Chapter 7
Willie paced the floor wringing his hands in front of him. He paused and glanced at the clock. The others had been gone only ten minutes. It felt like an eternity.
His ears perked up as he heard a faint noise outside the front door. The eternity was at an end. He hurried to the entrance, but had only reached the archway when a terrible pounding came from the door. He froze and watched as the ancient doors rattled beneath the onslaught of a pair of fists. Their old hinges couldn't take the strain and they were torn from the frame. The doors clattered to the ground and revealed a shadowy figure.
A wisp of wind blew in through the open hole and extinguished much of the comfort-giving candlelight. Willie stumbled back deeper into the drawing room as the thing shambled into the house. It stepped into the candlelight that came from behind Willie and he received his first, hideous view.
Willie's eyes widened as he beheld a monstrous creature of rotten flesh. His clothes hung on his body like poorly designed drapery. The worst of the creature was his eyes. The light of sentient life had gone out of them, leaving only empty black holes devoid of emotion.
The thing that was once a man stumbled toward him like a drunkard, but the way it moved around the furniture bespoke a greater agility than its shambling legs showed.
Willie slipped around behind the farthest chair and grasped the top with both hands. "G-get away! Get out of here!"
Run, Willie! Sarah shouted in his head.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Willie yelped as the creature reached out for him.
Willie ducked its arms and dashed through the room and to what remained of the front doors. He clambered over them and out into the white night. A thick snowfall surrounded him and blanketed the top of his head and shoulders in their pale embrace.
Willie raced across the portico and down the steps where his feet sank into the deep drifts that surrounded the house. He struggled to stand upright and chanced a glance over his shoulder. The monster walked out of the house with a quick step and hurried over to him.
I'm scared! Sarah yelled.
Willie could feel the vibrations of her fear run through him. She needed comfort. She needed him. He stiffened his jaw and spun around to face the beast. "I won't let it hurt either of us," he swore to her.
The monster dove into the drifts and followed Willie's tracks over to him. Willie stuck his hands into the deep drifts and searched the invisible world beneath the white snow.
Willie, run! Sarah screamed as the monster almost reached them.
"This is gonna work," Willie insisted as the thing reached out its gray hands for them.
Willie's own searching hands struck several hard objects. His fingers wrapped around them and he yanked them from the snow. The soft white fluff blew upwards, startling the monster back a step. Willie shook off the snow and revealed a thick branch that had fallen from the trees around them.
He grasped the branch like a bat and drew back his arms. A grin slipped onto his lips as the monster's empty eyes widened. "Time to knock this off."
Willie swung as hard as he could. The thick branch connected with the side of the thing's head. The creature gave a pain-filled groan and slammed into the snow. It sank into the deep white stuff and lay still.
Willie dropped the stick on the snow beside him and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "That was close."
How did you know the branch was there? Sarah asked him.
He smiled. "Nobody else picks up the branches around here, and I didn't have time to pick them up before the snow came. Guess it was a good thing for us."
"A good thing for the three of us," a voice behind him spoke up.
Willie's eyes widened and he partially turned his head. That was as far as he got before something hard hit the back of his head and he had a quick trip into unconsciousness.
Julia cupped her hands over her mouth and took a deep breath. "Miss Messenger! Where are you?"
Barnabas shone his flashlight over the thick white forest that surrounded him. "She couldn't have gone far."
The pair stood alone in one of the small groves that dotted the Collins woods. The frantic mother had disappeared a few minutes before, leaving them without even footprints to follow.
Julia dropped her hands and studied the woods with her sharp eyes. "I have a feeling she's farther away than we think."
"What do you mean?" Barnabas questioned her.
Julia turned to face him. "What I mean is I think she sent us out here on a wild goose chase."
"For what purpose?" he wondered.
She threw up her arms. "How should I know? All I know is she was here one moment and gone. Nobody could disappear that quickly without doing so intentionally."
While Julia complained about their vanished guide Barnabas glimpsed something black through a wall of thick brush. He pushed through the ever-deepening snow and peeked through the white branches. His eyes narrowed. "Julia."
"What is it?" she snapped.
"There is something you must see."
She humphed and trudged over to where he stood. Barnabas drew aside the branches and revealed the small hollow in which Messenger had performed her unholy calling of Sarah.
Julia stumbled through the brush and gaped at the markings and burnt candles. "My god. . ."
"I doubt His hand was in this," Barnabas mused as he followed her and knelt beside the circle in which Sarah had appeared. He brushed his hand over the black lines and furrowed his brow. "This must be where Sarah was called, and where she was so frightened."
Julia froze and her lips parted in a stifled gasp. She spun around to face Barnabas as he rose. "Barnabas, that means-"
He nodded. "Yes. Miss Messenger is undoubtedly the person who called Sarah, but for what purpose I cannot fathom."
Julia hurried over to him and shook her head. "No, that means she led us here, and away from the house!"
Barnabas' eyes widened and a strangled gasp escaped his lips. "Sarah!"
The pair hurried through the deep snow and rough branches. They arrived at the Old House to find the doors beaten down and the house darkened by the extinguished candles. Barnabas hurried up the steps, but Julia paused in the snow.
"Sarah!" Barnabas shouted as he rushed across the fallen doors. "Sarah! Willie!"
"Barnabas, out here!" Julia yelled.
Barnabas dashed outside and found Julia beside a deep trail in the snow. She pointed at the ruts. "It looks like someone was dragged away."
Barnabas followed the tracks with his eyes. They led to the empty spot where Miss Messenger's station wagon had been parked. He stumbled through the snow to where the car had once been, and Julia followed him.
She pursed her lips as her eyes followed the wheel tracks. "The way it's snowing we might lose the trail."
"But we must try," he insisted.
The pair hurried to Julia's own car and soon sped off down the road guided by the disappearing tire tracks.
Willie groaned. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck. His eyes flitted open and he found himself staring at horribly familiar walls. It was the dank and cold Collins family tomb on Eagle Hill. A few candles were placed at the corners of the crypt and their light caused shadows to dance on the walls.
Willie glanced on either side of him and his eyes widened. He lay on top of the third stone coffin. Sarah's coffin. He tried to jump up, but his arms and legs were strapped to his body by tight, rough ropes.
A shadow fell over him. He looked up and yelped. A person in a black cloak stood at the foot of the coffin near the door. Behind them in the open doorway to the tomb was the monstrous creature from the Old House. The figure drew back their hood and revealed themselves to be Messenger.
A soft, gentle smile graced her lips as she strode over to Willie's side. "I'm so sorry," she cooed as she stroked his hair. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"W-what the hell's going on?" Willie asked her as he strained against the ropes. "Why am I here?"
Messenger's face twisted in disgust. "I'm not talking to you, boy. I'm talking to Sarah."
"Sarah?" Willie squeaked. "What's she got to do with this?"
"Everything," Messenger told him. Willie yelped as she plucked one of his hairs from his head. The woman stepped away and walked around to the far side of the adjoining coffin. A thick, ancient book lay on the coffin, and beside that was a small vase. She opened the book and flipped through until she found the right page. "Now stop squirming. This won't take very long."
"Why are you gonna do to me?"
"I'm not doing anything to you. Yet," the woman cooed as she opened the vase and poured the contents onto the lid of the coffin. It was black, powder-like substance. The woman shut the vase and gently spread the contents further over the stone coffin. "There you go, Emily. Soon you'll be yourself again."
"What are you talking about? Who's Emily?" Willie questioned her.
She cradled the vase in her arms and rocked it to and fro. "Emily is my daughter, or rather, was. She died a year ago this very night, but you're going to help me bring her back. Both of you."
"Y-you're nuts if you think I'm helping any dead body be brought back!" Willie snapped.
She laughed. "I'm afraid you have no choice." She tilted her head to one side and studied his bindings. "But I see you've been working away at your ropes. Ken?"
The creature shuffled up to Willie's side and tightened the ropes. Willie started back at the cold, clammy touch of the creature.
"Don't be afraid of him," she cooed as she set her hand on Ben's shoulder. "He's just Ben, my ex-husband. 'Ex' in many ways, that is. We divorced after sweet Emily passed on, but I still needed his help." She brushed her fingers across his throat. Willie's eyes widened as he beheld a long scar where a knife had been dragged across the skin. "It was so easy to kill him. Just a simple flick of a knife, but bringing back his soul-" she sighed and shook her head as he shambled back to the doorway, "-that wasn't quite as successful as I'd hoped."
Willie's pulse quickened "Y-you killed him?"
She returned her attention to him and nodded. "Oh yes. I needed to see if the spell would work before I used it on Emily. With his help I learned that I needed a conduit to the other side, a guide, if you would. I found just the person." She raised her eyes to the plaque on the wall. "Sweet, innocent Sarah will work perfectly to lead my Emily back to me."
The young man frowned. "But what's gonna happen to Sarah?"
She laughed. "You should be more worried about yourself, sir. With her mission fulfilled Sarah will be sent to the other side to rest in peace, but you-" she raised her hand above the ash and dropped his hair onto the pile of dust, "-you will provide the body."
Willie's voice was an octave higher than usual. "I'm gonna what?"
She gestured to the ashes before her. "These ashes are all that remain of my dear little girl. I thought I'd use Ben to provide the flesh and bone, but you'll do much better. So handsome and alive. Your flesh will be reworked into her image and you will live on as her body."
"No deal!" Willie refused as he thrashed in the binding of the ropes.
"You don't have a choice," she countered as she picked up the book and cleared her throat. "Ancient spirits who inhabit this hallowed vault, hear my prayer. I wish to call forth the spirit of one who died in innocence." The pages of the book shivered as a chilling breeze swept through the tomb. "I give you a sacrifice of soul and form so that you might return my daughter to me!"
Messenger reached into her cloak and drew out a long dagger. Willie flailed harder as she walked over to where he lay. She raised the dagger over him and its silver blade glistened in the pale light of the whipping candles.
"Take this form now!" she screamed as she plunged the dagger downward.
Willie felt a sharp pain in his chest, and then nothing.