Beneath the Veil Read online

“Jackson looked in there twice. You’ve been gone over an hour. He already paid the bill and went to get the van.”

  “Jen, I was gone five minutes tops.”

  “Whatever, let’s go.”

  They walked through the empty restaurant and out onto the street. Jackson sat parked and waiting in front.

  “Hey Houdini, glad we found you,” Jackson said from behind the wheel.

  “Sorry. I guess I lost track of time.”

  When they climbed into the van, Barry saw the man in the green jacket in the van’s side view mirror. He closed his eyes as Jackson pulled away from the curb.

  C H A P T E R S I X

  Barry waved goodbye to Jen and Jackson after being dropped off at his loft. He started to type the access code to the warehouse door when he heard someone call his name.

  “Barry,” a voice whispered.

  “Who’s there?” he said.

  Shadows moved along the walls of the alleyway with no one visible to cast them.

  “Barry,” multiple voices whispered in unison.

  He input the wrong code and received a warning beep, then quickly tried again. This time, the door clicked open allowing him into the hallway. Motion lights flickered on as he climbed the staircase to the loft. He slipped inside and locked the door behind him. He scrambled to the wall and flipped on a light switch, illuminating the room. The floor outside the elevator was covered with deep scrapes. The carved stone had been dragged into the loft and sat hulking in front of the kitchen with lettering chiseled into its side.

  “Auraria,” Barry read aloud.

  After checking the loft and finding no sign of intruders, he walked to the kitchen and opened his ancestry report, then flipped through the index and found the town named Auraria listed. It was the place of his birth and home to a family he had never known. He sat at an antique desk and tapped on the keys of a notebook computer. He typed the name Auraria and pulled up a map to a ghost town which had died after a gold rush there one hundred years before.

  “Might be time to pay a visit,” he said aloud.

  “Barry,” he heard the whisper again. This time the voice was right behind him.

  He stood and spun towards the sound of the voice and then found a pile of dirt sprinkled on the floor and the faint outline of a shoe. Suddenly, all the lights in the room started going off one after another. He raced to the kitchen and pulled a flashlight from a drawer. The beam of the light cut across the darkened loft.

  “Who’s there?” he shouted.” What do you want from me?”

  “Auraria,” the room whispered back.

  He pushed open the bathroom door and slammed it shut behind him, then sat in the dark trying to force the voices out of his head.

  C H A P T E R S E V E N

  An alarm clock buzzing in the bedroom upstairs shocked Barry awake. He climbed off the bathroom floor and peered into the loft where filtered sunlight shined through the room. He picked up a cordless phone and dialed.

  “Morning, Jen,” he said.

  “Hey,” she answered sounding groggy.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “It’s okay,” she answered. “I shot pictures of the eclipse last night. I’ve got a magazine that needs them. Got some killer stuff, Barry. You need to check them out.”

  “Sure…but the reason I am calling is to let you know I’ll be heading out of town for a few days.”

  “Where to?”

  “A town north of here named Auraria.”

  “I know that place. It’s that ghost town, right? Where those hikers went missing last year?” Jen asked.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Barry answered.

  He had forgotten about the hikers. Three men and two women went for a day hike and never returned. Rescuers searched, but never found any trace of them.

  “I want to go,” Jen said.

  He walked upstairs to his bedroom and pulled a duffel bag from a closet. He held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he filled the bag with clothing.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  He heard Jen speaking with Jackson, but couldn’t make out the conversation.

  She returned to the phone and said, “Jackson’s coming too.”

  “Jen,” Barry started to speak.

  “Pick us up in twenty minutes, we’ll be out front. I just need to get my camera gear together.”

  “Okay.”

  He walked through the loft and then descended the stairs to the warehouse. He flipped on the lights, approached the line of cars and pulled the cover from a gleaming 1964 Land Rover.

  C H A P T E R E I G H T

  Barry arrived at Jen’s apartment and found her sitting on the curb with Jackson. The building was neat, but plain, surrounded by small shops and businesses. They both stood up eagerly and approached his truck.

  “Hey, Barry,” Jackson said with a wave. “Thanks for letting us tag along.”

  “No problem.”

  “Where should I put this?” Jackson asked, gesturing at a pile of luggage and camera equipment.

  “Right back here,” Barry answered. He swung open the rear door and cleared a space. “One of you will have to ride in the back seat.”

  “I guess that’s me,” Jackson said smiling.

  They drove through the city then merged onto the highway, the Rover swaying as it gained speed. Jen cranked down her window and lit a cigarette.

  “So, what’s up with Auraria?” she asked.

  “Long story, you don’t want to hear it,” Barry replied.

  “Try me.”

  “Remember a few months ago when I went to see Dr. Hoffman?”

  “Yeah, for the headaches.”

  “Well,” Barry hesitated. “It turned out to be worse than that.”

  “How much worse?”

  “Much worse. I’ve got something that’s pretty bad,” Barry confessed.

  “What the hell Barry, why didn’t you say something?” Jen asked.

  He signaled a right turn and moved into a slower lane.

  “I needed time to think things over. To figure out my options.”

  “Which are?” Jen asked.

  “I shouldn’t say options. The only course of treatment is a bone marrow transplant from a blood relative.”

  “But you were adopted. You don’t have any...” she stopped in mid sentence. “Auraria.”

  “Yes,” he answered. “I found them, all of them.”

  Jen sat back in her seat with a stunned look on her face.

  “Still with us, Jackson?” Barry said, trying to lighten the mood.

  “I am sorry, man,” Jackson answered.

  “Relax guys. Everything will work out fine. I am glad you came along,” Barry said.

  He turned on the radio and found a rock station. The music helped mask the quiet suddenly filling the air.

  C H A P T E R N I N E

  They drove for hours, reaching the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains where the highway changed to two lanes and they were alone on the road. The sun settled behind towering trees as twilight fell. Jen slept in the passenger seat with her jacket blanketed over her head. Barry turned off the highway and onto a deserted country road. He rolled down his window letting cool air wash over him and then abruptly jerked the wheel to avoid a man standing in middle of the road.

  “Whoa,” Jackson yelled from the back seat.

  Jen woke with a start and looked at Barry. “What happened?”

  Barry brought the truck to a stop and then climbed out.

  “Stay here,” he said.

  The man was still in the road standing behind the Rover.

  “Hello,” Barry called out.

  The darkened fields surrounding him pulsed with the sound of cicadas. He walked toward the man, but the more steps he took, the further away the man appeared. Finally, he stopped and looked back at the truck, now a hundred yards away.

  “Barry?” Jen called out.

  He turned and walked back. When he
arrived, Jen and Jackson looked concerned.

  “What was it?” Jackson asked.

  “You didn’t see him?” Barry asked.

  “No. I didn’t see anything,” Jackson answered.

  “Forget it,” Barry replied climbing back behind the wheel.

  They drove on to an area where the stars shined like a million pinpoints in the black sky and trees bent over the road creating a tunnel into the woods. They passed by a steep cliff face covered in markings. Barry stopped and backed up to have a look.

  “Wow,” Jen said.

  She sprang out of the truck and began snapping pictures of the wall. Barry and Jackson got out and walked up behind her.

  “Pretty serious graffiti around here,” Jackson said.

  On the wall were hundreds of symbols in different shapes and sizes chiseled into the stone. Barry ran his finger along one of the symbols and found the cuts were smooth and perfect like the stone in his loft.

  “Dammit,” Jen said. “The battery’s dead in this camera. I charged it before we left.”

  “My phone’s dead, too,” Jackson added, holding up the blackened screen.

  Barry walked back to the truck and tried to start the engine. The battery was dead. He walked to the back door, then reached inside and found a long metal rod with a curve on the end. Jackson watched as Barry walked back to the front of the truck and inserted the rod into a hole in the bumper.

  “Give me a little space, will you, Jackson?” Barry said over his shoulder.

  He cranked the metal rod and the engine came to life.

  “It’s a hand crank. Better than AAA,” Barry said.

  “No shit?” Jackson asked, still holding his dead phone.

  Jen was busy snapping pictures with an antique Nikon she fished out of her bag, using the headlights of the truck for light.

  “Jen? Almost ready?” Barry asked.

  “Yes. I got what I needed,” she replied.

  Walking back towards the truck, she spotted a faded metal sign covered with vines.

  “Auraria, 1832,” she read aloud. “Hey guys, look at this.”

  Barry and Jackson walked over and looked at the sign.

  “I guess we’re here?” Jackson asked.

  “Let’s keep driving,” Barry said. “There must be a town of some sort.”

  They got into the truck and pulled back onto the road. The headlights struggled to cut through the mist hovering above the ground. Forty minutes later, Barry slowed and pulled to the side of the road.

  “We must have missed something,” he said.

  “There’s nothing to miss here except trees and dark,” Jen replied.

  C H A P T E R T E N

  They continued driving until the dim glow of a town came into view in a valley below them. They drove closer until they reached a narrow street lined with clapboard buildings.

  “Look at that,” Jackson said.

  A rusted metal sign hung in front of an old general store, but time and weather had made it unreadable. The buildings in the town were lit with gas lamps and candles burned in their windows.

  “I guess this is it,” Barry said.

  “You were born here?” Jen asked.

  “Yes, I believe so.”

  Barry pulled over and parked in front of a grey building with a balcony. A sign on the building read Graham Hotel. He got out of the truck and walked up to the hotel. Jen and Jackson followed him to the front door, which was covered with scratches. Jen peered through a window and a face appeared behind the distorted glass.

  “What the hell,” she said jumping back.

  “What happened?” Jackson asked.

  “Nothing, I just saw somebody in the window,” she answered.

  Jackson lit his lighter and held it up to the window. Inside, was a parlor room with a grandfather clock along the wall.

  “Need a room?” a voice spoke close behind them.

  “Holy shit,” Jackson said, dropping his lighter.

  A woman stood behind them on the porch with only her silhouette visible.

  “Blasphemers are not welcome here,” the woman hissed.

  “Oh, sorry,” Jackson replied.

  “Sorry is what you’ll be,” the woman said in a low voice.

  “Ma’am, we are looking for a room. Do you have anything available?” Barry asked.

  “I do,” she answered. “Just the one.”

  The woman turned and walked into the hotel lobby, leaving the front doors open and a sour smell in the air.

  “What the hell was that?” Jen asked.

  “I am not sure this is such a good idea,” Jackson added.

  “Grab your stuff guys, we can’t sleep out here tonight,” Barry said.

  He walked into the lobby and disappeared from view. Jackson stepped off the porch, opened the rear door of the truck and grabbed two bags. Moments later, Barry returned holding a brass key on a braided cord.

  He held the key up to a gas lamp hung on the outside wall of the hotel. “Room seven,” he said.

  “Where’d that woman go?” Jackson asked.

  “Don’t know. There’s no sign of her, she just left the key on the front desk,” Barry answered.

  The light from a candelabra flickered shadows across ancient furnishings. The air in the parlor was stale as if it had gone undisturbed for some time. They approached a narrow staircase covered with frayed carpeting. Its wooden railing was covered with deep gashes and carved with symbols. Barry tried not to touch it as he climbed the stairs.

  “Where are the lights in this place?” Jen asked.

  “I doubt there are any,” Barry answered. “I haven’t seen any sign of electricity in this town, no electric or phone lines anywhere.”

  “Great,” she said.

  She pulled a silver lighter from her pocket and lit it. They continued to the end of the hallway and up another short staircase. When they reached the room, Jen held the lighter so Barry could find the keyhole. Inside, the room was stark, containing only a single bed and a rocking chair. Before they could get inside, the door across the hallway flew open and a man in long underwear stared out at Jackson.

  “Jesus,” Jackson said. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  The man glared from the shadows then slammed the door shut. Jackson stumbled into their room and locked the door behind them.

  “Damn,” Jackson said. “This place is creeping me out!”

  C H A P T E R E L E V E N

  Barry awoke with a start and stared up at a ruined ceiling. The room around him was lined with peeling wallpaper and broken windows. He kicked off the crumbling remains of a blanket and climbed off the floor. Jen and Jackson were still asleep on a mattress blackened with mold.

  “Jen, get up,” Barry said shaking his sister’s shoulder.

  “What’s up?” she replied in a groggy voice.

  “Get up, get out of there,” he said, recoiling at the sight of the bed.

  He pulled her up and then grabbed Jackson.

  “Jackson move!” Barry said.

  Jackson climbed out of the bed and looked around the room, disoriented.

  “What the hell?” he asked.

  “This place is fucked. We need to get out of here,” Jen answered.

  She stared around the room as if waking into a nightmare.

  “Let’s go,” Barry said.

  They ran into the hallway where sunlight shined through gaping holes in the roof. The hotel was abandoned and a section of the staircase had collapsed. Barry navigated the remaining steps until he reached the bottom with his sister close behind. When Jackson was halfway down the staircase, a board gave way and he fell through.

  “Jackson!” Jen screamed.

  “Stay back,” Barry said, pulling her away from the hole.

  “I’m okay!” Jackson called up from below.

  “Where are you?” Jen called out.

  “I am in some kind of a basement.”

  “Hold on, Jackson,” Barry called down to him.
/>   Barry walked around the hotel searching for a way into the basement. The entire building had decayed while they slept, the front desk was a crumbled husk and the lobby was filled with broken furniture and spider webs.

  “Is anyone here?” he called out.

  Suddenly Jackson came bounding through the front doors of the hotel. Jen rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck.

  “No worries,” he said. “I climbed out a window.”

  “I want out of this place, now,” Jen said.

  Barry grabbed their bags and followed them out into the street. The town was deserted and overgrown with weeds, with its buildings in various stages of decay. They loaded the truck and then sped off in search of the highway. Behind the hotel was a cemetery, with grapevines covering its wrought iron fence and stalks of corn growing between grave markers.

  “Pretty freaky,” Jen said. “How does corn grow in a graveyard?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t intend to find out,” Jackson replied.

  Barry drove away from the town with any hope of finding his family gone.

  C H A P T E R T W E L V E

  “Barry, something’s not right,” Jen said.

  “I know. We should have hit the highway by now,” he answered. “I was sure this was the road out.”

  “It’s cool. We must have missed a turn,” Jackson said.

  Barry slowed when they came upon the symbol covered wall they passed on the drive into town. An orange haze streaked across the sky and wind blew bending tall grasses along the road. A single rain drop hit the windshield followed by another. Moments later, the sky opened up and a hard rain poured down. Barry flipped on his headlights and pushed on, slowing periodically to avoid muddy ruts in the road. After driving thirty miles, he pulled over and slapped his hand on the dashboard. A few yards away, rain poured down the stone wall and trickled into the channels of the carved symbols.

  “Dammit. You’ve got to be kidding,” he exclaimed. “How the hell did we end up back here?”

  “We must have gotten turned around,” Jackson said. “Try going the other way.”

  Barry put the truck in gear and glanced at the fuel gauge. He had a half a tank of gas left. The staccato sound of rain drops hitting the roof grew louder as the ferocity of the storm increased. Behind them, a hillside collapsed and washed mud and debris across the road.