Sanctum Arcanum

by Alexander Kautz

  I sensed something coming closer, slowly creeping and crawling while hidden in the shadows across the floor. It was making its way very carefully from behind us, and just beyond view….

  My hand instinctively slipped to the revolver concealed in my coat pocket. Gregory, having taken notice, immediately sat up, his eyes growing huge!

  The horror had been complete in Laura’s terrified stare as the little kettle began to boil! The whistling becoming deafening as something suddenly moved from out of the blackness beyond! It came like a cloud of shadows, which drifted upward and from off the floor, rising from just behind the couch as I threw myself forward and sprawled upon the floor!

  Laura and Gregory had cried out in terror as the girls had awakened to the chaos and all began screaming! The monstrous thing drawing backward as Rich tossed more wood onto the flames!

  Noticing this, we had all rushed for the lanterns, raising them higher as so to flood and fill the room with light! We were utterly panic-stricken with the children’s screams, as we flew into a mindless fear! It retreated further into the shadows beneath the stairs and into the corridor beyond, but we could still see it! Like an immense ethereal oil, slick, black, seething, glistening and wet in the darkness!

  “What in the name of God is that thing?” Gregory choked, shielding his family with his body as they cowered closer to the hearth. Laura was trembling uncontrollably while clinging desperately to the girls as they wept and shrieked in terror.

  “I don’t know!” I wielded the lantern like a shield, waving it toward the seething shadows beneath the stairs, “But it seems to be afraid of the light!”

  It howled in rage, the sound shaking the very foundations of the old house!

  “The hearth--,” Rich had shouted, “Build the flames higher—we need to keep it back!”

  Trudy uttered a mind-shattering shriek as a tendril had slipped out from beneath the couch. Grabbing her right ankle, it attempted to draw her into the darkness beyond! Rich had caught her not a moment too soon, and kicking away at all of the furniture, dragged her back to the hearth!

  “It’s using the shadows--,” Gregory exclaimed, waving his lantern around, “Stay away from the furniture and the darkness beneath!”

  “Do we have any more lanterns?” Searching the surrounding shadows, I looked to our host, “Do we have anything that we can use to brighten the room?”

  He appeared completely lost, his mind reeling as the horror consumed all and any thoughts that he attempted, leaving him stuttering and blank.

  “What does it want--,” Laura cried out, weeping as she tightly embraced her daughters, “Why won’t it just leave us alone—we have done nothing!”

  “It’s something that’s haunted these grounds long before the house was here--,” I gasped while watching the blackness beyond our little circle, “And, according to the parish records, it only comes in the dark of winter to feed.”

  “Yes--,” Rich answered Gregory’s wide-eyed stare, “That food is us…!”

  “How do we get away from this thing—there must be some way?” Laura’s eyes were huge and bulging in terror, “What will we do?” She kept whispering and repeating those words. It was like utter madness as she glanced all about the house, while desperately seeking escape.

  “Just stay in the light—we just have to make it until dawn!” I stood beside Rich as we held lanterns in each hand, “Keep the children close—we can do this, if we all just hold on.”

  Gregory kissed his wife, taking up an oil lamp, and took a place between us, “We don’t have enough wood to last the night.” He whispered, drawing our attention to where only a few logs remained, “There is more in the shed, but we dare not go out there now. The dawn will not come until after seven. What will we do?”

  “Burn the furniture--,” Rich swallowed hard, his dark eyes bulging with fear, “Burn everything that will catch flame. Even if we have to set fire to the house….”

  “Your salvation resides within a circle of protection, a pentacle with points of flame.” Marlowe’s voice whispered from somewhere out of the darkness and depths of my mind.

  “Heed my warning or perish—return—return before it is too late….” Startled and staring blankly, I had stepped back. My thoughts racing as the answers became clear, I turned to Rich, “Do we have anything that we can draw a circle—and pentacle of protection with?”

  “Nothing--,” He fumbled through his pockets, remembering to have left our pens and pads in our coats, “Our things are all in the front closet.”

  “In the kitchen--,” Gregory drew our attention across and into the dark room, “Colleen’s crayons, they’re on a stand behind the kitchen table.”

  The distance between was crossed in blackness, the shadows hanging heavy about the room and the kitchen being pitch-dark. We had all looked to where, barely visible, like an enormous spider, the dark shape now patiently crept near the top of the stairs.

  “Let me do this—I know where they are--,” He peered back at his terrified family and then at me, “Please, no matter what happens. Promise that you will watch over them.”

  Without hesitation Rich had run for the kitchen door, holding his lantern high as he ran through the dark opening with the thing close behind!

  “What is he doing?” Gregory gasped.

  “Saving our lives--,” I cursed under my breath. Waving the lantern, I rushed ahead, “Let’s light up a path back to the hearth!”

  We had rushed forward with lanterns held high, the light gathering and forcing the blackness backwards as Rich had suddenly cried out. I moved closer to the opening, the light of his lantern burning low. I saw him struggling with something in the shadows, tendrils appearing as smoke! Swinging one arm inward, I shone my light into the far corner beyond the table and into the kitchen. The shadows bursting and spreading apart, Rich slipped free and rushed madly from out the room!

  We had barely managed to return to the hearth when the storm burst through the shutters and main window, the ice and snow blowing inward as it carried the blackness from behind!

  “Stay close—and near the hearth!” I had shouted to Gregory and his wife. Following Rich, who had already assumed my next move, we fought our way to the window.

  Kicking at furniture and fighting the bitter wind and blowing snow, we dared lay down a single lantern each. Struggling while managing to prop a table against the frame of the window, we slid the couch across the floor, barricading the table and blocking the storm.

  “It’s not going to help much—it’s just too damn cold!” Rich retrieved his second lantern, fearfully waving it about.

  “Well, it’s going to have to do for now--,” We made our way back across the room and to the hearth, “It’s not much—but it’s all that we have!”

  “I say that we take our chances--,” His eyes were wide, desperate, “Let’s get them all out of here right now. We should be able to make it into town.”

  Dragging the Persian carpet away from the hearth, I took hold of a crayon and began drawing the circle, “We wouldn’t even make it much farther than beyond the front door. Please, just believe me—trust me on this.”

  Without a word, he began arranging the lanterns in the shape of the form I now drew, placing one upon either point of the pentacle’s star. I had made the form large enough to hold our entire group, and could only hope that we would last out until the dawn.

  “What is this?” Gregory had gasped as he watched me drawing the symbol, “Some form of Witchcraft?”

  “This was a Christian symbol of protection long before anyone else claimed it--,” I waved for the man and his family to step into the circle, “Please—we don’t have time to argue, just trust us!”

  And so, we had gathered within the pentacle and before the hearth, desperately clinging together while huddled within our circle of light. The fiend crept ever closer and from just beyond the lights reach. I could see as it moved about, testing its borders like some desperate and ravenous thing. We had kept the la
nterns blazing and the hearth burning bright. It had been fortunate that Gregory had recently filled the oil lamps, and left the canister on the bureau in plain sight. We had already resorted to breaking down the tables and chairs, the additional wood now fueling our hearth.

  But for all of our efforts, the house had grown terribly cold. The winter blowing in through the broken window and chilling us all to the bone! I had moved from the circle with Rich, using our lanterns to expand the radius of the light. We had watched as the horror frantically worked around the shadows while attempting to find some way to get to us.

  “I have lanterns and road flares in the truck--,” He had looked to me, “We should have brought that generator in here earlier—dammit—I knew it!”

  “Then you would have been the first to die--,” I spun toward my friend angrily, reminding him that the children were listening as well, “We are doing the best that we can with what’s available to us. Somehow, we’re just going to have to last through the night. There just isn’t any other way.”

  “Then we need to find a way to seal that broken glass before the children all freeze.” Rich cursed under his breath. His attention focussed across the room and to where the snow still managed to creep between the barricade, heaping and drifting inward.

  I had looked to where the family now huddled close in our circle, trembling, shivering beneath the few blankets and shared quilts.

  “What time is it?” I groaned in a whisper.

  “It’s just after midnight—we still have almost seven hours before the dawn.” He appeared as though he might pass out from exhaustion at any given moment.

  A thought suddenly took me and stopped me dead, as leaning close and whispering, I asked, “This thing that has us trapped. Why is it afraid of the light now—when it quite obviously wasn’t before?”

  He had thought briefly, remembering the girl’s assault on the previous evening, and now stood dumb-founded and horrified. “It shouldn’t be…” He swallowed hard as he gazed blankly, “Unless we’re dealing with two entirely different entities here….”

  “You may have been right--,” Whispering, I rubbed at my arms for warmth, “This could be a trap….”

  “Oh my God….What do we tell Gregory?”

  “Nothing--,” I had glanced back as the family stirred within their blankets, “There is no purpose in making this any worse than it already is. We’ll just have to pray that we can make it until morning. They should be safe next to the hearth and in the pentacle.”

  “It’s too cold—they’re not going to last--,” Rich shivered, “We need to barricade that window somehow.”

  “We can’t take any more risks. I’m sorry--,” Placing a hand upon his shoulder, I said, “We don’t know what’s waiting out there for us, in the night….”

  “Mommy—I need the bathroom, bad.” Little Paula had shuddered while looking up at her mother from where she lay buried deep within the quilts.

  “I do as well—I’ve been holding it for quite some time, and can’t wait much longer.” Trudy had admitted with obvious fear, her father hesitantly looking toward us.

  “If we form a light barrier between us--,” Rich thought aloud, “And stay within the boundaries, we should be just fine.”

  Laura’s eyes were wide, pleading as she reached up toward her husband who now moved to his feet. The room was bitter cold, our breath forming mist before us as we paused and suspiciously peered into the stillness before the stairs.

  “You just keep near the hearth and stay in the circle with little Colleen.” Gregory had advised, as raising a lantern high, he looked back to us, “There is a bathroom on the main floor and just beyond the stairs. It’s no more than fifty paces from where we now stand—we should be perfectly fine.”

  “We will follow you part of the way--,” I motioned between the hearth and foot of the stairs, “We can keep a short distance between and flood that area with light. But whatever you do, please be careful of your lanterns flame. It must remain lit at all times.”

  “I won’t be long—just a few moments--,” He promised, kissing his wife and little Colleen, “Just be brave—stay in the circle and close to the hearth. I’ll only be a moment my darling.”

  I could sense something in the darkness as we now dared move slowly across the room. It was a presence far colder than the surrounding chill and much deadlier than the winter’s icy embrace. There was something hauntingly familiar about this terror, a feeling that I had experienced this before. Not just the imposing threat, but this specific entity which now stalked and stealthily hunted us through the night. It was like a meeting of old enemies, a gathering of terrifying memories that now presented itself within its ultimate form….

  We had walked in single file with Gregory in the lead. Holding the youngest by the hand, I guarded Trudy in the middle, and Rich held lanterns in either hand while following closely from behind. As between intervals accounting for the distance of the lights’ reach, we separated allowing further distance before halting once more. In this way we had created a lighted path, which leading from the hearth, now offered access to the bathroom door.

  I now stood at the foot of the stairs with Rich fewer than ten long steps away. My attention focused intently between the hearth, the landing and where Gregory now entered the bathroom door.

  “This won’t take but a few moments—I’ll not entirely close the door.” He had glanced back in dismay. Holding his lantern high, he held it forward as he hurried the girls inside. In only moments and through the stillness we could hear as they busied themselves, each moment seeming an eternity. I could hear the pounding of my heart as it hammered in my temples and ears. The blood coursing through my veins as the vapor that had once been my breath vanished in the blackness beyond.

  The lantern’s golden glow suddenly trembled upon the floor, the shadows dancing unevenly from all about us! Rich now shook visibly as he held both lanterns slightly above his head, the dark reflections glistening in his wide and horror-filled eyes.

  “Rich—what’s the matter, is something wrong?”

  The words seemed to have great trouble emerging. He now spoke in a whisper and through quivering lips, “I think that you were right about this place, and that thing. It was something that you said, that reminded me of what I’d previously read.”

  Confused as to his point and fearing to panic our hosts, I moved slightly nearer, “I don’t understand what you are trying to say.”

  “In the parish records--,” He explained, stuttering as he swallowed hard, “Father Mulholland had clearly said, quote: ‘The beasts were rendered limb from limb, their entrails spilled and the earth red with their blood’.”

  Recollecting the passage but finding no significance in the quote, I had frowned, and then shrugged, “I still don’t understand what conclusion that you could possibly draw from that?”

  His face became long and drawn in the pale and golden hues of the lamp’s glow. His features assuming a frightening perspective in the deep shadows, as he choked out the words, “There shall we meet again upon fields red with blood and fire. Your bodies beaten and bones broken, your souls forfeit, shall forever burn….”

  No sooner had he uttered the demon’s threat than did my heart become cold as ice! The whispered words escaping my lips with the realization, “Oh, dear God, this isn’t a haunting at all—it’s a trap…!”

  Trudy shrieked as the lantern’s glow in the bathroom suddenly went out! Gregory cried out in desperation as little Paula screamed with the sudden and deafening slamming of the bathroom door! Their blood curdling screams echoed through the house to the sounds of wild thrashing and the obvious hammering of their bodies against the door and walls! Rich had attempted to draw it back open, but the force from within was too great.

  The shrieking suddenly falling into deathly stillness as we slowly stared down in horror, our attentions drawn into the blackness just beneath the bathroom door…. It began as a glistening crimson edge which sealing the opening of the do
or, suddenly streamed outward, becoming a thick and gore-imbued river of blood! We had leapt back as Laura now screamed in horror, having heard her family’s distress! The hideous crimson lake flooding outward, pursuing us as we rushed back down the hall!

  “What has happened?” She wailed, tears filling her eyes. Grasping at little Colleen, she trembled violently as she stood, “Where are my husband and my little girls!”

  “We don’t know!” Rich had taken her firmly by the shoulders, desperately attempting to calm the woman, as he struggled with his own horror, “But if you expect to get Colleen out of this alive—you’re going to have to try to remain calm!”

  “You are overwhelmed in this place and stand against insurmountable odds.” Marlowe’s whisper returned to my thoughts, the darkness taking hold of my heart, “Return Michael—return before all is lost….”

  “Everything is going to be just fine—we just need to wait.” Rich appeared as though he were attempting to convince himself. As holding the woman gently by the shoulders, he turned in desperation, seeking answers that I could not provide. I just stood there speechless and with open arms, stuttering without uttering a sound.

  “Hope tries to reach you even now—,” Marlowe’s whisper echoed from deep in my mind, “But alas—return—return…”

  The hearth suddenly erupted, casting us all backward as we fell sprawling to the floor! The flames becoming a fiery ice as little Colleen now stood before the unnatural and blue inferno! With head bowed and frowning darkly, she looked upon us with eyes black as midnight, no reflection of a soul.

  “My baby—Colleen--,” Laura had cried out as Rich caught her, pulling her to the floor. We cowered in the pentacles protective circle before the thing that had once been her little girl. It pointed an accusing finger, the flames becoming an unholy throne. It suddenly spoke, the voice mind-shattering though little more than a whisper, “Six there were, but only three remain—you shall all perish, your souls set forth to burn!”