"Okay okay okay, where do we start? Oh yeah I know, so a long time ago... late 1800s I guess --"
"1913." Becca states, interrupting her brother.
"What?"
"The mine was bought in 1913 according to this," she gestures to a shiny bronze plaque that had been erected in front of the fence surrounding the decrepit house.
"Whatever. So as I was saying. The mine was bought by this rich old dude. Total baller. He buys the mine and then he builds this massive house a mile away. You see he's got this younger wife he wants to keep an eye on. He figures he'll spend his days overseeing the mine and his nights plowing her. For years this is the status quo. Eventually, she starts to get bored so he has this huge pool dug up. Makes a legit grotto for her to use as a playground while he's at work. It's only after the tragedy that he filled it in. They also had two sons together around this time. So, when whispers of alcohol being outlawed started this dude figures he's got this mine and a killer cave system that's pretty much nature's freezer. He decides to make a gamble and hired some people to carve a full blown bar into one of the caves. He also had a theatre and even an underground wading pool created. By the time shit hit the fan with prohibition our guy was well prepared. But all this busy work had left his poor wife home alone. Often. Spoiler: what you think is about to happen happens. Wife ends up befriending one of her husband's business partners and nine months later out pops a baby girl. Bitch literally thought she'd just pretend the baby was her husband's. I guess it worked for a few years but when he found out he lost his shit. Told his business partner to meet him in the theatre one night. When the partner got there the old dude had filled the theatre with dynamite. Old dude legit blew up his mine in order to kill his competition...."
Finally Billy takes a breath. Looking around at his friends before continuing, "Old dude was so crazy with jealousy he had forgotten to clear the lower mines which shared a wall with the theater. When he blew up his business partner he also killed twelve miners."
"And now it's like a tourist spot?" Tiffany asks, popping her bubble gum.
"Can you let me finish?" Billy whines in the way only a younger sibling can get away with. "After the explosion the family was left in disgrace. The old dude spent the last of his fortune to ship his two kids off to boarding schools. He refused to even acknowledge the daughter. His wife eventually sent the daughter to live with family elsewhere. Within months the wife was found in her beloved pool dead. Rumor has it that she took her life instead of facing the fall out of her affair. The old man lived the rest of his life here and when he died his son's inherited it. Story is that they felt so bad for their younger half sister that they gave it to her. The last time anyone ever saw her was when she was dropped off at the end of the road that led to the property in the 50s."
"I don't get it. So, she's like still here? But isn't it like a landmark now?" Ken looks around unimpressed.
"Remind me again why we are here, Billy?" Becca asks.
"Technically this isn't a tourist spot....yet. But in a few short months it will be open to the public. And that means that anything of any interest will be gone forever."
Out of Billy's knapsack a pair of garden shears appear. His pale blue eyes dance with mischief.
"Hey! Those are mom's!" Becca yells.
Ken adds, "I don't think those are going to work on a lock, Billy."
Billy shrugs his shoulders and tries with all his strength to break the padlock. The shears fail to even scratch it.
Headlights shine on the group as a car pulls into the parking area. Tiffany claps and jumps when two teens empty out of the car. "You made it!" she exclaims. She runs over to give the boy a big hug, pressing her whole body against him, before turning to the girl. "Oh. Hi Mary." She sniffs.
Mary glares at Tiffany. While pretty in her own right with her dark black hair cut right above her shoulders and bright blue eyes she doesn't feel confident standing next to Tiffany. She definitely isn't happy that what she thought was supposed to be a date with her crush Van is now a group outing of the illegal variety. It doesn't help that Van's eyes haven't left Tiffany since he got out of the car. To be more precise they haven't moved from Tiffany's large chest.
"You're late and you missed my presentation." Billy grumbles.
"Can we just go before we get ourselves caught?" Becca walks over to the fence and climbs over.
The group of six walk in silence along the path with only Billy's flashlight to lead the way. The three story house looms in front of them. The roof of the house has been ripped off over time. The walls lining the east side of the house are completely gone only to be replaced by creeping vines. Otherwise the house seems to be in decent shape. The front door has a lock box on it so the group walks around the house looking for another way in.
Bored, Tiffany sits cross legged in one of the few patches of grass that's left near the house. She watches as Ken, Billy and Becca try to get through the vines. Both Ken and Becca attempt to push Billy through. Tiffany lays back in the grass and closes her eyes. She can still hear her friends struggling to get inside the house.
Somewhere toward the back of the house she hears glass break and Ken cheering Billy's name. It's safe to assume Becca is with them so Tiffany knows it's Mary when she feels a pair of feet stomp across her long strawberry blonde hair.
"Cow." Tiffany mutters as she sits up. To her left she sees a shadowy figure standing against the tree line. Whistling softly she motions for the figure to join her. The figure seems to just stare at her before disappearing into the woods. "Rude."
"Who's rude?" Van asks, sitting down on Tiffany's right side.
"Holy fuck you scared the shit out of me." Tiffany gasps.
Van chuckles and lets his hand rest on Tiffany's thigh. The weight of hand erases all of the previous thoughts Tiffany hand.