Vacation VII- The secret is out II

As soon as she had cleaned up the closet, Tessa headed for the house. She had so much on her heart now, but Zoë was first on her mind. When she reached the place where she'd left Zoë she found her sister gone and the door open a jar.

"Zoë!" She called as she went through the door. She made sure the gun was hidden in her pocket where she could get to it quickly if she needed it. She felt like she was in a Star Wars film.

She walked quietly down the dimly lit hallway. Rats scurried about her feet, and shadows loomed about her, of their origin she didn't know. Finally she came to the end of the hall. There she could go either left or right. She chose to first go right; there was light at the end of the hallway.

At the end of the hall there was a room, it looked to be a library. It was dusty and ridden with cobwebs. She could see lightening flash threw a little stain glass window. The thunder still rumbled in the background. She was frightened.

"Hello, dear." Came a voice.

Tessa drew her gun and quickly turned around, pointing it at the figure. The apparition of an old woman sat in the chair behind her. She hadn't noticed her before.

"Are, are you Amelia James?" She asked.

"Yes, and don't be so frightened dear. I've been dead for twenty years. Are you an angel?"

"Yes." Tessa nodded breathlessly.

"Are you hear to take me to heaven?"

"No." She said. "Why wouldn't you go when you died?"

"Who told you that?"

"My Dad. He was you're angel of death."

"Oh yes, Andrew, and his wife, Monica. They are your parents?" Tessa nodded.

"I liked them, but I just wasn't ready to go, I am now."

"Why?"

"There are demons there, down that hall. I may be a ghost, but I'm not that type of woman, do you know what I mean sweetheart?"

"Yeah."

"I'm here to take you home." Came a voice. It was Adam. Tessa quietly tried to slip out of the room, eager to find Zoë.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I, I really need to find my sister. Do you know where she is?"

"Down the hall." Tessa turned to leave.

"Angel Kid…" Tessa turned around.

"Yes."

"For all that your parents did for me…. I want you to have this house." Tessa didn't know what to say.

"Thank you." She said. "Now go with this angel, I know you'll have a wonderful eternity."

"Thank you deary."

And with that, Tessa ran out of the room. When she reached the dark hallway once more she felt paralyzed with fear. It was dark there. Literally and figuratively. She could sense evil all around her. The rats cowered in fear and hurried to the other hallway under her feet. Tessa gulped as she continued to walk into the darkness.

………………..

"Are you okay Moni?" Andrew asked as he held her in his arms.

"I suppose. I'm so worried about our girls in that house Andrew." She turned her head to look up into his face.

"I know. Me too. They will be fine and they will be back soon, so don't worry your pretty head." He kissed her cheek.

"Andrew I have something to tell you."

"What's that?"

"Do you remember all the time that we spent on the island a couple of months ago?"

"Yeah. I could never forget." He smiled, tightening his hold on her.

"Do you remember, when we got back, how we were shocked to find out that I wasn't pregnant, even though we weren't really trying."

"Yeah."

"I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago…"

"Are we going to have a baby?" He asked.

"No." She said coolly. "I can't…I can't have any more babies Andrew." She broke out crying and she clung to his shirt.

"Oh Monica, Monica, it's okay. It's okay my sweetheart." He kissed her softly through her hair and held her tightly to him. "I am so thankful for the three beautiful little girls you've given me. I love them so much, and I love you so much."

"I feel like, like I should have given you a son too."

"I know angel, but I don't measure our marriage by how many babies we can have. If you remember correctly, we married thinking that we could never have a baby, let alone three."

"I married you for you. And you and I will still be together forever, got that?"

"Yes." She looked into his eyes, tears still pouring out of her own eyes. "Tessa and Zoë are in great danger, and I'm so afraid that we're about to have one baby and not three." He held her, as she sobbed. They prayed together, and then he tried to figure out how to calm her, he knew he couldn't let Sophie see her mother when she was this hysterical.

"I love you forever Monica." He whispered as she cried.

"Forever and ever, Andrew." He kissed her again and rubbed her back trying to calm her. He too had worry on his heart for both Tessa and Zoë. What if she was right, what if they were about to loose their girls? Sighing he spent the afternoon praying as he held her. Then he realized that something he'd vowed to do by then, (years ago), had not been done.

………………..

As Tessa walked down the long dark hallway, she grew increasingly afraid by the second. She stopped when she reached another door. As she opened it, she realized that she was shaking fiercely. She tip toed inside, fearing that she'd collapse on the cold hard ground any second. She looked all around her. The place she was before had all the appearances of a formal Cape Cod residence that was just in disarray. This room however was clean and appeared more like a dungeon in an old stone castle. She felt the presence of evil all around her, the darkness engulfed her. Everything went black. Suddenly a few candles were lit and she could see just a little. A dark figure approached her. She couldn't make it out at all. She and the figure were merely inches apart. The figure lit a single match, a little light to illuminate the darkness. And there Tessa stood, looking into her own eyes.