The Raven Mocker: Evil Returns (Cades Cove Series #2)

by Aiden James

  Wanting to scream, Tyler couldn’t, unable to muster so much as a whisper. But he did manage to break through his fear that had seemingly glued him to the cool pine floorboards beneath his feet. Ignoring the continued threats and coldness that attacked him from all directions, he grabbed Christopher by the arm and ran out of the bedroom. The hairs on his neck standing on end told him Allie Mae followed close behind.

  After cracking his knee on one of the arcade games, he led his brother to the stairs. At the same time, the living room light came on below.

  “What’s going on up there?” called Ruth, her tone worried.

  As they navigated the staircase’s narrow spiral, she appeared below them. Even she gave them a slight start, her face covered with night crème and her hair in a protective net.

  “You boys all right??”

  “No!” shouted Tyler, just before they reached the main floor. “There’s someone upstairs—”

  “Oh, my Lord!” Ruth interrupted him.

  Her eyes wide from amazement, she took a step back. Jillian now joined her, peering up from her side at the thing that so captivated Ruth’s attention.

  The sound of a windstorm filled the air behind the brothers, and as they joined their great aunt and sister in the living room, an immense shadow obscured the overhead lights’ glow. Only the illumination from Jillian’s bedroom kept the chalet from complete darkness. Her countenance filled with terror, Jillian’s mouth formed a silent scream.

  By the time Allie Mae’s spirit descended on the living room, all four had vacated the chalet’s premises. Huddled as a group near a streetlight on the road out front, Ruth dialed 911 from her cell phone. Though their rescue was delayed by an hour, they remained outside in the cold until the Sevier County cruiser showed up. No one dared test the ghost’s resolve to carry out her threats.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Painful stiffness brought David back to the living, leaving a dark void that felt strangely comforting. For the moment he sat with his hands bound above him, tied with rawhide straps to a long wooden pole supported by two stone pillars, one on either side. To his right sat Evelyn, her hands not near as severely bound, hanging just below her chin. Unconscious. He looked to his left. Miriam sat closer to him, her hands dangling low, similar to Evelyn. She, too, appeared asleep.

  Quietly he rose to his feet, bringing instant relief to the stretched tendons in his shoulders and wrists. With a better view of his new surroundings, the room was much smaller than the cathedral-like setting from earlier, and circular with roughly a forty-foot diameter. White stone walls decorated in intricate designs and symbols, the same was true for the domed ceiling. Snakes and serpents, the dominant theme, and each reptilian image skillfully detailed with small spheres surrounding each one like halos. The spheres glistened, as if containing small gem chips. Every one appeared different from the next, enough to indicate painstaking effort to create this art.

  If that had been all he noticed, his unease might not have escalated so quickly toward panic. The smell of death drew his attention.

  What the hell is this place??

  Along the lower reaches of the wall lay human remains—some old enough to be mere skeletal parts, while others looked recent. A row of six severed heads sat along the wall closest to a marble altar bearing engravings similar to the walls and ceiling. The heads belonged to three men, two children and a woman. One of the men African American, the other two were Caucasian—one older and one just a few years younger than himself. The woman reminded him of Miriam and Evelyn, with dark hair, and the children could be Jillian and Christopher’s ages.

  Is that what I heard earlier? The terrible screaming of a man and child??

  A roaring fire that seemed surreal, and almost dreamlike, burned within a small pit on the other side of the altar, fueled by a pile of bones that for some reason remained unscathed by the flames. The skull most unusual, human-like but ghastly in its deformity with long sharp teeth. It seemed to smile—grinning within the blaze, almost turquoise in color, its flame lapping the edge of the altar table.

  David looked cautiously around him, expecting to find their captors watching him as he surveyed this gruesome lair.

  They’re not here… But who in the hell’s this?

  For some reason, beyond the grasp of his comprehension, he hadn’t noticed two other people in the room, lying on the dusty floor in front of him. The pole they hung from was much lower, maybe the reason for the oversight. Like what might be used for smaller animals.

  Or, children?

  A girl wearing a badly soiled pajama top and panties lay in a fetal position. Shivering from the room’s coolness, he could tell she studied him through her disheveled auburn hair obscuring much of her face.

  “Who are you?”

  The question came from the other person with her, a much older man with thinning gray hair. Similar to her, his upper body was drenched in a mixture of blood and some sort of dark grease. The bifocals he carried on a chain around his neck had been smashed. Unlike the girl, his long overcoat and casual dress clothes protected him from the cold.

  “My name’s David. David Hobbs.”

  Miriam began to stir.

  Shit! I need a moment to figure this out before she wakes up.

  “And you are?”

  “Dr. Peter Kirkland,” his reply followed an exhausted sigh. He motioned to the girl, still trembling in her fetal pose. “Her name is Hanna…. I have no idea what her last name is. She’s already been through a lot…probably a traumatic shutdown from the looks of it.”

  A small rodent scurried across the floor, burrowing itself beneath the chin of the younger man’s head along the wall. David grimaced in disgust, while Dr. Kirkland sat up and looked around, anxious, like he might jump out of his own skin from fear despite his calm and composed disposition just seconds before. Even after the man watched the rat’s tail disappear inside the head he shivered almost as badly as the female lying prone next to him.

  She no longer studied him, her sheltered gaze moving to Evelyn. Trauma or not, her countenance reflected recognition, and David felt foolish for not realizing right away that this was John’s other granddaughter lying on the cold dirt floor a few feet away.

  “Where is this place—do you know?” he asked, returning his attention to Dr, Kirkland.

  Isn’t this the bastard who set all of this bullshit in motion??

  He tried not to let his anger seep through, difficult to manage and keep the panic at bay.

  “Some sort of temple that ‘he’ brought us to,” Peter replied, more of an edge in his voice than before, as if loathing the mention of the host. “The girl and I shared the same dungeon until a few hours ago. I don’t know what he has in mind…. Maybe we’re supposed to witness some kind of ceremony.”

  A chill gripped David’s heart once he heard this. But the professor acted as if no big deal, only a few guests witnessing an event no more harmful than a passion play. Maybe he also suffered from emotional trauma.

  The stench alone should keep him from being so goddamned lackadaisical!

  “I take it you’ve actually seen him, huh?” said David.

  “Who?” Peter seemed more confused, which only irritated David.

  “Teutates.”

  As soon as David spoke this name, Peter’s face turned ashen, while Hanna swung her head up. Her gorgeous hazel eyes wide open, almost maniacal. Evelyn stirred now, too, along with Miriam again, both on the verge of finally awakening from the spell that held them silent until now. While checking on them, he heard a rustling sound. Soft at first, it emanated from beyond the lone entrance to the room, to his left. A stone archway, beyond it the darkness seemed impenetrable.

  As the rustle came closer, it grew much louder.

  “He’s coming!... They’re coming!!” the professor whined, gazing fearful toward the doorway.

  The rustle was now joined by a louder buzz. He tried to lower himself to hide behind Hanna, but his bound wrists prevented h
im from getting close enough to her.

  “Huh?... What’s going on??” Miriam awake, she glanced anxiously around her, gasping in horror when she saw the row of heads against the wall, less than a dozen feet away. “Where the hell are we??”

  The buzz changed…morphing into something more familiar.

  “Sh-h-h-h!!” David tried to do this calmly, but his excitement as to what they faced overrode his concern for her peace of mind.

  Hornets. That’s what it sounded like. An angry nest of the little monsters. Hell, as the growing cacophony stealthily approached the blackened doorway, it sounded like a frigging army was on its way.

  Evelyn sat up straight with a start, her eyes frightened as she glanced around wildly, disoriented. Once she locked onto her sister’s presence, just a few feet to her left, she screamed. She leaned toward Hanna as far as she could manage, while her sister responded in kind. They seemed impervious to the noise that caused everyone else to cover their ears. Though they couldn’t touch each other, tears flowed between them, their reunion almost sweet.

  “I call upon the mercy of Teutates—have pity on your humble servant!” Dr. Kirkland rose up on his knees, his face reflecting a curious mixture of dread and anticipation. He turned to face the doorway. “Lord of Darkness, I beseech thy favor…. Please don’t take your wrath out on me!!”

  David shot a perplexed look at Miriam, but her growing terror preoccupied her attention to where she didn’t even notice. Her gaze, like the professor’s, faced the doorway. Ditto for the Sherman sisters once their initial joy subsided.

  “Have mercy! Uha adadolisdi!!”

  The use of a Cherokee phrase drew Evelyn’s attention. She immediately turned her tear-streaked face toward the professor while he repeated the latter phrase over and over, his tone and emphasis increasing in force against the rising din from beyond the room. The buzzing rustle suddenly ceased, and everyone’s eyes were fixed upon the doorway. Amid several gasps and the professor’s delirious fervor, a very tall figure stepped through the doorway, shrouded by a thick, smoke-like mist that followed it as it moved closer to the five captives huddled near the altar.

  “Uha adadolisdi!!!” cried Dr. Kirkland.

  “Tla adadolisdi!”

  The figure’s deep response rumbled throughout the room. The voice so unearthly in its force and regality. The irritated tone clearly rebuffed the professor’s entreaty. No mercy!

  Barely visible within the mist, David studied what he could of the tall form. A pair of well-toned human legs, defined like a bodybuilder, but each joined to a disproportionately long foot bearing long curled toenails rolled up at the end of each digit. Almost clownish. Slight vertical grooves marked both legs until shrouded by a gilded tunic.

  The mist fell away as the figure reached the altar, its appearance now clear.

  What the hell is this thing?

  Man-like, yes. But, human? …Not necessarily.

  A thick, powerful torso, armed with rippling muscles as it moved, supported a massive chest graced by an ivory breastplate of exquisite detail. The open mouth of an agitated golden viper with long, menacing fangs dominated the center of the breastplate, the eyes sparkling from a pair of brilliant rubies. Other human qualities of the near-eight-foot being were its arms and shoulders, bulging with fierce musculature, silhouetted by a long black cloak. Not-so-human hands, nearly as elongated as the feet, and unusually long, slender fingers bore similar nails rolled up tight at the fingertips.

  But that wasn’t what caused everyone to murmur in fear, while the professor tried even harder to hide behind Hanna. The face that eyed them contemptuously accomplished that alone. Framed by a full mane of lustrous black hair that hung loose upon the shoulders, chiseled features hinted at potential comeliness, if not for a pair of menacing eyes. Turquoise and cat-like in appearance but with the coldness of a hungry crocodile, they narrowed as their owner surveyed the group.

  David lowered himself back to the floor, his tendons immediately remembering the discomfort from a short while ago. Still unsure if this thing was a man of some sort or not, whose olive facial skin bore tiny grooves similar to the ones on its legs and along its arms and exposed torso. The large head might be a necessity for the immense frame, and the chin sloped to a severe point with the mouth definitely wider than anyone he’d ever laid eyes on before.

  Teutates stepped around the altar, the strange fire that matched his eyes revealing dark streaks along the altar’s sides and a pool of liquid upon it. Blood! ‘He’ looked down at something unseen on the altar’s other side, and when he stomped his foot, the snap from breaking bones and a squishing noise resounded. Looking over his horrified audience again, his leering smile revealed a mouthful of long sharp teeth.

  “Oh dear God!” whispered Miriam, her wide eyes tearing as she scooted herself closer to David, who had just discovered a slight looseness in the leather bonds that held his wrists fast.

  Her response was echoed by Evelyn, who quietly chanted her incantations while returning Teutates’ amused gaze with a sullen one of her own. Hanna trembled even more, drawing her limbs up tighter to her chest, which only frustrated Dr. Kirkland’s efforts to seek shelter from the demon he so feared.

  A small stream of blood crept along the sides of the altar, heading toward them. Much of it absorbed by the room’s earthen floor, a few tiny tributaries came close enough for the entire group to watch guardedly.

  Teutates nodded as if fully understanding Evelyn’s pleas for her magic to manifest against him. David could see her growing frustration and the fiend’s full amusement. He looked over at him, his smirk now mirthful.

  He knows what I’m thinking? Shit!!

  Teutates’ gaze moved on to Dr. Kirkland.

  “Please…take any of them!” he pleaded. “They don’t know you, like I do!” The professor’s whine grew shriller, and he looked around him, thrusting his shoulders toward the others. “The woman behind me, Evelyn Sherman—take her! It’s her grandfather’s fault this all happened, anyway! Yes, it’s true!! Take her!!”

  Teutates stepped around the altar and approached the group, his strange toenails scraping against the dirt. Any allure from afar proved grotesque up close. His eyes turned cold, meaner, as he regarded the professor. Bending down, he drew near enough to where the crow feathers in his hair grazed Peter’s face.

  For a moment, it looked like he might kiss the professor. But in the next instant, his fingernails unfurled and severed his rawhide bonds. He grabbed Peter’s arms, dragging him up to the altar.

  “Oh, God, no-o-o!!” Dr. Kirkland cried out. “Take her—not me!! Oh, please…PLEASE have MERCY!! UHA ADADOLISDI!!!”

  He fought with all of his might, reminding David of a small child struggling against its mother at a grocery store.

  “Nihi esga nulisdane ayv!” You offend me!

  Teutates let out a high-pitched cackling laugh following his condemnation, though Peter continued to cry out ‘uha adadolisi!’

  It looked like his captor might relent, perhaps more weary than irritated by the professor’s ceaseless droning. But instead, the fiend roared and slammed him down on top of the altar table. The reverberation echoed around them, effectively drowning the professor’s cries. Before Dr. Kirkland drew another breath, Teutates pulled out a beautiful jeweled scepter of gold with an ivory tip from inside his cloak. The tip very sharp, it easily sliced through his clothes and then pierced his sternum. With a sickening rip and tear of the surrounding flesh and ribcage, the heart fully exposed, Teutates unfurled his fingernails and plucked it out. He held the beating organ in his palm for all to see.

  Peter, miraculously still alive and gasping for air, watched in horror as the monster reached into his mouth with the other hand and severed his tongue before he could clinch his teeth. A shrill scream remained stifled in his throat.

  “Pathetic use of the ancients’ tongue, so I took his…. And see? In the end it did not save him.”

  The voice this time almost mellow, it mad
e the delivery of the words especially chilling. While Teutates casually tossed the severed tongue behind him, where it landed on the wall with a wet splat before sliding toward the floor, David worked harder to loosen his bonds.

  Blood seeped from the professor’s open chest cavity and mouth, trickling onto the altar before dripping down its sides. The carved snakes and serpents looked even more ghastly. David prayed the man was dead—especially when Teutates began to devour the heart. Only he and Evelyn watched him finish, as Miriam closed her eyes tight while trying to inch closer to her husband. Seeing Hanna’s continued repose in a fetal position, he wondered if she’d abandoned her weakened conscious mind, retreating as far as possible inside herself.

  “It’s going to be all right, babe,” he whispered soothingly to Miriam, who opened her frightened eyes, as if to gauge his confidence. He forced a smile. “I swear I’ll figure out something…I swear it on my life!”

  A sardonic chuckle erupted from the altar, as Teutates watched this tender moment. His grin reeked of amused arrogance. It looked like he might be finished with Peter Kirkland’s lifeless body, and ready to move on. But first one more trick for his terrified audience. He lifted the body, tore the head off and turned it upside down above his own head. The corpse’s congealing blood flowed down upon him, covering his entire being. The monster writhed in ecstasy, and David watched in amazement as Teutates’ body completely absorbed the blood. Even the ivory breastplate that a moment ago had been immersed in crimson became pristine again.

  The transformation that followed was even more incredible. The small vertical grooves in the skin disappeared, and the face and body appeared younger…the muscles bigger. Even the eyes changed, turning a deeper blue. As before, the fire’s flame mimicked Teutates’ eye color, turning the same sapphire shade. He passed his hand through the top of the cobalt blaze, where the flames licked his flesh but caused no damage.

  “Nasgi ageyv soi!” She’s next!

  The voice resounded more powerful than before, energized by blood. Teutates tossed Dr. Kirkland’s drained corpse behind him and walked over to the six heads and added a seventh. He then pointed his scepter toward Hanna, drawing an immediate protest from Evelyn.