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Ryker didn’t answer, instead he went to the back of the SUV and pulled out the camera he needed and his tool bag. In less than five minutes he had it secured just under the overhang.
“We can check feed once we get the power cords running. Hopefully we have enough extension cords to handle this place.”
“That means it’s time to claim home base!” I said excitedly. “Ben. Where do we sleep?” The fact he turned around and gave me a maniacal grin did not make me excited.
“Well, the only place with beds is the ship. They fixed us up in the captain's quarters and several of the executive officers' rooms. We get to sleep in that big, metal ship.”
Great…
ChapterFour
Brea
The Capeside Diner looked like it was straight out of a scary movie. The outside of the once white building was faded from the sun and salty sea air. Old buoys and fishing nets covered the outside walls and the stairs leading up to the front entrance looked like driftwood. But the smell coming from inside the restaurant had me moving forward despite how it looked outside.
“It’s clean at least,” Lincoln muttered as the bell above the door dinged our arrival. The place went from lively to silent in seconds but this was not the first time we’d dealt with this so we strode right in.
“Sit anywhere, folks,” a waitress called out. Ben led us to a table in the back, which also happened to be the only one big enough to seat us all. The place was smaller inside than it seemed. But at least the conversation had picked up a bit now, though we still had several eyes on us. It was always the older people who refused to look away, like staring at us would suddenly explain our appearance here.
“Damn, even I have better social skills,” Sully muttered under his breath. He was sandwiched between me and Lincoln and both of us snorted out a laugh.
We’d barely gotten situated when a large explosion of some kind had us all ducking our heads. My heart was in my throat as both Lincoln and I grabbed for Sully who was full blown panicking now.
“Hey, you’re safe,” I promised. “You’re with Brea.” His eyes were far away though, focused on whatever that put him in.
“You made it out, Sully. We’re on the coast at a diner,” Lincoln said firmly. His hands were squeezing Sully’s biceps now, having turned the man to face him despite the slight struggle. I was just grateful he wasn’t lashing out and was coming out of it. We tried to keep attention off of us as Lincoln talked Sully down. He was still dazed and lost but it looked like he was fully aware now.
“Fuck, I’m sorry you guys,” Sully sighed. “I’ve been working on it, but that hasn’t happened in a long fucking time.”
“Go easy on yourself,” I said gently. “We’ve got your back.”
“It gets easier,” Lincoln explained quietly. “Not the memories or the loss if those are involved, but the flashes do.”
“I fucking hope so,” is all Sully managed.
The waitress walked up then and looked apologetic. “I’m so sorry that riled you all up. It’s just old man Johnson’s boat. That old fishing boat is older than he is. If he doesn’t run it often enough, that engine backfires and scares us all half to death.”
“We’ll keep that in mind for next time,” Ethan said with a friendly smile. He was charming enough that she relaxed.
“What can I get for you to drink?” We gave our orders and she scurried off while we looked through the menus since we hadn’t had a chance to do that yet.
“What the hell is a whoopie pie?” Sully mumbled. At least he was working on not blurting things out. As far as I remembered, that got him in trouble more than once.
“A delicious dessert,” Ethan answered. “And we are definitely ordering some after we eat some real food.”
“I’m with Ethan. It’s like a cake sandwich, how can you go wrong?” I said, my mouth already watering.
“Never call it a cake sandwich again,” Ryker groaned. “That sounds bizarre as fuck.” Just joking around seemed to lighten the mood enough that Sully’s shoulders relaxed and he joined in.
“Well, I don’t know how I feel about diner lobster, but I’m going to try a lobster roll,” Sully mused.
“Diner lobster anywhere else would terrify me,” I agreed. “I think I’m getting the chowder.”
She swept back for our orders after delivering the drinks, leaving us to ourselves for a bit. It was still early in the day so the crowd started to thin out around us. Well… if you could call it a crowd.
“So, I was researching in the car a bit,” Ethan said mysteriously. That was all he needed to say to have us completely hooked. We lived for the history of our haunts. “I found an old local message board.”
“Like… online? That seems a bit advanced for this town,” Ryker joked.
