The House of Wood

by Anthony Price

  Footsteps to her left, grabbed her attention. She tried to scream, but nothing would come. The ghost of Hiram grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and yanked her free. Her shoulder sprung from its socket with the force.

  “Think you could get rid of me that easily, you little slut,” Hiram spat at her. “I can be any of them, whenever I choose.”

  Rachel just stared in horror, unable to say anything.

  “Oh yeah, maybe this one would look more familiar.”

  He slung her through the air, her body flying through the flames. She screamed, as fragments of the house bit in to her flesh; shards of glass, wooden splinters, anything the house could use for its deadly purpose. As her body hit the floor, she rolled as quickly as she could, away from the danger. She had to get out, or he would kill her. But what about David?

  She looked back over at the embodiment of the house. Its features bucked and twisted, its hands covering the face. The long grey hair slowly shrunk, turning to brown. The hunched shoulders broadened out. The skin became taut and firm. It stopped. Everything stopped. He looked up. Familiar brown eyes stared back at her.

  “You let him kill me.”

  “I didn’t, Tim.”

  Rachel closed her eyes. It wasn’t possible. She squinted as hard as she could, hoping he would go away.

  “You were supposed to be my best friend,” a familiar voice said.

  Rachel’s eyes snapped open. She was staring in to the bloodied face of Chelsea.

  “How could you let him do it to me?”

  “Chelsea, please, I couldn’t stop him. There was nothing I could do.”

  A macabre grin stretched across her face. “Well, baby girl, it’s your turn now.”

  The body bucked and twisted out of shape, Chelsea’s flowing red hair dropping to the floor in clumps. Rachel couldn’t take it. Her hands covered her eyes.

  “No more, no more, no more.”

  “Hello, Rachel, did you miss me?”

  Rachel’s hands slowly dropped, as she backed away from the figure, sliding along the floor. “No, no you can't be, I saw you die. You died in the fire.”

  “Like I told you,” Justin said. “I can be any of them.”

  Loud screams filled the night air, as the fear inside Rachel took hold. The fireplace blazed, as the house roared in triumph. There was no way out, she realised, closing her eyes. The house was finally going to get its wish. They were going to die.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The house had taken on a life of its own. The orange flames in the fireplace had shrunk. The furniture now still. It wasn’t real. It seemed as if the house was waiting for something, taking a deep breath before its final onslaught. The calm before the storm.

  Rachel lay prone in the corner, her face contorted with the terror coursing through her veins. This couldn’t be happening, her mind screamed, not again. The pain in her battered body was almost paralysing. She tried to push herself up. The agony flooded her system, causing her vision to blur as if she was underwater. Gentle groans emanated from the kitchen. She realised David was still alive. She gritted her teeth. No one else would die for her.

  A muddy boot pressed down on her broken shoulder. She screamed, tears burning her eyes.

  “You’re pathetic,” Justin said, his voice unnaturally low. “This time you won’t get away.”

  He picked up her limp body. Her eyelids flickered, as he carried her to the sofa. A deep groan came from her, as she was thrown on to the plastic covered surface. In a semi-unconscious state, she was dimly aware of a raucous outside. It sounded like some beast hitting the house.

  Justin licked his lips, noticing Rachel’s growing fear. She gasped. His eyes were no longer blue. The subtle light in the room, bounced off the now onyx surface.

  “Can you hear them?” he asked.

  “W-what is it?”

  “It’s my children, come to play.” His eyes pierced deep inside her. “They want you to say hello.”

  He sprung towards her, pulling her towards the window.

  “No, no. Get off me you sick freak.”

  He smashed her head against the glass. A single crack crawled down the pane, her blood running alongside it. She remembered the dolls upstairs, their faces cracked and broken.

  “Open your eyes, sugar pie.”

  “No.”

  “Open your fucking eyes.”

  “I won’t do it.”

  He smashed her head again. “OPEN THEM!”

  Slowly, she gave in. Blood mixed with the tears giving everything a red tint. Then she saw. Blackbirds, hundreds of them, circling overhead, their caws like macabre cries of joy.

  “They’ll eat your bones, sugar pie,” Justin said. “I owe you.”

  The next thing Rachel knew, she was being dragged out of the house by her hair. Towards her death.

  ***

  Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead.

  The words were like a mantra rolling around Nathan’s brain. It matched the rhythm of the windshield wipers, which could barely keep up with the downpour. He couldn't see a thing, except a black smudge on the skyline in the distance. It stood out in stark contrast to the grey clouds above. His heart was racing. All he wanted was to get to the house. But part of him wanted to turn back; to run away from his worst nightmare, instead of heading straight for it.

  Lightning overhead illuminated his path. He was almost there. If only she could hang on for a few more seconds. The trees would thin out any minute and he would be there.

  As the car reached the crest of the smaller hill, the full extent of the situation hit home. It was like nothing he had seen before. The blackbirds swarmed around the house like sick blowflies. Unnatural. Unholy.

  For the first time in three years, he covered himself with the sign of the cross.

  From out of the nearby trees, black shapes darted towards the car. The bird’s bodies smashed in to the vehicle, the sheer number of them almost ramming him off the road. The car swerved left and right. The windows smashed, allowing vicious beaks to poke through. Blood, guts and feathers covered the car. Nathan was struggling to keep control. There was only one thing left to do.

  He swung the car door open. The birds ripped at his skin, taking huge strips of flesh with them. He aimed the car. Then floored it.

  ***

  Rachel sat at the base of the tree outside the house. The swing didn’t move. She didn’t see the explosion just below the hill. But she heard it. Her last hope of surviving. Gone. She heard the maniacal laugh coming towards her, but she didn’t look towards him. She just stared at the black, lifeless windows.

  “I’m afraid your friend won’t be joining us this evening.”

  Justin’s sick laughter almost deafened her, as he lifted her against the dead tree. His putrid breath filled her nostrils, his bloated tongue running the length of her neck. She felt sick.

  “Mmmm, maybe I’ll have some fun before I give you to my children,” Justin sneered, his hand exploring under her top. “Then your soul will join them.”

  Rachel’s eyes burned with hatred. “I stopped you before.”

  “You poor misguided creature. I could feel Justin screaming inside me as I tortured you. He loved you and you burnt him alive thinking he was evil. Now he’s urging me on like the rest of them.” He slid the knife up her arm. “They all succumb in the end.”

  Something in her snapped. Rachel’s eyes looked straight at the abomination leering over her. She was getting angry now. “You’ve taken half my life away. You sick, evil bastard.”

  Justin laughed at her. “What’re you going to do, bitch? Kill me?”

  Rachel's own sadistic smile crawled across her face. “The living can't kill the dead.” She said, her voice deep, more like a growl. “But I'm not so sure about the dead having a go.”

  Lilly had been standing behind the tree the whole time, listening. She launched herself straight at him.

  The two of them flew backwards. This was her chance,
Rachel realised. She sprang into action.

  Sprinting towards the door, she ignored the two fighting on the floor. It was wide open. She had to get David out. He must have lost a lot of blood by now, she thought. Maybe too much? She didn't know how much blood a person could lose before it was too late. She moved faster.

  The house had the last laugh. An unseen force slammed the front door shut. She tugged and slammed herself against it. Nothing budged. She was locked out.

  A hand yanked her around. Half of Justin’s face had been caved in. Shards of his skull protruded through the skin. His single eye leered at her.

  “Did you really think that little bitch could stop me?”

  ***

  David didn’t know how much time had passed. All he could hear was agonising screams. He kept blinking in and out of consciousness. His body felt cold, despite the heat coming from the fireplace. It didn’t matter anymore. He wouldn’t want to live after tonight.

  He started to lift up and opened his eyes.

  “Get away from me,” he choked. “Get away.”

  Lilly pointed a finger at him. He felt the ropes behind him loosen. He blinked.

  “W-w-what? I-I don’t understand.”

  “The house won’t let me see my Mommy.”

  He shook his head, even more confused.

  She looked at the blood seeping out between his fingers, then towards the exposed gas pipes.

  Their eyes locked. David finally understood.

  ***

  “You dumb bitch,” Justin spat. “When’re you going to learn, you can’t kill me. Evil permeates this place. It will always survive.”

  Rachel had lost her burst of courage. There was nothing left to do, but die and be done with it. She had waited for the end to come countless times in the last few years. Now it was here. Let the endless silence take me, she thought. No more suffering.

  Justin finished tying her to the tree like a sacrificial lamb. The blackbirds cawed louder in thanks. Rachel closed her eyes.

  “Come and feast,” Justin shouted in to the air. “Come my-”

  The words were cut short. Rachel waited for the sensation of birds eating her alive. Nothing came. She opened her eyes.

  Nathan was on the floor, wrestling with the grisly spectre.

  Her spirit soared, as the rain still poured down on her. Lightning lit up the scene in front of her.

  “Who’re you?” Justin growled, as he broke free. The flashes of light reflecting off his eye.

  “I’m the one that should’ve been here last time. I don’t have a clue what’s going on, but I do know you’re one ugly son of a bitch.”

  Justin twisted the stained blade in his hand. “Son-of-a-bitch. I’m going to gut you like a fish.”

  He lunged, but Nathan managed to twist his body out of the path of the knife. He lost his footing on the slippery, wet gravel. Justin was on top of him in a flash. He lifted Nathan’s body in the air and tossed him against the beams holding up the porch.

  Rachel heard the bones crack. But she didn’t stop. She had been tugging at the ropes and she could feel them loosening. She was almost free.

  A gust of wind howled past her. She turned her head away to shield her face from the pelting rain.

  She stopped struggling.

  David was standing in the window.

  ***

  He didn’t know why he went to the window first. David could feel the life draining from him. But he wanted to see her one more time. The woman that had changed his fate. If only he’d have been honest, he thought. If only he hadn’t heard her soft, sweet sobs that day. Things could’ve been so different. He took one last look. It didn’t matter now.

  He thought about running. Leaving everyone and everything behind. Then he realised there was one fundamental flaw in his plan; the house would never let him go. Even if he did manage to get out, it wouldn’t let him be. It would follow him, haunt him, until one day he would buy a gun and a bottle of liquor. His mind was already fractured with his schizophrenia. It was under control, but it had already started to spiral out of control since being back in town. It would only get worse. Well, Doctor David Cochrane, formerly Langrishe, would not live in fear.

  He took one final look out of the window. The grim impersonation of his brother was wreathed in blackbirds. Rachel wasn’t the only person to have suffered from the evil that infected the house. His own family had been torn apart, their reputation ripped asunder. It had gotten so bad, that he had changed his surname, not wanting to be associated with his brother. He felt ashamed. His brother had died horrifically. David missed him so much. His fooling around, his love of life, his kind heart. Everything.

  His numb limbs shuffled him towards the kitchen. The only sounds were his faint heartbeat and dripping droplets of blood on the hardwood floor. That’ll stain, he thought with grim glee.

  It didn’t take long to find the heavy hammer and blow torch. He looked at the exposed pipes. He knew it wouldn’t be easy. He knew the house would fight back. But he would do the job. By Christ, he would do the job.

  “I’ll be seeing you soon, bro,” he whispered, bringing the hammer up above his head.

  ***

  “No,” Rachel said, as she saw where the birds were heading. She had pushed the image of David out of her mind, knowing he had to be dead already. It was delirium, she told herself. Just another ghost.

  She watched the blackbirds swoop down and curve in an arc towards the house and then Justin. She knew where they were heading next.

  “NATHAN, RUN!”

  He had to of heard the words, but he just didn’t move. Rachel’s heart was racing. She pulled harder and harder at the ropes. The birds were everywhere pecking at her, their wings beating her.

  Suffocating.

  She had to get free. She could feel the birds tearing her apart. The ropes were biting in to her skin. The window shutters were going wild. She could hear them banging and crashing against the house.

  There was black everywhere. She had no idea where Nathan was. Her energy was depleted. Any minute she would pass out.

  Justin was on her in a second. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, he walked through them, not a single one touching him. His face was twisted out of shape. He no longer resembled her first love.

  “So, sugar pie,” he said, the words coming out in a hiss. “Ready to join me forever?”

  “Screw you.”

  He laughed in her face, as he pulled the knife above his head. Lightening flashed.

  Rachel prayed.

  Justin stopped and spun to face the house. To face itself.

  ***

  David could see them all. Justin, Chelsea, Tim. The McCain family was there. And of course Lilly. They all smiled encouragement. The smell of gas spewing from the newly broken pipe, filled the room.

  He smiled back.

  His lifeless hand fell on the blowtorch.

  It felt good.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The explosion shook the hillside like an angry god. Citizens of Willows Peak claimed the ball of fire that erupted into the night sky could be seen from all the way over the other side of town. It was the dreary eyed patrons of Logan’s Bar, those that were always drunk and there until closing, that felt the blast. Whisky bottles and beer glasses chinked together behind the bar. According to Gloria Bennett, owner and barmaid, the building shook so hard that a framed picture of Elvis jumped right off the wall and smashed on the floor. It was her favourite one.

  According to the later reports, the quiet streets filled with people just standing and watching. Mrs Ryan, bed and breakfast proprietor, described how people came out of their homes, some fully clothed, others in nothing more than pyjamas and slippers. They exchanged glances with each other. At first it was fear and bewilderment, but then it felt like somebody slapped them, as a deep, easy sensation went through them. The faces turned to smiles. Everything was going to be okay. It felt good.

  Mr Krupp, local businessman, was sitting in his car a
t the time. He had only just arrived home after being with his mistress. He was contemplating whether to leave his shrill bitch of a wife for good, when he saw the yellow tips of the flames burst skywards. It reminded him of the nuclear bomb test footage; the black mushroom cloud spiralling ever upwards.

  Similar events happened all across town. The emergency service switchboard was jammed, as panicked voices shrieked down the lines wanting answers. Some believed the damn commies had finally struck. Others thought aliens from distant planets were invading to enslave the populace. None would ever guess the truth…

  Rachel wasn’t aware of any of it until much later when she read it in the news. She had managed to free herself, just as the explosion hit. The force of it sent her reeling backwards, end over end like a Fourth of July Catherine Wheel flying through the air. She thought the heat would sear her skin off. She landed in a heap several feet away from the tree.

  For several moments she just lay there, the rain hitting her face. Was she dead, she wondered? No, she was alive. Her heart thundered and her dislocated shoulder throbbed. If she was dead, she wouldn’t feel a thing, she was sure of it.

  Once the ringing in her ears had subsided, all she could hear was the distant rumbling of the storm fading away. There were no screams, no blackbirds and no maniacal laughter coming at her. There was nothing. Only peace. For the first time in as long as she could remember, the silence wasn’t awkward, or oppressive. It was bliss.

  She slowly sat up, her battered and bleeding body groaned under the exertion. Pushing the pain away, she opened her eyes.

  The front corner of the house, what would have been the living room, was gone. It had been completely obliterated in the explosion. Flames leapt from the gaping hole, billowing black smoke in to the sky. The smell of ash filled her nose. The house was quietly being consumed by fire. It was funny how often history repeats itself, she thought with grim amusement, remembering the first time she had witnessed the same sight. But what had caused it this time? She mused, unable to understand. Explosions like that didn’t just happen. Something had to have caused it.

  She rubbed her eyes, not trusting what she saw.