Unrelenting Terror

by P. S. Power

  It lashed out, faster than I could respond, sinking its fangs deep into my right calf through the cloth of my pant leg. I wanted to cry out, to scream in terror, but the sound locked in my throat, and nothing more came out than a small choking sound. I felt the fangs sink in, the sharp pain on my leg, the flesh parting slightly. It wasn’t a real pain though, I realized almost instantly. It was lighter than that, it hurt, stinging like there was poison in the wound, but it wasn’t real. Or maybe it was and I just couldn’t feel the pain fully? I knew I was deep inside my own head, which could alter the sense of pain. The snake let go and slithered away, as if it had simply finished with me and had somewhere else to go. I also felt like it was telling me it might be back later.

  I wasn’t sure what scared me more, the idea of a real snake biting me like that or a ghost snake that might just follow me home, biting me over and over again in my sleep. Crawling on me. Slithering. I didn’t want either, that was for sure. As it was my right leg burned a bit already.

  I kept walking, not knowing what else to do. I’d been told to walk, and that I had to follow Dr. Milford’s orders if I wanted everything to turn out alright. If I ignored him, who knew what might happen? He was the expert after all. Everyone listened to him and walked to the other room, even though we couldn’t see anything. Daniel could, using the screen on his camera, but all I had to go on was a hand on my arm, guiding me.

  I wasn’t fully certain the hand belonged to a human either. The touch was light, and my leg was hurting more, the skin starting to burn more where the bite had been. The spectral bite. I could feel it like it was real though, the pain growing with each second, warmth turning to heat which stung as I moved down the small black stone hallway. I couldn’t tell if the bite had made real marks, but the pain was there. I felt it. Even the observer part of myself, sitting in the chair reading, could feel it. When I thought about that fact, it got a bit worse.

  More, the words on the screen of my internal tablet told me it hurt, that I was injured on a psychic level more than it seemed. I knew from that what had happened. The ghost had taken the time to strike against me on a level I didn’t understand, and now the venom was coursing through my body. My energy body. It wasn’t real, but at the same time it was. It was much like a bite, a real one, except that no hospital would be able to help me. There was no anti-venom for this. I doubted I’d have more than a red mark even. If I tried to explain what had happened they’d just think I was crazy, that or on drugs. It was real though, just not the kind of real people would let themselves deal with, day to day.

  For some reason, just inside the door as I passed the Doctor, making room for the others that were following behind me, someone whispered in my ear.

  “Eclipse.”

  This time I couldn’t feel myself go any deeper, probably because I couldn’t at the moment, not without losing the ability to walk. The eerie part was that the voice wasn’t Milford’s. None of the others either, unless they one of them was pretending to be someone else for some reason. It sounded like a woman again, but a different one. An older person, with a slightly aged quality to what they said. It was almost an accent, one that brought to mind a time long past. With my luck it would be Ethyl the angry ghost, the one that died in the room we were in.

  Still, I saw the words instead of just hearing them, something that was starting to happen all the time now. Every time I heard, or read, that particular trigger word, the effect got stronger. It didn’t seem to matter who did it either, I just kept diving further into a trance state, a focused thing that I didn’t even know I was capable of. Each time it happened I felt my fascination with the writing on my screen grow. In a way I hoped this time it was just one of the others making fun of me or something, hazing the new person, since the idea of being controlled by a ghost was insanely frightening to me. Especially one that was known for being more than a little unbalanced like Ethyl. The only thing that would be worse than that would be a demon doing the same thing.

  I didn’t hear it with my ears at all I realized, but the text that floated in front of my eyes said that the woman laughed at me for thinking that.

  I wanted to blink, or even better, run out screaming, but instead I just moved into the black, waiting for the others. Hopefully nothing too strange would happen for a bit, just so I could try and shake off the ethereal snake bite and maybe stop hearing voices in my head.

  Jerald took over then, speaking as if narrating a documentary. He had a good voice for it and seemed to know a lot more about the subject than Daniel had thought from what he’d said earlier.

  “This is the tomb of Ethyl Lands. Murdered by her father, Tyrone Lands, multi-millionaire oil and rail baron. It wasn’t possible to check for such things at the time, but it was suspected that she was murdered for being pregnant out of wed-lock. Some have even suggested that the father of the baby was black, which would have been a massive scandal at the time. Another theory is that the baby’s father was Tyrone Lands himself, though again, there’s no way to prove or disprove that.” The old man’s voice came out of the darkness, rasping and a bit sour, more so than I’d noticed earlier.

  “It was considered an open secret that the Lands family was rather… close, or at least it was back in the day. How they kept the money in the family I hear. Intermarriage.”

  I’d stopped moving, standing in the middle of a space that sounded smaller than the room we’d just come from, if the echoes off the walls meant anything. I felt a little cool, but moist, like I must be sweating, even though it wasn’t really warm enough for it. The whole thing held a damp feeling now, cold but still dusty and uncomfortable. My right leg was starting to ache more too, at the point of the snakes attack. No burning pain was left, just a dull throb that kept time with my heartbeat. It felt distracting and the whole place filled with a sense of dread, a wrongness that I couldn’t have described to anyone, but a thing so deep and primal almost anyone would have felt it. I really wanted to sit, to just go home and read my book again, rather than being in the dark, haunted by crazy ghosts that obviously didn’t want me to be bothering them.

  The thought of reading gave me that strange feeling of overlay again, and for the briefest moment I felt myself sitting, hands on my book reader, staring at the screen. My eyes relaxed and kind of locked into place, making it feel like I couldn’t move. Like I didn’t want to. The words I saw were almost funny, since they describe things I couldn’t see at all. They also drew me to the story, making it hard to stop reading, even as I imagined the crypt again, where I belonged.

  Daniel had a frown on his face and was filming Jerald in the darkness. I knew this, even though I couldn’t see it at all. The older man had a strange grin on his face, knowing that he was needling the younger man with falsehoods, or at least things no one would want claimed about their family, even if it was true. Toni though, she was about to scream. I knew it. I even knew why, though I held my position and didn’t say anything as the heavy stone lid of Ethyl’s casket popped off and slid to the ground with a crash.

  “What the hell!” Toni didn’t scream the words as much as shout them, but the panic was there. I couldn’t blame her, if I’d been able to do anything I would have acted the same way. As it was I seemed stoic and calm compared to the others, except Dr. Milford who chuckled warmly.

  “Ah, the Lands family charm. Still Jerald, you were disparaging her good name. You might want to make certain no one is listening the next time you do that. No one that cares at least.” If he’d even so much as jumped a bit, I couldn’t tell. He sounded even more calm than normal, if that was possible. Like he’d planned the whole thing himself or something.

  The only problem there was that I saw the woman rise from her resting place, standing first, then flowing as a blue mist over the side of the box to stand on the ground. I imagined it to be a stone box at least. The truth was I’d never seen it clearly. It could have been a hole in the wall or something else altogether. A single finger pointed across the room, directly
at Jerald.

  I blinked, wondering if that was really true? It seemed right, and the words said it was what was indicated, so it had to be, didn’t it? It was too dark to see anyone though. At least the real people who didn't glow. What you read was more true than not, at least in this case it seemed like that would be and the words said the ghost woman was pointing at Jerald. For a second I felt almost like I was developing psychic powers, until there came a low rumble, without any warning. I couldn’t place it at first, some kind of animal growl perhaps, or even words said too low to hear. It wasn’t that though, it was just thunder.

  “Die alone.” The thunder said, coming from the woman that stood as a see through glowing form, still pointing at Jerald.

  He laughed.

  “Oh, I’m sure I will. That’s been the plan for a long time. You can’t live a life like mine and expect to be loved in the end.”

  I couldn’t tell what anyone else thought, but that kind of confirmed the whole thing as far as I was concerned. The ghost was talking to him. More, I’d heard it rumbling in my chest as the specter floated toward where I thought Jerald was standing.

  The slightly glowing woman froze in place, hanging in the air with her feet pointed toes down just a bit, I thought, though it was hard to tell. The ground could have just been a bit higher over there, up a step or something. The thought of trying to make a ghost or spirit work by the rules of physics took me for a second, but something else happened, again taking me by surprise.

  Daniel turned on his lamp and ran across the room.

  “Ha! Got you!” The yelling was loud in the small space, but in the lamp light I could just barely make out the form that was supposed to be his grandmother. She didn’t move, except to bare her teeth and orient on him just a bit. The man got to about three feet from her and stopped dead, lamp held out in front of him like a talisman.

  “Uh…” His voice sounded very off then, hollow and weak. Where the light hit, the woman started to vanish.

  “I…” He stopped talking and swung to look at the others, though the ghost faded from view.

  Dr. Milford just smiled and shook his head.

  “I did mention, Daniel, that this is all real. I know that you can’t help but wish to believe it all some coincidence, or even a scam to take your money, but I’d point out to you that I’ve accepted nothing from you, other than your invitation to visit this site. Thank you for that, by the way. Now, perhaps we should correct the cover to the casket again and start over? I have an odd feeling that we aren’t finished for the evening.”

  I listened as this was all said, holding still, wondering what was really going on. I got the general idea, the Daniel suspected a ploy or game. Maybe it even was one? It was a lot more comforting to think that everything I’d experienced in the last few days was fake, a trick of some sort, rather than anything real. That wasn’t true though. I could still feel the bite on my leg and the slight sense of pain from it. That was more than just imagination, wasn’t it? It had to be.

  It all had to be. My imagination didn’t include physical sensations. Even the light touches I’d noticed meant that there was something very different going on here. A thing far more powerful than I'd ever expected.

  Dr. Milford and Toni fixed the lid, leaving me to stand watching and feeling apprehensive about the whole thing. The light didn’t help a lot, but it was a thousand times better than being in the dark was. I really dreaded it coming back. The illusion was helping to wash away some of the anxiety I was starting to feel. It would have done more, except for Jerald stalking over to Daniel with an angry look in his eye and a smirk on his face that seemed frustrated.

  “Don’t be a fool boy. Of course this is all real. You’ve lived the reality of this your entire life, it’s a little late for you to try and flake out now, isn’t it? Things are just starting to get interesting.” There was an odd tone to the older man’s words. It sounded like he was both angry at Daniel for questioning things and a little relieved at the same time, as if he subconsciously liked the idea of the whole thing having been a trick or maybe even a con.

  I got it without having to reflect too much at all. If this was a joke or trick, then it would be a lot less scary. It was real. On some level I knew that, even as I tried to pretend it was just a book I was reading and not actually happening. The words on the page behind my eyes told me that. There in black and white, explaining it all to me. At least when Dr. Milford spoke. There was a weight to what he said that just called to me, making it all so much more important than anything else. He was silent at the moment though, not giving me any real instruction. I was placing my life, or at least sanity, in his hands and it wasn’t sitting to well with me at the moment.

  Toni turned and gestured us all from the room we were in without waiting for anyone to tell her she should. I didn’t move, waiting for my orders. I was in too deep to start being flighty now. Everyone started to move back, slowly, the light dimming as they did, everyone moving away, leaving me all alone. In the pitch black.

  Nothing happened and I could still hear people talking in the other room, the main space behind me. No one mentioned me as far as I could tell and might not have even noticed I hadn’t followed them, if the lamp wasn’t on. There was an odd feeling in my stomach, the first hint of real anxiety and fear coming back. Not that it had left totally, but this was worse that I’d felt before. Somehow more pressing, a sense of danger all around me, hanging in the moist air. It crawled and slithered in my gut like a snake or a small animal, pinpricks of tiny claws grasping at my insides as I stood, trembling ever so softly, waiting for something to come for me. Or for someone, but it seemed like I’d been forgotten and left on my own.

  The room… the tomb I corrected, trying to be honest about where I was and what was going on, didn’t change in front of me, not in any way I could see. There was a sense of something being there, a presence that I hadn’t felt before. Something soft and warm, a gentle thing that I’d been looking for, instead of Daniel’s insane relatives. For the briefest moment I felt as if Alex was with me. Arms holding me. Protecting me from the dark. It was a soft thing at first, but a welcome one, even as fear settled over me at the same time. I wanted to run again, but at the same time I wanted to whisper about love. Why I’d fear Alex I didn’t know. Maybe it was just that the whole night had been too much for me? Perhaps it was something more primal. A ghostly presence in this place just seemed threatening. Even a kind one.

  I found I couldn’t speak. Then I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to, unless asked a direct question. I really wanted to though, if only to ask if the presence I felt was really my lost love, come back to me. For a wonderful minute I just stood, feeling loved and warm in the cool and dusty place I’d found myself. Then screams came from the room behind me. Loud moans and exclamations.

  “God!” It sounded like one of the men, but raw and emotional, scared on a level that I never had been, I couldn’t tell which one it was, Either Daniel or Jerald though, since I would have recognized the Doctors voice. There were other sounds, like a fight had broken out, scuffling and slapping sounds. I tried to get a mental picture of what was going on, fighting to figure out what was happening. The focus caused the feeling of Alex to wash away, replaced by a very real fear that I was going to be hurt by whatever was behind me. My stomach tightened for a different reason as I wondered if the curse of this place was taking hold and making someone go crazy. It sounded like someone was being murdered.

  “No! I… don’t… Please, God… No…” The words sounded like Jerald, now that I heard more of them. Was he playing around to make fun of Daniel? I hoped so, but it didn’t feel right. Once Alex was gone, I felt something all around me, running over my skin in the blackness.

  Evil.

  I didn’t know what was going on, but the feeling coming from the room behind me wasn’t just one of discomfort or even my own fear, it was bad. It also felt real, solid and uncomfortably close. Before I’d thought that I’d wanted to run,
but couldn’t because of the rules. Now I had to run. There was a growing sense inside that made me want to flee on a level that I simply hadn’t ever encountered before in my entire life. It ripped at me, harder and harder until I managed to take a single step forward, my right foot feeling like it hadn’t moved at all.

  “Eclipse.”

  The voice was in my head, the word on the screen in my mind. It sounded like I’d thought the word myself, a gentle and calm thing, not something screamed or shouted. I waited for a few seconds while I sank into a deeper state of focus, the sense of my body fading almost totally. I felt aware, but like my head was just floating in space. I could still feel the evil behind me though. I wanted to move, but didn’t, the fear drawing back ever so slightly as I concentrated on the feeling of it within me.

  “Eclipse.” I knew that whatever was saying the word was inside me, trying to keep me calm. That worried me, but only a little. After all, talking to yourself inside your own head wasn’t a sign of insanity, was it? It was probably just some message that the Doctor had slipped in while I wasn’t paying attention. I felt myself sinking into an interior darkness though, one that left only the sounds of pain and my own little mental book reader. It was almost a funny thing, I realized, that I was spending all this time focused on a book in my mind that reflected reality so concretely. It was designed to be that way, I knew, meant to use my normal habits to help my mind open to the supernatural. I felt pretty much wide open at the moment. Exposed, vulnerable and naked. Powerless too, once I thought about the situation I was in.