The Haunting of Wiley Manor

by Jason Spectre

  From the outside, the cupboard jutted out into the room, taking up twice the area it actually needed. Kelly was certain she was right, but to be certain, she went and reopened the door. It confirmed what she knew. Once she had seen it, she had known.

  The closet wasn’t big enough to fill the space. So what was behind there?

  Kelly pushed all of the hangers to one side and examined the back of the closet. She ran her fingers over the wooden back and tapped in places. It was definitely hollow behind the back of the closet.

  She kept running her fingers over the wall and suddenly, she found it. A ridge. A join. She crouched down to get a proper look. There it was. The outline of a small hatch. Kelly took the master key and pressed it into the join. She pulled and a section of the wood came lose and swung into a dark gap.

  Kelly bent down and put her head and shoulders in. She crawled in the rest of the way before she changed her mind. Once in, she could stand up as easily as she could in the closet.

  Wishing she had a torch, Kelly looked around. She saw a string hanging down from the ceiling. There couldn’t be a light. No way. She pulled the string. It seemed there was a light.

  A bare bulb sputtered to life, but barely. It petered out and she heard the element pop. But not before she saw the staircase leading down to who knew what.

  Chapter 5

  Kelly stood before the hatch in the closet in room five, a torch in her hand. She felt eyes on the back of her neck.

  “Oh go away,” she said, suddenly unafraid. She had to know what was down here. Had Sammy somehow found the secret entrance? Kelly knew it was a stupid theory, ridiculous. But so much of what had happened here since they moved in was ridiculous that she wasn’t ruling it out. Aside from that, she was curious. The stairs went downwards, so they must lead to a basement she didn’t even know they had.

  Had the past owners hidden the door because they didn’t want guests down there, or was it something more sinister than that? Kelly was sick of being afraid in her own home. No more, she told herself.

  She dropped to her knees and crawling back through the hatch. Without pausing, she flicked the torch on and aimed the powerful beam at the staircase. She went down slowly. Not because she was afraid of what she might find she told herself, but because she was afraid the old staircase could be rotten and could give way at any moment.

  Kelly reached the bottom of the staircase and turned into what appeared to be one big room. She took a couple of steps in and shone the torch around. What she saw made her gasp with horror. She stepped in a bit further, and played the torch over the walls, letting it linger this time.

  The walls were covered with bright red symbols. Symbols Kelly believed to be Satanic symbols. There were pentagrams, upside down crucifixes and words Kelly couldn’t make out. They were written in a language she didn’t recognise.

  Kelly swallowed loudly in the silence of the room. She spotted a darker patch on the floor and turned her torch there. She saw a circle, rusty in colour. It looked like it was drawn on the floor in dried blood.

  Kelly new if the police found this room, they would think her and Jason were lunatics. If they didn’t find Sammy, everyone would think they had done something to her. How could they not think that by looking at this room?

  Kelly new she had to get out of there and close the hatch. Make sure no one else found it.

  As she went to go back, the torch died. Plunged into darkness, Kelly felt the temperature plummet. Her teeth started chattering instantly, her breath clouding before her face.

  She felt a fear like she had never felt before. The sort of terror that means you can see, can’t think straight. She raised her hands in front of her face, and took a few small, tentative steps forward, praying she was heading in the direction of the stairs.

  As she did, she heard a voice whisper her name, long and drawn out.

  “Kellllyyyyy.”

  It came again, and before she had a change to react, it was echoing, each echo overlapping the next whispering until she was consumed by voices saying her name. She put her hands over her ears, pressing them flat to her skull, but it did nothing to block out the voices. It was like they were inside her head. She stumbled blindly forward, wanting nothing more than to get out of this room.

  If she stayed here, she would die. The thought came to her with total clarity and total certainty.

  She tripped in the darkness, her stomach turning as she felt herself falling. She would fall forever, trapped in the darkness with the voices.

  She landed hard on her knees, feeling the instant stinging of the grazes. As she landed, the voices stopped and the torch which had fell beside her switched back on.

  She breathed a sigh of relief and got back to her feet. She grabbed the torch and covered the rest of the distance to the staircase. She was sure she hadn’t gone so far into the room, but she must have. What was happening to her? Was this place sending her crazy?

  As she put her foot on the first step, she heard a small, terrified voice. “Please don’t go. Please. Help me,” it whispered.

  The fear back, Kelly half ran, half stumbled up the stairs.

  “No. Please come back,” the voice said, louder this time.

  The fear in the voice permeated Kelly’s own fear. That was no presence, no demonic voice. It was a child. She stopped.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Will you help me?” came the voice. Kelly’s blood turned to ice in her veins as she finally placed the voice. Sammy.

  Chapter 6

  Kelly bolted back down the stairs. She’d been right. Sammy had wandered down here. And it sounded like she was trapped or hurt.

  Kelly ran into the centre of the room and shone the torch around. She couldn’t see the girl.

  “Sammy? Sammy, it’s Kelly. Where are you?”

  “Over here,” came her voice.

  Kelly shone the torch in the direction the voice came from. There, right in the farthest corner she could make out a figure. Just. She would never have spotted her if she hadn’t spoken up.

  Kelly ran to Sammy’s side. The child’s ankles and wrists were bound together and toed to a large steel ring that was concreted into the floor.

  “What on earth happened to you?” Kelly asked as she fought to untie the knots.

  Sammy didn’t answer. Her eyes stared straight ahead, a glassy, vacant look in them. Silent tears poured down her cheeks.

  “Sammy?” Kelly said again as she finally got the knots loose. No reply.

  Kelly could see that Sammy was in no state to walk. She placed the torch between her teeth, breathing through her nose so she didn’t retch and bent down and scooped the little girl up in her arms.

  “Sammy! Oh Sammy! Thank God you’re safe,” Leila exclaimed as she burst through the front door and ran to Sammy’s side. She hugged Sammy to her, kissing her all over her face and head, breathing in her scent. Tears rolled down Leila’s face too, but Kelly thought they were tears of joy and relief.

  Seeing her mother woke something back up in Sammy, and suddenly, she was responsive again. “Mummy,” she cried, hugging Leila back.

  Kelly felt a lump form in her throat as she watched the reunion.

  The front door opened again and Officer Harding walked in followed by Jason.

  “Where was she?” Officer Harding asked.

  Before Kelly could reply, Sammy’s eyes flew open and she scooted back in the chair, pressing herself tightly against the back.

  “That’s the man who took me,” she cried, her face ghostly white and her eyes wide in terror. With that, she fainted.

  Chapter 7

  Kelly sat at the reception desk, too upset to move, too stunned to cry. She thought back over the events of the last twenty-four hours.

  Sammy going missing. The basement. Sammy afraid of Jason. The ambulance. And then, most recently, Officer Harding and Officer Drayton coming back. Arresting Jason.

  Officer Drayton had taken him to the waiting squad car. Officer Harding
had hung around and explained to Kelly what was happening.

  Sammy had been taken to hospital. She was physically ok, but the doctors said she was in extreme shock and sedated her. She had woken up that morning and told the police what had happened.

  She said she was playing in the garden when Jason had approached her. She said he’d been asking her about school. Then she said his eyes had turned black, completely black, and a group of people had appeared around him. He grabbed her and took her to the basement. She said Kelly saved her.

  Officer Harding explained that based on Sammy’s testimony, Kelly wasn’t a suspect, but they might need to question her. And they would be back later as they would need to see the basement.

  Kelly had lost track of how long she had sat at reception, lost in thought. Josh had returned and collected the Jones’s belongings. He hadn’t said a word to Kelly, wouldn’t even acknowledge her when she enquired after Sammy. He just placed the key on the desk and walked away. As he reached the door, he seemed to remember that Kelly wasn’t the bad guy here.

  “She’ll be fine,” he said. “Thank you for getting her out of there.”

  He was gone before Kelly could ask after Leila.

  Kelly knew that Jason couldn’t have done this. He just couldn’t. Why would he want to hurt a little girl? She thought back to what Officer Harding had said about the black eyes and the group of people who appeared. Did it all tie in with the presence in this place?

  Kelly didn’t know. She had to find someone who would. She launched the internet on the computer and typed in Google’s address. Before long, she found what she was looking for and dialled the number she found.

  Kelly looked up as the door opened.

  “Kelly?” smiled the woman who entered. Kelly nodded. “I’m Madelaine. We spoke on the phone.”

  Kelly nodded again. She gestured to the seating area and walked around to join Madelaine.

  She poured out the whole story. What she had seen and heard. The things that moved around. Always feeling watched. And then she told her everything that had happened after she found the hatch.

  The spiritualist listened without interrupting. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Kelly. This time last week, she’d have said Madelaine was a nut job. Now here she was crossing her fingers that she believed the story.

  Madelaine crossed herself. “There is a strong demonic presence in this building Kelly. The last owners called me in too.”

  Kelly didn’t want a history lesson. She wanted to know what she could do to get Jason out of prison. “What do I do to get rid of it?” she asked.

  Madelaine shook her head sadly. “It’s not that simple. The presence won’t rest until it gets its sacrifice, or is exorcised. The presence over took your husband and would have used him to make that sacrifice. If you still here, it will use you next.”

  Madelaine fished around in her handbag. “I can see you’re sceptical. Even after everything’s happened. I think you do believe me though; you just don’t want to.”

  She handed Kelly an envelope. “Read this, and then you’ll know the truth. Please don’t call me here again. The presence here is too strong. Leave while you still can.”

  She stood up and left, ignoring Kelly’s protestations.

  Kelly sighed. How could she leave? She had nowhere to go and no money. And surely she didn’t believe this? The thing was, after everything she’d seen, she kind of did.

  Kelly put down the last newspaper clipping. This place had a history, that was for sure. The original owner had been murdered here after locals decided he was a cult leader after a spate of missing children. And over the years, it seemed a child went missing roughly once a year. Around the time it was now.

  Kelly didn’t have time to dwell on the past. She had to find a way to get Jason out of jail. She couldn’t believe she was actually considering an exorcism, but she found that she was.

  She glanced at her watch, suddenly exhausted. It was after 4am. She couldn’t call anyone now. She didn’t dare go to bed. Instead, she curled up in the arm chair where she sat.

  Chapter 8

  Kelly awoke with a start. She didn’t know where she was, only that bright sunlight as pouring onto her, momentarily blinding her. She blinked. Once. Twice.

  A man stood over her. She screamed and jumped up.

  “Relax. It’s me,” Jason said.

  “Jason,” Kelly said, throwing her arms around him. “What happened?”

  “They released me without charge,” he said. “Did you hear Sammy’s story? It’s crazy.”

  “Maybe it’s not so crazy,” Kelly said sitting down. She told Jason everything she had learned since he went away, and everything she had experienced. “I’m calling a priest.”

  “No,” Jason said. “No way. I’m still a suspect in this, and there’s no way we can draw attention like that. If the police think I’m crazy, it doesn’t matter how daft Sammy’s story is, I’m done for.”

  Kelly considered what he had said. He was right. “But we can’t afford to leave here,” she said weakly.

  “We don’t need to leave here. Please don’t buy into this stuff. The medium makes a living conning people into believing this stuff Kel.”

  Kelly nodded. She didn’t mention that Madelaine hadn’t asked for any money.

  She shivered as she felt the presence wrap itself around her again. It was brief, fleeting, not like before. It was gone almost as soon as it came, and Kelly knew that even if she had been right before, this time she had imagined it.

  She stood back up. “Let’s go and have breakfast,” she said. She put her hand on Jason’s arm. She pulled it away instantly.

  “You’re stone cold,” she said.

  He shrugged. “I think the shock of what happened just hit me.”

  He didn’t sound convincing. He sounded like he was fobbing her off. Kelly dismissed the thought. After everything he had been through, she had to expect him to be a bit shaken up. And if that meant he spoke in a monotone now and again, she could live with that.

  Two Days Later: Local News Report

  I’m standing here in front of the Wiley Manor Hotel where a brutal murder took place two nights ago. Jason Barnes killed his wife, Kelly, in the B&B which they had recently purchased.

  The couple’s luck was bad from the start when the child of their first guest was found bound in their basement. Barnes was arrested but released without charge. He returned home where he spent the day with his wife, before killing her that night as she slept.

  It is believed that Barnes killed the victim by slicing open her carotid artery. The body was discovered when Barnes called local police the next morning. Barnes was hysterical and claimed he isn’t responsible for the murder because he was possessed by a demonic force at the time of the killing. He stands by his statement and will enter a not guilty plea.

  Police psychologist June Henry will report back later today on whether or not Barnes is mentally fit to stand trial.

  This is Tina Garrity, reporting live. And now it’s back to the studio.

  Epilogue – Six Months Later

  “Mr Jenson, are you ready to give the prosecution’s closing argument?” the judge asked.

  “I am your honour,” replied Jenson, getting to his feet.

  “Ladies and Gentleman of the jury. Over the last two weeks you have heard expert testimony that proves that Mr Barnes is mentally able to stand trial. That means he is not suffering from any form of mental illness.

  “He is just a bad, bad man who expects us to believe his ridiculously fanciful story. Stopped from killing nine year old Sammy Jones, Barnes went on to direct his anger at his young wife, taking her life instead.

  “The defence have paraded a quite frankly absurd theory about demonic possession. Their expert witness was a psychic medium, who by her own admission under oath, is no more psychic than you or I.

  “I beg you to think about this case rationally, and base it only on the facts. Of course Mr Barnes was convinci
ng. When you choose to lie to your peers, you have to be. But ask yourself this; is it true?

  “The answer of course is no. This court relies on facts. And the fact is that Mr Barnes wasn’t possessed by anything other than his own lust to kill.

  “Has the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Barnes is guilty of first degree murder? Yes. The knife found at the scene, complete with Mr Barnes’ fingerprints and the blood of his wife. The fact he waited almost six hours before informing anyone of what he had done. The stupid alibi. And of course, the fact that he resented his wife for convincing him to buy a bed and breakfast he didn’t want, pouring all of their money into the project until he felt trapped.

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I urge you to use good sense and logic and return a guilty verdict.”

  Jenson finished and returned to his seat at the prosecution table. He scanned the jury. He didn’t like to try and read juries, but this one was a no brainer. The jury were firmly on his side.

  Two Hours Later

  “Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?” the judge asked.

  “Yes your honour,” replied the foreman of the jury, getting to her feet.

  She glanced at Jason where he sat between two defence lawyers. He was looking straight at her. Her eyes widened when she saw his eyes. They were all black, not a trace of white around the over sized pupils. She felt a shiver go down her spine as he locked his eyes on hers.

  She blinked and the illusion was gone. It must have been a trick of the light she thought. His eyes were normal. The tears poured from them, running down his face and dripping from his jaw. He made no move to wipe them away.

  The woman felt no sympathy for him. The lawyers could say what they wanted. They weren’t tears of remorse, they were tears of self pity because he wasn’t going to get away with this and he knew it.