The Presence

by Shady Grim

  “I don’t understand what all of this has to do with old crimes,” I said.

  “I’m getting to that. Did you ever hear the expression, ‘Misery likes company’?”

  “Of course,” I answered.

  “So evil prefers the company of its own kind. There is a force, an energy, or entity, whatever term you prefer, that exists in the woodland surrounding your home. I would describe it as many beings or entities working together for a cause.”

  “What cause might that be?”

  “The race for Eternity,” said Carly.

  “Come again?” I was totally lost and had no idea what she was referencing.

  “Evil is racing against time to build up its army of darkness to wage an End-Time battle with the creatures of light, angels. Some people believe that Satan thinks numbers can overpower the soldiers of God. That if God’s most cherished children, us...humanity, can be swayed to the dark side, then Heaven can be vanquished. Personally, I believe Satan is too smart for that. He, or It if you prefer, knows the End-Time will bring his defeat. But if he can take God’s children with him into oblivion, he can perform his last act of defiance–to spit on God’s face, if you will. God’s wishes for humanity will pass away into the misery of condemnation.”

  “I’m sorry, Carly, but I’m having a little trouble with this. I mean, I believe that there is a possibility of a God and a Devil, angels and demons. With enough evidence, you might even be able to convince me of demonic possession, but this End-Time prophecy stuff is a little too much to take. People have been prophesying about the War of Armageddon since biblical times and nothing has happened yet.”

  “If yeh would just shut up for a while and let ‘er finish, yeh’d understand better,” said Ethan with an air of nervous frustration. “This is really important, Heather, yeh have to stop arguin’ and listen.”

  “Okay, okay, I’m not trying to debate Carly’s credibility. I’m just having a little trouble accepting this.”

  “It’s okay, you’ll understand in your own time,” she said. “I’m not predicting Armageddon. I’m just giving you a reason why some things happen. Divine prophecy is the area of God’s chosen ones. It’s not a gift that I possess.” She continued to describe in detail how her belief in evil spirits inhabiting the woodland surrounding my property affected the crimes of the past. She claimed that evil is drawn to its own kind, something like how Ethan and I are drawn to each other. Evil needs a human to freely choose it in order to take possession of that soul. In this case, the entities wait patiently for someone to come to them. The discarded bodies, the ones that were butchered, were used for ceremonial purposes by living people who want Satan to grant them Earthly power. The victims were carefully chosen and used for live sacrifice to please the bloodlust of the Devil. Eyes are typically a symbol of the gift of prophesy, or second sight. The bodies that were missing their eyes were used in a ceremony that culminated in the living victim having his or her eyes cut from the body so that Satan would bestow the gift of sight upon His faithful servant. The hands symbolize material power, so the seeker wanted wealth and authority. The heart and liver symbolize another powerful form of psychic ability. The seeker would be endowed with the ability to perform miraculous deeds, such as healing the sick, which would be used to deceive witnesses into believing the gift is of a divine nature. All gifts are used to deceive witnesses into following the path of the false god. The missing bodies, the ones that were never recovered, represent a more dangerous occurrence. These are the people that willfully relinquish their bodies and souls to the will and possession of the Satan. The body continues to live, in the sense that we understand life, but it contains a legion of dark spirits that work toward the condemnation of humanity. These creatures become part of society; they become parents, teachers, leaders, religious zealots; anyone that can influence the masses, or erode the foundations of faith. What better way to hide evil than to cloak it behind a veil of righteousness?

  To make a strange hypothesis even stranger, Carly insisted that I was drawn to the old house for a specific purpose. Naturally, with every story needing a hero and this story lacking one thus far, I was made to fit into the role rather nicely. Carly felt that it was I, a soul so close to Nirvana, or Heaven if you prefer; who would bring rest to the weary old house. I would prevent her physical and spiritual corrosion and restore a place of safety to any souls who may seek it. I thought it was all a bunch of ego-serving poppycock, but was too polite to offend the woman in her own home. She appeared to genuinely believe this fable and Ethan was so taken in by it that I wanted to try and gently turn him around. I knew an argument with this woman would only incite an impulsive rebellion from him. The mere mention of spirits was enough to scare the hell out of him and this convoluted tale of me being a “soldier of God” just added bricks and mortar to his already idealistic belief that I was bulletproof. She warned us that the cycle was overdue and another tragedy was bound to occur. The next one may be worse than any in the past. She felt that a different tactic may be employed by whatever dark forces were at work.

  Carly looked deeply into the flickering light of the candle on the table. After several minutes, that felt to me like an eternity, she looked up at me and proclaimed, “I sense a coming fourth.” I thought it was quite theatrical.

  “Pardon?” I said.

  “A fourth bonded soul is approaching. There are three of you, a fourth is needed.”

  “Needed for what?”

  “I’m not sure, it’s not clear to me. I sense that something is coming, and it will test you greatly. That’s all I can say, I’m sorry.”

  “I knew it! It’s the end of the world!” cried Ethan suddenly, and jumped out of his seat.

  “Don’t be so dramatic, Ethan.” I patted his shoulder to comfort him. He fell silent and crunched nervously on his remaining pickle. I thanked Carly for her candid advice and told her that we had to be getting home as I had an early day coming.

  “Before you leave,” she said. “I have to tell you one more thing. You said you have a dog?”

  “Yes,” I answered, “a St. Bernard.”

  “Satan has the power to possess animals. You should be careful of your dog.”

  “If Satan, or anyone else, wants my animal He’d better be careful of me. I’ll walk through Hell itself to protect what’s mine,” I spat back.

  “I expected such an answer from you,” said Carly with a satisfied smile.

  It was nearing midnight before we left her house, and I was very tired. Ethan, however, was running on nerves tapped by Carly’s vivid storytelling. He was on pins-and-needles the entire way home.

  “So what do yeh think?”

  “Of what?”

  “Carly’s predictions, obviously,” he said testily.

  “She said my dog is possessed by the Devil, Ethan. She seems like a nice woman, but her grip on reality is a little wanting.”

  “She said Thor could be possessed, not that he was possessed.”

  “It’s absurd either way.”

  “I knew yeh’d be like this.”

  “You asked me a question, I answered it. What more do you want?”

  “A little faith would be nice.”

  “I did everything you asked of me, Ethan. I met her, and I listened to what she had to say. I was polite and patient. But you can’t expect me to believe the things she said. To me, it’s all just a convoluted fairy tale.”

  “Yeh know how important this visit was to me.”

  “Yes, I do, and that’s why I agreed to meet Carly.”

  “Carly told me not to try and force this on yeh. She said yeh’d accept it in yer own time.” Ethan’s voice was dripping with disappointment. He looked so disheartened that I was tempted to say I believed Carly just to placate him. He fell silent for a time, and I began to doze. “Hey, I got somethin’ for yeh.”

  “What?” I said as I turned to look at him. He quickly leaned over and belched loudly in my face and laughed heartily.

 
“Oh, that’s just great, just what I needed. That stopped being funny when we were about twelve.” I should’ve known what was coming. He’d done things like that to me so many times since we were children, but I just kept falling for them.

  “Yeh know, yer the only chick I can do that to,” he said with pride. “Yer almost like a guy, at least that’s how I think of yeh. Yer like one of my buddies.” That was just what I needed to top off the day’s events, but I knew what he was trying to say and thanked him for the sentiment. “Um...there’s somethin’ else I’ve gotta tell yeh.”

  “Please don’t burp or fart at me, Ethan. I’m too tired.”

  “I won’t, this is serious. Although I do have a little gas from that can of soda, and those pickles didn’t help much. Pickle farts have an interestin’ aroma, but I think I’ll save them for Emmy.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be flattered.”

  “What I wanted say was this, yeh know how the kids are always feedin’ the turtle and playin’ with ‘im and stuff?” I knew this was going to be something big because Ethan always inserted the phrase “and stuff” to cover a serious or complicated topic.

  “What happened?”

  Ethan knew by my tone not to hedge around. “Well, I heard the kids fightin’ the other day and went around to the garden to have a look at what they were into. I caught Emmy tacklin’ Jimmy and ran over to split ‘em up. Apparently she told Jimmy the story yeh told ‘er about where turtles keep their secrets. Jimmy wanted to see for ‘imself, so he raided my toolbox when I wasn’t lookin’ and tried to crack Nicky’s shell open with one of my hammers–but Nicky’s okay. I checked ‘im and all he has is a tiny chip off ‘is back.”

  “Why wasn’t I told?” I felt myself going into a cold rage.

  “Uhmm, because I knew yeh’d kill ‘im for it.” He spoke slowly and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “I already punished ‘im for it. I put ‘im over my knee, spanked ‘im, and made ‘im sit in the house all day. Shelly was pretty pissed that I spanked ‘im, but I told ‘er he got off lucky. If yeh found out, yeh’d punish ‘im more severely, so we agreed that it was best not to tell yeh.”

  “You don’t keep secrets like that from me! I won’t tolerate the abuse of animals, you know that!”

  “Well, I know how yeh are, and I thought it would be best–”

  “That’s perfect. I have two people in my home whom I bend over backwards to help, and they show their thanks by completely ignoring my wishes, having no respect for my feelings or property, and trying to kill my pets.”

  “I knew yeh’d be like this, that’s why I didn’t tell yeh! It’s just a kid thing, and I took care of it. It’s over.”

  “Deliberately smashing a live animal to bits with a hammer isn’t a kid thing. He’s old enough to know that would kill Nicky. It’s cruel, Ethan, and I won’t tolerate it.”

  “Well, yeh can’t punish ‘im twice for the same thing.”

  “This day just keeps getting better and better.”

  “What are yeh gonna do?”

  “I don’t know. I just want to go to bed.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  We didn’t speak for the rest of the ride home. Ethan played the radio to keep himself awake. I was too agitated to sleep and wondered if I would get any rest when I got home. We were an hour’s drive away from home, but the ride went more quickly than usual due to the late hour, the lack of traffic, and Ethan’s heavy foot. I was relieved when we turned off the road and made our way up the long and bumpy dirt road that led to the house. Ethan parked the truck as close to the back porch as possible and scooted across the seat to get out on the passenger’s side instead of having to face the ghouls that may be lurking amongst the trees.

  “That’s odd,” I said. “The porch light is off, but the lights are still on in the house.”

  “We’ll find out when we get in the house.” Ethan pushed me to the porch and shoved me up the steps and in the door. As soon as his feet crossed the threshold, he sprinted into the kitchen and hollered back at me, “Shelly probbly left the lights on for us.”

  “It would make more sense to leave the porch’s light on.”

  “Well, she ain’t exactly the most sensible person around, is she?”

  Ethan had a valid point. I stopped to whistle at the guinea pigs before I entered the kitchen and noticed that they weren’t whistling back. “Ethan, turn the porch light on.”

  “Why?” he said as he flipped the light switch.

  “Oh, shit! The pigs are gone!” I shouted as I inspected their cage to see how they got loose.

  “What? Are yeh sure they ain’t in their house?” I looked in the little wooden house that he’d made for them and shook my head. “They should be out here somewhere. They can’t get past a closed door. They’re probbly hidin’ behind yer plants.” He stooped to look behind the large potted plants that lined the porch. “They ain’t here either.”

  “Their cage is completely intact. There’s no way they could’ve gotten out,” I said, and Ethan came over to double check. “Look, the corner’s pushed out.” I pointed at the screen in the porch door. The entire bottom screen had been pushed out. Ethan frowned for a moment, and shrugged his shoulders.

  “We better go check on everyone.” He strode through the kitchen. I turned to follow him when Shelly entered. Her face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were swollen and red. “Oh God, Shell, what happened?”

  “Where’s Thor? He didn’t come to greet me.”

  “He’s gone,” she squeaked and moved closer to Ethan.

  “What do you mean ‘he’s gone,’ and where are the guinea pigs?”

  “I knew you’d be angry.” She looked up at Ethan and started to cry. “It wasn’t his fault. Jimmy didn’t do anything. Thor just went crazy.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I said. My temper was growing by the second.

  “Well, the kids wanted to play with the guinea pigs for a while, so I let them bring them inside to run around the floor. Out of nowhere, Thor attacked Jimmy. I had to chase him onto the porch and shut the kitchen door. He pushed the screen out and ran off.”

  “Bullshit! Thor would never attack anyone without provocation.”

  “I swear it’s the truth!” she sniveled.

  “You’re lying. There are no claw marks on that door or on the kitchen door, and you would never have been able to chase Thor away from anything if he was angry. He doesn’t listen to you, and you’re too weak to move him.”

  “Take it easy, Heather,” said Ethan. “Yeh know Thor doesn’t like Jimmy, maybe with you gone he–”

  “Don’t finish that sentence! Where are the pigs? Did Thor attack them too?”

  “After Thor ran off, I opened the door to call for him and the pigs got out.” She was now pressing herself against Ethan.

  “That’s amazing,” I said. “Guinea pigs, animals known for their stupidity, have enough sense to run through the house and out the porch door to escape. If one pig had the sense to do that it would be amazing, but all four of them is nothing short of miraculous. You’re a liar, and I’m not wasting any more time with you. I’m going out to my truck to get my flashlight, and then I’m going to look for my dog. If anything’s happened to him, Shelly, I will skin you alive.”

  “It’s just a dog, Heather! You can get another one!” Her tone became venomous, and her overly distraught demeanor vanished instantly. There was an unfamiliar coldness in her manner.

  “Wrong thing to say,” muttered Ethan as he moved Shelly behind him and put his hands up to act as a barrier between Shelly and me. “Just calm down; it’s not ‘er fault.” He turned back to Shelly and told her to go to bed and allow him to handle me.

  “I need my keys, Ethan.”

  “Yeh can’t go out there. It’s not safe. Remember what Carly said about animals gettin’ possessed and stuff. Maybe that’s why Thor went berserk?”

  “Thor didn’t go berserk! She, or her brat, did something to him, and I
will not let some superstitious paranoia keep me from getting my dog back! Now, give me my keys!”

  “Fine, here’re yer damn keys!” He slapped them into my hand. “I’ll get my flashlight outta my truck and help yeh look for ‘im.”

  “We’ll look for the pigs in the morning,” I said. “We’ll never find them in the dark.”

  “Okay, but don’t yeh get ahead of me. I don’t like goin’ in there.”

  “Like you have to tell me,” I mumbled as I walked to the edge of the woods. I shouted for Thor and Ethan joined me. We could neither see nor hear any sign of him, so we moved farther into the woods against Ethan’s wishes. I told him to go home, and I would continue looking by myself, but he wouldn’t leave me. The evening was unusually still as we traveled deeper and deeper into the pitch blackness.

  “It’s so quiet in here, I can hear my own heartbeat,” he whispered. “It reminds me of...of...” and his voice fell away. “Holy shit! What the hell was that? Did yeh see it? Please tell me yeh saw it?” He pointed in the direction of a brilliant flash of white. It resembled a bolt of lightning but appeared to move with purpose, as if it were alive. It was a column of white that stood maybe seven feet high and was about three feet wide. It was surrounded by a thick, glowing, grey-white mist that hovered about two feet or so off the ground. It seemed to appear from out of the ground and hovered for a few seconds before it moved off behind some thick trees. Oddly, the light it cast didn’t seem to be reflected off of the dewy foliage. It seemed to begin and end with the column.

  “Yes, I saw it, and I’m still seeing it.”

  “What is it?” His voice was trembling with fear.