The Haunting of Bloodmoon House

by Jeff DeGordick

  Roy shifted on the spot, his cloak swaying slightly, making the candles flicker and shaking black smoke out of them.

  "Are they going to do something to you if this doesn't work?" Jess asked.

  The muscles in his neck tensed. "Shut up," he said through gritted teeth, not turning to look at her.

  "What did Vernon promise you? Did he threaten you, too? Did he say he was going to kill you if this doesn't work?"

  Roy stood stolidly against her, but there was a brief moment when his body gave a shake, like a shudder had coursed through him, betraying his cool exterior.

  "You don't have to do this," Jess said, trying to get under his skin. "It's not too late. You and I can both walk out of here!"

  That was the final straw. Roy spun around on the spot, his cloak billowing. Rage was ingrained into his every feature. He took a long stride over to her and swung his arm, smacking her across the face with an open hand.

  Jess's head snapped to the side from the force, and her cheek went numb. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears were pressed out, and Roy turned around and faced the moon again, looking back at his watch. Jess stared up at him, rubbing her face. But she wasn't hurt, not really. Because she knew his armor had started to crack, and she was chipping away at it, little by little.

  Simon pointed the flashlight into the dark. He took a few steps down the hallway, then cast light into a room next to him, finding a decrepit laundry room. "Is this guy armed?" he asked.

  Tyler and Ashley clung behind him, staying close to the source of light held in his hand.

  "Yeah, he's got a gun," Tyler said. "I almost shot him, but he ran."

  Simon grimaced. "Okay..." He looked over his shoulder at the Winchester Tyler was carrying. "Do you know how to handle that thing when the time comes?"

  Tyler looked at him with frightened eyes. "When... the time comes?"

  "Can you defend you and your friend?" Simon asked, simplifying.

  Tyler's chest suddenly puffed out at the question. He didn't even know he was doing it. "Yeah, of course," he said, glancing over at Ashley.

  Simon checked his watch. "Now, where do you think he would have taken her in this place?" He lifted the beam of the flashlight to the ceiling, shining it on cobwebs stretching over the molding.

  Tyler and Ashley both tried to think, but their minds and hearts were racing, too pumped full of adrenaline to be able to process or recall clearly.

  "Um..." Ashley said.

  "Uh..." Tyler offered.

  The three of them swept down the hallway and turned a corner.

  "Did any room jump out at you when you searched this place before?" Simon asked. "Anything that seemed peculiar?"

  "This whole house is peculiar," Ashley said with a shudder.

  Simon ignored her.

  Tyler's eyes hazily swam through the darkness in front of them, searching his memory. When a thought bubbled up to the surface, his eyes went wide. "Oh! There was this room we found upstairs that had a big chalk circle on the floor and all these dusty old candles around it. Maybe he took her there..."

  Simon stopped, and the two teenagers were following so closely that they walked right into his back. He turned around to face them.

  "What?" Tyler asked.

  "Really?" Simon said sarcastically. "That room didn't jump out at you before? I said that this guy is trying to do a séance, and the room with the chalk circle and the candles surrounding it wasn't the first thing that came to your mind?" He glanced around. "Where's the quickest way up?"

  They spluttered at first, then Ashley offered a direction toward the spiral staircase at the back of the house.

  Simon turned and hurried for the stairs, and the two teenagers followed him.

  Tyler stammered in defense as he ran. "Well... I mean, I didn't really think much about it. It's not like it was a pentagram or anything."

  "We're dealing with ghosts, not demons," he reminded him.

  "Oh, right. What's the difference?"

  Simon waved his flashlight down the hall as he ran. "Just pray that you never find out."

  The blood moon's energies were strengthening, and Jess suddenly felt them wash through the room. They invaded her body and swept through every cell, causing an uneasy and nauseating sensation to percolate in her stomach.

  The time had come and Roy opened the book, holding it up as he held his other hand out to the moon. He closed his eyes and chanted phrases from the book, opening them periodically to read the next passage. The words were gibberish to Jess, and since she wasn't able to dissuade her uncle and he began the ceremony, that stultifying fear came back to her.

  She looked again at the padlocked door, but she knew there would be no way to break it open without her uncle attacking her. She swung her head back to the knife sitting on the table just beyond him.

  The intangible energy in the room became very heavy, and wispy blue lights appeared around them, swirling around the circle like a sluggish tornado. Horrifying sights were coming into reality, and Jess could see human body parts, all ethereal, drifting from the other world to hers.

  An arm appeared out of the ether, circling around her before retracting and disappearing. A leg formed, and then a torso. Jess watched in horror as a ghostly face became visible. Its malicious eyes peered down at her and its teeth displayed in a crooked grin. The spirits slipped in and out of reality, and each one appeared so different from the next that Jess wondered just how many had died at this house. Her mind flashed back to the mass grave they'd discovered behind the property and she felt sick wondering how many her uncle had killed and would be crossing over into the physical world when he was done.

  Jess knew that she couldn't wait that long. The fear was rising in her, but so was a sense of urgency. It was like an animal being backed into a corner; that's where she was the most dangerous.

  Her eyes fell on the ceremonial knife sitting on the table in front of her. She looked up at her uncle and knew that it was in his peripheral vision. His eyes drifted closed as he chanted a phrase. When he finished the cryptic sentence, he opened them again and gazed down at his book. Then he lifted his head toward the moon and closed his eyes again to speak.

  This was Jess's chance, but it was her only chance. Summoning the last vestiges of courage swimming around in her, she pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Her injured leg ached, but she tried to ignore the pain. The adrenaline coursing through her now helped, and her breathing became very rapid. She was hyper aware of her surroundings and everything going on, almost like she had acquired a sixth sense.

  Jess's eyes flicked from the knife to her uncle. And then she moved.

  She crept across the floor very slowly, only going an inch at a time.

  The sound of the spirits peeking through the window from their domain into reality as they swirled around almost sounded like a gush of wind rolling by, and it created enough ambient noise to mask her movements.

  As she crawled, Jess kept her eyes glued to her uncle. She could see the side of his face as she crept toward the table, and she knew when his eyes rolled open and when they shut. She hadn't entirely planned what she was going to do with the knife when her hand fell upon it, but she knew if she could get to it, she would have the power.

  Her heart hammered in her chest and her knees ached on the hard floor. Her leg throbbed badly. Jess stole a glance at the knife, and saw that she was getting closer to it. But she would soon be in her uncle's vision, and she had to time her action carefully.

  She reached her hand out, almost to the table. She paused and waited for her uncle to close his eyes again after reading a passage, then when he did, her heart beating so hard that she felt the incredible pressure of it clenching her throat, she lunged forward and closed the last bit of distance, snatching up the knife from the table.

  Roy wheeled around and caught her wrist before she could do anything with it. He glared down into her eyes, a crazed look on his face. A wide grin was pulled across his jaw, and in her terror, Jess cou
ldn't tell if he was happy or angry. She tried to pull her arm away from him, tried to shove the knife forward and stab him, but none of it worked because he was much stronger than she was.

  "It's time!" Roy shrieked. He slowly and gracefully overpowered her and guided her back into the center of the circle, kneeling down next to her. The energies in the room swirled around them more powerfully than ever. "Now we get to the final part to complete the séance!"

  Jess watched in horror as he muscled her and twisted the knife in her hand. He dropped his book on the floor and grabbed her other wrist, holding it in the air. He turned it over so her palm faced the ceiling. Jess cried as she helplessly watched him bring her hands together, the tip of the blade homing in on her open palm.

  "No!" Jess cried.

  And then the tip of the knife sliced into her palm.

  She screamed.

  Roy guided the blade along the length of it, drawing viscous blood to the surface. When it was fully cut open, he twisted her wrist and held it pointed at the floor, watching her bright red blood drip out of her body and splash on the hardwood.

  After a good amount had stained the floor, Roy took the knife, still in her hand, and guided it into his own palm, cutting it open too. He closed his eyes in a look of euphoria.

  Then, sickeningly, he suddenly grasped Jess's bloody hand with his, interlocking their fingers and holding their palms over the floor as their blood intermixed and dripped.

  Roy rocked his head back, pointing his face up at the ceiling as his mouth fell open. He let out a long sigh of satisfaction, then he looked at her and said, "The blood moon séance is complete." His grin grew wider as Jess regarded him in sheer horror. "The spirits will materialize soon!"

  A pulse of energy expanded from the middle of the circle in every direction like a shockwave. The circling energy fading in and out of existence had now taken a solid hold in the physical realm. Vague shapes mimicking human form materialized. No part of them were distinct, but they slowly sharpened, like a baby growing in the womb.

  Roy stared at his niece, his eyes crazier than ever. "But there's one final thing to be done! The one thing that will make them more powerful and speed the transition!"

  Jess's mouth fell open, and she didn't dare to ask what that was. But before she could protest, Roy stood up and shoved her down to all fours. A horrible pain ran through her sliced hand like an awful paper cut, but she didn't even have time to think about that as her uncle stood over her back, straddling her. He reached down and wrenched her chin up, then he produced the curved, bloody knife, holding it against her throat and ready to make the final sacrifice of her life.

  Splitting Up

  Simon, Tyler and Ashley rushed through the house, Simon lighting the path ahead of them.

  "What's going to happen if he completes the séance?" Tyler asked.

  Simon glanced over his shoulder as they moved. "Do you really want to know?"

  "Yeah."

  "If he brings the ghosts into the physical world, they'll be able to fully interact with us. Right now it's like trying to shout at someone out a car window as you're passing by at sixty miles an hour; they can only have brief glimpses into our world and limited interactions. But after the séance is done, all the ghosts will be fully in our world—permanently. And they won't be bound to this house anymore."

  "What does that mean?" Tyler asked.

  "Imagine a bunch of murderous ghosts coming down from this house and invading the town below. They're in the physical world, but they're still not physical. They can move through walls, so locking the doors isn't going to do anything. And they can interact with us and hurt us. But they'll still be trapped in limbo, so they won't just get tired and go away. Once they start sweeping through towns, they'll probably kill everyone they find, maybe scare them to death."

  Tyler became pale.

  "Why are you helping us?" Ashley asked suddenly. "Why did you answer Jess's call?"

  Simon stopped and worked the flashlight around a corner. "Your friend reminded me of someone that I lost a long time ago. Call me sentimental. Let's just leave it at that."

  As he began to run again, a sudden pulse of energy swept through the house, making him stumble. He was far more sensitive to these things than Tyler or Ashley, and they didn't quite pick up on it at first, but they felt the air get heavier somehow.

  Simon whipped his head around and suddenly glowing blue lights appeared all around them; down the hallway, in rooms, some even halfway into a wall. Vague human forms were slowly materializing. The shapes floated around aimlessly, not moving much from where they appeared, but Simon knew soon they would be fully anchored to the physical realm, and then there would be big, big trouble.

  "We're already too late," he said.

  Jess's hands and knees ached as she bent over the floor with Roy standing over top of her. Her chin was twisted upward, gripped tightly by his meaty hand. Intense fear, far stronger than she ever experienced before, coursed through her veins. It felt like every part of her body was as stiff as a board, and she was paralyzed into inaction.

  Roy closed his eyes and chanted again. He brought the edge of the knife to the soft skin on her neck, slowly pressing the blade into it, but not cutting.

  Through her petrifaction, like she was a tiny prisoner deep within her own stubborn body, she screamed at herself to do something. She knew it was now or never.

  She reached up and grabbed his wrist holding the knife. She tried pulling it away, but his strength was too much for her; he just wrenched her neck up even higher, badly tweaking her spine, as he pressed the blade into her skin even harder. Jess tried to sit up on her knees, but her uncle standing over her kept her bent at the waist. So she did the only other thing she could.

  Roy's thumb stretched across her cheek, the tip ending just against the left corner of her lips. Jess twisted her neck even farther, numbing pain shooting through it, but she ignored it until she managed to work her mouth over his thumb. He didn't notice at first, but when his grimy digit was firmly between her teeth, she bit down hard on the knuckle.

  He stopped chanting immediately and his eyes shot open. He screamed bloody murder from the pain as he tried to yank his thumb out of her jaw. This twisted Jess's neck even more, but she wasn't about to let go. She chomped down even harder, grinding her teeth back and forth against the knuckle like a saw, trying to do as much damage as possible. She still held onto his wrist that was pressing the knife against her throat, and as soon as the pain became too much for him and he dropped the weapon, distracted, she snatched it up and finally released her bite on his thumb.

  Roy yanked his arm away and stumbled backward, looking down in horror at the damage she'd done. He didn't even see her coming when she got up and lunged at him, driving the knife into his side. He howled again and staggered into the wall before collapsing to the floor. He lay on his stomach, slowly writhing and groaning.

  Jess let go of the knife, which was still stuck in his ribs, and she took a step backward, horrified at what she had done. She knew without a shadow of a doubt what she'd done was necessary, but all the same, to see herself take such an action was so against her nature that it was very startling.

  But that screaming voice inside her told her she didn't have much time, so she worked quickly, swallowing down her fears. She ignored the ghosts coming to life around the room and knelt down next to her uncle, rifling through the pockets of his black cloak. Her fingers tightened around his revolver and she slipped it out, then she fished around in another pocket and found the key to the padlock securing the door.

  As she retrieved it, Roy reached for the knife stuck in his side and yanked it out with a grunt.

  Jess stumbled away from him with the gun and the key in her hands. She aimed the revolver at him as he slowly rose to his feet, facing away from her, and she was torn with indecision.

  But though she had already hurt him, there was some kind of mechanism inside of her that told her she couldn't shoot him, not her own un
cle, no matter what the circumstance was. So the voice inside told her to run.

  She spun around and went to the door, fumbling to get the key in the padlock. She unlocked it and ripped it off, wrenching on the knob with all her might to open the stubborn door. She pried it open and then she spilled out into the darkness of the hallway.

  The spirits were slowly materializing all around, at least a dozen of them in the hallways that she could see. They cast off a little bit of dim light, but Jess tried to go nowhere near them. The stretch of hallway leading toward the foyer seemed littered with the restless spirits, so she headed for the spiral staircase in the other direction. She struggled through the darkness, and her injured leg quickly protested as she put any weight on it.

  Jess slipped the revolver into her jeans. She realized that she wouldn't be able to run, and she stumbled into the wall, holding onto it for support as she moved along the hallway. She whimpered, the pain and fear starting to overwhelm her, and she reached up and brushed her fingers against her throat, trying to feel if any damage had been done. Thankfully, the knife didn't do any more than give her a little nick. But her sliced hand ached and her leg had sharp stabbing pains going through it like bolts of lightning were constantly striking it.

  She reached the stairs at the back of the house. Holding onto the banister as best she could, she hopped down them on one leg.

  Jess became disoriented as she curved around it, her head getting dizzy as she descended to the ground floor. When she was halfway down, she lost her balance and fell.

  Her shoulder hit a step hard, and gravity quickly took her around the last of the staircase as she tumbled head over heels. Her whole body tensed up, fearful that she was going to break her neck any second, but then something caught her.

  Simon staggered backward at the bottom of the stairs, having not intended to catch a girl in his arms. He lifted her up to her feet and held her in place, then he shined the flashlight on her.