by N. P. Martin
"To leave," I replied.
"That’s very considerate of them." She checked herself over for a second as if she expected to be covered in ectoplasm. "But that’s not going to happen."
"Have you suddenly found your confidence again?"
"I’m angry, Corvin," she said as she stared coldly at the house. "I want to go in there and kick the Dark One’s ass."
"That’s the spirit," I said. "I’m glad one of us has a set of balls."
"I should’ve put an end to this years ago, this twisted family legacy of mine."
"You didn’t know about it then."
"Well, I know now." She took a step forward and stood with her chest pushed out, her arms held out by her sides, as though she was standing up to the house and what was in it. "Let’s go and finish this."
Grim-faced, we headed toward the house.
Chapter 22
The night seemed to get darker as we walked toward the house, the moon covered by thick gray clouds that threatened to burst at the seams at any minute. Gusts of wind were also beginning to blow up around us, as if the energy of the house was somehow affecting the atmosphere. "A storm is brewing," I said.
As we neared the house, the front door suddenly opened by itself and slammed back against the inside wall.
"Shit," Amelia said as we stopped. "That’s not creepy or anything."
"It’s like the spirit wants us to come in."
"Of course it does. It wants to kill us."
"Maybe just me. The spirit used to be your parents, remember?"
Amelia looked at me. "And because of that you think the Dark One’s going to give me a really big hug when it sees me?"
I shook my head at her sarcasm. "We don’t know how it will react."
"There’s only way to find out."
She strode forward again toward the house, and I followed her carrying the vase and the scroll, feeling woefully unprepared for the fight that no doubt lay ahead.
The wind seemed to get stronger around us as it started to slam the front door back and forth of the wall inside, making it seem like a hungry mouth was waiting to eat us up. Or at least, that’s how it seemed to me.
Amelia stepped inside the house before I did, having first stood for a moment to peer through the opening. Predictably, as soon as we were both inside the entrance hallway, the front door slammed behind us, sealing us inside.
"I can barely see," Amelia said in a near whisper.
"Use your magic as a light," I said as I began to emit my own light from my right hand, which cut into the darkness around me by about six feet.
When Amelia conjured her own light, she held her hand out in front of her as she steadily panned the light across the hallway, taking everything in. "Oh my god…" she breathed as she took in the black mold that seemed to cover every surface, and the twisting vines that grew over the walls and staircase.
"I think it’s mold," I said as I looked around, thoroughly creeped out by being back in the house once more, remembering all too well how scared I was when I ran out of it last time. "Though it could be something supernatural, like ectoplasm or something."
"It’s disgusting, whatever it is. It smells like death."
I nodded. "I thought so too."
Taking small, careful steps—as if the floor would give way on her at any time—Amelia walked across the entrance hallway, moving her lit hand around so she could take in what used to be her childhood home, her face conveying mostly her disgust, but also her fear. She no doubt felt the presence of the Dark One as I did, and the cold fear that it inspired.
"Do you like what they’ve done with the place?" I asked her, hoping a little humor might help to alleviate the heavy dread in the air.
Amelia shook her head at me slightly, in doing so indicating that nothing was going to make her feel better until we had done what we came to do. "Put the vase on the floor and read the spell," she said, her eyes constantly darting around as if she feared the Dark One would come any second. "I don’t want to spend any longer in this place than I have to."
I thought about telling her to wait outside, but I knew she would refuse. I also doubted she would even get out the door before the Dark One appeared and stopped her.
Unwilling to waste any more time, I placed the small vase on the uneven floor and took off the lid, placing it next to the vase as per the instructions on the scroll. Then I unrolled the scroll itself and held my hand over it to illuminate the words written on it, which were difficult to see given how old they were. They were also in Latin, which I had trouble reading at the best of times.
The second I started reading, however, Amelia suddenly stopped me.
"Corvin…"
"What is—"
I followed her line of sight to the staircase and shone my light in that direction, my eyes widening as I saw two figures standing at the top of the stairs. At first, I thought they were ghosts like the ones who had appeared outside earlier, but they didn’t have the same translucent appearance or otherworldly glow that the others had. These two—a man and a woman in their thirties or thereabouts—looked real. I had never seen a photo of Amelia’s parents before, but I didn’t need to see a photo to know it was them.
Amelia’s face confirmed as much anyway. Here eyes were wide as well, her jaw slightly slack, looking for all the world as if…well, as if she’d seen a ghost.
Or two.
Faelyn and Shaerra Tasar both had smiles on their faces as they started to walk down the stairs arm in arm, both of them dressed as if they were about to attend some glamorous ball. Faelyn was wearing a tuxedo, seeming tall and dashingly handsome, his hair short and perfectly gelled. His wife Shaerra wore a black evening dress that pushed up her large breasts on her slender frame. Her wavy blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, drawing attention to the expensive pearl necklace she was wearing. She was as devastatingly beautiful as Amelia was, and both her and her husband oozed charisma as they elegantly descended the stairs.
If anybody could start a cult and get people to follow them, I thought, it’s these two.
"What do we do?" Amelia whispered, sounding almost childlike as she continued to stare at her parents.
Honestly, I didn’t know. I was so blinded by the Tasars as they continued down the stairs, by their glamor and beauty, that I forgot for a moment that they were also monsters, and as a couple, the Dark One who haunted the house.
When Amelia grabbed my hand and squeezed it, I maneuvered us back toward the door, instinctively putting distance between us and the ghosts or whatever they were coming down the stairs.
The Tasars maintained their smiles as they took the last step to stand in the entrance hallway, looking first at me, and then at Amelia, keeping their focus on her as they appeared to take her in.
"It’s really her, Faelyn," Shaerra whispered to her husband after a moment. "It’s our daughter."
"Amelia?" Faelyn said. "Is it really you, sweetheart?"
Both Amelia and I just stood there, neither of us knowing what to say, especially Amelia, who god help her, her heart seemed to be breaking on the spot as tears came to her eyes.
"Don’t be afraid," Shaerra said, breaking away from her husband to step slowly forward. "We don’t want to hurt you, Amelia."
I could feel Amelia’s conflict as she continued to squeeze my hand. Understandably, she seemed to be taken in more than I was by the paranormal beings who used to be her parents, which is why I had to say something. "Remember who they are, Amelia, what they’ve done."
Shaerra threw me a look then, a look that chilled my blood there was so much hatred and animosity in it. "You should leave," she said. "This isn’t your house. This is our house and you are intruding where you are not welcome."
The front door suddenly opened, allowing in a huge gust of wind and rain. Then, just as thunder rolled across the sky outside, I found myself being lifted up into the air by some invisible force. Amelia tried to hold onto my hand, but her grip was ripped from me when I was slammed
back against the wall and held there, the vase dropping from my other hand and smashing into pieces on the floor.
No…
"We have waited so long on you coming back to us," Faelyn was saying as he moved toward Amelia. "We have such sights to show you, Amelia. You are home now."
"No, Amelia!" I shouted. "Don’t listen to them. They only want to—"
I was suddenly ripped forward by the same energy that held me up before I could say anything else, before being thrown toward the front door like an unwanted pet. And as I lay on the floor groaning, Amelia shouted my name and went to help me, but she didn’t get very far before she herself was pulled back by the same force that was now using the front door to push me outside.
The last thing I saw before the door slammed shut was Amelia, as she stretched her hand toward me for help.
And as the door closed, her parents stood behind her smiling, waiting to take her into their open arms.
Chapter 23
There was no way I was going to let those two monsters take Amelia. No way in hell.
"Amelia!" I shouted as I banged on the front door with my fist, hoping to hear her voice, but there was no reply.
As anger rose in me, I stepped back from the door and blasted it with my magic, putting everything I had into it. When the blast hit the door, the door exploded into pieces, sending splinters of wood everywhere.
When I rushed inside, Faelyn and Shaerra were standing by the foot of the stairs, their appearance seeming different now. Their sheen of glamor had gone, and they appeared to be covered in the same black substance that covered all the walls, as if their internal rot was leaking through to the surface of their skin. Their faces too looked ghoulish, their former beauty now spoiled by sagging flesh that appeared to be rotting on the bone. They both stood over Amelia, who was lying on the floor as black mold creeped over her face and body, as though she were becoming infected by the darkness of her parents.
"Amelia!" I shouted, hoping to wake her from whatever state her parents had put her in, but the sound of my voice did nothing to rouse her.
"You were told to leave!" Faelyn shouted as he pointed a boney finger at me.
"Kill him, my love!" Shaerra said, sounding like she relished the thought of seeing me die at her husband’s hands.
"I don’t think so!" I said, and suddenly conjured a ball of fire and threw it at Faelyn, having no idea of what effect it was going to have on him, given that I didn’t know if I was looking at a ghost or something more substantial. In any case, he seemed fearful as the saw the fireball come hurtling toward him. When it hit him in the chest, he screamed as if in pain and then seemed to dissipate into nothing.
Shaerra screamed with rage when she saw what I had done to her husband, and before I could launch a fireball at her as well, she disappeared of her own accord.
I stood for a second, surprised by easy it was to get rid of them, even though it was probably just temporary. I had no doubt they would be back soon, probably more pissed off than ever, so I had to move quickly.
I ran straight over to Amelia, crouching down beside her as I did my best to wake her up from whatever state she was in. After I shook her a few times, she opened her eyes and sat up with a fright, the black mold still trying to work its way over her skin, which she must’ve felt because she started frantically wiping at her face with her hands, and then looked aghast when she saw the mold was covering her hands as well.
"Calm down," I told her. "Use your magic to get rid of it."
Nodding, she closed her eyes, and after a few seconds a faint bluish light began to emanate from her skin, which seemed to do the trick of forcing the mold to retreat from her, as if it couldn’t stand the light. When she opened her eyes a moment later, the black substance had all but left her. Getting to her feet, she looked around for the ghost of her parents. "Where are they?" she asked.
"Gone, for now. We should go too."
She shook her head. "We have to finish this."
"How?" I said. "The vase is smashed so we can’t trap them, and I have no idea how to kill them or even if they can be killed. It’s better if we leave to regroup. We’ll come back once we’re better prepared."
"It’s too late for that, I’m afraid."
It wasn’t Amelia who said it, but her father, who had appeared behind us in the hallway. As Amelia and I scurried back from him, we then heard her mother’s voice as well.
"Neither of you are going anywhere," she said as she stood by the front entrance, preventing us from getting out.
"You destroyed our cult," Faelyn said, looking like he’d just risen from his grave.
"You will pay for that," Shaerra said.
"Please," Amelia said as we backed toward the wall, her parents now coming together in the center of the hallway. "You don’t have to do this. I’m your daughter, remember?"
"We know," Shaerra said smiling. "That’s why you will stay here with us…forever."
I conjured another fireball in my hand, but as I did, Faelyn gave me some death stare that pinned me against the wall, making it so that I couldn’t move. When I felt a slimy sensation on my hands, I looked down to see the black mold begin to creep over my skin.
"Stop this!" Amelia shouted, sounding mightily pissed off now. "Stop it!"
Shaerra merely smiled at her. "She still has your temper, Faelyn."
Faelyn smiled as well. "She does indeed. We didn’t discipline her enough as a child. Perhaps we ought to discipline her now."
"Good idea, my love."
As I watched on helplessly, Faelyn and Shaerra suddenly came together as one, their bodies merging as they lost all form to become that shapeless black spirit that had chased me out of the house before, only this time the thing seemed to have a mouth of sorts, and perhaps even eye sockets. Everything was so dark it was hard to tell.
With a shout of rage, Amelia began to blast the Dark One with her magic, but every time she did, the Dark One would disintegrate on the spot and the magic would pass harmlessly through it. Amelia seemed to try every form of magic she knew, but nothing seemed to have much effect on the Dark One, who could be heard laughing as it rematerialized in the air in almost mocking fashion.
This back and forth between Amelia and the Dark One went on for a number of minutes, to the point were Amelia was beginning to look drained and exhausted by using so much magic.
"Just run, Amelia!" I shouted at her. "Get out of here!"
"I’m not leaving you!" she shouted back as she threw another blast of magic at the Dark One, who instead of disintegrating like before, suddenly dropped down onto the floor, its dark form spreading out over the floorboards in a rough circle, which soon turned into a hole or a portal of some sort as it began to swirl around like so much filth going down a plughole.
This doesn’t look good, I thought. "Amelia, get out now!"
She rushed over to me and tried to pull me away from the wall, but the force holding me was too strong. "I’m not leaving you here to die," she said as she resorted to using her magic to try and counter the force holding me, which turned out be no use either.
Meanwhile, a black, tar-like substance was beginning to make its way out of the portal in the floor. Thick, glistening ropes of the stuff began to slither across the floor like snakes as they made their way toward Amelia.
"Amelia, there’s no time!" I said. "Behind you!"
She looked around and saw what was coming at her, the black substance having formed into something like tentacles which had now raised themselves off the floor.
In a last-ditch attempt to ward off what was coming at her, Amelia pulled out the Desert Eagle and emptied a full clip into the tentacles. The noise was deafening, the gunpowder smoke cloying, but the bullets, as powerful as they were, had no effect on the supernatural slime that held itself up in the air mere feet away from her, swaying like the heads of a Hydra, almost seeming to mock her attempts at killing it.
"For the last time," I shouted, my ears ringing form the shots. "
Go!"
Amelia looked at me with one of the most pained expressions I have ever seen on anyone, and then all of a sudden her face changed as a kind of calmness came over her.
No, not calmness, I soon realized, but resignation.
She smiled at me with tears in her eyes as she dropped the gun and started to back away from me slowly, toward the waiting grasp of the black tentacles that swayed behind her in fevered anticipation.
"No…" I said, trying to shake my head but unable to. "Amelia, don’t!"
"I’m sorry, Corvin," she said. "I can’t let you die."
As she continued to back away, the first of the tentacles wrapped itself around her waist, firmly securing her in its grip. Then another one coiled around her chest, causing her to cry out slightly at the pressure it put on her.
"Amelia!"
I was horrified by what was happening, knowing I was about to lose her if I didn’t do something. In a burst of pure rage and adrenaline, I pushed against the force that was holing me against the wall, and with a huge cry of effort, I somehow managed to rip myself from its grasp as I fell hard onto the floor in front of me.
Scrambling immediately to my feet, I rushed forward to try and save Amelia, who was being pulled back now toward the dark portal or whatever it was behind her. Her arm was outstretched, her hand grasping for mine as I managed to lock onto her fingers.
At that moment, time seemed to slow down as our eyes met. "I love you," she whispered.
Then she was ripped from my grasp, pulled back into the portal, disappearing into it with a scream, which was soon cut short when the portal disappeared.
I could only stare at the floor where the hole had been, as if I couldn’t understand what had just happened. "No…NO NO NO!"
I started shouting her name over and over, as if she would soon answer me, but she never did.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?!" I balled into the darkness surrounding me. "GIVE HER BACK!"
I waited frantically on some sort of answer, but none came. The Dark One remained silent, as did the house.
