The Haunting of Twisted Oaks Inn (#6)

[Adelina]

The attic was positively stifling, owing to the sun beating down on the deep gray shingles just overhead. Ivy moved deftly through the paths she’d carved into the rubble, with Hurley close behind. In moments, they were both standing before the battered old dresser, staring at the unassuming wooden box that was resting on its surface. Ivy looked up at Hurley; he looked back, a question evident in his slightly raised eyebrows.

“Open it,” said Ivy.

Hurley’s long fingers lifted the lid. His eyes got big when he saw the worn paddle lying inside, and an awed smile spread across his face, as if he were a child opening a present. Without any hesitation, he took it out of the box and started playing with it, turning it over in his hands, studying it like an archeological treasure. Ivy watched him go about his careful examination of the instrument, trying very hard to ignore the churning feeling in the pit of her stomach.

After about a minute of this, he remembered Ivy was in the room and turned toward her. “Wow. This is old. Is it yours?”

Ivy choked back a laugh. “No. It came with the house. I found it up here after I bought the place.”

“It’s really solid,” Hurley noted.

“I know.”

Hurley gave her a sidelong glance, again questioning her by raising an eyebrow. He did that a lot, Ivy noticed. She rather liked it.

“Well, you told me your story. I think mine’s even weirder though. You might not believe it.”

Hurley chuckled. “Give it a shot.”

“Let’s sit.” They each picked a spot, Hurley on a large upholstered ottoman, Ivy on a sturdy trunk. Hurley looked directly at her and listened attentively as she told him about the ghost and how he’d used the paddle on her, believing her to be a maid from a time past, and a mischievous one, at that. She got up and went to retrieve the pages of the punishment log from the box.

“Look at this… see the bottom line here, where it says 37? That wasn’t there before. He filled it in after he got done with me.”

Hurley took the pages from her and spent several minutes reading them closely. Ivy watched as the corners of his lips curved in amusement as he read the various entries. When he was done, he handed list back to her, and she put it back in place.

“You do that very well.”

Ivy turned and looked questioningly at Hurley. “Do what?”

“Put things where they go. Shame you don’t do that in your office.”

Ivy’s eyes popped wide open, and she laughed out loud. “Are you starting a list on me?”

“Maybe I should,” he stated with a smirk.

The churning in Ivy’s gut picked up the pace. She felt like she’d swallowed a washing machine on spin cycle. She was terribly puzzled and wildly excited at the same time. It was dizzying.

Hurley peered closely at her with narrowed eyes. “Let me ask you something.”

Ivy simply nodded.

“When you met up with this ghost of yours—and yes, I do believe you—how did you feel?”

A silence ensued while Ivy thought about this. She was having so many feelings that she didn’t understand, didn’t have words to describe. She willed herself to mentally focus on that day, one year ago, when it had happened, replaying the event in her mind. The memory was vivid; she could see every detail in her mind’s eye.

Sitting on the trunk she’d vacated, Ivy focused her vision on a spot somewhere over Hurley’s shoulder.

“It was… well, very strange, and shocking. I remember being surprised at how painful it was. Obviously, I didn’t like that. Who would?”

“You’d be surprised….”

Ivy stared blankly at Hurley. He quickly redirected, “Sorry. Forgive me for interrupting. Go on.”

After pausing to collect her words, Ivy said, “It was bad, and I was regretting that I was doing it… but then, something changed. It was like… I don’t know, kind of like that high you get when you’re doing a workout… it still hurt, but it was different. I didn’t mind it so much anymore. I just felt all drifty and spacey.”

Hurley nodded in an affirming way, as if she were agreeing with something he’d said. She found his expression comforting, and the nervous twisting inside of her subsided a bit. For reasons unknown, she instinctively trusted this man, even felt a sort of kinship with him, though they had only met just a day before. Her eyes passed over him, taking in his lean physique, his strong shoulders, the way his dark hair curled around his ears. She could feel her mind drifting, full of wishful longing.

Hurley cocked his head to the side. “Come here a minute.”

Still in a daze, Ivy stood and wandered toward Hurley. She was lost in her thoughts, and was quite suddenly jolted from them when he grabbed her wrist and flung her across his lap.

“Awgh! What’re you doing!?”

“Trying this on for size. You don’t mind, do you?”

“What!?”

Ivy felt a bit indignant at being so unceremoniously upended, but she couldn’t help laughing aloud. “Don’t you dare!”

She heard him laugh too, and then felt a familiar sting as he gave the paddle a test run on the seat of her jeans. “Ow! Cut that out!” she shouted, though she giggled madly as well. She shoved her hands against the ottoman to get up, but he pushed her back down on his lap and pinned her with his arm. “Oh, no, you don’t,” he said, landing another smack on her rear. Ivy halfheartedly struggled against him, but she realized she felt very comfortable right where she was. She wriggled and squirmed as she planted a few more whacks, not hard, just enough to sting a little. With a soft sigh, she rested her head on her folded arms and closed her eyes. Her lips curved in a blissful smile when she felt his hands rest on her body, one on her bottom, the other on her back.

A chuckle emitted from Hurley as he said to her, “You’re a sub if I ever saw one.”

“Hmm?”

“Never mind. Here, stand up.”

Hurley held her steady as Ivy carefully found her footing and regained her bearings. She looked down at Hurley sitting there on the ottoman, glistening with perspiration in the heat of the attic. He wiped his arm across his forehead. “Man, it’s hot up here. Let’s go get something to drink.”

Ivy said nothing, but instinctively took Hurley’s hand and led him toward the stairway with a spring in her step, stopping on the way to let him deposit the paddle back in its box and close the lid. He then picked up the box and tucked it under his arm, leering at her with a sparkle in his eye.

She matched his silly grin with one of her own, and together they headed downstairs for some much needed refreshment.

[Gary D.]

another charming episode here Adelina. even though we know what the end result is going to be...(or do we?), the interplay between ccharacters and resulting drama / suspense makes it quite enjoyable seeing how they arrive at that point.

Gary D.

[sarah thorne]

"don't you dare!"

She likes it and she knows it!

sarah