The Raven Mocker by Aiden James Read Free Book Online

here for John, since Vernon promised it would be a brief assignment until Matt got fully up to speed. But since Tony didn’t have any classes until January, Vernon took the liberty to schedule him for this same gig right on through Christmas. Then Matt should be ready to take over by the following weekend.
    He better damn well be ready...and WAY before that!
    It looked like New Years might be Tony’s only opportunity for a break from this dreary assignment during the holidays. That is, if he didn’t somehow come down with something serious like strep throat or walking pneumonia in time for Christmas Day. He might not be able to avoid working Christmas Eve, but damn straight he wasn’t working Christmas Day. Momma was coming down to Knoxville with his Aunt Jolene from Louisville, Kentucky, and he sure as hell didn’t want to be freezing his ass in here while they were in town.
    He sat back down in his chair and pulled his poli-sci preliminary assignment for January in front of him, glancing at his wristwatch. 9:37 p.m. For a moment, he thought about his roommate’s cute steady girl, Gina Banks. Gina was fine…so very fine, man. So why Tyrone, instead of him? Tony was bigger, better built, had a dazzling smile, and was a hell of a lot more charming than his best friend who migrated south with him from Louisville after they graduated from high school. Besides, the former ‘Tank-man’ was packaged large where it counted, and had the stamina to keep a woman like her more than satisfied…. Yet, so far, she easily sidestepped his advances.
    He released a deep sigh and cracked open the textbook sitting before him, determined to forget about her for now and lose himself in the book’s opening discourse about the fading merits of America’s two-party political machine. Suddenly, it started up again…the frigging scratching and shuffling noises coming from the basement stairwell.
    A little more subtle this time, at first he tried to ignore them. Maybe it was just a pack of small rodents, or one big ugly mother rat. Hell, a pesky vermin small enough to escape his detection made sense. After checking twice already, he wasn’t getting up again. Not without a damned good reason.
    But Tony couldn’t stop thinking about the noises. It didn’t matter if there was anything there or not, as simply his duty to protect what lay hidden behind the locked door downstairs. After all, it was the whole damn reason he and his other guard buddies were now forced to spend their evenings in this condemned, god-forsaken hell-hole that should’ve been torn down years ago. Something about a few crates filled with skeletons and relics recently uncovered from some ‘secret place’ up in the Smoky Mountains. Along with one other item brought in this morning, according to Vernon.
    He snickered to himself as he considered this. Who gives a shit about some old bones and the shredded remains of clothing and rusted-out armor worn by some white folks from nearly 400 years ago? For all he knew, they could’ve been ancestors to the slavers who kept his family in bondage for the better part of two centuries.
    Fuck em’ all if that’s the case!
    The scratching and shuffling noises suddenly grew louder. Something really wanted his attention…or did the source of the noises somehow just move closer? Unprepared for the next sounds, taut gooseflesh arose upon his arms, neck, and shoulders. The old wooden banister inside the stairwell creaked, and it did so as if someone had just secured a strong enough grip to pull him or herself upward. But that wasn’t the only thing that made his skin crawl. Heavy footfalls slowly navigated the stairs.
    “ Who the hell’s down there??!” he demanded, a slight whine creeping into his tough-guy persona, threatening to erase it.
    Though a little frightened, he couldn’t resist the urge to have another look down inside the darkened stairwell. He stood up again, pushing the folding chair back noisily as possible