Gridlocked Guesthouse (Locked House Hauntings Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

half-frightened whisper to the room, but nobody was with her anymore. Everyone had moved to the safe room and were holding up the three scraps of paper.
    Beth stared at the paper in her hand. It was a really freakishly odd clue. Rachel should have spent some more time on the first few clues. She had gotten better at the process later, the further the story she built went, but the problem was by the time the final clues should have been revealed, nobody was still playing. So my apologies in advance that these three scraps of paper are so embarrassingly bad.
    I think part of the plan was to end up with thirteen extremely paranoid, sleep deprived people. For Rachel fully intended everyone to stay up late--even at this already late hour--and play the game. But since they were all still young, it could be they didn't mind the idea of staying up.
    Beth's scrap of paper was just the color blue. I don't mean that it was the word blue--it was, in fact, just a paint chip from a hardware store, carefully chosen, and cut into the shape of a heart.
    Mike's clue was also a paint chip; his was cut into an octagon. The color couldn't quite be described as white; it was more like the milky color of melted vanilla bean ice cream. If she had left the tags on the paint chip, this color would have been named "Old Fashioned Mayonnaise," which is a lofty way of saying a shade of white.
    I prefer the ice cream.
    Mikaela's note from under the table was scrawled in ink on a piece of thin leathery fabric. The edges had been singed like a proper pirate note. It was worn, rubbed on something over and over until half the letters were missing and the note said,
    "The twins took their first victim.
    If you're quicker the rest will live.
    You have until six to find the next clues
    or two more of you will be slaughtered."
    Now, I've filled in the missing letters so it's easier to read, but if you'd prefer, I can leave them out next time and you can struggle to read it just like the ten of them did. Beezer immediately jumped in with, "Seriously, Rachel, you didn't even rhyme it?"
    And a moment of literary mockery happened. Mikaela said, "You could have put: Double the trouble, one dead, go faster or we'll have your head."
    Zane immediately burst into perfect twin laughter. "Oh yeah, or maybe we could say, 'In six hours, you'll die, unless you can fly- through these clues like a motherfucking winner.'"
    Tiffany smirked, even though she tried hard not to. Rachel had worked so hard on this, and all it took was the mockery of a group of college students to really elevate any tactical errors.
    "Rafael is the ghost's victim so far
    Good luck getting out with your car
    The murders have started
    Beezer just farted
    Grab fucking clues and let's jar." Ben burst out with his unexpected (and mediocre if you ask me) limerick and everyone burst out laughing.
    Ricky, seeing Rachel getting progressively more and more upset, put an end to the riffing and shouted, "Alright! Go figured out the damn clue, you only have till six, or two of you get the ax."
    Lucy hesitantly wandered into the safe room. "Guys, are we sure Rafael is okay? He's so pale... Does anyone know what he took?"
    Rachel shrugged. Ricky shook his head. Nobody else knew anything. "Hey, I'll keep an eye on him and you can hunt for clues with Beth," Rachel offered, determined to keep this night on track.
    There was giggling and dispersing as the booze flowed more freely. This time, as they slowly searched out the house, it was obvious there was going to be a lot more to discover. There were, in fact, as they searched, padlocks of all sorts. There were lots of things to unlock, and a key that was hidden in plain sight--it was in a clear puzzle-box. Still. Nobody had any ideas what to do with the paint chips.
    Beth and Zane sat together in the safe room working on the puzzle box, gently rotating it around in their hands. There wasn't a single obvious way to open it. Zane stared at her pretty hands and the