The Story Of The WIndlenot Museum Chapter 1 (Kolchak)

Attention: Shivers is property of Sierra. Richard Cale is my character, and is used in other fics with my blessing. Michael McNeal is a creation of Mike N, who has fics posted on fanfiction.net as well. Carl is Carl Kolchak from the Kolchak: The Night Stalker franchise.

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The Story of the Windlenot Museum

Chapter 1: Arrival At Dusk (Audio)

Carl walked through the gate to the Windlenot Museum. He wasn’t sure why Tony had sent him to the town, but Tony had said it was up the same lines that some of his stories were. He had to admit that a museum of the unexplained was up his alley, but why did he have to do a story for the anniversary of a disappearance of two teenagers. He then sighed and said, “Well, I suppose this is what I get for years of investigating all those paranormal stories. However, I would like to find out how Ron got out of this museum story.” He then looked up and saw the building that was the museum. He let out a low whistle and said, “Maybe he saw the place first.” Carl raised his Polaroid Instamatic and snapped a picture.

He then walked over to an orange sculpture. He glanced over the sculpture and then down at the ground to see something odd. He saw a strange green pattern on the ground. He quickly took a picture of the pattern and then turned on his tape recorder. He also started to walk over to a bench that over looked a small stream and said, “The Windlenot Museum is a interesting place, and at the center of the disappearance of two teenagers almost fifteen years ago. As time passed, the story became legend in the area, and the owner of the museum who also disappeared from sight became the lead suspect. No one has been able to get into the museum to investigate, but then, the whole disappearances are perfect for a museum for the strange and the unusual.” He turned off the tape recorder and then sat down on the bench. He then took off his old hat and fanned his face.

As he fanned his face, he just said, “I hate to say it, but I must be getting to old for all this. I shouldn’t have parked so far away from the museum grounds.” It was then his right hand brushed against the bench, and felt something odd. He turn, to see two circles, one in the other, on the brown bench. He took a picture of the odd symbol, and then looked at the one he took earlier. His reporter’s instinct told him that there was a meaning behind the symbols, if only he could find it.

He was almost startled when he heard someone humming. He glanced over the back of the bench, and saw a young teenage boy, possibly around seventeen, walking in the gate. He watched the boy as he walked over to the museum sign. He also noticed the boy was shaking his head, and realized why. He noticed a red U painted over the O in the owner’s name. He also realized the boy was humming a tune from the mid eighties. He wondered what lured the boy here, and decided maybe what he needed for his story is to hear what the local teenagers thought about the old museum. He then started to walk over to the boy in blue jeans, black shirt, and what looked like eyeglasses that would better suit a man his age.

Richard Cale was used to making the hike up to the museum. Over the past four years, he had walked up to the museum once a week. He always enjoyed a good mystery, and from what his father had told him about what the museum was going to be, he would have loved to have gotten in the place. Of course, he knew that would never happen. Professor Windlenot had disappeared almost fifteen years ago, as well as the two teens back then. He walked over to the sign for the museum and shook his head. He then said, “Why did they all think you were nuts, Professor? It’s a shame everyone is so closed minded.”

He was startled when a voice behind him said, “You know, I was just wondering the same thing. Do you know much about this place, since you live in the area?” Richard spun around to face a gentleman in his late fifties, wearing a light gray suit. However, what caught his attention more that the reporter gear that the man had was odd straw hat that the man wore. Before Richard could say anything, the man just said, “Sorry to have startled you. My name is Carl. I was working on a story for the fifteenth anniversary of the disappearances. I was wondering if you could give me a young person’s take on the place.”

Richard looked at him for a second and finally nodded. “I guess that would be alright. What I can tell you is some of what is already known, but there are some things I have noticed about the place. If you don’t mind the walk up all these steps, I’ll show you and tell you. By the way, my name is Richard Cale.” He watched as Carl nodded and he lead the way up the steps, watching as Carl turned on a tape recorder.

As they started up the steps, he heard Carl ask, “First of all, what do you know about the place? Do you know why it was built?”

He nodded as he said, “Yes. My father had told me all about it. You see, Professor Windlenot was a rare breed. He looked into finding the truth behind the legends, seeing if some of those things were actually real. My father also said that the Professor wanted to make the museum fun and interactive.” It was then that they had reached the vase that was on the steps, and Richard saw the odd upside-down arrow pattern behind it. Richard then pointed to it and said, “Like that pattern. There is another one near the door.”

He watched as Carl turned and said, “Yes. I took photos of two other patterns. They do seem to be odd, especially where they are placed. It seems like they are part of a puzzle of some sorts.”

Richard smiled and said, “If you think that is odd, wait until we get to the door.” He then lead the way up to the main door of the museum. When they got there, Richard first pointed to the pattern, which was a black half circle type pattern. “There’s the pattern I mentioned, but here’s the strange thing.” He then hit the button, and they both heard the museum’s welcome message, stating that the museum was still preparing exhibits.

When it stopped, he heard Carl say, “That is odd, having the same message play all this time. Wouldn’t you think the place would have run out of power?”

He nodded and said, “You would think so. My father did say that the professor had the place built with it’s own generator, but even that would have run out by now. It must get its power somewhere. Of course, no one can get inside to find out, which is a good thing. If anyone could get in, then the other kids in town would be using this place for the only other fun thing to do in this town.”

He watched as Carl gave him a puzzled look and said, “And what would that be?”

Richard started to lead the way back down, when he felt his eyes go wide. He saw a group of teens at the gate to the place, and he saw some of them closing the gate. He then said back to Carl, “Doing stupid dares, like spending a night at the local graveyard. We better move fast, because I think some are locking the gate to do just that.” Richard started to run, but decided to slow down, knowing a man in his late fifties might not be able to run as fast as he could. He also hoped they’d reach the bottom before the other teens left.

Michael McNeal was surprised at what was happening. When his friends at school said they were going to drive around the area, he didn’t expect this to happen. He hadn’t expected them to drive up here. He had never seen the place, but only knew about it from talking with Richard Cale, a fellow student at school. As he looked at his friends through the gate, he said, “What are you guys doing?”

He was surprised when Kiana smiled and said, “Well, you’ve been talking about the place so often, we decided it would be the perfect dare for you.” He sometimes wondered why Kiana loved to set up dares. Of course, there wasn’t much in town to do.

He then heard Everett, who was standing next to Kiana say, “Well, this is your own fault. You kept talking about the place, saying things like ‘Richard said this about the place’. You know, we never heard him talk about the place. He just tends to stay to himself, or with his girlfriend, Yvette.”

He then heard Brandon say, who was on Kiana’s left, say, “Hey, don’t worry. If something happens to you, Kiana will deliver the eulogy. Besides, the way you talk about horror movies, we’ll see if you really know your stuff.” It was at that time, he heard the wind pick up. He could have sworn he heard something speaking in the wind.

He then heard Paige say, “Ok, I definitely heard something.” It was the first thing she said since they got up to the old museum. He wondered if there was truly something unexplainable in the old museum.

He then heard Kiana say, “It was just the wind. Anyhow, we will all be back in the morning. Let’s just hope it doesn’t rain tonight. Just be thankful, Mike, that you aren’t at the cemetery. However, I don’t think here is much better. Professor Windlenut might be still here, lurking, and waiting for another victim.” He then heard her laugh as they all headed to the car.

Michael just shouted, “If this is like a horror movie, I know better. I’ll be waiting here in the morning, and I will not be happy about this.” He then watched as the car pulled away from the gate. When the car was out of sight, he sighed and said, “I’m trapped on the grounds of the old museum. How can this get any worse?”

He was startled when he saw a blur of movement, and jumped back as the blur reached the gate and said, “Wait.” It was then he noticed it was Richard Cale. He was surprised, since he thought Richard would most likely be with his girlfriend on a Friday night. He then turned to see a man in his late fifties come walking down the steps that must have lead to the entrance. Now he knew they all had a problem. Three people trapped on the museum grounds. He wondered who this man was, but in his gut, he felt they were about to start on a real life horror movie. Suddenly, he felt a shiver run through his whole body.