving pod and had dreaded the thought of having to fly back to Florida to dispose of the rest. She knew she'd never get that much out of the stuff in a tag-sale or from a used-furniture shop. And, she'd save the price of airfare to boot.
William said it was her reward for having good taste and for having minored in art as an undergraduate.
It wasn't that they couldn't afford whatever they wanted to refurnish the newer wing of the house, but it was nice to have unexpected cash to fund it. Carson put in his two-cent's worth about a new range, and the family all agreed that it would be one of their first purchases. He was given the task of checking into the options for all the appliances. While he was at it, he was to get estimates on having the entire kitchen remodeled. He loved it! It would be easy to spend a lot more than $6,000 in that case.
Ashton continued to have strange dreams when sleeping alone in his room. He couldn't remember any details like in the ones he'd had when Rhett shared his bed. He began to wonder if the catalyst was Rhett's presence. Sometimes, his feet felt gritty when he got up in the morning. He decided that he'd better shower thoroughly before going to bed instead of just in the morning.
The teens' fascination with the house was interrupted by their week at marching band camp. Unlike the one for jazz, this required going away to a campground owned by a church and there was a fee. Being there 24/7 meant that they were thoroughly immersed in their music and connecting with their peers. It also left little time for messing around. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing because it showed them how their relationship would hold up in the everyday world.
Naturally, Ashton immediately made a host of new acquaintances, some of which were likely to become friendships. During their first rehearsal of the marching moves, Declan Riley, a senior trumpet player, took Ashton under his wing to help him learn the ropes. Since Ashton had been in an award-winning group in Florida, he had no problem picking up the choreography quickly, but he appreciated the attention.
Rhett found himself concerned about how much interest Declan was showing in HIS boyfriend but decided that he'd better play it cool lest he look too needy and drive Ashton away. All apprehension evaporated when Ashton sought him out and put an arm around his shoulder during their first break.
"I kinda wish we were in the same section, but I love watching your cute little butt when the drumline leads!"
"Don't say that too loud if you don't want to be outed?" Rhett cautioned.
"I might yell it across the field! I know we've only known each other for a few weeks, but it feels like forever, and I'm really happy I moved here."
"Me too," Rhett grinned.
Back in formation, Declan delved into Ashton's relationship with Rhett.
"So, have you and Butler known each other for a long time?"
"Since I arrived in early June. I stayed at his house during the week of jazz camp."
"Ah, so you two have been sleeping together," Declan teased.
"Yeah, we have. He lives across the street, so we spend a lot of time doing stuff."
"That's cool, he's a good kid."
Griffin was within earshot of the conversation. He was now sure that he didn't stand a chance of getting close to Ashton. He'd have to look somewhere else for a close friend. Oh well, perhaps someone new would move in. There would be a whole new crop of freshmen at school in a few more weeks.
The weather was hot and dry and the week was filled with intense practices and critiques. It was taxing but fulfilling. Everyone could see that they were making progress. Along with frequent breaks, Mr. Dixon's praise went a long way in keeping them attentive.
Rhett and Ashton hated not having much private time. The boys' showers were gang-type ones so they didn't dare fool around in them. Many of the guys checked out the new kid and most were well impressed. One or two wished they could have a better look.
Several times the boyfriends did manage to find a dark, quiet place to make-out a little during the week. It was often too risky to do more than kiss and cop a feel.
On Thursday night, shortly before bedtime, they walked until they found a grassy spot next to the cornfield which abutted the campground. There was only a sliver of a moon, so it was quite dark and deeply quiet. They lay on their backs, holding hands, and gazing at the stars.
"It's a little like being in my room," Ashton whispered.
"Except we have our clothes on," Rhett grumbled. "Hey, what are you doing," he gasped, as Ashton undid the snap on his shorts and lowered the zipper.
"I want to play with your joystick!"
Rhett turned around to pull down Ashton's shorts as well. Soon, they were massaging their most beloved appendages. Having been celibate for the past several days, it didn't take long for them to go over the edge.
They kissed a few minutes in the afterglow, but soon put their clothes in order lest someone discover them. Then, hand in hand, they strolled to their barracks. They didn't break their physical connection until they reached the door.
Both boys were in a remarkably good mood the next day.
With all their activities, the teens found that the week had passed almost before they knew it. Saturday, about an hour before noon, the kids who didn't have cars boarded the school bus back to Linwood High where family members would pick them up.
Carson was waiting in the parking lot with the top down. He was their chauffer, and they made a stop a Zoey's for pizza on the way home.
It was on another weekend sleepover in early August that something strange happened in the night. A thunderstorm, complete with spectacular lightning, had moved into the area in the wee hours. Because the drapes were closed and the walls were thick, the full fury didn't disturb the boys as it might have in a subdivision house.
After it had pretty much subsided, Rhett woke up when Ashton got out of bed and started walking toward the door. He was nude, of course, and Rhett was going to stop him from roaming around naked in case Kathryn happened to be in that part of the house checking on them. He tried to talk to him, but Ashton didn't respond. It was like he was in a trance. He just kept going as if he were on a mission.
Rhett slipped into his boxers and followed. Ashton ascended the stairs to the third floor. That level consisted mainly of a large open room for entertaining and had another narrower staircase up to the widow's watch. The old ballroom featured windows facing the front and back of the house. The sidewalls were paneled and had no openings.
Ashton continued toward the farther side wall where he gripped a piece of trim next to the fireplace and pushed it inward. A panel slid back into the wall, opening up to a long narrow room with shelves and tables covered with books and gadgets. Then, he started to slide down the wall as if he were a marionette whose strings had been cut. Rhett caught him before he hit the floor.
"Where am I? What are we doing?"
"We're on the third floor, and you've found old Anton's secret laboratory, I think?"
"What? Uh where are my clothes?"
"Ashton, you don't remember anything?"
"We were sleeping and I had this odd dream. I felt driven to follow him."
"Him?"
"Yeah, I guess it was a `he.' Do you think I'm possessed or crazy?"
"I think you might have met the ghost. Do you feel frightened?"
"No."
"Then if it IS a spirit, it must be a friendly one."
"I'm so tired."
"Okay, let's close this back up and I'll put you to bed. We can investigate in the morning."
Rhett helped Ashton find his way down the stairs and back to the room. Once inside, Rhett locked the door with the old-fashioned skeleton key. He picked up the damp towel, that had been used earlier for other purposes, and wiped their feet before they got in bed.
He snuggled against Ashton's back and held him tightly. Ashton fell asleep almost immediately but Rhett remained awake for a while. He didn't have a feeling of dread, but he was unsettled by the experience. This was totally weird!
As a result of their interrupted sleep, the boys didn't rise as early as they normally would have. When they opened the drapes, they looked out at a dreary, rainy day.
"So, what do you think about last night's adventure," Rhett asked.
"Adventure? Oh, you mean licking each other's balls. It was cool! I think I'm ready to do what we were talking about. I like the idea of taking you in my mouth."
"You don't remember anything else?"
"No, did I say something stupid?"
"Come on, let's have breakfast and then we're going to do some exploring upstairs."
"Hey sleepy-heads, I was about to have Carson roust you out," Kathryn smiled. "Breakfast is almost ready.
"What are you going to do today? It looks like your bike ride is rained out."
"We thought we might check out the upper part of the house," Rhett said. "Maybe we'll take some photos from the widow's watch."
"That's a good plan. You can see for miles from up there, at least on a clear day.
"Ah here come the rest. Let's eat before things get cold."
"The guys' bike ride got rained out and they're planning to poke around on the third floor. You might like to join them, Carson."
"That sounds like fun, but remember I'm going to the ice arena with Brianna. Her friends Dave and Megan invited me along. They're gonna try to teach me to stay upright on a pair of skates."
"Good luck," Rhett said. "I nearly broke my tailbone last time I tried."
Rhett was going to go across the street to get an old pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before exploring the room Ashton had discovered in his sleep. However, Ashton found things of his that would fit. The boys were close in size.
"I can't wait any longer to see what you said we discovered in the night. I still can't believe I did all that in my sleep."
"You were either asleep or in a trance. I couldn't get you to wake up but you came out of it suddenly after you open the secret door."
"What are we gonna tell Mom and the others? She was kinda squeamish when we were talking about ghosts on the day we first saw this place."
"Maybe we can `stumble onto it' while we're messing around today. I don't want to lie to your mother but I see your point. Maybe no one will ask."
Armed with latex gloves and some old rags for dusting, the pair went to the third floor to begin their adventure.
"See this trim piece by the fireplace? You pushed it in like this, and voile la, it moved a panel."
The operation wasn't as smooth as it had been the night before. It took quite a bit of pressure to move the trim. Rhett wondered how Ashton had done it so easily before. Had he been possessed with unusual strength, or had humidity swelled the wood?
This time, the boys got a better look at the layout. There were two windows with translucent privacy glass which allowed adequate light but wouldn't let anyone see in. Considering the house's height and the absence of tall buildings in the area, it was doubtful anyone could have observed what was going on in there anyway.
Besides a lot of shelves, there was a desk and two long worktables. The shelves and tables held a large number of strange looking instruments. There were test tubes, Bunsen burners, and other pieces of equipment. Two gas mantle lamps hung from the ceiling.
The oddest piece in the room was a wooden coffin on a stand with a kind of helmet hooked up to wires. An antique knife-switch in the "off" position disconnected it from whatever power source had been used.
In essence, the place resembled a movie set for a mad-scientist film.
While there was a thin layer of dust on everything, the lab was remarkably clean for not having been used in many decades. It made the boys wonder if Andela had known about the room and kept it tidy when she was younger and spry enough to do it.
"I can see why there's an old legend about my great-great-great-grandfather being like Frankenstein!" Ashton shuddered. "What kind of grizzly experiments went on in here?"
"It IS spooky!"
"We'll it's the 21st century and it's daytime, so I don't feel frightened. Let's see what we can find out."
As the boys carefully searched the desk, Ashton found a key under a thin board in the center drawer. A piece of paper had been caught at the back and Ashton had turn the drawer upside down to dislodge it. At one time, the board must have served as a false bottom but from shrinking through the years, it didn't fit tightly.
"I think this might be important! We need to look for a locked box or something. It doesn't fit the locks on the desk drawers and they aren't locked anyway. He must have been keeping a secret."
"Maybe it was notes from his research," Rhett speculated.
Their next point of exploration was the shelves lined with books and folders. It was mostly a cursory look because it would require many hours to peruse all the material.
They were so deep into it that they hadn't heard William come up to the third floor, and they were so startled when he called to them that they nearly dropped the books they were holding.
"Wow! What have we here?" William exclaimed, coming into the laboratory.
"We've discovered the secret, we think," Ashton answered.
"How in the world did you find it? You must be geniuses!"
"Um, I'd like to believe that but it's not true. We don't know if we should tell Mom."
"She'll find out in the long run. You know we've taught you to be honest."
"Okay, but I can't tell the story because I wasn't awake. Rhett will have to do it."
After Rhett had filled William in on what he'd observed, William frowned.
"I see your point about not revealing everything. Hmm... Perhaps we should emphasize that Ashton was sleepwalking and blundered into it. As far as we know, that's true."
"I guess you're right," Rhett agreed.
"Anyway, Mom sent me up to tell you that lunch will be served in half an hour. She couldn't raise you on your cell.
"Do you suppose there's another similar room on the other side of the ballroom? The house looks symmetrical from the outside."
"There could be. We got so excited about this one that we didn't think of that."
William and the teens began to inspect the paneled wall on the other side. After a few minutes, William found a piece of trim that didn't fit as perfectly as the rest. He applied quite a bit of pressure before it gave, but eventually, it opened a panel similar to the one across the ballroom revealing a secret space that was a twin to the lab.
The other room contained a lot of books; this one resembled a small library. Shelves, filled with tomes, lined all the wall space except for the two windows.
The other contents of the room consisted of a small writing desk with a straight-back chair, a rocking chair, and a double bed with a night table beside it. Two kerosene lamps completed the furnishings. Like the lab, everything lay under a light coating of dust. There was more on the windowsills.
On the desk, lay a large book with a lock on it. Ashton was sure he'd found the purpose of the key.
"Okay, guys, we need to go down to lunch or I'll be in the doghouse. I think we should tell Kathryn that Ashton felt led to the secret lab. That's true. We don't need to elaborate on the story. If she asks for more detail, you can say it was during the thunderstorm which woke you both up.
Author's notes: Thanks for all the emails this past week! I heard from Paul R, Tony C, Jim M, Vinnie D, Walter S, Ott H, Jamie L, John L, Al N, GC, Don Mac, Bill T, Randy Mac, Mendy D, Frank K, Charles G, Skip M, Mar H, Chandra B, Geoff S, Tim T, Ray M, Brad, Bill K, Ian S, Allen, Tom A, Peter S, Kevin K, Joe W (1), Scott M, Zero M, Paul F, and JJR.
Thanks to David (Boxerdude) for editing this chapter.
Thanks to Nifty for providing this free venue.
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If you enjoyed this tale, I'd love to hear from you. Please write to me at: dlee169@hotmail.com
This story will end very soon. However, I'm in the plotting stages for a kind of sequel in which we'll learn more about Griffin and bring in Raymo and Luis from Incognito. That is, if it all pans out.
Be safe!
David