The Blackham Mansion Haunting (The Downwinders Book 4) Read Free

said.
“David!” she called. They waited for a response, but none came.
    “Well, shit, Deem,” Winn said. “He couldn’t have just
disappeared.”
    “David!” she called again.
    “I’ll try these stairs,” Winn said, “but only one of us. I
don’t know if they’ll take much weight. Would you call Carma and tell her I
found you? She was as worried as I was.”
    Deem pulled out her phone again. “No reception,” she said.
“Let me try outside.” She left Winn’s side and walked back to the entryway. He
heard the front door creaking in the distance as she opened it.
    Winn looked up the stairs. They hugged the left wall, and were
wide at the bottom, but became narrower as it rose, twisting to the right as
they reached the upper level. Some steps had rotted out entirely. A banister
made of solid wood still edged the right side. He grabbed it and pushed,
testing its strength. It seemed solid. Then he chose a first step to climb, and
slowly lowered his weight on it. It didn’t crack under him. So far so good, he thought, searching for the next step that wasn’t broken. Then the next.
    There’s that feeling again, he thought as the warning passed over him. He felt it
from all directions — ahead, above, where the staircase turned to become a
hallway he couldn’t yet see down, and from below, as though something might
follow him up the stairs. This place isn’t just haunted, he thought. It’s
dangerous. Something that hasn’t shown itself yet.
    He’d made it half way up when Deem returned.
    “You can come back down,” she said.
    “Why?” he asked.
    “I just talked to Carma. David is there, at the house. In
Leeds.”
    “I thought you said he came with you?”
    “He did. We were both here, trancing.”
    “Well, your truck’s still outside,” Winn said, climbing down
the steps using the same stairs he’d selected to go up. “How’s that possible? It’s
more than an hour back to Leeds!”
    “I have no idea,” she replied.

Chapter Two
     
     
     
    Winn followed Deem as she rushed into the house. David was
sitting in the back drawing room, wrapped up in several blankets and sipping at
a cup of something hot.
    “David!” Deem said. “Are you alright?”
    “Fine, I think,” David answered. “I feel fine. Carma insisted
I use these blankets.”
    “Because he was stone cold, let me tell you!” Carma said,
arriving in the room with emphatic indignation. “He’s been arguing with me
about it, but I have insisted, as you can see.” She turned to Winn. “Arguing
with me about things is never a good idea.”
    “No, I expect not,” Winn replied. Carma turned to leave the
room.
    Deem sat next to David. “We were in the house. What
happened?”
    “Honestly, I don’t remember any house,” David replied. “Carma
says we left together earlier, but I don’t remember that. I don’t remember
going anywhere with you today.”
    Deem turned to look at Winn, confused.
    “Memory loss?” Winn offered weakly.
    She turned back to David. “You don’t remember driving up to
Paragonah? The Blackham mansion? We were trancing?”
    David stared back at Deem, sharing her confused look. He
shook his head slowly. “No, I don’t.”
    “Well, what do you remember?” she asked.
    “I remember being here, earlier,” he replied. “I remember
Carma waking me up, forcing me to sit in all these blankets and drink
something.”
    “I’ve brought some of it for all of you,” Carma said,
arriving in the room with a tray of mugs that had little wisps of steam rising
from each. “He was so cold it sent a chill over the entire house. Here, have
some.” She pressed a mug into Winn’s hands, and he took it.
    “But what about before that?” Deem asked. “Before Carma woke
you?”
    “I must have gone to sleep,” David said. “I remember being
here, in the house, earlier this morning. Doing homework.”
    “You don’t remember me knocking on your door, asking if you
wanted to go with me to