Meghan could feel the soft grass and the moist earth between her toes. She looked down to glance at her feet, then looked back up at Jo. “I can't forgive you, Jo. The one thing I was always certain of in my life was my love for Alex, and you took her away from me.”
“I will always be sorry for that, Meghan. But I won't apologize for loving you. I'm here to help you.”
“How?” asked Meghan. “How can you help me?”
“I think that Belial is here for me. When I died, I didn't cross over. I stayed here. I feel like I'm in purgatory. I thought myself to be suffering having to see you find happiness with Alex, but the more it hurt me, the more I knew and realized that you and she were meant to be. You were always meant to be. I know what I did was wrong, Meghan. I don't know whether I'm meant to be in Heaven or Hell, but I'm here to make amends. I'm going to open the gateway to hell, Meghan, and step through it hoping Belial will follow me back there. Once I've crossed over, I need you to seal the door and burn the Ouija board.”
“You can't do that!” pleaded Meghan. “I did love you. I had love for you. But it was never anything like what I felt for Alex and you knew that. Whatever it is that you did was wrong, but it wasn't an act of true evil. You don't belong in hell, Jo. If you cross to that side willingly, how will you ever get back?”
“I guess I won't, Meghan. But maybe...” Jo's voice started to become faint as she flickered like a light bulb that's about to go out. “Maybe that's where I belong.” Jo's spirit faded away into the night, and she walked back to the house and slipped into bed.
Meghan awoke with the sun shining down on her from the window and the birds chirping. She groaned. “Why are the birds so happy over here?”
Alex laughed. “Because there's a big tree right by the window and they get to peep through our mini blinds. Get it? Peep through our mini blinds?”
Meghan groaned again. “It's too early in the morning for jokes. Did Aleghany go to school?”
“Yes, I woke up early and walked her out. Willie dropped her off on her way to Lucky's Hardware. I made bacon and eggs. You hungry?”
“Starving. And sleepy. I feel as if I didn't sleep a wink!” Meghan uncovered herself and sleepily swung her feet off the bed. She was about to put on her slippers when she noticed that her feet were caked with dry mud.
Alex took one look at her feet and the bedding and noticed it, too. “You must've been sleepwalking last night.”
“I guess so. I was having a weird dream about Jo. She was offering me her apologies for what she did to us, and she said she wants to help us.”
“Are you sure it was a dream? Maybe it's her spirit. The first time we played the Ouija board, it did say she was with us. Maybe she's here like Sheryl is.”
Meghan shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know. I'd rather not think about it.”
“Well, what else did she say?”
“She said she was going to open the portal to hell and go through it, in the hopes that the devil will follow her through. She said for us to seal the portal once she's crossed over.”
“That sounds like a good plan, actually,” began Alex. “But how will we know when she's crossed over?”
“I don't know. She didn't tell me that part. Her spirit seemed to flicker, then it disappeared. The next thing I knew, I woke up in bed with my feet caked in mud.”
“You don't find it odd that Sheryl's revealed herself to Aleghany, and Jo's shown herself to you, but no spirits have shown themselves to me?”
Meghan shook her head. “No, I don't. And you should be careful what you ask for.”
Alex took her shirt off to change clothes. “How about a jog around the lake?” She began to change into some running shorts and a tank top when Meghan stopped her.
“How'd you get those?” she asked, pointing at Alex's upper back.
“What?” asked Alex, trying to see herself in the mirror.
“You have several bruises near your shoulder blades.”
“Both sides?” asked Alex, turning around in the other direction to get a better view of the other side. “I don't know. I hadn't noticed them there before. That's weird.” She turned to face Meghan and shrugged her shoulders. “I don't know how they got there.”
Right before her eyes, three long scratches appeared on Alex's back right down the middle in between the pattern of bruises. Alex screamed. “Ow! It's burning!”
Meghan began to breathe heavily in a panic. “Oh my God!”
“What!? What!?” asked Alex turning once more to view her back in the mirror. The three scratches began to bleed.
Meghan began to pace back and forth. “I knew it! I knew this was going to happen. It followed us here.”
Alex sat down on the bed. “We have to get out of here. We're only putting Willie and Aleghany in harm's way by being here.”
Meghan was still breathing as if she were trying to catch her breath. “And go where!? If we go back home, it's still going to attack us. If we go to a hotel, it's just going to follow us.”
“Please calm down before you start hyperventilating.”
“I'm calm. I'm perfectly calm.” Meghan sat down beside Alex and bent forward placing her head between her knees. She started taking deep breaths until her breathing finally slowed back to normal.
“I think we should go home,” said Alex. “If it's attached itself to me, then we're better off at home where we know it can't hurt Aleghany.”
“I'm scared,” cried Meghan. She sat up, turned to Alex and embraced her. She cried in Alex's arms as Alex held back her tears. She was terrified, too. But she had to be strong. She had to be strong for Meghan and for Aleghany. Most of all, she had to be strong for herself. She had to take a stand against evil to protect her family. She would do anything for them, and even if she couldn't fully protect them, she would die trying.
Chapter Forty-Three
It was Friday morning when Meghan and Alex started to pack their things to go back home.
Willie walked by the open bedroom door after having dropped off Aleghany at school to find the two zipping up their bags. “What are you ladies doing? I thought you were going home Monday morning?” questioned Willie concerned.
Meghan didn't want to tell Willie what had happened. She didn't want to frighten her.
Meghan decided to keep the truth hidden. “We just want to get home early, so we can pick up house before our guests come out on Monday. Besides, I wanted to sneak away while Aleghany was in school, so she wouldn't throw a fit about us leaving earlier than we had planned.”
Willie crossed her arms as she stood pensively. “Are you sure you want to leave so early? We haven't even eaten breakfast.”
Meghan laughed. “Oh, I see. You're going to miss my cooking.”
Willie grinned. “No. I mean, yes. But I'm going to miss you, too.”
Alex appeared ghostly white as if she had seen something horrific and all the color had drained from her face. “We'll let you know when it's safe to bring Aleghany home, okay?”
“Are you sure you girls are okay?” pressed Willie.
Meghan wanted to tell her, but she knew Willie would try to go back to the house again to pray or try to help them. It's not that she didn't want her help, but she felt that Willie was better off protecting Aleghany. If she went over to their house to try to cast the devil out of there, she might get hurt. Meghan couldn't live with herself if that happened. She would rather suffer the last three nights in the house while she waited for Ginger George and her ghost busters. She only hoped she was making the right decision.
Chapter Forty-Four
For Meghan, those last few days back in their home was a nightmare. She and Alex were constantly at odds with one another. Alex was always scrutinizing everything she did or hiding away in the cellar to avoid her. Meghan felt as if Alex was one match short of an explosion.
“You're not yourself,” said Meghan Saturday morning as she was making breakfast. “Last night you didn't even come to bed! You spent all night in
that cellar. What do you do in there?”
“That's none of your business! I just need time away! We don't have to be joined at the hip, Meghan!”
“Maybe we should be, Alex! Something's happening to you. You're never like this. You've always been sweet and kind and romantic. You're a gentle soul and that's what I've always loved about you.”
“Maybe I don't want to be a gentle soul! Maybe I have no soul!”
Meghan began to cry. “You don't mean that. The Alex I love would never say such a thing. You have faith in God, Alex. I know you do. Something is taking over and making you act this way. Fight it.”
“I'm not hungry. I'm going back into the cellar.” Alex stormed out of the kitchen and down the stairs. It was the same stomping sound Meghan had heard when Sheryl had appeared to her and told her about the danger in the house. She wondered where Sheryl was now.
Meghan dined alone, but later, when Alex never came up for lunch, she grew concerned. She made Alex a sandwich and crept down the stairs to look for her.
“Don't come down,” she heard a woman whisper, but she knew it wasn't Alex's voice. It sounded as if it was someone standing on the steps beside her, but there was no one there. Meghan began to tremble in fear. She tried to turn on the light switch, but the bulb was out.
Meghan took a few steps down the stairs, then hunched down to see if she could see Alex. She could see that Alex had lit candles. The light was flickering in the darkness. It concerned her that she hadn't just changed out the light bulb, but then again, she knew this wasn't Alex.
Meghan strained her eyes trying to see into the darker parts of the room, and finally out of the darkness, Alex stepped out with a hammer. Meghan gasped. But then she quickly covered her mouth to silence the sound. Luckily, Alex didn't see her.
Alex was pacing to and fro, back and forth as she was swinging the hammer around and she was muttering to herself. “Where is that wife of mine!? Where the hell is she? She's probably in Harriet's room!”
Meghan felt frozen with fear! It wasn't Alex anymore at all. It was Joseph! He had possessed Alex! What if she tried to run out and he saw her? What if he saw her as Harriet and choked her?
She stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity, until Alex was gone from view, then she crept back up with her sandwich still in hand. She placed the plate on the counter, and tip-toed to her bedroom to get the suitcase that she hadn't yet unpacked. She needed to get away from the house. She didn't feel safe with Alex. She had spent too much time in the basement all those days and now that she was back, the entity didn't waste any time in taking over her body.
Meghan put the heavy suitcase onto the floor and extended the plastic handle. She pulled it slowly down the hallway. She had nearly made it to the living room when she heard a man's voice.
“Just where the hell do you think you're going!? Are you running off with that wench, Harriet?” It was Alex standing behind her. She was breathing heavily and her chest was heaving. She was still holding the hammer in her hand. Her face was hung low but her eyes were looking upward at her. Meghan had never seen that look before but she recognized it. It was the look of evil.
Meghan had tears streaming down her face. “Alex. Baby. It's me, Meghan. I don't know what you're talking about. There is no Harriet. Harriet died a long long time ago.”
“Don't you lie to me!” shouted Alex. “I know you've been seeing her! You spend all your time in the room with her. The whole town is talking about it. It's unnatural that you have her here! They see you when you go into town with her!”
Alex began taking steps toward Meghan and every time she did so, Meghan took a step backwards toward the front door.
“Baby. Please fight this. I know this isn't you! I'm Meghan Jeffries, and you're Alex Hunter! You're Alex. The love of my life. Don't you remember me? Don't you know me?”
“You're Claudia and I'm Joseph and once you and Harriet are both gone, I can be a happy man again!” Alex ran toward Meghan wielding the ax in the air. Meghan shrieked and bolted for the front door leaving her suitcase in her wake.
Alex tripped over it as she ran toward her, and the screen door slammed as Meghan ran down the front porch steps and down by the lake toward Willie's. She didn't want to run back into that direction, but she knew she wasn't strong enough to fight off Alex and whatever had possessed her. She needed Willie's help.
Meghan didn't want to turn around. She ran as fast as her legs would take her. She felt her chest heaving and her breathing was the only sound she could hear until she heard Alex gaining on her and laughing maniacally. “I'm going to get you! And when I do, Claudia, I'm going to bash your brains in!”
Alex, who had tripped and fallen over Meghan's suitcase, was in pursuit but she was battling a banged up leg, so she was slowing down. Meghan could hear her voice in the distance as Alex slowed. “I want you both dead! You hear me!? After I kill you, I'm going to kill Harriet!”
At times Alex's voice seemed closer and other times further away. She didn't care to turn around. She thought it might slow her down or cause her to stumble. Instead, she ran full speed toward Willie's house.
Meghan felt that she was running on pure fear and adrenaline. “Help!” she cried. “Willie! Willie! Open the door!”
Willie, who never made it a habit to lock her door anyway, heard Meghan's shouting and looked out the window. She rushed to the front door and opened it.
“What the devil is going on?” she asked.
Meghan was out of breath. “It's Alex! She's not herself! She's trying to kill me. Please! Lock the door!”
Willie shut the heavy wooden door and locked it while Meghan began closing and locking all of the windows. Alex was at the house within minutes after Meghan and began pounding on the door. “I know she's in there! I saw her run in! Let me in, Little Piggy, let me in, or I'll blow your house down!” She began to laugh hysterically.
Meghan and Willie had run upstairs and locked themselves in Willie's bedroom.
“What do we do?” asked Meghan. “She thinks I'm Claudia, and she said she was Joseph. We just can't stay here. Aleghany will be home from school soon.”
“I know. We have to catch her. Maybe we can tie her down.”
“You want to catch her? She's bound to bash our brains if we try. She wants to kill me and Harriet. Lord only knows who she thinks is Harriet. Any other suggestions?” asked Meghan concerned.
“That's all I can think of,” said Willie. “If we can tie her down somehow, then you can go pick up Aleghany from school. But don't bring her here. Take her home.”
“What? I'm not going home. Sheryl said there was danger there.”
“There was. But now the danger is here. I don't think it's your house that's haunted, Meghan. It never was before. Somehow when we played with that spirit board it opened a door to the other side. It allowed Jo and Sheryl and this other spirit to cross over to our side. The side of the living.”
“Spirit. So you think it's Joseph? It's not Belial? Sheryl said it was Belial.”
“I'm not certain. It could be Joseph, since he was an angry person to begin with or it could be Belial posing as Joseph. It's hard to say. Ginger George might be able to find out more, but she won't be here until Monday.”
“What are you going to do with Alex until Monday?”
“I don't know. I hadn't thought that far ahead yet. For now, let's focus on tying her and gagging her, so she can't hurt us.”
From upstairs, Meghan and Willie could hear the windows downstairs shattering. Willie grabbed some rope from her closet and the bed sheet off the bed. “What are you doing?” questioned Meghan.
“We're going to wrangle us a demon,” said Willie with a country voice emphasizing the word wrangle. Leave it to Willie to try to make light of the situation, and at the worst possible time, too.
“A bed sheet? That's your big idea? Are we going to snuggle her into submission?”
Willie chuckled. “We're going to each take an end of the sheet and rush h
er. Once we have her down on the ground, I'll wrestle the hammer out of her hand and we can tie her up with this rope. I'll bind her hands while you bind her legs.”
Meghan could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn't sure if Willie's idea was going to work, but she hadn't known of what to do and Willie was confident that this would work, so she decided to give it her all.
“Okay, I'm ready. Let's do this before she tries to storm up the stairs. I still hear windows breaking, so she must've run around the house.”
“We'll go downstairs and I'll open the door allowing her to run in,” said Willie.
Meghan gulped down hard. She knew that was insane, but right now, it was their best chance of catching her.
Chapter Forty-Five
Meghan and Willie opened the bedroom door and listened to hear for shattering glass or moving furniture. They had to know where Alex was in order to make their plan work. “I know you're in there, Claudia!” shouted Alex. “Come on out. I just want to talk to you!” Alex began to laugh. Meghan knew she had never heard Alex laugh like that in all the years she's lived with her. She nodded at Willie to signify that the plan was a go.
Meghan crept down stairs first while Willie followed her. When they reached the front door, they could hear Alex stomping around on the porch and pounding on the door.
“Let me in!” she shouted.
Willie unlocked the door carefully and slowly so as not to be heard, then she placed her hand on the doorknob. She took one last look at Meghan and Meghan again nodded her approval of the plan. She grabbed a hold of one end of the bed sheet tightly in her hands, then Willie swung the door open!
Alex rushed in and tried to run at them. Meghan and Willie were holding the sheet between them like a matador teasing a bull and they were circling around the living room furniture just like Alex was. Meghan was filled with fear and horror. Alex was growling and frothing at the mouth like a rabid dog. It was the most gut-wrenching awful sounds she had ever heard.
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