“Oh,” Zack responded, raising an eyebrow. He shook his head, and pulled his pants off the bed, revealing a long coiled snake sitting on his black T-shirt. His scream was louder than Kira’s.

“Zack? Calm down man, what’s wrong?” Tommy called, trying not to laugh.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? There’s a huge ass snake on my bed!” he hissed, backing up against the far wall.

“Zack, there’s nothing but a t-shirt on your bed,” Tommy replied, looking at his friend as if he’d lost it.“Huh?” Conner stared at him, confused. “What’s up with the abrupt subject change, Dr.—” A glass of Coke landed in front of him and he jumped, realizing a waitress was standing behind him. “Oh.” He smiled brightly at the waitress as she dished out their drinks and set them up with bread plates. “Yeah, we’re talking about football.”

“I used to play football. Back in high school,” Tommy said desperately, nodding.

“Did you?” the waitress asked with a broad smile, looking him up and down.

“Yep,” Tommy said, returning her grin. She turned her smile up a notch before leaving.

“It’s about time,” Zack muttered, tearing into the bread.Tommy transported directly to the second floor of the old house. They had torn the walls and insulation from the first floor, but the second remained mostly untouched. He walked swiftly down the creaking hall to the far bedroom. The first thing Kimberly had done was to place several temporary storage units on the property and carefully store away everything they’d discovered in the house. The result made the second floor even more eerie than it had been before. It was empty, and spacious, and dark, and Tommy always had the creeping feeling that he was being watched.

Tommy wasn’t afraid of ghosts. He’d encountered many of them in his journeys. As long as they didn’t bother him, he ignored them. Despite that, he enjoyed working on the old house. The more time he spent there, the warmer his feelings became. It was becoming less and less of an empty, cold dwelling and more and more of a friendly place.