Chapter 4
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."
Ellie heard her phone ringing but she couldn't spare any attention to answering it. The room was spinning around her and Tim was still acting crazy. She didn't even know where her phone was. All she knew was that things were looking strange, but she was still trying to get Tim to focus on reality.
"Tim, please. This isn't the poem. I'm not Lenore!"
"The raven is talking! I hear it! You hear it!" Tim raved and shook Ellie a little bit.
"Yes, but..."
She looked over and saw the raven. It was standing on her phone on the floor, looking for all the world like it was trying to have a conversation.
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
Abruptly, Tim let her go and starting pacing back and forth for a few seconds, muttering to himself. Then, he stopped.
"See! It means something!" Tim said, pointing at it. "Lost and you have to be found!"
"No, Tim. I'm not lost. I just... really don't feel very good," Ellie said, shaking her head.
Tim walked up to her again and looked her in the eye, and just for a moment, that strange gleam in his eyes vanished and he looked uncertain.
"What... was... I saying?" he asked, his voice almost faint.
"Tim, we need to go back to the hospital," Ellie said.
"Who... is that?" he said softly.
"Tim, it's me. Ellie."
"No. Behind you."
Just like Lt. Mason had said. Now, Ellie was genuinely afraid, but Tim was looking back over her shoulder. What was he looking at? Ellie swallowed nervously. Tim just looked very confused, but she wasn't sure that could be indicative of anything more than his delusion coming back.
The raven began cawing again. First, just regular cawing. Then, the ringtone. Then... once more...
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
"Leave us alone," Tim whispered and then his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed to the floor.
Ellie was now alone. ...except for the looming presence behind her. She turned around.
A black shadow towered over her.
She screamed.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"Why would they even think to go back to the house?" Tony asked.
"No idea," Gibbs said.
"And who had Bishop's phone?"
"Don't know."
"You sure the voice wasn't McGee?"
"Nope."
Tony looked out the windshield silently for a few seconds, but he couldn't stay quiet.
"And this was caused by a fungus?"
"Guess so."
"Like mold?"
"Guess so."
"I thought that mold just clogged your sinuses."
"Apparently not."
They arrived at the crime scene and saw the car parked out front. They both got out of the car and headed into the old house. As they stepped inside, Tony looked at Gibbs, silently asking permission to call out. There was still the matter of the voice Gibbs had heard on Ellie's phone. Gibbs nodded.
"McGee! Bishop!" Tony shouted.
No response. Gibbs gestured up the stairs and both of them pulled out their weapons. They quietly walked up and then heard a distant voice.
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
Tony looked at Gibbs. He nodded.
"Same voice," Gibbs said softly.
"That's not McGee."
They quietly mounted the stairs and then heard heavy footsteps above their heads.
In the attic?
They started that way, but then, Tony looked in one of the rooms and saw Ellie lying on the floor, unmoving.
"Bishop!" he said.
Gibbs looked and gestured. They both went into the room. Tony knelt down by Ellie while Gibbs kept on the lookout.
Ellie was breathing irregularly, but she was breathing at least. Tony tapped her cheeks gently and she jerked a little bit.
"Ellie, can you hear me?" Tony asked.
Suddenly, Ellie's eyes opened wide and she stared behind Tony. For a moment she seemed petrified and then, she screamed. Tony glanced back over his shoulder and saw nothing. Apparently, Ellie did. She was panicked.
"Get it away from me! Get away!"
"Ellie, it's Tony! You're all right. There's no one else here," Tony said.
Ellie started pulling away from Tony, but he held onto her.
"No! Can't you see it?" she said, her eyes wide with fear. "Get it away!"
Gibbs knelt down in front of her.
"Bishop, where's McGee?" he asked.
Her eyes were wild and unseeing.
"It found us," she whispered.
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
That voice again. Tony looked at Gibbs and then at Ellie again. Wherever Tim was, they couldn't leave Ellie alone in this state, but it wouldn't be safe to go off alone when it sounded like there was someone else in the house.
Tony could see that Gibbs had made a decision.
"Get her out of the house and call for backup."
"Boss..."
"Now, DiNozzo."
Reluctantly, Tony nodded. He lifted Ellie off the floor.
"Come on, Bishop. We're getting away."
For a moment, she resisted, but then, she grabbed Tony's arm.
"But he's lost! He thought it was me, but it was him!"
"McGee?"
"He's lost and... and the raven is calling him! Can't you hear it?"
Tony didn't know what to say to the raving. Instead, he started leading Ellie down the stairs while Gibbs kept moving toward the stairs to the attack.
"What's with the raven, Ellie?"
"It's calling! It saved me from it!"
"From what?"
"The darkness. Nothing... nothing more."
Why would Ellie's delusions be around that poem? Sure, they'd talked about it briefly but why would that be what she held onto? Still, he kept leading her on. They got out of the house and while Tony could wish that Ellie's delusions would be instantly cured with a breath of fresh air, he knew that was unlikely. Instead, he kept a firm hold on her and led her to the car. He put her in the back seat and then pulled out his phone and called for backup, hoping that it would get here quickly so that he could go back in. He looked back at the house, worrying.
"It's in there," Ellie said. "It never leaves. Nevermore."
Tony wanted to find all this ridiculous, but Ellie was clearly afraid and delusional or not, it was hard to dismiss her fear. He didn't like being out here while Gibbs was inside alone looking for Tim.
Ellie grabbed his arm.
"You have to help him, Tony. You have to. He can't be alone. He's lost!"
Tony looked at Ellie. She was clearly not rational, but still...
He sighed and looked toward the house.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"McGee?" Gibbs called out.
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
That wasn't Tim, but he could still hear a heavy tread above his head.
"McGee!"
Another flight of stairs seemed to lead up to an attic space. Still with his gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other, Gibbs walked up very cautiously.
As he reached the top of the stairs, he suddenly could smell a very strong, peculiar odor. Was this the fungus Dr. Moritz had mentioned?
"McGee?"
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
The voice was now accompanied by the sound of wings. He swung the flashlight around and caught a large black shape flying around near the ceiling.
"It won't leave."
That was Tim. Gibbs swung the flashlight around and off in the corner, Tim was pacing back and forth.
"McGee."
"It won't leave. It won't ever leave. It's always here."
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" came the voice again.
"Then, you can leave."
"No! I can't. Not while it's there!"
"Why not?"
A long silence. Gibbs swung the flashlight around again, looking for anything else in the room and to his surprise, the black shape flying around settled on an old wooden chair. It cawed.
A raven.
And then, the cawing was replaced by...
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"
Gibbs wasn't sure he could believe it, but he watched as the raven actually spoke. Then, while he was watching, the raven opened its beak and made a sound that was very like a ringtone. He turned back to Tim who was still pacing relentlessly back and forth.
"Tim, it's just a bird."
"No, not that."
"Then, what?"
"The darkness. It's all around."
"The power's out."
"The darkness is here. It got her and took her away."
Gibbs put his gun away and walked over to Tim. He stopped Tim's pacing and could feel Tim trembling.
"Ellie's fine. She's out at the car."
Tim looked at him, but he didn't seem at all rational.
"She's gone. She's gone. It's the darkness."
"Darkness," the raven repeated, sounding very similar to Tim. "Darkness."
"Tim, let's just go."
"I can't! It's here! The raven knows!" Tim shouted and pulled back.
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" the raven said.
Gibbs tried not to be frustrated. Tim probably didn't really know what he was saying and may not even remember this later, but still, this was eminently annoying. Plus, even in this state, Tim was actually quite strong and getting him out of the house might be difficult if Gibbs had to force him. It wasn't like he could just knock Tim out again.
"It's coming! It's coming back!" Tim suddenly shouted in a panic and pulled away from Gibbs, backing away until he ran into the wall. His eyes were wide with fear at whatever he could see.
Gibbs looked back over his shoulder and saw nothing besides the raven.
...and the darkness.
It bothered him that he was getting affected by Tim's fear, as if it was being made real just because Tim was so terrified by it.
"Time to go."
Gibbs looked over at the raven, shining his flashlight on it. It seemed to be looking right at him. It was disconcerting.
"Time to go," it said again.
Then, it flew over to Tim and landed on his shoulder.
"Time to go."
This was definitely weird, but Gibbs decided just to go with it.
"The raven is telling you to leave," Gibbs said.
"Can't go. The darkness," Tim said.
"Time to go," it said again.
Gibbs gestured and then grabbed Tim by the wrist and pulled him forward. Tim resisted.
Thumping on the stairs startled Gibbs and he turned around, pulling his gun while the raven took off and started flying around the room and cawing loudly. Tim moved back into the corner and started shouting incoherently.
"Boss!"
Gibbs rolled his eyes and put his gun away again.
"Up here, DiNozzo. Where's Bishop?"
"Outside with the police."
"No! No!" Tim shouted.
"McGee!" Tony said.
"He's out of it," Gibbs said. "Time to go. Come on, Tim. Listen to the raven."
"What raven?" Tony asked.
Gibbs glanced at Tony and saw genuine confusion. Well, if it was getting to him too, then, it was definitely time to leave. He grabbed Tim's arm and Tony grabbed the other arm and they pulled Tim out of the corner. He was resisting but the two of them were able to drag him over to the stairs.
"Time to go! Leave me alone! Darkness!" the raven said, flying around above them.
Gibbs ignored it since Tony didn't seem to be seeing it at all.
Tim was resisting the whole way down the stairs, but then, as they got to the stairs going down to the main floor, it suddenly seemed a whole lot darker than it had before.
"Hey, what's going on?" Tony asked.
"Darkness! It's here! Can't leave!" Tim shouted.
It wasn't just dark. It was like the darkness itself had a kind of substance to it that held them back.
"Keep going."
"It doesn't feel like we're moving at all," Tony said.
And then, the raven abruptly came into view, flying through the darkness, seeming to pierce it.
"Hey, when did that raven get here?" Tony asked.
"Time to go!" it cawed.
"Wait... did I just hear it talking?"
"Ask questions later," Gibbs said. "Let's go. Follow the raven, Tim."
The raven kept flying in and out of the thick darkness, almost as if it was making holes in it, letting regular darkness through.
They started forward again and finally, Tim wasn't impeding their progress.
With the raven flying around them, they were able to get to the stairs and then went down them and seemed to pass through that darkness. Gibbs looked back over his shoulder. The raven was sitting on the newel post.
"Don't look back!" it said.
Again, it really seemed to be looking at them. Gibbs pulled on Tim who suddenly was looking a lot worse for the wear.
"Hold him up, Tony," Gibbs said.
"Got him."
They walked forward again, nearly dragging Tim between them as he was no longer really doing much walking. They got out of the house and Gibbs took a breath, realizing just how bad the air inside the house actually was. How had they not really noticed it before?
"Agent DiNozzo!"
"We've got him out. They both need to go back to the hospital," Tony said.
"Yeah, Agent Bishop still is yammering about a raven and some other weird things."
Gibbs saw Tony start to say something and just shook his head.
"Don't let anyone else in that house until it can be decontaminated," he said.
"That bad?' the cop asked.
"Yeah."
They got Tim and Ellie back to the hospital and then, Gibbs forced Tony to give up his clothes and they both went to NCIS and had Abby run tests on their clothes while Gibbs and Tony did a decontamination shower.
Then, finally, it was just a matter of waiting and hoping for clarity.