Funk-N-Fiction

Our second Halloween Flash Fiction of the day comes from Lisa Kessler, and is a sneak peek into her Moon Series world.

Couples Retreat
– Featuring Adam and Lana from the Moon Series
by Lisa Kessler

It was our own fault for coming out into the woods tonight, but I honestly didn’t think we’d find the old Fowler House. At least I still had my phone. Adam’s was toast after he landed on it…and his shoulder. I’d gotten it back into the socket, but there wasn’t any hope of fixing his cell phone.

He paced the floor of the root cellar, glaring at the broken stairs on the ground while I added a few details about the earthy scent of dirt and mold into my notes.

This house picked a fight with the wrong werewolf Alpha.

“Are you seriously writing right now?” Adam Slowly rotated his sore shoulder, wincing.

I lowered my phone with a sheepish shrug. “Just wanted to have notes for the story. I figured this would be less annoying than dictating while we wait for someone to find us.”

He arched a brow, looking way sexier than he should for a guy who just fell through a rotted floor and into a moldy wet root cellar.

I bit back a smile. “I’m a writer. I can’t help it.”

“I know.” He came closer and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m just pissed that we’re trapped down here with no cell signal.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist and breathed him in as a smile curved on my lips. “We haven’t had an adventure together like this in…years.”

He chuckled and peered down at me. “You’re seriously enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Not that you got hurt, but…” I stepped back, looking up at the hole over our heads. “…it’s a change to be the ones getting into trouble instead of the kids.”

He chuckled. “I guess that’s true.”

We were parents to two sets of twins now. These days our adventures consisted of breaking up fights between Madeleine and Malcolm, and changing Cameron and Chloe’s diapers. And while I loved being a mom and raising a family with Adam, when this freelance article fell into my lap to write about a popular new couples retreat up in the mountains above Lake Tahoe, I convinced Adam to come with me.

With Halloween right around the corner, last night’s entertainment had been local ghost stories around the campfire. As soon as they mentioned an abandoned house in the woods that used to be an exclusive asylum for wealthy families, I was hooked on finding it.

The Fowler House hadn’t disappointed.

Technically, Adam had found it. Even in their human forms, werewolves had heightened senses, and as we got deeper into the woods, he caught the scent of mold, mildew, and smoke.

The phantom smoke. I made another note on my phone. We’d expected to find a campfire or maybe the remnants of a fire inside the fireplace, but the place was cold, damp and empty.

Forgotten.

We couldn’t explain the smell, but Adam hadn’t imagined it. It was as if the house had wanted us to find it.

I looked back up at the hole over our heads. It was getting dark outside. “Do you think this place is really haunted?”

Adam chuffed. “It probably wasn’t a secret asylum like they told us. It’s just an abandoned skeleton of a house where teens come to drink and get laid.”

But we hadn’t seen a single beer can or condom wrapper on the way inside.

The trees rustled as wind slid through the autumn-colored leaves. It blew into the windowless house, making a mournful moaning sound. I wasn’t sure if I believed in ghosts, but I was positive I didn’t want to meet one tonight.

Adam cracked his neck and followed my gaze at the rotted floor above us. “We could probably make that jump.”

I nodded. “Yeah, but there’s a good chance that floor couldn’t take the impact when we landed up there.”

He rubbed his shoulder. “I’d rather not fall again.” He met my eyes and even in the fading light, his green eyes sparkled. “I could give you a boost and you could go get help.”

I frowned. “I’m not leaving you here.”

“Maybe you can find a rope or a ladder or something so I can climb up.” He pointed to the hole. “Worse case scenario, you go back to the retreat cabins and call the fire department.”

We’d hiked out here. If there had ever been a road, it was long gone now. There was no way a big fire engine would make it. I gauged the height and looked at Adam again. He was at least six inches taller than me and probably outweighed me by nearly one hundred pounds, but I was a shifter and that came with more strength than any human could muster.

If I could find something to strengthen the integrity of the wood floor, Adam could climb out. “I think I have an idea. Boost me up.”

His big hands gripped my waist, and he lifted me up onto his shoulders as if I weighed nothing. I reached up, but I couldn’t quite reach the opening in the floor above my head.

He hissed as he grabbed my feet. “This is killing my damned shoulder. Let’s get you out of here. Ready?”

“On three.” I eyed the edge of the wooden opening and stretched my arms as he counted.

When he pushed my feet up, I caught the ragged edge of the wooden floor and pulled myself up. The wood creaked and groaned as I shimmied my torso further up and finally pulled my legs free.

“Are you okay?” Adam called.

I carefully got to my feet, willing the rotten wood to bear my weight. “So far so good. Let me see what I can find to get you out of there.”

The moonlight filtered through the windowless house, casting eerie shadows across the floor. I narrowed my eyes, peering into the shadows as I made my way to the staircase. Being a jaguar shifter, my night vision was my pretty keen. Even so, there didn’t appear to be anything useful around.

“I don’t see anything down here. I’m going to try upstairs.” I didn’t have to shout. With his heightened senses, Adam would have no trouble hearing me.

“Be careful.” Adam’s baritone resonated with concern. “Those stairs are probably just as rickety as the floor.”

“I will.” Slowly, I tested each stair before gradually adding more of my body weight.

When I reached the top, I froze. Unlike the first floor, the second floor was cluttered with relics of the Fowler House’s darker past. Cobwebs hung thick from the ceiling and empty beds lined the south wall underneath the windowless gables. Each dusty mattress had shackles at the head and foot of the bedframe. Dread twisted in my stomach at the thought of people filling the beds. Prisoners of their minds and this house.

I held my breath as I made my way to the corner. Dry, brittle leaves from the aspen and cottonwood trees littered the floor underneath a hole in the roof. They crunched under my feet as I took a couple more tentative steps. I lifted a dusty sheet and sneezed.

“Lana? You all right?” Adam shouted from downstairs.

“Yeah. I think I found something.” It wasn’t a rope or a ladder like I’d hoped.

I pulled an eight foot the long piece of corrugated metal roof panel from behind the rotted mops. It wouldn’t help Adam climb out, but it could brace the floor to keep him from falling back in. It was better than nothing.

He could jump up and grab the edge and I could help pull him up. I was stronger than any human. I could support his weight.

We just needed the floor to do the same.

It was a harrowing trip back down the creaky flight of stairs, but I made it. I carried the large sheet of aluminum to the edge of the hole and peered down at Adam. “I’m going to lay this down to keep us from falling through the floor again.”

“Good thinking.” He paced the floor, gauging the distance.

I placed the metal sheet at the edge of the hole and stood on it. The wood underneath my feet squeaked, but nothing gave away. “I think it’ll hold.”

“Good enough for me.” Adam took two running steps and leapt into the air. A ten-foot jump was pretty easy for a shifter, but when he caught the edge and tried to pull himself up, pain lined his face. “Fuck. My shoulder. I…can’t.” He dropped to the ground again, shaking his head. “Damn it.”

If he couldn’t lift himself up, maybe I could do it for him. I laid on my stomach and dangled my arms down into the root cellar. “Take my hands. I’ll pull you up.”

He crossed his arms. “I outweigh you by a hundred pounds, Lana. I’ll drag you back down here with me.”

“I’m stronger than I look, remember?” I wiggled my fingertips. “I’m not leaving you down there alone in a haunted house.”

He arched a brow. “Did you see a ghost upstairs?”

“No, but there were remnants of the asylum up there and…” I cringed. “I wouldn’t doubt there are some angry spirits around.”

He sighed. “You’re sure you want to try this?”

I smiled and opened and closed my hands. “I can’t kiss you if you don’t get your ass up here.”

His crooked grin still made my toes curl. “You’re just bribing me now.”

I lifted my eyebrows. “Is it working?”

“Hell yeah.” He hopped up, stretching his good arm out.

I caught his hand and forearm, and his added weight pulled me forward a couple inches. Shit. We were going to fall.

But just like that something held me in place. From the corner of my eye, the shape of a woman took shape. She gripped my ankles. Or I was hallucinating. Either way, I clenched my jaw and pulled with all the supernatural strength I could muster. Adam grunted and pressed his forearms on the aluminum sheet, I released his arm and reached down for his waist. Together we got his hips up on the metal sheet, then and he was out. He rolled over and pressed his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around him, smiling as we kissed over and over.

He looked down at me and chuckled. “This was not what I expected when you said we were going to a couple’s retreat.”

“Safe to say we nailed the team building portion though.”

He laughed and I drank in the love shining in his eyes. “Damn straight we did.” His body tensed as he sniffed. He looked back at our feet, and I had no trouble hearing the spike in his heartrate. “We should get out of here.”

We got up, and he kept looking around the darkened room. I followed his gaze, barely making out a shape in the corner. I slid my hand into Adam’s. “I think she helped me get you out.”

“You see her too?” he asked.

I nodded. “Not fully, but…I sense her over there.”

“Glad it’s not just me.” He squeezed my hand, and we carefully made our way to the front door. The weakened floor creaked and groaned, but we made it back outside.

I heaved a sigh of relief and looked over at my mate. “Next time we hear a ghost story about an abandoned house in the woods, remind me not to go inside.”

Adam laughed and kissed the back of my hand. “Deal.”

We walked hand in hand as the wind whispered through the dry leaves on the trees. Tonight, had been an unexpected adventure that reminded me that we were more than just parents and leaders of the wolf pack in Reno.

We were partners.

My heart melted as I bumped him with my hip. “I friggin’ love you, Adam Sloan.”

His head fell back as he laughed. He met my eyes as his smile warmed. “I love you too. Other than my shoulder, tonight was fun.”

I nodded. “We’re still pretty badass.”

He cupped my face in his big hands and bent to claim my lips. “Damn straight we are.”

THE END

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