Brandon Duva 5/2/2011
ELA Ghost Story
Here we stand, proceeding towards the doorway of the so called "House of the Creeps". The name comes from the fact that it served as a hideout for people involved with criminal activities several years ago. This house was also built on top of an old mental hospital where they used many brutal methods of attempting to rid the patient of their own insanity. The lead doctor conducting these experimental procedures was actually an escaped mental patient. But he was too intelligent for his own good, and his own insanity got the best of him. The patients ended up killing him when the building cell lock system short circuited and opened all the cells. Before they killed him, he hit the master lockdown switch which dropped down large, foot thick sheets of metal over every window and doorway, to prevent any escape. All but a few nurses ended up burning to death, having no escape since the lockdown was irreversible, thanks to technical difficulties. The criminals who took shelter here supposedly came out screaming their heads off, not more than a couple hours of entering the household. My heart is beating 1000 times a minute. Even trying to stay cool, I'm sweating out buckets. Sidney is shaking pretty bad. She has always been the anxious one. Aaron was our skeptic. He didn't even blink when he heard of this place. He has no belief in anything to do with the supernatural, nor does he want to. Julia is… Just Julia. I gather up my guts, nod to Julia and squeeze her shoulder comfortingly, then walk to the previously boarded up doorway (It WAS boarded up, until we broke the boards off.)
The door swings open with only a bit of force put into it. I would think a door like this would have been jammed shut, not nearly flying off it's hinges. The house seems to have been abandon for a couple years now, explaining the boarded up door. There is an old table in front of the door, and it has to have at least an inch of dust on the top. I wipe most of it off with my sleeve, but some remains, clinging to the wood I suppose. There is what looks like writing in the dust. It looks like some sort of old type of lettering. Decorative letters, but they also look… Sharpened. All of the letters have edges that come to sharp, protruding points. Maybe its foreign? I notice that there is an old mirror on top. Part of it circling the silver metal (as in the reflective part) is a golden design, again with points and spike designs, but yet has plenty of curves as well. There is also (surprise!) ANOTHER thick layer of dust on the metallic surface. I wipe that off, and the moment I do, Julia screams like she just saw death. There was a woman in a long black dress, covering most of her body, Her skin was as white as snow, and her face was down towards the floor. This appeared in the reflection of the living room. But do we just take this as a fair warning and leave? Of course not, what fun would that be?
"Wow, this furniture must've cost a fortune!" Aaron exclaimed as soon as we walked into the living area. There is a good sized couch in the back of the room. It has expensive looking fabric covering the length of it. The design and size of this couch resembles a vintage style sectional. The lining of it seems to be covered in golden leaf. There is a similar arm chair a couple feet away from this couch. A big, oval mahogany table sits in the middle of the room. On top of this sits a old record player. I have seen one of these in an antique shop, one of those ones with that horn like object sticking out of it. But one thing just doesn't match with the rest of the room: The boarded up door in the corner. Sidney groans at the sight of it. "More of this crap? Can't we just chill on one of these couches? I doubt the spirits would mind." She sits on the couch, then mimes a spectral reaching out and grabbing her, feigning terror. We all laugh at this, but then we hear something move in the basement. We all immediately go dead silent, me and Aaron silently approaching the door. "Make quick work of this. The sooner we're out of this spook house, the better." I barely stutter out the sentence. We take out our crowbars and work on unboarding the door. After about 5 minutes of tearing and snapping, we finally have the door uncovered. Except for one board at the bottom. "I don't think its such a good idea to leave that there. Someone could trip." I whispered to Aaron. "Don't worry 'bout it. We can easily step over it." The doorknob seems to be locked from the other side. I turn it a few more times. No, more like being pushed on from the other side. Aaron and me both ram into the door on the count of three, and it swings open. My shoulder is throbbing, but at least we got it open. We proceed into the seemingly endless darkness, knowing nothing of what awaits us.
Now, picture yourself in a dimly lit room. Now imagine these walls a dark gray color, cracks all over them, and strange writings every square inch. Add a broken ceiling with a dying bare light bulb, and you're in the story. Welcome to our ghost house! Eyes finally adjusting to the barely lit room, I see coffins EVERYWHERE. Some plain, others hurriedly made, decorative, some even seeming ritualistic. Not only this, but some have CHAINS wrapped around them, and some of the chains are actually broken, laying uselessly under the coffin.
Several are open, revealing scorched, damaged, eerie skeletons. We see something in the dark. Way In the back. It is slowly coming closer. We back away slowly, towards the stairs. The figure picks up speed. About 10 feet away we see it's face: The woman we saw in the mirror. Her head is shaking wildly, too fast to make out any facial features. Except for those seemingly bottomless black holes where her eyes should be. This is enough for us! We book it to the stairs. I am ahead of everyone, guiding us through darkness. We barely make it to the stairs. We all start leaping up the stairs 3 steps at a time, and I get through the open doorway. Aaron gets out right behind me, Sidney a few seconds after, then we see Julia, running up the stairs with the woman right on her tail. She leaps up the stairs and almost makes it up, then she trips on the board we left.
I had a feeling that'd come back to bite me! I grab her hand and pull her up, right as the woman was inches from her. I put her arm on my shoulders and lift her up. I need to carry her until I know she can walk, but for now, there is no time to ask. We end up leaving the basement door open, which obviously cannot lead to good things. I run to the front door and try it. Locked. "Aaron! Break down the door!" He runs over with both crowbars and starts smashing away, but inside the wood are only metal bars. "Its like we are in a prison…" Aaron says, realizing he cannot break the bars. "Held prisoners by whatever is in this house, we are." We run down the hall and take a left, the right is blocked by the lady in black. While I run by, I notice she doesn't touch the ground, confirming my thoughts of her being a ghost. I don't even know how I thought otherwise. When we reach the end of the hallway, we end up in a kitchen, and I grab a knife. I put it in one of my belt loops, working as a sheath. Probably won't help, but hey, you never know.
Aaron and Sidney search the room for anything useful while the ghostly figure slowly makes its way toward us. "Dude, theres a medical kit in here!" Aaron rips off the lid of the medical supplies. Inside there is cleansing alcohol, medical tape, and burn treatment solution. I stuff all I can into pockets. Sidney finds a silver cross, but I don't really believe in that movie magic. She pockets it anyway and we run down another branching hallway. There is a door at the end that Is slightly creaked open. We bolt towards that door, all the while looking back to make sure we are keeping distance.
We finally reach the door, sliding inside the room and slamming the door shut, then dead bolting it. Aaron and Sidney move a medium size drawer in front of the door. I look around the room, taking in my surroundings. This room, surprisingly, is pretty well lit compared to every other room we've been in. There is a large dresser over to the side, and in the center lies a queen size bed. Neatly made, it has the same vintage style as the couch did. I place Julia onto the bed, and she groans softly as weight is put on her ankle. I lift up her injured leg and roll up her pants leg some, just enough to reveal her ankle. It is extremely red, and looks like it is starting to swell. "Can you put weight on it?" I ask, hearing my voice shake. She tries to get up, and winces slightly as she puts weight onto her injured leg. She lifts her legs back up onto the bed, and I see the expression of pain on her face. She always has been known to hold things back, physical pain being one of the many. "Aaron, from now on you stay in the front with Sid, and I will stay in the back carrying Julia." Aaron nods, and Sidney hesitates. She does not like the idea of the person carrying the injured in the back. They will obviously be slowed down, and may be left behind. She slowly nods her head. "I will stay In the middle. Aaron, you stay in front, but I have to stay somewhere near these guys. You find the routes to take, and we will follow." He nods again, taking pride in being the new leader, although pride has no place in a situation like this. I look through the drawers of the dresser. Not much here. Dust mostly, with a few useless pieces of junk here and there. But in the last drawer is a diary of sorts. It has a faded, worn leather binding, with yellowed pages seeming like a fine quality parchment. This looks like something that belongs in a historical museum. I flip through the pages. A few blank at first, but then there is writing.
Sunday, first of April.
We have just moved into the new house. The landlord sold us it for a bargain, didn't take much effort to get a cheap price on it. The house is even furnished! It has nice, expensive looking furniture in the living room. It even has a record player! Mine got ruined in the move here, so it is one lucky coincidence. It even is an Edison model! It could be worth a pretty penny if I ever choose to sell it. I have not gotten to explore our new house yet, so not much to say so far.
Tuesday, Third of April
This house is incredible! It reminds me much of our old villa back in Italy. There are many bedrooms; I have counted 5 so far. Many rooms seem to be unused, but why would they have them if they had no purpose? Just to make the place seem larger? One queer thing about the house, though, I can't shake the feeling of being watched. I always feel someone's eyes upon me, even though there's no one around. And I have found some peculiar symbols scattered across the household. They seem like water spots, in the ceiling, wall, or floor, depending on the room. It seems bathrooms have them on the wall, bedrooms on the ceiling, and other rooms on the floors. They all consist of 3 main symbols. I wonder what they are?
Saturday, Seventh of April
I have regretted the choice of purchasing this house! Out of all the places… I found some old tomes in the library in the back of the house. They were all written in Latin, which I quickly translated, being a master at Latin and other languages. These glyphs are Satanic Symbols of Incarnation! This must've been some sort of ritual summoning ground. I also found a journal titled "Doctor Vannicut". Inside talks of an old mental hospital where patients were to go through brutal treatments, often leading to their own death. I want to get out as soon as possible, but something is not letting me…
Tuesday, Tenth of April
There have been people spotted in our house. The kids have spotted figures, dark figures with glowing eyes. Me and my wife have repeatedly seen this woman in a long black dress. Her face is never shown, always looking towards the ground. She has an evil feel to her. I want to get out. Please god, help us.
Thursday, Twelfth of April
My family (And myself) have actually been beat down by these… Spirits. They have cut my wife's arm, and beaten me. They pushed me son down the stairs, but he is not seriously injured. It seems these things happen more near the night time. We try to stay in the same room during the night hours to prevent these incidents, but of course we can't stay in one room forever, and something happens to at least one of us one way or another. Only time will tell if the incidents shall come to a halt.
Date: Unknown
I have lost track of time. It seems our household is DISCONNECTED from the real world. Time moves differently. I have no way of telling what day or time it is. The sky outside is not even natural, it is some sort of onyx color. The sightings have been more constant. There have even been strange beings chasing us across the house… Some in hospital garbs. One looked like a doctor, but his presence oozed insanity and anger. Others are gruesomely disfigured humans. What have we done to deserve this punishment?
Date: Who knows?
My son has been deceased. We heard him in the basement (Which we recently boarded up, yet this tragedy still occurred) screaming of something dragging him down there, and that they were injuring him. We heard him being dragged across the floor, then in mid scream, there was a muffled bang, then he went silent. Then some hinges were squealing, there was a bang of wood on wood, then the rattling of chains. I pray for him, but cannot go into the basement to give him a proper burial, as we cannot leave the house, but also because I fear of what could possibly be down there.
The woman in black is in my room. My whole family has been killed. Gruesomely. I found them in their beds when I woke up, sheets soaked with their own blood. Throats slit. I think it was her. I have not much time, she is getting closer…
…HELP….ME…..God, please…..
There are four streaks of blood after the last line, suggesting finger marks. He must've been killed as his family did. Bless their poor souls. But if this is a satanic ritual ground, there mustve been sacrifices! Not all the spirits must be evil; some may be the tortured souls of the human sacrifices. Maybe they can help us... If there are any willing? Aaron and Sid move the drawer away from the door once I finish reading.
"Time to go. We must not have much time." I pick up Julia and nod, he opens the door. The hallway is completely changed. Before it was branching into three halls, now it is just one route. We start sprinting down this hallway. Well, Sid and Aaron do, and I run as fast as I can with an injured person in my arms. I hear a yelling voice, and Aaron and Sid look back at me, reassuring me that it wasn't my imagination. "HURRY! WE WILL HELP YOU AS MUCH AS WE CAN, BUT WE CANNOT FOR LONG! THEY ARE STRONGER THAN US!"
Can these be the souls of the tortured victims, not wanting us to suffer the same fate as them? We continue running down this one way hallway, and we come to a fork. "GO LEFT! TO THE RIGHT IS AN AMBUSH OF THEM! LEFT TOWARDS THE EXIT!" We sprint towards the left, not stopping for breath even once. I turn to look back at the ambush. "DON'T LOOK BACK! JUST KEEP GOING FORWARD IF YOU WANT A CHANCE!" My head shoots forward again, pretty much against my will. We continue sprinting down the hallway. My lungs are burning, My chest feels like its going to explode, and my body is begging for a rest. "YOU HAVE A FEW MORE YARDS TO GO! THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE!"
I see a light at the end of the hallway. I push myself harder. So close to survival. As I'm running, dark hands reach out at me. They cut me, slashing my arms and sides. Some go towards my face, and one nearly cut my jugular. But I keep going, hearing Aaron and Sidney screaming. They must be having the same trouble as I. I spend all my energy on the last two yards, then run out of the door that Aaron rammed open. The doorway looks huge, like that of an old castle. Light fills my surroundings, my body is warmed from the sun, and I feel soft grass under my feet. We made it. I place Julia on the ground gently, then collapse. I look back at the house, the door back to its normal form.
I get up, wincing at the exploding pain in my legs. I nearly collapse again, but Sidney and Aaron rush over and hold me steady. I look at the windows, and see the laughing faces of spirits. Although their visible forms are no more than shadows with spikes of darkness coming off them. They must be laughing at our pain and struggle. Only if I could send them back to the depths of hell, and the other spirits to a better place than this hell hole. I kneel down, putting my hand on Julia's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "We made it. We are alive, no matter how injured we are. We are alive, and that Is what matters." Julia gets up, into a sitting position. She smiles slightly. I look at the others. They nod at me when I look at them. We all smile. We survived. That's something to be thankful for.
(The not so happy) ALTERNATE ENDING (ending doesn't necessarily mean short): (Picking up where I finished reading the deceased owner's journal) There are four streaks of blood after the last line, suggesting finger marks. He must've been killed as his family did. Bless their poor souls. But if this is a satanic ritual ground, there must've been sacrifices! But there were also the sightings of the patients, so they could have been killed by one of them, or one of the doctors/nurses. Not all the spirits must be evil; some may be the tortured souls of the human sacrifices, or the brutally treated patients. Maybe they can help us... If there are any willing?
I drop the journal back into the drawer, but I hear an echoed thump as it hits the bottom of the drawer. I look under this drawer, nothing but wood. But this empty wood space is large enough to hold a couple more drawers, so shouldn't there be some there? I take the journal back out and place it on top of the dresser, then bang on the bottom again. The same echoed sound occurs. I look across the bottom of this drawer, and notice a faint outline of a square in the center. Around 8 by 8 inches. I press on this, and feel it go in slightly. I punch the square in with one strong blow, and it breaks in two, falling to the bottom of the dresser.
I saw an old dresser not unlike this one in an antique shop not too long ago, and it had some secret compartments in the bottom. I recognized the same design on this dresser. I feel around the bottom (Which is only slightly larger than the square), and feel something. I lift it up, and blow the dust off of it. There is a sort of engraving type title that says "Doctor Vannicut". Is this the journal mentioned in the deceased owner's journal? Well, since this place used to be a mental hospital, then he must have been one of the doctors that used to work at the mental hospital that was on these grounds. I open to the first page, which reads "Log of Experimental Therapy" in rather large letters, seeming older than the script in the other journal. Sort of Gothic. Next page is the start of the entries.
Day 1
The group of patients being held here has a higher percentage of criminally insane than other hospitals. Usual procedures of therapy for mentally ill patients do not seem to work, on the majority, only about 5 or 10% of them. Will have to experiment with procedures I've thought of over the years. Since I am the lead here, they will not question what I do. They know better.
Day 2
Hydrotherapy seems to work better than the common procedures of therapy on these types of patients. Dunking patient in cold water enough times at a certain pace may rid the patient of their own insanity.
Day 3
More tests with the hydrotherapy has proven that it cannot rid one of their insanity, but can suppress psychopathic tendencies. Thinking of more treatments for the patients. Schizophrenics and Spectrophobics can be placed in a rounded room where the patient will be surrounded by separate mirrors. No matter where they look, they will see their own reflection. This may or may not rid one of spectrophobia, since wherever they look they will see only their own reflection. Schizophrenics will have to face their inner demons, possibly ridding them of their insanity.
Day 7
After several days of research, I have found that Spectrophobics cannot be ridden of their own phobia after speed treatment (Speed treatment is the term the doctors and nurses in this facility use to describe constant treatment over the course of a few days), but signs of mental improvement are surfacing. May have a gradual recovery effect on the patients.
Day 9
Schizophrenics testing has been done over the past few days, with a few Spectrophobics tested on. Same treatment as the previous, but done less often, with extended treatment time. Schizophrenics show some signs of recovery. Upon exiting the treatment room, some have had worse phantom voice (Term we use to describe the vocal hallucinations that occur with schizophrenics) Phenomena than before, but subsides shortly afterwards. Also, the phantom voices occur less often in general compared to a patient that has never been treated.
Day `11
I thought of a use for something called Shock therapy. It is used on anesthetized patients and electric pulses go through the patient's body. This usually can get rid of severe depression where medication has no effect. Use this on patients unanaesthetized and may be able to get rid of aggressiveness. Also will be used for it's original purpose.
Day 14
Patients becoming more aggressive. One broke out of their cell, and bludgeoned two of our nurses to death. One also seriously injured, same patient. Electrotherapy doesn't work well for aggression, but works fine for depression. Electrotherapy, as well as hydrotherapy, can be used as punishment. Even for patients, bad actions don't go without consequence.
Day 17
Seems that I was underestimated the effect of using Hydro and Electro therapies consequentially. Deaths have occurred using these as punishments, unexpected but not an issue. The patients are… Disposable. They are going nowhere anyway. Nurses do not agree with my reasoning, but do not attempt to argue or act against it.
Day 20
All patients are banging on the cell doors. They are chanting, almost like an angry mob. Master lock has been malfunctioning, hopefully it will hold against the patients' banging. If needed, we can always use the lockdown mechanism. Hopefully it won't come to that though. The therapies have ta-
The entry stops there. There is nothing on the other pages, except diagrams of how the treatments done on the patients work. Legend goes that the patients broke out, killed the nurses and doctors, but not before Vannicut hit the lockdown switch. They all burned to death. Maybe this is when it happened.
Aaron and Sid move the drawer away from the door once I finish reading. "Time to go. We must not have much time." Julia gets up, slightly wincing as she puts weight on her leg. Aaron seems concerned. "Can you walk?" She nods, slightly limping as she walks around the room. "I'll be fine. I wouldn't want to slow you down anymore than I have." I take both of the journals. They could be useful. I nod at Aaron, and he opens the door. The hallway has changed, and not for the best. The hall is now a huge series of winding hallways, twisting and turning, no guarantee of an exit. The walls are soaked with the blood of the deceased patients and the owner's family, limbs and body parts held onto the wall, each by a mini metal spear. It is a gruesome scene, not for the squeamish. I see Julia's eyes widen, and Sid turns away in disgust.
"We have to go. Otherwise we will be stuck here." I nod. Thanks, Captain Obvious. I nod at Aaron, suggesting we go through the middle path. There are four other paths, but all look the same. Nothing to lose, right? We speed walk down this hallway until we come to a turn, almost bumping into a dismembered torso hanging from the wall. That's when we hear the sound.
It sounds kind of like the fast beating of wings. We look behind us. There is someone in a straight jacket, head shaking around, fast enough to only show as a blur. We start running down the hall and following the twists and turns. There is a door ahead of us, one of those ones you find in a hospital, metal, with that glass square on top. We try to ram the door, but get shot back, my arm feeling like it just got whacked with a sledgehammer. The door opens in, not push out. Aaron runs forward and rips it open, holding it open. "Go! We gotta get away from this thing!" We run through the door, nearly tripping over my own feet.
We burst into a lit hallway. Sounds like a safe haven, right? Well, one small problem… This is a HOSPITAL hallway, not a house hall. "Off of the fryer and into the fire…" I yell out. There is a huge echo in here, but the hallway is rather small. There are many doors, on either side of the hall. We all start walking. The doors have no numbers, no door knobs. Nothing. As we pass a door on the middle left, it slowly slides open, disappearing into the wall. Behind it waits a gruesomely disfigured woman, with empty, dark eye sockets. Her skin is dripping wet. Her hair is tangled and covers most of her face. She lets out a bloodcurdling shriek, and my own muscles take over. I find myself sprinting down the hallway, Aaron a couple feet ahead, Sid and Julia by my sides. We hear the woman and a few others gaining on us.
We burst through another door into a rounded room. The door behind us fades into the wall, leaving us. The walls change, gaining a metallic look. "Don't tell me…" Julia whispers. I hear Aaron gulp. We are all standing with our backs to eachother, all facing outward. We all see the walls. They are all now separate mirrors. We see ourselves staring at the repeated reflections. I whip my head around. I hear the others doing the same. Everywhere I look, all I can see are the reflections. Then shadows start moving in the reflective surfaces. Some reflections get covered in darkness, the darkness coming closer and closer. Pretty soon all we can see is one reflection, instead of the hundreds we saw just seconds ago.
Then Sid's reflection disappears. I look to where she is standing. Or WAS standing. She was there a second ago, but disappeared without a trace. A second later, I hear her scream piercing through the air. Julia covers her ears and falls onto her knees. Aaron is darting his eyes wildly from one mirror to another, an expression of anger and fear spreading across his face. The whole room goes pitch black, and Julia screams, but it quickly fades, as does the light. A couple seconds later, I can see again. But this room is different. It is not unlike the living room, but it has an eerie feel to it this time.
But there are no open walkways as there was when we entered, all that remains is the door that leads down to the basement. But that bottom plank is now gone. I feel like I'm being lured over to the doorway. Aaron and Julia must feel the same way, because they are already slowly walking to the doorway. I follow, putting my hand on Julia's shoulder. "It's gonna be alright. We'll get out of here, I promise." She nods. We continue walking. I hold onto the railing as we descend into the familiar darkness, hearing the sounds of chains rattling. We reach the bottom of the stairs. I see shadows speeding across the room. The sound of eerie female giggling echoes in the room. The occasional shriek rattles the room, scaring us out of our wits. The room fades into black, then we fade into a dark, cement walled room. There is a large dark area in the center.
It sounds like a switch is thrown some distance towards the back. A light comes on over the dark area, and in the center we see a table, with a figure on top having what seems to be a spasm. We see a metal mask-like thing attached to the table, going over the figure's face. "Sid!" Julia screams. Aaron and I run over to the table and try to undo the leather wrist and ankle restraints. I manage to get one untied, Aaron has no luck with the restraints. That is all I can do before Sid stops moving entirely. I feel her neck, then her wrist, checking for a pulse. Nothing. I undo the restraints, which are now loose. Julia realizes what happened, and I can see she's about to cry.
That's when Sid's right hand dropped down to the side table, her hand unclenches and drops something onto the ground. I kneel down to check what it was, and find the cross. I pick it up and slide it into my boot, under my pant leg. I get up and put Sid's hands folded across her chest, then nod to Aaron, who is staring at Sid's hands, but nods slowly, understanding the event that just occurred. I glide my middle and ring finger down her face, closing her eyes. Rest in Peace, dear friend. "We better get moving.." I say, hearing my voice starting to break. She was one of my best friends. They both nod, and we walk slowly to the large iron door, where the only other light in the room is located.
I slowly open the door, peaking my head out to make sure there is no one/ nothing in the hallway. I turn back around and nod, opening the door wider. Aaron and Julia walk through the doorway, all of us staying near each other, not wanting another incident to occur. We walk slowly down the hall, which looks more like a household hallway than a hospital hall, trying not to make any noise. No doors in the walls this time; just one wooden door at the end of the hall. We speed up, heading towards this door. I rip open the door, not caring what awaits us.
Another one of these damned blood soaked hallways. This time, it is only one long hallway, with a rather large doorway at the end. Me and Aaron take lead, Julia right behind us. I scan the room as we walk, seeing faint shadows darting from place to place. As we near the door, a shadow in front of It grows and grows, into an all too familiar form. The lady in black appears to us once again. Her head is still this time, so we can make out some facial features.
Her face looks pretty normal, except for the empty eye sockets. Her skin is as pale as snow as well, and her lips are pale and thin, but she seems to be wearing a black veil that covers some of her face. It is only one layer, though, so it is transparent. She starts to speak, but the voice seems disembodied, as her lips do not move whatsoever. "You have come to disturb our resting place. What business do you have here? Here just for a couple frights, maybe some stories to tell your friends? You've paid quite a hefty price, and what for? Your own entertainment? Let me ease your burden."
She lunges at Aaron, grabbing him by the shoulders. Her long nails easily slice through his shirt, digging into his skin. He lets out a yell, and his skin is literally smoking, as if she is injecting acid into his flesh. "Go! Get Julia out of here!" Aaron yells, then pushes the phantom woman into a nearby wall. There is a spear protruding from the wall, and it pierces through her shoulder. Me and Julia run for the door. We hear the woman scream and struggle to get away from the wall. We get closer to the door, but it seems that it goes farther away every step. We stop, obviously not making any progress. I let me hands fall down to my sides, where I feel something cold immediately make contact with my skin. I look down, and see the knife that I took from the kitchen. I rip it from my belt loop. Then I remember the cross. I quickly pull it from my shoe, and feel my pockets for anything I can use. I find the medical tape. What can I do with these…? Well since this lady seems to be one of the Satanists, maybe… I rip off a long strip of tape, using it to attach the handle of the knife to the extended part of the cross.
Last thing I find is the alcohol. Not much I can do with that though. I walk over to the woman hurting Aaron, who is still struggling to keep her on the wall. I walk directly in front of the phantom, who hisses and spits at me. I then hold up the alcohol for her to see, taunting her. I splash the whole bottle onto her face, which immediately starts to smoke and bubble. She shrieks like a banshee, cursing and screaming at me. "This is for Sidney, you monstrous bitch." I stab her right through the heart with the cross-knife. She stops squirming, wheezing out a last breath, and goes stiff. I then slit her throat, and carve a cross into her forehead. For good measure, I stab the alcohol bottle into her chest cavity several times, then leave it protruding from her heart.
I help Aaron up, who has collapsed to the ground. Me and Julia support him as we walk towards the door, feeling the evil presence retreating. The doors swing open, creaking slightly, light flooding into the room. We walk out slowly, still supporting Aaron. He motions to us to let him walk himself. We let him go, and he walks along side us, limping slightly. We walk out into the daylight, taking in the warmth of the sunlight. The doors slowly close behind us, making slight creaking noises, and we look back, but the doors are no longer there, all that remains is the door we used to walk in.
We proceed down the walkway, and about halfway down, we see a stone in the middle of the yard. We turn around to look at it, and see carved writing on the stone. The ground looks recently dug up. The stone reads "Here lies Sidney, who died for a good cause, and whose death did not go to waste." I unwrap the knife and cross, throwing the tape onto the walkway. I gently place the cross onto the freshly dug earth in front of the stone, bowing my head. Aaron kneels down next to me and puts his hand on my shoulder, also bowing his head in honor. I nod, holding back tears, and stand up with him, turning towards the house. Before I know what I'm doing, I whip the knife towards one of the house windows, shattering it completely. I felt like I had gotten the weight of the world off my shoulders.
We turn to walk out of the yard, when we see Sidney, a couple feet away from her gravestone. We can see right through her. She smiles slightly when we see her, and I feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I can also see ghostly tears running down Sidney's cheeks, but she also looks happy. I speak, feeling my voice break. "You did us all good, Sid. We are eternally thankful for your sacrifice. Your memory will never fade, Sid." She smiles when I say that last part, and we see her gradually fade away. She waves before she fades completely, and we nod at her. Then she's gone. We proceed to walk back to our neighborhood, where Sidney's parents won't even know what happen to her. There will always be that empty space left as a constant reminder, but at least she is now at rest.
Side note: This is only the manuscript. Rough draft. If I want to get this published, story should be lengthened, more details added, foreshadowing added, and more humor. Humor never hurts, even if it is such a dark story as this one. The story is kind of like a saying my grandfather used to tell me: Amazing how something so amazing and beautiful could be hiding the fact that it is something so sinister, so terrifying (kind of poetic, kind of deep. May try my hand at poetry) . Such as is life, everything is sugarcoated in this era. Just how it is. Ending reminds me of something basically every adult in existence tells children/ teens: Nothing is gained without working for it. My stories don't usually have morals; I am no children's book writer (May try that sometime as well?). Some of my stories just have… hidden meaning. Leave it at that. (Side side note, Should ask people for ideas of stories, or ideas for improvements upon this story)
May try multistyle writing; not everyone tastes appeal to my usual horror/action/suspense/etc style of writing.