The Demon of Mansfeld Manor

by S A Jacobs

  I opened my eyes and saw a man pointing a gun at me. My sight was blurred. As things came into focus, I recognized him. It was the lawyer.

  “Welcome back Jim. Glad you could finally join us.”

  I slowly worked myself up to my knees.

  “The fuck do you want?” I asked.

  “Please. Enough with your stupidity. You have been running us in circles for months now. You know, most bottom feeders like you would have gone to the safe immediately. Although, I suppose what is a couple more months when we have waited so long?”

  In my head, I was calculating the distance between us. ‘How long would it take me to step up, close the gap and disarm him?’ I thought to myself.

  He was an old man. His reflexes certainly were not the best. Although, I realized I had to do about five things, and all he had to do was pull the trigger.

  “Look around the room before you do something stupid,” he said as if reading my mind.

  I looked around and then I saw two men behind me with guns drawn. Only, the guns were not pointed at me. They were pointed at Kat. The only thing standing between Kat and a bullet in her head was the slightest order from Lutz.

  I raised my hands in defeat.

  “You know we wouldn’t shoot you. We still need you. Finally, tonight you will prove to my brothers that patience and planning are always more powerful and effective than brute force.”

  He stepped over to the hidden door. It was already open. “Shall we, Jim? The sooner I get what I want, the sooner you can go back to your life. Once we have the necklace, you will never hear from us again. And really, it is a small price to pay, given this fortune you just literally walked into. So, let’s just get it over with.” He extended his hand to the hidden doorway.

  I made my way over to the secret room and Lutz filed in behind me.

  “Listen, kid. Do what you're told, or she will be gone in a heartbeat, and that will only be the start of it. This can all be over in a matter of moments.”

  As I walked in and headed towards the safe, I realized the mirror was gone. I also noticed some marks on the wall where it hung. I didn’t want to show that it held any of my attention. So, I kept my eyes straight ahead. I walked all the way to the steel door of the safe. I retrieved the key from my pocket, inserted it, and turned it. In the silence the sound of the door unlocking echoed through the room.

  The door creaked open. Behind the steel door, were a couple of empty shelves. Below the shelves was another safe. This one was black with a massive dull brass dial and handle.

  “Go ahead. What are you waiting for?”

  I had memorized the combination after seeing it at David’s office on the whiteboard. It was a set of numbers that meant something to me, because it was her son’s birthdate. I took a deep breath and began spinning the safe dial to the left. After a couple spins, I stopped the dial on the two. Then to the right over the twenty-seven and back. On the second turn, I spun too much and missed the number.

  “Damn,” I mumbled.

  “Are you trying to stall, hoping someone will come save you?”

  “No, I just fucked it up.”

  I again, spun the dial a few times to the left and then stopping on the two. Now to the right over twenty-seven and back to it stopping the dial. I took my hand off the dial for a moment and took a deep breath. Back on the dial, I took my time to slowly bring the dial to the four. I took my hand off the dial and moved it to the large brass handle. I held my breath as I started to turn it. It turned slowly until it engaged and unlocked the door.

  The door popped open about a quarter of an inch. I pulled it open the rest of the way. Inside were two shelves. The top shelf was empty aside from a lock of brown hair tied together with a purple ribbon. On the shelf below, was a flat carved wooden box.

  “Hand me the box,” Lutz commanded from behind me.

  I slowly reached inside for the box. If this was my time, I was blowing it. I racked my brain to think of something equally valiant and stupid to turn this around. Unlike the movies, there was no random piece of steel lying around I could take him out with. Every thought I had met with the same ending, Kat and me both. I retrieved the box and pulled it from the safe. I turned and saw Lutz watching my every move with a huge smile on his face.

  I handed him the box, praying he would set his gun down to open it. He didn’t, of course. He set the box on the small table and opened it, never taking the gun off of me. With the box open, he stared at its contents for a moment.

  In a quick motion, he closed the box and turned his head to me.

  “Where the fuck is it?” he roared.

  “Where is what?” I spat in response.

  “What have you done with it?”

  “I haven’t done a damn thing. I opened the safe for you. That is the first time I touched it.”

  “You think I am that stupid?” He walked up to me, stopping within a foot of me. “This is not over. I am sure Katherine will be able to remember what it is you have done with that necklace.”

  Just as my brain started to track what he was saying, I saw Lutz raise his hand with the gun. His hand came down with fierce velocity. The butt of the gun slammed into my forehead. Everything went black.

  25

  When I got up, it was completely dark. It wasn't until I felt the cold marble floor underneath me that the reality of it all came back to me. I jolted up, trying to get my bearings. My head throbbed. I stood up and stumbled like a drunk. Unable to see, I reached out with my hands, trying to feel the wall. Anything to guide me. I took a few steps forward, and my foot caught on the chair. I tumbled forward, knocking the chair down beneath me. The chair broke into pieces with my impact.

  Now, getting up to my knees, I felt around my pockets until I found my flashlight. I pulled it out and turned it on. The room was the same and empty. I stood slowly. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to push away the pain in my head. When I closed my eyes, the only vision I had was of Kat tied up on the couch.

  With a burst of adrenaline, I ran into the parlor. My light shined on the empty couch. The startling sight of her being gone sent a shock through my body. I dropped the light and went to my knees. Tears streamed from my eyes. I sat there for a few moments. My breathing started to slow. I realized at that moment, that Kat was not to blame, she had told me the truth. She had no choice and now she was in even more danger. I felt responsible for this. I was changing. With every tear that dropped, my sorrow was replaced with rage. Finally, there was no sorrow left.

  I grabbed the flashlight and went back to the hidden room, looking for anything that could help me. I went back over to the safe and grabbed the lock of hair and shoved it in my back pocket. My gun was on the ground in front of the safe. I grabbed it. I checked the clip and the chamber. It was loaded and ready to fire. I put it in its holster and turned to walk out of the room.

  As I swung the light around and caught a glimpse of where the mirror hung. Remembering there was something there before, I moved the light along the wall until I could see the markings. Looking closer, I could make them out.

  “TEXT,” was written on the wall in what looked like a red pen.

  My mind cycled through a thousand images from the past month, stopping on everyone when I saw David writing something. He always wrote with the same red pen. I realized that had to be from David.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket. It was 3:02 in the morning. There was a new text from David sent hours earlier.

  “Go to the pond. When the time is right, say these words ‘I conjure you, Lylet, and your companions and command you to banish this demon, Samuel Freidrich Muller, from the land of the living and return him to the hell he was delivered from.’ When he is gone, destroy the mirror.”

  I re-read the text over and over. I had no idea what it would do or if it would work. At that point, it was my only hope. I continued to read it until I had committed it to memory. I put the phone back into my pocket. After looking at the bright phone screen, it took my eye
s a bit to adjust to the darkness. When they finally had, I walked through the parlor and out into the hall.

  The door locked with a thud that echoed through the hall. I realized that if anyone was waiting for me, they would certainly have heard that. I stood frozen in the hall for a moment. I turned off the light and waited for my eyes to fully adjust to the darkness. I could make out the edges of the hallway. I retrieved the gun from its holster. I held the gun with both hands and let it lead my way silently through the hallway, all the way to the staircase.

  My heart raced. Yet, I took every step with caution. At every doorway, I expected one of Lutz’s men to jump out, but no one did. Still exercising caution, I reached the bottom floor and stopped. I needed to take a deep breath and compose myself, to calm myself. I recited the phrase David texted to me.

  I began to move toward the front door of the house. I recited the phrase over and over. With every step closer, I moved with more haste. The front door was in my sight. I had no more fear of someone jumping me. I had to keep moving. I reached the front door and slowly started to open it. As It opened, the cold wind of the night caught me off guard and took my breath away.

  I stepped out into the light of the moon. It was a full moon and lit up the grounds like daylight. There was my truck, exactly where I’d left it hours earlier. Kat’s car was there as well. My mind raced, trying to think where she could be. I thought about the possibility of Lutz having her killed. I thought of her being hidden in the woods. In the end, I shut the thoughts down because I knew exactly where she was. She was at the pond. I had no reason to know this, but I felt it.

  This feeling gave me a new burst of energy. I holstered my pistol and headed towards the pond.

  It was dark outside. I could see the murky water reflect the light of the moon beyond the shrubs. Everything looked quiet. There was a pang in my heart as I doubted my feeling. I pushed forward until I made my way through the brush.

  Finally, I was able to see the entire pond. There was Kat lying on the far bench, still tied up. The sight sent me in a dead sprint towards her, forgetting any concern for my safety.

  “First you arrive early and now late,” Samuel’s voice boomed.

  Hearing this, I stopped dead in my tracks. The transformation took place again and Samuel was there standing before a completely restored pond. He was wearing his hooded cloak, standing behind Kat who laid unmoving on the bench. Now, in the blinding light of the torches, I could make out more of the scene.

  “I had expected her eventually, but you all made this far too easy. I thought surely she would come here chasing you.”

  I began to slowly step closer to his makeshift altar. My eyes were focused on Kat. I could see her chest rise slowly with breath, relieving me.

  “So this is it?” I yelled. “You tie me up and kill me?”

  “Oh James, I have waited decades for this moment. Let’s not rush into anything here. Besides, I see no reason to tie you up. Sure, you are stupid and heroic, but even that cannot overtake your need to watch this.”

  “Why Kat?” I asked.

  My question resulted in an echoing laugh from Sam.

  “You really have not figured this all out yet. James, you disappoint me so. You are so much like your father. You think this is about you and your poor mom. Please sit down. Let's chat a moment.”

  He motioned towards another bench on the side, across from Kat. I followed, taking every opportunity to delay this. I sat down and looked at Samuel.

  “Then, why are you here?” I asked. “The necklace wasn’t in the safe.”

  “Again with the necklace. You really need to learn to listen dear boy. The necklace would always fall back into the right hands, but this is why I am here.” He gestured to the altar before him.

  “This is my day of reckoning. My final chance to right my wrongs and restore everything to its proper balance. I never dreamed it would come together this easily. I always knew I would have you when the time came. But her… you practically handed her to me.”

  “What does she have to do with this?” I asked.

  “Because she is my blood, James. Who could have ever predicted the twist of fate this took. Two half-breeds brought together. First your mother and that halfwit butler father of yours. Then, my little indulgence produced this bloodline in her. I would have taken care of that little situation the same way I did you, but of course, Edgar stepped in. This story just oozes with irony at every turn. I would love to give Edgar some credit for thwarting me, but we both know that was nothing more than dumb luck. Besides, if it weren’t for his actions, I wouldn’t have this pristine body full of my blood here today.”

  While he spoke, my eyes scanned the area for David. I prayed he was here somewhere, or at least that his saying would work. My eyes darted back and forth, finding nothing to even hint that these prayers would be answered. Quickly, I realized there were only two ways this night would end. Either we’d all be dead, or, David was right, and Samuel would be gone. I trusted David to a point, but honestly, the idea of trusting my life to him was a bit more than I could easily do. Rather than leave it all to the chance of David being right, I decided I had to try something.

  I stood up from the bench and walked towards Samuel, who just stared at me with a confused look. Without another thought, I lowered my body weight and charged at him. I intended to hit him with my shoulder. Instead of making contact, I hit nothing. Nothing stopped me. My feet, braced for the blow, were unable to keep up with my body’s trajectory. I stumbled and slammed onto the ground.

  When I turned my head to look at Samuel, he was standing there as if nothing happened.

  “Again with the heroics? Why must you keep embarrassing yourself?” He laughed loudly.

  I slumped my head in defeat.

  “Now, you will sit there and watch this,” he commanded.

  I chose to listen and moved slowly into a sitting position. Then, out of nowhere, something grabbed my hands. They were forced behind my back. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move them. I could feel the rope on my wrists, tightly securing them behind my back. Samuel did not move. He just stood there looking at me with a smile.

  “Now that there will no longer be any interruptions, we shall begin.”

  Samuel turned towards Kat and knelt down before the bench. In a moment, he circled his hands on the ground. The next thing I could see was his hand raising a silver chalice. With a grand flourish, he set the chalice on the bench next to Kat and pulled a long shiny knife from his robe. He held it over her for a moment and then lowered it. He turned to face me.

  I knew I needed to act. I quickly ran through the spell David gave me in my head.

  “I conjure you, Lylet and your companions,” I shouted, “and command you to banish this demon, Samuel Freidrich Muller, from the land of the living and return him to hell!”

  Samuel sharply turned to face me. He stared me down for a moment before bursting into laughter.

  “You really are new to this, aren’t you?” He walked towards me.

  He knelt next to me and moved in until his face was only an inch from mine.

  “You picked up a spell for your mom’s mirror. Pity that will not help you here. You haven’t brought the mirror with you. Do you really expect the mirror to hear you from here? You should understand one thing before we continue, James. Your mother, even your father, were not particularly skilled. They simply provided setbacks. For certain, everything would have been easier if they had not made their attempts, but there was nothing they could do to overpower me completely.”

  He stood up and stepped back towards Kat while watching me.

  “This is too easy. You know what is the most satisfying way of waking a person who lies unconscious?”

  Out of spite, I chose not to reply.

  “Taking a knife and cutting them like a surgeon. It never takes long. Then, we not only have the sweet blood, but we have a victim who is awake. Oh, there is such satisfaction of watching a person's eyes as the
life is taken from them…. or should I say given to them?”

  He turned to Kat and lowered the knife, cutting off her sleeve. He shuffled back and forth with delight before he slowly sunk the tip of his blade into the flesh of her arm. Within an instant, her body writhed in pain, and he removed the blade.

  “There, there Katherine. It is time for you to sit up.”

  She moved and slowly sat up. I watched her open her eyes, first staring at Samuel, but then scanning her surroundings. Her eyes widened. They locked onto mine. Without being able to discern any body language aside from her eyes, I had no clue what her reaction was. It could have been surprise, love, anger, anything. I saw the response I couldn’t deal with. She was looking at me with disappointment. She was waiting for me to rescue her, and it was at that moment she realized I had failed. It was clear to me now that I had sealed both of our fates.

  Disappointment, rage, and fear consumed me as I sat there. Kat's eyes were locked on me, and I had failed. I shifted my weight slightly, and my hand brushed against the butt of my pistol. I could not help but show a twinge of a smile. It was not an answer or an escape. It was a chance, and it was a chance I had to take. I tried to signal to Kat what I was planning with my eyes. Although the message certainly did not come across as I intended.

  As I continued to look at her, my fingertips ran themselves over the handle of my gun and down toward the holster. Soon, I could feel the edge of my pocket knife, which was clipped in the holster. With every ounce of energy I had, my fingertips were able to free it from the holster and move it into my hand where I could hold it properly.

  The knife was a one-hand open. As long as I could press the lever hard enough, I could open the blade. With my fingertips resting on the lever, I shifted slightly where I sat. This gave me the opportunity to press the lever and also cover any sound it made when opening. I pressed the lever. The blade opened. Now there was true hope.

  I gently moved the tip of the blade along the inside of the knot that bound my hands. Thankfully, the blade had a serrated edge which I sunk into the rope. I just needed a few good tries to saw through the knot, and I would be free.