Thriller: Horror: Conceived (Mystery Suspense Thrillers) (Haunted Paranormal Short Story)

by Stephen Kingston

  She was pulled out of her dreams, of her younger days with Malachi, by a knock on the door. Eva wiped at her face and looked around, wondering if she’d dreamed the sound. She got up and went to the door and the doctor was standing there, bag in hand. Ah, the doctor. She’d asked the boy to send him up. That explained that sensation from earlier then. She’d forgotten that he might be coming.

  “What’s the trouble, Eva?” The doctor asked as he stepped into the living room.

  “It’s Malachi, this time. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him but he can’t stay awake. He said last night he was having some indigestion and today I just can’t get him to stay awake very long.”

  “Let me have a look at him.” Doctor Avery went into Eva and Malachi’s bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed to check Malachi over.

  Doctor Avery pulled Malachi’s eyelids back, listened to his heart, checked his pulse, and started to ask Eva questions.

  “Did he eat yesterday?”

  “No, he said he felt sick.”

  “To his stomach?” The doctor asked, turning his head suddenly to Eva.

  “Yes. I made some biscuits and he wouldn’t eat those either.”

  “How did he say he felt overall, yesterday? Did he mention anything besides this indigestion and stomach upset?” The doctor appeared to have already formed an opinion but he was asking questions to confirm his suspicions.

  Eva felt a moment of fear and tried to remember everything her husband had said to her yesterday.

  “He went out looking for some herbs, he looked kind of grey but insisted on going out. Then he was gone for hours. Said he got lost but Malachi knows those woods like the back of his hand. He finally admitted he fell asleep but that didn’t make sense. He came home, rubbing at his chest and arms, but he fell asleep before I could question him further. Then that evening he started sweating but he felt cold to the touch.”

  “Ah. As I suspected then. Eva, would your permit me to take your husband to the hospital? I’m almost certain he’s had a heart attack.”

  “A what?” Eva’s hand went to her own heart as she felt a cold wash over her.

  “A heart attack, his heart is not functioning correctly and though he’s survived this long, he needs treatment or he may die. He could have another one at any time if we don’t take him and it could rip his heart apart. I know how you feel about hospitals but your husband is very much in danger.”

  “Well, of course then. I can’t go with you though, who would take care of Adelaide? Oh dear God, why can’t my boys be home? I need them so!”

  “Your boys? You have sons?” Doctor Avery asked as he prepared Malachi for moving him to town where he’d call an ambulance to take him to the hospital.

  “Yes, Jacob and Samuel. I believe they’re studying medicine over in California somewhere. I’ve written to them but not heard from them.”

  A look of anger came onto the doctor’s face, then he wiped the look away.

  “My dear woman, have you got their address? I’d like to write to them myself.” In fact, Doctor Avery planned much more than that. He was going to track the boys down.

  “This is the last one I had. It’s from a few months back.” Eva handed the envelope over.

  Doctor Avery saw the address and an idea formed in his head. He had a few friends that were practicing medicine in that area. At least one of them was going to be paying a visit to the boys this evening.

  Eva watched the doctor leave the house; Malachi’s suddenly slight frame cradled in his arms as he carried him to the car then placed him gently in the back seat. Doctor Avery then waved his hand as he drove away. Eva had to smother back her tears. She didn’t know if she was ever going to see her husband again.

  On a normal day she’d have gone with the doctor, or Adelaide would have been here to comfort her. Now she had to wonder how she was going to handle the girl on her own. If she turned violent as she sometimes did Eva was going to be helpless.

  Eva went to make sure the scarves were near the bed and wondered if she should tie the girl up, just in case. No, she couldn’t do that. It was just wrong to tie her up if there was no reason. Eva left the sleeping girl, always sleeping now, and went back into the living room. Once more she knelt in front of the picture of Jesus and started to pray. It was all she had left to do.

  In her bedroom Adelaide slept but in her mind she was fully awake, an overwhelming feeling of dread shaking her to her core. Something was wrong with her Poppa. She rattled at her cage, unable to stand now because it had shrunk even more. She pushed her knees against the walls, trying to break the sticks but nothing worked. No matter what she did she could not break the cage.

  She was now certain that she was going to die in the cage. Each time she regained awareness it was smaller. She wasn’t even sure she could get out when they opened the cage door now, it had shrunk as well and the opening was barely big enough for her to slither through the last time they’d led her out to perform the ritual on her. Now her father was calling out to her across the realms of reality. She could hear him calling for her now. She looked around to see if he was in the village.

  “I’m here, Poppa!” She called out to him. “Poppa, I’m here! Help me Poppa!”

  “I can’t see you, Addy, where are you girl?” He called back.

  “I’m here. Over here, follow my voice!” Adelaide looked around but still didn’t see him. The evil ones didn’t seem to notice the voice or her calling back to him. Maybe she was saved finally!

  Adelaide felt her heart swell with joy as she spotted her father, clothed in his usual jeans and a green and black flannel shirt. It was so hot here, she wasn’t sure how he stood it but there he was!

  “Poppa!” She called out, pushing her fingers through the cage to hold his hand.

  “Let me get you out of here. These creatures can’t see me for some reason. Here, climb out.” Malachi pulled the cage open, loosening the complicated locking mechanism that had so defied Adelaide’s will.

  She climbed from the cage, pulling to get her hips passed the narrow opening. Adelaide looked around and saw that none of the evil ones had noticed her or her father, and she took off with him, running as fast as her bare feet would go. She was exhausted but pushed past that, running as far as she could before her father pulled her up.

  “In here, there’s a cave. I found it earlier.” Malachi pulled her into the dark opening, leading her back further and further.

  “How far does this go Poppa?” She asked, not liking how dark it was in the cave.

  “I don’t know honey. I woke up in here and managed to find my way out by following a breeze that blew in. We just need to rest for a little while, then we’ll be on our way again. Here, sit down. And take my shirt, you poor thing, you don’t have a stitch of clothes on! How could they do that to you?”

  “I don’t know, Poppa. They don’t wear clothes so I guess they don’t have any to give.” She responded, glad to see he hand an undershirt on under the flannel shirt. He wasn’t bare then. “How did you get here, Pop?”

  “I don’t know honey. I went out to get some herbs for your mother and here I am.” Malachi sounded out of breath and Adelaide worried over him. That had been a long hard run on an old man with a bum knee.

  “How is your knee?” She asked, wishing she could see him.

  “It’s fine, not bothered me a whit since I woke up here.” He patted her hand in the dark and she felt the comforting touch. Tears filled her eyes and she sobbed as she finally realized she wasn’t alone. She didn’t know if they were free now but at least she wasn’t alone anymore.

  “Hush, honey, it’ll be alright. We’ll find a way to get out of here. Now let’s think about this. I woke up in here, maybe this is how we got here. Where were you when you woke up?”

  “I was outside, Poppa, in the woods. I wasn’t in here.” She said, her sobs quieting as he patted her hair and held her close to his side. It sure was nice to smell his familiar scent of soap and spices once again.<
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  “Well, that kind of throws my theory off, doesn’t it?” He sighed heavily and let his head rest against the rock wall.

  “But Poppa…” Her words broke off as her father suddenly disappeared. “Poppa? Where’d you go?”

  Adelaide felt around in the dark but she knew it was no use. He was gone. He’d just blinked away. But she was free now at least. She’d run until Judgement Day but she wasn’t going back into that cage, no matter what. She sat back down on the floor and tried not to cry. She told herself to stop acting like a little girl and used the wall as a guide to find her way back to the mouth of the cage. She looked out into the darkness but couldn’t see a thing. Stay put or go? The urge to run as far as she could was strong but she was safe here in this cave, they couldn’t see her in here. But if they came in they’d find her. Adelaide decided to wait, see if her father came back before she left. Maybe his absence was only temporary.

  Settling back further in the cage Adelaide chewed at the knuckle of her thumb trying to make a decision. Run and maybe have no shelter, or stay put? But what if there was a house nearby and someone to help her? No, for now she’d just stay put.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Eva, Malachi says you’re to do it and do it quick. He wouldn’t tell me what he meant but he said you’d know.” Doctor Avery looked at Eva over the brim of his cup of coffee and had a feeling he probably didn’t want to know anyway.

  “I’m just so glad he’s woken up now! And he’s going to be fine, you said?” Eva still felt anxiety raging through her body. She’d seen the doctor’s car pull up and had expected the worst news. Things just hadn’t been going well lately.

  “He’s going to be weak and he’s going to need to take it easy but he should recover in time. There’s never a guarantee with things like this, and anyone that tells you there is will be lying to you. I thought we were going to lose him but then he came back and started to improve. He can come home in a few days.” Doctor Avery paused, as if he wanted to say more, but stopped himself. She’d find that part out soon enough. He’d made those phone calls and found the boys. He expected them any day now.

  “I guess I better get on home now, Eva. You sure you don’t need help with anything tonight?” His concern was obvious and Eva was glad the man was so kind.

  “No, we’re fine, she got a bit antsy earlier but then she calmed right down again. I can’t wait until she stops all of this sleeping. Poor child is like Sleeping Beauty in there.” Eva smiled, a tired smile, but Doctor Avery could see the beauty that caught Malachi’s eye so long ago. Tired and elderly Eva was still lovely to look at. Almost regal, the doctor thought to himself, and definitely dignified.

  Eva saw the doctor out then settled down to look at the package he’d delivered to her with his visit. It was the ginseng from the boy. She thought about what the doctor said. Did Malachi mean she was to do it tonight? Or should she wait for the full moon? He’d said to do it quick so that must mean she was to do it as soon as possible. If she only used part of the root and put the rest in their root cellar then it would stay fresh. She’d do it twice if she had to.

  Eva wasn’t sure why Malachi had sent that message but knew if he’d told the doctor to tell her, something had changed. She got out the paper once more and looked over what it said. She started chopping up the cleaned roots then put them in a pestle, using the mortar to smash them all together. They formed into a paste soon enough, an odd orange color and Eva began to look through the house for a sharp enough knife. She found Malachi’s hunting knife and put it in a bowl to pour boiling water over it. She wanted to make sure the wounds didn’t become infected.

  Taking several deep breaths, she looked around for some sense to it all but found nothing so she gathered up the paste, two buckets for the blood, the knife, her sewing box, and some old but clean rags. She threaded two needles and set her scissors by the thread. Her Bible was already out and on the nightstand.

  Eva decided to do one arm at a time, and her hands shook as she held the knife to Adelaide’s pale wrist. Eva prayed, asking the Lord to guide her in this, and swiped the knife through the flesh before she could stop herself. She cried out as the blood welled up in the wound and then started to pour out; down into the bucket she’d placed under Addy’s arm.

  Eva quickly gathered up half of the paste and spread it in the wound. She then moved to the other side of the bed. It was harder for Eva to cut her daughter’s wrist this time but after a few minutes she finally felt her arm moving and blood appeared at Adelaide’s wrist. Like flowers blossoming the wound filled up before the red liquid started to flow freely. Eva packed it with the herbs then stepped back to wait, prayers falling from her lips quickly and without pause.

  Eva watched but the going was slow, the paste was blocking the blood and all but stopping the flow. Eva didn’t know what else to do so she just waited; following the instructions Ben had given to her. Early in the morning, around 4 am, Eva couldn’t take it anymore and moved to sew the wounds up. As she finished the last stitch Eva started rebuking the evil that had invaded her daughter.

  Eva paced back and forth around the bed, calling out for Jesus to come and deliver her daughter from this evil.

  “I cast you out, into the void, in the name of Jesus demons. You just get on out of my daughter and go your own way. Just get out and don’t come back. Jesus please, slay these beasts and give my daughter peace!” Eva kept it up for another hour but nothing seemed to happen.

  Finally she was too exhausted to continue and took away the buckets, setting them out front to empty later. She went back in and checked but there’d still been no change. Eva sighed deeply and went to the other side of her daughter’s bed. It hadn’t worked. She’d failed. Telling herself she’d do it again on the full moon Eva closed her eyes and let herself sleep, cradling her daughter close.

  “What do you mean its blood? What the heck has been going on here?” Eva heard the voice from far away and tried to focus on it. For some reason it sounded like her sons’ voices. They both sounded the same, Samuel and Jacob.

  “What’s happened to her wrists? Doctor Avery? Please, come in here.”

  Eva’s eyes flew open once more and she looked up to see Samuel and Jacob turned away, talking with Doctor Avery.

  “Samuel? Jacob? What are you doing here? How? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” She rubbed at her face, trying to scrub the sleep away.

  “Nevermind that now, Momma, what have you done?” Samuel, she could tell form the scar over his left eyebrow, spoke with a world of accusation in his voice. “Why didn’t you let Doctor Avery take her to the hospital? She’s all but dead Momma!”

  “What are you talking about? She’s much better! Jacob? Jacob put her down! Where are you taking your sister?” Eva’s last words came out as a scream as she jumped up from the bed.

  “Stop, Momma, let Jacob take her out. She’s had a very traumatic brain injury and I don’t know what you’ve done to her wrists but this isn’t right. Momma you’ve all but killed her!” Samuel looked at his mother with hurt and disappointment then walked away following his brother out of the house.

  “Stop! You can’t take her! They’ll get her again if you take her! Stop!” The boys didn’t listen and Doctor Avery used his strength to bring her back into the house.

  Eva heard the doctor’s car start up as the doctor sat her on the couch, injecting her with something as she moaned in misery. They were going to ruin it all!

  “Now, Eva, tell me what you’ve done. At least explain why. What you’ve done is very serious. If that blood by the door is any indication you’ve all but bled her dry.”

  “How did they get here? They didn’t even respond to my letter.” Eva moaned, staring at the door as the sedative made her relax.

  “I called around and found them. This nonsense has gone on long enough. I had to stop it somehow. They flew in this morning and I picked them up at the airport. You’re lucky too. Those boys have been studying brain injuries and ps
ychiatric disturbances. They’ll know what to do for your daughter. They’ve been gone a long time and both are now medical doctors. One’s a surgeon, specializing in brain problems, the other one specialized in psychiatric and neurological disorders. I wish you’d told me about them earlier, I could have saved you all of this misery.”

  Eva’s eyes closed once more in grief. Adelaide was lost now. She wasn’t going to come home now. If it hadn’t been for the injection Eva would be inconsolable. Instead she closed her eyes, the tears slipping from between them as she fell asleep.

  Adelaide wasn’t sure how long she’d sat in the cave, afraid to move in case her movements gave away her location. She just stretched out on the cave floor and waited as the hours passed, remembering times with her parents and brothers, good times full of laughter and love. At one point her wrists began to burn and she felt a stinging pain but ignored it while she waited for her father to return.

  The pain in her wrists got worse, a new piercing pain started, and she moved enough to rub at the flesh, not understanding what was happening to her. She’d learned to stop questioning it long ago, why things happened here. She went back to waiting and let her thoughts drift once more.

  Adelaide was deep in her thoughts when the ground beneath her started to shake. Small slivers of rock began to fall on her head and Adelaide stood up quickly. She began to run for the entrance, knowing from a breeze which way was out, but the ground started to shake even harder. She fell to the ground once more with a scream as a burning pain started where her head wound was located.

  “Stop!” She screamed pitifully, not really knowing who she was screaming at but she did it once more. “Dear God, stop!”

  The pain became far more intense and Adelaide started to feel nauseous. The ground shook even harder, if that was possible, and she felt certain the ceiling of the cave was going to collapse on her. She started to scream in pain and terror, her world literally shattering, but then the pain was gone.

  Suddenly and without warning the pain stopped. Even the pain she’d become accustomed to stopped as she felt a popping sensation inside of her head. Then the world stopped shaking and light began to glow around her. Adelaide tried to open her eyes but the light just grew brighter and brighter. It was painful after so much darkness and she put her arm over her eyes to block out the white light.