The Wounds in the Walls

available individually and in the Daily Dose 2010: Midsummer's Nightmare from Dreamspinner Press

Pete Eason's been hit by the downturn in the economy just like everyone else, so when he gets the word that some guy named Mike Clarke needs a day laborer to clear our a rural Missouri house, he doesn't ask too many questions before he takes the job. But Pete quickly learns that there's something funny going on at this site. For one, Pete's the only laborer Mike hired, and from what Pete can see, this place needs a bulldozer, not a Dumpster. Mike doesn't so much as hand Pete a shovel, either—he just asks him lots and lots of questions, and he seems to be hinting that the place is haunted. Pete doesn't feel any goosebumps, and he sure as hell doesn't see any ghosts. He's dying, though, to know what all the gashes in the walls are about.

Mike can't see the gashes, and he's frustrated that Pete can't see the ghost standing right beside him, because the whole point of bringing Pete here was to release the trapped spirit in this place, a spirit that by rights Pete should be able to see better than anyone. Maybe, he thinks, he's made a mistake. But before MIke can nudge Pete a little harder, the front door disappears, the walls begin to heave, and the ghost which has always been nothing more than a shade is suddenly aggressive flesh and blood—and Mike doesn't think he's made a mistake anymore. He knows he has.

[excerpt]