by Nigel Henry
I run across the hallway to the living room and slide on the floor next to Dad. I want to shake him, to make sure he’s still alive, but I know I’m a sitting duck out here in the open and I don’t need to give the ghost any reason to think about me right now. So instead I place two fingers on Dad’s neck and check for a pulse. I relax a little when I find one. He’s alive, he’s just out cold.
I breathe a small sigh of relief and then check on Derek. He’s still breathing too. Looks like the revenant didn’t feel like killing anyone. She just wanted Jacob.
God, Jacob.
I’m nervous as I get up. This isn’t the first time that I’ve been on my own against a revenant, but that doesn’t mean I like it. I talk a big game, but usually, that’s because I’ve got my parents to back me up. And what I wouldn’t give to have Mom here now.
That’s enough, Ria. Focus. You’ve got a little boy depending on you.
I give myself three seconds of weakness, then I need to get moving. If the revenant’s got Jacob, it’s a good bet she’s taken him back down to the basement for her weird ghost-mother-and-son amusement park time.
Okay, so now I need a plan. I can’t just run back down there with salt. I’ve got to assume that Jacob won’t come with me willingly, and I’m guessing that Arlene’s going to dodge any salt-shots I send her way. I need to think of something new if I’m going to have a prayer of stopping her.
Wait… That’s it!
I bolt over to the duffel bag and remove the prayer book, thankful that Dad didn’t try using it before now. I flip open to the exorcism prayer and scan the incantation.
Now, unlike in TV and in movies, you can’t use an exorcism to banish any old ghost you want. I mean, sure, in theory, if you had a revenant walking around inside of you the chants could probably be used to get them out, but really all these do is rile them up. And that’s fine, I want Arlene angry. Angry means stupid. Stupid means mistakes.
I click on my flashlight to make sure it’s still working before I grab the entire duffel bag and make my way over to the basement stairwell. I don’t so much as breathe as I make my way down the steps, taking pains to test each step for creaks before I place my full weight down. No sense in alerting the revenant to my continued consciousness before necessary.
Once I reach the bottom of the basement I feel for a solid wall and get to work preparing for the incantation. The ghost’s going to come at me fast the moment I start, so I won’t have room for error.
When I’m ready, I creep over to the room with the rocking horse. My eyes have already adjusted better in my time down here, so I can make out Jacob riding back and forth on the horse while Arlene stands over him, her gross back to me.
She spends several moments watching her son before she does something I don’t expect: she shifts over to the far corner of the room and passes near the far wall. When she does, her glow fades just a bit and she sort of blinks out, kind of like those old TVs that would lose their picture if you messed with the rabbit ears.
It's odd, but I decided to look into ghost dead zones later. Slowly, I back away from the wall and head back into the hallway and get in place. Once I’m ready, I flick on my flashlight, pull out the prayer book, and take a deep breath.
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” I say loudly. “Amen!”
There’s a screech from the room, and I fight the urge to tear my eyes away from the page as I continue.
“Most glorious Prince of the Celestial Host, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the conflict which we have to sustain against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places…”
There’s a flicker, and Arlene’s ghost appears at the other end of the hallway, her glow restored and her eyes the bright red of hot coals. She’s pissed. I keep going.
“Come to the rescue of men whom God has created to his image and likeness, and whom he has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.”
Arlene starts floating toward me. Her mouth opens to the size of my head, and I start to feel really, really nauseous.
“In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the devil.”
In the blink of an eye, Arlene is in front of me, and she shoots her arm out and knocks the book out of my hand. It skitters across the floor as Arlene rears her arm back to deliver a killing blow. I scoot my foot forward as her hand comes down and throw my arms up to my head instinctively.
The blow never connects. I open my eyes and look at Arlene. She’s screaming loudly, but nothing’s happening. I feel sick but less than a moment before. Arlene’s eyes turn back to black, and even though she’s a ghost, I can see the confusion.
“Gotcha,” I say as I point down.
Arlene’s eyes follow and I take severe joy in watching as she realizes she’s standing in a salt circle, one I kicked into completion a millisecond before she managed to kill me.
She’s trapped. Ria Miller, one. Revenants, zero.
Arlene screams again, and I yell right back at her. “Yeah, I can give it just as well as you can!”
She keeps screaming but I ignore her and head back into the room with the rocking horse. Jacob’s on it, and he recoils as I approach. “Easy,” I tell him. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
“But you’re here to hurt my mommy.”
“Your mommy’s been hurting you, Jacob. I saw your bruise.”
Jacob shakes his head and his voice takes on a frantic tone. “No. Mommy loves me, and she’s sorry she went away! She said she’d never go away again!”
He begins to cry and I feel horrible for him. What would I do if Patrick came back? What would I overlook?
I close the door behind me so that he can’t run off. “Stay put,” I tell him as I shine my flashlight across the room. It stops on the far wall, and I take a step toward it. I figure if I can’t destroy Arlene, I can at least learn what’s causing her to glitch out.
I take another step toward the wall, and that’s when I notice a humming sound coming from behind it. I place my ear against the wall and the humming is really clear. I knock against the wall and Arlene screams from out in the hallway. Jacob starts freaking out.
“Mommy” he yells as he starts toward her. I have to grab him by the wrist to keep him from bolting out. Then I turn my attention back to the wall. The revenant does not like whatever’s behind it, which obviously means I have to see what’s on the other side.
I knock on the wall again and ignore Arlene’s wail. The wall feels thin, so I set Jacob down and drive my foot into it. I expect to break a hole through it, but to my surprise the entire wall gives way and moves back two feet, creating an opening just big enough for someone to shimmy through.
What the hell? Is this a fake wall? At this point, my spider-sense starts tingling big time. I should head back upstairs and get Dad, but I don’t want to pass the revenant while holding her child. Besides, whatever’s on the other side of this wall is making her freak out. That kind of power could be useful should she decide to get in my face again.
I’ve gotta go in there.
“Here goes nothing,” I say as I shimmy through the gap and point my flashlight into the room beyond. It’s not large, it’s only about as big as maybe half a bathroom. The walls and floor are all made of cement, and there are no windows in here. What there is, in the far corner, is a small white freezer.
Oh, God.
“Jacob, stay back,” I say as I take an unsteady step forward. I’m suddenly very aware of what I’m going to find, even though I’m hoping I’m wrong.
Something on the ground glints and I stoop down for a closer look. My throat goes dry. It’s a wedding ring.
Oh, God. Oh, God.
&nb
sp; I reach the freezer, take a deep breath and throw it open. It’s empty.
“What the hell?” I don’t know whether to be relieved or miserable. I choose to be productive and continue shining my light inside the freezer. That’s when I come across something stuck to the back. I lean in.
It’s hair.
My flashlight drops to the bottom of the freezer. Jacob, who I didn’t even realize was behind me, starts to scream. I half a second later I do too. Arlene’s not in the fridge, but now I know why her revenant glitched, and why we wouldn’t kill her.
My light is shining on her severed finger.
Six
I take a step back and fight the urge to vomit before turning back to the freezer. It’s just one finger and I can’t even tell which one it was, but I'm sure it was Arlene's. Suddenly everything about her appearance makes sense. The digit is black at the fingertips, just like the revenant’s hands. Frostbite.
How long has this been here? I can’t tell, the finger doesn’t smell like it’s decomposing. But then again, it’s been locked in a goddamn fridge.
Derek.
Mean-Face.
Asshole.
He killed his wife and tried to get us to do the dirty work of disposing of her ghost.
My insides are burning with revulsion, with anger, with grief. No wonder she became a revenant. No wonder she tried to kill Derek in the upstairs bedroom.
My mind is swimming, but I’m sure of one thing: I’m going to finish Arlene’s job when I get back upstairs.
I take a deep breath to compose myself and think of something to say to calm Jacob down as I turn to grab gas and salt from the duffel.
It’s only then, when I turn away from Arlene the finger, that I come face-to-face with Arlene the revenant, and before I can say “oh, shit,” she’s got me by the throat.
She’s lifting me up in the air as her eyes turn a bright red. Her mouth doesn’t open this time, and as I gasp for air I realize that she doesn’t intend to kill me with a scream. She’s going to choke me out.
I fight and claw at her grip, but I’m no match for a pissed-off fridge ghost. She lifts me higher and my feet start swinging wildly.
Dad, where are you? I don’t want to die. Not here, not after this.
My lungs begin to burn as Arlene increases the pressure around my throat. I’m thrashing and choking but it’s not making a difference. Arlene’s eyes turn back to black. She’s not pissed anymore. She’s enjoying this.
“Mommy stop!”
Jacob tugs on the revenant’s nightgown, and Arlene turns her gaze to him and pushes him back. I take the opportunity to swing my foot up and connect to her face. She stumbles back but doesn’t let go.
Shit.
Jacob is back up and pulling on her. “Let her go, Mommy! Don’t hurt people!”
He pounds his fists on the ghost and she shoves him back again. This time, she uses too much force, because the kid goes flying across the room where he crashes into a cement wall.
“Jakey!”
Arlene drops me in an instant and runs over Jacob, who isn’t moving. I’m coughing and wheezing on the floor as she cradles him in her arms.
Grateful for the opportunity, I grab the duffel, and Arlene doesn’t notice me as I douse the hair and finger in gas and salt.
“Jakey, I’m sorry,” she sobs. “I didn’t mean it! I’m so sorry, Jakey.”
“Arlene,” I say as I strike a match. The revenant looks up. “Derek’s an asshole. You didn’t deserve this.”
With that, I toss the match into the freezer, which only smokes. Arlene looks from me to her remains and back before she puts Jacob down and charges at me. I sidestep and the revenant crashes into the freezer.
There’s a huge flash of fire, and when it dies down the freezer is smoldering like an extinguished campfire. The revenant is nowhere to be found and, this time, I’m sure she won’t be coming back.
I clutch my neck as I walk over and carefully scoop up Jacob. He’s alive, and I carry him back upstairs. I ignore the living room, where Derek is just beginning to stir, and instead take Jacob all the way to his bedroom. I lay him down in his bed and pull the covers up to his chin.
Poor guy. I don’t want to know what his dreams will be about.
I head back down the stairs, and Derek’s on one knee in the living room. My eyes are tearing and my heart is full of rage as I approach him. In one motion, I pull out the slingshot and fire a salt shot at him. The ball connects between his eyes, spraying them with salt and sending him stumbling backward.
He didn’t lose his eyesight. Lucky bastard.
“Ahhh!” He screams as he paws at his face. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I don’t say anything, instead, I deliver a roundhouse kick to his face and he goes down with a squeal. I follow up by kicking him in the ribs as hard I can.
“You son of a BITCH!” I shout! “You killed her! You butchered your own wife and stuffed her in a goddamn freezer!”
I kick harder, hoping that I’ll break a few of his ribs. “YOU KILLED ARLENE!”
Derek is coughing and wheezing. I bet I don’t look scrawny right now. Then again, his opinion of me doesn’t matter. He’s a murderer.
Tears fall down my cheeks as I connect with his side. The whole time I thought Arlene was the villain in this story, but she was the victim.
How did she die? Was it painfully?
My foot connects with Derek’s ribs. Can I make him feel enough pain in return?
I kick again, but Derek catches my foot and pulls me down. I fall and he crawls on top of me. He punches me in the face and I see stars. Then he wraps his big, ugly hands around my neck.
“You weren’t supposed to find that!” he rasps. “Now I’ll just have to tell your father that the ghost got you.”
I start kneeing him in the back, but he adjusts and pins my legs down. I slap at his hands, but he holds on.
I’m coughing again, spitting with anger and fear. How is this happening? How am I being strangled after I got rid of the ghost?
I’m crying now, and I don’t care. Derek’s going to have to kill me in order to keep me from killing him.
I’m coughing and gasping for air. Suddenly I hear a loud crack. Derek’s hands loosen and he collapses next to me. I immediately roll over and start coughing. After a few deep breaths, I wipe my eyes. When I open them again, Dad is standing over us, a crowbar in his hand.
“Are you okay?” he asks as he reaches out for me.
“No,” I cough and spit as I take his hand. I don’t think I will be ever again.
I’m rubbing my throat as Dad slams the car trunk closed and slides into the driver's seat. He turns the car engine on and the clock blinks to life. Midnight. I missed Fallon.
Whatever.
“I just got off the phone with Inspector Perkins,” Dad says as he pulls out of the driveway. “He says he’ll be by with a squad car within the hour, and he’ll make it look like we were never there.”
“Bravo,” I say half-heartedly, although I do wonder what the cops will say when they arrive to see Derek tied up in the living room. “What about Jacob?”
“The neighbors took him in when they found him on their porch step. Perkins says he’ll make sure he gets taken care of.”
“So, everything’s wrapped up with a bow then?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Dad replied. “Derek’s wife is still dead and Jacob’s going to need a lot of help to put that behind him.”
I don’t reply as the car moves onto the Staten Island Expressway. What else is left to say? My throat hurts, I’ve got a black eye, and a poor woman’s body was stuffed in a freezer.
Most monster nights feel like victories. This one doesn’t. Not by a long shot. We destroyed the wrong monster tonight. We didn’t win.
So, I say nothing else. I just rest my head on my dad’s shoulder as the rain continues to splatter on the windshield.
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About the Author
Nigel Henry writes gripping fantasy novels about monsters that want to beat up the world, heroes who have to beat the monsters, and distress-free damsels who can beat up everyone.
As a child, Nigel was the boy who constantly walked into street signs because his nose was buried in a mystery, adventure, or fantasy book. As an adult, he’s managed to get his sign-bumping down to “only occasionally.”
Nigel is the author of The Demons of Sedona epic fantasy series and Ria Miller and the Monsters, an urban fantasy adventure series. By day, Nigel is an award-winning digital journalist. He and his wife live in New York City.
www.nigelshenry.com
[email protected]
Also by Nigel Henry
Ria Miller and the Monsters
Ria and the Revenant (Book 0.5)
Ria’s Web of Lies (Book 1)
Ria’s Bank Job (Book 1.5)
Book 2 coming December 2017
The Demons of Sedona
The Healer’s Pact (Book 1)
From Death (Book 2)
Death Walker (Book 3)
Daywalker (Book 4)