Moonlightaholics

Ted, Brian and Gabriel all pulled up in front of Gabriel’s house to see Zoe sitting on the front porch reading a book. She looked up and smiled.
“Well, well well! My own personal team of “Ghostbusters!” She joked.
“Just enjoying the evening?’ Gabriel asked before kissing her lips.
“Whatever’s in there doesn’t want me in the house” she said with a half smile. “I came out here to get some peace”
“How did the survlleance go?”
“Julian thinks it’s a real live person doing this” she said.
“We would have to agree” Brian said. “Ted uncovered evidence to that fact. We’re going to go investigate”
“Where?” Zoe asked her eyes shining with excitement.
“And underground tunnel underneath this very house” Ted said. “Old slave tunnels”
‘You’re kidding!” Zoe said standing up quickly preparing to follow.

Brian and Gabriel always exchanged looks where Zoe was concerned. She was quick to throw herself into any situation that sounded dangerous.
“Zoe….” Gabriel began
“Julian will want to know.” She said sternly.
“Alright, let’s go. Ted lead the way” Gabriel.

They entered the house and walked into the kitchen where the door to the basement was located. Brian opened the door and started down the stairs first, followed by Ted who had a copy of the original blueprints in his hands.

“Okay Ted. Which way?” Brian whispered.
“To your right.” He said following behind. Gabriel held onto Zoe’s hand.
Ted looked at the blueprint and then looked at the wall.
“Well according to this blueprint, the tunnel starts behind that wall right there. He said pointing ahead. Brian first thought was to simply punch through the wall, but knew that exhibiting such strength in front of Ted might undo everything Gabriel was trying to do to help him. So he felt around the wall and knocked trying to listen for hollow areas. He tapped the wall with his ear pressed up against it.
“That’s it!” he said looking around the basement for something to hit the wall with. He spied an old shovel, picked it up and began to swing it into the wall. The first break sent dust and debris everywhere. Only Ted covered his face. Brian could feel cold air coming from the other side of the wall. He gave the wall a final kick, and the rest of wall fell at his feet.

The tunnel was very dark, but Ted pulled out a flashlight.
“It was in my car. I figured if we were hunting for buried treasure it just might come in handy” He said with a smile.

This is interesting, but personally I go all girlie about dark, cold places whre spiders may hang out. I must admit, this could turn up some very interesting things but don't rule out something else beyond the greed angle.

Then again, maybe they just found the cold spot and there are scarey things down there...

Martin had heard the group come down into the basement. Then the breaking apart of the wall. He held the gun firmly in his grasp. If it came down to them or the money, he would always choose the money. His father and grandfather had died without knowing whether the money was real or not. And they had all killed for it. He would not quit now. Not when he was so close to finding it!

As they all entered the tunnel, they began to hear noises. First a loud thud. Then a wild cackling followed by screaming. Brian looked around trying to ascertain where the sounds were coming from.
“It is a tape recording” he said at last. Then something shot passed them.
“What was that?” Zoe said.
“It’s another trick Zoe” Gabriel said still holding onto her hand.
“How long is this tunnel?” Brian asked Ted who was standing right next to him.
“Judging by this blue print, it goes on for another 3 city blocks” Ted said studying the paper.
“Okay. Gabriel Zoe, you two head back to the house and turn on the lights, the television. Something that will make this guy think we’re not in the tunnel. Ted and I will stay here and wander around.” Brian said quietly.
Gabriel and Zoe turned and headed back towards their house.

Zoe first turned on all the lights, and then she turned on the radio. She and Gabriel did all the things they would normally do upon arriving home in the evenings.

Martin listened carefully. They must have returned to the house. It was very dark in the tunnels unless you knew your way around like he did. He remembered the hours he would spend with his father searching throughout the tunnel one meter at a time. The last section was exactly under the Marsh home. And those kids were keeping him from what was rightly his.
It was 7pm. He would stop for now and return at 3am. And this time he would give them the frightening of their lives!

Brian could hear the man retreat. His foot steps were heavy and slow.
He and Ted remained perfectly still and quiet. When Brian was sure that Martin had left he and Ted spoke freely.
“Okay Ted explain this blue print to me” Brian said.
“Well I just realized something. We are very close to the treasure. What I mean is that if the tunnel is over 3 blocks long, Martin and his family most likely started at the beginning of the tunnel working their way back to the Marsh house which explains him being this close” Brian nodded his head.
“Well, let’s get started, Martin will no doubt be back”

Brian and Ted started to search everywhere underneath the house. Just when they thought they had found every possible place for money to be hidden they would find yet another mysterious corner or cavern.

“Okay Brian, the legend says that he placed the money in a trunk. It’s way too small for a trunk of any kind down here.”
“I agree. There is no hidden money. This means that Martin and his family killed all those people for nothing!”
Ted had to admit that he was disappointed. Finding that money down there would have been the find of century. But then he thought about the families who had lost their lives over a tall tale, a fable. It made him kind of sick to his stomach.
“Come on. We have to notify the police and my dad.” Brian said as they walked back to the house. When they got back upstairs, they found Gabriel and Zoe sitting comfortably.
“Well, there is no treasure. There is no money.” Ted said.” Your neighbor killed families over nothing.”

Zoe and Gabriel smiled at each other.

“Well…..that’s not exactly true.”
Zoe said looking at Gabriel.
“Which part” Ted asked confused.

“The treasure part. As we were going through the house turning on lights we came across a door we hadn’t seen before. It had wooden stairs that lead to crawlspace in the attic. There was a trunk up there alright.”
Brian and Ted stood looking at the pair in shock.
“You’re joking?” Ted said with his mouth wide open. Gabriel stood up and retrieved a trunk from behind the sofa.
“This is you’re treasure” He said as he opened the lid.
Inside the dusty chest were bottles upon bottles of whiskey and a document that was his recipe for making the whiskey. There were a few gold coins but nothing worth killing for. Ted inspected the trunk holding up the coins and the document.
“Combined value maybe $3,000!” He said in disbelief shaking his head.
“We should call the police”. Brian said.



Martin Kramer was arrested for the murders of James and Sally Marsh and their 3 children. Since the previous deaths in the house had happened when his father and grandfather were alive he couldn’t be charged with those.
The police had found all the electronic equipment that Martin had used to terrorize the occupants of Marsh house. With him in jail his business went bankrupt paying for his defense.

The trial was talked about for months and even after the guilty verdict that followed, people still walked past the Marsh house with hesitation.

Deborah and Doug Henderson were interviewed extensively and were paid 2 million dollars for their story. Ted was glad that they ended up getting something for all their misery.

Gabriel and Zoe had their first house warming party inviting all of their friends and all the neighbors on Portland St. Everyone ate and toasted to a new day. A new life. And a much better one.



The End

So there were absolutely no ghosts at all.

Well done!

Thank you!

I'm sure if they auctioned off the old whiskey they could make more money than the 3000 bucks. Such a sad thing to kill and search for 3 generations for nothing.