Short story 30

Let me cut to the chase and just catch you up on what’s happened so far:

This house is fucking haunted.

I don’t know how the hell anyone managed to sleep at night here and call themselves a human being. We moved in just last Monday and I knew something was up. I’ve always had a sixth sense about this sort of thing. One time my wife and I spent an anniversary at a hotel and we changed rooms four times cause I felt something was wrong in each suite we stayed in.

Turned out I was right, either a murder or some weird scandal had happened in each one of them.

This property was no different but didn’t really have a choice in the matter. I won’t go into too many details but Our finances have been very tight lately, so this was all we could afford.

Anyway, back to the ghost thing. Our youngest, Callie; is the one that first had an encounter. That was Wednesday.

She said that someone was in her attic. But we told her that there is no attic.

“Well I hear someone walk around on my ceiling then!” she snapped. I decided to take her word for it and check. And wouldn’t you know it, there was some residue from a shoe on the ceiling.

How the hell it got there I don’t know but I was convinced that something was wrong. Especially because of what happened next.

My children had nightmares about the basement before it was unlocked.

When we got the property, we were told there was a wine cellar. Nothing out of the ordinary, and actually it sounded like something that we had always wanted. There was a lock on the door which the real estate agent admitted they didn’t have a key for.

“I’m sure if you use something strong you can get it open though, just no one has ever really had much use for the space down there,” they said.

I knew something was off, I could feel it. My skin was crawling as I looked down toward the basement door. There were about four steps that jutted downward and then ended abruptly in a short hovel. The door looked old. Probably older than the house itself. It did not look pleasant or friendly.

It looked like it was meant to stay locked.

My wife was immediately intrigued by it though.

“I bet there is some great sangio or Syrah down there. I can borrow my dad’s drill and get that open in no time,” she told me.

I had a bad feeling. Especially when both Callie and Adrian had dreams about the basement.

Adrian was first. He has always had an avid imagination. After Callie had reported that she was sure people were walking on the ceiling he couldn’t sleep and came to bed with us. That resulted in a night where no one got any rest because he kept waking up screaming.

“What has gotten into you?” I asked him.

“I keep hearing something under the floor. It’s getting into my skin!!” he would tell me frantically. He said there was something that was growing under the house. In one dream it was a weed, the next it was an octopus. Either way it was unsettling. He had never had strange dreams like this before.

Still, my wife was now even more curious because of the nightmares.

“If there is something about the basement I want to know what it is,” she decided. Audrey has always been a bit stubborn. I told her to leave it alone. My hope was that maybe if we ignored the otherworldly presence in our house it would get tired and move on.

That didn’t happen.

Something in the basement doesn’t want us to leave.

It was Saturday when Audrey finally found the way to open the door. I didn’t even know she had gotten the drill. I had to go to work that day and by the time I had gotten home, she was already in the basement.

I remember walking in and announcing to the kids that I was home. Normal Saturday afternoon would mean they were either playing outside or on their Xbox. But this time the house was empty and quiet.

I immediately felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as my first thought went to the basement.

Sure enough, I saw that the door was slightly ajar. But I couldn’t see anything beyond the fourth step. It seemed like it plunged straight into darkness.

I was just about to walk down there and see if she was maybe sorting through whatever might be below when I had second thoughts. That sense of foreboding overwhelmed my body and instead I decided to call her cell phone.

I heard it ringing below my feet. Then I heard Adrian make a giggle from the stairs and I turned toward the basement door and called out to them.

“Hey, don’t scare me like that!” I shouted.

No response. It made me uneasy. I tried to call again and it rang and still she didn’t respond.

“Adrian, tell your mom to come up. And you too. Where is Callie?” I asked.

“We’re all down here,” he responded.

Something in his voice was off. It was Chilling.

“Okay, well are you coming up then?” I asked.

“No.”

A Short and succinct answer. Something was wrong.

“Adrian, listen I need you to come upstairs…”

“Why don’t you come downstairs, father?” he asked.

That didn’t sound like my son at all. I looked down into the stairwell and saw two glowing orbs which I assume were his eyes. I couldn’t see his pupils, just those white circles. I tried my best to not be frightened as I spoke.

“How long have you been down there?” I asked.

“Long enough,” he responded.

I took a tentative step toward him.

“You really need to come up now. All of you. It’s not safe down there.”

He smiled and I could see his teeth. It made the rest of his shadowy face look inhuman.

“Are you sure it’s safe up there?” he whispered.

I didn’t take any more steps toward him. I knew this was wrong. I felt cold talking to him. Like it was just an empty void.

That was Saturday and I waited an hour before I was sure that they weren’t coming back up. Then I tried again and told them to come up and got the same response except this time from my daughter.

“Daddy. I like it down here. You will too…” she said in a hum.

I hardly slept that night because I was so worried about my family. I didn’t know who to call or what to do, it’s not like the police were going to come over something like this. I kept hearing scratching on the floor and it would keep me awake. I have never felt so watched as I stayed in bed. Like there were eyes in the floor below. . Then Sunday came and I went to work, trying desperately to ignore the sense of dread building inside me.

I would get texts from my wife every so often.

“When are you coming home?”

“The kids miss you…”

“I miss you too of course. We need to be a family together..”

“We have to stay together as a family.”

That prompted me to respond. “Then stop this foolishness and come upstairs.”

“It’s you who is being the fool here John.”

I decided to stop reading the texts after that.

When I got home the house was quiet again and I didn’t even go near the stairs. I grabbed some sleep meds and locked myself in my bedroom, hoping that the night would pass quickly.

Now it’s Tuesday and things have progressed worse. A lot worse.

“We’re hungry daddy. Can you please come feed us?” Callie whispered to me as I passed the stairs this morning.

I called a few people in the area, spiritual leaders and such, hoping maybe they could give advice. As you might imagine, no one wanted to talk to me.

They thought I was crazy.

Maybe I am? I didn’t think that it would be possible for something so simple to be so sinister but it is. And I’m terrified because I don’t want anything harmful to happen to my family.

“Why don’t you come up and eat, baby?” I asked my girl.

“We can’t. It won’t let us leave.” As if I didn’t already have confirmation that something was happening down there this sent shivers across my spine.

“And you can’t leave either,” my wife added. I saw all three of them there. Three pairs of eyes in the darkness staring up at me.

“Just come down here,” Audrey insisted.

I took a step toward them, my heart racing. Something was compelling me to go deeper. Take one more step. Just do it John. Just do it.

Then I heard this low growl as I reached for the door. It was like the house settling and preparing to swallow me whole.

I slammed the door and caught my breath, refusing to go a step further.

For a moment there was silence. Then I heard a soft noise on the other side of the door.

tap tap

I ignored it at first.

tap tap

I bit my lip and whispered, “Who’s there?”

There was a giggle mixed with that hellish growl.

“Daddy it’s me… please open the door. Pretty please?”

-

I really wanted to just break down and cry after what happened yesterday because I was about 90% sure that my family was gone.

They went into the dark basement below and they have refused to come back upstairs since Saturday. I’ve tried everything to see what is down there, flashlights, lanterns. But I haven’t gone past the door. I can sense an evil there. And I know it’s taken them.

In fact I was so upset I did something I probably shouldn’t have, but in a way it’s gotten the ball rolling toward some answers.

Full disclosure, some alcohol was involved in the decision making.

After a few drinks I called the one person I thought might have answers to this mess, the real estate agent. Truth be told, I felt ashamed that I didn’t think of it sooner. But another reason I wanted to call is because my patience was gone. I demanded an answer when she finally answered the phone.

“John, John. You need to slow down. You aren’t making sense,” she stuttered.

Something in her voice told me that she fucking knew and I was too drunk to care about her to let it slide.

“You need to fucking get over here and explain what the hell I need to do to help my family,” I demanded.

“All right. All right. I will be there in a couple of hours.”

I sat at the kitchen table, fidgety and afraid. Every so often I would hear the pitter-patter of bare feet below me. The sound of my children supposedly playing in the basement. Every time I heard them laugh or giggle I nearly lost it.

In fact right before the agent came I was in a really drunken stupor and started to yell down at the basement, demanding it respond.

“I don’t know what you want from me, but you need to let my family go. We haven’t done anything to you, do you hear me??” I screamed.

Of course the basement didn’t respond. It was unnaturally quiet in fact. And that just made me even more upset.

I stumbled down the steps to the door and slammed my fist against it. “What the fuck do you want??” I shouted louder.

This time I heard a low scratching noise and nearly jolted from the step as I saw strange lettering burning into the door from the other side.

It took a moment for the word to form, singed into the old wood permanently like a scar and it made me literally gasp for air.

Then the doorbell rang. The real estate agent was here.

I fumbled back upstairs and went to the front door, glaring at her.

“About fucking time,” I responded as she came in.

“John…. you’ve been drinking. What the hell is going on? Where is your wife?” she asked nervously.

“That’s exactly what I have been trying to tell you! They have been in the basement! And now they won’t come up,” I explained.

She walked over to the stairs and looked down at the door, commenting, “I see that you managed to take the lock off. So what was down there anyway?”

“I haven’t gone down,” I admitted.

She gave me a puzzled look.

“What is that on the door?”

She walked toward it to get a good look and then asked me, “John… Did you do this?”

“No. How could I?” I asked.

She tried the handle but it didn’t budge. The door was stuck shut.

“And you’re telling me that Audrey and the kids are down there? How long have they been down there??” she asked as she jiggled the handle with no luck.

I fidgeted with my feet, feeling ashamed and embarrassed and frightened all at once. “About four days now.”

Her eyes widened in alarm and she pulled out her phone and announced, “I’m calling the cops. John, this is unacceptable. It’s negligence! You should have called the fire department by now. How the hell are they getting food and resources down there?”

She pushed me aside and walked back to the kitchen as she dialed 911.

Then I heard this low rumble below our feet and a noise from one of the bedrooms.

“What was that…?” The real estate agent asked.

Then as she was talking to the operator a shadow appeared from the doorway and I felt immediately cold and empty inside. Standing there in the hallway was my wife. Or at least, it was something that looked exactly like my wife.

“Oh thank god,” the agent said and added to the operator that it was a false alarm.

“Is everything all right?” Audrey asked softly.

I was at a loss for words, watching as my wife walked into the kitchen and stood alongside the sink.

The agent slid her phone back into her pocket and gave me the stink eye.

“It would seem that your husband here had the idea that you and your children were in danger… honesty I’m hoping all of this was a great prank at my expense,” she commented dryly.

Audrey laughed. It didn’t sound like her laugh. I kept still as the agent walked over to her and added, “After this little scare you gave me I think I deserve a drink. You did say you got wine from the cellar correct?”

“I can get you something,” Audrey answered, walking to the fridge.

“So what was it that my husband told you was wrong…?” she asked casually.

“You… you and the kids were locked downstairs. Or something. In the basement. Audrey I heard you down there,” I said softly.

She poured the wine and smiled at me. It was not the friendly look I knew from her.

“Well I’m clearly not in the basement now am I? And you believed that nonsense?” she asked the agent, passing her the wine.

She sipped it and chuckled softly.

“Well, to be honest I’ve heard a few rumors about this property. It’s been… somewhat difficult to sell. So the story sounded outlandish but I guess I let my imagination get the best of me…”

“Rumors?” I said, keeping an eye on Audrey. She was watching the agent the way a lion stalks their prey.

“Where are the children anyway?” Our guest asked.

“Excuse me?” Audrey said, seeming surprised by the question.

“I really should be going but before I do, can I at least confirm the children are alright?” the agent said.

“Oh. Yes. Yes of course,” Audrey said fumbling for something. I saw it just as her fingers curled around the handle and I made a noise.

“Watch out!!”

But it was too late. She twisted the knife and slammed it straight into the agent’s face. The woman screamed, dropping the wine glass and immediately scrambled to defend herself.

Audrey was faster. She grabbed the woman’s hair and slammed her into the sink, forcing her under as she started the water.

“Audrey!!! Audrey, you're going to suffocate her!!” I screamed as I tried to pull her off.

She pushed me away and then turned on the garbage disposal, a grinding noise filling the air as I heard the woman scream louder and blood begin to splatter out in every direction. My wife didn’t even blink as she kept the woman’s face down until her body had gone limp.

Finally, when she was sure that the real estate agent was dead she lifted her from the garbage disposal and tossed her to the floor. I did my best to not look at her mangled face.

Then she dragged the bloodied body toward the basement stairs.

“Audrey. Audrey, talk to me. What the hell are you doing? Talk to me damn it!” I said trying to stop her. She made a hissing noise and pushed me away from the stairs as she walked down and pushed the door open to the sheer darkness below.

I tried again to stop her and she scratched me across the face, slamming me against the wall as she dragged the body down the stairs to the basement.

I listened as I heard the noise of bones breaking and growls from predators fighting over a fresh meal. It sounded so primal, so animalistic.

Then from the darkness, Audrey stepped out and closed the door, looking down at her blood splattered clothes.

“What have you done,” I whispered, barely able to find my voice. I was in fear of what she might do to me if I got in her way.

She blinked; looking confused and surprised by my question.

“The children were hungry.”

I clenched my fists.

“Those… those things down there aren’t our kids…”

I looked at her with hate and anger. “And you are not my wife.”

She made a low hiss.

“That’s no way to talk to me, John…. and I would be careful with what you think you are going to do next. Ask yourself carefully… how many people are going to get hurt because of your stubbornness?” Audrey snarled.

“The police will come, they’re going to eventually realize that poor woman went missing. What the fuck do you want from me??”

She turned toward the door and opened it back before snarling, “I’m not staying up here to argue. I’m going back to be with our family… where you belong too John.”

“Don’t you fucking walk away!!” I screamed louder. I was shaking. Convinced she would kill me in a second if she could.

She turned her head and gave me a curious look.

“The house already told you what it needs… I suggest you start listening to it.”

Then she disappeared into the darkness and shut the door between us.

I went to the door, struggling to get it open again. But it would not budge.

I screamed in frustration as I touched the burnt letters.

Fuck. I’m such a wreck I forgot to mention what the message was.

‘More.’ It fucking said. This fucking house wants more. And I think I just gave it exactly what it needed.

-
I won’t be mincing words. I believe my family is gone.

I know it, you know it. We all fucking know that they have got to be dead.

But that doesn’t mean whatever the hell this thing is that took them is going to win.

It’s been nearly five days and now I see that this house has a force of evil that I wasn’t prepared for.

After my experience with Audrey. I decided to try to get the police again. A woman had just been brutally killed in our house and she had fed their corpse to the basement. I figured if that didn’t pique their interest the sheer amount of blood on the property would.

That I don’t think anyone was prepared for.

But I’m going to keep fighting. My family deserves that.

I recognized that the entity I’m battling doesn’t want me to seek outside help, so I probably should have anticipated that my phone wouldn’t work on the property. Instead I drove down to the police station to provide a statement. I had no idea what sort of tricks the entity would play while I was gone, but I also felt so relieved to get out.

Guiltily, part of me wanted to keep driving. But no, Audrey and the kids need me to finish this.

I didn’t tell them the full story but just enough to convince them that an accident had occurred at my new house and they needed to come investigate.

One officer said something interesting just as we were about to leave.

“What was the address again?” he muttered. I told him.

“Huh… wasn’t that the place they found that kid a few years back Tommy?”

“What kid?” his partner asked as we walked out of the station.

“Can’t remember. The husband was an abuser and had kept the kid locked up in the basement for years though. Then afterward the wife went insane and killed the son and the daughter. It was crazy,” he said.

“I remember that now,” the other officer said and then the rest of the ride became weirdly quiet.

I tucked that little bit of info away into my brain as we drove to my house and I prepared for whatever fuckery the house was going to throw at me next. Something told me that this man and his family had not made it out of this house alive. And I didn’t want to be next.

Honestly I thought that I was prepared for anything by this point. But the house proved me wrong again.

As we got inside I directed them to the kitchen, only to find it was completely clean from top to bottom. Not a speck of blood anywhere or any body tissue.

“Is this some kind of sick joke son?” the second officer asked as he came back from checking the rest of the house.

“No… it’s true. Here let me get you the real estate agent’s business card,” I stammered as I fumbled through my wallet.

“What’s in the basement?” The other asked, looking down at the closed door.

“I… I don’t really know,” I admitted.

“You got the key?” He asked.

“It isn’t locked,” I said.

“Well then, lead the way,” the second officer told me.

I froze. I couldn’t think of a good excuse to not go down into the basement but every bone in my body told me something horrible would await us.

“I would really rather not,” I said nervously. Then one officer sighed and pushed me down, muttering he didn’t have time for this nonsense. They both flanked me to prevent me from going back upstairs and I reached for the door, hoping to god that it was locked.

It opened with a slow creaking sound and I gestured toward the darkness. “I don’t believe there’s any electricity down here,” I admitted.

“Where exactly is your family sir?” One officer asked as they took out their smartphone to shine a light down the basement stairs.

I could just barely make out a brick wall, it was that dark.

“They aren’t here. Wife took my kids to visit mom upstate, for the week,” I lied. I really don’t know why. I knew it was a mistake the moment I did but it was too late.

“Daddy…?” a voice whispered down below and I closed my eyes and prayed the officers didn’t hear it.

Of course they did.

“What was that?”

Before I knew what was happening the two men were taking me down the stairs to the edge of the basement. We couldn’t see anything down there. Even the light was hardly penetrating the shadows.

But then amid the gloom we saw my little girl, standing amid a pile of what looked like human waste.

And I suddenly realized she was shackled to the wall.

“Holy shit,” one officer exclaimed, running toward her.

“No... it isn’t safe!” I shouted.

“Get back against the wall,” the second officer snarled, pushing me away even as his partner knelt to check Callie for injuries. I could see her mouth was still dripping with blood.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you, they attacked that woman,” I insisted but the two cops were no longer listening to me.

“Are you okay sweetie?” the officer asked.

“That isn’t my daughter!!” I said frantically.

“You better shut up before I make you regret anything else,” the second cop snarled.

“Daddy I’m scared,” Callie said as she cried softly.

It sounded so much like my little girl. I wanted to believe.

“Leave her alone!!” a scream came from the darkness. The officer that was helping Callie jumped in surprise, turning to see faux Audrey standing there in the gloomy basement. There was hardly enough lighting to make out her face but I could tell that portions of her skin were beginning to peel away around her nose and eyes. Beneath it her skin looked like porcelain, new and young and different. Almost the way an insect might break out of a husk.

“They aren’t ready,” faux Audrey said as she stepped closer. I recognized now my initial guess was right, she looked like a new person, with dark red hair and paler skin. Not the woman I had married at all. Not even close.

“Ma’am we are going to need to question you and your husband,” the officer said sternly.

“He’s not my husband,” she said, confirming my fears. The house had changed her… but into what?

Before the officer had a chance to move, the stranger said, “These aren’t my children either… not yet.”

“What is going on here?” the other officer asked.

“I don’t really care, all of you are going to come down to the station and clear this up immediately,” the first man insisted.

“No. You can’t take them. The house needs them,” she snarled, blocking the stairway.

“Lady, if you don’t move right now I will tase you,” the second officer snapped. I watched as the stranger eyes turned completely black and then the entire house rumbled again.

“What the hell….” the cop said, looking down at his feet. I watched in shock and horror as his legs became bolted to the floor, transforming into wood. He struggled to move as the strange shapeshifting magic moved up his body and he started to scream in terror as it covered his body.

Before he had a chance, he was as stiff as stone, immobile.

The second man was no different, frantically running up the stairs only to have them act quicksand and begin to swallow him alive. He turned and tried to shoot the stranger, but it didn’t do any good. Whatever had emerged from my wife’s body was unfazed by the attack.

As soon as he was gone, she turned her attention to Callie and smiled in the most sinister way.

“Nothing will prevent our return. Our survival,” she whispered.

“Daddy… I want to go. Please help me…” she whimpered.

I looked at the tears in her eyes and then looked toward the stranger, mortified as I realized that I was wrong about all of my family being gone.

“Callie… daddy’s going to save you. I promise,” I said, reaching for her hand.

“She belongs to the house now, John. Audrey tried to tell you. But you wouldn’t listen,” the woman hissed as she blocked my path to my daughter.

“And you just took two men’s lives. How the fuck are you going to explain that one away? This house will be torched to the ground once locals know it’s haunted,” I snapped back, my voice shaking in fear and anger.

“The house will keep them away. It has already grown stronger. Soon, it will be able to make things right,” she whispered in a reverential way.

“I want my family back. They didn’t hurt you,” I told the demon. Her eyes blazed with fire.

“But the family before you did. A price must be paid! We will walk this earth again, and you will help us… or you will never save the ones you love,” the stranger told me.

I realized in its own cold calculating way, the demon that had taken my wife hostage and formed her body to suit its needs was now offering me a choice.

I could harvest souls for it, to save my children.

“Where is Adrian… show me my son before I make any deal,” I said.

She stepped aside and in the darkness I saw his weak frail body. He was hardly conscious, a thick layer of some kind of strange plaster was covering his skin and he was struggling to breathe.

Seeing him there made me want to scream. To cry. To kill this monster.

But I knew I couldn’t if I wanted to even get a chance to save my kids.

“I’ll do it…” I whispered as my lips trembled.

“I’ll gather the souls you need. But you have to let my children go.”

I have run out of options....

-

I fucking hate this house.

Sorry about my Language. I’m just so frustrated.

Today marks it being six days since my family was taken hostage by a demonic entity in the basement.

I guess I really felt I was losing my mind.

Considering that after the initial incident, my wife killed our real estate agent and then two police officers were swallowed up by the house.

My hope had been to make others see what is happening here… but this evil is stronger than I realized. I feel like it’s manipulating me and holding me and my children hostage.

I guess you could say I am mad. Especially because I agreed to go out and bring more souls for the demon in exchange for my children’s safety.

Yes, Adrian and Callie are alive. For now. But the house is hungry. The stranger that emerged from my wife’s husk explained to me, and I don’t understand it but this is what she said.

I’m still reeling from the fact that my wife is likely gone forever, used as a shell for this new life form that is somehow able to communicate with the house.

“The real estate woman was a sinful body. I force fed your children because if I don’t feed them, the house will simply consume them. Audrey did that to keep them alive, John. She was doing what was necessary to keep them alive. Unlike you.”

I ignored the jab and said, “So the house must be fed sinless and innocent souls, is that it?”

“Yes and you must hurry John. Otherwise I can’t stop the house from feeding on them and they will be lost forever.”

Some part of me told me that my wife’s spirit was the one also making this deal with the devil. She knew she was doomed but wanted to do everything in her power to save our kids.

It’s my duty to do the same.

I left the house that morning, promising to return in only a few hours.

I know some of you have suggested that I simply leave. But what good would it do? This thing would find a way to hurt others. And I would lose what little life in me I have left if I knew I willingly left my children.

I’ve been a coward. And it’s time to start thinking of a way to defeat this evil.

As I got further from the house, my head began to clear and I considered what I knew so far.

Something had happened here before we moved in, something that likely killed the family that had lived there. So that must mean that there is a record of it somewhere.

I managed to find the local newspaper archives downtown and requested a snoop. Thankfully the woman at the desk didn’t ask any questions.

And soon I found myself going down a proverbial rabbit hole.

It took longer than I anticipated but I found two entries about the address, one only two years back.

"mother kills both children and then herself in a gruesome massacre that rivals the original tragedy"

That got me digging a little deeper and I soon found in the other article that one of her children was apparently adopted, and the son of a man that also claimed to have been attacked by spirits at another house over 8 years ago.

"woman adopts son of heinous criminal in shocking end to a dangerous case"

The article explained that she said her husband was charged with kidnapping the boy. But the original biological father was still in county lockup.

I did a search on him next and found an interview where he was attempting to warn others about an entity that had made him kill his son years ago.

”There was evil there that I couldn’t explain, it was compelling me to do things that I didn’t want to. The house was alive! And it took my son! And I know that it will want to feed again!! You must destroy it!”

It made me wonder if it was even possible to destroy this evil. Where did it come from?

I knew my next stop would be the county jail. To talk to this estranged father.

I checked my watch, nervous and afraid that the demon would think I was taking too long. I needed to buy some time somehow.

The only solution I could come up with was to swing by a local church and convince a pastor to stop by for a baptism.

“And you said it’s your children that need to be baptized?” the older man asked as I drove him to the house.

I figured a man of God would be the closest thing to sinless I could find. And maybe if I got lucky, he could even help defeat this evil.

I drove back to the house trying to fend off any questions the pastor had. a sense of dread overwhelming me as I got in and headed straight for the basement.

“There is something evil about this house,” he said as he entered. Then he paused at the top of the stairs.

“I know this place. People died here,” he whispered.

I froze and looked down, wondering if the house might attack because of the man’s realizing it’s true intent.

“Your children don’t need to be given the water of God… but his spirit, take me to them immediately,” the pastor insisted.

I couldn’t even see the basement floor. We walked together and toward the wall, my mind reeling as I wondered if this man would even stand a chance against this evil.

It wasn’t the darkness that scared me now, but what was happening down below that sent a shiver down my spine.

When I got down there I saw to my surprise that the faux Audrey, the stranger; was sleeping. She was in a fetal position in the corner almost like an insect going inside its shell again and it made me wonder if I had the chance to rescue my children.

Adrian was hardly moving pale as a sheet and covered in the same goop as before, and Callie was actually asleep as well. Was the house working it’s magic on them, to change them the way it had Audrey?

“The demon is weakened… some time ago… I can feel it’s pain. It’s anger. It’s in the floorboards. The walls. The entire house,” the pastor realized.

“What happened here?” he whispered, not knowing the full story.

“Father, that doesn’t matter. We have to work quickly to save them,” I said as I began to work on the locks.

He went to check my son, hardly able to get him to move.

Callie’s eyes shot open.

“What are you doing…?” she asked in a groggy voice.

“I’m getting you out of here. We are leaving Callie. I’m going to save you,” I responded.

Then she kicked at me and started to scream.

“Don’t touch me!! Get away!! Get away!!” she kicked at me and I frantically looked across the room to see Adrian was standing up now, looking almost dead to the world. He was grabbing the pastor by the throat and crushing the man’s windpipe.

“You’ve taken too long John. Your daughter is gone.” His voice was almost completely monotone. “No… no, please god no,” I said as I managed to break the lock and grab her hand.

“Callie you come with me,” I shouted as we moved toward the door.

“No!!!” Callie screamed. Tehn the pastor tugged at his cross on his collar and showed it to Adrian. He hissed in pain and dropped him then the man shouted, “Run!!”

I obeyed and ran up the stairs, the house rumbling and shaking as I did.

As I made it to the ground floor, Callie tugged at me and finally pulled away.

“I don’t know you!! Stop!!” she screamed. Then I looked at her and realized that her eyes had changed color. I hadn’t seen it in the darkness but her hair had too.

This wasn’t my little girl.

The house shook again and I turned to see the stranger push her away up from the floorboard, her naked and monstrous body snarling as I looked on in horror.

“You dare to go against our arrangement??” it snarled.

“No… no I brought what you asked for!” I said desperately.

“You tried to attack us. And for that you must suffer,” the stranger snarled louder.

“John!!” I heard the pastor said as he managed to make it to the first floor.

“It’s not too late for your family. You must undo the sins that have been committed here!!” he begged.

“Silence!!” the stranger screamed louder and then made the girl become her puppet, her hands fidgeting as if pulling the strings and forcing the child to comply.

I watched as the little girl screamed and opened her mouth in pain.

Then hornets began to swarm from her mouth.

I was pushed to the floor by the sheer force of them, watching as they moved toward the pastor, stinging him madly with the fury of a legion of demons. They were going to kill him before he could have a chance.

And it was giving me a chance to escape.

I crawled toward the door as I heard the child screaming louder and felt my heart drop as I managed to push my way out to the front yard.

I had to abandon my children there. The house had officially claimed them as its own.

As I managed to escape and heard the buzz of the hornets grow louder, I made up my mind that there was only one thing I could do now.

This place needs to be destroyed. It has taken everything from me, and I’ll be damned if I don’t make it pay.

-
Nothing was left except for me to try and destroy the house.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy. It’s been clear to me this entity has great power with the ability to control people’s minds and take their bodies as its host.

And I knew I would need help.

So I went to the one person that I thought might even consider helping, the man that owned this house eight years ago.

After the incident two years back where it was discovered that his son was saved by the family that lived at a similar house to mine, I learned that he was cleared of all charges.

That isn’t to say his life was better though because I soon discovered that he was at the local psychiatric hospital under careful watch.

Apparently over the past 24 months he had tried suicide several times.

I don’t blame him. I feel like I’m in the same boat if I’m being honest. The demon within this house has used me the same way it did him.

I found him in the commons room staring out the window down at the grass. He looked like a broken and defeated man, with no sense of purpose anymore.

I was about to give him a reason to live again, even if it was for pure revenge.

“Noah Hunt?” I asked, extending my hand to shake his. He ignored the gesture.

“Who the fuck are you?” he snapped back.

“John. I… well there is no way to make this easy so I’ll just say it. I think I am dealing with the same demon you fought eight years ago.”

Noah’s eye twitched. I could see that he was scared. But he could also tell I wasn’t lying.

“So then it’s starting again…” he whispered.

“I had hoped… when I told that woman the truth about what happened to Jasper… I thought when I saw the reports that she killed them both that meant it was over…” he shook his head and tried to not let his hands shake and tremble.

“But that was just the demon warming up, wasn’t it?”

“No… I think she really did go insane and kill them both. It weakened the entity, until my family moved in just last week… it’s been feeding off my wife and kids in the basement,” I said.

“Feeding? It’s still using their bodies?” Noah asked.

“My wife…” I paused as my own voice cracked. This was more difficult than I realized saying it out loud.

“Audrey is gone. The demon created a new body for itself. It’s going to do the same for my children. And I think… after that it will spread and infect other homes,” I admitted.

“Then why come to me? Just leave. Get away from here and forget about this place. Your family is gone,” Noah insisted.

I held back a tear as I clenched my fists. “You think I don’t know that?!”

A few of the orderlies looked at me in surprise, and I controlled my anger so as to not cause a scene.

“But you know as well as I do that running away solves nothing. Too many people have suffered because of this thing. I want to kill it…”

I swallowed a gulp of air and offered a proposal to him. “Eight years ago you managed to wound it enough to keep it dead for at least this long. You must have done something different!” I said.

Noah looked at me like I was a madman.

Maybe I was. Then he laughed.

“You want to know my big fucking secret? Do you? It’s the reason I went to jail. I killed Jasper. Yes, I killed my boy. He was six…”

He stood up and jabbed his finger in my face.

“Do you have any idea what it takes to watch the innocence fade from your child’s eyes as you are holding their heart in your hand??”

“But I knew… I knew it was the only way to stop this evil. I had to stop it before others were hurt…”

I could see the anger there. It was the same passion that drove me now.

“Help me… please. You and I seem to be free of the influence this thing has… let us use that to our advantage and get rid of it once and for all,” I urged him.

“You’re joking right? What’s your plan? Nuke the place? And how are you gonna get me out of here anyway?” he asked with a laugh.

“You know the answer to that,” I paused and leaned forward whispering my plan to him.

He actually smiled for the first time.

“The house demon has powers to manipulate people, right? So it can certainly get you to be brought to it, if it so chooses. So if I made it believe you were offering yourself willingly… then there wouldn’t be an objection from the staff.

“It’s crazy… but it might work,” Noah agreed.

“So then we just go and burn the motherfucker down?”

“Do you have a better method?” I asked.

He crossed his arms and laughed again.

“I have a bad feeling about this… but sure. Why the hell not?”

-

By afternoon Noah and I were headed toward the house. It took little to convince the demon of his interest. It remembered the wound he had caused and the entity made it clear that it wanted to exact revenge.

And from the way Noah was fidgeting I could see that he was eager to do the same.

I was sure this would be the last time I set foot in this house. One way or another, it was ending here.

The door opened of its own accord as we stepped on the porch. Noah and I both felt a cold chill and I knew. The demon was back at full strength again. It didn’t really need us. Now it was going to dispose of us as obstacles so that it could go elsewhere.

As if to confirm this I saw the stranger and two children I didn’t recognize sitting in the den, waiting. To the side of the girl stood a life-like husk of Callie and the same of Adrian was near the boy.

My poor children, taken and destroyed by this evil. It was pulling at my heartstrings but I knew that it was too late for them.

Apparently, Noah recognized the stranger and the boy.

“Jasper… how dare you continue to use my son’s body for your purposes, you monsters,” he said as he clenched his fist.

It then occurred to me the stranger had to be the woman that had killed Jasper and this girl only a few years back. A desperate attempt to stop the evil from spreading that was now backfiring.

“He was the first one to awaken us. It seems only fitting he continues to be our primary vessel,” the woman and Jasper and the girl all spoke in unison.

“That won’t be happening. This is going to end, you are going to die,” Noah responded.

“You think I don’t realize you came here to kill us? You will fail.”

I shook my head. I actually had a different motive. One that I hadn’t even told Noah about.

I remembered the pastor’s words about undoing old sins and though it seemed crazy I made a conscious decision to try something unorthodox.

“You want to spread and grow elsewhere? Then use my body. It’s healthy. And it’s not gonna be something that people question either. You can leave this place, and go where you want. But if you do that, you’ll have to give these souls back to the bodies you took them from. My family. Bring them back. I know you have the power to do that now,” I said.

Noah looked at me in shock.

“You can’t be serious. This thing will just use you as a puppet.”

“It needs me. The same way that it needed you all those years ago. I’m not sure why, but I feel our roles as fathers serve a distinct purpose in its own evolution…” I saw the demon girl twitch and I remarked.

“And it knows that it can’t leave here with these three bodies. It fed on my family simply to regain strength. Now it needs to be able to expand,” I offered myself again and swore to the demon.

“I’ll make whatever oath you want, but my family needs to be freed of your grasp. They didn’t hurt you. Honor them by letting them go,” I insisted.

“No. I won’t allow this!” Noah said.

He pulled out the knife that he had brought and snapped. “You think you are so god damn smart? But I’ve been willing to kill before to stop this thing and I will do it again!”

He pushed me to the ground and slammed his weapon into my shoulder, causing me to scream out.

To be honest his response was part of my plan. But I saw that the demon recognized the potential it had to use me and immediately it lashed out toward Noah.

“You are the one that took our survival and freedom from us! You will regret ever stepping in our path!!”

I saw the moment of distraction and leapt at the chance.

I grabbed the knife and pulled it of my shoulder just as the demon pushed toward him in full force.

And then I tackled Jasper to the ground and jabbed him repeatedly in the chest.

Even as I completed the act I saw the color in Adrian’s cheeks begin to return. The plan was working.

The demon screamed at the realization that I was turning on it even as Noah took out his next weapon of choice, a simple match. He lit it and tossed it at the woman, causing her clothes to catch fire as I kept trying to make Jasper lose consciousness. I had to keep telling myself that this was not a child. It was a monster. And I had to stay strong. For Adrian.

Suddenly the house rumbled and shook with all its might. I saw bars begin to grow on the windows and the floor move and try to swallow us whole. The entire house was fighting back. The demon was using all of its resources to stop what would come next.

But I didn’t hesitate anymore. I tossed the weapon next straight at the girl’s back and shouted to Noah, “Do it!! Now!!”

He kicked the woman off and then ripped off his jacket, revealing a makeshift explosive he had made. It wasn’t easy to get the materials without raising any red flags but we had been cautious. And this would be enough to do the trick if he could get the demon back to where this all started. The basement.

“Surprise motherfucker,” he shouted as he tackled the woman to the ground and they both tumbled toward the basement.

I crawled toward my children, grabbing their hands and pulling them as I raced toward the entranceway. I had only seconds to escape.

The door itself was beginning to close the way a lion’s maw would and the entire property creaked and groaned as I leapt out. My children in my arms.

Then Everything burst into flames.

I tumbled onto the front porch as I heard the screams of a thousand demons fill the night and the top of the house roof spilled off, debris tumbling in every direction.

I collapsed in exhaustion as I clutched Adrian and Callie and struggled to help them breathe.

As the last remnants of the house flew up in the air they both started to wake up and I sobbed in relief. It was finally over.

-

The fire department was on scene in less than ten minutes. I provided the best statement I could, of a home accident that had taken my wife and Noah. I claimed he had been holding them hostage in the basement and then finally decided to end things once and for all. They hadn’t made it to the debris down there yet, but they accepted my version of events pretty easily given the man’s track record of violence.

As I was given a warm mug of coffee I laid my wife to rest in a nearby empty garden. I held Adrian and Callie close to me as they cried and tried to comprehend what had happened. Honestly I’m not sure they ever will know.

I don’t have much to remember her by, but I will do my best to live the rest of my life trying to find a reason to go on. I have never really been a believer but I think I felt Audrey smiling down on me as I laid her ashes to rest. I did it. I saved our kids.

They insisted on taking us to a local hospital for an examination to make sure we were fine and I accepted. I had a feeling I would need some intense therapy after this last week.

As I sat there in recovery and saw my kids get their own examination in a room adjacent to mine, I thought about Noah. How he was now at peace too with his own family. And I was doomed to be a guilty survivor.

Then there was a knock at the door.

“John?”

It was one of the officers that had brought me here.

“I just wanted to let you know that everything has been cleared up. We got a statement and you’re clear.”

For a moment I was at a loss for words.

“I’m sorry, what do you mean?” I asked.

Then in the doorway I saw standing there a man in handcuffs that should be dead.

Noah Hunt.

“Mister Hunt has confirmed what you told us at the property. It seems he also had help from a few of our officers and the real estate agent. I’m so sorry you had to go through with this. We are putting this monster back where he belongs as soon as possible.”

Noah looked at me with those same cold dead eyes and immediately I knew.

“No. No you can’t send him to prison…”

“John. He tried to kill his own son. He held your family hostage for a week before killing your wife. We’re nailing this bastard hard.”

“No you don’t understand!!” I screamed as I strained to get up.

“It’s quite alright John,” Noah said in that same monotone voice. The demon’s eyes fired up as he added, “I’ve accepted my fate to return to the gallows…”

“Why you could almost say it’s like going home again.”