18 + // TRIGGER WARNINGS
- The following chapter is not suitable
for those under 18. Graphic gun violence,
gore, murder, and disturbing imagery ahead.
- In addition, some elements in this chapter
are based on true events. May those who
lost their lives rest in peace.
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ASHES
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⏃
Across the sea of atheists to the sacred mountains of Buddhism, no matter the denomination, the story of Christ is known. The resurrection after the crucifixion and the symbolism of self-sacrifice rings in the ears of all who listen, whether they believe it true or not.
The story of resurrection is not only portrayed in the Bible but also ancient mythology. The great Phoenix can rise, resurrect from its ashes, and emerge stronger, smarter, and evermore powerful. The story of the Phoenix is a story of hope; even when life goes dark, and all appears lost, it is nonetheless possible to rise above.
This was the story Ingrid Thatcher told her children when the lights blew out and sinister darkness engulfed them.
The year was 1974.
⏃
📍Amityville, New York
November 1974
The Thatchers were an average family. Marshall was a successful attorney in Manhattan; Ingrid, with a Ph.D. in psychology from Dartmouth, had just opened her counseling practice. Their children, nine-year-old Ginny, seven-year-old Mellie, and three-year-old Benjamin, were delighted in their new home.
Living on the sound was every child's dream. The Thatcher family dog, a black lab named Stella, loved to run in the yard and catch sticks thrown off the dock. Stella often ran into the neighbor's yard, which was the catalyst of a blossoming friendship between the Thatcher family and their next-door neighbors. Little did they know this blissful existence would soon crumble by the touch of darkness...
Thunder echoed in the night as icy wind gusts rang through the trees, creating a menacing howl. Stella barked incessantly, alerting the world of the terror inside the home next door.
The eldest son walked through the halls of his family home, the voices taunting him relentlessly. He stole his father's rifle and tip-toed into his parent's room. As they lay face down in their bed, he shot them point blank in the head. He proceeded to his brothers' room, delivering the same horrific fate. His sisters were executed last.
This tragedy struck like a lightning bolt; the quaint town of Amityville was forever stained by evil. Speculation circled in the atmosphere. Was he insane? Was he just a cold-blooded killer? Were the voices authentic? Did something else make him do this?
Amongst those speculators were Ingrid and Marshall Thatcher, devastated by the horrific loss of their good friends and their children. Ingrid, a clinical psychologist, tried but ultimately could not wrap her head around the eldest son's actions. She spent many nights creating diagrams, cross-checking with textbooks, and searching endlessly for an answer. Her husband, Marshall, also took a keen interest in the case, using his legal research skills to nosedive into the history of Amityville and the Native American customs that once graced the land.
They prayed for the precious souls lost; they prayed for light. When the house next door ultimately went up for sale, the Thatcher's worries festered like an infected wound. They could feel the shift in the air, the suffocating rapture of darkness.
⏃
📍Amityville, New York
Next door // now occupied by the Lutz family
December 1975
Slime. Dense, green unwavering slime dripped down the walls as screams ricocheted with pressure so tremendous the floorboards shook in apprehension.
Thunder boomed above, further shaking the foundation of the Lutz home as blood oozed through the wallpaper, mixing with the slime and saturating everything in a thick crimson sludge.
Benjamin Thatcher wailed, trapped on the stair landing, cowering in the corner as a dark shadow inched toward his small frame. The little boy, covered in blood, was grabbed by his older sister, Melanie. Mellie raced down the stairs carrying her toddler brother, slipping on the last few steps as the sludge thickened. She face-planted into the foyer, with Benny sliding further toward the front door. The shadow taunted them, a sinister laugh emitting from its depths.
A second entity growled underneath the floorboards, shrieks of terror from Ingrid and her new neighbor mixing with the unearthly sounds. Benny's persistent wailing increased at the sound of his mother's scream as Mellie lay frozen in absolute fright.
Ginny, shaking in fear, witnessed the terror from underneath the adjacent dining room table, and mustered up the courage to step in and help. The young girl, only ten years old, stood valiantly to defend her younger siblings. But courage wasn't enough to defeat the evil before her. The shadow descended, consuming Ginny and knocking her unconscious.
As the young Thatcher kids cried out for their older sister, an eerie silence crept in. The house was suddenly still. Mellie crawled over to Ginny, shaking her shoulders to wake her.
Ginny's limp body flailed with each shove from Mellie. Mellie's hands trembled as tears poured down her blood-stained cheeks, worrying her older sister was lost forever. She felt her heart beating in her ears as it thumped in shock at the events unfolding around her. The basement door flew open with a blunt force, terrifying Mellie, her eyes wide in fear. It was only then that Ginny's eyes burst open, but all Mellie saw was darkness.
Mellie screamed.
⏃
📍Hawkins, Indiana
Starcourt Mall
July 1985
Mellie screamed.
Out of all the atrocities she's experienced and all the twisted nightmares thereafter, nothing prepared her for the gigantic flesh monster towering over her in the food court of Starcourt Mall.
"Mellie! Run!" Ben cried to his sister from the second level of the food court. Within seconds, fireworks exploded in the air, hitting the Mind Flayer and distracting him. As the gang upstairs pelted the Mind Flayer with fireworks found by Lucas and Will, Mellie army crawled out from under the monster and positioned herself by the front entrance of The Gap.
Her chest heaved up and down, and beads of sweat trickled down her face as she watched the Mind Flayer weaken. The guttural roar sounding from the monster sent a chill down her spine. Her body shuddered, bringing her back to Amityville. She closed her eyes momentarily, a horror film flashed in her mind, from Amity to each case her parents obsessed over after; she was surrounded by chaos, by darkness. A girl's scream jolted her back to reality.
Her eyes flashed open and flickered at the sound of the scream. She saw El struggling on the tile floor next to a possessed Billy, gaping at the scene above. El managed to wriggle away from Billy. El extended her hands out, reaching desperately for the battered teenage girl laying a few yards back. Mellie raced over, wrapping her fingers around El's hands and pulling her up. Their eyes locked for a fleeting moment, irises filled with anxiety and fear.
Billy heard the commotion behind him and snapped backward, grabbing El's ankles and tugging her aggressively. It was a game of tug-o-war, and Mellie was losing. The explosion of a rouge firework shot Mellie backward. Billy seized El and dragged her back to his master.
With ringing ears and a pounding headache, Melanie Thatcher opened her eyes once more. Actions played out in slow motion before her. The fireworks ended, and the Mind Flayer regained its strength, facing Billy and El fully.
Mike and Max burst out of the service hall with panicked faces. The trio looked on in horror as the Mind Flayer extended his mouth; hundreds of layers of sharp teeth lined its rotting flesh—a second mouth appendage extracted from the depths of its mouth aimed straight for El.
It was in this moment, when ashes coated everything in darkness, that the light in Billy's soul prevailed. Mellie watched on in shock and awe. Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, Billy Hargrove raised his hands and blocked the monster.
His self-sacrifice saved the masses and planted a seed of hope within Melanie, a reminder of a story once told to her long ago. When life goes dark and all appears lost, it is possible to rise above and let the light prevail.
A Phoenix will always rise from the ashes.
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➶-͙˚ ༘✶ author's notes ➶-͙˚ ༘✶
GENERAL
Okay, friends, what did you think of this introductory chapter?
Elements of this story are from true events, but I also took creative liberty to add the Thatcher family into the horrors that occurred in Amityville in the mid 70s. Not everything I mentioned actually happened in real life. If you are interested in learning more about the Amityville murders and subsequent hauntings, feel free to research on your own. Be warned, it's some really f'ed up stuff and could possibly cause some serious nightmares!
COPYRIGHT
Ⓒ coastalsunrise
Do NOT copy my work. I take plagiarism very seriously. I will report you.
MATURE RATING
This is a HORROR/ROMANCE story with mature themes and disturbing imagery.
For this reason, I have rated this story 18+
AS ALWAYS
You're a badass who can handle anything!
xoxo,
coastalsunrise