Dust stung her eyes and she racked with coughing. The wind swirled around her as she blindly stumbled across the floor. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm. She felt herself pulled. In a moment, she was outside the laundry room door with the two guys. Chris threw the door shut. They stood there a moment, rubbing their eyes, coughing and listening to the gale within the room. Torrents of air whooshed under the door, stirring the dust in the stairwell. Then, just as quickly as it started, the whistling died down and all was quiet.
*
The three teenagers stood dazed. Kate looked at the two guys. She had never seen Chris speechless, but he was. Patrick looked pale and wide-eyed.
They moved to the couch in the living room. The living room had high ceilings and enormous, leaky windows, but felt cozy compared to the dank basement. Rain pounded against the house.
“So, what do we do now?” Kate asked, when her breathing finally returned to normal. She looked at Patrick, who always seemed to know the next step.
“I don’t know.” Patrick said.
“Who are all these spirits in my house? Why won’t they go, I don’t know, to heaven. Or hell. Or wherever souls should go after death?” Kate knew she was rambling, but she needed to speak. She couldn’t stand the silence.
“There’s one more thing we need to do before we quit for the night,” Patrick suddenly stated. “We’ve got to go back down to the basement.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Chris said.
“The last time I was here, we noticed that shimmering paint in the basement, remember Kate?”
“Oh yeah, I remember. The whole laundry room is covered in it. You took a bunch of pictures.”
“Yeah, and when I looked at those pictures, I figured out what it was.”
“What?” she asked.
“It looks like paint that only shows up with black light.”
“Is that why you brought that?” she said, remembering his briefcase inventory from earlier. It seemed very long ago.
“Yup,” Patrick said. “There might be something painted down there that could give us a hint about what we’re up against. Are you up for that tonight?”
Kate sighed. “Why not?”
The three teenagers were practically walking on each other’s heels as they approached the laundry room door. Chris reached down his hand and felt for a breeze under the door. “It seems okay.”
Slowly, Chris opened the door. The light was still on. The room was quiet, but a thin haze of dust floated in the air. The candles were extinguished and turned on their sides.
“Are we crazy?” Kate whispered to no one in particular.
“Okay, unscrew that light bulb and we’ll put in the black light,” Patrick said to Chris, who was slightly taller than he was. Chris reached up and unscrewed the light bulb. Those few seconds of darkness were an eternity to Kate. She could almost feel the inky blackness of the house creeping around her body. She listened anxiously as Chris screwed the black light into the socket.
Patrick was right. The paint did indeed glow. Suddenly, the room was filled with phosphorescent words. Words, nonsense words, were scrawled on the walls, in every corner, every crease. The three friends drew in closer together as the whole room glowed in madness. She felt for a moment as if the room was turning in circles around them as they stood there. Then, Kate saw one word she recognized.
“Oh, my God,” Kate said. She grabbed for Chris’ hand and grabbed for Patrick’s with the other. But Patrick had moved away from her. He leaned close to the wall and nodded his head.
“It’s Latin,” he said simply. “In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. Amen.”
“What does it mean?” Chris asked.
“It’s a phrase we Catholic school survivors should know and love. It means, ‘In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.’”
“Why would somebody paint that all over my basement?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it was for protection. I think somebody was trying to keep something here in the basement. Probably, to keep something in there.” Patrick pointed to the dirt room.
Kate shivered again. Chris put his arm around her shoulders.
14.
Kate slept poorly that night. Images of glowing words spun through her head. It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that she finally fell into a deep slumber. Unfortunately, Mom had no mercy. Saturday morning housecleaning started early and lasted much of the day. The huge house took forever to clean. Five bathrooms was entirely too many, Kate decided. She tried to concentrate on her work, trying to empty her mind of the frightening experiences of the night before.
Then, Jacob surprised her, calling her on Saturday evening with a wonderful surprise.
“You’re really coming here?” Kate asked, grinning so hard she thought her teeth might crack.
“Just for that weekend. I’ve got to get back to school right away. Mid-terms are just around the corner,” Jacob said. “Yeah, my buddy is driving to Ohio to see some chick he met at the beach last summer. So, he’s going to drop me off in Columbus. You’ll have to drive up and get me. I hope that’s okay.”
“Is that okay?” she asked, breathlessly. “That’s awesome! We’re going to have so much fun. Wait a minute...” she froze with delight.
“Hello? Kate?”
She spoke softly and evenly. “Oh...my...God.”
“What, sweetie? What’s the matter?”
“That’s the weekend of the Autumn Ball,” she said breathlessly.
“The what?”
“The Autumn Ball! They don’t have Homecoming here, for some reason. Instead they have this Autumn Ball. It’s a really fancy, schmancy dress up thing. It’s like a fall prom, I guess. But, oh, my God! I’m going to take you to the Autumn Ball. This is going to be so cool! I’ve got to find a dress and...Lisa is going to die! I can’t wait to tell her. You’ll have to bring a suit. Bring that nice blue coat with the tan pants. Heck, is doesn’t matter what you wear. You’re going to look gorgeous. The other girls will absolutely die with jealousy!”
Jacob laughed. “It sounds like fun. I can’t wait to see you.”
“I can’t wait to see you,” she replied, so excited that her voice came out squeaky and high.
“So, what have you been up to, anyway?” Jacob asked.
“Listen to what happened last night.” She told him about the experience with the Ouija Board. Jacob listened attentively, but began to laugh after a few minutes.
“So, you’ve got ghosts in your house?” Jacob asked in an amused tone.
“Yes, and don’t laugh because it’s serious,” Kate said in a stern tone.
“And you want me to come and visit you? Are you trying to scare me off?” he joked.
“Listen, I told you the whole story. I’m scared. I’m scared to be in the house by myself. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
“You know, those Ouija Boards are just a fake. One of those people was moving it just to scare you. Who did you say was there with you?”
“Oh, this guy Patrick and, um, Lisa,” Kate said, lying. “Patrick knows all about the occult and stuff. He even knew the Latin that was written on the walls.”
“He sounds like he’s just trying to spook you. Maybe he’s just trying to scare you so he can continue to come over to your house. Did that ever occur to you? Does this guy like you?” Jacob asked suspiciously.
“No, he’s just some guy from my school.” Kate felt a shiver of happiness, knowing she was making Jacob jealous again.
“Well, when I get there, I’m going to give him the evil eye, let him know you’re spoken for.”
“Oh, stop that,” she said, giggling.
“Well, I’ve got to go. I’m actually on my way out,” Jacob said.
“Really, where are you going?” she asked, trying not to sound too concerned.
“Oh, there’s this fraternity that’s having a thing. A couple of us guys are going down there to check it out. Then, we�
�re going to this new club that just opened.”
“Oh,” she said quietly.
“Hey, listen. I’m just going to have some fun, get out with the guys. Besides, none of the girls here could ever compare to you.”
“Of course they couldn’t,” she said, trying to sound confident. “I hope you have a good time, but not that good of a time.”
“Thanks, sweetie. I love you,”
“I love you too.”
“I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me too.”
As soon as she hung up the phone, a faint knock sounded on her door.
“Come in.”
Seth stood at the door, his face ashen. His cat Ink was curled in his arms, purring loudly. She was a small, lean cat, completely black with large yellow eyes. Although a teddy bear to Seth, Ink scratched and hissed if anyone else tried to touch her. Many times, Kate had made the mistake of assuming Ink was a nice, normal cat and she had the scars to prove it.
“I’m sorry, Kate, but I overheard your conversation. I heard you talking about what happened with the Ouija Board.” He looked embarrassed, but his fear obviously overrode that emotion. “Did that stuff really happen? I mean, the wind blew in the basement?”
Kate swallowed hard. “It didn’t just blow, it roared.”
He came in and sat on the edge of her bed, disrupting Ace, who was now lying on a slant, slowly sliding toward Seth. The old dog looked annoyed and rose from his position. He jumped down from the bed, walked into the corner and lay down with an exasperated sigh. The dog glared at the cat that stretched arrogantly across Seth’s lap. Seth just sat there on the bed, staring at the floor.
“Seth, what’s the matter with you? You’ve been cranky ever since we got here. I know you miss Laura, but I think there’s something else. Am I right?” she asked.
He looked Kate straight in the eye. “I can hear them.”
Kate froze. She dared not respond for fear of screaming. After a minute of silence, she felt she could continue. “What do you mean, you can hear them?”
“I hear them. I can hear them having parties. I lay in bed at night, and I can hear the sounds of a party. It’s right in my room. There’s party music and people laughing. I can hear it all.”
Kate didn’t respond, so Seth continued. “It’s mostly women, I think. I hear girls talking to each other, gossiping about something and then laughing. And the music, it’s ragtime music, old party music. And sometimes, they dance. I can hear their feet stomping on the floor. Then, every night, there’s a scream, loud and horrible, just screaming bloody murder. It’s like, she’s trying to get my attention. Then, after a minute, it stops. And then, it’s quiet, until the next night when it starts all over again.” He was barely whispering by this point.
“Seth, what are we going to do?” Kate had never seen him so anxious.
“Does anybody else know about this?” Seth asked.
“Just my friends Patrick and Chris.”
“Chris? I thought you said somebody named Lisa was here,” Seth asked with raised eyebrows.
“Oh, well, Chris and I....” She shook her head and left it at that.
Seth let it go. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know,” Kate said, relieved to be sharing her fear and anxiety with her tough big brother.
“I don’t know either.”
“Seth?”
“Yeah.”
“How can you stand it? Hearing that every night?”
“I try to block it out,” he said. “They haven’t hurt me in any way, so I don’t feel like I’m in any danger, but I definitely think there’s a sad history to this house.”
“Have you tried sleeping in another room?”
“Yeah, but I hear it there too.”
“How awful. Just at night?”
“Yup,” he said, done with the conversation. He rose from her bed and turned for the door. “Do you think we should tell Matt?”
“I tried to talk to him about it once and he laughed at me.”
“Sounds like Matt,” Seth said, opening the door.
“I’m glad you came in and told me, Seth. I feel better for some reason.”
“Right,” Seth said and smiled feebly. Kate realized it had been a long time since she saw Seth smile.
Kate got into her pajamas. Seth’s news rattled her, but the excitement over Jacob’s arrival overrode everything else. Kate wrote a long letter to Jacob, telling him all the places they could go when he got here. She imagined them walking in the park and dancing at the Ball. She pictured him reclined on her bed, maybe with his shirt off. It was a lovely image. She fell asleep without a second thought of the ghostly party probably happening next door in Seth’s room right now.
*
Kate was walking in a field of grass, the sun high above. She felt a long skirt swishing around her ankles, and when she looked down, she saw a long white dress, laced up to her neck. The material was clenched too tightly there, and she felt as though she were possibly wearing a corset. She could barely breathe.
She walked, the long material sometimes tripping her as she stepped through the high grass. As the sun beat upon her, sweat began to bead on her forehead and upper lip. The air was perfectly still, not a breath of air stirred. She continued to stumble along, not sure where she was headed. After a few minutes, she stopped, leaned over and put her hands on her knees. Glancing around her, she saw only golden fields, as far as she could see.
Then, she heard something, a dog barking. She turned around, put her hand up to block the sunshine and gazed along the horizon. She saw something moving. Several large black dogs came running over the top of a distant hill, running at top speed, heading right for her. Kate stood motionless, wondering what to do. Were they friendly dogs? She hoped. She glanced around. There were no trees to climb, no buildings to enter, nothing to hide behind. Ears back, tails pointed, the dogs continued to run toward her. As they grew closer, she could hear them growling and snarling.
Panic grew in her chest. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t stop herself. She ran. A small whimper escaped her lips with each step she took. Tripping, stumbling along, she knew she was losing ground. She could hear the dogs getting closer. Her breathing became labored and a stitch stabbed into her side, but she continued to run. She managed to turn her head enough to see behind her. The three dogs were right behind her, snarling, barking, long tendrils of drool dripping from their black lips.
She screamed as they closed in on her. They were upon her. She could feel their breath on the back of her legs. Just at that moment, a deep black hole appeared in the field right ahead of her. Kate was moving too fast to stop. She toppled head first into the hole. She felt herself falling, twisting in the darkness, then thudding onto the bottom.
Kate jerked herself awake. She breathed a sigh of relief at finding herself safe in her bed. But the dream, it felt so real. Her bed sheets were wet with perspiration. She reached over and flipped on the lamp beside her bed.
Kate’s breathing soon became slower and her heart rate calmed. The goose bumps which decorated her arms slowly went down. She sighed deeply. Suddenly, her throat clenched up and the tears began to fall. She cried quietly, but the hot tears fell fast and thick as the stress of the past few days broke her.
When her sobs subsided, she reached for a tissue. She blew her nose and saw that the tissue was blackened with dirt.
15.
As she sat in the sunny glow of stained glass at church the next morning, Kate revisited her dream from the night before. Dogs. Again with the dogs.
She glanced up at the tortured-looking Christ hanging on the Crucifix over the altar. So gory. A little too lifelike, she thought. Tiny beads of blood ran over His forehead where the crown of thorns punctured the ceramic skin. His eyes were cast heavenward, pathetic but hopeful. Kate cleared her head and concentrated on Jesus’ pale, porcelain face.
If you can hear me, Jesus, I need a favor. Maybe just pass this along to God for me. I have
a house full of evil spirits. I know, it sounds crazy, but it’s true. They’re not hurting us, yet. But, it’s pretty scary. Anyway, if you have time, could you tell God that we need him at 925 Fifth Avenue. Thank you for your time.
That done, Kate leaned back into the pew. She actually felt better. She turned her thoughts to Jacob’s visit. She relished it, rolling it around in her brain, planning their time together. Thinking about Jacob’s visit helped to keep the bad thoughts at bay, so she focused all attention on that.
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