The Cornelius Saga Boxed Set

by Tanya R. Taylor

  Mira took off up the street and this time paid more attention to what was actually in front of her than what was on her mind.

  * * *

  The Sylvesters’ house was a quaint white cottage with a hipped roof and light brown asphalt shingles. The narrow driveway extended about fifty feet in length from the roadway, and parked there in front of the house was a 1980s Volkswagen behind a later model Buick.

  Bryant appeared at the front door the moment Mira pulled up. As she got out of the car, he hurried over to her.

  “Doctor Cullen,” he extended both hands, “I’m so happy you came.” Bryant was fifty-years old, of medium height and weighed no more than one hundred and fifty pounds. He had short, black, thinning hair and was of Latin-American descent.

  Mira stood outside of the car for a few moments and looked at the house. A woman inside at the window caught her eye. “Is that your wife?”

  “Yes!” he replied. “That’s Lucille.”

  She met Mira at the front door. “Doctor, we’re so relieved you’re here. We didn’t know what else to do.”

  Lucille was three years older than her husband, tall and looked on the frail side. Her hair was mostly gray and fell limply at her shoulders.

  “It’s nice to meet you both.” Mira smiled.

  Bryant invited her in and they all stood in the center of the living room.

  “This is it,” he said. “Our entire life savings.”

  The living room was completely void of any decorating. It consisted of a single couch with a rectangular glass table set in front of it and the curtains at both windows were brown with lighter and darker patterns running throughout the fabric. Mira assumed that either these people had no interest in beautifying their home or depression had set in shortly after they’d moved there and thus was the reason nothing more came of the space. Besides, the couple seemed to only be hanging on by a thread. The atmosphere surrounding them was gloomy and dispirited, although they tried to appear different.

  “Do you mind?” Mira asked, gesturing for a walk.

  “No. Feel free to look around,” Bryant said. “We’ll be right here when you get back.”

  The Sylvesters remained in that very spot, holding hands as Mira made her way around the living room and then the kitchen.

  As she proceeded down the hallway, black shadows darted past her on both sides. She kept her focus straight ahead, deciding not to give them the attention she knew they craved. She opened the door of the first of two bedrooms and walked inside. The wall had been painted a light tan color and a large bed and two tall bureaus occupied the space. The double window was shielded with vertical wooden blinds which actually gave the room a bit of personality when compared to that of the living room. The entities she’d seen via her peripheral vision entered along with her. She saw one sliding under the bed; another under the blue comforter on top of the mattress; another in the closet and others moved around randomly along the walls, ceiling and other parts of the floor. She had no idea how many there were in total, but knew there were many.

  After leaving that room, Mira walked across the hallway toward the other bedroom. Upon entering, she quickly folded her arms, as the temperature inside was a vast difference from the rest of the house. It was extremely cold; close to freezing.

  The room was a bit smaller than the previous one she’d been in and stocked with various-sized boxes and other household items. It didn’t take long for Mira to notice something straight ahead that was clearly out of the ordinary. In fact, what she saw horrified her as she knew it bore the brunt of responsibility for everything ungodly the Sylvesters were experiencing.

  “My God!” she quietly exclaimed, covering her mouth with both hands.

  Straight across the opposite end of the room was a large oval-shaped energy vortex which housed a four-dimensional vibratory frequency. The colors ingrained in it were luminous shades of blues, purples and whites. Then she heard the voices – conversations, pleadings that she wished she could block out somehow. Some of the voices were calm, but many were a mixture of angry and fearful. She saw the shadow figures again. Some went into the vortex and others slid out. The scene was stunning and captivating, and she stepped back as she sensed its tremendous power. Suddenly, she heard a shriek from the front part of the house and without a second thought, ran toward the sound.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  The Sylvesters were still standing in the living room, but they looked more agitated and frightened than when she’d left them.

  Lucille was tearful as her husband held her closely.

  “Look!” Bryant backed off a little and raised the front of his wife’s blouse.

  There were three long jagged scrapes on her abdomen just above her navel and drips of blood were oozing from them.

  Mira got a closer look. She could tell they were fresh cuts. “This just happened to you?”

  Lucille nodded. “Yes.”

  Bryant was obviously worried. “I was standing right here when it happened to her, dammit! I couldn’t do anything to stop it. It isn’t like whatever did this was brave enough to show its face!” He snarled.

  “I need to see the others,” Mira said.

  “You mean the bruises?” Lucille asked.

  “Yes. Please show me.”

  Bryant and Lucille disrobed all the way down to their underwear. All over their bodies, except for the face, arms below the elbows and legs below the knees were cuts, scrapes and purplish-blue bruises. The chest area — for both of them — appeared to be the worst part. They looked like they’d been repeatedly and mercilessly pummeled.

  “What the...”

  Mira slid her fingers across the marks. Some of the cuts had been so deep, they were left as raised masses of hardened flesh where the body had conducted its own inner stitching.

  “How do you cope with this?” she asked them, shaking her head sadly.

  “They won’t let us be!” Lucille cried, “We can’t sleep; we barely eat. We’re both just shells of ourselves. This house - whatever’s here - it hates us and is ruining our lives!”

  “Please sit down. I have to tell you something.” Mira went and took a seat on the couch.

  The couple still held hands as they sat together.

  Mira wasn’t sure how to begin. She certainly didn’t go there expecting to find what she did.

  “What I’m about to tell you is extremely important. I hate to say this, but you definitely have a lot of energy in this house, but it’s not the kind of energy I typically come across.”

  “What do you mean?” Bryant leaned forward.

  “There are entities in here, Mister and Mrs. Sylvester, but I sense that most of them are not human in nature. They are negative and very destructive, as is evident by the way you’ve been attacked.”

  They were looking on with interest.

  “There’s more.” Mira gulped. She could see the anguish in Lucille’s eyes and hated to break the news to her.

  “There’s a portal here in this house that leads to the other side.”

  “A portal?” Bryant’s eyes widened.

  She nodded quickly. “What’s coming through are evil forces intent on destroying you.”

  The ensuing moments of silence in the room were deafening.

  “Although they’ve been violent toward you, their ultimate goal is for you to turn on each other.”

  “What?” Lucille was aghast. “Why? What did we ever do to deserve this?”

  “I’m sure you didn’t do anything to deserve it,” Mira replied. “If it wasn’t you two, it would be someone else.”

  Bryant gently squeezed his wife’s hand. He wanted more than anything to protect her. “So what do we do to put an end to all this activity going on around here and to get rid of that so-called portal?” he asked.

  “My best advice to you both is to move – to pack up everything you own and go someplace else.”

  Grimacing, Lucille looked at her husband. “She said we should move, Brya
nt. How can we move? Where will we go? We don’t have any money or family we can stay with.”

  “Can’t we call in a priest or other minister to come in and cleanse the house?” Bryant proposed. “I thought about it before, but felt we needed to go this route and get some answers first.”

  “There’s no guarantee what you’re proposing will work. The energy in here is incredibly strong and even if a cleansing were performed, it may still not be safe for you to return given what you were already exposed to. I don’t advise you to spend another day here.”

  “I don’t get what you’re saying, Doctor Cullen. A cleansing should be able to take care of the problem. Isn’t good stronger than evil?” Bryant argued.

  “I agree it is, but maybe I should better explain. What’s happening in this house is no typical haunting. The entities streaming in from the other side are vicious in nature and they can be tough to remove the first try, the second and even subsequent attempts. For the amount of negative, vile energy I feel, whoever and whatever remains attached to this place while the cleansing is attempted can become the victim of full demonic possession. What’s more is that just because the portal is closed doesn’t mean it will remain that way. These things are cunning and manipulative and they’ve already started their damaging work on you two. Any more exposure to this house even after a cleansing is a huge risk I wouldn’t advise you to take.” She glanced at both of them. “There must be somewhere you can go. If you don’t know anyone here who can take you in, there’s a shelter downtown where you can stay ‘til you get on your feet again. It’s a decent place and believe me, no one will be judging you.”

  Bryant saw the desperate look in his wife’s eyes. He arched his eyebrows and stood to his feet.

  “Well, I’d like to thank you for coming, Doc.”

  Mira was taken aback. “So, you’re not going to take my advice?”

  “All of my adult life, I’ve never depended on anyone to take care of my wife and me, and I’m not about to start now. We’ve managed this long and we’ll continue to manage just fine. If those things could’ve killed us, we would’ve been dead already. So, the sneaky jabs and strikes here and there won’t destroy us. We’ll get through this somehow.” He helped his wife up.

  “I think we’ll try that minister,” Lucille added. “In spite of everything you said – and don’t get me wrong – we do appreciate what you told us, I believe in the power of God and a holy man can cast out any negative force that is in this house.”

  Bryant was nodding in agreement.

  “Believe me, I too share your views,” Mira said, “but I know for a fact that doors once shut can be opened again and taking a chance like that can be detrimental for you. Look, I don’t usually do this sort of thing when I meet someone for the first time, but to ensure your safety, I am willing to put you up in a hotel for a few days until you decide where to go. You can still get someone to cleanse the house, then sell it, and you’ll likely get most of your investment back that way. Once this place has been properly cleansed, it might be safer for any new owners coming in, but not so much for you. So, how about it? Please let me help. I’d hate to leave you here in this situation.” She sounded as if she was pleading.

  Again, Lucille sought a response from her husband, and as expected, he rose to the occasion.

  “We truly thank you for your offer, Doctor Cullen; that’s very generous of you. But no, thanks. We’ll be fine right here. Won’t we, darling?”

  Lucille cracked a smile.

  Mira stood to her feet. “Well, I guess I’ll be going. I do hope you’d reconsider.” She searched their eyes for that option, but didn’t find it. “Okay, well… take care of yourselves then.”

  She left the house and headed to her car, all the while feeling like she’d failed that couple. A nagging sensation of impending doom enveloped her being with every step she took and she had a strong suspicion that life for the Sylvesters was about to get much worse.

  * * *

  Home again and feeling like she’d just run a marathon, Mira dropped her keys on the mantle and decided to make a cup of coffee. Her visit with the Sylvesters proved quite draining in that she saw the danger and could not convince the residents to remove themselves from it. Her hand trembled slightly as she poured a spoonful of brown sugar into the cup. Dropping the spoon, she sighed.

  “I don’t know why I get myself so wrapped up in these cases,” she muttered. “Why can’t I just practice medicine and live a quiet life!”

  She switched off the singing kettle and poured the boiling water into the cup.

  With coffee in hand, she sauntered through the hallway and while passing her mother’s room, spotted her lying in bed. Mira eased the door shut and continued toward her own room.

  “Honey, is that you?” Sara called weakly.

  Mira returned to the bedroom; opening the door slightly. “Hi, Mom.”

  Sara sat up. “How did it go?”

  “We can talk about that later. You should get your rest,” Mira said.

  “I’ve had enough for now. Come sit with me.” She patted the bed.

  Mira went over and sat down. “You want some coffee? I can give you mine and make more?” She offered.

  “That’s okay. I’ll brew some later. I prefer mine brewed anyway over that instant coffee.”

  Sara studied Mira for a moment before uttering another word. “It didn’t go well today, huh?”

  Mira shook her head. “Not at all.” She went on to explain what had happened.

  “That’s terrible! How could they not take your advice and continue to live there like that? How many strangers go out on a limb like you did to get them to a safe place?” Sara was annoyed.

  “The man has his pride, Mom. Can’t blame him for that.”

  “Pride is one thing, Sweet Pea, and stupidity another! That wife of his couldn’t talk any sense into him?”

  “She didn’t seem that willing herself. So—”

  “Anyway, you tried, honey. Let it go; there’s nothing more you can do. They are grown adults responsible for their own decisions.”

  Mira wondered if her mother could hear herself. It amazed her that she could clearly see what made sense for the Sylvesters to do, but couldn’t in her own situation. Nevertheless, she dared not bring up the issue again so soon.

  “You’re right.” Switching the subject, Mira asked. “So, you’ve been napping a while?”

  Sara glanced at the wall clock located a few feet above the television set. “For about an hour or so,” she replied. “Rosie called at least twice.”

  “You think she misses us more than we do her?” Mira smiled.

  “Aww… who are you fooling? I notice you playing all tough, but deep inside you can’t wait to pick her up tomorrow!”

  On that note, Mira got up with her coffee. “I’m gonna get changed and relax outside on the porch for a bit.”

  “Okay, sounds good.” Sara smiled.

  7

  _________________

  The next day...

  Mira only needed to honk the car horn once before Rosie came walking out of the Dames’ house. Tonya and Judy saw her off as Tim had left on a business trip earlier that morning.

  “Thanks so much for having her!” Mira said, from the car.

  “Anytime!” Judy happily replied. She and Tonya were waving by the door.

  As they drove away, Rosie turned around to bid farewell to her friend when her eyes met those of the young woman from the house – the dead one – sitting in the back seat, directly behind Mira.

  “Mom!” she cried.

  Mira stopped and looked through the rear-view mirror, catching a glimpse of the straggly-haired ghost just before she disappeared.

  Rosie was beside herself.

  “She’s gone, honey,” Mira told her. “Look!”

  Rosie slowly turned around.

  “It was the lady from the house!” she exclaimed.

  “You mean… Tonya’s house?”

  “Y
es! What was she doing in our car?”

  “I have no idea,” Mira said. “Sometimes they move around, you know. Just the way it is.”

  “She frightens me, Mom.”

  Mira patted her daughter’s knee. “Don’t let her.”

  She shifted the gear again and continued down the street. Rosie stared out of the window trying to get her mind off of the strange woman.

  “She mentioned something about burning something,” she said as Mira made the turn for the freeway.

  “She spoke to you?”

  “Uh huh.”

  Mira grimaced. “Burning? I wonder what she meant.” There was a brief lull. “Anyway, if you see her again, let me know. And try not to be afraid, okay?”

  Rosie watched the cars speeding past them.

  “I saw others too. One was Tonya’s grandma. She’s nice though. Then there was this man who kept staring at Mister Dames like he was angry at him or something.”

  “How’d you handle all of this?” She glanced her way.

  “Just like you taught me, I guess.”

  The conversation during the drive was about apparitions; what Rosie did the entire time she was away and when the Dames thought was a perfect time for a second sleepover for the girls. Gradually, Rosie was able to get the young, creepy woman off her mind.

  * * *

  “May I catch a ride?” Bobby tugged at the back door handle, after Mira pulled to the side of the road. He was just finishing his evening run through the neighborhood.

  Rosie smiled as he hopped inside.

  “What’s up, Rosie?” He leaned over and ruffled her hair. “How was the sleepover?”

  “Fine,” she said, fiddling with a digital game.

  Mira placed a finger on her lips as she looked at him through the rear-view mirror.

  He understood the signal.

  “Do you have it?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  She pulled onto his fresh, new driveway. Just a few weeks earlier, he’d hired a truck and a small crew to put down the steel and pour the concrete so he could finally pull into his own front yard. Before that, parking on the side of the road was his only option.