Brady nodded. “And we should take turns, so there will always be someone here.”
“Since I only live next door, I should go first. I can be back in ten minutes.”
Billy walked slowly from Jennifer’s house to his own, looking around, half-expecting to see the Man in Black, but the streets were empty. He entered his house.
After Billy stuffed some stuff into a backpack, he walked to the door, but stopped when he heard Koko the dog whine softly. Billy walked back to the dog and rubbed it behind an ear. “You something I don’t, Koko?”
After returning to Jennifer’s, Billy sat on a chair, his backpack on his lap; Mary Sterling was sitting on the sofa.
“I really appreciate this, Billy.”
“You’ve always been nice to me, Mrs. Sterling. Gave me extra candy at Halloween, always remembered my birthday, so it’s the least I could do.”
“You know, Alan and I had always hoped you and Jennifer would get together-”
“Brady is a good guy,” Billy said quickly, a sad smile on his face.
“Yes.” Mary looked away. “Jennifer is lucky to have such friends.”
“I hope Brady and Melvin get back before... anything happens. I’m not exactly the bravest guy in the world.”
“Brave enough for me, Billy.”
Billy inhaled deeply and offered a smile, although he let his eyes dart around as it quickly grew dark outside. “Maybe I should sit next to you until they get back.” Billy moved to the sofa and looked increasingly nervous as time passed. “It’s almost dark,” he said softly. “Where are they?”
Melvin hurried to Brady’s car, carrying a duffel bag, Brady looking through the windshield as Melvin got into the car. “What the hell took you so long?”
“Melvin asked for ten minutes and took exactly ten minutes.”
Brady turned the key, but the car did not start. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Not entirely unexpected.”
“We’re ten miles from Jennifer’s house.”
“Can you call someone? A football star must have numerous friends.”
“Do we really want to involve anyone else in this?”
“Of course, you are absolutely right.”
“There has to be another way besides walking to get there.”
“Well, there is...”
Brady and Melvin were riding Melvin’s childhood bicycle, with Brady peddling and Melvin riding on the handle bars, holding onto his duffel bag and Brady’s gym bag.
“You’re supposed to be an athlete, Mr. Quinn! Pedal faster!”
“One more word from you and I’ll crash this bike into the nearest fire hydrant!”
“Considering the way you steer this thing, it’s a surprise you haven’t already!”
“I can’t believe you don’t have a car.” Brady smirked. “Big supernatural investigation outfit like yours should have a fleet of vehicles!”
“Melvin doesn’t drive and will never drive.”
“Why not?”
“A psychic told Melvin that the day Melvin drives a car will be the day Melvin dies.”
“And you believed that?”
“The psychic was Melvin’s mother.”
“Oh. Maybe mom was being just overprotective. It isn’t that dangerous on the road yet.” Brady shrugged. “Yet.”
“Melvin assumed it was simply motherly concern, until she correctly predicted the jet crash that killed Melvin’s father.”
Brady stopped the bike. “I didn’t know you lost your father.”
“He was warned and ignored it.”
After a moment, Brady nodded to himself and got the bicycle going again.
Billy was moving from room to room, trying light switches, but no lights would come on. “Just one light,” Billy said to himself, walking into the living room just as Mary lit candles.
“These are the only things that work.”
“Now all we need is a little thunder and lightning.”
“I wouldn’t say that too loudly around here.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“You never know.”
“This is going to be a long night.” Billy glanced toward the ceiling. “When do the noises start?”
“It doesn’t happen every night.”
Just then, the sound of footsteps moving around upstairs was heard and Billy looked upward again. “I have to go look.”
“You won’t see anything.”
“God, I hope not!”
Billy moved to the stairway, gazing up into the darkness. With a look of determination, Billy started up the steps. He stopped at the top of the stairs, moving his head back and forth to hear the sounds, but they had stopped. “Games?” Billy let a sneer appear on his face. “Come on! You can do better than that!” Billy visible steadied himself, as if expecting a physical response. Billy then sneered a bit and walked back down the stairs. The living room was empty when Billy walked in. “Mrs. Sterling?” he called out, looking around the candle-lit room, his face starting to express his nervousness. “Come on, Mrs. Sterling! This isn’t funny!”
The footstep sounds returned, now more like stomping.
“Oh, shit...”
Brady looked exhausted as he pedaled the bike onto the street where Jennifer lived.
“We’re almost there, Brady. Good job!”
“I think we’ll coast the rest of the way.”
Brady and Melvin rode up to Jennifer’s house and Melvin hopped off the handle bars, rubbing his rear end, as Brady let the bicycle drop to the ground. They walked up to the front door.
They found Billy standing in the middle of the living room.
“Where’s Mrs. Sterling?” Brady asked, looking around.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?!”
“I stepped out of the room to check out a sound and when I came back she was gone.”
“When did this happen?”
“Just a few minutes ago.”
“Did you look for her?”
“Where? There aren’t that many rooms down here.” Billy exhaled. “What if we’re just being played?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just don’t buy the whole haunted house thing.”
“This isn’t a haunting,” Melvin said, almost absently.
“See?”
Brady shook his head. “I’ve know this family for three years and can’t believe they would try such a thing. What about Gary?”
“An accident, an awful accident, but still just an accident.”
“The phone call?”
“We were still in shock. Was it Gary? I’ve known Gary for years and right now I couldn’t say one hundred percent that it was him.”
“If you don’t believe, then go home.”
“I need to see why they are doing this.”
“What do you think, Melvin? Is this all just a big fake?”
“That’s why we are here. To observe.”
Billy shook his head. “People don’t just disappear.”
“In 1930, two thousand men, women, and children in an Eskimo village disappeared without a trace. In 1905, an entire battalion of soldiers matched up a hill, into a fog bank, and disappeared. There’s the lost colony of Roanoke, the Bermuda Triangle-”
“All right, Melvin! I get the point.”
“Do you?” Brady asked.
“You believe everything Melvin says now? You didn’t even want to bring him in on this in the beginning!”
“A quarterback has to know how to think and change plans on his feet.”
“Enough with the goddamn football analogies!”
Brady and Billy looked close to throwing fists, but Melvin was staring off in another direction.
“At least I’m doing something with my time in high school, not just stumbling from one class to the next like half the kids I see!”
“You’re not going to get too many football scholarships with the record your team ha
s this year!”
“GUYS!”
Brady and Billy turned to Melvin with annoyed expressions, until they followed his gaze.
Jennifer was standing near the bottom of the steps, staring at them.
She was a frightening visage.
Dressed entirely in black, her hair hanging in greasy-looking clumps, her skin an unearthly ashen appearance.
The candles in the living room were blown out.
Billy fumbled for the lighter on the table next to the candles and relit them quickly.
Jennifer was no longer in sight.
“Where did she go!?” Billy shouted.
As if in response, the sound of an upstairs door slamming shut was heard.
“Here we go,” Melvin said.
“Still think this is all phony, Billy?”
“Just because the girl needs a shower doesn’t mean this is anything supernatural.”
“Billy’s right, in his own crude way.”
“I’m ready to find out what is going on, either way.”
“Let’s go,” Brady said.
“Hold on a second. We need to be careful, no matter what is going on here. If this is nothing but an elaborate ruse, for whatever reason, we don’t know how far they are willing to take it. Let’s just go slow.” Melvin picked up one of the candle.
The trio walked to the stairway.
“Melvin, how many of your investigations involved something actually supernatural?” Billy asked.
“None. Everything Melvin has looked into was eventually debunked.”
“Why do you keep doing it, then? Seems like a waste of time to me.”
“Showing a frightened family that it’s bad plumbing and not ghosts, setting their minds at ease, isn’t a waste of time to Melvin.”
Halfway up the stairs, the three stopped when they heard the sound of a door being slammed shut.
“That sounded like the front door,” Billy said.
“But I locked it when we came in.”
“Maybe it’s Mr. Sterling. I’m going to see.” Billy went back downstairs, while Brady and Melvin remained on the stairs.
“I guess we keep going up,” Brady finally said.
They resumed their ascent to the second floor.
Billy moved slowly into the living room. “Mr. Sterling?” Billy looked around. “Mrs. Sterling?” Billy was startled to see a man, dressed in black, standing near the front door. “Who are you?”
The stranger, a man in his 40’s, smiled kindly. Patrick Sullivan did not seem concerned with the situation at hand. “I’m Patrick Sullivan. Alan Sterling asked me to... look into matters here.”
“Are you a priest? You dress like one.”
Patrick glanced down at his clothes. “Old habits, I guess. I used to be one.”
“But...?”
“Let’s just say disagreements led to my leaving.”
“Disagreements over what?”
“The nature of evil and the ways to combat it.”
“So, what, you’re like an exorcist-for-hire now?”
“An astute observation.”
Billy shrugged. “It just falls into the way things seem to be going around here.”
“You’re a skeptic.”
“Bringing back an evil spirit from Europe isn’t exactly like bringing home a case of bed bugs.”
Patrick smiled. “You’re Billy.”
Billy was momentarily taken aback. “Yes. We’re here to try and figure out what’s going on.”
“We?”
“Brady and Melvin are upstairs to check on Jenny.”
Patrick suddenly looked concerned. “Jennifer is here?”
“She went upstairs.”
Patrick ran for the stairs. “Come on! We can’t let them confront her without being prepared!”
Billy followed. “Prepared for what?”
Patrick took the steps two at a time and then held out a hand, wagging a finger at Brady and Melvin. “NO!”
Brady’s hand was on the doorknob to Jennifer’s bedroom. Both Brady and Melvin turned toward Patrick and Billy, Brady’s hand dropping from the doorknob. They did not see the door open slightly. “Who are you?” Brady asked. Then something reached out from inside the room and grabbed Brady’s ankle, trying to drag him into the room. Brady fell to the floor, fighting against being dragged inside. Melvin pulled at Brady as Patrick and Billy ran up to them. Patrick pulled a vial from a pocket and shook it toward the dark claw pulling Brady. There was a horrific screech and the claw withdrew, the door slamming shut. Patrick pulled Brady away from the door. “Who are you and what the hell was that!?”
“Let’s get away from here for now,” Patrick said calmly.
In the living room, Brady was rubbing his ankle.
“How is it?” Melvin asked.
“It burns.”
“What was that thing?” Billy asked. “It wasn’t Jennifer.”
“Hard to say,” Patrick answered. “But we won’t go find out for another twelve hours, or so.”
“What?” Brady asked. “Why?”
“Why give it the upper hand? That’s like walking into a tiger cage to wrestle it bare-handed.”
“You mean we’re just going to leave Jenny alone up there all night!?”
“Yes.”
“What if that... thing kills her?”
“Think of it like a suicide bomber, in that it wants to take out as many as it can.”
Brady looked to Billy and Melvin. “Why are we even listening to this guy?” He turned to Patrick. “Who are you?”
“My name is Patrick Sullivan.”
Melvin gasped loudly. “No! Not that Patrick Sullivan!”
Patrick slumped a little. “You’ve read the book.”
“Yes! It was incredible!”
“What book?” Billy asked.
“It’s called THE GOD WARRIOR.”
“Subtle.”
“It told about three cases of demonic possession where Mr. Sullivan was called in to take care of the situation.”
“Take care of in what way?”
Melvin smiled. “With extreme prejudice.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Patrick said, shaking his head.
“Your methods got you kicked out of the priesthood.”
“Let’s just say it was a mutual departure.”
“What are your methods?” Billy asked, an eyebrow raised. “An Uzi and plastic explosives?”
“Ecclesiastically speaking, you’re not too far off.”
“What about Mrs. Sterling?”
“What about her?”
“Billy said she disappeared,” Melvin offered to Patrick.
Billy shook his head. “I didn’t say that, Melvin. All I know is that she was here one minute and was gone the next. Give or take.”
Patrick looked concerned over this news and looked around the living room. “That’s something we will have to look into at dawn as well.”
“What do you expect us to do until tomorrow?” Brady was sounding increasingly frustrated.
“Sleep. You don’t want to go up against whatever is in this house unless you are in top shape.”
“What is in this house, Mr. Sullivan?”
“The possibilities are too numerous to venture a guess.”
“Three teenagers and an ex-priest up against the forces of darkness.” Billy rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah... this is going to end well.”
Melvin looked around to make sure the others were asleep before getting up and walking into the kitchen, taking out his phone. “We’re close,” he whispered in the phone. “Patrick Sullivan arrived, but he won’t do anything until daylight. Melvin understands, but what can be done?” Melvin then nodded. “All right. We better stop dancing around and start talking contracts when this is done!” Melvin ends the call and puts away the phone, moving carefully past the others sleeping and moving upstairs to Jennifer’s bedroom. Melvin hesitates and then reached out and opened the door.
Downstairs, a scream wo
ke the others.
“What the hell was that!?” Billy exclaimed.
“Where’s Melvin?” Brady asked, looking around.
“Uh-oh!” Patrick was already up on his feet. “Come on!” Patrick raced upstairs, Billy and Brady close behind. They stopped dead in their tracks at seeing the bedroom door wide open. “Oh, no...” Patrick breathed.
“What do we do?”
“My people aren’t due to arrive until morning.”
“What people?” Brady asked.
“An EMT and three sturdy, ex-professional football players.”
“Jenny weighs barely one hundred pounds, and that’s only after a big meal!” Billy said.
“Throw away all of your preconceived notions of reality. We’re about to step into deep shit here!”
“Hold on!” Brady almost took a step backward. “I thought we were waiting until daylight!”
“It looks like Melvin has accelerated our timetable.”
“Oh, man...”
“You can stay back, Brady. Any hesitation could be deadly.”
“No, I’m ready.”
“We’ll see about that,” Patrick turned his head. “What about you, Billy?”
“Let’s do it.”
Patrick nodded and the trio walked toward the open door.
When they entered Jennifer’s bedroom, the door promptly slammed shut behind them.
“Jenny’s not here,” Billy whispered, looking around the room.
“We’ve walked in the tiger cage and found the door wide open.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“We should get out of here before the tiger decides to come home. We can wait for the extra help outside.”
Billy nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
“What about Melvin?” Brady asked.
“I hope he snuck out earlier. Let’s get moving before it’s too late.”
At the top of the stairs, the three stopped when all the doors on the second floor of the house started opening and slamming shut over and over.
“It’s just trying to scare us,” Patrick said.
“It’s working.”
Brady saw Jennifer in one of the rooms as the door opened and shut. Jennifer was deathly pale, hair hanging in greasy strands. “There she is!” he shouted, and ran to the room, entering, the door shutting behind him.
“Brady, no!”
Patrick and Billy ran up to the door, but could not open it.
Brady did not move. His expression was that of someone who realized that he had made a terrible mistake. The room was utterly dark. “Jenny?”
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