“Not this time,” Sonya scoffed.
Sonya kicked Ravin in the groin. He dropped to his knees while clutching himself in agony. Devon lunged for Sonya with the ax. Sonya gasped with surprise as the ax was swung for her chest. The ax handle was suddenly grabbed, abruptly stopping Devon’s assault. She came face-to-face with Dino, who forcibly slung her around, easily pulling the ax from her hands. Devon flew across the floor and slid a couple of feet from Dino’s powerful thrust. Sonya stood over Devon and swung the fire poker at her head. Devon gasped with alarm and swept Sonya’s feet out from under her. Sonya fell roughly onto her backside. Dino clutched the ax and lunged for Ravin, who still remained on his knees. Vander suddenly tackled Dino to the floor. The ax flew from his hands and slid beneath one of the tables. As they rolled, Dino landed on top of Vander and punched him in the face. Tyson was suddenly standing over them and kicked Dino in the side, knocking him off Vander. Vander immediately jumped to his feet at the same time as Dino. Ravin slowly crawled across the floor toward the table with the ax handle partially exposed beneath it. Devon lunged for the discarded fire poker. Just as she reached the poker, Sonya kicked her in the ribs. Devon fell to the floor and gasped with surprise and agony. Sonya pulled her to her feet by her hair and held a hunting knife to her throat from behind.
“Stop! Anyone moves, and I slice her!”
All eyes were suddenly on Sonya with the knife to Devon’s throat. Dino smirked and kicked Vander in the groin. As Vander clutched himself and doubled over, Dino punched him in the head, driving him the rest of the way to the floor. Ravin remained on his hands and knees with one hand on the ax handle. Sonya glared at Ravin while pressing the knife against Devon’s throat.
“Move away from that ax,” Sonya growled.
Ravin slowly moved to his knees. The ax was just within his reach. He stared at Sonya holding Devon from behind and appeared to await an opportunity. The ghosts circled Devon and stared at her with frightened looks. As she stared back, she realized they feared for her life. Devon’s expression dropped as she stared back at the ghosts. She feared she’d soon be joining them, but something was telling her to listen to them. There were too many to make out any one face as they continued to move closer to her, surrounding her. They were determined to talk to her. She knew her life and the lives of her friends depended on her opening her mind to them. She needed to let them in. Devon relaxed her mind. The spirits came at her like a tidal wave. Every emotion, every moment, and every thought they’d had invaded her mind. The pressure in her head was overwhelming!
Dino took two steps toward Tyson and glared into his eyes with a hateful, demanding look. “You’d go against your own family for these people?”
“I was doing just fine with these people,” Tyson snarled at his uncle. “What did my family ever do for me? My family can all go to hell!”
Dino struck Tyson in the throat. Tyson gasped, wheezed, and fell to his knees while clutching his throat.
He sneered at his nephew and calmly pointed a warning finger at him. “I’ll deal with you later, boy,” Dino snarled then approached Ravin, who remained on his knees with an emotionless expression. Dino grinned psychotically. “I’ll give you credit, Ravin. I never expected a rich, little fuck like you to hold up this well under these conditions. You have to know what’s coming--” Dino casually removed the ax from beneath the table and straightened with a smile. “--yet you don’t show any fear.” He was humored. “I admire that, and I want to break you at the same time.” Dino casually looked around the room and wore a cheerful smile on his psychotic face. “I know, let’s play a game.” He flipped the ax skillfully in his hand. “We’ll call it ‘jigsaw puzzle’.” He grinned deviously at Ravin. “But don’t worry; you’ll be the last contestant. I want you to see what happens to the others before you share their fate. I want to see the look of fear on your face.”
Ravin slowly moved to his feet and stared into Dino’s eyes with little emotion. “I don’t fear death, Dino. Do you?”
“You can’t intimidate me,” he replied with a humored chuckle.
“It’s not intimidation, it’s extermination,” Ravin replied calmly. “This hotel is tainted with blood. The only logical conclusion is to destroy it and start over. That’s why I started a fire in the basement.”
“Bullshit.”
“When the fire alarm sounds, that means the fire has reached the furnace room, where gas is quickly filling,” Ravin casually informed him. “Once it reaches the furnace room--” He mouthed the word ‘boom’.
Sonya seemed alarmed and looked from Ravin to her uncle while clutching the knife against Devon’s throat. Dino stared at Ravin’s serious look. There was no indication in his eyes that he was bluffing.
“Uncle Dino--?” Sonya gasped.
Her uncle glared at her and appeared irritated by her paranoia. “He’d never blow up the hotel, Sonya,” Dino snapped. “Don’t be so gullible.”
The fire alarm suddenly wailed, breaking the silence, causing everyone to jump. Dino and Sonya looked around with surprise to the blaring fire alarm.
Ravin slowly shook his head and smirked deviously. “Whether you want to believe it or not, I’m more of a monster than you could ever be.”
Devon stared at the collection of ghosts standing before her, staring at her. She could almost make out their faces now. There were more than before. They were all collecting in the dining room, surrounding her. Once she opened her mind to them, they were drawn to her from every corner. She saw every horrifying detail of their deaths. Their hollowed out bodies, their slit throats, their slashed wrists, and bloated bodies. She could feel their pain. She could hear them talking. They whispered to her, speaking directly at her. Just the fact that the spirits were talking to her was alarming enough, but they kept coming. More and more spirits collected around her until they were all present, even those from the bus. As several stood in front of her and whispered to her, the remaining ghosts whirled around her and Sonya, creating a gust of wind. The ghosts were no longer frightened; they were angry. As the unprovoked wind blew past Sonya, she gasped and looked around with fear in her eyes.
Devon stared at the ghosts standing before her and attempted to listen to their words. Her head no longer pounded, and the images of horror began to collect and play out in sequence like some frightening movie. She could see what happened to them as it unfolded. She saw every gruesome detail as if she had been there. She saw the razor dragging across their wrists while feeling pain of the blade as if it was happening to her. She saw Cody gutting the bodies as they hung from the trees, all while feeling the sting of the knife being dragged through her own midsection. She heard the metallic clatter as the can of knockout mist rolled along the aisle of the bus and watched as the crash survivors gasped and passed out. She saw Cody systematically kill them one by one. The ghosts in front of her continued to speak, pulling her from the horror movie playing in her head. They were nearly impossible to understand, almost as if they spoke a foreign language. She desperately wanted to hear them. Ghosts had never spoken to her before, and she needed to know what they wanted from her. She had to open her mind further and let them in. Devon was no longer aware of her current surroundings. All that mattered were the ghosts standing before her and the words they were muttering.
“I don’t understand?” she said softly in response. “What are you saying?”
Sonya was frightened while keeping the knife to Devon’s throat and nervously looked around as the wind blew past them in a whirlwind. “Who are you talking to? What’s going on?” she cried out with fear.
Devon continued her conversation with the ghosts and was no longer aware of Sonya’s mindless chatter. The ghostly voices grew louder and became clearer. She was finally able to hear them.
“It was her?” Devon suddenly asked with surprise. “She poisoned the others? How do you know that?”
Sonya was now stricken with panic. “Who are you talking to? Shut up! Shut up!” She looked at her uncle,
who also stared at the paranormal activity within the dining room. “Uncle Dino, make her shut up!”
“When did she tell you that?” Devon asked.
The whispering continued and became louder. It wasn’t clear whether or not Sonya heard the whispered voices. Sonya continued to look around as the spirits begin to circle them in a small tornado. Both women’s hair blow above them. Dino now became alarmed as well and clutched the ax. Despite the bizarre events surrounding Devon and Sonya, Ravin didn’t take his eyes off Dino.
“She’s doing something!” Sonya screamed.
“Damn it, just kill her,” Dino shouted.
Sonya attempted to slit Devon’s throat, but the ghosts surrounding her grabbed her wrist and kept her from killing Devon. Devon was unaware of it. Sonya screamed and attempted to pull away from the ghostly hands clutching her wrist. The ghostly hands were all over her. Dino suddenly sneered, raised the ax, and lunged for Devon, prepared to strike. Ravin grabbed a fork from the table and rammed it into Dino’s neck. Dino cried out with surprise and agony. He struck Ravin in the chest with the ax handle. Ravin clutched his chest from the blunt force and immediately dropped to his knees. Dino pulled the bloody fork from his neck and was further enraged by what he considered to be a nuisance wound.
“That was right before she killed you?” Devon asked the ghost standing directly in front of her. “Is that why you’re here? Is that why you want to help me?”
“Who are you talking to?” Sonya shouted in fear while fighting the ghostly hands holding her wrist.
Sonya desperately wanted to kill Devon but the spirits prevented it. She struggled to hold onto Devon, who made no attempt to pull free from her grip. Devon slowly turned to face Sonya as the knife was held back by the ghosts. She looked into Sonya’s eyes with a chilling expression.
“Harris is pissed--”
Sonya appeared horrified by her words. Dino cried out and swung the ax at Devon. Harris’s ghost shoved Devon to the floor and out of the path of the swinging blade. The ax went straight through Harris’ ghostly body and impaled Sonya in the abdomen. Sonya suddenly gasped, spit up blood, and stared with horror into her uncle’s eyes. Dino stared back with the realization of what he’d done.
“Harris--?” Sonya gasped while seemingly staring through her uncle.
Devon flipped onto her backside on the floor and looked up. Dino stared with horror at the ax embedded in Sonya’s blood-soaked midsection. He pulled the ax free and watched as her body lifelessly collapsed to the floor. Sonya’s spirit remained standing and stared into Harris’s ghostly eyes.
Harris smiled evilly. “Now it’s my turn.”
Sonya’s spirit screamed. Both spirits erupted into light and zipped from the room. Dino stared at Sonya’s blood-soaked body on the floor near Devon. He glared at Devon, cried out, and raised the ax above his head. Devon gasped with horror. A loud female scream was heard, sending alarm through the others. As the ax came down, a swinging baseball bat collided with it. The ax flew from Dino’s hands and slid across the room. Dino turned with surprise and stared at Monica. She clung to her bloodstained baseball bat and glared at Dino with a psychotic look on her stern face.
“That’s my friend,” Monica growled lowly. “You want a piece of her? You have to go through me.”
Monica casually tossed the bat aside and stood directly in front of Dino.
Dino eyed Monica, seemed stunned, and then sneered with annoyance. “You’re the bitch who broke my brother’s face,” he growled.
“Oh, the pussy survived?” Monica scoffed then snorted a laugh. “What do you know?”
“I’m going to tear the flesh from your body one piece at a time,” Dino snarled.
“Bring it on, old man,” Monica said lowly. “I hope you’re more of a challenge than that 40% proof brother of yours.”
Novak limped into the dining room, approached Vander, and painfully knelt alongside him where he remained on the floor. Vander looked at his partner, appeared alarmed, and struggled to pull himself to his feet.
“Do something.” Vander gasped while clutching his head. “He’s going to kill her!”
Novak grinned. “My money’s on my girl.”
Tyson slowly crawled toward them while barely able to breath and indicated the nearby fire poker. “The poker,” he pleaded in a raspy voice. “Take him out.”
Monica took a boxing stance and stared directly into Dino’s eyes. Dino squared off and swung at her. Monica dodged his fist and spun into a roundhouse kick, nailing Dino in the ribs. Dino attempted to kick back at her, but she was already in a return kick the opposite direction and nailed him in the chest. Dino stumbled backwards, looked irritated, and lunged for her. Monica dodged his fist and punched back, striking him in the nose. He jumped back with surprise and touched his bleeding nose.
“Are you fighting or initiating foreplay?” Monica remarked while sneering at him.
Dino slung the blood from his hand and swung for Monica. Monica flew into a series of kicks, punches, and flips, bending Dino around her like a rag doll. She flipped him over her and caught him around the neck while dropping him to his knees. Dino gasped and struggled against her arm locked around his neck from behind. Monica looked down at him with little emotion and almost no exertion.
“This is the part where I snap your neck,” Monica casually informed him.
The room was eerily silent as everyone stared at them with anticipation. Monica released Dino and punched him forcibly in the face. He fell to the floor with a gasp and was unable to move. Monica sneered at him and straightened proudly.
“But I don’t kill pussies.”
Monica walked away from him and approached Novak, who smiled and painfully straightened.
“You were awesome,” Novak announced.
Monica grabbed him by the face and kissed him passionately. He immediately returned the kiss. Ravin hurried to Gemma’s fallen side and pulled her into his arms. She slowly woke, appeared concerned, and looked at him. He smiled and held her. Devon snapped out of her trance and hurried to Vander’s fallen side. As she kneeled alongside him, he clung to her with a relieved sigh. He looked up at Ravin with concern.
“What about the fire in the basement?” Vander asked.
“There’s no fire,” Novak answered for Ravin. “Ravin saw me in the doorway and signaled me. When he said he’d set a fire, I pulled the fire alarm.”
“I was just trying to buy some time,” Ravin informed them then glared at Novak. “What the hell took you so long to intervene?”
“Sonya had a knife to Devon’s throat,” Novak protested. “What did you want me to do?”
Vander was relived and looked at Devon in his arms from their positon on the floor. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
He let out a nervous laugh. “You nearly got yourself killed with that game you were playing,” Vander announced. “What made you think to pull such a crazy stunt?”
Devon hid her smile from him. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Vander studied her a moment, smiled, and clung to her. Dino slowly pulled himself to his hands and knees not far from them. He looked defeated and completely worn.
“What do we do with him?” Ravin asked.
Tyson painfully approached his battered uncle and studied him where he remained on his hands and knees. “I have an idea,” Tyson informed them while tilting his head to the side and smirked. “It’s a little crazy, but hear me out--”
Tyson raised the ax and severed Dino’s head from his body. Blood spattered both Vander and Devon’s faces where they kneeled on the floor. Dino’s body collapsed as his head rolled across the floor. There were several gasps.
Tyson tossed the bloodied ax aside, grinned proudly, and shrugged. “Problem solved.”
Vander clung to Devon to the point of suffocating her and stared at Dino’s severed head on the floor not far from him. “I’m glad I didn’t see that,” Vander muttered.
“Yeah
, me too,” Novak gasped with horror.
Devon helped Vander to his feet and stared at Dino’s body then looked at his spirit. Dino’s spirit straightened, stared down at his headless body, and then looked back at Devon. He seemed surprised that she saw him. He opened his mouth to speak. Devon glanced at more than one hundred ghosts standing just behind him. Dino noticed her gaze and slowly looked behind him. The ghosts swarmed around him, clutching and grasping before finally engulfing him as he screamed in terror. Devon hid her smile, shut her eyes, and clung to Vander.
†
The Fox Ridge Village Hotel had been abandoned for a few years and showed signs of much needed repairs. Its elegant exterior was in need of paint and several windows were broken while lower windows were boarded. Tall grass covered the once lavishly landscaped resort grounds, and vines seemingly grew from the hotel’s exterior and covered the first two floors. A dilapidated realtor’s sign leaned severely and swayed in the breeze with a bold ‘sold’ plastered across the front. A backhoe sat alongside the hotel in preparation to level it. Ghostly laughter was heard echoing from within the hotel walls. The Marlins’ terrified screams soon followed.
The End
Other books by Holly Copella!
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“The Battle for Andrea Maria”
A cruise ship attack turns six survivors into overnight celebrities after they take credit for the heroic act of a stowaway who died saving them.
The cruise is just what Jess needed--a bit of harmless fun far from her daily grind. But what begins as a relaxing vacation turns into a desperate fight for her life when terrorists take over the ship and start piling up bodies. Teaming up with a mysterious stowaway, Jess attempts to send out a distress call but knows they cannot wait for help to come. If she or the few remaining passengers have any hope for survival, Jess must act now. The papers dub it “The Battle for Andrea Maria,” but to Jess it is the moment she fought side-by-side with her enigmatic Romeo, saving the ship--and losing him. She thinks the story ends there, but really, the nightmare is just beginning…
Dead Village Page 19