Warnings: Are there ghosts abroad??
Author's Notes: This story is about a place called the Winchester Mansion in San Jose, CA. Check out this link for pics and more info:
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Guns & Roses
by Nelson
Zach peered over his shoulder at the reflection of his naked butt poking out from under the hem of his raised t-shirt, and he gaped at himself before he turned around to call Nelson.
"Nelson Jameson! Just look what you did!" he griped.
A second later, Nelson stuck his head around the door of the hotel bathroom after hearing enough of Zach's fussing to go see what he wanted. "What's that?" He noticed Zach's undershorts lying in a pile on the bathroom tile.
"My butt! It has your handprint tattooed on it." He turned his tail from the mirror and pointed it toward Nelson, who had to stifle a smile.
"Don't point that thing at me," Nelson said.
Zach looked at him over his shoulder and said, "Why? It's not loaded."
Nelson smiled at his partner's wit and said, "That, I'm not too sure of." Zach didn't so much as crack a smile.
Back on subject, Zach poked his butt out further, loaded or not, in Nelson's direction. "Look!"
"Be glad it's just one handprint, Sweet Pea," Nelson said. "It could have been more and probably should have been. You're making us late to meet Ben and Vic downstairs. Count your blessings."
"Count my BLESSings?! Are you serious? I count your finger marks and I see…one, two, three, four, FIVE of them. FIVE. You could have maimed me." His sulky expression was made even more pitiful by his glance at Nelson with his sad, blue eyes. For effect, he rubbed at the single handprint on his butt cheek.
"Highly doubtful that I'd maim you, fuss budget. If I haven't by now, I don't expect one well-placed swat will do it," Nelson pointed out, nonplussed. He turned from the doorway and went back into the main room to finish dressing, clad only in his shorts so far.
Zach followed Nelson out of the bathroom. "I can see your fingerprints! You didn't have to swat me so hard," Zach said with an award-winning look of despair. "Were you going for a homerun with that swing?"
"Zach, how many times did I tell you to hurry up with your shower?" Zach pouted at the question, but didn't answer. Nelson nodded at the silent response. "Uh, huh. That's what I thought. You were sufficiently warned. You've been sauntering around the bedroom half-dressed for twenty minutes in no hurry to get ready," Nelson pointed out. "We don't have time to play around. And, in case you haven't noticed," he said, looking Zach up and down, "you still aren't in the shower, so I'm not convinced I got my point across - yet." Nelson pulled his t-shirt on over his head and straightened his blond locks, fingering them back into place. He unzipped his khaki shorts to tuck in his shirt, watching Zach as he worked.
"You got it across, all right. Across my butt. LOOK!" Zach twisted his body as best he could, attempting to get another peek at the message on his left cheek over his shoulder.
"I see it, Zachary," Nelson said, re-zipping his shorts. He went toward the bathroom, and pushed Zach inside in the direction of the tub with yet another swat, albeit a gentler one than before. "Shower," he said, then added the warning, "Don't make me start counting."
Zach sighed and tugged his t-shirt up and over his head, leaving him stark naked in the bathroom. "No need to count, Nelson. You certainly don't need any practice there; at least to the count of three," he complained. He dropped his shirt on the bathroom floor to join his underwear, and stepped over the pile to get to the bathtub. He started the shower, sticking his fingers under the water for a temperature check. "I'd better not get it too hot," he said. "Not with that handprint, and all." His simple pout added to the look of disdain beautifully in Zach's humble opinion.
Nelson wasn't impressed. "Oh, for heaven's sake. Don't be so dramatic. Shower. Now." Nelson pointed toward the bathtub with a look that invited no further arguments from his drama queen. He smiled to himself as his petulant lover finally began to do as he was told.
"Okay," Zach said, stepping inside the curtain. He offered one last bit of advice before he pulled it closed. He peeked around the edge of the curtain so he could see Nelson. "But, if that hand-WELT blisters from the hot water, it's all your fault, Dr. Zhivago."
"There's nothing at all "welty" about that handprint, but thanks for the warning. You're always looking out for me; that's one thing I love most about you." The shower curtain snapped closed just before Zach's tongue jutted out in Nelson's direction, safely hidden behind the curtain. He barely heard Nelson mutter, "Brat" with a chuckle before he left him to his shower, and Zach smiled.
*******
Ben and Vic were waiting in the hotel lobby when Nelson stepped off the elevator with a freshly showered Zach trailing him.
"Morning," Nelson said.
"It's about time." Ben's grumble was accentuated by a less-than-happy scowl. "I'm sure it wasn't Nelson's fault you were late," he added with a pointed look at Zach.
Zach shrugged noncommittally. Vic reached out and tugged Ben to him over the distance of a few steps, wrapping his arm around his waist. "Stop it. No arguing today, and I mean it. Nelson and I are going to quit going anywhere with the two of you."
"He would have griped at me if I had been late," Ben explained to Vic.
"That's no reason for you to do it. Now, stop it, I said. Case closed."
Zach grinned at Ben's demise and reprimand until he got a disapproving glare from Nelson. Nelson shook his head enough to let Zach know his gloating was not only unappreciated, but decidedly inappropriate. Zach took the hint and turned to the rack of flyers showing what there was to see and do in the Sacramento area.
"Are we ready?" Nelson asked, rubbing his hands together.
Zach picked up a brochure and said while looking over it interestedly, "I know I am. I've BEEN ready."
"So ready you were late coming down," Ben said.
"Ben," Vic said as he took claim to Ben's hand. He turned Ben away from Zach without even asking if Ben would mind. Ben shut up and followed along, anxious to get on the road, and not anxious to get Vic riled and ruin the day.
They wound their way through the sea of cars in the hotel parking lot, finally reaching their rental. Zach had no sooner landed in the seat and clicked his seatbelt closed that he exclaimed, "I have to go back!"
Nelson continued to guide the key into the ignition, and start the car before looking back over his shoulder. The 103-degree heat was more than any of the four of them were used to in their part of the country, and he wanted to get the air conditioner running. Zach was getting out of the car as Nelson turned to look over the seat. "What's the matter?" Nelson asked.
"I have to go back," he said again. "I forgot my camera."
"Sh --," Ben started. The "sh" died on his lips as Vic's head whipped around to look at him. "-oot," Ben corrected. He could feel his face turning red with the close call, and Vic's knowing and penetrating stare boring into him. "What?!" he asked innocently of Vic's inquiring eyes.
"Careful," Vic said, not falling for the innocent act for a minute.
Nelson was getting out of the car as Zach strode quickly toward the hotel. "Zach!" he yelled. Zach never stopped walking, but simply turned around and continued to walk backwards.
"What?"
"Do you have the cardkey?" Zach waved his cardkey in the air in response then turned around to hurry back to the room. He was moving at a steady jog when Nelson got back in the car.
"Roll the window down," Ben said from the back. "It's too hot in here." He popped his t-shirt back and forth away from his chest to keep it from sticking as he began to sweat.
Vic reached over and turned the vents toward the back. "Can you feel that?"
"No, it's hot."
Nelson got back behind the wheel and said, "He shouldn't be long. Trust me, it's much better to wait now than have to hear it all day had he realized he left the camera after we got there."
"I can't take this heat," Ben complained. He grabbed a brochure from the seat that Zach had left and used it as a fan. "Nothing but hot air blowing around."
"Sweetie, it takes time to cool off. The air condition is on full-force," Vic pointed out.
Minutes later, Nelson glanced to the rearview mirror and saw his partner running back to the car with his camera gripped securely in his hand. "Here he comes."
Zach jumped into the backseat, tossing the camera between him and Ben. He reached for the seatbelt and said, "Let's go, Nelson. What are you waiting for?"
Nelson shook his head and began the trek to San Jose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where are you going?" Vic asked from the designated shotgun seat.
"What?" Nelson looked up in time to see the highway sign overhead. He groaned when he read I-780 instead of I-680 with an arrow pointing to his lane. "Aw, shoot," he complained.
"What?" Zach said from the back seat. He scooted to the edge of his seat and wedged what he could of his body between the front bucket seats of the rental.
"I took the wrong exit," Nelson explained.
"Crap!" Ben complained. "We are NEVER going to get there."
"Great going, Nelson," Zach said, patting his partner's shoulder around the headrest.
Vic laughed and shook his head, "I didn't realize what you were doing until it was too late."
"Sorry, guys," Nelson said as he looked for the right place to turn around. "It won't take us long to get back on the right road."
"It's too HOT in here," Ben griped.
Vic turned his air vent toward the door hoping some of the air would find its way around the seat and to his blustering partner, who was bored, tired and obviously still hot. "Can you feel that?" he asked.
"Feel what?"
"Ben. Stop it. Can you feel the air?"
"Yeeeees! I feel SOME air, but I'm hot. Can't you turn it up some more?"
"It's not that hot," Zach said.
"You aren't helping by blocking what could get between the seats," Ben said.
Nelson looked at Zach in the rearview mirror, whose image was taking up all the reflection space. "Sit back, Sweetie. I can't see out of the mirror anyway. And, you need to put your seatbelt back on."
Zach's eyes did a swan dive backward and Nelson smiled at the whites flashed at him. Zach didn't hesitate to give Ben the one-finger wave behind Nelson's seat as he sat back.
"Well, you WERE blocking the air," Ben said under his breath. "How much farther?" he said with irritation toward the front seat.
"Oooooh, let's see," Vic said, thinking back to the last road sign he saw. "I'd say about another hour."
"An HOUR!" Ben said. He sat up on the edge of his seat after unhooking his seatbelt, and gripped Vic's headrest in both hands. He peered around it to see his partner's profile, relishing the blast of cool air he was catching while he sat there.
Vic turned to look at him and smiled. "Yes, an hour. You knew it wasn't exactly next door when we decided to go." Vic used Ben's proximity to his advantage and snagged a quick kiss.
"WE?" Ben said when his lips were freed. "*I* didn't decide to go." Ben cast a seething glare at Zach after finishing his sentence. Zach's smug expression coupled with a simple shrug of his shoulders made Ben purse his lips in return. Ben said, "I don't know why you want to see this stupid old house anyway."
"Because it's haunted," Zach said. His face lit the car with an excited smile. "It's huge, I can't wait."
"Great," Ben said, slumping back in his seat. "I get to spend half a day in the car then the other half walking around some smelly old, big house dodging ghosts."
"Yeah," Zach said smiling. He nodded slowly as his thoughts trailed off to what lay ahead for them. "I hope we see one."
Ben tried his best to deflate Zach's good mood. "There are no such things as ghosts, you know."
"You don't know that," Zach said.
"Puhlease!" Ben said. He mocked his friend and laughed as his naivety but then started to wonder. "You don't REALLY believe the place is haunted, do you?" His question was guised in a taunt, but the apprehension in his voice shone through, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Vic looked over at Nelson who caught his eye and slight head shake.
Zach sat up against his seatbelt in excitement, and said, "YES! Lots of people say they've seen things there. They can't all be fruitcakes. I'm hoping I get some shots of something ghostly."
"But, it's really not haunted…" Ben said hopefully. "You don't believe it, do you?"
Nelson's voice interrupted them from the front seat, "I'm sure they are just rumors, Benji."
"No way!" Zach said, disagreeing immensely. "It IS haunted."
"Don't worry about it, Ben," Vic said from the front seat, knowing how skittish his partner could be.
"I'm NOT worried about it," he said defensively. He didn't sound convincing.
"It IS haunted!" Zach exclaimed again, hoping to convince his travel mates. "I've seen dozens of A&E specials on the Winchester Mansion, and they all say it's haunted. It's been on Discovery, too."
"Rumored to be haunted," Nelson corrected with a slight grin.
Zach contradicted, "Haunted."
"I don't believe it. Do you believe it, Vic?" Ben asked warily.
"I seriously doubt it," Vic said, trying to allay his partner's fears.
And, Zach seriously disagreed. "It IS haunted!" he said. "You just wait. You'll see."
"What did they say about it on TV?" Ben asked.
Zach twisted in his seat, excited to tell the tale, and faced Ben. "Okay. The old woman who owned the house was the wife of the guy who designed the Winchester rifle, see?"
"Ooookay," Ben said, intently listening.
"So, anyway, her husband died, and somehow she got the notion from a seer that all the spirits of people killed by the Winchester gun would be seeking revenge on her. She was told that the way to combat them was to confuse them. Good spirits told her how to build this house."
"It's supposed to be good spirits in the house?" Ben asked. Vic couldn't help but smile as Ben grasped at straws.
"Good, bad, whatever. Ghosts," Zach said dismissively. "Anyway, she had nightly séances to get the building instructions and had people building this weird house around the clock. Never stopped until she died. There are windows covered by walls, doors to nowhere, stairs to nowhere, all kinds of strange things."
"Sounds like she had a screw loose… or two…" Ben said. "I hope."
Ben's concerned expression wasn't lost on Zach. "Don't worry," Zach said. "Vic will protect you from the goblins." He finished off the sentence with a hearty and ghoulish "Bwah, ha, ha, ha!"
"Stop it, Zach," Nelson said from the front seat, but couldn't help a smile.
"Don't worry, Benji," Zach said as though Nelson hadn't spoken. "None of the shows said anything about the ghosts hurting anyone. They're just a nuisance, really."
"Leave him alone, please," Nelson responded.
Ben graced Zach with a long look before he shifted in his seat a bit and sighed. "Vic?" he asked.
"What?"
"You don't believe in ghosts, do you?"
"Every old house seems to have a ghost story attached. I really don't think we'll see one, though," Vic said.
Ben glanced over at Zach who gave him a Crest-white toothy grin. Zach settled down with his book, still smiling, after Ben shot him the finger.
*********
"Crap! Why are we stopping?" Zach said sitting up from his reading. The traffic was surrounding them and all cars were at a standstill in the three lanes on their side of the road.
"California traffic, Sweet Pea," Nelson explained. The dead stop switched to more of stop and go traffic.
After about two minutes of it, Zach complained, "Aw, man! This stop and go crap is going to make me puke."
"Just sit back and try to relax," Nelson said. "We're right at an exit ramp so that has things backed up. It should clear up soon."
"If he barfs on me, I'm next," Ben warned.
"Then please don't throw up, Zach," Vic said ruefully from his side of the car.
"I can't help it. I get carsick in stop-and-go traffic."
"Try not to think about it," Nelson advised.
"I can't help it."
Nelson turned the air on higher for which Ben was most grateful. "Finally, some air."
"That's cold," Vic said.
"Do you want to clean up vomit on the side of the road in this heat?" Nelson joked.
"Not particularly."
Ben said from the back, "It feels good. Turn it more on me, Vic."
"I'm turning it on Zach if it will keep his breakfast where it belongs," Vic said.
Zach placed a hand over his stomach and really did try not to think about it. Just when he thought it wasn't going to work, the traffic began to move at a steady pace. "Thank God," he muttered.
"Better?" Nelson asked. Concerned eyes searched the rearview mirror to find his partner's face that was decidedly whiter than before the stop and go.
"Getting there," he said.
"Speaking of getting there…" Ben said.
"ALmost, Benjamin," Vic said with exasperation. "That's only about the tenth time you've asked. We'll be there when we get there."
"Brilliant, Vic," Ben said.
"Watch it," Vic said. The brats exchanged looks at the comment and rolled their eyes.
Zach heaved a sigh and said, "Are you in reverse, Nelson?" He gazed out the side window as he spoke.
"What are you talking about, Zach?"
"So many people are passing us on the right and left, it looks like we're going backward. Hurry up! It's embarrassing…"
Nelson hid a grin and said, "I'm going five miles over the speed limit."
Zach looked over at Ben and shook his head. "Five miles over. Whoop-dee-doo. You're such a rebel, Nelson. You need to keep up with TRAF-FIC." Vic had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.
"We will get there, Zach," Nelson said patiently. "Just sit back and relax."
"I'd better relax," Zach said. "Wake me up in the morning when we get there." Ben laughed at his friend's jibe.
*******
"How many days did take to get here?" Ben asked climbing from the backseat. "Man, it's HOT!"
"Sweetheart, we're in San Jose, California in August. It's supposed to be hot." Vic took Ben's hand and moved him out of the way so he could shut the door.
"Look at the line!" he barked as they neared the gate.
"There are a whole four people in line, moron," Zach said. He tossed his camera strap around his neck and grabbed Nelson's hand as they walked. "Do we have to listen to him gripe all day?" he asked Nelson with a disapproving look over his shoulder at Ben.
"Let's all get along today, okay? No arguing," Nelson said. He looked up as the sprawling 161- room house came suddenly into view. "Wow. It's beautiful." It was odd to see it in the middle of urban San Jose, as if one little segment of space was stopped in time while its surroundings marched on to a different beat.
They all stood out in the California heat admiring the mansion built by the eccentric Mrs. Winchester. Zach poised his camera to get a shot through the trees of what they were seeing from the parking lot, bringing the enormous mansion into focus. Satisfied with the single picture and knowing there would be opportunity for more, he grabbed Nelson's hand and tugged him toward the line that now held only two people.
They purchased the whole shebang - the tour package that included the home, gardens and "behind the scenes" areas of the grounds. Given the time they arrived, they had about 45 minutes to wait before their tour started. "Gift shop," Ben said, heading for the air conditioning. The others followed him willingly. "God, I think I'm going to melt. Just get a mop and bucket if I do, Vic. You won't even need to put me in an urn. Just stick me in a Tupperware bowl."
Vic laughed and gave his partner's hot shoulder a squeeze. "You'll make it." The four of them separated naturally as they wandered through the gift shop. After seeing all he wanted, Zach found Nelson looking at some period dishes that were for sale.
Bored and too anxious to see the inside of the house, Zach looked around for something to occupy himself. "I'm hungry," he said, after eyeing the snack bar at the back of the gift shop.
"Hungry?" Nelson asked in surprise, turning from the dishes to look at Zach. He glanced at his watch. "We just ate two hours ago." Nelson put the yellow coffee cup decorated with simple daisies back where he had picked it up.
"Traveling makes me hungry," Zach said with a shrug. He looked at the set of dishes Nelson had been admiring, picked up a coffee cup and said, "Pretty." His attention went back to his reason for finding Nelson and he asked, "Can't we eat to pass the time? Please?" He hooked his index finger around Nelson's and gave him a little tug.
"You're a bottomless pit, Zach." Nelson looked around, "Hang on. Let's tell Vic and Ben where we are. Do you see them?"
Zach sighed and looked around what he could see of the rather large gift shop. "There," he pointed toward the other side of the store where the hats and t-shirts were, and they went over to meet up with them.
Ben had picked up a cap with embroidered words on the front and a Winchester rifle design tastefully sewn onto the edge of the brim. Zach looked at the hat. "It will hold in the heat if you wear a cap. Didn't your mother ever tell you that?"
"She didn't tell me much of anything important," Ben said. "Do you like this?" Ben held up the hat for Zach's inspection.
"Yeah, it's nice. I like that shade of green," Zach said noticing the dark, olive of the hat. "We want to get a snack."
"Do we have time?" Vic asked, looking around from the t-shirt he was checking out.
"About twenty more minutes," Nelson said with another quick check of his watch.
"I just have to pay for this," Ben said. "I'll hurry."
"Wait a sec," Vic said, refolding the t-shirt he had been looking at. "Why don't you buy it on the way out? You don't want to haul it around all day."
"What if it's gone at the end of the day?"
Vic looked over at the shelf of many hats, and looked back at Ben with a distinct look of "are you kidding me?" on his face.
"Well, it could happen," Ben said. Vic merely reached out a hand and Ben placed the hat in the outstretched palm.
Vic re-shelved the hat, and promised, "If all of this style are gone when we get done, I'll pay for another hat. Deal?"
Ben sighed but didn't argue, knowing - but not admitting - Vic might have a small point there.
~~~~~~~~~
A snack, a drink and a bathroom break later, it was time for the tour to start. The voice over the loudspeaker announced group 34 was to meet at the back gate outside of the gift shop.
Zach was grinning from ear to ear. "I can't wait," he said. "This should be so cool."
Ben wasn't convinced. "It's just a big, old house."
"It is NOT," Zach disagreed. "It's a historical monument. I can't wait to see it. I've seen it on TV so many times."
"I think I'd be just as happy at the pool where I could cool off," Ben said, with a swipe of his hand across his beaded brow.
"Would you quit complaining about the heat?" Zach asked, although he noticed Ben's shirt clinging to his chest, and knew he wasn't faking.
"Hey. It's time to go, so stop bickering," Nelson said.
"We aren't bickering, Nelson," Zach said mildly. "We were just TALKING. You know, talking?"
Nelson took Zach's elbow and steered him to toward the gate where their tour guide was waiting. A young girl stood at the gate in her Winchester mansion uniform of a maroon polo and khaki pants. Fixing her hair and make-up were apparently not a hot issue for her, as it looked as though she had done neither for at least a day or two.
"She looks professional," Vic whispered to Nelson. "Want me to ask who her hairdresser is?" Nelson grinned at him and shook his head. His expression was one of total agreement.
"What did you say to Nelson?" Ben wanted to know. Vic leaned over and whispered the same thing in his ear, and Ben started smiling. "Only so I'll know who NOT to go to," Ben said.
"What?" Zach asked, not wanting to be left out of the joke. Ben leaned over and whispered it to him.
Zach started laughing more at the fact that Vic was the one who pointed out the inappropriate dress of their guide, than at what he had said. He raised his camera and snapped a picture of her as she spoke.
She was saying, "There is another tour immediately in front of us and behind us, and we have a lot of ground to cover, so please stay together and don't lag behind." They stood in some sort of ancient breezeway connecting a years-gone-by garage and the main house. Pictures of Mrs. Winchester and her husband adorned the walls as well as aerials of the estate. The building looked big enough from the outside, but the aerial showed it to be much larger than it appeared.
Zach snapped another picture before they followed their guide who was finishing up her spiel with, "So watch your step, and follow me."
Zach leaned over to Nelson and said, "I hope I catch something ethereal on film. Well, on digital."
"I hope that's the only place you catch it. I don't really want to be sharing space with other-worldly beings, you know?"
"Are you scared?" Zach asked, slipping his hand into Nelson's and giving it a squeeze.
"Maybe, but not as bad as Ben, I don't think." He said it quietly, not wanting to embarrass Benji who was walking just behind him with Vic.
Their tour guide led them to a staircase that looked more like little wraparound hallways. The guide stood before them, shoulders slumped in a way that would prompt most mothers to give an order to stand up straight. She said, "Mrs. Winchester was only 4'10" so she had these stairs built to make climbing them easier. They are called 'easy risers'."
Zach peered around the guide to see better and noted the risers were wide, but only about two inches tall. "Weird," he muttered to Nelson.
"…so, watch your step and follow me," the guide said as she mounted the easy risers. They wound round and round, down a small path, only to turn 180 degrees to go the same distance the other way. The stairs zigzagged back and forth carrying the group to the next level of the house, taking at least twice as long to get there due to their design.
"Too weird," Ben noticed. Zach hung back just a bit at the top of the staircase, twisting his body different ways to get the right angle. He turned toward his lover's location when he heard Nelson clear his throat. He saw Nelson pointing his forefinger at the space directly in front of him requesting Zach's presence immediately, and Zach hurried along to catch up.
"Stay with the group," Nelson said when Zach caught up. "I don't want you lost in here."
"I was coming," Zach said. "And, I'm not going to get lost."
Nelson advised, "I mean it, Zach. Don't stay behind again." Zach gave an eye roll toward Ben who was grinning at Zach after hearing Nelson's direct reprimand. Nelson put his hand to the small of Zach's back to push him further into the thick of the group.
They approached a bedroom and Zach leaned deep over the cord meant to keep the visitors out of the room to get a picture. He felt a tug on the back of his shorts and turned around to see Nelson hanging onto the back of him.
"Careful," Nelson said.
"I'm FINE. Would you just let me get a few shots?" Zach whispered. "I'm not made of glass, you know." Nelson just looked at him, then nodded toward the bedroom for Zach to finish with his pictures.
The guide explained that this was one of 40 bedrooms in the home and Mrs. Winchester never slept in the same room on consecutive nights in order to further confuse the evil spirits in case they happened to find their way through the vast expanse of her home. Zach said to Ben, "Told you there were spirits here."
"Good grief," he said, trying to sound unconvinced.
The guide pointed out the textured wallpaper and little touches like the chamber pot under the bed. "Most of the Winchester's possessions were sold at auction after Mrs. Winchester's death, so the furniture is not the original, although they are period pieces." Her monotone voice continued its oration. "This was the room Mrs. Winchester died in."
"Wow," Zach whispered, clicking off more shots.
The guide pointed out various other things in the room then finished with, "so, watch your step and follow me."
"SHE sounds like a damn ghost," Ben said to Zach. "Hollow and no depth."
"She's definitely done this one time too many," Zach agreed. "She's about as flat as a pancake."
Zach decided to stay back to get another picture of the death room. Nelson noticed him missing and went back a few paces to find him. "Come on, Zach. You heard what the tour guide said, not to mention I told you to stay with us as well. We need to stay with the group and keep moving."
"I'm coming. I just wanted to take a couple of pictures." Zach took his time, aligning the camera to suit him before he would follow Nelson. Nelson pulled at his hand urging him along quickly to meet up with their group.
Zach huffed as he was tugged along. "Would you let me take some PICTURES?"
"You took some. I don't mean to have to tell you over and over to stay with me," Nelson said, to which Zach frowned in response.
Vic looked over his shoulder when the two turned up, noting the scowl on Zach's face. He tried to lighten the mood a bit by poking fun at Nelson. "You heard what the girl said, Nelson. Stay with the group. I didn't expect YOU to be disobeying," he joked in a whisper with a grin.
Zach's frown broke with the joke directed at his partner coupled with a knowing wink from Vic. "Did she say 'watch your step and follow me' yet?" Zach asked.
"Not yet," Vic said, "but I'm sure that isn't far behind."
"Shhhh!" Ben said, trying to hear what the lame guide had to say.
"… so, watch your step, and follow me," she said, and Zach rolled his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zach was feeling bold again about staying behind for pictures after they had covered about half the huge mansion, the warning from Nelson a thing of the past. They had just visited yet another of the bedrooms in the home, and Zach quietly slipped out of the group when Nelson wasn't looking, fully intending on being back in record time. He was barely gone when Nelson noticed.
He looked around, and not seeing Zach anywhere, he went back to the room they had just left to find Zach snapping more pictures. "Zachary Adam. How many times have you been told to stay with the group?" he questioned pointedly upon finding his lover.
Zach straightened up from taking the picture he was working on when Nelson interrupted. "I don't know, but I'll bet it was less than the number of times I heard, 'watch your step and follow me'."
"That is not funny, young man. Do you want us to get kicked out?" Nelson asked sternly. Zach was just inside the room near one entrance and Nelson had come through another door in the maze of a house. A second tour guide was entering behind Nelson, whose focus was entirely on Zach.
Nelson heard an "ahem" behind him, and he turned toward the sound. "Sir, did your guide not tell you the importance of staying with the group?" a little, elderly tour guide said to Nelson. She had a look of a retired schoolteacher - one that didn't put up with any nonsense.
Nelson straightened up, surprised and turned around to face the person whose voice had just reprimanded him. "Oh, I'm sorry for me and my…" Nelson said as he turned toward Zach. His partner was missing again, having sneaked away when the other guide came in. "…'my partner' I was going to say. It looks like he went back with our group," Nelson said, sorely embarrassed.
"As should you, young man. This house is extremely large and easy enough to be lost in," she pointed out. "Especially, if you don't know where you are." She wagged a finger at him for emphasis and Nelson felt his face turn red with embarrassment.
He managed a smile for her, but he was ready to choke Zach when he found him. "Yes, ma'am, I understand. Thanks, and I'm really sorry," he said and scurried back to find his group.
He caught up with the elusive Zach along the way and snatched his wrist as he came by. "That was so embarrassing! Thank you very much," he said. "That old woman thought I was the one who wandered off." Nelson judged where they were and saw they were too far back to stop for him to lecture Zach as he wanted to. He spoke as they walked. "You had NO business staying behind after you've heard time and again the importance of staying with the group, from the guide AND more importantly, from me."
"Sorry, Nelson," Zach said to placate his partner.
"If you were, you wouldn't keep doing it. Slipping off when she came in made it look like I was the one causing trouble," Nelson said, still mortified.
Zach looked sideways at Nelson. "Well, you DID wander off."
"To find YOU," he said.
"Nelson, I was just taking pictures," he said honestly. "You didn't have to come looking for me."
"Taking them after the group moved on. Do not do it again, Zach, I mean it. It could take days to find you in here."
Zach scowled at Nelson. He lowered his voice as they stopped just outside of their group. "But, some of the people in our group get their fat heads in the way! I have to hang back to get some shots!"
Nelson kept his voice down as well, not wanting to draw attention, but even with the low volume, Zach had no problem picking up on the warning in the tone. Nelson said, "You do not. There is more than enough time to get pictures without breaking away from the group."
"There is not," Zach griped, folding his arms.
"There is, and more to the point," Nelson said, straightening his backbone and folding his arms in a mirror image of Zach, "you'll make it enough because you are going to be in trouble if you pull this stunt again. I'll blister your hind end. Am I clear?"
"My…what?" Zach asked. His frown of irritation turned to one of confusion.
"You heard me," Nelson said, taking his arm and guiding him toward the group.
"Yes, sir," Zach said with as much repentance as he could muster. They started walking again, and Zach asked, "Hind end? Where are you from, anyway?"
"Zach. It's not an uncommon expression," Nelson whispered.
"It is where I'M from."
Nelson shook his head and didn't bother to explain himself further, not wanting to interrupt the guide, who had already given them a nasty glare when they stepped into the room.
Vic turned around just as they rejoined the group, and said to Nelson while stifling a smile, "Young man, did you leave this group yet again? I believe you've been told once before." He quirked up an enquiring eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
Nelson shook his head and said, "I don't need to be in trouble with you, too. I already got lectured by another tour guide after Zach slipped away unnoticed by her."
"Left you holding the bag, did he?" Vic said with a glance at Zach who shrugged. Nelson gave Zach a look and Zach turned his attention to the guide.
Their tour guide started to speak again. "This was Mrs. Winchester's séance room." She waved a mechanical arm around the white room, trimmed in blue. "She came here every night to get direction from the spirits on how to proceed with the building."
Zach looked at Ben and said, "Told you."
"Crap," Ben mumbled, mouth agape. He looked uneasily over at Vic who winked at him and took his hand.
Zach saw his expression and leaned over to him, saying, "I wonder if I'll get any ghost pictures in this room. What do you think?"
Ben blanched and said, "I think you should quit pestering me."
"There are thirteen hooks in the closet apparently for the thirteen spirits who visited Mrs. Winchester nightly," the guide was saying as she opened the closet door.
Ben felt the hair on his arms rise and goosebumps break out over his skin. He gripped Vic's hand a little tighter. "You'll notice there are three exits to this room but only two of the three are entrances." She motioned to the door behind Ben and his eyes widened. The guide made her way over and opened the door she had indicated. "Notice that there is only a doorknob on the inside of this door but none on the outside. If you exited this door and it closed behind you, you would be stuck in this other room." Ben swallowed hard and peeked around the door to see an area that looked much like an attic.
Zach spoke up, "Has anyone ever been trapped in there?"
"Not that I know of," she said.
Zach nodded then leaned over to whisper to Ben. "Not that she KNOWS of…"
"Stop it, Zach," Ben said uncomfortably.
Zach laughed and said, "Would you relax?"
"I'm fine," he said.
Zach grinned at him and whispered, "You are not. You're scared."
Ben bristled and said with one eye on Vic. "I am not."
"Oh, really? Then take a look around in there," Zach said with a nod toward the room with no exit.
Ben let go of Vic, and glanced nervously into the attic area then back at Zach. "I can't. She didn't say we were allowed in there."
"Uh, huh," Zach said. "Door's open. No rope to stop you."
With a quick look to be sure Nelson and Vic were not paying attention, Ben said, "I'll go in, but just to shut you up. I'm not staying in there."
Zach shrugged a shoulder and said, "Well, go then." Ben took a nervous step into the room, and walked well into it to be sure Zach would be satisfied. Just as he stepped further into the room, Zach heard the telltale "watch your step and follow me".
Nelson turned to him immediately to be sure he was going to be following this time, so Zach had no chance to call Ben. "I'm coming," he said to Nelson. "Just a couple of shots."
Nelson walked over to him, closing the one-way door as he came closer. Zach's mouth dropped open at the closed door and he said, "Just a second, Nelson."
"No, you're coming right now."
"But…!" Zach said with a finger pointed over his shoulder toward the door as Nelson tugged him along.
"Not a word, Zach. You aren't staying back and that's final. I thought I made myself clear," Nelson said, marching Zach further from the room and down the hallway. Ben started knocking on the door in a panic once he realized he was locked in. And, next to the séance room of all places!
Expecting the knock, Zach could still barely hear it as they were well on their way down the hall. "Someone's knocking!" Zach said.
"Maybe it's Mrs. Winchester," Nelson said, undeterred and not hearing the knock. "You aren't going back there, and I don't want to hear another word about it."
"Fine," Zach snapped, fed up. If Nelson didn't want to hear it, he certainly wouldn't.
When they caught up with Vic, he turned to look at them. Seeing his partner not with them, he asked, "Where's Ben?"
Zach stood with his arms crossed, perturbed that he didn't get ONE picture in the séance room. Nelson looked around the group and saw Ben missing as well. "I don't know," he said. "I thought he was with you."
"I thought he was with Zach." Vic thought about the size of the mansion and the possibility of his partner wandering around in the mazelike home. "Oh, my God," he said.
Nelson turned to Zach who was still standing in a defiant pose and saying nothing. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"
Zach shrugged a shoulder and said, "Maybe, but you wouldn't want to hear it."
"Zachary! This is not the time to be cute," Nelson scorned quietly. He was trying not to draw the attention of the tour group.
"Well, I TRIED to tell you before, but you didn't want to hear it," Zach said in a nasty whisper back.
"Where is he, Zach?" Vic asked anxiously.
"…so, watch your step and follow me," the tour guide said on autopilot.
"Wait!" Vic said from the back of the room. "We're missing someone."
Gasps and ahs could be heard throughout the little group. Zach rolled his eyes and said, "He isn't missing. He's in the attic part of the séance room. Where you can't get out."
"What?!" Nelson and Vic said in unison.
"What is he doing in there?" Vic stormed, turning toward the hallway they had just come through.
"Everyone stay here," the tour guide said, as she pushed through the group to follow Vic. "We'll be right back."
Nelson and Zach followed Vic and the guide down the hallway. Vic wasn't waiting on anyone else. He burst into the séance room and yanked the door open to find a trembling and anxious Ben on the other side.
"Ben!" he said. Ben threw himself into Vic's arms, and Vic could feel him shaking.
"I didn't know how long I would be in there or what to do," Ben said against Vic's shoulder. "I didn't know whether to stay put or try to find my way out." Vic pulled him away and heard the scuffle of feet behind him when Nelson, Zach and the guide stumbled into the séance room.
"You did the right thing to stay put." Relief flooded through the both of them, and Vic pulled Ben away from him. He asked, "Just what were you doing in there anyway?"
"I…I just wanted to take a look," he said. His eyes darted over to Zach, who looked terribly relieved not to have been made a part of the ordeal. Until Ben said, "But SOMEone locked me inside." His eyes accused Zach, whose mouth fell open.
All eyes were on him, and Zach said, "I didn't lock you in. HE did." He pointed at Nelson whose mouth gaped in shock.
"I did no such thing."
"You DID. Don't you remember shutting the door when you came over to make sure I didn't get to take any pictures?"
Nelson thought back and saw himself innocently pushing the door closed in his mind's eye. "Oh, Benji, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were in there."
"I knocked!" Ben said.
Nelson said, "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."
"I heard you," Zach said. "But SOMEone didn't want to hear from me."
Nelson expelled an exasperated sigh at Zach then looked back at Ben. "I'm really sorry, Benji. I would have never done it on purpose."
Ben looked at him, white-faced from being stuck in the room. "It's okay. I'm sure it was an accident since YOU did it."
"And, one that wouldn't have happened had you not been in there," Vic said to Ben.
"I was just stepping in there for a minute," Ben said, his white face turning brilliantly red. Vic drew himself up and crossed his arms, his eyes drilling disapproval Ben's way. "Just for a minute!" Ben said. "I barely got in there before the door shut on me!"
"You stay directly at my side through the rest of this tour," Vic said slowly in his low-toned warning voice. "Don't move an INCH away from me, even for 'a minute'. Is that clear as crystal?"
"Yes, sir," Ben mumbled.
"We need to get going," the guide said and strode out the door toward the group with Vic and Ben directly behind her.
"We'll have some things to talk about later," Nelson said, pulling Zach along behind them. Nelson felt a yank on his t-shirt sleeve and turned around to see the same little tour guide who had reprimanded him earlier.
"Closing people in rooms with no exit is NOT something we do here, young man," she admonished. "I overheard what happened."
"I'm sorry," Nelson said. "It was an accident. Really."
"Hrmph!" Zach groused. "That line never works for me."
Nelson gave him a hard look, then turned his attention back to the guide. "I really am sorry."
"See that it doesn't happen again," she warned. "You are causing enough trouble today, mister. You should be ashamed."
"It won't happen again," Nelson promised.
"Hurry along before you get left behind." She pointed toward the hallway with a finger and a nod, and Nelson turned Zach toward the hallway.
"ONE picture!" Zach squelched. He turned around to snap the picture catching the little tour guide as she walked out the side door.
She wheeled around and shook her finger at him. "I don't like to have my picture taken, son. I'm not very photogenic."
"Sorry," he muttered, getting in two more shots of the room before Nelson dragged him away.
******************
They completed the tour of the house without further incident, and Ben stayed close to Vic as he had been told. The last thing he wanted to do was rile him any further. They started the second segment of the tour that included a look at the outbuildings, basement and gardens.
The outbuildings were unimpressive but they followed along staying close to the group for a change. They moved back inside, and entered the basement through a set of angled double doors. Their tour guide for the second segment was much better than the first and she pointed out a flashlight in the dark, dank basement. "Watch your heads as we go through here. There are pipes running all along the ceilings and they are low, so it's not uncommon for me to hear a clank of heads hitting them as we walk through. I don't want any casualties," she joked. "Flashlights like this one are all along the way so you can see better in some of the dark cubbyholes."
Zach grabbed a flashlight close to him and snapped it on, shining it under his chin. He called to Ben, "Hey, Benji."
Ben turned around to see his friend's ghastly image and his heartbeat quickened momentarily, surprised at the sight. "Real mature," he said, trying to act like it hadn't bothered him.
Nelson took the flashlight away from his partner and placed it back on the cement ledge where it belonged. "You're no fun," Zach said to Nelson.
"That's what I'm told," he said.
"Try it," Zach said, picking up the flashlight again. "I want to see how it looks."
With a spark of fun that was usually missing, Nelson took the flashlight and shone it under his chin for Zach. Zach laughed at the rare sight of his partner playing around and stopped the giggles when they heard a familiar voice behind them.
"That is for shining on walls, not on chins, young man," the elderly guide said to Nelson as he turned around. "I'm keeping my eye on you." She wagged her finger in Nelson's direction.
Nelson dropped the flashlight from his face and said uncomfortably, "Sorry." He put the flashlight back where it belonged and quickly hastened his pace to keep up with the group, which was moving on.
Zach laughed and said, "You got in trouble again. You're going to get it when we get back to the room."
"If anyone is going to get it, it will be YOU," Nelson said. "You had no business not telling me about Ben in that room."
Zach cringed a bit in the dimly lit basement. "I didn't do anything other than what you told me, and that was to be quiet. Make up your mind, Nelson."
"Don't get smart. We'll talk about it later."
"I think you've caused more trouble than me today," Zach said as his elbow was being grasped.
The tour guide was speaking again, and Nelson whispered a "shhhh" at Zach so he could hear. She pointed out an ashbin that was taller than Zach, and he stood on his tiptoes to peer inside the large wooden enclosure.
"All the ashes from the fireplaces went in here," she said. "You can see years' worth of ash if you can get a glimpse inside."
"Wow," Zach said, looking at the mounds of ash in the area. "I could be buried in there. Wonder if anyone else is?" He looked over at Ben as he commented.
"No, dork," Ben said, peeking over the ledge himself. At least, he didn't think anyone was buried in there, but it was deep enough to cover a body.
They finished in the basement and went outside to the yard and gardens. Zach pointed toward the roses that were many years old. "They are taller than me," he said. "This is awesome."
"They are huge," Nelson observed, looking at the roses that were about eight inches in diameter.
"The two statues at the front walk have a story to tell," the guide was saying. "The female one needed some repairs and was removed. Meanwhile, one of the workers moved the male to her stand and permanently fixed him on it. She had to go on his base and now the two look away from the sidewalk instead of at it as you walk through."
"Not the sharpest knife," Vic pointed out to Ben, who chuckled. "I wonder if the guy got to keep his job?"
Feeling better from having been rescued from his prison, Ben grinned at his partner. "I doubt it." They walked up to the massive porch and Ben relaxed in the shade. "I'm about to roast."
"Feel better up here?" Vic asked.
"Definitely."
Their guide waved a hand to her right and pointed out a door leading off the porch. "This door goes to a bathroom. You'll notice the floor is two feet higher than the porch. The only entrance into the bathroom is from the porch, so you'd have to come outside to get to it."
Zach whispered to Ben, "Now, that's what I call an outhouse." Ben couldn't help but laugh.
"This bathroom was essentially unusable…unless you wanted to climb up inside from the porch," she continued. "Over there," she said pointing out in front of her, "is a sight just as odd. You can look up from the grounds and see a door on the second story level. Only one catch: anyone who wants to use that door will take a nasty fall. As you will see, it has a two-story drop. We like to call it the Door to Nowhere, as that's where it leads from the inside… unless you count the ground two floors below."
"I'd like to see that," Ben said.
"We'll go see it before we leave," Vic said.
Zach leaned over the back railing trying to get a look overhead at the Door to Nowhere. Nelson wrapped his arm around Zach's waist and pulled him back. "We'll see it in a minute. You might fall," he said.
"I keep telling you, I won't break, Nelson."
"You might if you go over the top of that rail. I'd rather not find out." He pulled Zach back to him and locked hands with him.
The tour guided ended the outside tour on the porch and invited the group to walk around the grounds at their leisure.
"That was better than I expected," Ben said. "Except for the heat inside."
"No air conditioning when this place was built," Zach said.
"Really?" Ben asked sarcastically. "I didn't notice."
Zach smacked him on the back of the head and muttered, "Smart ass."
************
After a thorough walk-through of the gardens, the four found their way back to the car to head back. Ben clutched a bag in his hand that held the coveted hat he had admired on their way in. Vic had decided to buy a book about the mansion as well as a t-shirt, and had bought Ben's hat even though there had been plenty of the style he wanted when they got back to the gift shop.
"Thanks for the hat, Vic," Ben said. He interlocked his hand in Vic's as they walked to the car.
"You're welcome. I shouldn't have bought you anything for scaring me half to death in there."
"That wasn't MY fault," Ben protested. "I knocked on the door."
Vic said, "You had no business being in there in the first place."
"I'm sorry I didn't hear you," Nelson said. "Zach said he heard knocking but I just thought he was playing up to go back to the séance room."
"I TOLD you," Zach said with a shove to his partner.
"You should have told me again," Nelson said. "You knew Ben was trapped in there."
"YOU didn't want to hear it, remember?"
Nelson shook his head, unable to really argue the point, and too hot and tired to do it anyway.
****************
After another grueling two-hour drive, they arrived back at their hotel. Zach asked on the way inside, "Vic, you said I could use your laptop, right? I want to see the pictures I took."
"Yes, you can use it. Just don't be downloading any porno of you and Nelson."
"GROSS!" Ben said. "TMI!"
Zach laughed, "Like I'd share THOSE with you. You'll have to use your imaginations."
"I don't want to think about it," Ben said, and Zach poked his tongue out quickly in Ben's direction.
"Too bad," he said. "You might learn something."
"Doubtful," Ben said.
Plopping down on the king-sized bed in Ben and Vic's room, Zach booted up the computer and connected his camera. Ben was sitting on the sofa in the room with Vic, and Nelson was in the corner chair. Zach looked over at Nelson and smiled. "You're in the right place after your antics today, young man."
"What?" Nelson asked innocently.
"The corner," Zach said. "Very appropriate… unlike your behavior at the mansion." Ben threw his head back laughing and Vic chuckled, too.
Nelson wasn't so much as smiling. "None of that was my fault, Zach. In fact… as I remember it, YOU were the one who got me in trouble with that lady each and every time."
"Nuh, uh. No one MADE you come looking for me," he retorted, watching the pictures load.
"And, no one made YOU break away from the group on more than one occasion," Nelson pointed out.
"What do you think, Zach?" Vic asked while still laughing. "Do you think I need to take Nelson back to your room and deal with his behavior?"
"*I* think you should," Zach said from his prone position on the bed.
"I don't think so," Nelson said. He said to Ben, "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do it."
"Never works for me," Zach said with a twinkle in his eye. "Shouldn't work for you either. I think you need to whale his butt, Vic."
"I think you're right, Zach." Vic sat up on the edge of the sofa, and crooked a finger at Nelson. "Come on, Nelson," Vic said, patting his thighs. "Let's get this over with. You aren't making things any easier by putting it off."
Nelson pulled a pillow from behind his back and threw it at Vic, finally grinning. Vic caught the pillow and fell back with a laugh. Ben said, "Nice to hear you say that to someone other than ME for a change."
Vic went serious. "I SHOULD be saying it to you for wandering into that room." He hooked his arm around Ben's neck and rubbed his knuckles playfully over Ben's head. "You scared me to death when I realized you were missing."
Ben turned crimson. "I wasn't trying to scare anyone. And, besides, it would have been FINE if SOMEone hadn't shut the door."
"I had no way to know you were in there," Nelson said.
"If you weren't so anal, you could have stood dealing with an open door," Zach assessed from the bed. "Everything doesn't always have to have its place, you know."
"Habit," Nelson said.
"That's no excuse, young man," Zach said, smiling.
"I don't want to hear it, Zach," Nelson said.
Zach looked over at Nelson critically. "I never want to hear it either, but you say it to me all the time."
"You are the one who needs to be dealt with over that little incident," Nelson said.
"No way. Besides, THAT'S how we got into that mess. You telling me you didn't want to hear it. I was just doing like I was told," he explained rationally.
"Zach…"
"No, Nelson," Zach said, rolling up on the bed. "The way I see it, we were both in the wrong. So if one of us needs 'dealt with', so does the other. Meaning YOU."
Nelson smiled at him in wonder at how his partner's mind worked. "Oh, is THAT how you see it?"
"Yes," Zach said, "that's how I see it. So, if you're willing to let Vic deal with you, then you can deal with me. How's that?"
"Um, hmm," Nelson said. "We'll see about that."
Vic said, "He has a point there, Nelson. It did take both of you to get Benji locked in there then leave him locked in."
"You aren't helping in the least," Nelson said to Vic. "You, of all people, should understand. It was YOUR partner locked in the room."
"I'm thinking maybe Ben should decide your fate," Vic said with his eyebrows raised. "What do you think, Benji?"
Ben thought about it and looked at Nelson then Zach, the guilty awaiting sentencing. "I think I should lock them both up in the little room and let them see how it feels."
"No way," Zach said. "I'd rather take a spanking, thanks."
"That will do, too," Ben said, laughing.
"On second thought," Zach said as he went back to looking at the computer screen. "Oh, my God!!" Zach exclaimed. "I got orbs in my pictures!!"
Ben shot up from the sofa and went to lie down on the bed next to Zach. "Let me see."
Vic and Nelson were curious as well and went over to the bed, gazing over Zach's shoulder. He opened the picture at 100% and pointed out several little blobs on the picture that looked like sunspots. "See? And, this is the room she DIED in," Zach said in awe.
"Open another one," Ben said. Zach opened about three pictures with no orbs in it and then stumbled onto one filled with more than the first. "Look!" Ben said. "There's a big one in the corner there."
Nelson and Vic peered at the computer in wonder, not sure of what they were seeing. "That's weird," was all Nelson would commit to.
"Hmmm," Vic said. "Try another one."
Zach enlarged multiple thumbnails finding orbs in about every third or fourth one. "There are a ton of orbs in this one," he said as he looked at the picture of the ballroom.
"What are orbs?" Ben asked. "Ghost pictures?"
"Sort of. Ghosts don't always show up in pictures, but sometimes, spirit activity shows up as these things. Orbs."
"I don't believe in ghosts," Vic said. "It must be sun spots."
"There aren't any windows in this room," Zach pointed out in another shot. "See? You can't have sun spots without sun."
"Maybe something's wrong with the camera," Nelson offered.
"Wouldn't it be in every picture then?" Ben queried.
Vic said, "I can't believe it."
"Well, it's right there," Zach said with a finger pointed to the screen. "You can't deny that."
"No, but it's in an awful lot of pictures. Do you have any other pictures on that memory card?"
Zach rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, but there won't be any ghosts on them."
"Just check a few," Nelson said, wanting confirmation himself.
Zach scrolled to some leftover Christmas pictures and opened one up. Ben started laughing. "Look at that. There are orbs at Nelson's parent's house, too!"
Zach's face pinched into a frown as he again saw "orbs" in about every third picture. "Crap," he complained. "I can't believe it. It's my camera."
"Don't be so disappointed, Sweet Pea. I'm kind of glad there aren't any ghosts," Nelson said.
Zach went back to the pictures he shot in the Winchester mansion. "Wait a second," he said, looking at a shot of the séance room. "Look at the doorway," he said. A different sort of "orb" filled the doorway where Zach was pointing. "That old lady tour guide was IN this shot, Nelson. I caught her on the way out the door."
Nelson frowned and looked at the blob in the picture that would have been just about the height of the lady. "Are you sure?"
"I'm POSITIVE," he said. "She glared at me after I took the picture, and told me she didn't like having her picture taken."
"You must have missed her and just thought you got her in the picture," Nelson said.
"No, I did NOT. I know what I'm doing with a camera. You know that." Nelson did know it. He frowned in confusion and looked back at the picture. The blob was distinctly different from the others that were in the multiple pictures.
He shook his head. "I don't know," he said. He walked back over to his chair and picked up the book Vic had bought that was lying on the coffee table. Vic followed him over to the sitting area while Ben continued to look at the pictures with Zach.
Vic was pointing the remote at the television when Nelson said, "Uh, oh." Vic looked over at his friend who was staring at something in the Winchester Mansion book.
"What?" Vic asked, pausing with the remote.
Nelson swallowed and looked over at Zach. "What?" Zach asked when Nelson didn't answer Vic's question.
"You tell me," Nelson said. He carried the book over to Zach and held it in front of his nose. "See anyone you recognize?"
Zach's mouth fell open and he looked at the book then back at Nelson. "The old lady tour guide."
"Who?" Vic asked.
"Otherwise known as Mrs. Winchester," Nelson pointed out.
"What?!" Ben asked in shock.
Zach rolled up into a sitting position on the bed. "That's the old lady who kept fussing at Nelson."
"No way," Ben said, looking eerily at Zach. "You're shitting me."
"Benjamin!" Vic admonished. "Watch your mouth."
Ben shook off the reproach and said, "There's no way that was her."
"I SWEAR!" Zach said.
Nelson was nodding. "He's telling the truth. That's the lady. The one that kept telling me off."
"Then that blob in the séance room IS a ghost! It's HER ghost," Zach exclaimed. He shuffled through the file until he found it again and expanded the thumbnail. "I TOLD you," he said.
"I can't believe it," Vic said.
"Nelson got in trouble with a ghost," Zach laughed.
Nelson rubbed the goosebumps on his arms trying to make them go away. "Too weird," he said.
"Call the Enquirer," Zach said.
"We aren't calling anyone," Nelson said. "I don't want to be the next guest star on some cheap talk show, like Jerry Springer." He stared at the computer and the unmistakable shape in the doorway of the séance room. It was precisely the same height as the old woman he encountered there. "I can't believe it," he said almost to himself, still in shock. "There must be an explanation."
"Yeah," Ben said, sincerely hoping for one. "But, what?"
"I'm sure there is," Vic said. "There has to be."
Zach pointed at the picture and said, "There IS an explanation. That old bag died in the house and is still haunting it today. And THERE she is." All eyes turned to the screen in wonder of what they were seeing.
********
(Click here for alternate ending)
Later that night in their hotel room, Nelson came out of the bathroom to see Zach sitting on the edge of the bed already clad in his pajamas. He looked at Nelson disapprovingly and patted his hand to his thigh. "I think we need to deal with how you behaved today. Don't you?"
"I beg your pardon?" Nelson asked from the doorway, and Zach grinned devilishly.
"You heard me," he said, to quote his very own Top.
"I thought I warned you that you wouldn't want to talk about anyone 'getting it' tonight. I might just decide YOU need to."
"None of that was my fault," Zach said with eyes innocent and wide.
"It certainly was," Nelson countered. "You should have told me Ben was locked in that room." He folded his arms and looked at his lover sitting on the bed.
"YOU said you didn't want to hear it," Zach pointed out. "That was YOU, Dr. Goodbody. I was TRYING to do like you said. You always say that's what you want."
"You know you should have told me, young man."
Zach looked away uncomfortably, clearly not happy with the turn of the tables. "Sorry," he mumbled. "You made me mad."
"Did I, now?" Nelson asked.
"Yes, you did. I wanted to take pictures and I wasn't hurting anyone." He was beginning to think that pointing out Nelson's faults had not been his most brilliant idea.
"I told you to stay with the group, didn't I?"
"Come on, Nelson. Don't be a killjoy. It's vacation!"
Nelson walked over to him, and stood with his legs straddling Zach's. He looked down at Zach's angelic face and tried to clear his head of the distraction. "You're lucky not to be getting spanked," Nelson said.
"I'm… I'm not getting spanked?" Zach asked in wonder.
Nelson pushed his hand against Zach's chest until Zach lay back on the bed. "Not this time. I think I'll put you in the corner later with some lines to write," Nelson said with a longing look at his handsome partner. "But, I have other things I want to do with you right now."
Zach huffed and opened his mouth, an argument already spilling forth. "But, Nelson! I was JUST doing like you said!"
Nelson lowered himself onto his partner, supporting his weight on either side of Zach, and Zach looked at him in surprise at the change of direction. Nelson covered Zach's lips with his own and kissed him hard. He pulled back and said, "Are you sure you want to continue this conversation? We can still talk about someone getting it if you insist on it."
"Not if we're talking about ME getting it." Realizing he had a near-miss escape, Zach relaxed. "But YOU on the other hand… Well, I think I should spank your hind end for how you acted today," Zach said with a grin, sensing a bad conversation was diverted. He grabbed the front of Nelson's t-shirt and pulled him down for another kiss.
"I still wonder if YOUR hind end shouldn't be spanked. I wouldn't push it if I were you," Nelson said around the kisses, muffling his words. "I could easily flip you over and wear you out." Zach started laughing until Nelson pulled away and looked at him with a gleam in his eye. "What?" Nelson asked.
"'Wear out my hind end.' You sounded like a redneck."
"Maybe I am a redneck," Nelson said.
"You are not, but you DO sound like one sometimes. Where did you get that from anyway?" Zach asked.
"Dad, I think. I don't really remember," Nelson said. He covered Zach's mouth again, and then rolled off him to sit him up.
"Why are you stopping?" Zach asked, breathless.
Nelson reached for the hem of Zach's t-shirt and pulled it over his head. "Because I can't get your clothes off while I'm on top of you."
"Oh, then by all means," Zach said, reaching for Nelson's fly. Nelson kissed him again after Zach tugged Nelson's t-shirt off, and Zach pulled back from the kisses. "How many lines?" he asked.
"Zach. Be quiet," Nelson said.
"But, I want to know! How long will I be in the stupid corner?"
Nelson exhaled loudly. "You're killing the mood. Hush." He covered Zach's lips again and went for Zach's shorts.
Zach decided to focus on the topic at hand, and drop the whole line-writing and corner business. This was a much more interesting topic anyway, and if he played his cards right... His hand brushed across the bulge in Nelson's pants and he said, "Happy to see me or is that a roll of quarters?"
"Half-dollars," Nelson joked.
"It's not about size…" Zach said laughing. "It's what you do with it."
"I'll show you what I'll do with it," Nelson said, pushing a now-naked Zach back against the covers.
Zach lost himself in his partner, all thoughts of lines and corners forgotten… if only for the moment.
The end.
