This choice: To Stay Overnight In A Vacant House • Go Back...Chapter #6The Refinery by: Rita   "Um, what?" Pete asked, thinking this was some kind of silly mayor joke.
"I would like you to spend the night in an empty house," Tyrese simply said, "Although it may sound odd, this would actually help the town immensely. You see, the house I would like you to stay in hasn't had an occupant in over 30 years. And it's not because we haven't been able to sell it either. The house is in perfect condition, it's all up to code and is even fully furnished. The real problem is that new owners of this particular building don't seem to last longer then a couple hours inside before they want to leave. These people can never really explain why, but the building gives them some sort of uneasiness, like something truly terrible will happen to them if they stay. This problem has happened so often that the building has become a bit of a local legend. Surely you've heard of what I'm talking about, Pete,"
"Oh yeah!" Pete said, having just remembered, "You must be talking about The Refinery. I remember hearing stories about that old place when I was in elementary school. The older kids would tell us these crazy stories about it, about how everyone went inside that haunted place would never be the same."
"Yes, those are the exact kind of rumors I would gladly be rid of, Pete," Tyrese grumbled, "Honestly, the rumors of The Refinery being haunted had gotten so out of hand, that even all the neighboring houses became vacant, as all the people were just spooked to be near the place. Soon the entire street became vacant. But, if I had someone who would be willing to prove the house is harmless, not only would we be able to to sell it, but we could probably sell every house on that street. And more homeowners, mean more taxes, which means more money, and THAT means less problems. You follow me, Pete?"
"I think so," Pete scratched his head, "So you want me to sleep in a haunted house to save the town?"
"Exactly!" Tyrese clapped his hands together, "Can you do that?"
"I guess so," Pete shrugged, "Just a little strange, is all."
"Well sometimes the right thing to do isn't always the normal thing, "Tyrese attempted to justify, "Either way, the important thing is you said yes. Now are you free Saturday night?"
"Basically," Pete was just planning on gaming all Saturday anyways, "I mean, yeah I can do that,"
"Great! Saturday is it then," Tyrese then vigorously shook Pete's hand.
24 Hours Later
"And here we are," Tyrese exclaimed as he drove up to curb. After Pete had told his mother he would be spending all night helping the mayor to save the town, Tyrese had picked him up and drove him directly towards The Refinery. Pete looked out the passenger window at the old building. Although Pete was sort of expecting a decrepit mansion, with maybe a graveyard in the backyard, he was instead greeted with just of a retro looking building. Probably like a house you might see on shows like The Brady Bunch. Instead of being relieved by the rather normal looking building, Pete was instead filled with unease at the sight of such a mundane home. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off with that house. Pete shrugged these thoughts off and tried to play off his nervousness off with a joke.
"So how many spooky ghosts should I expect in there?" Pete asked Tyrese, wobbling his voice when he said spooky, "I can handle four spooky ghosts, but five is too much."
"Well why don't you tell me," Tyrese responded, "You're the one who heard all of the rumors."
"Well, I heard, like, a hundred different rumors," Pete said, "And none of them really lined up with each other,"
"Well according to the actual people who lived here, they didn't see any ghosts," Tyrese said as he looked over all the nearby empty houses, "The previous owners reported feeling like they were being influenced to do things. Things they normally wouldn't do. One of the owners commented that he felt as if his inhibitions were somehow removed from his conscious and he was willing to do things he's always wanted to. He felt like the house itself was urging him to do so. Pretty crazy, huh?"
"Yeah," Pete nervously said, as he looked back out to house, "Pretty crazy,"
"Yeah, anyways," Tyrese said, "As we have discussed, you just need to spend the night here. I spared no expense in making this as comfortable for you as possible. There's a TV inside, hooked up with cable and one of those Xbox things. There's a lot of movies you could watch, as well as some video games I picked up. And if you're feeling hungry, the fridge and pantry are fully stocked. You can pig out as much as you like. That all maybe sounds like overkill, but doing this is incredibly important for the town. And if you wanted to back out, now would be the time. Can I count on you for this, Pete?"
"I..." Pete paused for a moment, but decided to keep his word, "I can handle this no problem, Tyrese. It'll be a walk in the park,"
"That's what I wanted to hear!" Tyrese smiled and handed Pete a key, "Now go on then. I'll pick you up at 10:30 am. Alright?"
"Alright," Pete said, as he stepped out of the mayor's car. Pete faced the notorious building and walked up towards the door. He suddenly felt very silly for feeling any kind of dread over this place. What's there to be scared of? Pete thought as grew more and more unimpressed, Just a stupid old house that people talk about because they have nothing else to say, Once Pete made it to the front door, he noticed a small bronze plaque with words engraved into it. The plaque read:
The Refinery
Reject Pride And Shame, Accept Who You Are
"That's weird," Pete said, looking back to see if Tyrese had any explanation, only to see that his car had already left. Probably just some silly thing someone in sixties put up, Pete shrugged, as he put the put into the lock, Probably thought they were really deep or something. Silly hippies and their plaques. Opening the front door, Pete was again surprised by the infamous house. Expecting an old school interior, to match the exterior, he found himself in a very modern looking home. It didn't look too different from Pete's own home, actually. Pete made the logical leap that the realtors must have refurbished the house, in hopes to sell.
"Well it's gonna take more than that to sell a haunted house," Pete said, as he kicked off his shoes, "Actually, it only takes me, apparently. Now what the hell am I gonna do all night?"  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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