Carmen pressed her hands to her ears in pain.
The witch hunched forward suddenly, and the glowing, translucent skin of her hands and face seemed to move across her body, like it was swapping places, and then the flesh turned opaque, settling on a solid pale yellow. The sound of something ripping filled the room, and the witch's body convulsed. Her robes were shredded in the back where long legs like spiders grew out, stretching out and finally growing down to the floor. The bones in her fingers solidified and turned into sharp talons. The white hair grew long out of her head, falling down to the floor and sweeping across it, and her face twisted, growing hard, bulging ridges in her forehead as her teeth sharpened into razors. Her body grew to twice her normal size, and then her mutations finally stopped. She turned her attention back on Carmen, now a freakish hybrid between human and beast, like this was a transition from ethereal wisp back to full humanity.
She bent forward and placed her hands on the floor, clicking her talons against the cement as her head snapped up and locked on to Carmen. The long legs coming out of her back fidgeted and oriented her to face her prey.
And then the horrifying creature came for her, her legs moving at a blistering speed along the ground.
Witch's Brew
"Carmen, get out of here!" Tommy shouted.
She turned and ran down the stairs, fleeing for the tunnel as the witch chased her. She whipped the flashlight over her shoulder and saw the witch entering the tunnel behind her. Her legs and talons clicked across the floor, then she seamlessly moved onto the wall as she ran, then the ceiling above her.
Carmen yelped as she rounded the corner and ran as fast as she could into the open area where the children were bound. She turned around when she got to the big room and backed up, watching the witch climb out of the tunnel and up the wall. She pointed the flashlight up and followed her, but the ceiling was so high that she couldn't see it, and the witch disappeared into the shadows.
Carmen backed up, her mouth hanging open, as she listened. Behind the struggling cries of the children, she could hear the soft clicking of the witch's legs from far away. Dust occasionally sifted down from above, and Carmen kept away from it. She stretched the flashlight up a pillar, slowly walking around it from where the dust had come down, trying to catch sight.
She didn't even notice as the witch slowly and silently crept down a pillar behind her.
A jet of red shot over Carmen's shoulder, missing her by an inch, and she dove forward and fell to the ground. Twisting over onto her back, she looked and saw the witch extending her wand in one of her taloned hands. The beam of magic shot between the pillars and hit the far wall of the room, causing a chunk of concrete to burst apart and rain down on the children nearby as they shielded their heads.
Carmen got up to her feet and ran away from the witch as the creature cast more spells at her. She fumbled for the witch mirror hanging around her neck, and when she suddenly found herself backed into a corner with the witch closing in behind her, she spun around and held it up.
The witch cast another red bolt at her, and it bounced off of the rose-colored stone, which was glowing intensely now, and reflected back at the witch. The bolt struck her in the shoulder and knocked her over onto her back as she shrieked and smoke came out of the spot where it hit her. The witch used her spiderlike legs to right herself, then she retreated up a pillar, climbing over the terrified children and disappearing into the darkness looming up at the ceiling.
Carmen moved the flashlight around, but she didn't hear or see anything. She swept it across the room, looking at the children, then she noticed a body lying between some pillars in the middle of the room.
It was Stacy.
Carmen rushed over to her and rolled her onto her back. "Stacy..." She gently patted her cheek. "Stacy!"
Stacy's eyes slowly fluttered open and she groaned. The boils that had covered her whole face and hands had receded, but a few red marks remained. She slowly sat up, and looked around, not knowing where she was. "What's going on?" she asked.
Carmen tried to help her up, but Stacy batted her away, getting up to her feet on her own.
"Don't touch me!" she cried, holding her hands up in the air in disgust. "I'm finding Brett and then getting out of here," she said, then she turned and walked toward the tunnel leading to the tall shaft.
"Stacy, wait..." Carmen saved the rest of her breath, realizing it was worthless.
As Stacy came to the opening of the tunnel, the witch dropped from the ceiling and slammed onto the floor behind her. Stacy turned around and screamed as she saw the horrid creature. Then the witch charged, lifting one of its legs in the air, ready to stab it through her.
"Don't!" Carmen cried as she jumped and tackled Stacy out of the way. The sharp end of the witch's leg cut through the top of Carmen's shoulder, giving her a nasty gash and making her spin like a top on the floor. She hit the cement hard and grunted, whimpering from the pain.
Stacy got up to her knees and looked at Carmen in disbelief. A moment ago, she was sure she would be dead, but Carmen had saved her life. She never in a million years would have imagined that Carmen would do something like that for her. "You... You saved my..." Then she fell quiet, because she simply didn't have the words.
Carmen weakly pushed herself up to her hands and knees as the witch made a circle around a few of the columns, and then she came around for them again. "Our brothers are tied up down that tunnel," Carmen said, pointing and wincing from the pain in her shoulder. "You have to free them."
Stacy was still speechless from Carmen's heroic act, but she got up to her feet and quickly made her way for the tunnel, glancing over her shoulder for the witch.
But the witch set her sights back on Carmen. She lined herself up down the aisle of pillars and came for her, keeping her spells to herself now that she knew Carmen had the witch mirror, and instead just physically attacked her.
Carmen ducked as another leg swept by, trying to take her head off, and it burst through the edge of a pillar, knocking concrete everywhere. The children screamed below and shielded themselves as a dusty rain fell on them.
The witch swiveled around again, and Carmen took off, trying to tie up the witch and keep some pillars and distance between them. It was a cat and mouse game that played out repeatedly as she tried to hold the witch at bay, but she was fast and agile, despite her size.
"Carmen!" Tommy cried from the mouth of the tunnel.
She pointed the flashlight at him and saw him standing there in his now-filthy red sweater. Brett and Stacy were behind him, and they all watched in horror as the witch cast another spell at her, this time her green ensnarement spell, while she wasn't looking. The green cord wrapped around her ankle, and she fell on the floor. She spun over on her back and watched in horror as the witch dragged her closer, holding up her arms and twirling her talons through the air as she gnashed her teeth.
Carmen looked around, not knowing what to do. She reached inside her coat and pulled out the dagger that she'd wrapped up in cloth at the church. Frantically unbundling it, she held it and tried cutting the cord with it.
And it worked; the green cord snapped immediately and flung back at the witch like it was made of elastic. The witch shrieked in displeasure and charged at her again. But Carmen got up to her feet and backed up, holding the knife out in front of her.
The witch skidded to a stop, understanding what she was holding and not wanting to charge into it. They came to a standstill, and they slowly circled around each other, one of them occasionally putting a pillar between them and coming out the other side still staring at each other.
Carmen glanced over at Tommy who was still standing dumbfounded at the edge of the room, and she called his name. He perked up and watched her reach into her coat, surreptitiously pulling out the box of salt and the bag full of garlic bulbs that she'd brought. She kept these hidden from the witch as she backed up, pulling their duel toward Tommy. She circled around as the witch watched, putting a pi
llar between them, and Carmen quickly bent down when she was out of view. She set down the items behind it, then she stood up again and walked out from the pillar as if she hadn't done anything. Then, in an act of incredible bravery that she didn't know she possessed, she ran at the witch, thrusting the knife at her. The witch backed up and swung two of her legs in a scissor motion at her head.
Carmen ducked and rolled on the ground, then she dove for a pillar as the witch cast another spell. She got up and ran to the opposite end of the room as Tommy snuck in and grabbed the items, knowing exactly what to do with them. With Carmen drawing the witch away toward the other corner, Stacy and Brett ran into the room, hurrying to untie the nearest children to them, who were all sobbing in sheer terror.
Tommy ran through the tunnel, climbing up the stairs as quickly as he could for the cauldron. He saw the red glow dancing on the wall as the liquid bubbled. But then he tripped over the last stair, falling forward and dropping the items on the ground. The box of salt hit the cement and split open, spilling out onto the floor. "Crap!" he said, pulling the box upright. He stuffed the broken box and bag of garlic under his arm, then he tried to scoop up as much spilled salt as he could. He waddled over to the cauldron and dumped his handful of salt in. He poured the rest of the salt from the box, and then he ripped the bag open and watched as the garlic bulbs tumbled out and splashed in the red murk.
The liquid bubbled and flashed, and its color turned a little darker, but still stayed red. Tommy gulped, hoping the witch wouldn't notice.
Out in the large room, Carmen stood at one end of it, shining the flashlight down a row of half-broken pillars. The witch stood at the other end, and the two of them stared each other down. Then the witch charged. She carried the front two of her legs in the air as she came for Carmen, and she held her arms out too, reaching out her clawed talons for her and gnashing her teeth as her eyes swam crazily in her head and she shrieked an unintelligible string of words.
Carmen stood her ground, ready to duck behind a pillar, like she was a matador with a bull. But as soon as she wanted to move, her shoe slipped on a layer of dust on the floor, and her legs came out from under her. She hit the cement, and knocked her chin against it, disorienting her.
The witch closed in, and before she could get away, one of the witch's legs came down and stabbed her in the thigh.
Carmen screamed and squirmed around on her back in pain. She looked down at the large, sharp end of the leg digging into her, and she gazed up at the witch as she closed in on her, ready to devour her. Her mind was running at a frenzied pace, and in her desperation, knowing she was about to die, all she could think to do was to slash the knife at the witch's leg.
The blade of the knife cut through it like it was butter, and the witch immediately retracted it and shrieked with such force that the walls shook. Carmen covered her ears, and the witch held her injured leg up in the air and stared at it in horror. Then she turned and fled for the tunnel leading to her cauldron, keeping it off the ground.
Tommy was just coming around the corner in the tunnel, and he had to dive toward the wall to avoid her.
"Carmen, are you okay?!" Stacy asked, rushing over to her aid. Both she and Brett helped her up, and she limped over to the tunnel where the witch had gone.
Tommy watched from the edge of the room as the witch's legs clicked up the stairs for the cauldron. When she got there, she immediately plunged her injury into the liquid. Her body bent low over it, using her taloned hands to scoop up some more potion into her mouth, feeling relieved now that she had her elixir.
Then the witch's eyes went wide. She yanked her mutated leg out of the cauldron as if it were lava, then she scuttled backward like a bug. She shrieked again and all the tables and implements on them rattled and tipped over.
Carmen, Stacy and Brett came into the room, and Tommy looked over his shoulder at them, then he pointed out the witch.
"I think it worked," he said.
The witch spun around and held a gnarled hand to her chest. She looked at the four of them in shock, like she had just experienced the ultimate betrayal. She began coughing and sputtering, and her legs weakened. Her whole abomination of a body stumbled around the upper area of the room like she was drunk. She retched, trying to spit out the potion she drank, but it was too late. Her body started to wither, like a dead bug being baked in the sun. In desperation, she stumbled back to the cauldron, trying to take another drink of it, but then she spit it out and backed away from it, unable to stop the terrible disease coursing through her.
"Help me up there," Carmen said to the others, and they ran to her sides and brought her up the stairs.
The witch's back was turned, still in the throes of madness and desperation as her body continued to shrink and wither. Her once-thick legs had now shriveled up into thin and brittle sticks, and the skin on her body drooped severely. She spun around suddenly and was met with the blade of the iron knife.
Carmen plunged it deep into her heart.
The witch looked down with a look of horror. Then the look slowly faded as she lost the strength to do even that. The effects of the metal compounded what the potion had done to her, and she shrieked one last time, this time very weakly. Her whole body collapsed in on itself, and she pulled herself off the knife, stumbling back into the cauldron. She tripped over it and fell headfirst into the bubbling liquid as her body shrunk into nothing before their very eyes.
The liquid splashed and black smoke came out of the concoction. It rumbled and splattered violently for a time, turning the liquid jet-black, then the smoke receded and the four of them watched as the liquid bubbled down to nothing, leaving a thin black film of viscous sludge on the inside of the cauldron.
Carmen let out a sigh of relief, and she stumbled backward, feeling weak as the others caught her.
A little laugh escaped Tommy's lips.
They looked at him.
"What's so funny?" Carmen asked.
He looked at his sister, smiling. "We did it."
The Spell Shattered
Carmen finally reached the top of the long ladder, and she carefully climbed up onto the broken floor in the basement of the house. She moved through the doorway to the other room and watched as Brett and Stacy came up behind her, followed by Randy and Shawn and some of the older children. Tommy had elected to stay down with the rest of them, untying them and comforting them until help arrived.
The group got up the ladder safely, and then they all went up the stairs and left Halloween House once and for all.
They were greeted by the cold light of the November morning, and things immediately seemed more peaceful than they had been in the last few days. The birds chirped busily in the trees, and little critters scampered through the woods, looking for nuts. The kids stretched themselves out, working out the kinks and pains of their injuries, and they scanned the woods around them.
A group of people moved through the trees down below. When one person in the group spotted them, they turned and called out for the others. Soon a whole mob of townspeople gathered around the house, and Robert stepped out in front of them, his eyes falling on his daughter. "Where's Tommy?"
"He's in the house," Carmen said quickly. "Don't worry, he's fine."
Once his greatest fear was assuaged, a smile—a genuine smile—came over Robert's face.
He didn't say a word. He just walked in and hugged Carmen. She didn't even care about the pain in her shoulder. She hugged him back, tightly.
He held his daughter at arm's length, looking down at the nasty gashes in her shoulder and leg, as well as the slashed arm of her coat. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said. "A little banged up."
"But you're alive."
They smiled at each other and hugged again, and tears streamed out of Carmen's face now that she had her father back again.
"Tommy's down there with all the other kids," Carmen said. "They're alive."
A wave of relief rushed through the crowd, and many of
them broke into tears, being the very parents of the missing children. Now that the spell had broken on all of them, they had remembered all of their actions vividly, and were struggling to come to terms with some of the things they had done.
"How many?" Robert asked.
"I don't know," Carmen said, "a hundred, maybe. All of them."
Robert looked over at the house. "How on earth can that house fit a hundred in the basement?"
"No, I mean down, down there," she said, bending over and holding her hand just above her feet.
Robert's eyes widened. "Oh."
It only took a few hours for the townspeople to get some equipment in the basement and bring the kids up safely on a pulley system. When the last of them was out, Tommy rode up in the little elevator and was pulled out of the shaft.
Robert hugged him tightly and tears came out of his eyes, glad that his son was okay, and Tommy was glad that he had his dad back.
"What are you going to do with this place?" he asked his father.
Robert peered down the dark hole and brushed his fingers across his mustache. "I don't know. I guess we'll seal it off. Treat it like an old mineshaft and bulldoze the house."
When they all left the basement and walked outside the house, Robert turned around and stood next to Don, and the two of them stared wistfully at the blackened remains of what the kids always called Halloween House. They thought back to just before that Halloween when the two of them came up alone and served the search warrant on the woman. It all seemed so long ago, and such a crazy incident when looked at through the filter of recent events.
"Can you believe it?" Robert said to Don. "A single missing boy started this whole chain of events..."
Don nodded. "Yeah, crazy, isn't it?"
"Or maybe more like a single fire," Robert said. "A whole town went crazy on its own, without any spells or magic. All it took was a spark."
The Box Set of Hauntings and Horrors Page 17
