Behind the Lock (volume Book 1) Read online

  Behind the lock

  By

  Wesley Bianchi.

  Copyright. 2017 by Wesley A. Bianchi.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be copied, stored in any retrieved system, or pass on, in any form or by any resources, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, internet transmission, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  https://wesleyabianchi.wordpress.com

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE ----------------------------------------------------------------4

  Chapter 1 The Writer------------------------------------------------------5

  Chapter 2 The Arrival ---------------------------------------------------13

  Chapter 3 The Owl -------------------------------------------------------25

  Chapter 4 The Old Man ------------------------------------------------36

  Chapter 5 The Owl and the Spirit------------------ ------------------51

  Chapter 6 Mirage--------------------------------------------------------67

  Chapter 7 The Sandstorm of Flashbacks--------------------------80

  Chapter 8 Little Man’s World-----------------------------------------95

  Chapter 9 Death --------------------------------------------------------107

  Chapter 10 Tales of the gods ----------------------------------------123

  Chapter 11 Cult ----------------------------------------------------------141

  Chapter 12 Abyss-------------------------------------------------------155

  EPILOGUE-------------------------------------------------------------- 175

  Prologue

  In the shadow of the night, a boy sprang across the stray branches barricading the path. The fiercest wind howled through the trees and behind him, a wolf pack chased the boy to satisfy their appetite. The boy tried to find shelter, hoping for a haven. Suddenly, the boy stumbled upon a small wooden cabin isolated on a hill. Reaching for the front door, he is startled when a man wearing a mask opens it. The boy begs the man to save him from the monstrosities that loom behind him. The man, who is holding a cane, says, “Anything for a small price.” The boy, shocked and afraid saw the pack coming closer, so close that he even saw their sharp, bloodstained teeth. “Please, please save me! I promise to pay you afterward,” The boy begged. The masked man snapped his fingers twice, “I’m sure the doggies would appreciate a delectable young meal.” The man said in his dry, cackling voice. The man threw the boy out, sending him careening downhill. The boy stood up and saw himself surrounded. The wolves stalked their prey, snarling at the poor lad. The pack parted, making way for their alpha who had red eyes and sharp, silver teeth. The night filled with darkness shrouding the skies and land in a thick blanket, and the wolves pounced to feast away on the leftovers of the last light of the day.

  Chapter 1

  The Writer

  Sitting at his desk, a writer works late at night, trying to obtain new ideas for his next story. Dominic Tisdale, who struggled for years with psychological stress, after losing his parents to a gruesome home invasion. Dominic and his brother Josh were left in a foster care, after their uncle stole the life insurance money, without a single care in the world for them. Years past at the foster home. Until one night, Dom noticed Josh sneaking out of the foster house. Dom confronts him, “What are you doing? Where are you going?”

  “I’m leaving Dom; there’s no future here…Come with me, and we’ll get the money together that will be enough for the two of us.”

  “What are you talking about…what money?”

  “Those coots left us here, ever since our parent’s death, to rot away in our tears and misfortunes. We are being bullied here, especially you, and I do not want us to suffer anymore. We can get the money back.” Dom was confused but worried after realizing his intentions.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Shhh! We do not want to wake the fosters…they stole from us I am just reclaiming it. Let’s go already before they catch on to us.” Dom took a few steps back, as Josh opens the window.

  “No! I’m not following you.” Dom said.

  “Open your mind, Dom! Think about the situation…our situation! No one ever adopted us. I’m doing what is right!” Josh said.

  “I don’t want to become a runaway! That life will never get us anywhere; cops will eventually catch up and bring us somewhere besides here.”

  “…I’m sorry; I never wanted you to think badly of me…I never intended to, but I cannot stay any longer. Someday, I promise to come back for you…take care, Dom.”

  *Phone rings*

  The flashbacks were slowly fading away, and a whiskey glass falls from the desk and shatters onto the floor. Dom awoke back to reality to find himself in his chair with a list of words on the monitor. He remembers about his struggles of gathering new ideas for his book. Taking a different glance at his screen, seeing only one paragraph written on the top page. He exhaled in frustration trying to remember what idea he was using in that section.

  “I need a drink,” he said as nothing came to his mind. The wall block barricaded his imagination making him stress in finding newer ideas. *Phone rings* he answered the phone it was his publisher notifying him about the scheduled appearance in New York. Dom quickly hung up avoiding a bold confrontation. Instead, he goes down to the kitchen and opens a cabinet filled with liquor. His mind knew that none would help him, so he went into the fridge trying to find a cold beer. Dom approached the window, moving his curly hair to the side to contemplate the lights of the city, before taking a large sip from the bottle digging deeper through his mind, the idea was starting to shine, and the words were becoming evident.

  Typing as quickly as possible, he wrote for almost three hours. Focusing his eyes on the imagination of his character and setting of the storyline. “Yes, yes! This idea will do!” Dom muttered. Checking his work, he decided it was enough to continue; taking a chug off his bottle made him not only bit dizzy but also whisper a bunch of plotlines.

  Suddenly, he stopped his work and began recollecting memories about his brother Josh, and the day he never saw him again.

  His cell phone rang, pulling him away from those thoughts, it was his editor.

  “Hello,”

  “Hey man, hope you’re not drinking again. I wanted to drop by to check on you. How’s the story going?”

  “Well,…you know it’s pretty fine…just need a bit more time…and it’ll be finished, just in time for New York.”

  “Oh Dear! You’re drinking again.”

  “Don’t worry about it!”

  “From here I could sniff the booze out of your weak voice. What is going on? Tell me. Never leave me in the dark; you know we are close friends, ever since college. So speak to me about it.”

  Dom took a deep breath in frustration and saw his sight blurring in and out. He held the phone closer to his ear, removing his glasses, before snapping back to reality with tears.

  “It’s no good man, I hired a private investigator to help me find Josh, and for years I eagerly waited for good news…All I got, was no traces found anywhere of him. It is useless! My mind stirred with fatigue; my pills didn’t help my stress out.”

  “Look, man, you need to relax, put down the bottle, switch off the monitor, and try to take rest. Tomorrow, we’ll sort this out together.”

  “I’ll take your advice; for your sake, I’ll put aside the booze and lay down my work for today. See you
in the morning, Anthony.”

  “Please…take care Dom; I’m sure everything will work out. Bye.”

  Later, the doorbell sang loudly through his apartment, forcing him to be awake from his slumber. He got up to find a letter on the other side of the door. “Who could this be from?” he read the envelope addressed to him, only to find “Dear Dom.” a letter was inside containing a message for him.

  “Dear Dom:

  I hope you are well; I heard you have been a success in your recent writing career, and I congratulate you for doing so. I am intensely aware that things have not gone so good for you through the years, and I apologize for that. I told you I would come back to the foster home. Well, I know things didn’t turn out good for the both of us, I am sorry for leaving you at that wretched place. Also, for using my self- ambitions, which caused you to feel more pain. I should be the one suffering, not you. Please come to Guatemala, for this ordeal has gone far enough. There is much to say. Do not think of me as a wrong person, I only want to make up for the sins I have committed, and to become once more your brother.

  Sincerely,

  Josh Tisdale.”

  His mind became slowly drench by fog. His eyes were confused whether if this note was real or not. Still, Dom never expected his brother’s presence to show up just like that, but the one thing he could not understand was his swift response 15 years later as if nothing has happened. All he could remember was the time, when Josh ran off from the foster home, and how much time he spent, looking for him. Even hiring a detective could not bring much luck to his search.

  “No way could this be him,” He murmured. Only numbers printed “90909” as he reviewed the pages, nothing more shown. Dom wondered.

  “What is this suppose to mean, a secret message?” Suddenly, his flat-screen TV turned on to high volume. He jumped surprisingly and then turned around thinking.

  “What the hell is going on? How did the TV turn on?”

  He got up to turn it off, and then nervously checked every room to be sure he is alone. However, no one was present inside his home. Then a mysterious shadow crept into his sight, getting larger and more massive by the minute. Frozen by its view, the shadow appeared to be someone wearing a big hat.

  “What the hell is that? WHO ARE YOU?”

  The phone vibrated once more, leading his attention away. Dom turns his sight away, discovering the rising shadow to have vanished from the wall.

  “Anthony! I don’t know what’s happening, but someone is here in my apartment.”

  “Do you want me to call the cops?”

  “No! I saw something, I couldn’t explain what it was, but it disappeared as soon as you called.”

  “Are you drinking again? I told you to get rest.”

  “I know, I stopped drinking…trust me, more weird things are happening, a letter addressed to me came through the mail, and surprisingly it’s from Josh.”

  “It can’t be…don’t tell me you are doing drugs this time.”

  “No serious! The mail carrier came by and dropped off this letter. I’m sure this is real. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be telling you this.”

  “You sound excited, no way could this be one of your hallucinations…but are you sure it’s him.”

  “That’s what I need to know. Listen, Anthony, can you manage my things, I am planning to take a trip off the country.

  “No problem! No need to worry, just do what you need to do. Let me know if you need anything.”

  “Sure, I’ll be booking my ticket now, bye!”

  Dom began searching for the address on the web; no results found, and then an address page came up where he saw a matching number. Scrolling through the description, Dom found a set of numbers that matched ones in the paper, “90909 Buho Arriba del Cerro (OWL above the Hill).” A small home is hidden by enormous trees in a remote area. After reading the house record, he found out it once belonged to a wealthy Spanish family in the 1500s who used it as a vacation home. Dom started thinking if he should decline or visit his brother. “Ah crap! I need to see if it’s him.”

  Dom went to book a flight to Guatemala and then continued researching everything about the mysterious house.

  The phone rang twice.

  Dom picked up the phone, and it was his assistant. “Hello”

  “Dom I was letting you know if perhaps you want any changes done with the manuscripts.”

  “Delay that! I’m planning to take a short vacation, so I trust Anthony to handle my work in my absence.”

  “What about its release? You know the company wants it by August,”

  “Don’t you worry about that, just review the manuscripts once more and contact Anthony when you’re done, see you!” Dom continues to plan his trip to Central America and tries to figure a way to end his constant headache, from all of the booze stumping through his brain.

  Chapter 2

  The Arrival

  After arriving at the airport, Dom’s head felt confused, trying to put things together, wondering why Josh would be in a foreign country. While exiting the terminal, he found an unknown person holding a sign with his name written in huge black capitals.

  “Dominic Tisdale?” the man asked, “I’m him,”

  “Excellent! I’m your driver for the day; please follow me.”

  Dom found nothing comfortable about the man and his unusual behavior, especially with many pierces nailed onto his face, made it an uncomfortable sight. He began to make an escape plan just in case the man plotted to pull a gun on him.

  The driver had a rusted car so small, where only two people could fit in. As they both stepped in, Dom felt an odor going through his senses, noticing a dry stain on the passenger seat. “No se precupe amigo! (Don’t worry friend), It’s only a coffee stain, it’s not gonna sting,” He smiled sarcastically. Dom sat down to notice the driver’s wrist containing dozens of feathers. The driver noticed quickly and began to open his mouth, “An owl attacked me a week ago at night, and man it was huge as hell, as soon as I saw the creature it scared the shit out of me.”

  Dom also noticed tiny marks of dry blood hidden under the feathers and a mysterious symbol engraved on the bracelet.

  “Really! I never knew owls were huge things.”

  “That is because you are not from here, and in this land, people believe in spirits and rituals.”

  The vehicle crosses a bridge into the countryside; the path filled with thick fog that blinded the road ahead. No cars were seen or any people living near the roadside, the only noise heard was the engine running from the vehicle.

  “Do people come through this road?” Dom asked.

  “Most civilians travel here to contact lost ones. They believe their souls are still in this world, so they practice weird rituals to free them… but most people just skip this place and avoid it,” The driver responded.

  “Is anything dangerous lurking around?”

  “Don’t be superstitious my friend; sometimes the fog causes frequent accidents especially deaths,”

  “Oh!”

  “There are stories that this road was one of the campgrounds, for the colonizers. Where battlefields took place, involving my ancestors. Many are led to believe that many spirits are prisoner here.”

  Before moving further, the driver stopped at a broken stump blocking the road.

  “Damn…Would you be willing to walk from here?” “Walk?” Dom wondered. “Indeed! Your trip amigo…has come to an end, but don’t worry friend it’s only a 20-minute walk to there.”

  Dom exit the vehicle to retrieve his luggage. “I would come, but my car is more valuable my friend, farewell!” The man laughed. “Hey Amigo! I forgot, here is the key to the lock…you’ll find it ahead.”

  Dom vault over the log to climb the hill, finding a dirt path running through a strange forest, which had curvy dead trees. The clearing of the fog made the journey less complicated. Dom walk along the road, finding an old signpost pointing in one direction. He continues hiking through the woods with his mind
in silence.

  The dirt path ended as he came close to a gate. A strange extended never-ending fence with an ancient gate and a weird lock. Dom looks for the key, and unlocks the gate, moving his way through; he could feel something breathing down his neck. Dom quickly turns around finding nothing there. Trying to retrieve the key, strangely it became attached to the gate. After many attempts to recover the key. Eventually, he decided to leave the key and close the gate. Without turning back, the key disappeared together with the entrance, as the fog crept erasing the path behind him.

  An enormous signpost ahead “Casa Del Lamento (House of Laments).”

  The house had plenty of cracks, especially the paint slowly fading its color. The window frames shattered, and moss spread from the outside to take over the glass.

  Dom push the door gently to see inside, but was dark, as he enters the first thing he noticed was the holes in the ceiling.

  Dom imagined it would be a wreck, but never thought it would be this worse. A table was in the corner, laying above it was a piece of paper containing a message.

  “Sorry I’m gone; I am taking a walk in the woods. Make yourself at home, be right back!”

  Sigh….Dom grunted with disappointment, folding the letter into his pocket.

  Dom decides to explore the house and settle into a room, after all, he was tired. He found a reckless room that sadly held an empty bed, with an odd-twisted candlestick.

  A symbol engraved at the bottom of the candle, a representation of a red heart and a black rose. Dom wondered what it could mean, either a secret message or a family seal.

  Then, Dom notice under the table a matchbox, which he grabbed to light up the candle. The fire slowly burnt the wax, and immediately a strong scent began emitting from the candle comparable to blood.

  “This weird smell…Blood?”

  Dom took the match away and put out the flame. Before leaving the room, the floor below his feet crumbled through, forming an opening that swallowed his leg into a gap.

  “Ah! What the hell!”