by Smith, Cege
The nagging feeling was in the back of her head again. “Linda was right here, David. She helped me pick out this dress for you.” She took a step back and twirled in a circle for him. She looked at him hoping for approval, but found an expression of disbelief. “You don’t like it?” she said with a pout.
“Ellie,” David said. Then he stopped and appeared to be searching for the right words. “Ellie, there is something wrong here. With this house, with these people. We are in danger, Ellie.”
Ellie shook her head violently. She didn’t know why David was saying these things. She grabbed the sides of her head. It was like there were two voices in her head and she couldn’t keep out either one.
David tried to grab her arm but she pushed him away. Something was wrong. Her vision blurred and for just a moment Emma’s dark eyes floated over David’s shoulder.
Ellie looked up at David, the terror in her face now mirroring his. “You’re right. There is something evil here, and it wants us,” she said in a horrified whisper.
“How do you know that, Ellie?” he demanded.
“I saw it. Emma showed me,” she said. She started to glance around the room. She sensed that Linda and Randall were close.
“You remember I told you about my dreams?” she continued. “I realize now that Emma was asking me to help her. To help her escape. But I failed. Whatever these gifts are that I have, they aren’t strong enough.”
She could see that David was having a hard time processing this information. She stepped closer to him. “Linda and Randall, or Lillian and Joseph, are who they really are, somehow. And they aren’t the worst things here, David,” she said as she looked around the room.
“I’ve seen something too,” David said. “They killed Jenny and her baby. I think. God, Ellie, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I think they ate them.”
Ellie looked into David’s eyes and saw the truth there. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “We’ve got to get out of here, David.”
“I don’t think so” Randall’s booming voice filled the room. “The party is just getting started.”
Ellie watched in horror as Linda and Randall entered the room, one from the wall on the left and one from the wall on their right. Her jaw dropped. She heard Emma’s screams echoing in her mind.
Linda and Randall were ghosts.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
As Linda and Randall slowly circled them, Ellie’s mind worked furiously. She was trying to process all the pieces that Emma had given her, knowing somewhere in those fragments was the answer to the puzzle.
She saw that Linda and Randall looked younger, much younger. David was trying to push her behind him, but the two spaced themselves far enough apart that there was always one of them right in front, ready to catch them if they made a move for the door. The room darkened, and then small drops of light appeared around the perimeter of the room. Something far darker had joined them.
“Ellie.” Linda’s tone was disapproving. “You speak so ill of our wonderful home. It takes care of us and gives us everything we could ever want or need. Youth. Riches. What it asks for is so small in comparison.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” David said, still moving to try to protect Ellie. “What are you? What do you want from us?”
“I told you earlier, David,” Linda said, “every living thing needs nourishment. What exists here has been here so much longer than us. We were lucky that it saw our potential, otherwise, yes, it would likely have used us up too. There are many ways to feed it, but nothing gives it more strength than love. Isn’t that the most beautiful thing?”
“Nothing nourishes like the power of love,” Randall agreed. “What you feel here around you is powerful beyond your imagination. When you are chosen, you become a God.”
“You’re no gods,” Ellie said. “You are nothing but sick people.”
“Ellie,” Linda admonished in that motherly tone that Ellie hated. “You of all people I would think could appreciate what this house is all about.”
“What do you mean?” Ellie asked.
“Let’s just say, our home has a special appetite for people who themselves are special,” Linda said with a knowing grin.
Ellie realized that Linda had known about her all along. She had been targeted. Linda and Randall had been playing her like a puppet, maneuvering her into this time and this place.
“How?” she asked.
Linda clucked her tongue. “I’m surprised at you, Ellie. For such a smart girl, you are pretty slow sometimes.”
Ellie realized the link that she had been missing. “It was Jake, wasn’t it?” For just a moment she was transported back to the basement of their house, just days before she had left Jake for good. Jake had put black paper over all of the windows and the area was dank and dark. It stank with some kind of herbs that he had been burning, and in the back, Ellie had found that Jake had converted his old workbench into something resembling an altar. It had dead flowers and candles strewn over the surface. And in the middle there was a picture of Ellie.
Linda nodded. “Of course it was Jake. I almost feel bad for the poor boy. In his pathetic little attempts to understand his own condition, he awakened something else that scared the dickens out of him.”
“You came after me because of Jake,” Ellie said, still trying to wrap her mind around the idea. “Why me and not him? I mean, he was the one that did all of it. He was ‘special’ too.”
Linda and Randall laughed. “Jake wasn’t exactly what we were looking for,” Randall said. “Although we should thank him again for sending us that special treat.” Randall licked his lips.
Ellie didn’t know what Randall was talking about, and then David answered, “Jenny and her baby.”
Linda’s face lit up. “A mother and child’s love is truly sweet and pure. It is second only to that one other love.”
“What is that?” Ellie asked.
“Silly Ellie.” Linda shook her head. “Have I taught you nothing in the last few months?”
They stopped circling now. Ellie stood facing Linda, and David faced Randall. Their backs touched, and Ellie grabbed behind her for David’s hand. The touch of his skin was reassuring.
The answer burst into Ellie’s mind. “True love,” she whispered.
Her emotions threatened to overwhelm her, and she turned to find David had turned as well and was gazing down into her eyes. She saw the truth that she had suspected there.
“True love,” Linda said behind her. “So rare a gift that it can keep our benefactor strong for decades.”
Linda’s words connected more dots for Ellie. “You stole it. You stole it from Emma and Henry.”
“We stole nothing,” Linda scoffed. “I once had plans for Emma too. But she went off and died before I could convince her to join us. Henry was devastated. It was unfortunate.” Linda chuckled. “But I did my best to comfort him in his last moments.”
The candles flickered for a moment, and Ellie saw Randall’s eyes narrow over David’s shoulder. “I thought you said you had her under control,” he said to Linda.
“Get these two ready,” Linda hissed at him. “I’ll deal with her.”
Linda vanished, leaving Ellie and David with Randall.
“I am not going to get used to that,” David murmured as he pulled her close to him.
Randall stared at the wall so long that Ellie thought he might have forgotten they were there. Then his face changed and Ellie screamed.
“This should be nearly painless,” he said as his jaws widened. His arms seemed to elongate to encircle them. The last thing Ellie saw was his red eyes as she and David sank to the floor in each other’s arms. The edges of reality went blurry again.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
David never fully lost consciousness. He felt his body being lifted up and stretched out on a table. He swung his head to the side and saw Ellie was lying beside him. She was staring back at him, but her face was slack. Randall’s head emerged from beside her, and D
avid knew that he had been “feeding” on her. He didn’t really understand why Ellie had been so important to them, but it was clear that whatever special abilities they possessed, it was something that the couple found irresistible.
He didn’t see anything in Ellie’s eyes, and this scared him badly. He had to hold out hope that they would get out of this.
“Why her?” he managed to ask.
Randall chuckled. “My dear boy, you’re asking the wrong question. The question is really, why you?”
“What are you talking about?” David said. He felt sick. Was it possible that this was all his fault somehow? What had happened to Jenny Marks and her baby? What had happened to Ellie?
“We already told you that Jake would have been a perfect match what with his own abilities, but in this case, we needed something else, or more appropriate, someone else. We needed a woman. Lucky for us, Jake led us right to Ellie. So that when the time came and we sent you out into the world to meet your match and fall in love we’d know right where to put you. Then all’s you had to do was bring your true love home, which you did just like we knew you would,” Randall said. Randall had moved to Ellie’s feet.
“You didn’t have any children.” Ellie’s voice rang out. “Lillian was barren.”
Randall’s face contorted in pain. “A minor detail. One that was corrected easily enough,” he said.
David felt Ellie’s hand crawl into his. He looked back at her, and this time saw a look of alarm and pity in her eyes. “David. I think you are Emma and Henry’s son,” she whispered.
His stomach clutched. “That’s not possible,” he sputtered. “They died over a hundred years ago.”
“Time means little here. The house slumbers as do we, until it is time to feed.” Linda reappeared behind Ellie’s head. She was watching Ellie thoughtfully. “You are quite the perceptive one, aren’t you, dear?”
“You let that get out of control.” Randall was looking at Linda. “You have caused a mess. What with that agent and now you can’t keep that little menace from putting her nose in where it doesn’t belong. That is your fault.”
“It is taken care of,” Linda replied. She jabbed a finger in Randall’s direction. “You worry about your part and let me worry about mine.”
Ellie moaned and closed her eyes. David looked at her with alarm. His thoughts were all messed up. He felt around at his memories of early childhood. They were fuzzy and if he was honest with himself, there was a sense of falseness in them. Like if he poked at them long enough, they would disappear.
“How?” he asked. He had to know.
Linda looked at him and smiled indulgently. “We were so proud of you. Wanting to become a doctor. It is very simple, darling. As I said, time has no meaning in this place. So we sent you out at the time we needed you. It has been so long since someone had been here. We needed you. The house needed you.”
“But my life, are you saying it’s all false?” he said.
“Oh, my poor Jack.” Linda came around the table and placed her hand on his arm. “I know this is confusing for you, but you did exactly what you were supposed to do. We picked a girl for you and you fell in love. True love.”
“No, no, no.” He whipped his head from side to side. “This isn’t real.”
“David,” Ellie said to him. “It’s okay. I love you anyway. And I’m supposed to tell you that Emma loves you too.”
Linda reached over David and slapped Ellie hard across the face.
Even as she felt the pain of Linda’s strike, Ellie heard a whisper in her head. It was a voice she had heard before, but had blocked out of her mind. The voice told her what Linda and Randall had planned for her. It told her what they had done to Emma and Henry. It was the voice of the Third, as it told her it called itself. It was the voice of the figure she had seen in the basement with Lillian and Joseph the night they murdered Emma and Henry. And then it offered her a deal.
Her chest heaved as she considered it. She had to make a decision quickly. Images flashed through her mind. No matter what Linda said, there was no way she was going to let Ellie live. They may let David live, but only to wipe his mind clean and use him again like they were using him now.
Ellie chose. Her binds fell to the side and she sat up.
“I told you to bind them,” Linda spat at Randall.
“I did,” Randall said. There was a note of fear in his voice as he studied Ellie’s face. “Lillian, I think we have a problem.”
Linda whirled and looked at Ellie, who had taken those few moments to swing her legs off the table and now stood facing them.
“I’m amazed my Jack ever wanted you,” Linda said. “You were so broken. So weak. You almost ruined everything because you were so self-absorbed. You don’t deserve him.” Linda rushed at her and hit a wall of resistance just a few inches from her. “What’s going on?”
“You are the one who is broken, Linda, or should I just go ahead and call you Lillian?” Ellie said.
Linda stepped back but Ellie could see the fear on her face. “You have the chance of a lifetime at your fingertips, you silly girl. Don’t pretend to think that you have the upper hand here. I’ve lived a century longer than you. Don’t make the same mistake Emma did.”
“She didn’t want anything but to live her life with her husband and her son,” Ellie said. “She had no use for your riches or grand schemes of wanting to live forever.”
“Everyone wants what I have,” Linda said, shaking her head. “Everyone wants to live forever.”
“This isn’t living, Lillian,” Ellie said. “In the end, you don’t have the upper hand either. You are nothing but a slave to the darkness of this place.”
“That’s not true,” Linda cried out and tried to rush at her again. Ellie put up her hands and Linda was propelled backward. She felt a rush of cool air that brought goose bumps to her arms, and she saw a dark figure step beside her. The Third had arrived. And Ellie knew now that this was the creature of evil who found her when Jake tried to shield her with the safety spell and who wiped her memory of the incident so its evil plan could be set in motion.
“It has no use for you anymore. You and Joseph are the weak ones. Your love is tainted and dark. That is why it convinced you to release David. You and Joseph weren’t cutting it anymore.” Ellie’s voice rose.
“No,” Linda moaned.
Randall slowly backed away from Ellie and bumped into the wall.
“It is releasing you now. Releasing you to hell, where you belong.” The Third’s hands flung out and a wave of energy hit Linda and Randall full force. Their shrieks were deafening and Ellie felt sick watching their bodies go up in flames. Ellie felt an intense wave of heat hit her and she stumbled backward, overwhelmed by the smell of burning flesh. Then suddenly they were gone and the room was silent.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
David watched Ellie carefully as she released him from his bindings.
“What the hell just happened here, Ellie?” he finally said. After Linda and Randall’s spectacular destruction, he had watched the dark figure next to Ellie nod in her direction and then slowly fade away.
“It’s over,” she said. She looked up him and smiled.
Then she wrapped her arms around his waist, and David had to admit that felt great. He still couldn’t process that he had been born almost a hundred years ago, and had apparently been a captive of the house all that time. But it made sense to him now why he had always felt so comfortable there.
“What do we do now?” he asked. “I feel like my whole world has been ripped apart.”
Ellie’s words surprised him, and he felt the knot of fear return. “We stay,” she said simply.
“What does that mean?” He pushed her away, searching her eyes. He knew that something had transpired between Ellie and the dark figure that had banished Linda and Randall.
“This is where you belong, David. It is your home. And I’ll stay with you, of course.” She smiled warmly and tried to hug him again b
ut he stopped her.
“I don’t belong here, Ellie,” he said. “And neither do you.”
Ellie looked frustrated. “You heard everything we said, David. This is where you came from.”
“I’m not staying here, Ellie. This is a bad place. Horrible things happen here. We’re leaving.” He grabbed her arm and started pulling her with him out onto the landing.
She struggled against him. “David, please. There’s something I need to tell you. Something you aren’t going to like.”
Her fevered speech made him move faster. “I need to get you out of here, Ellie. Away from whatever it is that lives in this house,” he said.
“No, David. You aren’t listening. You can’t leave.” And then Ellie dropped the bomb. “Neither one of us can," she said. Her smile had faded, and her eyes were haunted.
They stood on the patio with Skipper and watched the sun come up. It was cold, but they didn’t feel it. Ellie knew the time had come. Already things were changing. Everything around them was covered in heavy snow. The world was silent.
David had not spoken to her since she had finished telling him what had happened in those few moments before the Third banished Joseph and Lillian back to the depths of hell. Ellie explained all of the images of the future that the house had shown her, and how his parents had died. It sounded too fantastic to be real.
“You don’t know that was the truth, you know,” David finally said. He didn’t look at her.
“We were kidnapped by soul-sucking ghost monsters, David,” she argued. “I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen even if the Third hadn’t shown me what happened to Emma and Henry.”
“So you made a deal with the devil,” he said. “A deal for both of us.”
“Like it or not, David, this is where you grew up. It has had its hooks in you since you were born. It wasn’t going to let you just waltz out of here, even if we had somehow managed to escape from Joseph and Lillian. What we have is what it wants.”