Phantoms of Amity Park
Chapter 9
Anna led the way down, letting her ectoplasmic energy glow around her uninjured hand to light their way. The staircase seemed to go down forever, reaching points where it would turn and continue down like a stairwell; wherever this led, it was right below them. After what seemed like an hour of decent, they were starting to doubt if it ever came to an end. That was until a large doorway came into view ahead.
It was a large room, carved out of the very rock and earth. The ceiling must have reached 20 feet or more above their heads, the room itself similar to a large cathedral-like hallway. Pillars lined the way to the end, holding up what must have been an extremely heavy ceiling. Each pillar was circled by dozens of candles which had burned out long ago. Upon closer inspection of the pillars as they made their way down to the end, they found that disturbing images were carved into the stone; images of sacrifices and dark rituals. Danny decided to keep his eyes on the floor after catching site of one particularly gruesome image.
At the end of the room was a raised platform with a rectangular stone table set upon it, the table about five feet long. On each corner of the table was a burned down candle, in the very center a large leather bound book, and an even larger dark stain that was set deep into the stone itself. Against the far wall was what appeared to be a large throne with a high back; it was a menacing thing, made of black stone, inlaid with precious gems, and human bones. Coffins were built into the back wall, names and dates on plaques under each one. There was an empty hole where a coffin was supposed to go, a blank plaque underneath it. Anna's energy cast a sinister glow over the scene.
"What a crazy room," Danny said. "What do you think this place was for?"
No one answered. Vlad was keeping his eyes on Anna, who was going for the table, he followed. Of all the things they could have found down here, this was probably one of the worst, and he was worried about Anna's emotional and mental stability. He watched as she ran a hand over the cover of the book.
"Anna?" Vlad placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
She didn't look at him, "The energy in this place is so strange, I've never felt anything like it; dark, very dark. And this book hasn't aged; the leather's just as pliant and soft as the first day it was stretched. But it must be nearly 500 years old by now."
She opened the cover, the parchment clean, considering the timeframe, with a message written in black ink upon it. The message read:
We first few of the Van Ratten's hence forth pledge our lives and souls to the great demon Mammon; lord of greed. In return for our great achievements and gains of money and power, the patriarchs shall sacrifice their youngest born to Mammon before reaching their sixteenth birthday, insuring the continuation of our wealth and lineage. If we do not, then Mammon shall do as he sees fits as retribution for our misjudgment.
Vlad and Danny read the message over Anna's shoulder then looked at each other; both their eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. Surly demons didn't really exist, did they? They were just stories told to scare people from doing obviously bad deeds, right? But from the look on Anna's face and the way her hands were shaking, perhaps the truth was different.
She slowly turned the page, then the next, then the next. It was a record book, a complete record of every member of the Van Ratten family over the 300 years it existed; names, birth dates, marriage dates, death dates, and a fourth column that only had a single date in it for a single person once every marked generation, date of sacrifice. Generations were marked with the naming of the new patriarch, the term patriarch being added before their name to mark their advancement.
Danny took a step back from the table, his face white, "Then that stain on the table is…"
Vlad swallowed, "Blood."
Anna was still turning pages, until she reached the final page with writing on it. She rested both her hands on the table, bowing her head.
"Don't, there's really nothing that can be said. My family made a deal with a demon and that's what caused all of this. There are no excuses."
"You can't be serious," Vlad said. "Demon's don't exist. Their just fake monsters used to scare children and adults from doing bad things. Making them believe that they'll go to some kind of hell if they commit a particular sin."
"That's just it, they do exist."
"What?!" Danny exclaimed.
Anna had to sit and rest her legs; otherwise they were going to give out. She turned and sat on the step of the platform, fisting a hand in her hair. The silence was deafening in that room as Anna gathered her thoughts. Finally she looked up, Vlad and Danny had moved to stand in front of her.
"You've been to the ghost realm," she finally said. "How would you describe it?"
"A void," was Danny's immediate answer, but then he stopped and put some actually thought into it. "No, feels more like a giant tube or something, but it doesn't have any actually boundaries, at least none that I've been able to find. If I fly straight in one direction, I just fly for what seems like forever."
Vlad would have said something about Danny's poor choice of words, but Anna was first to speak.
"You could say that. The ghost realm may not seem to have any boundaries, but it does, two in two specific directions." She began to explain. "I'll tell it to you the same way Clockwork told it to me. The ghost realm is more like a glass bottle than anything else, a bottle filled with liquids and oils that have split into layers. The middle two layers have started to intermingle and bleed into each other, where you can travel between them as you wish. This is the area where you go to whenever you enter the ghost realm, where ghosts and their stronger counterparts, like Pariah and Nightmare, live. A long time ago, these areas were separate, but not anymore."
Anna continued, "At the very bottom is a level that has been quarantined for centuries, long before I was created. The Observers watch over the barrier, repairing any cracks or holes as they appear so that the creatures that live behind it don't escape into the ghost realm or the living world. Some of the most powerful evil spirits live there, Demons."
"The Observers?" Vlad asked. "Don't they have a big enough job, watching over… well… everything?"
Anna shrugged, "You've only seen a handful of them at a time, but there are actually hundreds of them. The few that you've seen are the ones that actually watch over everything. The rest watch over the barrier, making sure it stays intact. If the demons ever get loose then we're doomed."
"Then how did Mammon get out in the first place?" Vlad rubbed his chin. "With that many observers watching the barrier at the same time, it would be impossible for even one demon to escape."
Anna got to her feet and turned back to the table, turning the pages of the large book back to the first page, "I'm starting to suspect that he had some help."
"Help?" Danny asked.
Anna turned to face them, a hand still on the book, "Back during the time that this message would have been written, knowledge of the ghost realm, especially to those who were looking for it, would have more readily available. Before technology, humans had more of a connection to the world around them, as a result, more of a connection to the ghost realm. It wouldn't be stretch of the imagination to assume that my ancestors could do something like… summon a willing spirit from the ghost realm, especially if they had its name."
"You mean a séance? Like on TV?" Danny asked.
"…Not exactly," Anna didn't elaborate. "You would be surprised how much the names of specific demons appear in religious texts. It was a wonder things like this didn't happen more often; most of the time the people who tried just had the wrong name or tried to be clever and just made one up. It's amazing how simple it is to pick one out of the bible and summon it, just as long as you're willing to make a deal with it."
Vlad hesitated, glancing at the book, "The youngest born…"
Anna looked down, biting her bottom lip, "Must have been the price Mammon wanted us to pay. Father was the patriarch when the fire happened, I still remember him like I had just seen him yesterday. He loved all of us, spoiled us even! He took us all to see the ocean once when Devon was seven; silly man grabbed me and Devon and jumped into the water with us. It was hard to believe sometimes that he was a business man and plantation owner."
Vlad's worry eased a bit when she laughed softly as she remembered her father, feeling his heart swell at the sound, but her laugh was strained and somewhat forced, "but he didn't sacrifice Devon."
Anna's laughter subsided, "No, he didn't; Devon had turned sixteen the month before the fire. I do remember something strange my father had said the day before Devon's birthday. It was storming and late, father was going out. Devon and I saw him out, begging him not to go. He had only smiled and said to Devon, do not worry, I will protect you, and left. I had thought it was strange then, but it never came up again after that day. I just put it out of my mind. He must have come here to see the demon and try to break the contract."
"Guess we see now what the result of refusing to pay your quota to a demon is," Vlad commented, then immediately regretted it when Anna's face fell.
"We do, but what now? The demon tried to wipe out my family to take revenge on my father and failed. Now it's going to come for you, Danny, and your mother and sister."
"We beat it!" Danny said enthusiastically. "There's three of us and one of it, right?"
"Problem is that this demon has been in our world for over 500 years, feeding, in a sense, off of people like my ancestors who desire wealth and power. Who knows how powerful it's gotten since I died?"
"What other options do we have? Is there anyone else that can fight them?" Danny asked.
"Well, I've only ever heard of one kind of spirit that's been able to defeat demons. The very top of the ghost realm is where the most holy and chastened spirits live, angels."
"Angels exist too?" Vlad questioned.
"Can't have a great force of evil without a great force of good," she explained. "The worlds works off balance, remember?"
"Like how our world exists because the ghost realm exists?" Danny asked. "If one is destroyed, then the other is too?"
"Exactly, and other things," Anna continued. "Right and wrong, pain and pleasure, man and woman; balance has existed since the worlds were first created. Only chaos would exist without balance, too much good or too much evil would result in an unbalance or an unexisting world."
"Then all we need is to get these… angels… to go after this Mammon demon and all our problems are solved," Danny stated hopefully. "We distract him and they put him back, simple!"
"It isn't quite that simple, never is really," Anna almost didn't want to say. "That section of the ghost realm is shut off as well."
"Why!? Who would shut out the only beings capable of protecting the world?" Vlad didn't even try to hide his frustration.
"The angels did it to themselves." Shocked silence followed, "No one knows the exact reason. I asked the observers once if they knew why; they suspected it was because the angels had lost faith in us, in the humans they were meant to protect and serve."
"Lost… faith…?" Danny asked.
Anna shrugged, shaking her head, "No one has been in contact with them for centuries, so no one knows if that's the truth or not. The observers claim that it is, but if there's no proof, no one believes them. That and they give no reason, no explanation as to why. All we have is the observers' word to go by; too many pieces missing from the puzzle, if you know what I mean."
"So we're on our own then?" Vlad asked.
"Afraid so," Anna answered. "Just the three of us, against a demon who we don't even know how powerful it is or what powers it has."
Suddenly, the odds seemed alarmingly stacked against them. Anna turned and looked down at the book again, before using the energy she had in her hand and set fire to it. The action was so sudden that Danny and Vlad jumped back involuntarily, but said nothing, didn't question it. They stood there and watched it burn in silence, watched as the last remaining evidence of the Van Ratten family went up in smoke and ash.
ooooo
They didn't leave until that book had become nothing but a pile of ashes on the stone table. Their eyes stung as they exited the mausoleum, having grown used to the darkness. It had grown later in the day then they thought, the sun now getting ready to set. If they attempted to fly back to Amity Park now, they would be making most of the journey in pitch blackness, no visible landmarks or city lights to guide them.
Vlad glanced at Anna out of the corner of his eye and his heart ached. She hadn't said very much since she had set the book aflame. Danny was talking to her, trying to stay hopeful, but the anxiety was clearly written on his face and his words were having no effect on her. Vlad felt the anxiety too, but not for Maddie like he had expected. Here he had found Anna, now there was a risk of losing her to some demon. It angered him; he couldn't let it happen, not when he was on the verge of finally find happiness. But first thing was first, they would be useless against a demon if they were tired and stressed, and Anna's hand had not been treated yet.
It took some convincing to get Danny to agree find somewhere to sleep for the night. He had to bluntly explain his reasoning for the boy to understand, but Vlad understood the boy's hesitance. Danny wanted to get home as soon as possible, for his mother; but the boy would be useless if he was tired and couldn't concentrate. So finally Danny mumbled a fine and they were off.
Vlad chose the motel, a quiet, clean, secluded place in the countryside where Anna could sleep and not be bothered. He rented three rooms, so they could each have their privacy. Anna took her key and went off to her room without a word.
"I'm worried," Danny said as they watched her round the corner.
"I'd be more worried if you weren't," Vlad turned to the lady behind the counter. "Do you have a first aid kit I could borrow?"
The lady smiled and reached under the desk, pulling out a red box, and handing it to him. Vlad nodded in thanks and he walked away, Danny following.
"You're going to go see her?"
"Obviously, what do you think this is for? I told her I was going to treat her hand, so I'm going to."
Danny seemed to think for a moment, looking up at the older man. He was thinking back to everything he had seen of the man that day, his actions toward Anna, the obvious displays of affection.
"You love her," It was a statement, not a question.
Vlad stopped walking and looked back at Danny, "What would make you think that, Daniel?"
"I'm a sixteen, not stupid. I saw how you acted with her today."
"I don't see how who I decide to care for is any of your business."
"Oh please! First my Mom, now Anna, who is my Great Aunt by the way; I think it is my business."
Danny's argument did have a point. Vlad gave a frustrated sigh and rubbed his forehead with his free hand.
"You don't think I've been thinking about this? I've been thinking of nothing else for days. There's so much to consider, it's a more complicated situation then you seem to think. And now with all this…what am I doing, talking about this to a child?"
Danny raised an eyebrow, "Does it have to be complicated?"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm just saying, if you love her, everything else shouldn't matter. You should be able to put all that aside and just want to be with her."
Vlad blinked at the boy, "That was oddly adult of you."
"I am sixteen! I'm not a child anymore."
Vlad chuckled, "Whatever you say, Daniel."
Danny turned and started towards his own room, but stopped and turned back around, "While I'm being honest here, I didn't want to hate you, you know? I hated you because you were after Mom and trying to ruin my family."
"Why tell me this now?"
"Cause if you're with Anna, I can hate you just because you've got the biggest ego in Amity Park and you're trying to take over the world."
"Who says I'd be trying to take over the world if I had Anna? I wouldn't have a reason to anymore, would I?"
"Even better! Then I actually have an excuse to watch a Packers game with you."
With that, Danny left, Vlad's mouth hanging open. Was that really all it took? Was it really that simple? Or had he just been doing it the complicated way all this time and just needed to wait for Anna?
Vlad looked down at the first aid kit, feeling like a fool. Danny was right, on all counts and tonight may be the last night he could do anything about it. Tomorrow they would be going straight back to Amity Park, and who knew what would be waiting for them there. Whatever decision he was going to make regarding his feelings for Anna, he would have to make them tonight. He may not get another chance.
He continued to her room and knocked lightly on the door. There was a shuffling from inside, the sound of the bolt being drawn back, and the door opened slightly. Anna peeked around the edge of the door.
"I apologize if I woke you," Vlad said. "You're hand; it needs to be bandaged properly."
He showed her the first aid kit. She looked at it then down at her hand and nodded, opening the door the rest of the way so he could come inside. The room was reasonably sized for the amount of money he had spent on it; full sized bed, dresser with a small TV on it, a window with a table and two chairs situated in front of it, and its own bathroom. Not what he would have preferred for her, but it would have to do for now; he could spoil her with her with luxuries once everything was resolved. He motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs and she did. He moved the other chair next to her and sat down as well, opening the kit.
He held out his hand, "Here, let me see."
She gave him the crudely badged hand, and watched as he unwrapped the handkerchief he had wrapped around it earlier. The sour look on his face said everything.
"I don't think it's infected, but it's definitely dirty," Vlad reached into the kit and pulled out a bottle of antiseptic wash. "Sorry, this is going to sting."
Anna didn't flinch; she kept staring out the window, her mind somewhere else. Vlad would catch her looking at him every once in a while as he worked. The moment was more awkward than he was used to.
"There," he said as he secured the wrapping with medical tape. "It's not the best. I'm not a medical professional or anything, but it should work."
Anna only nodded as he packed up the extra supplies. When he was done, she noticed that he didn't move to leave. She looked at him.
"Anna, you haven't said a word since you disposed of that book. Please say something, if only to ease my mind and assure me that you're not going to have an emotional breakdown when I leave this room."
She blinked at him then looked down, folding her hands in her lap, "I'm sorry. I… I'm scared, Vlad."
"Scared?"
Anna nodded, "I've never gone up against anything like this before. Clockwork and the observers had told me about demons before, but I never thought I'd ever have to face one; especially this one. Clockwork must have foreseen this and made sure I was as well trained as possible, that I had as much experience as possible. But it's different now, there's so much more at stake than just me; Danny, Maddie, Jasmine. If I fail, three of my kin will lose their lives because of me."
"What makes you think you're doing this alone?"
Anna's head whipped up, the statement so blunt and matter of fact that it took her by surprise, "What?"
Vlad narrowed his eyes at her, "If you seriously think I'm going to let you fight that thing on your own, you're not as smart as I thought you were."
"And you're an idiot if you think I would let you fight with me! I'm not putting you at risk. I've waited for you for 200 years! I'm not going to risk losing you after all this time. I'm not giving you a choice in the matter."
"I've already chosen. There's nothing you can do to change my mind."
"Why?! Do you want to die?!"
"Might as well! If I lose you I might as well be dead!"
Vlad didn't mean for it to come out quite that way, but Anna seemed to somewhat understand what he was trying to say. Her face turned a bright pink and she couldn't help but look away again.
Vlad swallowed the lump in his throat; this was it, now or never. He opened his mouth to speak, but Anna beat him to it.
"Vlad, I know a lot has happened in the last week, maybe too much too fast. But we may be coming upon the final confrontation and I might not live through it…"
"Anna."
She held her hand up, stopping whatever he was going to say, "I'm not saying I will, but if I do, I don't want to go without knowing how you feel… towards me. I don't want to have any more regrets."
"That's actually why I came to see you. I'd been thinking about things ever since I…" He stopped then diverted his sentence, "Ever since what happened in my lab. You're right, about everything. I was a fool. If I had met you sooner, none of it would have happened."
"You don't know that," Anna's smile was small, but the words made her feel better none the less.
"You're right, I don't. I had my head suck so far up my own… I couldn't see that I was merely fooling myself. I remember what you told me a week ago, do you?"
Anna shook her head, not sure what he was referring to.
"You said that if I truly loved Maddie, I would care more about her happiness then my own. Such an idea had never crossed my mind. I had only ever thought of myself, it'd been like that for 20 years, so you can understand how awkward it is when I suddenly start worrying about someone other than myself. Perhaps I am a fruitloop like Daniel says; maybe I have finally lost my mind! It sure does feel that way."
Vlad had placed a hand on his face, trying to cover his embarrassment, the other resting on the table. He uncovered his face when he felt Anna place a hand on his; it was warm and gentle.
"Dear, you're rambling," she laughed.
"I am, aren't I? Suppose I should get to the point before this gets even more uncomfortable. I do care about you Anna, more than I've cared about anyone. It's hard for me to put it into words. If I was to lose you, I don't know what I'd do. You've grown to mean so much to me."
Anna's smile was happier then he'd ever remembered seeing. He could hardly believe he was the one to cause it. Suddenly her arms were around his neck and she was hugging him, face buried into his neck. The shock wore off quickly and he wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes and heaving a contented sigh.
"Thank you," he heard her mumble against his neck.
"Thank me?" he pushed her away enough so he could look at her properly. "I should thank you. Just, please don't die. I was telling the truth. If you die…"
Anna stopped him by placing a finger on his lips, "I can't promise that and you know that. I don't know what'll happen tomorrow. But whatever does happen, we have to be able to face it, no matter what. For now, we've found each other again and that's made me happy enough for ten more lifetimes. Let me spend tonight with you without worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow. I can't bear to think about it anymore."
Vlad took her hand in his and moved it aside, "I think I can agree to that."
He pulled her back into the embrace and didn't stop holding her until the sun came up the next morning.
