Chapter 7:

I came across Elias in my own home. I was so shocked.

I came home from work a week later, actually, and I saw this debonair-looking guy with a neat beard and suit jacket with a black turtleneck underneath it, fine slacks but I wouldn't say they were top dollar. He was standing up, and Barbi was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed at the ankles. She looked pale and shaken up.

"Barbi?" I asked, making my way toward her. I sped up. "Are you okay?" I went to my knees, glancing over at Elias. "Y-You…"

"I'm sorry, introductions are long overdue," he told me. He sounded totally insane in the tapes, but in real life…it wasn't much different, if anything. He had that wild look in his eyes, still, just like the tapes.

"W-Where did you come from?" I questioned. "I…I saw those tapes! I thought you were-"

"Dead?" he cut in, chuckling. "No, no. I was staying here, but have stuck around the whole time." He stopped, correcting himself. "Well, technically, I only stayed here for six months in 2005, but had to leave when…" I could tell he was being careful of what to say around Barbi, "Mr. and Mrs. MacLean passed. No one who knew the history of this place would touch it. I must say, what confused me more," he paused, going toward me and Barbi, sitting down next to her, "is that you and your sister are still here. I could have sworn you had gone elsewhere. You were so young when…all of that happened."

Barbi nodded slightly: "y-yes. We were taken in by our uncle…b-but…he is gone now…Cole was kind enough to let us live with him."

"Oh?" Elias looked at me, and I raised my hand.

"They were out in the woods," I said. "The Christian in me didn't want them alone. Especially after what happened. It was terrible."

Elias lounged back on the sofa and sprawled his arm outward. "You don't say."

I just stared at him, long and hard. I couldn't believe this man, but I knew that he knew things I didn't. Even in the tapes, he said he was a professor, doing research in this godforsaken corner of the country. However, I still wasn't answered, because all he did was ramble about him sticking around. Was Barbi afraid because he had suddenly showed up? That was my first thought, but…it wasn't the case. So I asked.

"How did you get in my house?" I asked.

His answer chilled me to the bone – "this young lady here was being attacked by Mr. Piggy."

I raised my eyebrows: "Mr. Piggy?"

"Well," Barbi said, trying to get the words out, still shaken up. "I…I was trying to take a bath upstairs and…the minute I open the curtain, I…" She began to cry, and I held her close, ruffling her red hair. "I see this ugly thing! He had a pig's head! A-And he tried to stab me! I ran and I ran, I nearly tripped down the stairs and I tried to get away but he kept appearing! He blocked the door, and I hear…"

She stopped, crying frightfully: "what did you hear?" I asked.

So she said, in a whisper: "Croatoan".

There was that word again. Those retarded boys, Cricket, and now Elias saying it. I knew it was a protective word, but then Elias stepped in to give his say.

"What is with this word?" I asked aloud. "I keep hearing it. First those boys, then Cricket, and now you. He told me it was protective."

Elias said what he had to: "The word 'Croatoan' was actually a message carved into a tree, left by the settlers for the others so they could find the lost colony. It is actually a word of dark power and blood magic."

I looked down, seeing the skirt of Barbi's casual, mint green dress. I held her hands into mine, feeling that…I don't know…mutual uneasiness, I guess is the word? But yeah…he knew things. I knew that.

"I'm important to you for your survival," he told us, making my eyes widen a bit. "You want me here."

I was a bit skeptical, especially since we had Cricket staying with us. He wasn't that big a crock as I thought previously, but this man here…he was from the tapes! I watched those tapes, as disturbing as they were. He knew stuff…and I knew damn well he'd be important to us.

He took me (just me) down into the cellar of the house and led me to where he had stored and left his research behind. It was close to sunset, after we all had dinner. He took out a couple files from the drawer, and I took a gander at one. This had information from the building of the house.

"You have them all in order," I pointed out.

"Yes. That was Edward Felippe Mott, the first to disappear from this house," Elias told me. "Be aware, you've got your hands on a chunk of my life's work here. Be careful."

He just had them coming…files on files on files…it was endless. Aged pages upon aged pages of details about people who had also been affected by the pull on this house.

"Do you remember any of the content based on what Professor Cunningham told you?" the interviewer asked.

Yes. Of course. One particular case was that of the Chens in the '70s. They were from Taiwan, and they wanted to live the American Dream, you know? Full immersion. According to Elias, they adopted American names and they spoke only English in the house. They were immigrants and nobody told them the history of the land around them. They were dumber than doornails, I'd say, but it wasn't like, you know, they were told. So, the Chens fought back by praying to their ancestors, and they made offerings to protect them from evil. They were no match for what was already there.

"I guess they never had a chance," Elias told me.

That was the first I read, that I can remember. Then I took a gander at another case from the '50s, where three hunters turned their guns on each other. Heads blown clean off. Craziest thing I had read about that house.

But…what he said next, really disturbed me. It was something about the moon phases. It sounded like a bunch of Satanic mumbo-jumbo to me, but I still listened, given the entire situation.

"Every death, every missing person, takes place during the same lunar cycle in October," he explained. "The Native Americans called it the Dying Grass Moon. It's six, blood-drenched days lasting from the first quarter moon, to the blood moon. Now, the spirits can haunt you at any time. They can show themselves, or not, but during this period, this is when they can kill."

"Oh Good Lord," I muttered, putting a file back where I had found it with his other work. "T-This explains everything. Y-You know, Barbi and Sarah's uncle, Martin?"

"The one they were taken in by?" Elias asked, looking down at an open file. "Go on."

"I…I witnessed him being…sacrificed," I revealed, "and…I saw Barbi that same night. I was so scared…t-they were doing devil worship." I paused, gulping hard with a dry throat. "I…I had Barbi call the police. Before that, someone slit my dog's throat and left him on my porch. I called the police, but by that point, the police would've thought I was crying wolf about this event. But…they sent out search parties for him. But Barbi and I knew he was dead. They found his body just lying in the woods, butchered, mutilated. Police came to my house because they found two tards in the barn."

I heard Elias sigh: "I remember when those girls were young. Lawrence, their dad, was a friend of mine. A respected colleague. Bright professor. Students loved him."

"D-Do you know exactly…how they were, you know-"

"Killed?" Elias asked.

I nodded.

He answered: "here's the weird thing…I've always had my suspicions about those girls."

"No, no," I disagreed so hard at that point. "Barbi couldn't have killed her own parents. She ain't like that, and she would've been too young-"

"I'm not talking about Barbi. There's no way it was her," Elias said.

"Then…who?" I asked slowly, moving a little closer for a more private talk between men.

He began to whisper: "well, I recall coming back. Remember that I had been staying with the MacLeans to do research for my book. Anyways, I was out for the evening. The police were called. I think Barbi was the one to call 911. I heard that she was frantically crying. She was only a little girl. I can only imagine what she must have felt, seeing her parents butchered up on the floor like they were."

"Butchered?!" I exclaimed under my breath. I was shocked. The only thing I could have possibly thought was that the ghost of Thomasin killed them.

"Yes. I remember seeing them close Lawrence's body bag. He was covered head to toe in blood. His face was so terribly disfigured that I couldn't recognize him," Elias told me. "I went to check on the girls. Sarah was trying to console Barbi, who was still sobbing madly. Sarah, though…I don't know. I've always felt something was off with that girl."

I couldn't believe it, but I continued to listen to Elias. He was exactly who I needed to reveal the truth of it all to me, even if they were vague impressions he'd gotten from staying with them that time.

"I had known Lawrence for quite a few years, since before even Sarah was born. We went to the same university. I remember him and Kelly, his wife, being overjoyed to welcome a baby girl into the family. Well, when Sarah turned 4 years old, that was when Kelly was pregnant with Barbi. I remember Lawrence and I would go out once a week for drinks, and he'd tell me the darndest things Sarah would say."

I just looked at him and nearly shook my head, but asked: "what did she say?"

"Kelly had been pregnant, and was just starting to show," he said to me. "Lawrence told me that Kelly had been just relaxing, and Sarah came into the room. She said something to the effect of, 'I'm so excited to welcome your baby sister.' Sarah's response was, according to Lawrence, 'you know, they're gonna have to cut it out of you…I think that baby just might crawl from your mouth.'"

I was terrified at this. I felt my body shaking. It didn't surprise me that she'd say that, though. But, the kicker was, Elias told me that Barbi was born via c-section. Can't explain something like that. I just responded with this look on my face.

"There was another time," he said, "and it was so peculiar. It happened to be a few days before the death of Lawrence and his wife. She had been taking a fit over something or other. I also knew that Sarah had held a knife to Barbi's throat and was locked away in Raleigh for half a year as a result. I was staying at the house during the time she was away. She seemed to be better-behaved when she returned, however, but…this is why I have my suspicions about the girls."

I was dying to hear why. I was tired of the rambling. But he got to it. Sarah had said during her outburst, "You all can just die! Then I'll hate you even more, and let the dog chew on you!" I was…terrified, to say the very least, knowing she was now under my roof. With Barbi. Just down the hall from me in my bedroom.

"I…can't believe it," I said, "but it isn't like I could be surprised either. She creeps me out. E-Even when we met."

"It wasn't Barbi, nor The Butcher," Elias said. "It was Sarah. I do believe it was her."

"How did you feel about this? Knowing that you likely had a living killer under your roof?" the interviewer asked. Cole stroked his chin and sighed, sipping his water.

Terrified. Absolutely terrified. I would have kicked her out, but Barbi was glued to her sister like a baby to her momma. Yet all of this was hearsay, and Elias said that he was out of the house when their parents were killed. So…unless he had concrete proof, I wasn't going to buy it.

But…there was one thing I did find out more about.

"Which was?" the interviewer asked, jotting it down on his notepad.

That…creature who…mounted me.

"Do you wish to tell us more, Mr. Paterson?" he asked.

Yes, that's why I'm here.

So here goes: I trusted Cricket enough by a week of him staying with us, that I told him about…what happened to me. We were in the kitchen, Barbi and Sarah were already asleep, it was 5 of 11 in the evening. He'd been looking around for a drink; Coke Zero or whatever. I don't carry that crap. Pepsi or Dr. Pepper is the go-to for me.

"I'd murder someone for a Coke Zero." When he said that, I felt so uncomfortable. I was already at the table with my Dr. Pepper. Then he looked behind himself at me: "do you have any?"

"Nah, Coke regular or Dr. Pepper," I said. "Help yourself."

He grabbed himself a drink and came back. That's when I gave him the details. He just listened to me, sipping his drink quietly, taking in, you know, every word I was saying. To say the least, I knew he felt bad, but something about him seemed…off, maybe even a little troubled. But I wasn't looking for sympathy. All I wanted was answers, and sure enough, I got them.

"Cole," he said, reaching for my hand, "I got it all from the horse's mouth. I swear, I had my wits about me. I saw her before that happened to you…and I lived to tell the tale. That woman, she is the true power of this land."

"S-She an Injun, or?" I was curious.

"No. Beyond what you could imagine. Beyond what I was able to imagine at the time," Cricket told me, letting my hand go. "She blinded me. All I remembered before wakin' up was dust bein' blown in my face, but I was in a dream." He stopped. "Wait, not a dream. I was literally taken back in time."

I just looked at him with…amazement. Who ever knew this was possible, huh? So, like anything else, I just listened.

"She is the true leader of the Roanoke colony," he told me. "The mistress behind the Butcher and all of her wraiths. She took my hand, and the black veil was lifted. I was no longer in the forest. She had hurtled me centuries into the past, smack dab in the middle of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries there ever was. Your house, this land, is the site of the true lost colony of Roanoke. But they were never lost. They came here, and they were livin' in the horn of plenty. Except it didn't come for free. There was a price to pay for all this bliss. People were sacrificed, especially children. Thomasin led the rituals. That was how that poor young girl Priscilla died. Her head was crushed under the weight of a rock."

That's when it all came together. They lived in plenty not because of their Christianity, but…human sacrifice. They practiced devil-worship! For heaven's sake. When I said this, he corrected me, but…I wasn't having it deep down. There is one God and his son was Christ, sent to earth to die for our sins. Simple as that.

"There are older religions, crueler than anyone could imagine," he told me. "Yet not all were on board for this little turn to the dark side. Thomasin's son, Ambrose, was a devout Christian even still as his mother served this woman, and warned his mother. Begged to pray for her soul when the Last Judgement came, said that this woman tainted her mind and conscience. Ambrose led the colony to abandon Thomasin once again, but…the woman came up with a way to punish them all and help Thomasin in order to obtain eternal favor with this woman from the woods. And so, Thomasin and her mistress, pretended to be spoken to by Christ, and pretended to want reprieve from the colonists. Fruits were passed around, but they were toxic. Within moments, everyone foamed from the mouth. Thomasin turned on Ambrose, who was chokin' to death, and stabbed him in the heart. The woman of the woods looked on to see Thomasin continue to massacre the colonists, soakin' herself in blood. As a final bloodshed, Thomasin knelt before the woman, who slashed her throat to seal the dark sacrament."

I was so dumbfounded. All of this happened on MY land. Cricket was like a second history book, with Elias with us, too. And I believed every word of what he was saying by this point. None of that 'Christianity forbids it' bullcrap, not even that skepticism from logic and reason. This was all VERY real.

"So you see," Cricket continued, finishing his drink, "it was a blood sacrifice to the ancient gods, an offerin' so great it consecrated this ground, bondin' them to all of it for eternity. That's why every year, on the anniversary of the slaughter, these spirits go from bein' merely loathsome to lethal."

"Elias said the same thing," I said. "Something about a Blood Moon."

"Yes," Cricket said. "Six days in October are the days of the most sacrifices on this land by the spirits."

"But…the woman," I said, "you didn't answer me. Who is she?"

He answered me within a few moments. I was dying to know, and sure enough, I found out.

"Her name is Scáthach," he told me, sounding a bit scared. "She'd been an English girl, once. A descendant of the Druids and their Roman conquerors. The Druids were the clergical class of the Ancient Celtic people, who worshipped the old gods, before Christ was even a thought. She left England as a stowaway on a voyage that was plagued with misfortune. Many men died, and she was discovered upon landin' in the New World, blamed for the deaths on the journey. They believed it angered the sea gods to travel with a woman on board, and it was decided she would be burned at the stake…as a Witch."

A Witch. I was so shocked. That explained everything. I…I thought of what my Uncle Charlie said growing up, about the devil being in the form of a woman. What if…David had, you know, the SAME thing happen to him…lured away from Christianity by a Witch? I just kept listening, though. I wanted to save my say for after.

"There were other gods demanding blood. More ancient and thirsty gods," he said to me. "The massacre of the white soldiers in the prison Scáthach was kept in was blamed on the Indians and she escaped into the wild. Seemed the old magic and the New World created somethin' new and original."

"She wanted you to understand her," I said finally. "S-She wanted you to join her, and I bet you would've, too."

He just looked at me weird. His eyes were blue and…just eyeing me up and down. Figuring out what my issue was. My issue was my upbringing, that's what. But what he said next chilled me to the bone.

"Thank you for fearin' for my safety," Cricket said, "but I ain't David."

David is my fourth cousin, as you'll remember from the beginning of the interview. He died in the '80s in a car crash. Didn't even mention him to Cricket at all, either. Speechless.

"Yes, David did everythin' for the woman he loved," Cricket told me.

"Tell me," I said, leaning in a bit. "Tell me what happened to David. Why did Uncle Charlie hate him so much? What did he mean when he said the devil in the form of a woman took his soul away?"

David was our family's black sheep. I was barely told about him except the crap Uncle Charlie's diarrhea-mouth spat. I wanted to know more about him, and if Cricket knew, I wanted the answers.

"Elina was a young girl in the '70s, and she lived in your town with her family on a farm," Cricket said. "Elina was an extremely beautiful girl, so beautiful she was freakish with…white hair and fair skin and fiery eyes. She was a descendant of Swedish Witches through her mother, an expatriate from Sweden. At such a young age, she was already showin' so much power. She and her mother, along with the rest of the family, attended church to keep that balance in their lives, but for young Elina, it went only so far. David set eyes on her, and did all he could to win her heart, despite the age difference."

I looked at him: "h-he was a pedophile?!"

"No, no," Cricket said, "he was not. But I will tell you, he was 17 at the time they met. She was much younger. I'd say 12 or 13. His father warned him and warned him about Elina, fearin' that she'd harm him. David began to take up the occult in college. His father was angry with this, and the last time she and him were in the same vicinity, your Uncle Charlie was tossed a couple of tens of feet in the air and was injured…by Elina, the young Witch who stole away David's heart."

I was so…amazed. Again. I knew my mom's side of the family were fundamentalist Christians. Here I was, thinking they'd have the hand of God at their sides…but no. David was raised religious and was tempted by a Witch away from the faith. This same Witch hurt my Uncle Charlie…he wasn't lying when he said this, either. When Uncle Charlie was alive, he'd often spit out that 'a Witch is the reason I'm in a wheelchair' nonsense…but now it was real. All real.

Then I began to have thoughts about Barbi. No way in hell she was a Witch.

"David is dead," I said, looking down at the table.

"He is," Cricket said.

"But what about the Witch? Elina, is her name?" I asked.

I felt relief in his next words. Well, partially: "Was, you mean? She also is deceased. Her daughters and son are still alive and thrivin' in New Orleans."

"How'd she die?" I asked.

"Let's just say," he said, getting up and leaning to pat my shoulder: "stuck in limbo is the worst kind of Hell you could experience."

I didn't know what he meant, but I'm glad he gave me some answers. Truth is, I was living in hell. That house was Hell compared to anything I've ever experienced that was bad.

Ironically, Cricket actually suggested Witchcraft to get the spirits off the land. I didn't even object. I didn't care anymore. I wanted it all to stop. He was getting prepared to get some stuff from his suitcase: apparently herbs, candles, a book of chants, or whatever he needed. They were in his room.

I hadn't seen Elias Cunningham in a while, nor had I seen Sarah within the next day or so. Elias was gone longer. I had no clue as to where. He probably was out doing research, continuing his project.

The next night…

Cole trailed off fearfully, sniffling and holding back empathetic tears. The interviewer looked at him and asked him a question: "what happened the next night? After seeing Cricket about all this?"

Something…terrible. Elias was right, that's all I could say. He had been gone for a while, without saying here he'd be. I thought he was just doing research. I couldn't be any more than wrong.

I heard a scream from downstairs. I rushed down, and it was Barbi. Cricket had gotten to her first, and we saw her by the window. Outside, there was the ghost mob, all of the colonists with torches and knives and God only knew what…and…I…I can't believe it, to this day, what we saw before our very eyes.

"What was it?" the interviewer asked.

It was…Thomasin…Ambrose…and being held…was Elias.

"Who else?"

Cole took a minute before answering: it was Sarah.

My Lord, he was right, because what we saw next…and heard…and felt…i-it's still something I talk to my shrink about to this day. Sarah…didn't even look like she was being held captive or anything. She was just…there.

I opened the window and looked out to them, shouting: "WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE Y'ALL DOIN' WITH HIM?"

Cricket didn't seem pleased behind me, and Barbi was just crying. Poor girl must've been horrified to see her sister in the crowd of ghosts.

"This land is MINE!" I heard Thomasin's ghost shout. "Time for bartering has ended. It's time for the land to be reclaimed and consecrated with fresh blood."

"NO! DON'T HURT HIM!" I screamed. "Let him go, and I swear to Jesus, I'll pack up and leave the state! I PROMISE!"

"Time for bartering has ended!" Thomasin cried, almost like a battle shout.

Then…I heard Elias…his last words…for real, this time. Not on a tape.

"Give that little bitch to your land!" he cried out, pointing to Sarah at the side. "She's a monster! She killed her own parents!"

I looked at Barbi's sullen face, then to Cricket's scared one, and the next time I glanced out the window…t-that's when I saw it.

Sarah was called by Thomasin to…cut Elias' stomach open…and…

"Take your time," the interviewer said, "I know this is all very heavy to remember."

It is…I…I'm sick just thinking about this. I remember nearly throwing up on Barbi. It was that…UGH!

Cole paused, shaking his head and shedding some tears.

That poor man…h-he was our…only hope of concrete facts…about the happenings there. I just…watched…and Sarah…s-she took a hook from Ambrose, and…dug it into Elias' entrails…disemboweled him!

It was beyond chilling – s-she had no expression of remorse or guilt. It was like, she enjoyed this…disgusting act.

S-She yanked them out…Thomasin kept telling her to stand back…and…E-Elias was dead within minutes…bled all over.

Cricket caught Barbi. She fainted out cold. Face pale like the moon. He was still horrified, though.

"Oh dear Lord," he said with a sob. I had the gall to just stand there…and hear Thomasin speak to Sarah.

"I thank thee," she said to her. "You've offered another sacrifice for this land. You shall be rewarded greatly."

A/N:

So…plot twist! Usual of me, but it was coming one way or another!

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