The Broken II: Tainted Trail

by A. L. Frances

  Becoming agitated, Alice is now able to move. She fights against the bedsheets and begins moaning out loud in her sleep, “No, no, no, don’t take them...”

  The mist elegantly travels up the frame of Alice’s bed. Starting at her toes, it slowly wraps itself around her entire body. Securing itself tightly, it restricts Alice from making any movements should she wake. Ready, the deceitful element now calls for its owner. A gentle humming begins and the sound of “Ring a’ Ring o’ Roses” can be heard. Getting louder, the humming turns into singing.

  Suddenly the walls begin to tremor. They give a final shake and… she’s back!

  Standing at the end of Alice’s bed is Jezebel. She’s ready to play one final game and take what she believes is rightfully hers. Jezebel stares intently at Alice through the gap in her hair. Her smile is deceitful. Embracing the vision, Jezebel enters Alice’s mind. She begins to turn her dream into a sickening, traumatic nightmare. As Jezebel’s premeditated horrific events begin to manifest inside her dream, Alice’s pulse and heartrate go wild. An error flashes up on the machine she is hooked up to, triggering the alarm. The lines on the readout rapidly become out of sync and erratic. In the bed alongside Alice, Hope’s reading suddenly flatlines. With no heartrate or pulse, the monitors show that this baby girl is no longer alive.

  There are sounds of panic coming from just outside the door as the nurses on duty frantically pull at the handle in a desperate bid to enter the room. Ignoring the commotion outside the room, Jezebel remains at the end of Alice’s bed. Placing one grey wounded foot in front of the other, she slowly makes her way towards Hope’s cot. Reaching inside, she grabs the precious little girl. Holding her newest addition to her demonic empire tightly in her arms, she whispers, “Ring a’ Ring o’ Roses – your soul is mine. Ring a’ Ring o’ Roses – welcome to the dark side.”

  As these familiar trigger words circulate inside Hope’s tiny mind, her observation machine continues to flatline. Whispering one final time, Jezebel says, “Your soul is mine…”

  Almost instantly Hope’s eyes shoot open. No longer resembling that of the human race, her eyes are jet-black. Embracing her new form, baby Hope isn’t making a single sound. This baby girl’s soul has accepted its fate. Tainted and impure, her skin tone changes to grey. She’s mirroring the image of her new owner. Proud of her newest addition, Jezebel raises baby Hope high and, as she screams out, the black substance gushes from her mouth. Basking in the glory of her latest victory, Jezebel ingests the black substance seeping from Hope’s body. Their DNA has now become one.

  As the staff continue to bang at the door, Jezebel makes her way back across to Alice. With full control over Alice’s nightmare, Jezebel launches her final game as she leads Alice into the darkest depths of her own mind.

  Alice is surrounded by darkness. Looking straight ahead, she sees a single door. Suddenly, the door creaks open. Shaking from head to toe and with nowhere else to go, Alice slowly makes her way towards it. The only sound she can hear is that of her own breath as it leaves her body. She closes her eyes as she walks through the doorway. As soon as she’s through, the door slams shut! Jumping and turning around, Alice hears a click as the door locks. Feeling sick to her stomach, Alice sees a spotlight in the distance. She bravely takes one step after another and heads towards the light.

  Alice gasps loudly as she sees a woman swinging from the ceiling with a rope around her neck. Rushing to her aid, Alice shouts, “Help! Help! Someone help me!”

  As she reaches the swinging body, Alice slips in a huge pool of thick red blood. Traumatised, she screams as she looks to her hands. They’re covered in the woman’s blood and her clothes are also soaked. Peering up, she sees the hanging body slowly begin to swing round.

  Remaining on the ground, Alice crawls backwards. She’s desperately trying get out of the puddle of blood, and as far away as possible from the hanging corpse. With her eyes fixated on the deceased woman, Alice is terrified. She feels at any moment this woman is going to spring to life and chase after her. Alice’s heart is beating so fast it feels as if it’s going to pop! As the corpse twists round on the rope and she sees the woman’s face, her jaw drops. The body hanging from the thick coarse rope – is her! No sooner have her eyes taken in the realities of this horrific vision than the thick red blood she’s covered in suddenly turns black. Feeling sick and franticly trying to escape, Alice throws herself forward.

  Opening her eyes, Alice finds she is soaking wet from head to toe and inexplicably back in her bed at her home. Attempting to catch her breath, she touches her head and body to ensure she’s in one piece. Relief begins to sink in, but as Alice takes a true look around her bedroom, she becomes extremely confused. The room is not the way she left it. It’s dark and cold, and a thick grey mist is coating the floor.

  A huge bang and a loud squawk comes from the window, making Alice jump and yell out. The curtains are closed. Not knowing if she should run a mile or see what the noise was, Alice decides to be brave and investigate further. She slowly clambers off the bed, leaving her sheets trailing behind her and heads to the window. Her eyes focused and breathing deeply, Alice pulls back the curtains. Much to her relief, there’s nothing and no one there.

  Turning back to the room, she sees that the mist has expanded. It’s now so thick she can barely make out what’s in front of her. Once again a loud bang comes from the window, along with an intense squawk. Looking over her shoulder, this time Alice sees a huge black Raven standing on her window ledge. The evil-looking creature stares at her with bright red eyes. Freaked out and making a run for it, Alice trips over the bedsheets as she rushes to get out of the room. Dragging herself up onto her feet, she doesn’t so much as glance back as she’s desperate to escape. She grabs the doorknob and flings the door open. Bursting out of her room, Alice sees the mist has taken over the hallway, too. Unable to hold it in any longer, she begins crying hysterically. She’s so scared and has no clue what is going on. Alice bites the bullet and shouts, “Jesse…? Lewis…? Mum…?”

  Hearing no response, she takes one step forward and heads towards the stairway. The silence throughout is deafening. Alice is on edge. She keeps feeling as if someone is standing behind her, but each time she jumps and looks over her shoulder, she sees there’s no one there. Relived but also feeling as if she is losing the plot, Alice continues to walk forward. What she doesn’t realise is that now someone is standing behind her. No sooner has she turned her head forward than a dark demonic figure appears from out of the mist. Oblivious to this, Alice cautiously continues. With a huge desire to hear someone else’s voice, again Alice shouts, “Jesse, Lewis, this isn’t funny. Where are you?” Still getting no response she shouts, “Hello…?”

  The floorboards creak. Alice jumps and peers over her shoulder. Yet again, there’s no one standing there. Closing her eyes, Alice finally arrives at the stairway. Breathing deeply and opening her eyes once more, she sees her sons standing on the stairs. Frantic, she shouts, “Oh my God, my boys!”

  Not so much as a flinch comes from the boys. They all remain frozen stiff. As she raises her hand to her mouth, a single tear rolls down her face. She’s so scared. Taking in the disturbing vision before her eyes, as the dark mist continues to take over, Alice can see each one of her sons standing on a step. They’re all positioned in age order, youngest at the bottom. Desperate to get them to come to her but not wanting to disturb whoever or whatever is present inside the house with them, Alice whispers, “Freddie… Terence… Rupert… Lewis… mummy’s here.”

  Staring intently, she sees, yet again, that they’ve all not so much as flinched. And, what’s even more disturbing, they’re all facing the wall. At a loss as to what to do next, she prays to get a response from her first born. Her voice shaking as fear takes over, Alice again whispers, “Lewis…?”

  Focused on the traumatising image in front of her, Alice doesn’t attempt to look back. Instead she takes one
step down the stairway, shaking from head to toe. The only sound Alice can hear is that of her heart beating as it pulsates rapidly throughout her body. Arriving on the step next to where Lewis is positioned, Alice reaches out and touches his shoulder. “Lewis?”

  As she turns him to face her, she instantly screams out at this horrific image of her first born child. Lewis has transformed and has taken a true demonic form. His eyes are jet-black. As soon as she screams, each of her sons turn, one after the other. Each of them mirror the same horrific image. Alice’s heart feels as if at any moment it will burst. Traumatised, she shouts at the top of her voice, “Wake up, Alice, wake the fuck up!”

  Alice’s eyes are drawn to the darkness at the bottom of the staircase. Standing there holding baby Hope is a dark demonic figure of a woman, her eyes are bright red and she has long hair which is jet-black. Her skin is grey and covered in wounds that ooze black liquid. Gazing at Alice through the gap in her hair, the terrifying figure screams out. Alice turns to run back up the staircase and comes face to face with… Eve. But not Eve as she knows her. This version of Eve mirrors the appearance of her sons, her skin an unearthly grey and gaping black holes for eyes. Eve hits out and pushes Alice down the stairs. Falling at high speed and hitting her head on the door, Alice is knocked on conscious.

  When Alice awakens, her brain is throbbing inside of her skull, she sees a thick puddle of deep red blood on the floor. Reaching around the back of her head, Alice touches the tender area. She brings her hand out in front of her and sees it is coated in the same thick red blood. Shaking, Alice sits up. She looks down at her clothes, which are also soaked in her own blood. Unsure about what has happened to her and wondering where her sons are, Alice frantically looks to the stairway. They’re no longer there. All four boys have gone. Peering back at the floor, she sees six individual trails of a black substance smeared across the floor. Lifting herself, in pain, Alice decides to follow this. With every step she takes, her surroundings are getting darker and darker. Following the trail leads her towards the dining room. As she reaches the doorway, she sees the room is pitch black. Holding her head in her hand, she says, “Lewis…?”

  But the only sound Alice can hear is the echo from her own voice. Weakened, she slumps to the floor. Her head spinning and her energy levels depleting from the blood loss, Alice’s body is becoming frail with every second that passes. She’s almost ready to surrender when a light unexpectedly appears in the dining room. Her eyes are barely open, she looks into the room and sees that the space is no longer pure. There are no pictures on the wall. The room is dark, eerie and hosts an intimidating energy. There are no longer the beautiful smells radiating from fresh laundry; instead, the room holds a nauseating stench powerful enough to turn her insides.

  A tear slowly falls down one side of Alice’s face. She sees her boys lined up inside the room. And, once again, they’re all facing the wall. From out of the darkness come two demonic female figures: a tall woman who is holding baby Hope in her arms and the demonic version of Eve who pushed Alice down the stairs. As they approach Alice they take on human forms. Seeing Jesse and Eve standing before her, Alice cries. Unable to process what she now realises to be the truth, that these two evil entities have been living in her very home, she feels the life draining from her body as she whispers, “Why?”

  “Don’t take it personally,” says Jesse. “You had something we needed. And now you don’t. Now we have it.” Walking closer to Alice with baby Hope cradled in his arms, Jesse continues, “Now it’s time to say goodbye.”

  Jesse snaps back into demonic form and flashes in front of Alice’s face. Screaming out, Alice curls into a ball to try and protect herself. She looks up and sees Eve standing next to Lewis, holding baby Hope in her arms. The children are all mirror images of that horrifying demonic woman, their appearances traumatising and horrific. Devastated, and with her final blast of energy, Alice screams, “No! Please don’t take them away from me!”

  Laughing, the tall dark woman raises her arms and says, “They were never yours to keep. I am Jezebel. You will never defeat me…”

  With a twitch of her head, Jezebel takes full control of Alice’s mind. Peering through the gap in her hair, she feeds Alice destructive thoughts. Jezebel whispers under her breath, “It’s time, Alice. They’re coming and they will pay. It’s time to give them what they deserve. She was warned. Your fate is her fault.” The thick black substance gushes down her chin as she chants and then suddenly shouts, “Stand!”

  Alice lurches to her feet. Blood gushing from her skull, her head flops. Embracing the power that she has over Alice’s existence, Jezebel makes her way across the room. As Jezebel leans into Alice’s ear, her cold breath touches Alice’s skin. No longer in control of her mind, body, or soul, Alice doesn’t so much as flinch. Reaching out, Jezebel collects Alice’s blood with her finger and begins ingesting this. Suddenly there is a loud squawk. The huge Raven flies into the room and lands on Lewis’s shoulder. This intimidating bird begins pecking at the black substance leaving his body. Content, Jezebel leans into Alice’s ear once more and says, “Go…”

  Alice lifts herself and places one foot in front of the other. As she makes her way across the darkened room, suddenly a bright spotlight appears in the distance. Standing in the background, Jezebel and the newest members of her growing demonic empire all watch as Alice makes her way towards her fate. As she picks up the pace a huge trail of blood follows her. She reaches the spotlight, and in front of Alice is a stool. Without hesitation, she stands on it. Dragging her heavy head, Alice looks up at the thick coarse rope hanging from the ceiling. The rope is dropping down with every second. Eventually it reaches Alice and she holds the noose in her hand. In full control of Alice’s movements and thoughts, Jezebel orders her final command: “Do it now.”

  As soon as the words leave her mouth, Alice places her head inside the noose. It’s the seventh of July and the time is now seven. Eve slowly makes her way to Jezebel and hands her baby Hope. Looking at her owner, Eve patiently waits for her command. Sadistic as she is, Jezebel glances at her newest additions. She then releases Alice from the entrapment so she can watch the panic, the fear and the anxiety surging through Alice as her life is being taken from her body. Jezebel wants to watch Alice die. As soon as Jezebel releases Alice, she comes around to reality immediately. “No! No! No! Please, don’t do this!” Alice screams.

  Getting a thrill from hearing her pleas, Jezebel soon enough nods her head. And, just like that, Eve charges at the stool and kicks it from under Alice’s feet. Dangling like a ragdoll, Alice fights to remove the rope from around her neck. Unsuccessful, Alice glances across the room and sees her children. With her last breath she says, “I’m sorry.”

  As the pressure from the rope serves its purpose, and the last bit of life drains from Alice’s body, her arms slump down and hang heavy beside her. Blood begins dripping down her face. Watching, Jezebel and Eve are feeding and gaining strength from the death of Alice.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It’s All Your Fault!

  Standing outside the Parkinsons’ house, Matthew says, “I fear we’re too late.”

  He looks up at the sky and sees it is no longer bright. The clouds are an intense shade of grey. It appears as if any minute now a huge earth-shaking storm will take over. The house itself is in complete darkness. Looking up at the sky, Dorothy reaches for the key inside her pocket. Faffing around, she says, “Matthew, don’t be silly, they’re probably just trying to settle the boys.”

  Matthew gulps. He would love nothing more than to put his faith and trust in what Dorothy has just said. Unfortunately for her, he has lived this before. His strong gut feeling is telling him something isn’t right. After previously ignoring his inner instincts and losing his daughter through his ignorance and stupidity, Matthew now knows to take his gut instinct seriously. He hears it sounding off, the persistent inner voice, like an alarm, screaming at
him not to let Dorothy enter the house. If he is right and they are too late, this is going to be far from pleasant.

  Now halfway down the path, Dorothy continues to try to find the key. Appearing frustrated, she pulls everything from inside her pocket out and throws it on the ground, eventually finding the keychain containing Alice’s keys. She marches to the front door and is about to open it when Matthew grabs her hand. “Dorothy, please, let me go in on my own first. You wait out here and I promise to come and get you if all is okay.”

  “You can’t do that – what if they’re in? They’ll all have a meltdown if you just start walking around the house.”

  Confident that there’s not a single living soul present inside that house, Matthew says, “Okay, fair point, Dorothy. So, let’s ring the doorbell and if no one answers I can go in, but if someone does answer I’ll… erm… I’ll… I’ll use my best Spanish accent and pretend I’ve got the wrong house. Deal?”

  “Fine, deal,” Dorothy says, eyeing him with an anxious expression.

  While he rings the doorbell, Dorothy jumps to the side of the wall where she can’t be seen should one of them answer. Smiling at Dorothy and raising his eyebrows, Matthew says, “No one is coming. Nada en casa.”

  “Ssshh… someone might come yet,” Dorothy says, shutting down his lame broken Spanish joke.

  Matthew rings the doorbell once more and waits for a few seconds, then says, “Okay, so there’s no one inside this house. Can I have the key now? You’re wasting time.”

  Matthew waits anxiously for Dorothy to hand over the keys. He knows that if he is right, it means he’s going to be too late to save his daughter. As she hands him the keys he braces himself and says, “Under no circumstances do you come inside this house.” Without a reply, he sternly looks to her and says, “Dorothy, I mean it!”