by Rick Kueber
A pause, a brief ear splitting moment of silence and then, “JENN!!! Where are you?” followed immediately with “OH CRAP!” and sudden darkness again. I had burned my thumb on the wheel of the lighter and dropped it into the darkness. I knew I needed a light, but now more than before, I was unable to move, or even speak. Somewhere ahead of us was the burned chasm that I dared not fall into.
When things seem their darkest, often times there is a light. I managed a whisper “Katie, don’t be afraid, evil and negative energies feed on fear.” She knew this already, but I felt the need to try to reassure her, and probably myself as well. I paused and smiled to myself in the dark, “Just remember to ‘keep your eyes and mind wide open’ you might be surprised at what you’ll discover.” I had hoped my familiar 'catch phrase' would comfort her.
Then a familiar sound brought comfort, the distant grumble and roar of the engine in our van starting up followed by the driver’s side door creaking open and banging shut in the distance.
Slowly, one by one, the LED lights on the flashlights and K-II meters began to flicker and light up until all were lit, and just as the room began to feel normal again, the front door opened wide and Jennifer took a few steps in and boldly stated, “What the heck have you two been doing?? You haven’t even picked up the first flashlight, and I can see from here Katie’s recorder is laying right there on the floor where she dropped it still recording!” she spluffed, “Step it up guys, I don’t want to be here till the sun comes up, it’s already almost 4 a.m.!”
Katie’s eyes met mine, and we smiled that understanding smile…. The recorder was still running. Could we be so lucky?
Within forty-five minutes we were loaded up and had double checked the house to be sure we hadn’t left anything behind that we would surely miss on our next adventure.
I pulled the door closed and it latched with a heavy click that echoed in my ears. I labored to push the key into the rarely used keyhole and twisted it to the locked position with some effort. As I slid the key into the watch pocket of my jeans and walked away from the now lifeless house, the faint laughter of a little girl was heard. We turned to see the fading image of the burning girl in the front window waving good-bye, all of us knowing this wouldn’t be our last visit to the Helmach House, and not our last visit from Ashley.
We climbed into the warmth of the van and buckled ourselves in. Katie spoke in a solemn voice, “We need to plan our return visit soon. This may sound silly to you, but I had this horrible feeling back there that somehow Ashley isn’t ‘safe’ there. No one is. And I don’t think she will be happy.”
Jennifer and I nodded in silent agreement, knowing we had only begun to understand the evil of Helmach house. Someone or something had influenced or even mentored Ash in evil and torment. Whether that was a Shadow Demon created from the events of the past or whatever it may be, it remained at Helmach house and none of us were looking forward to confronting it, but we all knew this little girl who was tortured and tormented for so long, needed her peace, and we would not give up on her.
Ashley had conveyed to us the only thing that had kept her company was a shadowy hatred. Whatever it was that Ash had referenced, I think it was more real than she let on, maybe more real than she even knew. We needed Theo's help.
Chapter12 BLESSING THE CURSED
Upon our return home, we held a special meeting with the good Dr. Em, her sister Sarah, and her niece Shari. We told our story, down to every last detail. Their attention hung on every word, and though Shari never shared her own experience with Ash, we could see her and Dr. Em relating to certain parts of our tale, knowing they could relate on some level. Sarah watched and listened to us in near disbelief, but every time she questioned the accuracy of our account, she was swiftly set straight by Emily, or Shari telling her, “If they said that's how it happened, then that is how it happened.”
We eventually came to the difficult part of showing them the family tree and explaining the direct lineage between Ashley's father and the three of them, and furthermore explaining how we had found the remains of Ashley and her father, and the grave of her mother on the property.
We talked for many hours on more than one evening that week, and many decisions were made. The team and I would return the following weekend to the Helmach farm, but we would not be going alone. We explained to them about our friend Theo, who was a medium and with their permission, we would bring him along to do a house clearing and blessing on the entire area surrounding the home, barn, and family cemetery on Saturday and hopefully these women would join us on Sunday to lay their ancestors to rest.
It was Jennifer's task to talk Theo into postponing one of his seminars, and leaving Barnes & Noble behind for a weekend to travel to West Virginia with us.
Katie's task over the next few days was to find someone, preferably in the Summersville area that could make us some period 'pine box' caskets, and small matching headstones.
Dr. Em and Sarah were happy to finance the 'laying to rest' of their distant family members. Dr. Em, Sarah, and Shari would speak to the pastor of Dr. Emily's church and persuade him to perform the funerary rites.
My task was to dig. While Theo and the girls would be performing a sage smudging, property cleansing and blessing, I would be preparing the two grave sites, one on each side of Kathrine Helmach's.
I was unsure of the outcome of Jennifer's text message to Theo, but her confidence was unwavering. Without apprehension, she conveyed the story to Theo. Spinning the tale of this cadaverous moppet and her fiendish phantasms, including every otherworldly and foreboding detail.
As was expected by Jennifer, he canceled his plans for the weekend without hesitation. Theo's mind was bedeviled by what could be the genesis of this particularly heinous little apparition. It was during his turmoil that he decided to call me and see if a narrative from a different point of view might give more insight as to the cause and possibly the remedy. We decided to all meet up on Wednesday and Katie and I could give our personal interpretations of the events.
As always, we met at Barnes & Noble bookstore just as they were about to close for the night, in the desolate coffee shop. It was Theo's connection with the bookstore that allowed us the 'after hours' access. Once we had all arrived and chose a table the questions and conversations began.
I explained the stories from my recollection, and there were a few instances that seemed to peak his interest. His attention was heightened when I spoke about Ashley's (possibly imaginary) friend, the shadowy hatred that seemed to prey upon her torment, and was her constant companion. With every mention of our experiences with this shadowy figure, and its descriptions, Theo nodded with absolute understanding, jotting notes as the information he found crucial was stated.
“From what I have gathered here, it seems that the main concern with Ashley is her Shadow Demon.” Theo stated with a calm demeanor, not anticipating how disturbing this sounded to everyone else.
“SEE!” Jenn's voice punched through the silence, as she popped her head to one side and threw her hands in the air. “That's what I said from the beginning!.. well, sort of... but I did call it a demon, didn't I?” She directed her statement and question to Katie and me.
“Yeah, I won't argue with you there.” I said with a hint of angst in my voice. “We just didn't have enough information to put a name on it then.”
“Well, how about now?” Jenn said with a pseudosmile, knowing that when she originally made the statement it was only in satire, and out of frustration and concern for us all.
“I just didn't feel comfortable labeling it. That is not my field of expertise, not even close.” I turned my focus from Jennifer to Theo. “Okay, I have no problem with chasing a ghost around any creepy old place, dabbling in darkness on that level, but a harrowing fiend of this magnitude is beyond me. Do we need to contact a priest, or an exorcist, or something?”
Theo smiled. “No. Not all things that are labeled as a demon are 'Satan's minions' or from some lower level of Ha
des in the underworld.”
“So, what is it then?” Katie reappeared from her silence. “This is all new to us, or me at least. Why do you think it's a demon?” She looked around nervously. Though she had been with us for about a year, Katie still felt like the 'new kid' in school. The truth was that we held her as an equal when it came to her skills and her place with the team.
“Thanks Katie.” Theo began again. “There are lots of different names and categories for spirits, energies, and things of that nature. Everyone has their own connotation or denotation of what those names and terms mean, and how they make them feel. Just try to forget what Hollywood and the bible have taught you about what a demon is, and I'll explain it the way I understand it. Maybe that will help.”
Theo started his explanations as he doodled and wrote random letters and words on his notepad. “Whenever a tremendous evil causes a consuming amount of distress in someone's life, or even causes their death, an almost entirely separate 'being' or entity is formed. This entity is extreme negative energies that are concentrated to one person, or place, like metal filings to a magnet. Once it is compressed into one place, it takes on a 'life' of its own, with its own agenda, which is usually simply a desire to cause more distress, pain and anguish. Sometimes a person is cursed, and the truth of it is usually that their own fear of the curse is causing it. As their fears and negative perceptions grow, so does this 'demon' until it has taken over their lives. They believe they are cursed by an outside source when the fact is that, more often than not, they bring the negativity and fear with them. It follows, or 'shadows' them, and they do not know how to separate themselves from it.
In many instances, it continues when someone dies. Their fears and emotional pains can keep a hold of them even after they leave their physical bodies behind. The second 'entity' that is created, for all practical purposes, is attached to them, and vice-versa. Sometimes being comprised of the evil from several persons, including the one it is tethered to...the host..., it takes on a dark or black persona when it manifests in the physical world.
It is called a shadow demon for two main reasons: First and most obvious, because of its appearance, dark and shadowy...secondly, and more importantly, it's because it 'shadows' the person or spirit it is attached to. Where ever the host goes, so does the shadow...within reason of course.” Theo had spewed forth his knowledge into the room and left us mostly mute, attempting to absorb and comprehend all he had said.
“Did anyone happen to have a recorder running? ...because that was fascinating and I want to study that, and kinda memorize it... probably wouldn't hurt for all of us to.” I murmured, still in a bit of a daze from the scientific aspects of what I had just been taught.
“Got it.” Jenn raised her hand showing us all the red light on her recorder. “Cool.” Katie responded agreeing that she wanted to hear it again. “But Theo, you have to elaborate a little for me, please. When you said the shadow always follows the person 'within reason'… what exactly is 'within reason?”
“Good question. When another person, or people's negativity or evils are forced upon someone, in life or death, it becomes a part of that person in a way. Even if it is only a thread of energy that connects them over a great distance, that connection must still exist. There has to be some glimmer of good and positivity for the shadow demon to connect with in order to remain whole. If the negative energy was ever truly separated from the host, it would have to quickly find another host, or it would cease to exist, at least as an entity.”
“I think I'm starting to get what you are saying Theo.” I explained. “Energy is polar, positive, and negative, and is never created or destroyed. It only changes form.”
“Exactly, and as long as it doesn't find someone quickly who is vulnerable to the negative energy, it will lose strength and dissipate.”
Theo was speaking my language. I could relate the terms he used into scientific terms and theories, and tried to explain it to myself and the girls. “So, it could be thought of like the Shadow Demon is an ice cube, and Ashley is the freezer... as long as the proximity is close, the demon remains whole and empowered, but cut off its access to the freezer, and it slowly melts away until it doesn't exist as a whole anymore...the water from the ice cube is still there, even if it evaporates, it still exists, just as a gas, just no longer a liquid or solid... and is dispersed.”
“So what I am getting from all of this is that we need to find a way to separate this thing from Ash and try to keep it from finding another host, if we can.” said Jenn.
“At the very least, you need to protect yourselves, and removing it from Ashley would be the ultimate goal. If she can find peace, and cross over to where she is truly happy, where she belongs, then that will cause a permanent detachment.” Theo retorted.
“And then, if we can do that, and it can't find another host, it will just become a natural energy, though negative, and not concentrated into one mass... In a nutshell, it's better to walk through a foggy mist, than to get hit in the face with a block of ice.” Katie smiled, and as much weight as this conversation carried, she had managed to make us all feel lighter and more at ease with her humorous metaphor.
*** All of the preparations had been made and Friday had arrived. I showed up at Jennifer's home in the big EVP van and found Katie and Theo already there eagerly awaiting my arrival.
“Let's get this show on the road. It will be after
midnight when we get to the hotel, if we leave right now!” I said with a smile, much to their astonishment. “Hotel? When have we ever stayed in a hotel, unless we were guests at a convention? We have always slept in the van.” Jenn expressed her surprise.
“Or not at all!” Katie remarked. Both of them had spoken the truth, but they were forgetting a few important details.
“Well, here is the deal guys... I have to spend my Saturday digging two holes, six foot deep. I'm gonna need a long, hot shower, and I'm gonna want a comfortable bed to sleep in. Dr. Em has graciously prepaid for two adjoining rooms at the Holiday Inn Express, and I figured two rooms, four beds, four of us... yeah... I'm not turning that down, but if any of you would rather sleep in the van, that's fine by me.”
“Oh noooo... of course we wouldn't want to offend dear Dr. Em. That would be rude, especially since she already paid for them and everything.” Jenn back peddled quite smoothly, causing Theo to laugh boisterously.
“I don't do van's, so I'd end up in a hotel room one way or another anyway.” Theo said with a smirk. He was no dummy, and knew a good thing when it was offered to him. He had many experiences and traveled many places for this type of thing, but he had yet to experience anything like our friend Ash and the shadowy presence.
Exhausted from the trip, we chose our respective rooms and beds, though none of us really cared where we slept, we were just ecstatic to have a comfortable bed to sleep in. We all dozed off quickly and slept soundly through the night. All of us except for Theo, apparently.
Theo tossed and turned as he slept. The stories of the haunting and the possibilities of the future troubled him. He awoke startled, as if from a nightmare he couldn't remember. Only to find someone standing at the foot of his bed. A short dark shadow appeared to have been watching as he slept.
“Hello little one.” Theo said in a calm and soothing voice. “Are you Ashley?”
“Yes, and you are Theo.” “Yes I am.” Theo smiled through the darkened room and sat up on the edge of the bed facing the window. “I understand that you are still very angry with your father.
“Of course I am.” Ash said smugly. “Ash,” Theo pleaded, “if you truly want to find peace, you will have to confront your father, and find it within yourself to forgive him.” His words were gentle and kind, and they spoke the truth, but it was a truth that Ashley was not ready to hear, not yet.
The room lit up with the flickering glow of fire and Ash had instantaneously appeared at the side of Theo's bed. Before he could move, Ashley had taken hold of Theo with both hands and he
began to literally feel the fire of her anger.
“FORGIVE HIM? Could you?” And with those words, Theo found himself engulfed in flames. He stood up but as hard as he struggled, he could not move. The clothes he slept in quickly burned, turning into ash, as his flesh took flame. As if the searing pain weren't torment enough, he could see Ashley, now several feet away, pointing, laughing, and taunting him.
“Forgive him?” An evil and cynical laugh burst from the tiny child. Theo thought if he'd had any left, his skin would have been crawling at the ominous sound.
He felt his flesh dripping and oozing, and the unbearable pain drove itself so deep within him, that it felt as if his very soul were engulfed in the flames of hatred. In the madness of pain, Theo burst forward, crashing through the third floor window in one leap.
Theo woke with a start, catching his breath and looking frantically around the room, only to find me still sleeping soundly in the other double bed.
When the morning arrived, Theo was bubbling over at the continental breakfast table.
“So, did anyone else have any crazy dreams last night?”
“Um, no, I don't think I dreamed at all.” I recalled. “Me either.” and “If I did, I don't remember.” said Jenn and Katie respectively. “I don't know if it was a dream, or a visit, exactly, but I saw this little blonde girl in a white dress. We had a brief conversation where I explained that to find peace she needed to forgive her father. Let me just say, she wasn't very happy.” He smiled with a big grin as he took a drink of his juice.
“So, how did that turn out?” I quizzed him. “Um... well let's just say it ended in a nightmarish fire.” "I'm sure you realize by now that this doesn't surprise me in the least.” I said in a monotone voice as I sipped my coffee.
“Well....Welcome to 'Club burning Girl' where all of your dreams and nightmares can come true!” Jenn exclaimed with sarcastic wit.
“Yep, you're one of us now... there's no turning back!” Katie interjected with an overly obvious wink. We finished our breakfast, and the energy was on a high note when we loaded ourselves into the van around 8 a.m. Jenn and Katie were sitting in the middle captain's chairs and Jenn pointed over her shoulder with her thumb to the shovels, weed trimmer, and the leaf blower next to the travel bags we hadn't unloaded yet.