Excerpt

Nothing but a wrong turn and bad luck could have caused them to end up on this one lane dirt road in the middle of nowhere. To make matters worse, the gas gauge indicator is pointing to below empty and the engine just died. Forget the fact that Ron promised Janets mother that he would have her home before midnight. Even though she is twenty one, Janet has to play by mothers rules, after all, she lives under her roof. Janets dad has been long gone; he found living by his wifes rules impossible.

It's already eleven thirty and home is nowhere in sight. The last sign of life or gas station was at least ten miles back. Ron knows theres no help behind them, so perhaps he can find some up ahead. Efforts to restart the car didn't work; he has no choice. Looking at Janet, who is already in tears, he says, "I've got to go and try to find help. Do you want to go with me or stay here with the car?

Forget the car, I'm going with you.
He took the flashlight from the glove compartment, locked the car, they clasped hands and started out.

It would have been a great help if the moon had been full, but no such luck. Even a quarter moon would be welcome but that too wasn't to be. The north star and his flashlight, with its weak battery, is all they have. Never known for showing much affection Janet moved much closer when she heard croaking in a nearby pond.
After only fifteen minutes, which seemed much longer, there were still no signs of life other than their own. Then off in the distance, they saw what appeared to be flickering candlelight. As they came closer, they saw the old house. The candlelight turned out to be a dim, low watt bulb dangling at the end of a wire.

The old dilapidated three story house looked to be abandoned but if that be the case, why is there a light on the porch? They hesitated at the foot of the steps. Ron said, Ill see if anyones home.

Janet grasped his hand before he could leave her. As they climbed the rickety steps, one thing became obvious. The dim light was not the result of electrical power because, the wire to which the bulb was attached, led nowhere! Already frightened out of her wits, Ron hoped that Janet wouldn't notice this. She didnt and for that he was grateful.

No lights were visible in the house and when they neared the front door it slowly opened, automatically giving off an eerie creaky sound as it did so. Janet gave out a squeal that could be heard for miles as she grabbed Ron. If no one knew of their presence, they did now. The flashlight wasn't much help but did reveal a living room full of broken down, overstuffed furniture, almost as old as the house. Two black cats didn't appreciate the intrusion upon their privacy as they hissed and ran for cover. Ron, an enthusiast of weird and eerie situations, found himself smack dab in the middle of one.

A pale faced Janet whispered, Let's get out of here while we still can, I'm really scared."
Ron replied in a hushed tone, So am I, but I've got to find out what this is all about."

They stood in the darkness for a moment and listened to the silence. Ron whispered, Do you hear anything?"
She cocked her head, straining to hear, then said, Yes, I hear something. It sounds like muffled voices; do you hear it?"

Yes, it sounds like its coming from beneath us.
Her voice quivered; she asked, What in the world can it be?"
I don't know but that's what I want to find out."

He turned off the flashlight to save as much of the battery as possible. Hand in hand they slowly crept along trying not to make any noise, but they were still unable to determine where the voices were coming from or what was being said. Ron put his finger over his lips, took Janets hand as they searched the lower floor. Each of the five rooms on the first floor had some semblance of furniture, all of it old and badly worn.

The kitchen was the exception. A huge modern table stood in the center of the room with thirteen chairs around it. Each of the thirteen stations around the table had three partially burned candles in holders. Nothing else was on the table. Under the table lay an eight by eight foot oriental carpet, which Ron carefully rolled aside to find, what appeared to be, a trap door. There must be a cellar below.

~ ~ ~

He quietly lifted the door and found ladder like steps leading to a basement. He helped Janet down; they could still hear voices however, now they sounded further away. At the foot of the ladder, at least twenty feet below the kitchen, they stepped onto a dirt floor. Stacked along the walls were large wooden boxes labeled with the amount and kind of various military armaments and ammo. Next to this room was a larger room. Ron crept closer until he could see inside through a small opening in the wall.

There was a large oblong table, similar to the one in the kitchen, with thirteen chairs around it. There were thirteen men seated in the chairs and light was provided by three candles in front of each man. At the far end of the table sat a huge man who appeared to be the leader. His chair was elevated well above the others, which gave the appearance that he was looking down on them.

A fourteenth man stood by another door, which led away from where Ron was standing. He was holding what appeared to be a sub-machine gun of World War II vintage and he assumed the position of a guard. The men spoke in low tones making it difficult to understand what was being said. From what he was able to hear, it sounded as if the group was making plans to carry out an assassination in the near future. The intended target. . . some government official not identified in the discussion.