by Jeff Strand
Then it did.
She held the flaming broom against the glass. Having never melted glass before, she had no idea how long it would take to do this, but she wasn't trying to liquefy it, just soften it enough that she could poke through it. If the glass had the texture of paste, it might react like paste.
Nothing seemed to be happening.
"Is it working?" Boyd called out from the living room.
"Not yet!"
Paige triumphantly held up the dish gloves. "I found them!" The fact that Naomi didn't protest this victory was proof of how frightened she was.
Adeline kept the burning broom against the window, being careful not to ignite anything else in the process. "Hold onto them, sweetie," she said.
She needed Boyd here. No way in hell would she let Paige or Naomi get close to the door, but it was difficult to test this by herself. The glass didn't look any different, but maybe it was softer now and she just couldn't see it.
She carefully switched her grip to the center of the broomstick. Then she turned it around and pushed the non-burning end against the glass as hard as she could. No effect. She pounded the end of the broomstick against the window several times. The glass didn't crack.
Maybe the glass required more time to heat up. But there was only so long she could stand there holding a burning broom to the window.
* * *
The man followed Boyd into the living room. The ghost had an advantage from the standpoint that it could hurt the living yet the living couldn't hurt him. But Boyd was faster, possibly because he wasn't constantly choking to death. He wondered if that was how the man died. There could, conceivably, be another explanation besides "spirit of a deceased man," but for now Boyd saw no reason to seek alternate theories. It was a ghost until he learned otherwise.
As long as he stayed on the move and didn't let himself get cornered, Boyd thought he could keep away from the ghost until Adeline figured out how to get them out of the house.
"Hey, dipshit! I'm right here! Show me what you can do!"
The man looked at him for a moment, then turned around.
Boyd suddenly feared that he'd overplayed his hand. If he made it too obvious that he wanted to keep the ghost focusing on him, the ghost—assuming it had the cognitive ability to make such decisions—might decide its attention was better off elsewhere.
Still, now that he'd screwed this up, he couldn't just let the ghost stroll off after his family.
He waved frantically. "Right here! I'm the one you want!" he said, knowing no such thing.
The ghost turned back to Boyd. It held up its hands and curled its fingers into claws.
Then it grinned and walked toward the kitchen.
* * *
Holding it by one of the fingers, Adeline swatted the rubber glove against the doorknob as she stomped on the broom that she'd dropped on the floor to extinguish the flames.
The glove, upon making contact, began to bubble and melt.
That there might be a logical scientific reason for what was happening in this house was always going to be a long shot, but this was the point where Adeline had to accept beyond any possible doubt that no researcher was going to be able to offer up a satisfactory explanation. They were in a haunted fucking house with an actual fucking ghost wandering around.
"Stay away from them!" she heard Boyd shout.
* * *
Boyd ran past the ghost. Adeline was in the kitchen holding an oozing rubber glove, so it was safe to say that they would not be exiting through the back door.
"Down in the basement!" he said.
Adeline didn't look like she agreed with that plan of action, and Boyd couldn't blame her. He'd thought it was a bad idea when he came up with it. With no cell phone reception and no expectation that help was on its way, trapping themselves in the basement sounded suicidal.
But, as Harry Cooper argued in Night of the Living Dead—and, ultimately, he'd been right in the basement vs. upstairs issue—it was only one door to guard. Granted, the same was true for any of the bathrooms or bedrooms in the house. What made the basement the best choice was that there was so much more room to maneuver. If the ghost kicked down the door, they could hide on the other end of the basement. When he walked over to them, they could (hopefully) get past him and back up the stairs without too much risk. Then maybe they could trap him down there.
There wasn't time to explain his full rationale, so he just said, "Trust me!"
Adeline opened the basement door and ushered Paige and Naomi down the stairs. Then she followed them, and Boyd took up the rear. He pulled the door closed, not bothering to lock it. The plan was for the ghost to follow them anyway.
He flipped on the light switch as Paige and Naomi reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Daddy's got this figured out," said Boyd. "If he comes down here, we can get around him, easy. We'll all run back upstairs, then we'll barricade the door with everything in the house, and he'll be stuck until help gets here."
"But we can't call the police," said Paige.
"I know, I know, but that doesn't mean nobody will ever come. Jack will come to check on us, at least."
"When?"
"It doesn't matter. If we trap the ghost down here, we can wait upstairs for as long as it takes."
"What if they can't get inside?" Naomi asked.
"We need to think positive right now," said Boyd, though the points his daughters were making were excellent ones. But even if every last scrap of food in the house rotted, they couldn't possibly be stuck here long enough to starve to death.
"Your father's right," said Adeline. "I know you're scared, but you won't have to be brave for much longer. Whatever that thing upstairs is, it's slow. It can't hurt us if it can't catch us, and we'll be too quick to catch."
Thump.
They all looked up at the door.
"This is fine," said Boyd. "This is what we want to happen. I don't think it can turn a knob, so we'll wait for it to kick the door open, if it even can, and then we'll all move to the back of the basement. Paige, you stick with Mom. I'll stay next to Naomi. We'll split up, and when I shout 'Go' we'll run back up the stairs. Everybody got it?"
Paige, Naomi, and Adeline all nodded.
Boyd took Naomi's hand. "Good. This will work. I promise."
Behind them, there was the sound of breaking glass—not a window, there were no windows down here—then the basement went dark.
"What happened?" asked Naomi, her voice cracking.
"The light bulb must've popped. It's okay. We're still okay."
They weren't that okay. Boyd's plan required them to actually be able to see the ghost. But when the door to upstairs came open, light from the kitchen would shine down, and maybe that would be enough.
The four of them stood in the darkness as the man kicked the door.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Naomi cried softly. Boyd put his free hand on her shoulder.
He'd gotten away from the ghost when it had him pinned to the floor with its hands around his neck. Even in the dark, they could get away from it again, right?
That made complete sense, but Boyd's own words didn't reassure him.
Standing in a completely dark basement, with a monster kicking at the door, he couldn't truly believe that things were going to be all right.
He also, for a reason he couldn't quite explain, didn't feel that he and his family were alone in the basement.
Boyd didn't want to say anything, because surely it wasn't the truth, but he felt like something was behind them.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Breathing.
Could he hear breathing?
No.
No, he couldn't.
That is, he could, but it was the others. The other living people. That's all it was. He was hearing the breathing of Adeline, Paige, and Naomi, not anything sinister.
The ghost continued to kick at the upstairs door.
Boyd turned his head, looking to the left and to t
he right, trying to be subtle.
"What's wrong?" asked Adeline.
"Nothing."
"Do you feel it too?"
"Feel what?" asked Paige.
"Just watch the door, honey."
"Are we alone down here?"
Should he lie? Boyd wanted to keep his daughters as calm as possible under the circumstances, not an easy task when those circumstances involved being in a dark basement with a ghost trying to force its way downstairs. But he also didn't want them to not speak up if they thought something was already down here with them.
He settled for saying, "I think so." At this point, how much more spooked could they get?
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The lock on the door to the basement seemed to be sturdier than the one to their bedroom. Maybe the ghost wouldn't be able to kick it open.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The kicks didn't sound like they were getting more powerful. And since the ghost presumably couldn't use tools, it might have no way of coming after them. They might be safe down here.
Thump.
The door popped ajar.
Very slowly, with a creak—of course there was a creak, even though Boyd hadn't noticed the sound any of the other times he'd used this door—the basement door swung open. Light spilled down the stairs. The ghost stood in the doorway, motionless, staring down at them.
Naomi whimpered.
Boyd glanced around, trying to see if the light illuminated something frightening around them. He couldn't see anything. This was slightly reassuring, although there wasn't much light.
From this far away, it was impossible to discern the ghost's facial expression, but Boyd was pretty sure the goddamn thing was smiling at them. And it continued to choke.
It took a step down the stairs. Even though he'd heard it pounding on and kicking doors, Boyd was still surprised that its footstep made a sound. Then it took another very slow step. It made sense that if the ghost wasn't used to going down stairs, it would move slowly and tentatively, but that didn't appear to be the case. This seemed like a purposeful attempt to be intimidating.
The four of them backed up as the ghost went down another step.
Something moved behind them.
Boyd spun around. His imagination was going insane right now, but he didn't think he'd hallucinated the movement.
"What did you see?" asked Adeline.
"I don't know."
Should they stick to the plan? Boyd did not relish the idea of moving further back into the basement without knowing what the hell was down there with them. Maybe the four of them should just charge at the ghost.
No. It was a solid plan. If they rushed past (or through) the ghost, they might not be able to get the door closed in time to trap it. Until they had proof that something dangerous was down here, they needed to not panic. They'd be fine. Perfectly fine.
The ghost took another step down. That son of a bitch was definitely trying to scare them.
Boyd hoped that its constant choking put it in excruciating agony.
Paige cried out in surprise. "Something touched me!"
Boyd turned toward her, and another transparent man was right the fuck there.
Unlike the large man on the stairs, this ghost was almost freakishly skinny. Its head, inches away from Boyd's, tilted to the right. Too far to the right, as if it weren't completely attached.
Boyd instinctively moved away from the ghost. When it reached for him, he saw that its arms weren't completely attached either. There was a gap of a few inches at its shoulders, with its arms connected to its body with what appeared to be translucent red goo. The same goo connected its head to its neck. The ghost looked like it had been dismembered and then glued back together.
It grabbed Boyd's shirt.
The first ghost now stood at the bottom of the stairs, arms folded over its chest, blocking the way back up.
Naomi screamed.
Boyd pulled away from the ghost and his shirt tore free. He almost lost his footing but managed to stay upright. The ghost grabbed for him again, the ooze stretching, extending its reach.
Adeline screamed. Since the dismembered ghost's attention was on Boyd, there had to be another one of them down here.
The definition of insanity was doing the same thing and expecting a different result, but this was a different ghost, and perhaps they didn't all follow the same rules. Boyd threw a punch at the dismembered ghost's face. If it were human, this punch would've knocked out its front teeth. Instead, Boyd's fist passed harmlessly through its jaw. Boyd immediately felt as if he'd been going at a punching bag for several minutes, and, exhausted, he let his arm fall to his side.
The ghost grabbed him by the shoulders. Its head flopped forward, mouth wide open, and its teeth sunk into his cheek. It felt exactly like a real person biting his cheek.
Adeline pulled Naomi toward the stairs. "Run through it!" she shouted.
"I'm scared!"
"Run through it! I'll be right behind you!"
Naomi didn't move. Adeline pulled their daughter over to the stairs and then shoved her forward. She passed through the first ghost and then tumbled onto the stairs.
"Run! Run!" Adeline shouted.
Naomi looked as if she were trying to get up, but couldn't summon the strength.
The ghost twisted around and grabbed a handful of her long black hair.
Boyd pulled away from the dismembered ghost. The translucent red goo connecting its head to its neck stretched even further and its teeth remained in Boyd's face. He could feel trickles of blood running down his cheek.
The ghost on the stairs yanked Naomi to her feet.
"Go through!" Adeline told Paige. Without hesitation, Paige ran through the ghost, colliding with Naomi. They both fell. Several strands of black hair floated in the ghost's fist.
Boyd caught a glimpse of a third ghost, right next to Adeline.
Paige shrieked as the staircase ghost grabbed her hair.
Adeline pushed through it. Now all three of them were lying on the stairs in a pile, drained, but this broke its grip on Paige's hair, apparently without ripping out a blonde curl.
Boyd's arm was already regaining its strength, so hopefully the girls would recover quickly. He didn't know if the dismembered ghost's head could stretch to cartoonish lengths, and he didn't want to test it out. If he pulled too hard, it might take a huge chunk of his face with it.
He felt something between its teeth. Something cold and slimy. A tongue.
The ghost was licking him while it was biting him.
If it was trying to freak him out, well done. Boyd was thoroughly freaked out.
The ghost on the stairs reached down and this time it grabbed both Adeline's and Paige's hair. It yanked both of their heads back. Boyd prayed it didn't have the power to break their necks.
Naomi scrambled out from underneath them and hurried up the stairs.
The dismembered ghost opened its mouth, releasing Boyd. Apparently it just wanted to get in another bite, because it lunged for him again. This time, when Boyd pulled out of the way, he did lose his footing, and fell to the cement floor.
The third ghost walked toward him.
There wasn't enough light to get a good look at this one, but its skin—if you could call it skin—was a lot different. It was an uneven mix of reds and purples, with grotesque swelling in some areas. It looked like somebody who'd lost a fight against ten other guys.
Now Paige went up the stairs. The ghost followed her, leaving Adeline behind.
The idea of trapping one ghost in the basement was now abandoned, the product of a simpler, more innocent time in Boyd's life. At this point, he just needed to get out of here.
Adeline let out a wail of fury; a mother whose children were in danger. But it was clear that she was still too weak to go after the ghost.
The bruised ghost crouched down next to Boyd. Unlike the others, it didn't appear to be enjoying this experience. Its face was a scowl of pure hatred. The
degree of loathing in its expression would've been scary as hell if Boyd saw it on a regular human being, much less something supernatural.
Boyd scooted away from it.
Maybe it couldn't see in the dark.
He kept going. This was taking him away from the stairs to safety, but if it meant that Adeline and the girls only had to contend with one ghost instead of three, it was worth the danger. And, indeed, the dismembered ghost and the bruised ghost moved his way until they were lost in the darkness.
Adeline turned around, obviously trying to see what was happening to him.
"I'll be fine!" Boyd shouted. "Keep the girls safe!"
Adeline looked heartsick over the idea of leaving him behind, but when their daughters were in immediate peril, there was really no choice. She hurried up the stairs. The ghost was almost at the top. Adeline stopped behind it, most likely deciding that having her strength drained by passing through its body would defeat the purpose of getting ahead of it.
The ghost realized she was right behind it. It spun around and grabbed Adeline's face.
Then it shoved her.
She didn't do a complete backwards drop, which almost certainly would have broken her spine and snapped her neck. She was able to twist around, tumbling sideways, and grabbed at the wooden railing. Though she wasn't able to hold on to it, it helped break her fall.
But she still fell hard, bouncing twice on the way down. And when she struck the floor at the bottom, she didn't get back up.
The ghost stepped into the kitchen, then kicked the door shut.
Seeing his wife injured (killed?) was enough to overwhelm Boyd's emotions so that for a moment he didn't even think about being stuck in complete darkness with a pair of ghosts. When he did process the situation, he focused less on his terror and more on the need to get Adeline to safety. Though there was still plenty of terror.