Derrek closed the door behind him. The tractor's floodlight lit most of the room from the windows in the back. He had entered some kind of pantry.
Directly beside the door to the left was a rubber mat with three pairs of clean top boots. A sink beside it for easy access, with a detachable faucet. Deeper to his left, to the corner, were racks filled with supplies: Pasta, sauces, containers, peanut butter, flour, cornflakes, … the usual.
Against the opposite wall was a big horizontal freezer, a green light shone at the bottom. It looked like an older model. He imagined the humming which was drowned out by the still running tractor outside. Damn, hope it runs out soon. Sorry earth.
Beside the freezer, in front of him, were a few more shelves and a cloth rack. Clean jackets, overalls, socks, and working gloves were organized here. A closed wooden door was beside the rack, he saw a faint light come from beneath the door and through the keyhole. Was that on before? To the right of the door was a mat with some slippers on it.
To his right was an open doorway with another room that went further beyond the corner. It was darker there, no window at the back, but he was able to make out some big metal cubes. Looks like the laundry room. Beside the doorway was a closed bin, with some folded up drying racks stacked against the wall behind it. Yep, laundry. Handy. Don't want the house all messy every time someone's been busy outside.
Muffled footsteps came from above him. If it was a wooden floor, he could have heard where it went, but the sound just faded without an apparent direction.He's on the move, I need to find the stairs. Probably somewhere to the front of the house. Derrek glanced the room, everything seemed normal. He remembered what Ashley had said, that there was something prepared in the house. This didn't seem to be a part of it. He moved to the closed wooden door, wanted to open it, but hesitated just a bit. The lights weren't on. They want me to go here. Can't give em that. He ducked and peeked through the keyhole, an old classic big keyhole, fitting for this type of door.
The scene beyond the metal was something different than he expected. To the left, he could just see the end of a kitchen counter, behind it was a table, filled with candles and what seemed like skulls. Hmm, a platter of human skulls for lunch. Macabre. At the right end was another wooden door, similar to the one he was peeking through. He edged a bit more to the left and at the corner he spotted a metal lining. Fridge, so the kitchen with a table to eat. Good to know. Now let's see if—
He heard a key enter the lock behind him. Derrek came up from his haunches, turned and grabbed for the door handle. He pulled, too late. The lock turned almost in sync with his pull. He smacked the door and let out an exclamation.
He moved to the sink, which had the window above it. Mr pumpkin strode by with a glance at him. He grabbed the window handle, but stopped as only then he spotted the window was barred. My luck… But I'd do the same if I were living deep in the fields.
Warren flipped him off before turning and walking toward the tractor. Within a few seconds the tractor's floodlights and engine turned off. The world was thrown in complete darkness again as his eyes needed to adjust. With the engine's noise gone, Derrek now heard the old freezer hum behind him.
But that wasn't all. He heard very soft mumbling from his left, the kitchen's door. He edged toward it. What is that? Sounds like a single male going through the same verse. Doesn't sound English either. More like. A chill passed over his neck. Latin. Like a chant. No, no, no, I don't like the cultist tour. There's always some weird shit going on, and going too far.
He peered through the keyhole again. The scene was remained the same, but the additional chanting made the skulls and burning candles just a bit creepier. Way to set a scene. All right, not heading in there, yet. Being locked in here doesn't give me a lot of options. He turned toward the locked door. They still have easy access to get behind me. Can't go through any windows either so the door is their main access, or exit, too. Better take away that option for them too. Derrek looked around the pantry. He saw way less than before, his night vision was still recovering.
He felt through his pouch and found a small inside pocket. He got out the small round cap, tinted red and attached it on his flashlight. With intensity turned to the lowest setting, he clicked it on. A red glow lit up in front of him, like a bicycle's back light. Enough to see and maintain his natural night vision.
He didn't find any great options to block the door with. He found a sturdy broom, alas the door opened to the inside. A chair beneath the handle would be preferable yet not present. The racks with food were loose from the walls, moving these was near impossible without smashing at least half its contents. Damn, nothing useful here. Better check another room and backtrack.
Derrek checked the window once more. He could see the tractor now, no pumpkin around though. Hope he's back to check on Ashley. Could give me some extra time. He moved past the closed kitchen door, the chanting still ongoing, and passed the open doorway into the laundry room.