Engines and werewolves

Chapter 2

Victoria shivered. She was alone. There wasn't a light anywhere around her as she navigated a left corner in the road. The road veered away from the bay and a thick forest of trees blocked both the view and the sound of the waves. The limbs and brush of the tall wilderness stretched over the road and snuck onto the shoulders, creating a cave-like effect of darkness that blotted out the twinkling stars.

Victoria gripped the steering wheel tighter. She glued her eyes to the road and the left side. Her heart quickened when her headlights caught on a white plastic stick that stuck up beside the road. It was one of the county address signs. The sign was chipped and the numbering was worn, but she recognized the numbers she needed. 666.

Victoria turned onto the weedy gravel driveway. She was glad to see that though grass grew among the white pebbles the blades were cut to a manageable height by some man-made machine. The brush was cut from the road and the trees that hung over her car were free of dead limbs.

Still, Victoria bumped down the gravel driveway with apprehension. The road was too narrow to turn around, and she wasn't the most proficient driver of backing up. The thick fog from the bay waters didn't help her driving.

That's why she was so glad to see the driveway widen into a circle. Victoria slammed on the brakes and leaned over the wheel. Ahead of her loomed the roof of a large mansion. Its peeked trestles stabbed the dark sky as though in warning of danger. Her eyes wandered down the shingled roof to the faded wood that made up the siding of the attic floor. Thorny vines covered many of the walls, but she glimpsed tall, narrow double-windows with dark lattice.

The rest of the house was obscured by the thick fog, but Victoria noticed a tall iron gate some fifty feet from the turnaround. She stepped out of her car and shivered. The damp sank into her bones as she wrapped her coat close to her and strode up to the gate. The thick wrought-iron was surrounded on either side by a wall of stone eight feet tall and at least a foot thick. The walls stretched disappeared into the foliage on her left and right.

Beyond the gate some two hundred feet stood the house. A gulf of towering willows and frosted grass was all that separated her from her goal. That, and the gate.

Victoria's eyes fell on a dark plate in the stone column on her left. She walked over and realized the plate was an intercom. A single button sat beneath the plate.

Victoria leaned down and pressed on the buzzer. "H-hello?"

A sharp, high-pitched male voice answered her. "What is it?"

Victoria swallowed the lump in her throat. "M-my name is Victoria O'Hara. I need to speak with Grog."

"Grog sees no one, now leave."

Victoria bit her lower lip. "But I-um, I have an appointment."

The man's voice grew more irritated. "I told you to leave, or I will be forced to call the police on you."

Victoria frowned at the intercom. "Fine, I'm leaving."

The young woman stepped back and swept her eyes over the hateful house. That's when a devious idea hit her. There didn't seem to be any video cameras or other security system measures. Victoria moved back to the intercom and pressed the button.

"Can you hear me now?"

The irritated man answered again. "What are you still doing here? Leave!"

Victoria smiled. "Leaving."

The man's words told her what Victoria wanted to know. He couldn't see her. If the man manning the gate couldn't see her then that meant nobody else would see her.

Or that was the theory.Victoria turned to her left and slipped between the brambles and the stone wall. A rudimentary path wrapped itself around the large enclosure, and Victoria hurried along the wall in search of a way in.

Far off the crash of the waves echoed up the cliff walls. The water brought with it a thick fog that enveloped her in a blanket of white so thick Victoria couldn't see five feet in front of her. She pressed her palm against the stone wall and turned a corner in her blind wanderings.

That was how Victoria nearly missed the gate set into the stone wall some two hundred feet past the corner. It was wrought-iron like the front gates and no less tall, but narrower. Victoria peeked through the bars and saw nothing but dark shadows and mist. A cobblestone path led from the gate into the interior of the grounds.

Victoria leaned back and inspected the gate. There didn't appear to be any lock to pick. She grasped the bars and gave them a shake. The gate rattled, but didn't open. The young dropped her arms to her sides and bit her lower lip.

A twig snapped behind her. Victoria spun around and noticed a dark shape in the shadows. Piercing yellow eyes stared at her from the darkness. She gasped and stumbled backwards until her back hit the gate. The figure stepped forward out of the deepest shadows.

Victoria's pulse slowed when she saw the shape was actually a handsome man in casual dress pants and a white buttoned shirt. The top few buttons were open and revealed his pale but muscular chest. He placed his hands in his pockets and tilted his head to one side to study her. Victoria returned the favor as she looked for any sign of a weapon to show he was security, but there was nothing on him.

He grinned and bowed his head to her. "Good evening."

Victoria pressed her hands against the bars of the gate and shakily smiled at him. "Um, good evening."

His gaze looked past her and at the gate. "Did you need something?"

My eyes flickered over her shoulder as her thoughts flitted back to her father. Victoria bit her lip and took the plunge. Victoria straightened and nodded. "Yes, I'm trying to find a way inside."

He arched an eyebrow and walked up to stand beside her. His eyes switched from the interior beyond the gate to her. "You want to go into that haunted place?"

Victoria nodded. "Yes. I have to meet with Grog."