The Cabinet of Souls

by Jo Ann Ferguson

  Hunter ignored Beth and spoke only to Lilith. “No, she’s not cooperating. She’s being a stubborn little fool.”

  “Calm down, Hunter,” Lilith ordered him. She turned to Beth. “He didn’t mean that. He cares about you, Beth. We all do.”

  Beth looked from brother to sister. Evil burned in their eyes. Evil, and something else.

  Hunger.

  “Get away from me!” Beth shouted. She turned and ran down the hall. She had to find her friends—now.

  The corridor in front of her was empty. She ran until she reached a door. She flung it open and rushed into a witch’s lair.

  Inside, the witch was hunched over a cauldron. She was a hideous hag. Her ugly face was filled with warts, and her nose was curved like a bird of prey’s beak. Her hair was stringy and tangled. But even so, Beth knew immediately that this monster was her friend Nicole.

  The witch was hunched over a bubbling cauldron that gave off the most awful smell. Beth didn’t want to think about what was inside.

  Lightning flashed. It was so bright Beth felt it was going to blind her. Nicole cackled with delight. The audience members touring the Hall of Horrors were thrilled by her show. Beth was the only one who knew it was real.

  Beth pushed into the center of the crowd as the witch cried, “Where’s my broomstick? Who stole my broomstick?”

  The younger kids beside Beth giggled nervously, but even they were having a great time. They cheered when a crooked stick fell into the hands of a ten-year-old boy. He looked at it in awe and fear.

  “Wait a minute,” called the witch. She stormed around the cauldron and pointed a bony finger at the boy. “You stole it!”

  “No, I didn’t!” said the frightened boy.

  Beth watched in horror. Nicole never would have scared a little kid that way. Her transformation was more than physical. The girl she used to know had vanished into the evil soul of a witch.

  The hag raised her hand and pointed again at the boy. “I curse you!”

  There was a deafening bang of thunder and a cloud of smoke.

  The boy was gone!

  Nicole laughed and held out her hand. She opened her fingers slowly, and Beth could see that Nicole was holding a toad. She handed it to the boy’s mother. “Here’s your boy.”

  The parents gasped in shock.

  “Nicole! You’ve got to get out of here!” Beth shouted.

  The witch stared at her as if she’d never seen her before. Waving her hand, she shouted, “Clear the way!”

  She picked up the broomstick, got on it sidesaddle, and rose up into the air, cackling with fiendish delight.

  Beth watched as her friend vanished.

  Suddenly, she heard Dr. Hysteria’s voice, whispering, “Beth … Beth …”

  She looked down at the stamp of Dr. Hysteria on her hand.

  “You belong with us,” the stamp hissed.

  Beth looked away from her hand, toward the door. Lilith and Hunter were standing there, watching her.

  Beth rushed to another door. She had to get away from them. She had to find her other friends. Maybe they would be able to help Nicole.

  As she headed into the next room, she heard crazy laughter. Onstage was a frightening clown. Luke! The crowd cheered as he stormed over to another clown holding a balloon in the shape of a dog.

  “I hate balloon animals,” he snarled. He grabbed the balloon dog and held up a long pin.

  Beth crept along the back of the room, never taking her eyes off her friend.

  Pretending to be the balloon dog, Luke said, “No! No! Not the pin!”

  “Shut up!” he replied in his own voice. “You’re getting the pin!”

  “No! No!” the balloon dog begged in its high-pitched voice.

  “Too late!” Luke shouted.

  He stuck the pin in the balloon dog. Green liquid gushed into a bucket by his feet.

  The audience gasped, and Beth’s stomach turned.

  Laughing wildly, Luke picked up the bucket and threw the contents toward his audience. Except now, instead of goo, it was confetti.

  As the audience applauded, Beth saw Hunter and Lilith stroll in. They were enjoying the chase.

  She ran out into a corridor. Pausing to catch her breath when she reached another hall, she looked in both directions.

  Two ghouls walked into the corridor to her right. They raised their arms and made a horrible, high scream as they moved toward her.

  She turned and ran. She’d found Nicole and Luke. Now she had to find Kellen.

  But where was he? She gasped as a terrible thought crossed her mind.

  What if she was too late?

  BETH DUCKED INTO THE NEXT DOORWAY. Inside there was another show … if you could use that word for such a cruel exhibition.

  On the back wall, a huge banner announced THE BEAST. In front of it, two goblins—one with a whip and the other with a chair—were baiting a man-monster. The beast roared out his defiance as Beth slipped into the room.

  The beast glanced her way.

  Beth instantly recognized the creature’s tortured eyes. “Kellen!” She gasped.

  The crowd and the goblins stared at her. She ignored them.

  The beast stopped. His face turned toward her again. His gaze was longer this time. Beth felt that for a minute she could see the real him. Could he see her?

  She took a cautious step forward. “Kellen, it’s Beth.”

  He growled, but not with the fury he had shown before.

  “C’mon,” she said. “You know me. Look at me. Look into my eyes.”

  She gazed at him, trying not to show any fear of the beast he had become. She shuddered to think about what would happen to Kellen if he didn’t escape from the Hall of Horrors.

  This time, he really looked into her eyes. She could see he felt something that wasn’t rage.

  “I know that’s you,” she said, hoping she was reaching beyond the beast, to Kellen.

  He breathed heavily, but he held her gaze.

  Maybe her name would trigger some memory in the part of him that was still Kellen. “It’s Beth,” she repeated.

  Was she reaching him?

  Suddenly, the door behind her opened. Hunter strode in and grabbed Beth’s shoulders. “Okay,” he crowed as he shoved her toward the ghouls. With a wide smile, as if it’d all been part of the act, Hunter said, “No trying to tame the monster, folks.”

  The audience chuckled, loving the “show.” They began to applaud.

  Beth ignored them. She ignored the ghouls holding her arms. She even ignored Hunter. All her attention was on Kellen, who stared at her, confused. Beth couldn’t tell if he knew who she was. Had she reached him at all?

  “Kellen! Please!” she cried over the applause. She begged again, more softly, “Please.”

  The beast’s eyes changed, and he leaped at Hunter, grabbing him by the throat and throwing him to the floor. Cries of horror came from the audience. They scrambled to escape.

  The beast left Hunter lying senseless at his feet. He had a new target. One of the ghouls rushed toward him, swinging.

  The beast swung harder. He sent the ghoul spinning and crashing through the plywood circus poster. The ghoul landed on the floor, hard.

  The other ghoul ran out of the theater along with the audience, terrified by what they’d seen.

  The beast jumped down off the stage and ran to Beth. She didn’t move. She wasn’t afraid. She just looked at him, knowing that Kellen was someone she could always trust.

  He put a claw gently on her back, and she let him steer her to the exit door. They left the place without a backward glance.

  BETH HELPED KELLEN DOWN THE hall. She could hear Dr. Hysteria’s voice coming from the PA system: “Ladies and gentlemen, the Hall of Horrors will be closing in five minutes. Please proceed to the exits. We hope you have had a fun and thrilling experience.”

  Outside, the audience poured out the door into the night. Adults. Teens. Little kids. They all seemed to be enjoying themse
lves.

  Mayor Smith walked out with his family. “Wow! That seems real! So real.”

  The mayor spotted Sheriff Wilson among the crowd and hurried over. “Oh, Sheriff, what did you think?”

  “It was outstanding.”

  “I’m going to talk to them about coming back next year. It’s been great for this town.”

  The sheriff nodded. “Well, it’s almost midnight. I should probably be getting these kids home.”

  “Good night,” said the mayor in his Dracula voice. “Count Dracula,” he added, making sure everyone got the joke.

  The two families headed down the street.

  The minutes were slipping by as Beth tried to help Kellen along the corridor. It was nearly midnight. Time was running out.

  Kellen reeled from one wall to the other, seizing pipes or anything else to keep him on his feet.

  “C’mon,” she urged, linking her arm with his.

  Suddenly, he collapsed. His fight against the spell was taking a tremendous toll on him. He clutched his head and moaned.

  “Kellen!” Beth grabbed his arm and helped him up as far as his knees. “Kellen, we have to find Nicole and Luke.”

  “Too weak.” He spoke for the first time. His voice was raspy, but he spoke.

  “Stand up for me,” she said quietly.

  He shook his head.

  “I know you can do it,” she said. “I know you have it in you. I need you to stand up for me. Right now!”

  “Leave me,” he struggled to say. “Save … yourself.”

  “No! I won’t leave you. Please try.” Tears filled her eyes. They had come this far. They couldn’t give up now. Not when it was so close to midnight. “Kellen, please try for me.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Please try. Please try for me. Kellen, c’mon. Please try for me.”

  He stared at her.

  Tears ran down her cheeks. “I need you to do this for me.”

  He nodded.

  She took his hand, hoping she could be of some help. He groaned as he fought his way to his feet.

  They staggered together along the hall, but Kellen fell to the floor again. He got up, but now Beth was losing hope. It felt like they were going in circles.

  Still, they kept on. They had to find Luke and Nicole before midnight.

  Beside them, a door creaked open. Beth looked up. Dr. Hysteria, Lilith, and the creatures that were the trapped souls stood there. Beside them was the fiendish clown, Luke. And the witch, Nicole. Neither seemed to recognize her. Behind them was the Cabinet of Souls.

  Beth slowly got to her feet, more terrified than she’d ever been.

  “He was stronger than we thought,” Dr. Hysteria said.

  “That’s good, Father,” cooed Lilith. “That’s good. Kellen’s soul will give nourishment for a long time.”

  “Yes.”

  Beth gasped as a set of hands grabbed her from behind. Hunter had her in a chokehold. She fought him, but it was impossible. He was far too strong for her.

  At her feet, Kellen could only watch. His last reserves of strength were gone.

  “Hurry.” Dr. Hysteria took out a pocket watch. “It’s almost midnight.”

  As he turned away, Hunter half carried Beth into the room. The two ghouls grabbed Kellen and jerked him to his feet. They dragged him through the doorway and toward the Cabinet of Souls.

  Dr. Hysteria glanced at Beth. “Bring her inside.”

  She struggled, but it was no use. Hunter pulled her closer and closer to the Cabinet of Souls.

  She was doomed.

  THE DOORS OF THE CABINET OF Souls swung open with a horrible hiss. Just as before, the creatures entered in two lines. The moaning grew louder as the monsters crossed over into the gray mist.

  Hunter pulled Beth’s arm and shoved her roughly inside. Lilith and Dr. Hysteria stepped in behind them.

  Beth saw Nicole immediately. She was once again a pretty girl with great fashion sense. Now she stood frozen, gazing up at the ceiling like the rest of the trapped souls. The hideous witch approached her, then slowly merged with the beautiful young girl. Nicole’s head dropped forward, and she stared straight ahead.

  The clown disappeared into Luke, who shuddered but then dropped forward like all the others.

  Beth gave a soft cry when the ghouls shoved the beast into Kellen.

  “Oh, Kellen,” she cried. It was horrible to see her friends like this. Nothing she’d seen before had been this terrible. “Luke! Nicole! You guys, wake up!”

  “They can’t hear you,” Hunter taunted her. “They exist now only to feed us.”

  The full horror of it washed over Beth as she realized that she would never see her friends again. That the three truly were demons.

  Dr. Hysteria looked at Kellen. “That one was strong. He resisted more than the others.”

  “But you’re the strongest, Beth,” said Lilith.

  “You’re special,” Hunter added.

  “It would have been easy for you,” Dr. Hysteria said, staring at her with his evil eyes, “to give in to temptation. To deny your friends for the sake of your own happiness. But you resisted. That’s the strength we look for. Not in our food, but in our family.”

  “What?” Beth cried. “I don’t want to be a part of your sick family!”

  “Beth,” cooed Lilith, “you’ll live forever.”

  She shook her head.

  “Nothing can save your friends,” Hunter said.

  “But you can save yourself,” Lilith added.

  Dr. Hysteria looked down at his pocket watch. It was 11:57. “It’s almost time.”

  Hunter held out his hand, just as he had in her vision. “Join us.”

  BETH STARED AT THE DEMONS. DID they really think she’d give them a different answer this time? “No!”

  She pulled a small water bottle from her sleeve, opened the top, and sprayed its contents at Dr. Hysteria, Lilith, and Hunter. They cried out in pain as steam rose from the places the water had struck them. It was as if the water burned them.

  A powerful wind surged through the Cabinet of Souls, blowing outward from the demons. It almost knocked Beth off her feet.

  All around her, the trapped souls shuddered. They began to move their arms. They turned their heads. They blinked.

  “Guys!” Beth shouted to the young people in the cabinet. The wind was so strong that she struggled to stay on her feet. “Wake up! You’re free now!”

  The trapped souls glanced around, baffled and lost.

  Dr. Hysteria laughed and held up his pocket watch. It read 11:58. “It’s too late! You and your friends are all doomed!”

  Beth shouted to the trapped souls over the roar of the wind. “There’s not much time. We have to get out of here!”

  She turned and ran toward the door, beckoning the others to follow.

  Kellen was the first to break free. He grabbed Nicole’s hand, pulling her with him. Luke threw himself forward to catch Nicole’s other hand.

  Together again, the four friends tried desperately to reach the door. The wind pushed them back with each step.

  As the demons continued to writhe in agony, Beth clutched the door.

  “Beth!” shouted Kellen.

  “Kellen!” She saw his hand and reached out her own, still clinging to the door.

  He was too far away. If she released the door, she’d be swept back into the storm that was growing stronger with every passing second.

  Another hand grasped Beth’s hand. “Andrea!” she cried in astonishment. “Help me save my friends!”

  Andrea stepped between her and Kellen and caught his hand, too. She was a bridge between the friends.

  Fighting for every inch, they stepped forward.

  Beth got out.

  Andrea followed her …

  Kellen pushed as hard as he could against the wind. It was enough to bring Nicole and Luke with him.

  Kellen made it through the door. Nicole stumbled after him.

  Luke fell through behind Kellen and Nic
ole. As he did, they all heard a clock chime somewhere deep within the Hall of Horrors.

  It was midnight.

  Beth, Kellen, Luke, Nicole, and Andrea looked back into the Cabinet of Souls. Huge red flames burst out from the doorway beyond, where the trapped souls had stood. The fire rose up and over the demons. It surrounded them and pulled them into it.

  Lilith vanished first, then Hunter. Dr. Hysteria roared out in defiance, but soon he, too, was sucked into the flames.

  The doors of the Cabinet of Souls slammed shut.

  Beth released the breath she’d been holding. Around her, her friends and Andrea looked at one another in disbelief.

  They were free.

  “Okay,” said Beth. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Next time you try to convince me that someone is evil,” Kellen said, “I’m just going to take your word for it.”

  She laughed with relief, but stopped when Dr. Hysteria’s voice rang through the room. “You’ll never get away with this.”

  She looked down at the stamp on her hand. “You’re mine,” the voice inside the stamp snarled. “You’re all mine.”

  The voice sounded like it was drowning. It soon died away as she rubbed off the image with her thumb.

  “What is that?” asked Luke.

  “Some holy water, some sage, some vinegar, and a couple of other things,” Beth said with a smile.

  “How did you know how to do that?” asked Luke, impressed.

  “I went online and looked up how to stop a demon,” Beth said, shrugging.

  Everyone laughed … until the building began to shake wildly. White light blinded them.

  A moment later, they could see again. They were out on the street.

  “Whoa!” Kellen said. “It’s all gone.”

  Dr. Hysteria’s Hall of Horrors had vanished. The town square was back the way it had looked before Dr. Hysteria set up his “show.”

  Beth heard someone giggling. She turned and saw Andrea. She was giggling as she touched her face. She couldn’t quite believe that she had escaped.

  “Who’s she?” asked Luke.

  “This is Andrea Payton,” Beth explained.

  “I’m free,” Andrea said with a grin so wide her face could barely contain it.