The Vendeleer Brothers Book 3: Nightmare on Holly
Chapter 5: Restaurant of the Damned

Roderick trudged down the street, the sky as gray as his mood. He had been so excited for them all to start their first day on the job, and now everyone was freaking out. So what if some crazy lady somehow wrote them all a letter from more than thirty years ago and had visions of them saving the world? It fit into the line of weird and paranormal. Wasn’t that what they signed up for?

Ian had not said one thing on the way home, and then had immediately gone to his room and locked the door. Frustrated and a bit confused by everything, Roderick had decided to go for a little walk.

He kicked a rock down the sidewalk, unsure exactly of where he was going or what he was doing, but then stopped when he looked up and saw a sign labeled “Holly Street”.

Holly…

Maybe he could go check on his truck as an excuse to see her again. After all, he doubted Bobby was already back at things.

Already feeling in an improved mood, Roderick picked up his pace, trying his best to remember how to get there. After about an hour or walking, he realized he had greatly misjudged the distance of getting there, but he had gone too far to turn back now.

So finally, as it started to drizzle, he walked into the mechanics shop.

His orange truck was still in the garage, and sure enough, Holly was there, tinkering with stuff underneath the hood. Roderick stood there a little awkwardly at first, not knowing how to get her attention.

“Uh… Hey…” he said with a smile, waving. Holly stopped what she was doing and looked up.

“Well if it isn’t my velociraptor buddy! How’re ya doing? How’s your arm?”

“It’s doing just fine.” he told her, trying to ignore the fact that she had called him her “buddy.”

Holly took off her gloves and wiped some of the sweat off her brow.

“Well, this truck is quite a bit of work, but it’s nothin’ I can’t fix.”

“Cool… Cool… So uh.. How’s Bobby?” Roderick asked, desperately trying to come up with conversation topics in his head.

“Well,, as good as you can be after losing an arm. But knowing him, he’ll probably be back at it in a couple of weeks or so.”

“Really? Dang he must be hard core.” he said in surprise. Holly gave a little laugh as she pulled something out of the hood that Roderick didn’t know the name for.

“Yeah, he is.”

Roderick stood there rigidly, his palms sweating.

“How is it driving with that arm of yours?” she asked, gesturing to his sling.

“Oh I haven’t driven with it yet.

“Well, then how’d you get here?”

“I walked.”

Holly raised a brow as she wiped some stuff off a wrench.

“Ah. Where roundabouts do ya live?”

“Uh…”

Roderick strained to remember all the street names and landmarks he had seen so far.

“I live over on Sycamore St. It’s… by a park? A park with a bridge and a wooden playground shaped like a castle.”

Holly stopped working for a moment to look at him in slight disbelief.

“You mean… Woodward Park?”

“Yeah, I think that’s the one!”

“You mean to tell me that you walked here from Woodward Park?”

“Uh… Yeah?” Roderick said hesitantly. Did people not walk anymore?

“Well dang gum honey! How long did it take to get here? That’s at least three miles away!”

“Oh… Uh… Maybe an hour or two?”

Holly shook her head in amazement as she started to put some things away.

“Well that is somethin’.”

Roderick glanced down at his watch. 5:00? Were they closing for the day?

In a panic, he tried to think of a way he could keep talking to her, when a thunderclap sounded. Roderick poked his head out just in time for it to start pouring.

“Holy crap!!” Roderick exclaimed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much rain!”

“You must be from somewhere out west then.” Holly snickered.

“Yeah. California.”

“Makes sense.”

The two of them watched the rain pour down in sheets for a moment, the thunder booming.

“Well there is no way in Sam’s Hill I’m letting you walk home in that.” she commented. “Come on-I’ll give ya a ride home.”

Roderick grimaced at the thought of going home to his grumpy brother.

“Oh, does… that make you uncomfortable?” she asked hesitantly, getting the wrong idea.

“Oh, no! It’s-It’s just that my brother’s kind of in a mood right now, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go home just yet…”

“Oh.”

Roderick shuffled his feet a little awkwardly as Holly stood back to think.

“Well, tell ya what. Do you like Waffle House?”

“What’s a Waffle House?”

Holly looked at him aghast.

“Oh Lordy. That’s right-they don’t have them out there do they? Well I guess I’ll just have to take ya then. It’ll be for helping me fight off that velociraptor. I just need to shower first.”

“I-what?” Roderick sputtered, utterly surprised.

“What-you don’t want to?”

“No-I do-I do!” Roderick exclaimed maybe a little too enthusiastically.

“Ok then. I shouldn’t be long. I live right out back.”

With that, she gestured towards a back door, which Roderick went through so she could lock up. Behind the mechanics shop, there was a two story building where the garage was underneath with stairs leading up to an apartment.

As she started to run up the stairs in the downpour, Roderick hesitate.

“Well, are you coming inside, or are you going to wait out here in the rain?” she yelled down at him from her door. In response, Roderick ran up after her.

Roderick wasn’t exactly sure what he expected her apartment to look like, but he was positive it was far from anything he could have imagined for the mechanic.

It looked like a girly school teacher lived there. Everything was very neat and organized, and there were several potted flowers and plants underneath a pink white polka dotted curtain.

Roderick looked over a bookcase in interest to see some Mickey Mouse comics and figurines.

“Ok. Make yourself at home. I’m gonna go shower. And there’s some cds there if ya want to listen to something.”

Holly took a step into the hallway and the popped her head back in.

“And not that I think ya will, but just remember that if you do try anything funny, I still have your truck, and your arm is in a sling, so I’m pretty sure I could take you down.”

Roderick smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

When she went back down the hallway, Roderick started to look around, his heart beating a bit excitedly. Thinking about a girl for once was a nice change from ghosts, killers, and magical destinies. He yearned to know more about her, like what she liked and hated, and what her hobbies were.

Roderick peered into the cd player to see that there was already something inside. So, curious as to what she had been listening to, he pressed play.

“Operator… Can you help me place this call? I can’t read the number that you just gave me…”

Who was this singer? It had an older feel to it. Maybe seventies?

Roderick looked over some of the other cds to replace some interesting choices. John Denver, Jim Croce, Looking Glass, Zager and Evans, Elton John… Interesting.

Intrigued, he sat down on her yellow couch and listened to the music for a few minutes until Holly came out.

“Ah. Jim Croce huh? He’s one of my favorites.” Holly smiled, brushing her still wet hair.

“Oh my goodness! You sheltered little peanut!”

Roderick gave a little smile. He liked how she talked.

Holly was dressed a bit girlier than he would have imagined, with a red and white polka dotted blouse, nice jeans and flats.

She looked… very pretty…

“You ready to go?” she asked, grabbing an umbrella. Roderick felt his face grow hot.

“Y-yeah!”

“Sorry, I only have one umbrella, so we’re going to have share.”

“That’s ok.”

After all, Roderick did not mind sharing an umbrella and being in such close proximity to this girl.

So as they stepped outside into the downpour, Roderick scooted in next to her, getting a whiff of the fruity perfume she was wearing. The butterflies churning in his stomach flew up into his chest, making him feel all tingly. He felt even more giddy when his shoulder smushed up against hers, and the two of them braved the storm together.

As Roderick’s mind traveled far away from anything paranormal, Brian was sitting in his van with Shaq the Illusionist, running some scans.

“Hmmm… Interesting.” Brian mumbled while looking at his computer.

Shaq sat there awkwardly, looking at the homemade device Brian was holding up to him. It looked like it was made from an old X-Box controller, but it had a long antennea coming out of it with several wires that came out the front and connected to his computer.

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure yet… But I think… you are partially made of spirit matter.”

“Spirit matter?”

“Well, with the spirits I’ve come across before, I’ve been able to get tangible parts of them and study them. They put out an interesting energy that I can read on my device here, and you seem to put off some of that same energy.”

Shaq looked down at the device again, and saw that the tech geek had labeled it, “The Blueberry Pancake”. It reminded him that he was at an utter loss of how the tech geek work.

It also reminded him of how hungry he was.

“Well, as fun as this was, I’m going to get something to eat. I’ll-.”

“Oh! Where are ya going?” Brian interjected, starved for company since the only four people he knew were busy with other things.

“Uh… just a burger place down the street…” Shaq said hesitantly. He didn’t particularly want Brian to come with him, seeing how odd and childish he could be even in his twenties, but he liked confrontation and saying no even more, so when Brian asked…

“Can I come?”

Shaq clenched his teeth and forced a smile.

“Sure…”

“Sweet!!”

Shaq groaned within himself as Brian immediately stuffed a couple of gadgets in his pocket and grabbed his wallet.

He would just have to eat fast.

Why had Jordyn recommended this guy? Sure he was a little technically inclined, but what made him any different than all of the other computer nerds out there? Jordyn had made it seem like he was so much more capable than he really was.

Shaq found himself even more annoyed when he saw it was pouring outside.

So after running through the rain with a guy he barely knew and hardly liked, the two of them showed up at Barry’s Burgers soaking wet. It was a little diner with checkerboard flooring and red booths, and Brian felt his stomach grumble.

Nothing like good food to put Brian in a good mood.

While Shaq and Brian sat down in the busy restaurant and began looking at the menu, the owner of the establishment was in the back, waking up from a much needed nap during her break. Chavonne wiped the tiredness away from her face, pushing aside the nightmare that she could no longer remember, and prepared to get back to work despite her grogginess.

Things started as normal as she oversaw the cooks and waitresses. Everything moved by so fast that she didn’t notice anything at first. Then, she did a double take as she saw a head of iceberg lettuce rolling itself across the table.

Everyone in the kitchen suddenly stopped what they were doing as all the cabinets and tools started to shake. Chavonne licked her lips in disgust, getting a weird metallic taste in her mouth. Then they all watched in disbelief as the food they were using started to all roll into one corner by themselves.

The hamburger buns popped out of their bags.

The patties plopped off the grill and rolled into the corner.

The lettuce tore itself apart, and the cheese came off in slices.

Pickles and House sauce went everywhere, and a moment later, they were staring at a group of hamburgers that had just formed themselves.

Now this was weird enough, but when the pickles arranged themselves to the sides of each hamburger like eyes and the baskets of fries toppled over to give these things something to walk with, Chavonne was done.

“Oh HELL no!” she screamed as the hamburgers raised themselves up on tentacled french fry legs and smiled to show sharp teeth. “NOT TODAY!”

With that, she threw herself out of the kitchen as well as most of her employees.

“Come on. They’re just hamburgers.” a kid named Jack with lots of acne called out to them. The little meals came forward, and the teenager rolled his eyes.

Out in the eating area, Bill and Shaq were caught by surprise.

“What is going on?” Shaq asked as the entirety of the kitchen staff spilled out and made for the door. The people dining in looked around in confusion and then jumped when they heard a scream. A moment later, Jack, the eenager who had stayed behind in the kitchen limped out the door.

“They-they’re actually dangerous! They-.”

He was unable to finish that sentence, for something faster than the eye could see zipped around his ankles, causing him to trip. Then, the red head screamed as he was dragged back into the kitchen, the door swinging behind him.

When blood started to come out from under the door and his screaming stopped, it sent everyone else into a panic. Brian and Shaq jumped up, as did everyone else.

“Holy crap what was that?!” Brian yelled.

“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here! We aren’t prepared for anything.”

Shaq did not have to tell him twice, for soon, Brian was climbing over the tables to get to the front door.

Which, unfortunately, wasn’t opening.

Brian came up to ta large black woman with a name tag that said “Chavonne” trying desperately to break down the door, her bun bouncing wildly.

“GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!” she yelled, tossing people to the side.

Brian was immediately shoved against the wall as more people crowded around.

“Decklan! Stop trying to climb on that table! Skyler, hold onto your sister’s hand. Hyrum! No! Get that out of your mouth!!” a woman squishing into him yelled, trying to hold her baby over the crowd.

“Uh… Excuse me?” Brian gasped. The woman turned, her short, dirty blonde hair swishing around her ears.

“Oh! Sorry!” she apologized, her face turning red even in these odd circumstances. She moved a little so he could hop on a table out of the way of the crowd. Then he turned to see Shaq making his way toward him.

“The windows and doors are all sealed!” he exclaimed over the noise. “We must be dealing with another spirit!”

“Mommy, my mouth tastes like pennies…” a little boy complained to the woman who had bumped into him earlier.

Brian swallowed the spit in his mouth, realizing that he too, tasted something like copper in his mouth. Why was that? Brian quickly reached into his pockets to pull out his scanners. He had tinkered with them numerous times since dealing with the spirits in Pinnacle Gulch and Serenity Hill to give them much more room for powerful readings by making them completely circular.

To his surprise, the needle was spinning the opposite way.

What did this mean?

“What is that?!” someone yelled. Brian looked up, and then immediately dropped his mouth open. For coming towards them, was an army of hamburgers.

Immediately, Brian thought back to all the cartoons he had seen where food had attacked, and wondered if these could be beaten by eating them. This thought fled from his mind when he saw their sharp little teeth dripping with blood. One of them jumped up into the crowd, sinking its teeth into someone’s neck. The woman screamed, and the hamburgers descended.

“Make a barrier with the tables!!” Shaq yelled, picking on up and blocking the little monsters. Brian slapped a burger away as it came for his face and then ducked behind a table.

Once he was safe, he glanced down at his scanners again. He was sure that his devices were perfectly tailored to ghosts and spirits now, and yet they weren’t acting normally…

So did that mean that this was something other than ghosts?

“Shaq-can you do your illusionist thing on the burgers?” Brian yelled as they dragged off another victim.

“On hamburgers? I don’t think so.”

“Mommy, I’m hungry.”

“Mommy, is our food going to eat us?”

The blonde who had smushed Brian up against the wall heaved a great, frustrated sigh as on of her children started pestering her with questions about the deadly hamburgers, her baby started crying, her two boys started hitting each other, and one of her girls picked up a smashed piece of hamburger and put it in her mouth.

“All of you calm down!!” she yelled at them, her stress levels through the roof. “Mommy’s trying not to get you all killed!!”

As soon as she said that, all of the hamburgers, as well as some of the furniture in the room, suddenly started to float into the air. Then, the little monsters hit the ground again, looking dazed.

“Mommy, you did it again.” her older daughter told her.

“Well, then please get your brothers to stop fighting, and get whatever that is out of Faith’s mouth!”

Amidst all of the panic, somehow, Brian seemed to be the only one picking up on this interesting conversation this mother was having with her children.

“Hey lady, are you the one who made all those hamburgers float just now?” he asked, ducking as one flew at him.

“She does it whenever she gets mad.” her son blurted. The woman’s face turned even more red than it already was.

“Hyrum!! Don’t go spreading that-.”

“Can you do it again?” Brian asked. “Can you control it?”

“I know how to get her to do it again!” the older girl exclaimed. She then yanked her sister’s barbie away and popped the head off.

“SKYLA! DAT’S MIIIINE!! NOOOO!” the little girl screamed.

“Skyler! You fix that right now and Faith stop yelling!” the mother screeched.

As she did so, all of the hamburgers flew up into the air again, and then started to shake. A moment later, they all exploded, ketchup and other burger like things splattering everywhere. Brian wiped mustard off his face and then turned to the woman, who almost looked close to tears. At this point, the door seemed to be in working condition, and people spilled out of the restaurant in a frenzy, some of them dragging the injured behind them.

“Brian, I know you are new and all, but you literally did nothing to help with the situation.” Shaq steamed, pushing his way over to the crowd. Brian ignored him.

“I’m Brian. What’s your name?” he asked the woman. She fidgeted nervously. Tugging at her unbrushed dirty blonde hair.

“Um… I’m… Shannon. And… these are my kids: Skyler, Decklan, Hyrum, Faith, and Ruthie.”

“Do you have powers?” he asked bluntly.

“Yeah Yeah!!” Faith exclaimed for her mother.

“She makes things fly and stuff.” Decklan said cooly.

Shaq looked at all the kids and then up at the single mother.

“Wait-did you say Shannon? As in… Shannon Holliday?”

“That’s me.”

“The one from Utah that the PDU contacted about possible telekinetic abilities?”

“Um… Yes?”

“As. Well I’m Shaq, and this is Brian. We work for the PDU.”

As Shannon started to ask him some questions about the PDU and as ambulances arrived on the scene, Brian stood there thinking.

It seemed like too much of a coincidence that he was suddenly meeting all these people with abilities as something weird was going on in Spectreville. It had to be all connected somehow…

So if all the crazy stuff wasn’t coming from a spirit, then…

Did that mean it was coming from a person with powers?