A Note About Spirit Lake

Alrighty, I best get this out of the way now.  Spirit Lake is going on hiatus for a few weeks.  Why? So many reasons, but the main two are this.

1) I am writing a whole bunch of series at the moment, plus work, and pretty soon school.  Time is just not on my side with this one.  So, I would rather put the series on hiatus and get the work done well, instead of just quickly.

2) About getting the work done well...  I'm not too happy with Spirit Lake right now, and it needs some major tinkering.  As I said before, I'm working on a bunch of other series, and haven't had the time to sit down and really think the series through in great detail.  So, instead of floundering around and trying to figure things out as I go, I'm going to retool the series and try to get it to work.  I learned my lesson after Accidental Demon Slayers: Melody of Light, or as I like to call it, The Series that Broke My Brain.

This will not change the schedule for S.L.U.T, which will still be posting regularly, and I will update you all when I figure out what exactly I'm going to do with Spirit Lake.

Spirit Lake: The House Next Door pt.12

I pushed through the door. 

Just as expected, my entrance made the man’s hand retreat from my husband’s shoulder.

Zack spun around in his chair.

Was that guilt I saw in his face?

“Darren,” he smiled at me. 

It looked forced. 

“I was just checking out the downtown, and thought I would stop in.” I cleared my throat.  “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” 

The man, the one I didn’t know, stood up and walked towards me. 

His steps were smooth, and his body moved with ease.  He seemed to almost glide across the room. 

“I was actually just leaving.”  He stopped in front of me, and held out his hand.  “My name is Phillip Orion. “ 

I took his hand and gave it a half assed shake. 

“Nice to meet you.” My voice came out weaker than I had hoped.

His eyes seemed to read my discomfort.  His smile grew.  “I’m the realtor who sold your... husband, right?”

I nodded. 

“I sold your husband this store.” He glanced back at Zack.  “Hopefully you don’t hold that against me.”

When he looked back at me I could get a better look at him.  His face was sharp, chiseled.  His jaw was narrow and smooth.  His eyes… his eyes had a predatory glint in them that scared me a little, but at the same time enticed me.  It was… odd. 

“I really must be going.  I have an old house up in the hills to show today.”  Phillip headed towards the door.  “I’ll see you around, Darren?”

I nodded. 

Spirit Lake: The House Next Door pt.11

Zack’s store was still closed, but he had washed the thick, caked soap off of the front window, and had whipped together a simple little display.  A white cardboard sign with the words “Opening Soon”  sat nestled between two of the latest beach reads.

I gave the door a push.

It opened, and I stepped inside. 

A coughed as a cloud of dust invaded my nose and mouth. 

“Zack?” I made my way towards the front counter.  My mouth felt chalky from the dust.

I headed towards the door that led to the storeroom and the back office. 

I could hear voices on the other side. 

It was two men.  One was Zack, but the other... I couldn’t recognize it. 

There voices were low, and they spoke in a familiar, casual way. 

The other man, the man I couldn’t recognize, laughed. 

I cracked the door open. 

Zack sat as his desk, and a man, in his early forties sat on the edge of the desktop. 

His hand was on Zack’s shoulder.  He wore a suit, his salt and pepper hair was pulled back in a neat pony tail. 

He was handsome.

He was smiling at my husband.

My husband was smiling back. 

I knew that smile.

That was the smile he reserved only for me.

Spirit Lake: The House Next Door pt.10

I passed by some tourist shops, packed to the brim with T-shirts and cheap knickknacks that would be quickly discarded not long after being gifted.  I stopped at one of the open store fronts and glanced at the shelves filled with snow globes and little shells with crazy eyes glued to them. 

The gifts for those who had given up on caring. 

Zack’s store was only one block farther, but I took my time. 

This was my new home.  This was my new life. 

I shook one of the snow globes. 

The little plastic sign that said Spirit Lake had come loose and floated with the drifting flecks of artificial snow. 

This was my new life.

Spirit Lake: The House Next Door pt.9

Sitting around the house was getting depressing, so I made the short walk into town to check out the lay of the land, and maybe pop in to Zack’s store.  For all the talking he did about the place, he never showed me any pictures.  I kind of wanted to see the building that was going to be taking over our lives for the next couple of years. 

The walk was short, and the town seemed peaceful.  Quiet.

Really quiet.

I always expected to see families out and about, or kids out playing.

There was nothing. 

It was just quaint homes, buttoned up tight, blinds down. 

The neighborhood was a ghost town. 

Even the air seemed stale. 

As I stepped off of our street, and on to the main strip of downtown the atmosphere shifted suddenly.  The air seemed to crackle with life.  Couples and families walked along the wooden boardwalk around the lake, people called out from shops. 

There were signs of life.

I glanced over my shoulder, back at my new street, and it seemed like a totally different world.

Spirit Lake: The House Next Door pt.8

I met my first neighbor when I was taking out boxes to the trash.

She was young, perky and to top it all off a kindergarten teacher.

Laura Frost.

“So, you’re the one who finally moved into the old Franklin house.”

Her voice was one octave away from a bird’s chirp.

“Yep.” I knew my smile looked half assed, but I didn’t have the energy to full on fake it.

She glanced towards Margo, who was standing in the kitchen window. “Your wife?”

“Sister in law. My husband is down at his store.” I watched her face, waiting for her reaction.

There was none. She was still her smiling self.

A positive sign.

“Well, welcome to the neighborhood! You guys should stop by. My husband and I are in the house on the corner.  We can barbeque.  Brian, that’s my husband, will use any excuse to drag out his grill.”

“Sounds like fun.” This time my smile is a bit more genuine.  Tired, yes, but very much real. 

Laura and I talked for a few more minutes, and then she was off. 

Maybe small time life wouldn’t be so bad.

Then my eyes drifted to the house next door, and I felt a chill run down my spine.