by Kim Cormack
That made sense…At the first sign of danger she probably would have hidden beneath her covers as a child. Kayn asked, “What are we going to do after we find the bodies?”
Lexy casually responded, “We have to account for everyone in the household first. Then we will mark the corpses. I will try to draw the souls back into their shells and then send them to the in-between where they will be recycled into the hall of souls.”
“That sounds easy enough,” Zach chuckled.
Grey exclaimed, “Angry, brutally murdered souls rarely go willingly. They usually have unfinished business. When that business is revenge, that’s how some species of demon are created.” She reached for the light switch and Grey snapped, “Not yet, leave the switch off!”
Kayn yanked her hand away and glanced at Zach. Why didn’t he want her to turn on the lights? The rest of the group began to slowly scale the stairs.
Zach ran his hand along the textured, old fashioned wallpaper while scaling the dangerously steep staircase. He whispered, “I had wallpaper just like this in one of the houses that my family lived in growing up.”
There was a lengthy silence. Kayn touched the wallpaper, looked at Zach and smiled and thought, ‘I understand’ without saying the words aloud. The house was strangely stuffy. Yes, the windows had been shut but the door had been left cracked open. There was an indefinable nasty scent. “What’s that smell?” she whispered to Zach.
He scrunched up his nose and replied, “I think it’s dead people and bleach.”
Kayn recognized the scent of the bleach. It had a distinct fragrance. It almost stifled the potent stench of the recently deceased but not entirely.
Grey glanced back at the two stragglers and whispered, “Close your eyes and then open them. Scan the room and tell me what you see and feel.”
Kayn closed her eyes and after taking a deep breath, she opened them. A dark presence was flickering on the ceiling in the corner. She felt queasy. She closed her eyes again and opened them. The dark haze above her ominously flickered again. What in the hell is that? She whispered, “Every time I close my eyes and then open them, something dark flickers right above us on the stairs.
Grey winked at her and said, “I’m going to turn on the lights. Once we add electricity to the mix, the shit will hit the fan. You three, take a close look at the family’s picture on the wall. Keep it in your mind. That is who you are here to help. Try and imagine them like that. Trust me, it helps.”
Kayn looked at the picture as the staircase lit up. There was a beautiful family portrait. The children’s innocence had been preserved within that frame even though it had been stolen from them. They were both girls. One was a toddler with wispy wild chestnut hair and the other was maybe five or six years old with these deeply set doe eyes. The mother was dark featured with those same stunning pools of chocolate brown. In her imagination, she envisioned the little girls running down the stairs together unaware of their fate. Their father seemed out of place in the picture. He was a frail looking pale skinned man that appeared to be quite a bit older than his spouse. Kayn took note of the goose bumps as they formed on her arms. Her pulse began to race as shivers crept up her spine and she knew that something was about to happen.
Grey whispered, “Awe shit... Here we go. Did you guys feel that?”
The temperature in the room dropped rapidly by at least ten degrees. It steadily declined until it became frigidly cold. A gossamer mist appeared from between everyone’s parted lips with each breath they exhaled. Kayn felt her hair stand on end across every inch of exposed skin. This can’t be good. The temperature continued its rapid descent until her nose began to run and burn. She raised her hand to wipe it, felt the stiffness of her skin and glanced up at the others. Everyone’s lips were quivering and turning blue.
Lexy gave Grey’s cold shoulder a comforting squeeze. She whispered, “Calm down. This isn’t your first dunk in the dead pool.”
Grey snickered, “A little bit of blind panic fuelled by adrenaline always warms the blood.”
The lights flickered ominously as the glass fogged and exploded on all of the pictures. Kayn shielded her eyes from the shards of glass. The urge to vomit was now an uncontrollable need to rid her system of the poison that filled the air like a putrid toxin. Each time she inhaled her lungs clenched and burned. The hazy entity hovered above her. It was now a visible dark cloud with thousands of thread like, swaying arms. She started to fall backwards on the stairs while attempting to avoid its grasp. Oh…Shit!
Grey caught her and whispered, “Careful, those threads sting like a son of a bitch.”
Lexy grasped Melody’s arm and questioned, “Have you done this before?”
Melody grimaced and whispered, “Yes… I’ve had the displeasure.”
Lexy addressed the group, “Back up. Get out of the way.” The tentacles had begun to stretch down the stairs, multiplying and aggressively blocking their path to the top. Grey, Kayn and Zach backed down the stairs away from the reaching, stringing arms of the ominous being that had prohibited their ability to reach the top.
The crimson-haired Lexy appeared to be completely unfazed by the madness as she looked at Melody and rather bluntly said, “Sucked or stabbed?”
Melody replied, “Sucked.” Without a moment’s hesitation, she stepped into the swaying grasp of the writhing demonic arms. They attached to her and began to drink from her being. Thousands of horrifying veins sank beneath her skin and attached to her own. Melody’s veins became visible as the demonic entity began to suck the life from her body. She twitched as her feet rose off the stairs while attached to thousands of black strings as though she were a demonic marionette. She hovered there as it drank her essence, suspended in mid-air by spindly veins. Her eyes rolled back in slivers of white and as they fluttered and began to close. Lexy stepped up and clutched Melody’s legs with both hands. She yanked her back from the place where she floated and fought against the threads that aggressively suspended Melody in the air.
Lexy yelled, “Do it!”
Grey yanked a knife out of his pocket and sunk the blade into Lexy’s back. A surge of healing energy pulsed through her, travelled up Melody’s legs and exploded from her torso. The yellow haze continued its journey up Lexy’s arms and the hovering repulsive entity evaporated into a fine tar-like mist.
Melody dropped to the stairs, landed on her knees and stated, “Well, that sucked.” Black beads of the entity glistened on her skin.
“Literally,” Grey chuckled.
Melody struggled to regain her bearings and whispered, “You’re a funny guy.”
An obviously concerned Zach offered, “You can have my shirt to clean yourself up.”
Melody replied, “It’s all good. I’m soaking in what was stolen from me.”
Lexy stood up and brushed herself off. There was a blood stain on the back of her shirt from where Grey had stabbed her. At first it looked like her limbs might not support her but it only took a moment to regain her balance. She announced, “Well, that was round one. Let’s get upstairs before round two starts.”
Kayn lifted her hands to her lips. The air was warm again but her lips were still stiff and dry. She could breathe normally. She took a deep breath and followed the two Healers up the stairs. That was crazy.
Zach poked Melody. She turned and looked at him as he declared, “That was badass.”
Melody giggled as she replied, “I try.” She was visibly exhausted but it didn’t stop her from jogging up the last couple of steps.
Kayn smiled at her badass friend as she followed her up the stairs. The layout of this house was remarkably similar to the home she’d grown up in. The others looked in the first room but she kept walking. Instinct told her which room belonged to the little girls. As she stepped forward and pushed the door open she noted that the door was abnormally cold. Here we go again. She held her breath for the unthinkable but the bedroom appeared to be empty. There was a crib in the corner of the room and a toddler bed in the ot
her. The covers were ruffled and recently slept in. She went to reach for the light switch and then opted out. The temperature in the room was already dropping.
Grey’s voice interrupted her train of thought, “Zach, go check that closet out.”
It was then that she noticed that two of the others were in the room with her. Kayn’s heart panged. The oldest child hadn’t even been tall enough to be switched to a normal bed yet. Kayn rubbed her hands together, attempting to warm them as Zach looked in the closet. She walked slowly towards the crib. Dead babies… The sight of the crib made it real. She took the pink knit blanket out of the crib and held it to her face for warmth. It still smelled of baby powder. The scent of a well taken care of toddler still lingered even through the putrid scent of death. She held it against her chest. She could take it with her for warmth. She could use it to cover her eyes when they found the bodies. Kayn placed it back into the toddler’s crib. If the toddler could still see it, perhaps even after death it offered the child's soul some form of solace. She reached over and pressed the button on the ocean themed mobile. It began slowly rotating on its own. It played a haunting rendition of, “Under the Sea.” Her eyes began to tear up as the song played. She’d always loved this song.
Grey walked over and turned the power off. He whispered, “We are here for a cleanup and disposal. Don’t make it harder on yourself. Don’t personalize this. Shut your emotions down. Shut the blanket sniffing sentimental fool inside of you off.”
Kayn took a deep breath and stepped away from the mobile. It began to play the song again with the power turned off. Well…That was super creepy. Even though she’d frozen in place, she wasn’t afraid because she suspected the ghostly culprit might be one of the sweet little girls from the family portrait. They were only attempting to make contact. Those poor babies must be so scared...So alone.
Grey’s voice said, “Spirits can communicate through the electronics in the house...Watch this.” He unclipped the mobile from the bed and took out the batteries. It began to play again while it was still in his hand before he had even finished reattaching it on the crib.
“That is amazing,” Kayn whispered in absolute awe. She touched the plush colorful, rotating fish on the mobile as it turned.
“You just wait princess,” Grey replied. “In situations such as this one, amazing can change to messed-up in five seconds flat.”
The group attempted to leave the room and a screeching sound came from the baby monitor causing them all to startle. Intrigued, Kayn walked back into the bedroom alone. The others lingered in the doorway. She couldn’t help it; she was utterly amazed. She picked it up in her hand and whispered into the monitor, “We’re here to help you. Who are you?”
Lexy’s voice piped in from behind her, “Oh sweetie, you don’t want to know the answer to that question. We’ll be in the next room when you’ve unromanticized this.”
They were all so jaded. Without looking back to see if anyone was still there, Kayn whispered, “They might be trying to tell us something?” She heard a whisper come from the monitor. She held it up to her ear.
A child’s crackly voice said, “I know how your skin comes off.” Kayn dropped the baby monitor, sprinted out of the room and raced to catch up with the others. She was visibly shaken as she grabbed Grey’s arm.
He chuckled, “They communicated with you… Didn’t they?”
“Some kid knows how my skin comes off,” Kayn stammered.
“That’s not a kid. I would suggest for your skin’s sake that you stick with the group and don’t wander off alone,” Grey replied. He gave her shoulder an assuring brotherly squeeze.
Melody overheard their conversation and added, “Just try to pretend you didn’t hear that.”
They were right behind Zach and Lexy as Zach pushed open the door to the parents’ room. The scent of death was overpowering. The bed had been slept in but they hadn’t been killed in it. There was an obvious blood stain on the carpet in front of the master bedroom’s closet. The group took pause for a moment.
Grey walked ahead of the others. He hesitated before opening the closet door. The foul scent that wafted out was almost incapacitating. In the closet was the mother’s body. She was wearing a robe drenched in blood; even in death she appeared to be still protecting something. It was her babies. She had been trying to protect them from their father’s rampage. It had been her final act of love. She hadn’t succeeded in saving them but she’d died trying. The interior of the closet was covered in a fine mist of red. There were larger sprays of blood in places. On the inside wall, there was a symbol written in blood. It looked like an abstract painting.
Kayn’s eyes blurred with tears. She was going to vomit. The scent of the deceased was overpowering. Her stomach lurched again. She looked back at the doorway. She wasn’t going to be able to stop it.
Lexy began to speak, “Okay, we now know where the mother is and the children’s bodies are what she’s covering in the corner. If they’re all there it will simplify things a touch. We’re going to leave them here for a minute because we need to find the father’s body. The scent of bleach in the house is highly suspect. It smells like someone has tried to clean-up. Usually a murder-suicide has no clean-up involved. Everyone must be accounted for before we start sending off spirits. We don’t need any surprises.”
Grey closed the closet again out of respect. As the folding doors shut another burst of sour putrid air was released and Kayn’s senses couldn’t take the vile stench any longer. She bolted out of the room, knowing the urge to vomit wouldn’t cease until she got away from the scent of decomposing flesh. She closed herself in the upstairs bathroom and knelt before the toilet, actively battling the urge to vomit. The scent of the dead clung to her nose hairs. She couldn’t escape it.
Grey came in, leaned past her and opened the shower curtains. He gave her back a rub while sternly warning her, “Always check behind the shower curtains.” He patted as he added, “You have to attempt to pull yourself together. You need to stay with the group.” He reached into his pocket and took out a small flat container. He removed the lid, put some on his finger and rubbed it under his nose. He offered it to her and she did the same. “I should have given you some of this before we came in here but you need to know what decomposing corpses smell like.”
The vapor rub blocked the assault on her senses. She leaned back from the toilet and took a deep breath. The urge to purge her stomachs contents had left her. She got up and followed Grey out of the bathroom. Zach was also offered some scent relief as they ran into him. Grey, their scent savior wandered away to find the others, leaving the two newbie Ankh alone. The lights flickered. Kayn grabbed Zach’s arm. They laughed nervously.
Zach elbowed her and chuckled, “You were pretty tough a minute ago... What happened?”
“I was going to puke from the smell,” Kayn whispered.
“That happened to me the first time too,” he replied. He smiled as he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “How are you doing other than that?”
“Only a fool isn’t a little afraid of the unknown... Or of something that threatens to skin them alive and eat them,” Kayn answered.
“How zen of you… Just so you know if someone plans to skin you alive, they’ll have to go through me and Mel first,” Zach assured.
Kayn grabbed ahold of the worn wooden railing and ran her hand down it as they descended the stairs. She felt a twinge of pain and paused to look at the sliver in the heel of her hand. She held up her wounded palm for Zach to see and whispered, “This family wasn’t terribly safety conscious. Look at the size of this sliver.”
Zach took her hand in his and said, “Oh… For heaven’s sake.”
It looked like he was planning to kiss her hand but he plucked the enormous sliver out with his teeth. She grinned as he spat it out. A brotherly act of kindness; he’d most likely used on his siblings in his last life.
“Quit messing around you two,” Lexy scolded as she made her way down the
stairs behind them.
Once they’d all reached the bottom of the stairs, they made their way down the hallway towards the kitchen as a group. The scent of bleach grew stronger as they entered the room. The kitchen cupboards were painted yellow with some white glass see-through ones where dishes had been placed away in perfect order to size and shade. There were various keepsakes and knick knacks on the window sill as well as a few cactus plants. There were white lacy curtains with green trim that almost perfectly matched the color of the shutters. This family had taken pride in their home… When they were alive.
There was something behind the curtains. Kayn pulled them aside to revealing a symbol, similar to the one in the closet. A shiver trailed her spine. This meant something significant. The pit of her stomach began to curdle again. This was nowhere near over. Kayn motioned to Lexy. The crimson-haired immortal glanced at the symbol. She was expressionless as she closed the curtain. There was a spotlessly clean murder weapon in the sink. The father had tried to rid the house of evidence…But why? Instinct began to whisper; you shouldn’t be here. It’s a trap. You need to leave right now. Kayn peered up from the large butcher knife in the sink and met Lexy’s look of concern.
The fearless immortal whispered, “I know... I feel it too.”
Lexy’s nervous…This can’t be good. There was only one place left to search… The basement. They all had the same apprehensive looks on their faces. This was going to be so messed-up.
Zach broke the uncomfortable silence by clearing his throat. He questioned, “Are we certain Daddy’s dead?”
“Oh… I guarantee you he’s dead. How did he die? Now, that’s the question that remains unanswered. It looked like he attempted to clean up after his little murder spree. Why would he do that? This doesn’t scream murder suicide anymore, does it?” Lexy responded while pointing out the painfully obvious.
The dishes were done. The kitchen was spotless. If the father had managed to dispose of the bodies and the house was clean and tidy, it would look like the whole family had simply gone on a holiday. But why hadn’t he finished the job? Grey turned the doorknob on the door that led to the basement. There was a steep set of stairs leading into the darkness. They heard the shuffle of tiny footsteps.