by K. D. Peters
What I saw was nothing short of the most horrifying thing I’d ever seen in my life. It looked like a woman limping around the garage and fading in and out of the light. She looked like she’d been badly burned. Her hair was hanging in long patches on her head, and the strands fell down her burned back. She wore a stained old looking hospital gown that was torn and tattered looking, and her body was contorting horribly with every move she made, her bones cracking in unison to the movements. She looked solid, yet seemed flowing as well. I held my mouth tight to stop myself from screaming. What is this? I wondered in terror. Is this a ghost? What would happen if she caught me?
I knew now that I had to get out of there. And I reasoned that maybe I could outrun her to the door. Slowly, I stood myself back up as her back was turned to me on the other side of the garage. All I needed was to get out of there. If I ran fast enough, that’s all I'd have to do….
I don’t think I’d ever run so fast in my life. But I was more scared then I’d ever been too. I heard her turn quickly, the snapping sounds coming up hot on my heels as I got out of that door. I slammed it closed as hard as I could, and managed to snap the old lock back into place. Backing up, I stared at the door as she screamed in anger and pounded on it. I could actually see it moving with each pound. Quickly, I ran over to the patio doors and pulled on them as hard as I could. But they wouldn’t budge. This is so not good! I thought frantically. I’ve got to find a way out of here!
I screamed as I suddenly felt something very hot grab my wrist and toss me back. The landing on the hard floor knocked the wind out of me. I could feel my skin burning on my left wrist, and it was the most horrible pain I’d ever experienced up until then. Looking up as I tried to hard move myself, I found myself stopping and staring as that horrible burned woman limped in front of me. She looked very stunned and angry as our eyes met. “Why?” she hissed at me. Her voice was thick and course, like smoke had damaged her vocal cords.
“Why his face?!”
I felt my eyes widen as it suddenly dawned on me that she must have been talking about the one man that I’d seen in one of those pictures earlier. In fact, I was still holding the small box tight against my chest with my other hand. Somehow, I just couldn’t seem to let go of it. Could this woman have had some connection to the people in those pictures? Looking at her, I really didn’t think that she could have been the woman with the name of Faith Evans. This horribly burned woman apparently had darker features and hair from what I could tell as she leaned closer to me. I cringed as she did. The burnt smell was horrible now, and I could hear her spine making snapping sounds as she leaned down. They were ringing through my ears. I could hardly hear myself over them as I screamed again.
“Why? Why do you look like that monster? Why do you have his eyes?” she hissed again.
I closed my eyes, preparing myself for her to grab me again. I just knew that this was going to be it. I was going to die in this house, and this horrible ghostly woman was going to be the one to kill me. But all at once, the woman just stopped. I opened my eyes, and was surprised to see her looking back over towards the entrance that I’d come in from. It looked like the glass doors had been forced open again, and a tall figure stood in the bright light streaming in from behind him. For a moment, I just stared in complete shock. Had an angel just come to save me? But as my eyes adjusted to the light, I realized that maybe that wasn’t the case. Instead of an angel, it was that same familiar face that I just couldn’t seem to escape anymore.
“Let her go. That’s an order.” Chris said in a commanding tone. He stood tall and strong looking in that doorway, and was holding up a rusty old pipe in his hand, pointing it towards the ghostly woman.
The woman lurched away from me, slowly moving closer to him. “Why? Why are you monsters here?” she demanded.
“I said get back. Go back to the hole you crawled out of.” Chris ordered. He didn’t seem to have the slightest bit of fear of her.
I somehow pulled myself back up onto my feet, moving to the other side of the room to put more distance between me and that monstrous woman. She snapped her head back at me, then back at him. “Monsters, monsters! Demons with human faces! She did this to me! She damned us all!” she howled, moving backwards now towards the hallway.
Chris didn’t seem moved. “I’m tired of seeing you. Go back to the hell you’re trapped in.” he said, swinging the pipe in one swift movement. In an instant, the woman was pushed back screaming into the very back room, and the door slammed shut. The heaviness immediately lifted, and the house became calm and silent once again. I couldn’t help but stare towards that back room though as all of this happened. What in the world had that thing been? And just how had Chris been able to drive her back to wherever she had come from?
By then, he was walking over to me. “I’d ask if you were okay, but it would be a stupid question right now.” He said, holding up my left hand. To my surprise, there was indeed a bad burn where that woman had grabbed me before. And it was in a shape of fingers that would’ve been wrapped around my wrist.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was in complete shock by then. But somehow, I managed to gain enough sense back to speak. “Okay, so either I’m having a really vivid hallucination now, or…. what the hell just happened?”
“Well, I think it might take a little bit longer to explain that then what we have right now. It would be better for us just to get out of this house before something else shows up. It’s definitely not safe for you to be here. But I think you’ve already figured that one out.” Chris said, taking my arm and helping me back out through the glass doors.
“Noooo kidding.” I said flatly.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was in a lot of shock then. I couldn’t believe what had just happened to me. If I hadn’t been, I probably would’ve been demanding answers right away out of him. But at that moment, the only thing I could think of was that woman’s words. I had the monster’s face and eyes. Again, I thought of the pictures in the box I was still holding close to me. Just what had happened in that house? Could that man in that picture have done something to her?
The two of us headed back out to the main path before I finally forced us to stop. “Alright, look. I get that I’m not hallucinating now. Or, at least I hope I’m not. But what the hell is going on?!” I demanded. By then, I was finally getting my head back on straight. The shock had finally worn off. And for the first time, I realized that I was looking at the same guy once again that I’d seen days earlier. The same one who looked like the child in my nightmares. And apparently, he’d just come back and saved my life, even if I couldn’t exactly understand what in the world had just happened back there….
Chris just stopped and looked at me for a moment, no real expression playing on his handsome face. “Well, I guess I was kind of expecting this one.” he admitted.
“Expecting what? For me to be freaking out right now because I just let myself think that some dead woman was about to kill me in an abandoned house? Cause I’m telling you, I am thoroughly freaked out!” I fumed. Really, now was not the time for him to just be brushing me off again. I’d had enough.
“Will you cut that out? You’re not hallucinating, so stop saying that. Everything you just saw back there was real, and you’re still holding his box.” Chris reminded me.
I looked down, realizing once again that the box was still in my hands. Yes, it was real. And the man standing in front of me was too. I kind of wished that I had something to lean back on then. Reality was a little more than I could handle right now. “Okay, so seriously, what just happened back there? And who's box is this?” I managed to ask. He had to have known that answer. He certainly spoke like he did.
Chris looked around for a moment. I followed his gaze, but didn’t see anything different about the woods around us. Everything remained calm and quiet, with only the sound of the birds occasionally singing. “This might not be the best place to talk. Trees can have ears sometimes. So let’s go somewh
ere a little more private. We can take care of that wrist too when we get there.” he suggested.
Well, he did have a point about my wrist. By then, the pain was really beginning to set in. When that woman had grabbed me, she’d burned me pretty badly. I would’ve imagined that her entire body must have been made of fire. Maybe that was why she looked like she was fading in and out and billowing in appearance. It was like watching fire burn. Shaking the thoughts away though, I followed him back out of the woods. I could dwell more on my near death experience later. Right now, I needed answers from him.
We ended up going back to a small house about a block from my own. Actually, when I say small, I mean really small. Even walking up to it, I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would want to live in a house like this. It was one story, and if it had more than one room, they had to be tiny. Stepping inside, I saw that it was designed more like a studio apartment. There wasn’t a lot of furniture, although what was there was nice looking. A futon was in there for a fold out bed against a far wall, and there was a dresser and flat screen TV on a small stand. An armchair sat in one corner with a small end table that had magazines sitting on it. Sitting down on the futon, I looked around and took it all in. There wasn’t a whole lot to this place. I suppose you could say it was just enough for someone to live comfortably. “So is this really where you live?” I had to ask as he went into the bathroom to get something to take care of my wrist.
“Yeah. It’s small, but it's all I need. I’ve never really liked big places anyways. Too much to take care of.” Chris replied.
“So how old are you? You don’t look like you’re that much older than me.” I commented. It wouldn’t have been that unheard of for a nineteen year old to be living out on their own like this, although Chris would’ve been the first I’d ever seen myself. But also, something told me that he might be a lot older then I was thinking too.
“There’s an old saying to never tell one’s true age, and I’m sticking with that for now. It might be better in the long run for me to do that too, considering everything that’s going on right now.” Chris replied. I watched as he came back with some medicine to clean my wrist and a bandage to wrap it up.
“You know, you’re just making yourself a big mystery now.” I told him as he sat down beside me.
“I know. But it can’t be helped.” Chris replied.
I felt myself cringe a little bit as he cleaned off my wrist. The burn was a little deeper then I’d originally thought, and it really hurt. I could see where the outline of the fingers were too. It made me wonder if I was going to have a nasty scar once it healed. But I decided not to say anything about it. Instead, I was more curious about just what had happened there, and how in the world he’d been able to find me so quick. “So, can you tell me how you knew I was there?” I finally asked.
“It wasn’t hard. I was following you.” Chris said, sounding very matter of fact as he concentrated on what he was doing.
“You were following me?” I said flatly. I certainly hadn’t seen any sign of him while I was there until he actually showed up. And, aside from that, he almost sounded like a stalker when he put it that way.
“Trust me, I’m good at being inconspicuous. But I got worried when I realized where you were going. That house isn’t the best place for you. I’d imagine that mother of yours would probably have a heart attack if she knew how close she is to it now.” Chris said.
His words immediately caught my attention. “You know my mother?” I asked him.
“Not personally. But I know enough about her to know that she’s probably like that. But then again, she might just be that afraid of him too. Most of them would be afraid of him.” Chris replied, sounding a little absent with that last part.
“Okay now, seriously, you’re talking in riddles. Tell me exactly what you know about me. I get that you’re here because of something with me. And what about this stone? It was glowing in there. Just what is supposed to be going on with my life that’s made all of this start happening to me?” I said, glancing down at the stone hanging from my neck.
Chris looked down at it for a moment, then lifted it up. “I see. He‘s a lot more clever than they give him credit for sometimes.” he said quietly.
“Chris.” I said, reminding him that I was still there and waiting for my answer.
Chris let out a long breath, apparently deciding on whether or not he was going to have to answer me. “Fine. I guess I’ll have to tell you a little bit now. Like I said before, time’s getting short. And now that you’ve managed to find that house, I’m sure they’ve noticed you too.” he said.
“They?” I repeated. Suddenly, I wasn’t that sure if I really wanted to know the whole truth to all of this. Something about it sounded very ominous all at once.
Chris finished wrapping my wrist up, then reached over beside us and picked up the small box I’d brought back from the house. “Yes, they. So, have you gotten to look in here yet?” he asked me.
“I did a little bit. But I had to stop when I heard that thing coming.” I replied. I decided not to mention at the time about the voice I’d heard coming from my pendant. I figured that it was enough that he already knew about the stone glowing. And he hadn’t seemed that surprised about it. In fact, he spoke like he knew exactly how that had happened. Without thinking about it, I reached up and held the pendant. It still felt normal in my hand. I just didn’t get it. What in the world had happened to me in that house?
My attention was brought back by Chris speaking. “I see. Well, I guess this is the best place to start then.” he said, putting the box between us and opening it once again. I watched as he pulled out the first envelope, then the picture of the woman with the name Faith Evans written on the back. “So this is her. I’m not sure I see much of a resemblance. But you do favor him more." he continued.
“So what? Am I related to them or something?” I asked him.
“Well, somewhat. But it’s a bit more complicated than that.” Chris admitted. As I watched, he pulled out the pictures from the other envelope and looked at them. It looked as though he was studying the two men.
I looked at the picture of the woman again. I really couldn’t say that I looked anything like her. But with the way Chris was talking, I must have been related to her somewhere in my family history. “So what exactly is complicated with all of this?” I finally asked him.
“Well, I’ve been trying to think of the best way to explain all of this without it sounding completely insane. Though I'm not quite sure I can.” he admitted.
“Look, I just saw a burning ghost woman who probably has been dead for years. Trust me, nothing else can sound anymore insane.” I told him.
He actually laughed a little at that one. I couldn’t help but think that he looked extremely cute doing it too. But I quickly shook it off. This was definitely not the time to think about a guy being cute. “Yeah, I could see that. But like I said, this is a bit more complicated than just saying you’re related to them. Although I guess I could start with telling you a little bit about this woman and the men in the pictures with her. I just hope you’ll believe me when I do.” he said.
“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I don’t think I have a choice.” I replied.
Chris quietly laid the picture of the woman down in between us, shaking his head with a small smile on his face. Guess I was enough to really amuse him now. “I’m sure you looked at the name on the back of this picture. And yes, it’s the name of the woman. This woman, Faith Evans, lived in that house back in the early 1930s. She was the widow of a detective from Manhattan, and she moved into that house with these two men, who were supposed to be brothers.” he explained, adding the pictures of the men on opposite sides of the woman’s.
“I guess I could see that. They do kind of look like they could be related.” I reasoned.
“Actually, they weren’t. They’re just of the same kind, and happen to have a lot of the same features. At least, enough to fool the casual o
nlooker. It was really no coincidence that the Evans woman came to live with them either in that house. It was set up that way after they did her the favor of getting rid of her husband for her.” Chris explained.
Well, that painted a pretty grim picture. This woman had hired two men for murder. “So what does this all have to do with me? You said I was kind of related to them.” I said.
“Actually, it has everything to do with you at this point.” Chris admitted. “These men were anything but normal. And in the end, I doubt that even Faith Evans could’ve understood just what she’d called upon when she prayed for her revenge. There was a good reason that she wanted her husband dead back then. The Evans woman was a victim of severe abuse, and no one ever believed her about it. And when she knew that she couldn’t kill him herself, she began praying for something, anything, that would do it for her. And these two were the answer to those evil prayers.”
By then, I was beginning to follow what he was implying. “Hold on just a minute. Are you saying that these men were.... demons or something?” I had to ask. I felt the chill run through my spine as I said the words out loud. Again, the memory of that ghostly woman speaking went through my mind. She’d been screaming about demons with human faces….
“Well, I guess that would be the easiest way to put it, considering that they were technically some of the damned. Although they like to refer to themselves as Fallen Ones. Either way, they were bad news from the start. And once they had the Evans woman right where they wanted her, they began using her for their own gains. And eventually, one would end up killing her a little over two years later in what looked to the world like a suicide.” Chris explained.