"What's your name?" asked Hermione to the little boy. He looked at her but didn't answer. "Please," she whispered. "Can you please tell me?" His gaze was cold and he nodded.
"Corry," he answered. She nodded. "And where are your parents?" Before he could answer, there came a rasping sound from Hannah's room. Hermione lept to her feet and ran to the room, throwing the door open and hurrying to Hannah's side. Hannah was sitting upright and gasping as if in fear.
"Hannah?" asked Hermione. Hannah looked at her with wide eyes, and Hermione kneeled down in front of her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hannah, what's wrong?" Hannah looked at her, and spoke for the first time in months.
"I just want her to leave me alone!" she muttered.
"Who?" asked Hermione. Hannah nodded to the wall behind her, and she turned to look. There was a thick cloud of smoke, hovering a few feet off the ground and inching dangerously close to Hannah. It drifted past Hermione quickly, and floated over Hannah, emmiting a strange and unearthly noise that grew louder as Hannah's breathing grew harder. Hermione whipped out her wand and shouted, "Lumos!" Her wand lit up immediatly and a pair of eyes opened and looked at her. At that moment, Hannah took in a sharp breath and fell backwards on her bed, completely lifeless and with eyes glazed over.
Hermione didn't have time to see this for the smoke with eyes was coming closer to her, until at last she found herself slipping into darkness...
Richard broke in with two cops and they began searching the house. When Hermione had not responded after knocking and shouting several times, they knew something was terribly wrong.
"Hermione?" called Richard. "Where are you?" A muffled wail came from the room down the hall... Hannah's bedroom. Richard turned with one of the cops, and they headed into the bedroom, shuddering with every step. Hermione was huddled in a corner, shivering and staring at Hannah with large eyes.
"Hermione!" he muttered and kneeled down in front of her. "It'll be alright," he whispered. One of the cops examined Hannah and checked her for a pulse.
"She's dead," he said, glancing up at Richard. "She must've passed a few minutes ago. There's nothing I can do."
"Call and ambulence," demanded Richard. "I think she's going into shock," he said, pointing to Hermione. Hermione did not look at either of them, but kept her gaze on Hannah. They didn't get her to speak, nor did they find the little boy she had told them about. About an hour later, Hermione was taken to a hospital, but Richard lingered around with the police to learn what the cause of death had been.
"She was old," said one of the cops. "It hapens."
"She was only in her sixties. Isn't there any sign of a heart attack?"
"We won't know what really happened until the autopsy reports come in." He pulled out a note pad and a pen. "How long have you been in bussiness with this family?"
"Three weeks almost I think," he replied. "Ginny is the regular visitor though. I don't know where she is today. She never showed up at work."
"We're concerned because neither Rob nor Lucy Raddici showed to work either," said the cop. Richard's eyes widened a little.
"Have you attempted making any contact with this Ginny girl?"
"Yes," responded Richard. "She doesn't have a phone number, but Hermione's been trying to reach her all day." The cop raised an eyebrow.
"No phone?"
"None." The cop shrugged and started to walk away.
"Now what?" asked Richard. "What happens now?" The cop turned back to him.
"We're going to search the place, see if we can find anything."
"Mind if I look with you? Ginny is my employee after all." The cop shrugged.
"I see no harm in it." Richard smirked a little and they proceeded to scope the downstairs, not reaching the upstairs for some time. In secret, none of them had the desire to. Something about the house was beginning to give them the creeps.
Alas, the time came, and they found themselves climbing the steps and searching the hallway. Richard strayed into the master bedroom and found that the bed sheets had been ripped away and shredded all over the floor. There were a few drops of blood that weren't visible unless you really leaned in to look for them. Richard only happened to notice them on accident.
Heavy footfalls came up the stairs, and Richard turned to see one of the cops come in. "We checked the answering machine," he said to the other cop. "Rob's sister called twice today and didn't get a hold of them. She sounds worried."
"Where's the phone?" asked the other cop. "I didn't see it on the receiver." The cop walked down the hallway and leaned over the stairs.
"Can you please press the locator button on the phone receiver," he called to someone below. They waited and soon there came a muffled beeping sound. Richard's ears pricked up and he looked around. The beeping was coming from the closet, and both cops ran to the door before he could. When the first cop's fingertips brushed against the wood, he shuddered and pulled back, hesitating before even reaching for it again.
The door slid open easily, and a shriek greeted them as a black furball leapt out and ran down the hall. They cops snickered for a moment, and turned back to the closet to look inside. Richard was the first to notice the attic entrance, which was open this time.
"Wonder what's up there," he said to the cop next to him. They glanced up and without a word, they climbed through, shinning their flashlights all around.
"What smells?" said one with a gag. Richard didn't smell it until he had climbed through and crawled around a little. When it did hit, he chocked and held his breath. The odor was overbearing and made him want to vomit.
"Hey, look over here!" said one of the cops. They turned and Richard looked closely at the two bodies on the floor. One had its head in the others lap and they both had started to change colors. He sighed and lowered his head. They found Rob and Lucy. He looked back at the other cop who seemed to have the same look of disappointment on his face. "I'll call for another ambulance," he said remorsefully. "And someone make sure Rob's sister gets the word of what's happened and... whoa!" Richard looked in the cop's direction, and saw he was staring in amazement at something laying on the ground. "Who does that belong to?"
Moving closely, Richard peered over his shoulder and gagged again. A raw and bleeding jaw lay smack dab in the middle of the floor...
Hermione woke in a hospital bed the next day with a throbbing headache and few memories of the previous night. Her body ached from the hard mattress and she was freezing. Sitting up was painful, and she groaned loudly in pain. Viktor, who had been sitting unnoticed in the chair near the bed, stood up and sat down on the bed, next to her. It took her a moment to think clearly, and when she did she said nothing, but allowed him to hug her comfortingly.
"Your boss told me what happened," he said softly. "Are you alright?"
"I'm in pain," she muttered, rubbing her soar back. "Have you been here all night?"
"Ever since I recieved the call at eleven last night."
"Did they say anything else?" she asked curiously.
"Not really, why?" She rubbed her forehead and flinched in pain.
"I don't really remember what happened..."
"Hannah died in her sleep," said Viktor. He had no idea of how to break it to her gently, so he just broke it. Hermione nodded though, seeming to remember that a little. "The police think you went into shock when you found her..."
"Wait," she said suddenly as things began to come back to her. "In her sleep... is that what they're saying happened to her?" Viktor stared at her for a minute.
"Yes. Why?"
A brief memory of a ghostly black mist came to her mind. "I don't know," she whispered. "Something... I saw something last night. All I can remember is that the entire time I was there, something felt wrong. Something about that house was all wrong." Viktor nodded, deciding she was still coming to, and gave her another hug to comfort her.
Kelly Raddici sat at her desk, nervously dialing numbers on her cell phone and waiting for the ring tone. This was the seventh try that day, and still there was no word from her brother or sister-in-law. A chill ran down her spine each time she dialed, almost as though she were connecting with something unearthly on the other side. She waited impatiently until the answering machine picked up again, and she sighed, deciding to leave yet another message.
"Hello, Rob? Are you there? It's Kelly. You can reach me at work or at your cell phone. I'm a little worried about you and Lucy..." She sighed and shook her head helplessly. "Just give me a call as soon as you can. Bye." She hung up and leaned back in her seat. If she had to call that house one more time...
She didn't care how many times her brother told her it was just superstition. There was something very wrong with their new house, but she could not put her finger on it.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw something, or someone, run past her at an alarming speed, and she jumped with a yelp as an icy chill came with it. She was on her toes, and looked around nervously, checking to make sure she was alone. Nothing she saw could convince her that she really was. 'I need to get some sleep,' she thought to herself. 'Staying up this late every night is getting to me, that's all... that's all.'
The lights in her office began to flicker, and she grabbed her things and headed out incase they went out. She made a mental note to tell the janitor to replace the bulbs so she wouldn't be left in the dark the next day. Stepping into the hallway only made her feel worse. The enclosed walls of her office felt far more safer than this long open hallway. 'Control yourself!' she scolded herself. Holding her head up high, she began to walk down the hall as casually as she could.
Each step she took seemed to echoe louder until it sounded like a whole different set of footsteps were following her. She stopped, taking a deep breath, and turned around to look. There was nothing there, and she continued on, quickening her pace until she was almost running. About fifteen seconds later, she was sure someone was chasing her, and she ran down the hall and ran through the first door she could find.
When the door slammed, it echoed loudly through the room, and she scrambled to find a light switch. She was in the stairwell, and it was even colder in there than it was outside. If anyone was chasing her, they could easily take the elevator and beat her to whatever floor. She sighed and turned back to the door, deciding that if she moved quickly, she could reach the security office which was right across the hall from that room.
RIIIIING!!! RIIIIING!!!
Kelly nearly jumped out of her skin, and reached into her pocket, pulling out a cellphone. The caller ID read: Raddici, Robert, and she sighed with relief as she answered it. "Rob!" she said before he could talk. "Where the hell are you-" she was cut off by a low noise that grew louder and louder until she dropped the phone. It sounded like an extended croak on the other end, but when she dropped the phone, she realized that the sound was coming from inside as well. Looking up, she could see the lights on the top floor were flickering on and off like mad. She backed against the wall, trembling, and glanced down on the stairs. A body lay there, long black hair completely covering its face and skinny arms moving irregularly like a robot's, making it crawl up the stairs in a strange manner. The sound grew louder, and Kelly screamed, turning to run out the door.
She was halfway through the doorway when something grabbed on to her purse. Turning around she saw, what looked like, a chineese woman, her slitted eyes opened widely, and blueish grey skin. Her mouth was wide open and projecting the unearthly sound, and she was clinging on to Kelly's purse with a vicious grip. Kelly screamed even louder, and ran, dropping her purse, right into the security office and bumping into the guard.
"...in... there!" she panted, pointing across the hall. The guard stared at her curiously. "Something... in... there! Something strange! Something very strange!" The guard nodded and had her sit down while he grabbed his flashlight and made ready to search the hallway. Kelly moved over to the security monitors for that floor and watched them closely. A minute or so went by when she finally spotted the guard, walking down the hall casually, but then stopping and turning to the door to the stairwell with a curious look on his face. Kelly bit her lip and waited, wringing her hands into a tight knot. About a minute later, the guard stepped out and continued down the hall, perfectly alright.
Kelly took in a deep breath and struggled to composed herself. A flickering light got her attention, and she looked back up at the monitors. The lights were flickering wildly until they stopped, glowing brighter than they should have. Then, right where the door to the stairwell was, a black smoke seeped out and rose slowly, taking the shape of a woman, but staying completely black so absolutely no features could be made out. Kelly watched nervously as the ghostly figure staggered closer and closer to the screen.
That was enough for her, and she rose to her feet, running out of the building and catching a cab as fast as she could. Nothing strange happened to her the entire ride, and by the time she was on the elevator, riding to the 10th floor, she was almost breathing normally again. She went into her room, trying to calm herself still, and humming a tune to help her feel better. Inside, her phone was ringing, and she ran to answer, just in time.
"H-hello?"
"Kelly? It's Rob."
She took in a deep breath and smiled. "Rob!" she gasped. "Where are you?"
"My wife and I were out of town. Anyway, I thought I'd drop by and see you. What floor are you on? I can't remember."
"The tenth floor," she muttered. "Room sixteen. I'll buzz you up." She reached over and pressed the button on the wall and waited. Almost immediately there came a knock at the door, and she turned, a little startled. How did Rob get up there that fast?
Something made her tense, and she walked over to the door, looking through the peep-hole. There was Rob, standing there with a casual smile on his face. It still seemed strange, but she shrugged and opened the door. "Rob," she growled. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but-"She stopped. Rob was gone. There was no one standing there and she glanced down the hallway. A loud noise began to echo through the hall, and she jumped, glancing down at the phone still in her hand. The lights began to flicker, and she dropped the phone, running into her bedroom and jumping onto her bed, wrapping the bed sheets tightly around her.
There was nothing for the longest time, only the hammering of her heart in her chest. Even though everything around her told her she was safe, she refused to get out of the security of her bed. She felt like a little kid who's just had the nightmare of a lifetime. Something brushed against her bare feet. It felt icy and prickly like a thousand sharp icicles. She began to tremble, and forced herself to peer over the edge of the bed to see what was happening.
A lump under the covers was making its way to her, a lump big enough to be a body. She screamed as it climbed on top of her and the noise began to echo again. Reaching with trembling hands, she lifted up the bed sheets and a face looked at her. It was the same one from the stairwell. She screamed, but to no avail. The woman grabbed her by the legs and dragged her down, through her bed, and into the fires of hell itself.
Once again, the world continued on, never noticing she was missing...