The Haunting of Cragg Hill House

by Elyse Salpeter

  So what was this dagger for? Was it for show, a ritual, or protection? Were they really keeping something at bay? Did the Papua New Guineans believe in demons? Were demons their gods? Or was it something they prayed against coming and this dagger was used for rituals to protect them? The location of this temple made it the perfect place to practice their religion unmolested. They were not in a bustling city where they could be caught practicing illegal animal sacrifices. Here, they were as far remote as they could possibly be. A light bulb went off in her mind. Wait a second. The Fore didn’t practice animal sacrifices at all. They practiced something entirely more heinous. Uh oh…

  She suddenly wanted to know what was in the pot. She was certain it wasn’t squirrel stew.

  Kelsey inched over until she stood at the lip of the pit and peered inside. Her vision blurred and she swayed on her feet.

  “Kelsey!” Desmond gripped her arms to steady her. “Are you okay? What just happened to you? Are you seeing double again?”

  Goosebumps popped up on her arms. She blinked a few times, but could not focus her eyes. “No, but I’m seeing something.” She stared back into the pot and saw a blurry shadow rise out of it to mix with the curls of smoke wisping up from the burner embers. She watched them slowly rise towards the ceiling. She pointed. “Do you see that?” she whispered. The smoky form held a sinewy shape, and tendrils spun out from it in wispy threads. She watched the smoke drift upwards. On impulse, Kelsey reached out her hand and ran it through the mist. She sucked in her breath and a rush of feeling went through her body. A new scene came to her.

  An elderly woman lay down on the ceremonial stone. She was dressed in tribal clothing, even though it was frigidly cold outside. Her bare, sagging breasts were covered only with a cascade of beaded necklaces made of human teeth, and a grass skirt covered her from the waist down.

  A mix of deadly berries lay at her side and her mouth was red with their juice. She spoke in a language Kelsey didn’t recognize. But Kelsey did recognize the people around her. Tooh sat at the old woman’s side and fed her the fruits. His torso was now bare and riddled with thick, keloided scars. His mother Jenella held the old lady’s hand and cried. Kelsey recognized her from the red headband she wore. Pago, his image doubled, stood off to the side, holding an axe. A flute was being played by Roselyn, her image too, doubled. Dooley sat off to the side, his arms dripping with blood, and needles and syringes at his feet. Many people surrounded the old woman, all of them dancing and singing. Kelsey recognized many of them as the staff from the mountain house.

  The vision was so clear. Kelsey ran her hands through the mist again. Yes, I can feel you, Micella. I can feel… your soul. Kelsey grimaced. She knew what had happened to her now. The old lady had sacrificed herself for her family. For their Spirit Mother and Spirit Father. The holy gods they believed in.

  But something was very wrong.

  Just like in Aihika, Kelsey could feel souls. But here on Earth, in this dream vision, it was different. Kelsey stared around her at the scene. So many people were missing parts of their bodies. Fingers, earlobes, chunks of flesh torn from their sides. Ceremonial glasses of blood were scattered throughout. There were prayers and toasts, and they would drink the blood. Their lips were all stained from it. And there was something else. Something evil. This was supposed to be a joyous event, a ceremony to let Micella move on, but something was wrong and no one knew it. No one knows!

  Micella turned once and stared straight into Kelsey’s eyes. “They say we need to feed them. That they must never get hungry because if they do, we will all die. They must not get out.” Kelsey heard one final word from Micella before the axe came down. The woman’s eyes widened with sudden clarity.

  But it’s all a lie!

  Kelsey flinched and stared at the last bit of mist disappearing through the roof of the shack. Water dripped from where the smoke curls dissipated, and she heard the hisses as they hit the embers. She also heard Desmond calling to her.

  “Kelsey, are you okay? You looked like you spaced out there for a moment. Did you just travel to Xanadu?”

  She shook her head and peered again over the lip. She saw a mound of burned and smoking flesh inside, along with a long bone. Pieces of charred meat and muscle were still attached.

  Her name was Micella. She said “It’s all a lie.” Shivers ran up Kelsey’s spine.

  “That’s too long a bone for just a squirrel, Desmond.”

  She tried to imagine the funny, pudgy, gentle Tooh killing a member of his family. Or the businesslike and proper Pago bringing an axe down on his grandmother’s neck. She couldn’t. And maternal Jenella sitting there crying and doing nothing to stop any of it? Dooley sharing his blood like a vampire? No way.

  They must not get out. Was the dagger she held keeping something in? Was it the Spirit Mother and Spirit Father? Were they dangerous?

  Desmond touched her arm. “What are you thinking, Kelsey? I can tell your mind is racing.”

  She decided not to say anything just yet. She had to think about this more. To make sure it was real and not just an imaginary vision. “Let’s just go back to the mountain house before it gets too dark. I’m sure whoever’s temple this is would not be happy we were in it discovering their secrets.”

  He stared at her skeptically and was about to say something, but then let it go. Instead, he took her hand, and led her from the shack.

  #

  It had started to flurry and by the time they’d returned to the hotel, it was snowing hard. It seemed as if there was a dark cloud hovering over the entire facility like a death shroud. Kelsey had a sense of déjà vu when she entered the front door. Elsa was there again to greet them, though she’d changed into a floor-length green ruffled dress with long sleeves that flared out from the elbow in a traditional funnel shape. Desmond and Kelsey made a beeline to their room and when Kelsey coincidentally passed by Pago’s double image in the hallway, both wheeling a cart to a guest’s room, she purposely brushed into him as they passed.

  Disgusting filth! Get away from her!

  The words clanged again vilely in her mind, but Kelsey continued on her way as if nothing had happened. She ignored the small, involuntary gasp she heard from Pago, pretending she didn’t even hear him. The image of Pago holding that axe from her vision remained sharp in her mind.

  She and Desmond spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in the four poster bed talking about what they’d seen. Kelsey had tried to look up something about the Spirit Mother and Father, and there was scant information to be found. They were not supposed to be evil by nature. Creatures of the earth. But if this family was sacrificing their relatives to them, there was something else involved. The situation reminded her of so many demons that were consumers of human flesh. If that was the case here, what the family did to Micella made sense. But why had they done it? Kelsey was still missing something crucial. Something, somehow, more sinister, if that were even possible.

  It was now five-thirty and Desmond stoked the fire roaring in the stone hearth. The snow was coming down hard and was not supposed to stop again until the morning.

  “Desmond, the staff is from Papua New Guinea, so it’s not a stretch to assume they brought their religious practices with them.”

  He had a stunned look. “You’re still assuming it’s their temple we found. That shack was far from the mountain house. It could be some crazy cult worshipping in the woods. The staff here don’t seem at all like they’re into that sort of thing. And I want to know why you don’t think it was just a deer in that pot? I know how your mind works. You always suspect something dark.”

  She scrunched her nose. Seriously, Desmond? Why does my mind go to the dark side of everything? “It was not a deer. It was a human leg bone. Someone is cutting up members of the family and cooking them.” There, she said it, and unfortunately got the response she expected.

  Desmond laughed and rolled his eyes. “Animal sacrifice is one thing, but humans? Come on, people simply don’t eat ea
ch other in this day and age. I’m telling you, it was a deer.”

  But a deer named Micella? Should she tell him? “Desmond, I wasn’t going to say anything, but I feel I have to tell you. I felt something when I ran my hands through that mist. I had a vision. I’ve been having tons of visions since I returned from Aihika.”

  He stared at her, but didn’t say anything. She knew he honestly believed she was still processing things. Kelsey could see his disbelief rippling off of him. She changed tactics. “Don’t you think it’s odd that so many of the workers are hurt in some way? Missing fingers, scars, and limps? It just seems too coincidental, don’t you think?”

  He blew out a breath. “I know where you’re going with this. So, what you’re insinuating is we found someone’s leg? Whose leg is it?”

  “A woman named Micella,” she said softly.

  He took her hands in his. “Kelsey, you know I support you one hundred percent, and you know I believe in everything you’ve told me. After everything I’ve experienced, I’d be a fool to question the validity of any of our spiritual conversations. I’m on board with reincarnation, Xanadu, Aihika. And I believe in all your past visions. But we must remember that some of the places we’ve been are simply illusionary. Xanadu is a perfect example. While a real place, it’s not part of any physical reality that other people can just go to.”

  “You went there, Desmond,” she reminded him.

  He pursed his lips. “Yes, but here, on this plane of existence, on Earth, it’s different. When I’m here and you take me to Xanadu, it’s illusory, like when we were fighting Mara. Because of your past experiences, I think you believe everything is otherworldly and that all your visions are real. What if all of this is actually just the monks playing tricks on you again? They did it to you before. Who’s to say they won’t do it again?”

  That was a sobering thought. They had tricked her. For years. But no, she didn’t believe it was the monks at all this time. First of all, she was awake and not sleeping. They tended to play their games when she was asleep, by astrally projecting their teachings to her.

  He continued. “Look, let’s focus on one thing at a time.” Desmond started counting on his fingers. “Human sacrifice, ghosts in the halls, people who are doubled, and conspiracies having to do with missing body parts, all together at this one mountain house. I’m a cop. I live and die by facts and statistics. Those injuries on the staff could all be from hazards of the jobs. Chopping wood and living in the mountains your entire life can be dangerous. Like Roselyn said, she got hurt in the kitchen. Seriously, how many times since you’ve known me have I cut myself just slicing a bagel in half?”

  That was true. Before he’d disappeared to Aihika, she actually had gone out and gotten him a bagel slicer so he’d stop cutting his hands every Sunday morning when he made them breakfast.

  Desmond continued. “Maybe it’s something physical or genetic with these people. If they’re all related, maybe they have some condition like low circulation or something and they’re susceptible.”

  “And Pago’s and Roselyn’s double images?” Kelsey asked. “How do you explain that? It’s not because they share DNA.”

  “It could just be something with your eyes, or something else going on with your body and it’s just coming out with them.” He let that thought trail off. It sounded weak and both of them knew it.

  “They feel menacing to me. I’m telling you, there’s something wrong with them.”

  He bit his lip. He knew her judgment was usually sound. “Regardless, all of this is a big jump from killing a deer, to killing a person. You heard Dooley. There hasn’t been a crime here since they opened the place and that had to have been at least one hundred and fifty years ago. Kelsey, what in God’s name would make people sacrifice each other in this day and age? They’re not living like savages any longer with no outside societal influences. This woman Micella would go missing. People would notice.”

  He didn’t understand the depth to which humans could sink. “Religion makes people do crazy things. Things that don’t make rational sense, you know that.” Like Dooley syphoning his own blood for people to drink? Was that really what was happening or is my mind trying desperately to find a reason for his needle marks?

  Desmond cocked his head. “Religions change with the times, too. Human sacrifice just doesn’t happen anymore, the same way people aren’t burned at the stake because we think they’re witches or bloodlet with leeches to cure diseases.”

  But I felt her, Desmond. Micella was Pago’s… great-grandmother.

  “You mind if I make a call?” Kelsey asked.

  He snickered. “You made it nearly twenty four hours without using your cellphone. I’m impressed.”

  She would have smacked his arm, but she was already dialing.

  Chapter 4

  “Hey, Julia! Can you hear me okay? The signal is weak up here in the mountains.”

  “Sure can, girlfriend! So, how’s the romantic get-a-way going? Seems like it can’t be so romantic if you’re already calling me. Is your boyfriend boring you already?”

  God, how much she loved her friend. Even when Kelsey was stressed, Julia could put a smile on her face. “You’re ridiculous. It’s actually perfect. He thought of everything and this place is beautiful. How are things going there? I haven’t spoken to you in nearly a week. Catch me up.” She wanted to get right to the heart of her call, but with Julia it was all about the coaxing. She’d have to wait to ask her questions until her friend first had her time in the spotlight.

  “Oh, you know. Same old, same old. I went out with another musician last night who turned out to be all moody and emotional. What is it with guitarists and drummers? It’s like they have some sort of deep-seated need to fit the stereotype of the sullen, misunderstood martyr who suffers for his art. I really should just date violinists only, you know? Boring, but dependable.” She sighed. “Only good thing is, the guy got so drunk and snorted so much coke, he didn’t realize I kept ordering expensive glasses of Dom Perignon on his credit card. I had to get something out of another excruciating evening. I’m just tired of calling Dennis and Robert to pick me up after every bad date. I end up crying my eyes out to both of them that I’ll be alone forever, and then sleeping off my pathetic hangover on their couch.”

  “I’ll bet Robert had a stack of his famous buttermilk pancakes and freshly ground coffee ready for you when you woke up.”

  Julia pouted. “Yes, he did. He made them for me right before his shift at the hospital, too. That man is a saint. But that’s not the point. Desmond coming into your life has really cramped my style. I need a wing-woman when I go out, Kelsey. I can’t do the bar scene by myself anymore, you know. It just doesn’t work out. Not to mention you get all the guys flocking to you like flies, and I then have my pick of the litter with the ones you don’t want.”

  Yes, like I’ve ever wanted any of them, Jules. And the sad fact was, Kelsey hadn’t dated any of the guys she’d ever met in a bar. Regardless of her spiritual past, she had actually been chaste with men until she met Desmond. And that was by choice. She really just went out to the bars to keep her friend company. “I’m sorry, Jules. I promise I’ll go out with you when we get home, okay? So, what else is up?”

  Julie let out an exasperated breath. “Well, Seung is all up everyone’s butt about this new conspiracy theory that the government is watching Ari’s office. He’s been spending every waking moment updating every single camera and monitoring device in the building, and swears there’s some type of surveillance going on. Of course, we can’t find a thing, but Seung is adamant.”

  Kelsey thought about that. She’d always wondered when the government might decide to investigate Ari’s activities. So far he had stayed under the radar, but you never knew. The guy didn’t make friends easily. There were some very bad people out there who were not happy with him.

  “I would trust Seung’s intuition. The guy has an uncanny sixth sense about these things. If he thinks something�
�s happening, it probably is. Check it out.”

  Julia huffed. “I will, but it usually just sends me on wild goose chases. Remember that time Seung smelled something burning in my apartment and nearly called 911? And it was just the old lady at the end of the hall burning incense. Or that other time he swore someone was spying on him and Meilee when they went on vacation?”

  Kelsey did remember. Seung did tend to lean towards the neurotic at times. Of course, he’d been right. Someone had been spying on them. Meilee was a stripper at an upscale men’s club in Brooklyn. Some guy had obviously recognized her from home and had been taking photos. “Anything else?”

  Julia brightened. “Well, Dennis broke his glasses and I finally convinced him to get contact lenses. Can you believe it? He’s actually really adorable without those Andy Warhol-like monstrosities on his face. Only problem is he’s so used to them falling down his nose, that out of habit he keeps poking his fingers in his eye when he thinks he’s pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Seung took one look at him and asked him if he was going through a mid-life crisis at twenty-three, and did he want a tattoo or a piercing? He’d love to get his tattoo artist on that virginal skin! I told him Robert would kill us if we got Dennis either of them. Even if it were ink with Robert’s name in a heart on Dennis’s arm!” She laughed and then paused. “So, do you want to hear about what’s going on with Ari, or are we going to just ignore discussing him like usual?”

  Kelsey put her hand on the speaker part of the phone and glanced at Desmond to see if he was listening. He wasn’t. His gaze was immersed in a book he’d brought with him, but she had to make sure. She didn’t want to upset him. After she and Desmond returned to New York, Desmond and Ari had a nasty fight that nearly came to blows, and now neither of them would stay in a room with each other. Well, Desmond refused to stay in a room with Ari. She couldn’t blame him. Ari had nearly sent Desmond to his death in Egypt, and just because Ari was helpful in Aihika, didn’t mean Desmond was going to forgive him so easily.