She wouldn’t take her gaze away from this entity; they stood facing one another frozen in place.
The moans of the dead had stopped. From the cellar a string of notes tinkled on an out of tune piano.
She knew that tune. ‘Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques, Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?’
It had a chilling effect on Sophie/Beast. The creature’s eyes widened in shock. “No! Back to your cages you!” It looked around wildly.
The Beast’s Sophie disguise fell away, revealing a fetid, stinking face dripping mucous and blood from its maw. “FEAR MEEE!” it roared, its voice coming from putrid black depths. But now the thing looked around over its shoulder and up the stairs, fear glimmering in its eyes. Sophie saw children, as greyish orbs, waft down the staircase and encircle the creature, hemming him in. It shrank back from them as it slashed at them with a talon like hand.
Her faith had inspired the children.
In a flash her hand dove into the cloth bag on her shoulder and scrambled inside. Grasping Nana’s Bible, a sense of power flowed through her hand.
She gripped it in both hands, twisting her body to hold it high above the beast. Its mouth was snarling obscenities in some ancient foreign language. The creature’s eyes changed when it saw what she had in her hands. The straining bulges became guarded narrow slits and its head drew back. The expression on its face became sly, the tongue darting from slippery, wet lips. “I will kill you,” it hissed.
Still she advanced up the stairs with the book in her outstretched hands.
“IN THE NAME OF GOD, I COMMAND YOU! GO BACK TO HELL, FILTH!” Sophie smashed the book against the thing’s face.
There was a yearning cry that filled the air. Steam carrying the stench of decay, rose above it, the flesh bubbling and searing until there was nothing but a small heap of ashes.
It was over. Sophie let out a sharp gust of air and her shoulders slumped forward, the bible slowly lowering. There was a light touch on her cheeks, like butterfly kisses, the touch was warm and peaceful.
She opened her eyes and the ghostly images of the children were now orbs of white light, rising in the air and fading. The music stopped when they were gone. The feeling of peace and love that she’d felt in their presence evaporated when she looked over at Brad and Tim.
They had both collapsed at the bottom of the stairs. She smiled to herself; they had fainted dead away. Carly was trying to rouse Tim and she clambered over to Brad, putting her ear to his chest. His heart was beating soundly and his breathing was steady.
“We have to get them out of here, Carly!” She rose and stepping next to Carly, each taking an arm they pulled Tim from the house, returned and pulled Brad out.
“Why won’t they wake up?” Carly asked.
“They had a terrible fright.” Sophie went to the hose reel that was attached to the side of the veranda. Pulling the hose back to them, she sprayed the boys until they sat up, sputtering.
“Get them to the car.” She said. Carly began to help Tim to his feet and she returned to the house.
Entering the hallway, she looked around. Everything was quiet now. But it wasn’t over. This had been a reprieve, a battle that had been won, but not the war. The evil was gone now, but would return again to this place.
Just as there are sacred places, in this world, she knew there were cursed ones; where it was easy for pure evil to cross into this plane of existence. This house stood on such an accursed plot.
Her cloth slouch bag was on the floor and she reached for it. There was one final thing to do. She took it up stairs and strode into the first bedroom. She pulled out a box of wooden matches and the bundle of sweet grass and herbs. She struck a match and in a moment the dry bundle was aflame. The wallpaper that had been peeled back to reveal the young boy’s crayon marks burst into flame above the burning bundle.
Room by room Sophie wandered and set the fires. Still holding the sweet grass bundle, she walked down the stairs. The power of her senses was like a magnet within her, drawing her to the library. She picked up the alchemy book and set it alight. The flames silhouetted her body as she left the room.
Returning outside, she spotted Brad and ran to him. He looked dazed standing in the driveway staring at the house.
“Sophie?”
She nodded. “We have to go. Hurry. The house is burning.”
Chapter 28
Brad looked around at the smoke that was just above them, the orange glow in the air. With a lurching stumble, he grabbed for Sophie's hand. She led the way across the driveway to the car where Carly and Tim stood huddled together.
“Oh God.” Carly’s lower lip trembled as she watched flames engulf the upper floor.
“What happened? Did Baxter set the place on fire? Where is he?” From the look on Brad's face, the reality of what had just happened was hitting him.
Sophie looked at each of the guys—Tim, mutely watching the house, the lights playing over the muscle in his jaw, and Brad, his eyes wide with shock.
“I set the house on fire.” Her arms crossed over her chest and she turned to watch the flames consume the building. In an awful way, it was beautiful to see.
“But why? The house... our business?” Brad stepped towards her peering down into her eyes before his shoulders slumped low.
She grabbed his arm and shook it, hard. “Eejit! You’re lucky to be alive! You’re lucky your soul’s not trapped in there flashing the lights on and off!” She took them all in her gaze. “If I didn’t come out here, you’d all be dead, and reliving the event of your murders every night to feed that... that Demon’s sick appetite!”
The three of them stared. First at her, then at the house, then at each other.
Tim let out a sharp breath and ran his hand through his hair. “Oh God...I think you got a point there, Sophie.”
Sophie nodded at Tim’s acquiescence. She turned to Brad. “And could you really let someone else buy the place? Knowing it could happen again?” When he shook his head, she said, “This is an evil spot, period.”
“We’re going to lose everything..” Brad said, shaking his head.
“No, that’s what insurance is for.” She folded her arms. “And after you get your settlement, we’ll find another place, that’s all.”
“WHAT?”
It was like Brad and Tim were twins, speaking in unison.
Sophie’s hands shot out in exasperation. “Look! It took me a while to come to this, but I have to admit...the idea was not altogether stupid. You just picked the wrong house.”
She glared at Brad and Tim. “Next time, ask me to help you, instead of shutting me out. There are lots of haunted houses. Benign ones, where the ghosts don’t want to kill you! They’ll just want to hang out.”
Tim looked at her with a newfound respect. “And, I suppose, you’re able to tell the difference.” When she silently nodded in reply, he said, “No thanks.” He looked down at his feet and kicked at a piece of gravel. “I think this is it for me. What we went through tonight makes working at the insurance company look like a cake walk.”
“Me too. This was way too scary,” agreed Brad. “In fact, I think we would have had a fate worse than death, right Sophie?” Seeing her nod, he continued, “I never really believed in this stuff, until I lived with it.” Brad’s mouth pulled to the side and he looked down, a long sigh ebbing through his lips.
“What? You’re willing to give up? Don’t get me wrong...you could have been killed and you should have listened to me.” She stepped over to Brad and put her arms around his neck, looking up into his eyes.”I never realized how much I loved you until I almost lost you.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. Everything was hitting her like a wall—the fear and horror of facing that Beast. She couldn’t bring herself to call it an evil spirit. It was still too fresh. It would totally unnerve her at that point.
Brad’s arms went around her and he kissed her forehead. “I know. I love you too.”
She pulled back and her hands j
abbed at his chest. Ooooo. She loved him yet she was ready to kick him. “In that case, you really can’t give up. You need me. I’ll help you; I’ll become a partner. I may not have a university degree but what I’ve got is a lot more valuable. Think I want to spend the rest of my days working retail for minimum wage? With the talent I have?”
Brad pulled back and his mouth fell open. “What? But you like working at that store. It’s all new age and mystical...right up your alley.”
Again she jabbed him, harder this time. “Boy! For a so called educated guy, you sure can be dumb. Sure, that stuff is interesting and I enjoy meeting the customers and I like Aphra. But that’s no future for me.”
This time it was Carly who spoke.”What the hell?” She clapped Sophie’s shoulder and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “By the way...thanks for saving my life.”
Sophie turned to her and smiled. “You’re welcome.” She looked at Carly’s hair. The guys were still too shook up to notice it, but when Carly found a mirror... oh boy.
Before she had a chance to get another word out, Carly spoke again, but this time her words were directed at Tim. “Yeah Tim! You may think you’re all of that and a bag of chips but listen....your people skills suck. If you’re going to do this again and get a house that’s not quite so evil, you need someone with good customer relations skills. Guess who’s got tons of experience in the service industry? Me! That’s who!”
She turned to Sophie and grabbed her arm. “Hey, if they’re too dumb to try this again, why don’t you and I go partners? I’ve got some money saved and there’s an inheritance that I’ll get next year when I’m twenty-five.”
Tim stepped over and pulled Carly to him. “Hey, hey, hey. Un unh. It was our idea and you can’t steal it.” He led the way to his car pulling her along with him. He turned and spoke once more, looking at Brad and Sophie.”We can talk about this tomorrow. For now, Carly and I are going home...to her place.”
Sophie stepped close to Brad and slipped her hand into his watching the other couple get in the car and drive up the lane. “I think that’s a good idea. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before reaching down to gather her slouch bag. Her grandmother’s bible thumped against her thigh and she smiled. There was no doubt who had helped her that night and who would help her in the future.
She’d get Brad and Tim on-side with getting another haunted house. She glanced over her shoulder watching the inferno that the house had become. It was over...for now.
The END
A Note From the Author
Stories of eerie events happening in hotels abound in Kingston. These tales bolster my belief that this city is an uncommon domain where the boundary between realms becomes thin. One such tale I heard—about an inn that was abandoned by its owners because of inexplicable occurrences was the inspiration for this, my second novel of The Hauntings Of Kingston.
Thank you for reading this book. Hopefully, you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a review on Amazon. Reviews help struggling authors get their books in front of more readers. If for any reason, this book missed the mark for you, please accept my apologies. Hundreds of hours went into its creation and all I can say is "I did my best." If you want to let me know where it fell short, there will be no bad feelings on my part, I promise. I will take your feedback to heart, and try to improve—if not on this one, then certainly on the next.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I also need to thank those who made this book possible. Although my name is on the cover, it’s a labor that had been touched by many hands, eyes, brains and hearts. Without your help, this would be a much lesser effort: Brenda Murphy, Rick Gagnon, dearest Corliss, and of course my favorite narrowback Irishman, Jim have been invaluable in improving this book. I will be forever grateful.
And mostly to you, Dear Reader. Your purchase of this book and the gift of your time is something I treasure.
Table of Contents
About This Book:
Before we begin, a word…
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
A Note From the Author
The Haunted Inn (Haunted House Ghost Story): The Hauntings of Kingston Page 15