It was night by now. As I stood there before the mansion, right over the gravel path across the front yard, nostalgia hit me. I had been there once before, the similar way, and it was night time too. But there were three vicissitudes now - firstly, the last time around I had my dear friend Larry with me and now it was Father Richard, right by my side. We were rushing out of it the previous time and this time I was facing it. It was a rainy night back then and now it was just calm with soft breeze kissing my cheeks, giving me a phlegmatic feel before I could proceed for the needful.
I started crying. Larry's face started flashing before my eyes. The face which when I saw for the last time was an impulsive one, ready to give up his life. And then what came was the old Larry - the one I had known for years. The stout, jovial, happy-go-lucky guy. I just couldn't hold my tears back. Father pressed his palm against my shoulder and asked me to rethink.
'It's not any other way around, dad'. Finally, I spoke out the word. He didn't seem to be surprised at it. We felt so connected now. He nodded. We finally shared a glance before deciding to move in. My hands were itching to have that bloody coin in my hand. As we walked up the porch and my hand was just about to pull the knob, the words - Not any other way around - resonated again in my mind. I halted a while and then shaking by head, jolted the door open.
It was utterly silent in there. But wasn't it already supposed to be? But in this case, it was not. The silence in there was resonating. I felt like being in a transition state before death. As we walked in further into the hall, the sound of our footsteps echoed quite loudly.
As we walked up to the center of the hall, my vision went to the spot where I had seen Momma Warwick die, in a pool of blood, with her face up, eyes wide open, giving a dead-stare to the ceiling. I glanced at the ceiling up above. An old, huge chandelier above us, with candles all over it, was dangling from the ceiling.
Wait, I had seen the chandelier, but had the candles been there before?
My glance shifted to the spot where the exorcism was performed and Edward had finally taken his last evil breath, before getting rid of the sandy mass off him. The recurring vision made me judder. I kneeled down by that spot and told Father that it was the very place where it had all started.
'Any coin around?', he asked. I tried to peer through the darkness but couldn't see any. 'No', I replied.
'You better have a look around, Liam. We need to finish it off as fast as possible', he said as I stood back up.
'Hm, I'mma have a look around the kitchen, you check the main room', I said as we split in opposite directions in the darkness. I pulled out the mobile phone from my pocket and switched on the flashlight as I moved further towards the kitchen. I could hear footsteps behind me - of Father's - going back.
As I got to the kitchen, I pushed the door open. It swayed open smoothly without any creepy effect. You want me in, don't you? Without delaying much, I started searching for the coin everywhere. I checked all the drawers, the sink, the shelves; everywhere; but it just doesn't seem to appear; as if it had hidden itself somewhere.
And then suddenly the music commenced. The music of a toy. Startled, I turned back swiftly and faced the door. The door had been left ajar by me. It had opened so smoothly after all. I pointed the light in the music's direction and anticipated the worst.
But then my mind screamed to me to just focus. It isn't real, they are playing with your brain. I turned back again and started searching for the coin again. There were some old, small cardboard cases on the wall-side worktop. I started probing through them while I could hear the music close in on me. All the boxes were filled with junk and scrap. I thrashed down the cases in anger and leaned against the worktop. I could still hear the music. It was almost by the door now.
The kitchen didn't have it. I closed my eyes and tried to focus deeper into my imagination to make out where it could be. Meanwhile, the music was getting louder. I was trying to force it upon my brain that it was part of my imagination and not some new element of the mansion. It was just getting closer and closer to me - first crossing the door, then passing all through the kitchen before the music eventually stopped right behind me. Petrified, I just froze where I was. I was starting to feel scared now. For a few seconds I could not muster up the courage to look back but then -
'Mr. Hall wants this?', a sweet voice called out from back. This time I turned around, pointing the light in the voice's direction. As I got my eyes down, I saw Ruth, in the very attire she had been when I had witnessed her being murdered by her daddy.
Her clothes looked worn out and dirty while her skin appeared pale to me. She didn't even squint or squeeze her small, round eyes when the light fell upon them. She was staring up at my face. I kneeled down and looked at what she was holding in her hand. It was the coin. I glanced back at her face as she clenched her fist, hiding the coin in it, giving me a stagnant stare. I wanted to snatch it from her hands but then the fear of some unknown danger was clouding upon me. But I had to do it anyhow.
I tried to snatch it from her hands. No mercy - she was dead and a part of the curse. I grabbed her hand and tried to open her fist. To my surprise she didn't resist and opened the palm as soon as my fingers touched hers. But then came the twist. The coin was gone. She gave me a smile, a mocking one. It wasn't Ruth; it was the entity. But then the smile disappeared and what I saw was again the expressionless and pale face.
'Me. Place. Kill. Free.', she said. I couldn't make it out.
'What?'
Then, with a whimpering face, she grabbed my face with both of her hands and that made me scream. I punched her right on the face as she started laughing; cackling loudly. I went on punching on her face while screaming to let me go. Her grip was becoming too tight and I could feel my veins crush against her grip. The phone had fallen down on the floor upside down, with its light falling directly on her chin now, giving a sinister look as it formed a shadow around her upper face. Her eyes looked terrifying.
Blood started flowing from her chest. It came out with a splutter, splashing upon my face, right through her dress and then blood started flowing out rapidly. Her cackling was quite loud, with her jaw being widely opened as I could see the small rotten teeth in them. The blood was gushing out so fast right now, flowing down and making a puddle of red liquid around me. I could feel the jeans against my shins getting drenched with blood.
A manly voice squealed out through her, 'No Way! No way! You dead!'. I could now feel hot blood against my cheeks as I was starting to bleed. She had dug in her nails into them.
It was when I heard another scream from her back, from outside the door. She disappeared suddenly while I drooped down holding my cheeks in pain. Through the faint moonlight from the sooty windows, I could see Father running in my direction across the hall. As he got closer to the door, he bumped against something. Something like a huge transparent wall, some five feet from the door. He fell down on his back before getting up and then looking at me strangely. He slowly raised his hand forward. It was indeed a transparent wall. He started smacking it in his desperation to reach me.
I wanted to get up but I had a feeling like the whole world was turning into darkness. Father's screams were becoming faint to me now. The moonlight seemed to be losing its luminescence. I was looking tiredly as I saw the door disappear before my eyes and the whole surrounding turned black. I felt like being in a Vantablack room.
It was when a white light glowed up above. I could feel the floor underneath me but I couldn't see it. It was all but black everywhere. Then I heard a voice. 'The consequence is deep'. The words rang in my ears like a distant dream. 'Feeding on fear is so delicious, you know that?'. I tried to muster up all my strength to get up.
It was not that her small hands had caused me some hemorrhage. She had dug into me some kind of an antenna. Atleast, it is what I could make sense of. Like it happens in a DTH service - they install an antenna in your house through which you can get connected to the subscribed broadband service and they start telecasting the channels. Exact same case here. I was the customer here and Edward, the satellite. They are collectively in Edward after all. He was broadcasting himself into my mind, making it easier to play tricks with me. He was using his strength to contain mine.
I looked up at the light. His words started resonating everywhere. 'You've come. To die. No place. No place. The token. Cannot. Find. Cannot Find. You here. To die'. I started yelling at the voices while simultaneously trying to avoid and get rid of them by placing my hands over my ears tightly.
'That's it!', I shouted and ran forward. Getting rid of fear was my first priority now. My mind was filled with resolve. Fear was his food and for us - the bait. I didn't want to let him hunt me. As I ran, I suddenly collided with something; another wall; and fell down. The darkness was gone. The voices had disappeared. The light above me vanished. I closed my eyes, shook my head and opened them again. Same. In the kitchen. I had hit its wall by the doorway.
It was when Father Richard ran in. The wall was gone. He helped me up on my feet. He was still giving me a strange gaze. 'What happened?', he asked, seemingly worried.
I started moving out of the kitchen. 'He's playing games. He won't let it go all easy'. We were at the hall now. 'We have to counter it to elicit the coin out of his grasp. We have to defeat it. We need to be-'.
I stopped as the wooden stairs to the floor above started creaking.