by J.J. Lancer
The Devil’s Club
By J. J. Lancer
Copyright 2011 J. J. Lancer
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The Devil’s Club
Evelyn screamed. The egg hit her square in the back, splattering her jacket with cold membrane. "Hey, stop that!"
Kevin roared with laughter, doubling over. "You should've seen your face!"
"Does egg wash out?" Evelyn frowned, twisting her neck over her shoulder to view the damage. "Throw them at the statues, not at me!"
Kevin trotted over and placed his arm around her shoulders. She smiled—that in itself was worth ruining her jacket. "Alright, I'm sorry. I won't egg you again. But we did good, didn't we?"
The park had been ruined. Long ribbons of toilet paper decorated the tall oaks, contrasting the black night sky with white. Some of the rolls had missed their targets and landed on the ground instead, leaving strips of white across the grass. Most of those misses had been Evelyn's.
Pieces of eggshell littered the park, having exploded upon impact against numerous park statues. Messengers holding torches, veterans on horseback, rangers in salute—all of them painted with layers of egg mucus.
Todd ran up, panting. "We're out of toilet paper. You think this is good enough?"
Kevin dug his hands into his jacket pockets and surveyed the landscape. A blonde-haired girl—the last of their group—continued to throw eggs, but otherwise the park was empty. He drew his lips into a line. "Last year was better, but this is fine. It'll be a pain to clean up, that's for sure."
Todd chuckled, then nudged Evelyn with his elbow. "You throw like a girl."
Evelyn flushed. "I've never thrown toilet paper before. And I am a girl!"
Todd chuckled again. "Don't worry about it." He turned to Kevin and nodded toward Evelyn. "So is she coming with us?"
Evelyn raised a brow at Kevin. "Coming with you where?"
Kevin smacked Todd on the back of his head. "I didn't ask her yet."
"My bad," Todd said, rubbing the pain away. "Might as well ask her now, eh?"
Kevin gave her a big smile. "You want to join us at the Black Shack? We meet there every weekend, but since it's Mischief Night we're going there now. You should come."
Todd wiggled his eyebrows at her. "We call it the Devil's Club."
Evelyn looked down at her feet. "What do you guys do there? You don't... like... do drugs or anything, do you?"
"Nah," Kevin said, smirking. "We just chill and hang out. Don't worry. It'll be fun."
She glanced at her watch—fifteen past midnight. She'd snuck out without her parents knowing, and by now they probably knew that she'd gone out. If she went home, she'd be in trouble anyway. What was a few extra hours? Plus, Kevin would think her a loser if she had to go home already.
Evelyn hesitated, then shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. Sure, why not? As long as there's nothing bad."
"Sweet," said Todd. He whistled, catching the attention of the other girl. "You done yet?"
"Almost," the girl called back.
"We're heading to the Black Shack. Meet us there when you're done."
The girl gave him a thumbs up.
"Cool," said Kevin. He began leading Evelyn out of the park, his arm still draped around her. "Tonight's going to be awesome."
"So what do you think?"
Evelyn cocked her head, staring at the run down house. Wooden boards had been nailed to the shattered windows. The building itself was rotting and stank of aged mold—she could smell it all the way from the sidewalk. With a splintered triangle roof, the house didn't seem all too safe—confirmed by the DO NOT ENTER sign posted on the half-hinged door.
The Black Shack.
"This isn't really a shack," Evelyn said. She hugged herself, bracing against the chilly night air. "But at least it's black. You got that much right."
Todd shrugged. "It sounds good. So what?"
"I'm just saying," said Evelyn. The house loomed over her, seemingly ready to collapse at any moment. "I was expecting a shack."
Kevin smirked. "But what do you think?"
"It's a bit creepy," Evelyn admitted. "You guys hang out here? There has to be a better place than this."
"Like you said, it's creepy," Kevin said. He eyed the building with a sense of pride. "Nobody would ever think of going inside. We have the place all to ourselves. This is our home."
"Enough standing around, eh?" said Todd as he went up to the door and pushed it open. They followed him inside.
Immediately, the thick scent of molding mildew slammed into Evelyn, clogging her nostrils. Moonlight filtered in through the open door and through cracks in the window boards. Torn rugs covered the cracked and splintered wooden floor. On the walls, ornate mirrors and smudged paintings with elegant—yet dusty—frames. The rest was simply darkness.
Kevin led her into what looked to be the living room. He pulled out a cigarette lighter and lit half a dozen candles scattered around on tables, ledges, and window sills. In the center sat five chairs arranged in a circle. Other than a side couch and a heavy rug, the room was bare.
He turned to Evelyn and held his hands up at his sides, as if to show off the room. "Welcome to the Black Shack."
Evelyn coughed, inhaling too much of the thick dust. Was it safe to breathe in here? "I can't believe you come here every weekend."
"Whenever we want, really," Kevin said. "Weekends just happen to be convenient." He plopped down into one of the chairs and motioned for Evelyn to do the same. "Take a seat."
Despite the dried, dark stains on the cushion, Evelyn sat down next to Kevin. "You should bring a lamp or something. It's really dark, even with the candles."
"You think this house has electricity?" Kevin snorted. "Just relax, Ev. It's a little creepy, but that's all. There's no reason to be scared. You'll get used to it."
"What's the story with this house, anyway?" said Evelyn, looking around the room. "You'd think the town would patch it up."
Todd took a seat across from Evelyn and leaned in. "According to legend, this place is haunted," he said with a smirk.
Evelyn bit her lip. "Haunted?"
"We call it the Black Shack, but it has other names. The Willow House. Blood Manor. Daniel's Grudge." Todd leaned in closer. "Twenty years ago, the Purcells lived here. Everyone in town knew them. Great family, as nice as they come."
"What happened?" Evelyn asked through the collar of her jacket.
"Let's just say that the wife was unfaithful and things went downhill from there." Todd shook his head, then dropped his voice to a near whisper. "They say that when Danny found out about his wife's affair, he broke down. Went out and bought an axe, then came into this very room and waited on that very couch."
Evelyn glanced at the side couch, then back to Todd.
"He took his kids out of school, tied them up and sat them down on this very rug. When the wife came home, he went berserk. Split her open with the axe, just like a log. Then he did it again and again a hundred times over, then left her there, a mangled mess on the ground. Made his kids watch the whole thing."
Evelyn lifted her feet from the rug—it seemed much darker now. In one corner, the pattern was stained a much deeper color than the rest. Was that where she died?
"What happened to the kids?" Evelyn asked, her voice cracking.
"He took the axe to them, too. Went crazy, I tell you. Cut their limbs off one by one, then chopped them up. Guts and flesh everywhere, blood all over the place. Shot himsel
f at the end of it."
A surge of nausea convulsed through Evelyn's stomach, gripping her tightly and threatening to empty its contents onto the bloodstained rug.
"You see that axe?" Todd said, pointing to a corner.
Behind her, an axe leaned against the wall, head down and handle up. Dried blood encrusted the metal axe head. It looked like it had been painted generously with crimson red paint.
Evelyn's eyes widened. "Is that...?"
Todd nodded, almost as if he was apologizing.
Icy fingers tickled Evelyn's spine up and down. Goosebumps tightened on her skin and she suddenly felt cold and alone. "Why is it still here?"
"Look around," Todd said, splaying his arms. "Does it look like they cleaned this place up? They just left it, plain and simple. Didn't even wipe up the blood or nothing. You could be sitting on baby chunks right now."
Evelyn jumped up from her seat and examined it, squinting in the shadowy candlelight. Dark brown spots freckled the cushion—old flecks of blood and dried chunks of flesh.
"Don't be such an ass," said Kevin.
Todd snickered. "It's all right. You can sit down now."
"It's... not blood, then?"
"Oh, it is," said Todd flatly. "Everything happened, but that was years ago. I'm just saying that you won't catch AIDS from that chair."
Evelyn hesitated, then slowly sat herself. Her legs tingled, as if tiny spiders had crawled up her pants and didn't know where else to go. She wanted out but