The Final Chapter Chapter Forty Two

The shadow of something. As the flashlight shined on what I was looking at a sigh of relief instantly came over me. I was still a nervous wreck, but at least nothing jumped out at me. I kept shining the light back and forth all over the room, but it was empty. I stood there not really even seeing what was before me, but rather what I had seen earlier.  I went over to the corner where the old woman had been sitting. It was if in my mind I could still see her. Oh my God! What was going on here?  I shined the light in to every corner but the only thing that was in the room was some old shelves and a couple of wooden crates. I walked over and shined the light at the crates. The only thing that was in them was some old newspapers and what looked like a old jacket. I reached down and pulled out one of the newspapers and looked at it. At first I didn’t really think anything about it, but then I noticed on the headline of one of the articles it said, Another man comes up missing in a small town in north Pennsylvania. I read about how there were fourteen people missing from Sather county and that they believed that there was someone murdering these people, but no bodies had been found.

I looked at the date on the front page. It said Tuesday, Jan 25th, 1963. I looked at the date again figuring I must have read it wrong, but I had read it right.  I laid the paper back in the old crate then shined the light around the room. I was getting to a point that it seemed like I was in a dream. I mean from what I had seen earlier and what I saw now is crazy. Where the hell did all those bodies go? And not only that; there was blood from one end of the room to the next and now nothing. I mean it looked as if no one had been in this room for years!!. After a couple more minutes I walked out of that room and headed back upstairs.  I really didn’t know what else to do.

I opened the front door and looked out at my truck. My trailer was still backed up to the front steps and the doors were open. I had to still unload a few smaller things out of it, but then I started thinking about everything that seemed to have happened to me. I sat down on the steps and tried to focus.  I mean, from the time I met Red to the moment Earl died,everything seemed surreal. I had tears in my eyes because of everything that I had seen in the past few days/ It seemed like it hadn't even happened. I looked down at my arm where I had those bite marks, and there wasn’t even a slight scratch or anything.
I turned around and looked back into the house, then I got up and walked around and looked at the little building that sat off toward the back of the property.  I wondered if any of this had even happened. My mind was scrambling things in a million directions! I walked back over to the house then slowly made my way from room to room. I was looking for anything that would help me believe in what I had seen.  But the more I looked the more I knew that there must have been something wrong with me.

I went back outside and sat on the steps again.  I couldn’t stop crying. What was wrong with me? I felt a pain in my chest. As I put my hand on it to rub where the pain was, I felt a sharper pain.  It felt as if there was something poking me so I pulled my tee shirt up and looked to see if I had a splinter and thought maybe I had gotten it when I was lying on the floor.  When I looked I just about fell over!! I had a huge cut on my chest. It was about one inch across and it looked like it had burn marks all around it. What the hell? I just stared at it.  I mean where the hell did that come from?  I thought back at when I stabbed the old man.  I remembered when I was pushing the knife into his chest I thought I saw sparks.  I looked down at my chest again, then tried to remember exactly what happened.  Oh my God! I remembered.  Just after I had stabbed the old man I had a horrible pain in my chest. It was if I had been stabbed at the same time as the old man was! What the hell was going on here?  I stood up and started pacing back and forth. I couldn’t think of a rational reason for anything. This was just to much for me to even comprehend. I knew I needed to get the hell out of this place, and this area.
I looked at my trailer, then over at my truck. Without even thinking it over I jumped in my truck and backed over to my trailer and hooked it up. Over the next four hours I loaded everything that I could in my trailer.  I knew what I was going to do next.  I went upstairs and got those old matches, then went down to the cellar.  I stood down there thinking for a second, then I struck the match and threw it into the crates with the old newspapers in them.  I didn’t care what happened next. All I knew is when I walked out the front door and closed it behind me it was as if I had never even been there. On my way out of the driveway I looked back in the mirror and looked at the house one last time, and then drove away.

After moving back home, life finally seemed to be getting back to normal.  I got a job with a construction firm in a nearby town. I loved my new job. Several weeks later I had been contacted by the realtors office about the house. Samuel asked me if I wanted him set up an appointment to see the house.  I paused for a second, then asked him, what house? He said the one Victorian house that we had talked about. Again I was bewildered.  I cleared my throat, then asked him if he meant the one up on Shallow Pine Ridge? "Yes, that’s the one, are you still interested?", he asked.  Not believing what I was hearing I couldn‘t think of anything to say. I told him I had found a new job and wouldn’t be moving there. After a few more minutes on the phone with Samuel I started to really think I must be crazy. I wanted to ask him if the house had caught on fire but if I would have done that, then maybe I would have opened up a hornets nest.  I figure I should just forget that part of my life, or my dreams, or wha ever it was.

Several years went by when one day I woke up in the middle of the night.  I don’t know what it was. but I felt like every muscle in my body was sore. The next morning I walked in to the bathroom to take a shower and that’s when I noticed my hands were full of dirt. I looked in the mirror and my tee shirt was ripped to shreds and I had blood spots all over it. Then everything went dark………

Then End.

Chapter Forty One

When I opened my eyes everything seemed blurry.  I closed them and slowly opened them again.  It felt like I had been out all night drinking. Once my vision started to clear I noticed I was still lying on the floor in the upstairs bedroom and I seemed to be in the same spot where I had confronted the old man.  I started to get up, but my body felt weak. As I got to my feet I just about passed out again.  I had to kneel down to the floor for a minute. As I sat there, I thought about what had happened prior to me waking up.  I turned around and looked toward the door where the hidden room was.  It was wide open. I glanced down at where I had burned the boar's hair and pieces of it were still there. It must have worked, I thought.

I finally got enough strength to stand up. I walked into the little room and looked around some. I wasn’t even sure what I was doing at the time. I guess I wasn’t really thinking clearly at all. I thought about the old man and what had happened to him after I stabbed that knife into his heart. My mind started to buzz.  I looked on the floor where the knife should have been laying, but it wasn’t there. There wasn’t even a drop of blood or anything.  I went back into the hidden room and opened the book to see if the knife was in there but it wasn’t.  I quickly looked at the floor where I had put the little jar down after dipping the point of the knife into it and that too was gone! I knew someone had to of taken it, but why and who? I remembered that just before I blacked out the old man said they're coming for you. The last thing I had heard were footsteps entering the room.

Why didn’t they kill me? What did they do with the old man or the knife? Again my mind was hitting overdrive. I went down the stairs to find the hidden drawer in the steps. Maybe they had put the knife back in there? It was empty.  What the hell was going on. I kept thinking of the old man's eyes, and how they seemed to turn color. It was if something was leaving his body. What happened to him? Why would someone take him and not me?

I was starting to really get jumpy and  thought I heard noises everywhere. My eyes circled the room non stop and I was at a point that I was getting sick. I walked into the living room and looked at where all the blood was from before, but it had been cleaned up. I checked the hallway and by the front door, but again everything had been cleaned. Then I noticed something strange. As I was looking at the floor where all the blood had been cleaned up, I saw that it wasn't really clean. I mean, if you were to wipe something up, the spot you cleaned should be somewhat shiny or glowing, but this wasn’t. I knelt down and ran my hand across the floor, then looked at my fingers. The tips of them were filthy. What the heck? I turned and walked over to the cellar door. I hated to do it but I knew I had to go down to that room and look.

As I made my way down the darkened steps every fiber of my body told me to just get the hell out of there and forget this place ever existed, but something else drove me.  I had to know. I had to see just what the hell had happened there. Once I got to the bottom of the stairs I reached over and pulled the string for the light. A amber glow filled the room and at that point I could smell the musty cold smell of what laid before me. I looked over at where the sheriff had shot that man.  I remember the blood that was oozing from his head, but when I walked over to where he was laying there wasn’t anything there! I mean nothing, and again like upstairs the floor was dirty. It was as if there hadn't been anyone laying there, let alone bleeding all over the floor.
My hair stood on end as I looked in disbelief.  I turned toward the hidden room, then walked over to it. The shelf part was already open but the door part was shut, and it had been locked.  Oh My GOD!!! My heart pounded so hard I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hear anything.  I reached up and touched the first lock, it was cold as ice.  I mean it burned the tips of my fingers as if it was frozen. As I slid  it open I listened. I paused for a minute then reached for the second lock and slid it open, then listened again. I wasn’t sure but I thought I heard something move.  I waited longer this time, even though it was cold down there my body was sweating like mad. My eyes focused so hard on what was before me it was if I couldn’t even see. I reached for the last lock and slid it open, then backed away about two feet and kicked it the rest of the way open. A horrible smell filled the room and I could only imagine what horror awaited me. I tried to see but it was too dark. Then I remembered the flash light that was sitting on top of the old well. I backed my way over to it, keeping my eyes glued on the dark silhouette of the door way. I grabbed the light and turned it on. Again it wasn’t the best light in the world, but at least it was something. As I walked closer to the door, my eyes became glued to...

Chapter Forty

I wasn’t sure what the heck burning boar hair was all about but I figured it was worth the chance.  I took out one of the flints and struck it against the stone. Oh crap, it made a loud noise so I looked back out the key hole to see If the old man had heard it but he didn’t seem too.  I really didn’t understand what he was doing out there anyway. All he seemed to be doing is looking at the door. Anyway, I struck the stone again. Sparks flew against the hair but all it did was smother itself out.  I looked around the room to see if there was something else that I could use to start the fire with. I thought about the candle, but was worried that if not lit by the flint the spell or whatever the smoke did wouldn’t work. Then I thought maybe it was just the smell of the hair that did it. My mind was going crazy. I hit against the stone with the flint several times. When I finally had smoke, I crouched down close to the smoldering pile of hair and blew gently against it.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.... it actually worked.  The hair was burning, the tiny room was filling fast up with smoke.  I grabbed the knife, then poked the end of it in the little jar, hoping and praying, that this was the blood of one of those freaky demon things.

I peeked again through the key hole. The old man had come closer to the door. He must have heard me hitting the stone with the flint. I stood up and took the key out of my pocket and slowly unlocked the door. I used my foot to move the boar's hair off to the side, then pulled the door open.  The smoke billowed out of the room and toward the old man. I waited to see what would happen next. I didn’t even know what he had meant by saying the smoke froze them once it touched them. The old man looked me in the eyes with a almost terror in them, then he looked down at the knife I was holding and smiled. It was as if he wanted this. He looked back up at me and said do it as fast as you can. I asked him what he was talking about. What he said next made my body shake.  He said, "I see you found the knife." Then he told me that I had to act quickly before the smoke is no more. If that happened he would kill me.
I took a few steps forward. His eyes seemed blackened.  My throat closed tighter with every second that went by. I didn’t understand what was happening. He said, "You have to hurry before you can’t."  "What do you mean?", I asked. He told me that I was too infected by the curse, and that the smoke from the boar's hair will stop me and it will be too late.  He went on to say,  "It’s because of the stage in which you are in that the smoke can’t get you, but in time it will. You have to strike now!"

I knew that according to the book or whatever that was I read, I had to pierce the heart before he changed, and I’ve seen him change and it’s not a good thing. I also was thinking that I felt weird; maybe the old man was telling me the truth. If I didn't end this now it might never end.
I raised the knife and placed it against the old mans chest. His eyes frozen onto mine. He whispered, "Do it now!"  Then I heard something coming up the stairs. I told him, "Someone's coming!"   He said, "Do it now, NOW!! That’s the others, and they will kill you before you can end this."  I looked over his shoulder, and that’s when I knew what I had to do.  I looked him straight in the eye, and pushed the knife into his chest. Blood trickled from his chest.  I heard his breath leaving his body in a low steady hum, or I guess it was more of a vibration.  His face went blank and I swear to this day his eyes flashed from black to blue, then he collapsed on the floor in front of me.

About a second later I felt a horrible pain in my chest.  I fell to the floor next to the old man.  I remember hearing foot steps coming into the room, then all went black.

Chapter Thirty Nine

I stood there thinking of how awful that must have been for him, and what the little girl must have gone through. I turned the page and kept reading. I needed to find out more on how to end this.


The next part of the book, well I guess it’s more of a diary than a book as far as I can tell said that he had found out how to capture the demon and to kill it. But, he needed to find the one that had the mark of the carrier. He said it’s the same symbol that is on the knife and will be on the hand of the carrier.

"I have seen him, but have yet to get close enough to capture him. He lives in the blood of whomever he has encountered."
I turned the page and found that there was blood on this page.  It looked like he was writing and something had happened because he had stopped in the middle of a word and it looked like the pen had been pulled away as if someone had grabbed his hand and tried to stop him from writing. I turned to the next page but it was blank.  I then flipped through the last part of the diary but it was blank.  Oh great, now what the hell am I going to do? I sat there thinking about what he had said. After about a hour went by I thought I heard something. I walked over by the door and listened. There was definitely someone or something outside the door. I knelt down and peeked out through the key hole.  I could see a silhouette of what looked like a person coming down the hallway toward me. Once they had entered the room I could see it was the old man from earlier.   He took a few steps into the room, then just stood there staring toward the door which I was behind.  I took a hard deep breath thinking that he was about to change into that damn monster looking thing, then rip the door off its hinges and kill me.
I looked back over my shoulder and looked at the book.  I thought about what the man had said about the knife and the burning of that boar's hair. I slowly stood up and crept back over to the book and grabbed the knife and the little bottle.  Then I grabbed the box with the flint and the boar's hair. I laid the bundle of hair on the floor just in front of the door, then I took the lid off the little jar and stuck the knife into the dried stuff that was in the bottom of the jar.  I was hoping that it was the blood of one of those monster things and that it didn’t have to be fresh blood.
As I looked back out through the key hole the old man was still there. At that moment I remembered the book said something about a symbol on the arm of the one who carried the curse, or what ever the hell it had said.  I squinted my eyes and looked close at his arms. Oh, My,God!! It was him!! I could see it on his right arm. I knew this was my chance.

Chapter Thirty Eight

 

I paged through the front of the book trying to figure out how or if I could make anything out any of the words. The letters seemed strange to me, almost as if they were mixed up or something. I started to look around the room some more and I noticed what looked like a large bag on the floor.  I think it was made out of canvas. When I reached down to pick it up I was surprised how heavy it was. I laid it on the table and looked inside.
I wasn’t sure what it was so I pulled it out. This was weird. It was three mirrors mounted on a metal bracket; two of the mirrors were facing the same way and were smaller than the one facing the opposite way. There was also large space between the mirrors. I wasn’t really sure what it was, or why they would have mirrors facing each other.
I put my hand between the mirrors but nothing happened. After looking it over for awhile I noticed that the center of the space between the mirrors had what looked like a place to hold something.  I looked over at the book and laid it in the opening and it fit perfectly. What happen next boggled my mind. I started to move the mirrors around I thought maybe the light from the mirrors would somehow do something to the book.  I know that sounds crazy, but it wasn’t anymore crazy than people changing form into a freaking monster looking thing. Anyway, as I moved the mirrors around I noticed something. On the corner of the third mirror I could see part of the page of the book, and I could read a word. It said (together) just as plain as day!!. My eyes narrowed and my mind went into overdrive! What the hell! I turned the third mirror so I could see the whole page, OH MY GOD!!!! I could read every word! I looked back at the book laying there. That’s when I could see it, the words were written backwards.
Oh wow, I just remembered the day I drove away in my truck to follow the realtor into town, I had looked through my mirror at the door and thought I could read it. When I got out and looked I saw that I couldn’t. At the time I didn’t catch on, but now it makes sense. The door must be written the same way.
This is hard to explain but as I looked into the third mirror it must have been lined up just enough with the other two that it switched it around. I adjusted all three mirrors so I could read it perfectly. I thought, what a smart person this was. He had to use three mirrors to actually write it perfectly like this. Looking into one mirror wouldn’t have worked because he would have had to write looking into the same mirror, but by using three mirrors he could adjust them just right so he could look into the one mirror and it would be as if he were really writing it normally. Amazing as heck. I knew I needed to start reading it from the beginning so I turned to the front of the book and started reading.

"This is the written words of Jacque Bechune. Today the sun sets with the sounds of hell closing in. I am close to finding a way to killing these demons.  I caught one again two nights past. I tell you this hoping you are not going through the same torment that is inside of me. I’ve learned of a way to capture them, to hold there demon so it can not rise. They were coming for me and I knew it.  I read from a old passage that if you were to burn the hair of the wild boar and the smoke rises from the strike of flint the spirit of what is within will be frozen, and at that time you must enter his heart with the blood of a silver tipped knife. Only then you can rid what lives inside."

I had to stop and think for a minute.  What the hell am I even reading here? I looked over at the box that carried the flint. I walked over and opened it and looked inside. What I had thought was grassy stuff might be hair? I picked it up and looked closer, it was hair, though I wasn’t sure of what. I could only assume it was from a boar.  Oh my God, this was getting too crazy again. I went back over and started to read. Page after page it told me of the horrors that he had lived through. One page really scared me.

It said that one night he heard a tapping at the door, he knew he couldn’t open it because of the evil that was on the other side of the door. He looked through the hole in the lock and he could see one of the demons. It had a small child, a girl, she was knocking at the door, her eyes full of tears and her voice shaking from fear. He could see the long claws of the demon already dripping blood. He said he knew they had killed the little girls family. Then he said that he couldn’t watch anymore because he knew he couldn’t open the door.
With his back against the door, the last thing he heard was the screams of something that will haunt him until his last breath.

Chapter Thirty Seven

was this, and from who?

I kept reading, it went on and on about him trying to figure out some kind of book,  I remembered the old woman saying something about a book that she had found in a hidden room upstairs. There were only four letters written and the last page talked about the knife.  It said that he had found it in a hidden passage when he was in England and that if it was dipped in the blood of the demon and driven through the center of its heart you could kill it.

I didn’t really fully understand, but thought maybe the blood was what was in the little jar.  I picked it up and shook it, but nothing moved.  I slowly slid the wire holder that held the glass cap on it and took the lid off. Whatever was in the jar before had dried up. I smelled inside the jar but it really didn’t have a distinct smell to it.   I carefully placed the lid back on, then set everything back in the little drawer and shut it. I wanted to go upstairs and see if I could find out where the hidden room was if there even was one. I went to the far bedroom and looked over the boards that covered the walls. About four feet out from the corner there was a board that looked like it was pulled away from the rest just a little.  I pushed on it and could tell it was loose.  I had some tools down in my pickup so I ran downstairs and out the door.  I wasn’t gone for more than a minute and I was back in the house.  I ran back upstairs and went right to the place where the board was loose.

After a couple quick taps from my hammer I pried the first board off. I could see that there was a frame for a door so it must be true. I instantly ripped the other boards off and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  It was a exact duplicate to the front door, with the same words and symbols on it. I tried the knob.  It turned but I couldn’t push the door open because their was a dead bolt on the door and it seemed to be locked.  I thought about the key on the mantel.  According to the old woman it was the key for this door so again I had to go downstairs. I grabbed the chair the old man had been sitting in so I could get up high enough to see.  Then I tried to get the key out of the top of the mantel but I couldn’t get my fingers on it.  Damn, I couldn’t believe my bad luck. I ran back out to my truck again and grabbed a flat screw driver, then went back in.
It didn’t take long and I had the key in my hand.  I couldn’t wait to get upstairs and see what was in that room. As I walked back out of the living room heading to the stairway I noticed the cellar door was open about four inches or so.  My heart started pounding and the back of my hair stood straight on end. I knew I had shut the door so someone had to have opened it.  I thought that maybe whoever it was must still be in there and maybe they were just watching me threw the crack in the door. I had the screw driver in my hand so I turned and walked straight for the door! I don’t even know why, but I grabbed the knob and pulled the door wide open. Expecting the worse I held the screw driver in front of me but nothing was there.
I wasn’t sure but maybe I didn’t shut it all the way the first time? I stood there watching down in the cellar, listening to see if I could hear anything. In my mind I knew I should go down to make sure that door was still locked that went into the hidden part. I mean those things still could be alive and from what I read in those letters the only way to kill those freaking monsters was with that knife dipped in that black crap. But if that were true then why did they seem like they were killed when I shot them. Besides, I shot them both in the head so there is no way in my mind that they could be alive, so I reached over and shut the trap door to the cellar, then took the screw driver and jammed it between the door and the jamb. I guess that made me feel a little better. I closed the door and this time made sure it was shut. I waited by the door for a little bit just to make sure I didn’t hear anything. When I felt all was good I went back upstairs. I took the key and put it in the lock and when the key turned, my anticipation went through the roof.  I had a million thoughts about what I was going to find. As the door swung open what I was seeing was unreal. It was just like the old woman had said. The old desk, the books, the candle holder....I mean everything seemed true.  Oh, my God, the old woman must have been telling the truth. I walked in then, closed the door behind me, and locked it.  I don’t know why but this room felt safe. As I looked over at the desk I noticed a little box on the shelf that was over the desk.  I slid it open and looked inside.  There were about ten small pieces of black stone and a larger one, plus some kind of grassy stuff.  At first I wasn’t sure what it was, then I remembered that years ago they used to use flint to start a fire. I took one of the smaller stones and hit it against the larger one. That’s exactly what this was, but why would they have it here? I shrugged my shoulders, then put it down and started to look around at the rest of the things.  I found some matches so I thought I would start the candles.  It was getting pretty hard to see since the sun was starting to go down.

After I started the candles I went over and looked at the larger book sitting on the table by the window. It was as the old woman had said, the cover of the book was full of the same lettering and had symbols on it just like the two doors. As I paged through the book I came to a blank page, but behind that page it seemed as if it was the end of the book. As I lifted it up and flipped it over, I found a hollowed out part of the book. It was where something had been placed. To me it looked like it was cut out for a knife and another cut out that was kind of oblong. Then it dawned on me. This looked like the same size as the knife I found in the steps. I wanted to go get it, so I unlocked the door and went down the steps and grabbed the knife and the little bottle.
I ran back to the room and locked myself inside.  I then took the knife and placed it in the hollowed out part of the book.  Oh my God, it fit perfect. I laid the bottle in the other spot and it also fit perfectly. Wow, now what? I knew I had to find out how to read what ever was written in this book. This could be the key to ending whatever this is that had happened to me, and maybe for those people the cellar.

Chapter Thirty Six

I just stood there wondering what the hell they were doing.  Then I heard the screams of those poor people inside.   I walked over by the door and listened closer.  I could hear screams, and what I could only imagine bones being broken.  I looked at the door thinking I should just barge in, but what could I do? Then I looked down at where the sheriff had taken off his clothes.  I noticed his gun, so I picked it up and looked it over.  I made sure I knew exactly how to shoot it.  I even took the extra clip.  I didn’t even know if I could kill them with a bullet but I had to try.  I pushed the door open and heard some noise that sickened me.  I shined the flashlight toward the noise.  They hadn’t even noticed me come in the room. They were both bent over. One was tearing the mans flesh from his legs, and the other was ripping apart the mans chest.  I pointed the gun at the head of one of them and squeezed the trigger.  Without hesitation I kept squeezing the trigger,  pointing it at one, then the other. They both slumped over the body they were feeding on.  My eyes were glued to their every movement. I quickly switched clips and walked up to them. I shined the flashlight all around the room.  I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any other of those damn things in there.  I turned back toward the two freaks and shot them both again in the head.

I slowly backed my way out of the room and this time I shut the door and bolted the locks. Once I figured I was safe, I went back up stairs and looked in every room.  I had to find the old man.  I wasn’t sure who was telling me the truth anymore.  All I did know is that there was more to this than what I had thought. There wasn’t anything downstairs so I made my way upstairs.  On the way up I took my time and at each step I stopped and listened. When I was about halfway up the steps I heard one of the steps make a funny sound.  It was different than the rest.  I remembered when I had first looked at the house I had thought there was something funny about it then. Keeping an eye forward I reached down with my hand and tapped on it then, pulled up on it slightly.  It seemed solid.  I couldn’t help but to look down at it and try and figure out just what the heck was different about it. That’s when I noticed a slight separation in the toe kick board.  I pushed on it but again nothing. Frustrated I hit the side of the tread. It moved inward toward the kick board.  I knew there was something wrong with it. I was thinking that the carpenter must have missed nailing it down, but when I pulled it back toward me it actually slid open like a drawer on a dresser.
In total amazement I stared at what was in the hidden compartment. There was a large knife and it looked like it was pure silver with a symbol of a dragon on the face of it. Lying next to that was a small stack of hand written letters and a small jar with some black stuff in it.  I laid everything on the steps above, then looked at the letters.  I could tell they had been there for quite awhile because they were written with a fountain pen. Plus, the paper was a thicker kind.  I started to read the first page.

"Years have passed and now he has turned to the flesh and souls of beyond the night. He no longer cares of who he kills. At dawns break I watched him transform into the devils form. He ripped a man from limb to limb without mercy. I am scared for our family now, even though he is part of us. I can see death awaits us.  I studied late again, hoping to figure out what drives him. The books are from a language I do not know, and fear I will not find out until it is too late."
"I locked him in the cellar last night, I tried to read a passage but it didn’t work.  It seemed only to evoke more terror in him.
I fear that my son will never be rid of what has taken his soul."

I couldn’t believe what I was reading, what the heck....

Chapter Thirty Five

I sat there for a minute.  I thought about every outcome possible, but there really wasn’t any. I decided that I should go back to town and go see the sheriff.  I didn’t know what had happen to my cell phone, and I didn’t want to stop and call from a payphone. I drove for about four hours or maybe just a little bit longer when I finally made it to Pennsylvania.  I had about forty-five minutes left to go before I got to my house so I figured I better fill my tank just in case I needed to get the heck out of there in a hurry. God knows what was in store for me once I got there.
After filling up my gas tank I headed back on the road. The last leg of this little journey seemed to drag on.  I guess it was because of everything going through my head at the time.  Once I pulled into town I went straight to the police station.  I sat in my truck for at least a half hour going over everything I was going to say when I got there.  I didn’t want to have them ask me something I couldn’t answer.
When I was ready, I walked in and asked if I could talk to the sheriff. The dispatch told me that he was out on a disturbance call and that he should be back in a half hour. I paused then I asked if he knew where he was? The dispatcher looked at me kind of strange and then said that he was up on Shallow Pine Ridge.  My throat begin to close immediately. I thought that someone must have discovered something and he was called up there to investigate. I stood there for a few more minutes then told him I would come back later.

I jumped in my truck and headed up Willow Street, then turned on Shallow Pine. As I got closer to my house I could see the sheriff's car sitting in the driveway. My God, my heart started pounding again.  I couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened to him.  I slowly drove up behind his car and shut my truck off and sat there watching for any movement inside the house. I couldn’t take it any longer so I opened my door and headed to the house. When I stepped on the deck I noticed the saying on the door and remembered what the old woman had said it meant.

"This place rests of tasteless blood, thy veins run alone, let who walks through this passage walk without fear, and who passes here will burn of the torches of the black angel ."

But, what did this mean? I was almost too scared to open the door, but something was driving me.  I had to keep going. As I swung open the door what I saw next would have scared the hell out of anyone.  There was blood everywhere.  I walked into the living room and looked over by the fireplace.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I guess I was thinking I would see the old man sitting in the chair but it was empty. The house smelled like a sick musty smell.  I was thinking it must be the blood. I walked over toward the cellar door. I wanted to holler out loud to see if the sheriff would answer me, but then I didn’t really want to let anyone know I was here either. I slowly opened the cellar door and peeked inside. I waited and listend to see if I could hear anyone talking, I wasn’t sure at the time but I thought I heard someone. I opened the door wider then stepped in. There was a light on but that could have been when I was down there last time. I slowly made my way down the stairs. Once I was at the bottom I stopped and looked over to where that shelf cabinet was sitting; it was closed. I remember when I was leaving I only shut the first door so someone had to be down here.

I walked closer, listening as close as possible for any noise at all. As I put my hand on the shelf I heard the low tone of something that I knew wasn’t very good; then I heard a door open. Oh my God someone was coming out of the hidden room.  I quickly hid behind the old well that sat in the middle of the room and laid down flat on the floor so it would be harder for whoever it was to see me.  I could hear someone talking, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Then the door opened and I heard the sound of screams coming from in that room, I couldn’t help but peek around the well and see who it was.
There were two men, one looked like he had a police jacket on but I wasn‘t sure.  I didn’t know what to do. I thought about standing up and asking them what was going on. Just then I heard someone scream again and then the one man said, "Watch out! He’s trying to get away."  The person knocked over one of the men then pushed his way by the other.  I was about to stand up again when I heard a gun shot. Oh my God! They shot him! His body fell not two feet from me. I could hear the blood gurgling from his head. I tried to not to look because I knew I would have freaked out. The two men drug his lifeless body back into the room and then I heard the one man tell someone that they will eat good tonight. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I got to my knees and made my way to the other side of the well. I looked into the room and then I saw who it was.  It was the sheriff! What the hell was going on? The two men walked back out into the main part of the cellar. The sheriff took off his jacket, then started to take off the rest of his clothes, and the other man did also.  My eyes narrowed as I watched. What are they doing I thought? Then In a blink of an eye they shape shifted into one of those freaking monsters like the old man did. Oh my God, then they opened the door back up into the hidden room and went back in and closed the door behind them.

Chapter Thirty Four

When I came to,  I really didn’t know what had happened. This was crazy. I was in my truck sitting at what looked like a gas station. I looked around trying to get my bearings, but really couldn’t figure it out so I got out of my truck and started my way toward the little store.  A couple of people that were walking out looked at me like I had a disease or something. I tried to ask them where I was but they turned and walked away from me as fast as they could.
I thought how rude they were but just shrugged it off and went inside. I went over by the coolers to get a soda, but just before I opened the door I noticed my reflection in the glass.  Something didn’t look right.  I looked down at my shirt and that’s when I noticed it was torn to shreds plus there was what looked like blood all over it. Oh, my,God! What the hell was going on?  I bolted to the restroom as fast as I could. When I walked in there there was a gentleman washing his hands. When he looked up at me through the mirror he immediately spun around and asked me,"What the hell happened to you?" Confused and not knowing really what to tell him I said that I had gotten in a fight earlier and was just going to wash up.
The gentleman shook his head, then told me that he hoped the other guy was in worse shape than me. That’s when I started to remember what had happen prior to me ending up here. I asked the man where I was, he paused for a second then scoffed and said, "Your in a rest plaza on the Ohio turnpike just outside of Toledo."  "Toledo?",I said. "Are you sure?"  "Yes, you sure are", he said. Then he asked if I was alright.  I shook my head yes and then thanked him for the information. After he walked out I looked at myself in the mirror. My heart started pounding and to tell you the truth I think I blacked out again for a second. My face was full of blood and I had scratches across my neck. I didn’t understand it but my jaw hurt as if someone had punched me. I looked down at my feet. The only thing I had on was one sock and it was blooded and torn, my pants were only on me because of the belt I was wearing, because if not for that they would have for sure been off.
What the hell has happened to me? I kept trying to think of something, anything, but my mind was blank. I thought back to what had happened again, just before everything went blank. Oh my God, those poor people down in that cellar.  I needed to get them help.  I tried to wash myself up as much as I could, then went back out to my truck to get my check book.  I needed to buy some clothes. When I got to my truck I heard someone say that’s him. I turned around to see a man pointing at me. He was talking to a security guard that must have been working there.  I don’t know why, because I did nothing wrong, but I got scared so I jumped in my truck and headed out on to the freeway. About a mile up the road I turned around and headed back toward Pennsylvania. I had to somehow get help for those people.
I had driven for almost a half hour when I saw a sign for another plaza coming up. I really needed gas for the truck, plus I wanted to get some clothes and possibly some shoes. I filled up my tank and went inside the store. All they had was some sweat shirts, sweat pants and some moccasins.  I wasn’t going to be picky so I grabbed one of each.  I also picked up a bottle of Mt Dew because I figured I could use a little pick me up.
I headed back onto the turnpike thinking of what to do. Should I call the cops? What would happen then, am I involved with anything? I didn’t really know what the hell had even happened. All I knew is that I was two hundred miles away from where I was yesterday. Hell, I wasn’t sure if it was yesterday even. All I knew is that I woke up with my clothes torn to pieces and me all bloody. Then it dawned on me, was it possible that I had changed into something? My clothes were torn just like I had seen on Red and the old mans.  Oh my God had I shape shifted into one of those monsters? I had tears falling from my eyes, and I could barley see the road in front of me, I kept shaking my head and screaming out loud, NO THIS CANT BE HAPPENING TO ME!!!
I wondered what happened to the old man? Had he somehow been waiting for me to come upstairs, then knocked me out, or did I change without knowing it. I kept pounding on the steering wheel, then I noticed something. My arm where I had been bitten...my bandages were gone. I wiped my eyes and took a closer look. Oh my God there wasn’t even a scar there! I pulled my truck off to the side of the road, my body was shaking uncontrollable and I didn’t know what else to do.

Chapter Thirty Three

I almost started running. There were what looked like half eaten bodies everywhere. Then I heard someone say something.  I turned my flashlight toward the sound. It was Red.  I ran over to him. His body was broken his jaw hanging as if it had been smashed in by a baseball bat.  I asked him what had happened He just looked at me with a blank stare.  I heard something else so I shined the light over toward the corner. There sat what looked like an old woman, her hair hung down over the front of her face.  I asked Red what the hell was all this?  Again he just stared at me.  I told him I would be right back. I could tell he didn’t understand even what I was saying.  I walked over to the old woman, I reached over and moved her hair from in front of her face. Oh my God, her eyes were gone. I turned and threw up. I couldn’t take this. I had to get out of here. As I was about to go, I heard her say something.  I bent over and asked her what she said. I couldn’t believe what she said next, she told me that she was taken in late June, and had seen such horrible things that she couldn’t take it. She screamed and screamed for them to kill her so she didn’t have to see anymore. I asked her what was this place? She grabbed my arm and pulled me close, then whispered this is the feeding place. This is where the screams of death no longer can speak.
I didn’t know what to say. I told her I would get help. As I pulled away she tried to hang on but she was to weak. She then said something that instantly haunted me. She asked me to kill her.   I shined the light at her and I told her it would be ok, and that I would be back. Crying, she told begged me to kill her. She didn’t want to be eaten alive, and she said she was the one who clawed her own eyes out so she didn’t have to see the people’s faces while they were fed on by those creatures. I told her I couldn’t and that I would do everything I could to help her. I went back over to Red and told him I would be back. As I was about to leave I heard another sound coming from just behind the door. I shined the light.  There was a man slumped over scratching on the wall. In his hand there was what looked like a stick. As I looked closer I could see it was a pen.  I shined the light  and could see that he had written something on his arm. Not really wanting to but knew it had to be something important, I shined the light closer. What it read was crazy. He had written over and over the same thing, Purgatory! He had written it so hard that his arm was bleeding. I shook him and told him I was going to get help for him. As I was getting up my light shined across his body and  that’s when I saw that his legs were gone. It had looked like something had eaten parts of his legs, with parts of bone sticking through. Oh my God!! What kind of sick place was this.  I turned and headed toward the door. I didn’t know if I should close it and lock it. I was so sick to my stomach, that I just left it open and made my way slowly out of the cellar. I had forgotten all about the old man, but when I reached the top of the stars everything went dark.

Chapter Thirty Two

When I walked in the house I was met by this woman. She told me that my wife had passed away while I was gone and that she didn’t know what to do with the body so she put her down in the cellar.   I immediately went down to tend to her body. There is a part of the cellar that is blocked off from the rest and she said she had placed her body there, but when I stepped into the room, there was a small cot in the corner that had a cover over what looked like a body.  Once I walked closer I heard the door close behind me. Not thinking anything about it I took the cover off the cot to find some old gunny sacks instead of my wife.
I turned around to ask the woman where my wife was, but she wasn’t there. At first I didn’t know what was going on so I went back to the door and tried to open it but it was locked.  I pounded on the door for a long time but no one came and that’s when I realized I was set up. "Wait a minute,  I asked, "I just saw you turn into something that looked pretty strong. Why didn’t you change into that thing and bust your way out?"  He paused for a second, then took a deep breath. "I couldn’t, I didn’t know it at the time but she had found out through reading the books that if put into a room barred by a passage you could not change", he said sorrowfully.   I thought about what he was saying.  Something felt wrong. I asked him how he got out then? He told me that he heard Red and the old woman talking about the passages and that they were close to finding out the secrets behind them. "When Red came down to get me out of the cellar I tricked him into thinking I couldn’t leave the room unless he said the passage that was written on the door. Once he did,  I killed him and that brings us to here."
I tried to think back of all the things the old woman had told me.   I remember her saying that the only way one of the demon looking things could get past the door was if someone had let them in by saying the passage. Maybe he was telling me the truth. I looked over at the old man, his head slumped over as if he were sleeping.   I watched him for a second then took a step toward the hallway. He didn’t seem to be moving at all.   I had to go see what had happened to Red.  I took another step, still he didn’t move so I hurried into the hallway.  I took one last look at him then opened the cellar door and made my way down the steps.  It was dark as hell.  I remembered when I was with the realtor he had turned on a light,  so I put out my hands in front of me trying to find the string for the light. That’s when I heard something moving.  I stood still and listened.  It sounded like two pieces of sandpaper being rubbed together.  I wasn’t about to say a thing.  I searched for the light sweeping back and forth, then I found it. Reluctantly I pulled the string, not really wanting to see anything at that point but knowing I had too.
The cellar lit up, my eyes moved across the room as fast as they could, but there wasn’t anything there.  I walked around the back of the well thinking the worst,  but again nothing. Then I heard that sound again.  It was coming from behind a old built in shelf.  I thought it must be a mouse or even a rat.  I slowly walked over to it. I noticed something shining on the floor in front of the shelf.  It looked like water.  I knelt down and ran my finger over it then smelled it.  I couldn’t really smell anything, so I held it up to the light and that’s when I could see it was blood.  Oh my God, this must have been where he had killed Red! But what did he do with his body? I looked around the room again, but there wasn’t anything, then I heard the scratching sound again.  It had to be coming from behind the shelf.  I don’t know why but I grabbed the shelves to try and move them. I wanted to see if there was a mouse behind the damn thing, but when I pulled on it the whole thing swung open. It was a door.  This must have been that hidden room, the one the old man had told me about.   I started to second guess myself. Maybe the old man really was telling me the truth?  I stepped back away from the door, then quietly asked if anyone was in there.  I heard something so I took a step forward. There was some light shining in from where I was standing and  I could see that there was another door so I slowly walked up to it.  There was three large bolt locks on it, but only one had been locked. I started to pull up on the handle when I heard that scratching sound again.  I slid the lock open, then pushed on the door. Oh my God the smell was unbearable, my eyes burned so bad and I almost immediately started gagging, it ricked of death! I went back into the main part of the cellar, that’s when I noticed a small flash light sitting on top of the well, I grabbed it thinking there’s no way it would work but to my surprise it did.
I started to head back into the room when I heard a noise from up stairs, It had to be the old man, oh my God, if he woke up he will for sure turn back into that freaking monster looking thing and probably come down here and kill me, I had to hurry, I wanted to know what had happen to Red, don’t ask me why but it was something inside of me that was pushing me. I walked into the hidden room and shinned my light around, quickly at first, what I saw was horrible.

Chapter Thirty One

His voice more demanding with every word he said, I could tell he wasn’t happy.   I hollered out, "STOP IT!!"  What the Hell did you do with RED?"  He turned to me, his eyes frozen in a timeless stare, then he said, "You know nothing about what is going on here." The old woman said something, then he walked closer to her. She started saying something over and over again, then without as much as a blink of an eye the old man shape shifted into the most god awful thing I have ever seen.  I can’t even begin to explain the feeling I had inside of me.  He stood about eight feet tall, a hairless body that looked as if its skin was wet.  He had long fingers with claws that curled back around toward his hands, his feet blackened and had sharp claws.  I could hear them scratch the floor as he walked toward the old woman  and I could see every bone in his back.  He towered over her with a fear I could feel deep inside of me. I knew something was going to happen.  She changed forms into what looked like the wolf that had attacked me earlier.  I didn’t understand what was happening, but whatever that thing was , it scared the hell even out of her.  In a matter of seconds he attacked her.  He ripped at her with his long claws tearing parts of her.  He then grabbed her like she was nothing and snapped her neck, then threw her lifeless body to the floor.
I thought about bolting for the door, but who was I kidding.  I knew either way I was in for something so I might as well try and keep my back against the wall and let him come to me.  He turned toward me, blood dripping from his body.   I screamed,  "what do you want from me?"  Then his body quivered and he changed back to the old man.   I thought about trying to kill him while he was the old man but as fast as he changed the first time I knew it was a lost cause, so I just stood there.  I asked him why he killed Red and the old woman.  His breath slowed, then he came closer to me.  I told him not to come any closer.   He took another look at the old woman, then he said,  "She was the keeper of my house."  My thoughts went wild.  "What do you mean keeper of your house? Who are you?"  Without hesitation he said his name was Tershaune Vagnue.  I looked at him, then looked at the old woman.  "What do you mean? You’re trying to tell me that you’re the same Vagnue that built this house?"  "No," he said, that was my son Charles Vagnue.  He had built this house."  He took a few more steps closer to me, then told me he needed to sit down.  I slowly moved away from him as he sat down in a chair next to the fire place. His body seemed to be shaking as if he were cold.  This was crazy because not two minutes earlier he had ripped apart that wolf looking thing.  I asked him if he was ok, and then asked him just how old he was because the house had been built in 1817, and then he said it was built by his son. He told me that I was right, and that his son built this house.
"So where’s your son is now?" I told him, "The old lady said she was hired to take care of his mother, which I guess would have been your wife?"  He shook his head no, then he started to explain who the old woman was.  "My son had lived here for many years before my wife and I came here.  It was late in the fall when we finally arrived. The reason we had come here was to try and rid ourselves of the demands that haunted us.  My son learned of some old books that when read in the right way could end all of my families torment.  When he found out that he had no way of reading these passages, we were to go back to England and find someone to help us. We knew we had to keep it quiet because if found out by others we would have been killed."
"My wife was ill and could not travel, so my son found a woman to watch after her.  At first everything was fine, but after the next week the woman was going to say something to the local people, so my son turned her, knowing that if we could find out how to read these books things could be changed back. We had several rooms that we boarded up so the books would be safe when we returned, but when we were in England something happened.  The man we contacted wanted the books back.  He had been changed since my son had talked with him.  My son was killed by the very man that gave him the books in the first place. I knew that I had to get back to my wife before it was too late, but when I arrived back home something had happened.

Chapter Thirty

I told her , "This doesn’t make any sense at all.  You said because that passage was written on the door that no evil could enter this house."   She nodded,  "Only if you were not invited in by the keeper of this house."   I looked at her and said.  "So how the hell did you or Red get in, and who let you in?" I wasn’t liking the feeling I was getting in my gut.  There was something more here that I wasn’t getting.  I paused for a minute and that’s when it hit me.  I think they needed something from me. I asked her to explain this to me.  "Why, when I walked in there was a wolf that attacked me," I asked.    "I mean if you were the one who pulled me in the house, then you sure as hell wouldn’t have tried to attack me right?"  I must have been on the right track because she took a few more steps closer to me.  I held the poker up over my head and yelled,  "Don’t come one step closer or I’ll......." She stopped me from what I was going to say and then she smiled. "What,  you think you can kill me with that poker?" Her face still had a slight grin.  Then she looked over at Red and told him to open the cellar door.  "What! Don’t you take a step Red." I yelled.  Then without as much as a blink he shape shifted into a wolf and ran into the other room. My body started to tremble at the thought of what was going to happen next.
Oh my God.  I was getting really nervous.  I asked her what he was opening the cellar door for. She turned and looked behind her then back at me, then said,  "You will understand once you see it for your own eyes."   I heard a crashing noise,  then the most dreadful scream I have ever heard.   I asked her what it was. She looked at me  nervously and then said,  "It was Red."   Then I heard footsteps slowly coming down the hallway.  The old lady took a few steps back, away from the opening that led into the living room.  Then I saw it.  My eyes didn’t even want to focus on what I was seeing.
There stood a old man.  His skin almost looked green and he had patches of white blotches all over his body.  He was slumped over and seemed as if he could barely walk. His eyes seemed larger than life and his head was mostly bald with only a few strands of hair remaining.  As I looked closer I noticed his fingernails were long and that his arms looked as if they were bloody.  I asked the old woman who this was supposed to be.  She took a couple of more steps away from the old man nervously.  The old man looked over at her and said something that I couldn’t understand.  She backed up a few more steps.  They were talking about something and it wasn’t good.  I could tell that she was getting upset about what he was saying.   I asked her where Red was.   The old man looked over at me, and with a graveled voice said,  "He is dead".
Dead? What the hell did he mean, he is dead? The old man turned back toward the old woman.  She slowly stepped away again.  He kept saying something over and over again, but it wasn’t anything I could understand.

Chapter Twenty Nine

Then she said, "I went down and got the key and tried it in the lock." "I couldn’t believe it when I heard the snap of the lock as it opened."  "For a brief second I was almost scared to open the door." "As it swung open, I remember the door made a eerie screech as it opened." That made me more jumpier yet."  "As I walked into the room I saw it was filled with cob webs and there was dust everywhere." "Then I saw a small desk with a brass candle holder." "I could tell that someone must have used this room a lot because the candles were almost burned to the ends."
"The desk had some papers spread out across it and there was a shelf built on the back of it with some books on it."  "What caught my eye though was a large book sitting on a small table close to the window." "I walked over to it and started looking at it." "The words were written in some kind of language that at the time I didn’t understand so I closed the book and looked at its cover."  "It was amazing." "It had symbols that were raised and some of the same kind of wording that again I couldn’t read at the time."

I cleared my voice, and asked her what she meant when she said she couldn’t read it at the time? Did you find out what it said? I asked. "And was it the same language that is scribed in the front door?" She nodded then  I said, "Well? "What does it say?"

It says,
“This place rests of tasteless blood, thy veins run alone. "Let who walks through this passage walk without fear and who passes here will burn of the torches of the blacken Angel ”.
What does that mean? She told me she didn’t really know other than the book said to place those words on a place you want to rid of evil. So after looking through the book she went back over to the desk and looked at the papers. That is when she found out the secrets to the book. On the papers were the key to the wording in the book, someone had spent a long time trying to figure that book out.
I asked her what the book was. She paused then looked over at Red. He just stared at her without saying anything, I asked her again what it was? Then she said it was a book of passages to rid the darken spirits. She said that the cover of the book was actually a passage of purity, and things of evil could not enter if it is put out right.  Out right?, "What do you mean by that?", I asked.  She told me. "Like the carvings on the front door."   "You mean to tell me that what is written on the front door is supposed to keep evil from entering?", I said warily.   She nodded, then told me,  "That is why I pulled you inside the house after you collapsed in the yard."  Then Red finally spoke up and said, "It was the same reason Earl didn’t want to enter the house."  "The only way he could enter is if you opened the door, or if the right passage was said during the changing of a spirit.  I looked at him unbelievably and asked, "You mean like when you shape shift?"  Red nodded.
I turned back to the old woman, and then asked her how she and Red could be in the house then?   I was still thinking this was all bull but some of the stuff she was saying, well it kind of made sense. I asked her who put the carving on the front door.  She looked over at Red, then said,  "It  was Mr. Crane." "He wanted to cure himself after he had been captured by the curse."  "He hated the feeling of being controlled by Vagune and vowed to somehow end all of that." "It was his room that had been boarded up.  "I found some letters of his saying he was worried Mr. Vagune was getting suspicious, and was worried he would find out and end up killing him."

Chapter Twenty Eight

He said that he could sense it in me.  I looked over at the old woman.  She stepped closer to me and said something.  I told her I couldn’t hear her, so she came closer. Her voice was just a whisper but this time I could hear her. She told me that she was sorry but that what Red was telling me was true.  I had been captured by the curse of Vagune.  "Curse? What curse?", I asked. She begin to tell me how when she lived back in England she had been hired to help with Vagune’s mother.  "After the first week I noticed that the old woman never slept." " I explained to Mr. Vagune that we needed to do something about it and that’s when he got very irritated with me and told me to just do as he said." "Months went by and I told him that I was going to do something about the old woman not sleeping." "That’s when he begin to pace back and forth across the room."  "He started screaming hysterically.   I tried to leave but it was too late." "I stood there in disbelieve because that is the first time I saw him change."
"I had fainted and when I woke up I felt strange." "It was if he had complete control over me."  "I couldn’t speak." "My voice was gone."  "I hadn’t the will to try and get away, nor did I want to."  "One night Mr.Vagune came back from somewhere, his clothes torn and bloody." "He told me to gather up what we could, that we had to move." "I asked no questions." "Several months later we ended up here." "He built this house and we have been here ever since." I looked at her. She was pale and looked as if she was ill.   I interrupted her.  "Just a minute here, this house was built in 1817?" And now your telling me you moved here with the Vagunes?" She nodded, so then I asked her. "If I were to believe this, which I don’t , where did Vagune and his family go?" Just then Red stood up and looked over at the old lady, then told her, "Be careful what you say from this point on." She looked at Red, then said she didn’t care anymore and that they were close to finding out how they could stop this.   She looked back at me, then told me that Vagune had gone back to England several years ago.  "He told me to stay here and watch over his mother, so I did."  "Years went by and we never heard from him." "Then one day his mother died." "I didn’t know what else to do so I buried her in the back of the property." "I still couldn’t speak at that point, then a week went by after his mother passed on and  I could start to feel something." " I cleared my throat, then tried to speak." "At first I couldn’t believe it."  "I felt better every day and time went by."  "Year after year, I waited for him to return."  "One day I heard something."  "It sounded like glass breaking, so I checked all the windows in the house but nothing was broken."  "I went outside to look and that’s when I noticed that one of the dormers had a broken window." "I didn’t have any way to get up there to fix it so I figured there had to be away to get to it from inside the house."
I asked her why would I care about a broken window or any of this crap as far as that goes?  She took another step toward me, then she told me that she had had a man come fix the window, and when he had looked inside the dormer he told her that it looked like there were some things in there.  When he came down from the ladder she asked him what was in there.  He told her it looked like a desk and some old books. They both wondered why there would be a room with no way in to it.  I She then asked him if he would go inside and see if there was away to get inside of the dormer.  After several hours the man pulled off some boards that were covering the walls and discovered a door. The door had been locked so the man asked her if she wanted him to break in. She figured she shouldn't let him and told him to cover it back up.
"Several months went by again, and all I could think of is what was in that room." she continued. "So one night I took the boards down and then just stood there staring at the door."  "That’s when I remembered seeing a key in the top of the Mantle."  I shook my head because I knew she was telling the truth because I had seen that same key while I was looking at the house with the realtor.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Oh my God this is just too much to handle.  I looked over at Red, then asked him what he was. He put his head down slightly and said he didn’t know.  All he knew was that when all this started it was uncontrollable.  I asked him what was uncontrollable.  he looked up at me and said the shape changing. He said after several years he had learned how to change, and for the last three years he had been hunting down who had been killing those people. I asked him what he would do now that he had found him and killed him. He shook his head, then told me that Earl was only one of many. "Many?" "What do you mean?", I nervously asked.  He told me that the day before when he was after Earl he saw another shape shifter run into that small building, but that he was focused on Earl so when I came out of the house I had went over in that same direction so I must have scared him off.   Puzzled I asked Red why he would have been scared off by me.   He paused for a minute then said,  "What I am going to tell you next is going to be hard to handle."  "Why, what is it?" My voice was high pitched as if I was scared to hear the answer.  Not knowing what he was going to say next, I told Red that this was all way too crazy for me, and whatever he had to tell me I think was better off not being said.
Just then I heard something walking up behind me. I jumped up and turned toward the doorway. My heart couldn’t hardly take anymore of this.   Red stood up and told me it would be alright, then he shouted in the direction of where the noise was coming from. "It’s ok you can come out now."  I looked over at Red and asked him , "Who can come out now?" I said with my voice still shaking and me clutching onto the poker as if it were my life line.  Red was just about to say something when I saw a shadow of something out of the corner of my eye.  Not wanting to look but knowing I had to I slowly turned my head and looked. Oh my God it was that damn wolf! I backed up to the fireplace, keeping my focus on both of them and in a raised voice asked Red what the hell was going on.   Red took a step toward me. I thrust the poker toward him, then told him to stay away from me.  He told me to calm down and that no one was going to hurt me.  "Yeah, right."  I told him.  "That’s probably what you told Earl."
Red started to tell me again how Earl wasn’t what I thought he was, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time you told me that," I said as I glanced over to where the freaking wolf thing was standing. That’s when my mouth went dry.  Every thought, every word, was frozen at that instant, because what I had just seen would have sent chills down the back of anyone. It shape shifted right in front of me. Standing there in the place of the wolf was a old woman, her hair long and straggly with streaks of black running through it and it looked as if it was wet. Her face was worn and cut up and her eyes could burn through the soul of a dragon.  Her clothes old and torn, she tried to speak but before she could, I started to freak out, screaming at the top of my lungs.  I told them to get away from me, and that I would kill them if they tried to come close to me.  Red cleared his throat, then he said,  "You have to hear this Scott."  "Hear what?", I screamed back at him. "Am I supposed to listen to some more of this bullshit story about how you and this other freak bitch are not going to try and eat me?" "Well, I do not believe you for a second."   Red took a step toward me and told me to listen.  "Fine." "Say what you have to say then leave me the hell alone.", I shouted.   He told me that I might want to sit down first.  "Screw that!" "I’m not sitting anywhere, just say whatever you need to say."
"Ok," he began.  "Do you remember when you hit your head then passed out in the yard?"  I nodded, "Yes why?"  "What the hell does that got to do with anything?"  "Well," he continued.  "When you were laying there one of the shape shifters was going to kill you, and would have if it wasn’t for her." He pointed over toward the old woman.  "She had tried to drag you inside the house earlier but couldn’t do it in this form, so she shape shifted into what you saw earlier." "Then she dragged you in the house." "She was the one who dragged me in the house?", I asked.   "Yes, that is how you have those bite marks on your arm."Red said. I looked down at my arm and rubbed on the bandages.  I looked back over at Red.  "That really doesn’t explain to me what you want with me.", I told him.
He went on to tell me that when she pulled me in the house, she had shape shifted.  "Yeah, that’s what you said, so why does that make any difference,?" I said.   "You said she was too weak to do it if she didn’t change into the wolf thing."   He nodded, then said because she was shifted her bite entered my blood.  My eyes narrowed, wondering what the hell that meant.   He looked over at the old woman, then back at me, and what he said next sent terror through every fiber of my being.

Chapter Twenty Six

"Red, What the hell are you talking about here?" "Do you even hear what you are trying to say?"  He said,  "I know this is hard to understand , Scotty,  but it’s true."   Curiously I asked him what happened to his Dad. He paused slightly then told me that on that night his dad changed forever.  "Changed in what way? " "I thought you said your dad died from a heart attack?" I said.   "He did, well at least my real Dad did." he answered.   I shook my head not understanding what the heck he was trying to say.  "What do you mean you’re real dad?"  "What happened?" I shook my head in disbelief.   Red looked at me,  his eyes glistened over with tears and he said,  "That night the man saved my dad’s life and took it all at the same time."  "For  years after that night my dad wasn’t the same." "Every waking hour he researched in old books about witchcraft, and sorcerors, things about shape shifting and things like that."
"Well that still doesn’t explain to me what happened to your dad." , I said.  He said,  "Fine, I will explain."  "The night of his heart attack he said the man turned into a wolf and bit my Dads neck. "My dad didn’t remember anything else after that. "All he knew is that when he woke up he was laying on his front porch and his clothes were ripped to shreds.  "Pulling on his own clothes he looked down, they were kind of like mine are right now."   I stood up and held the poker out in front of me. "What the hell are you telling me Red?"  "That you’re a shape shifter?"  I couldn’t even fathom what the hell I was even saying, let alone contemplate believing this bunch of bull.  Red stood up and asked me to calm down and let him explain everything. After thinking it over and seeing everything I’ve seen the last few days I thought I better at least hear what he had to say, I told him to go ahead, and then we both sat down. Red told me about ten years earlier, he was in a bad motorcycle accident, his dad was the one to find him . Red wasn’t breathing and had lost a lot of blood, and figuring he was going to die, his dad brought him up here to see the old man. His dad asked him to save Red like he had him. Several years later his dad told him what had happened, and like me he didn’t believe what he  was hearing.
"I have I lived a normal life", he said.  "That is until about five years ago."  "I was working on a small project for someone, when the husband and wife started arguing." "One thing led to another."I started pacing back and forth. "I started to sweat, and all of a sudden I blacked out."  "When I came to I was laying in the middle of the woods, my cloths torn to pieces and I had blood on me everywhere." I made my way back to my place and cleaned up."  "The next day I went up town for breakfast before heading over to work." "When I heard talk about someone getting killed I asked the waitress what they were talking about."  "That’s when they told me what had happened."
"She told me  that there was nothing left of their bodies." " I asked her who she was talking about."  "When I heard their names I knew I had something to do with it." " I went over to my dad’s place to talk to him about what I thought I had done, and that I believed what he had told me."  "I was worried that the sheriff would have come after me but no one ever did."
I stood up again, and asked him why he was telling me all this.   My heart was pounding again and I started sweating. He said,  "Because, there is something you need to know."  "But first I have to tell you everything."  "Later that day I had went back to my place to get something when my phone rang."
"It was my Dad", he told me.  He thinks he knows what to do, he said.  That he was going up to talk to the old man and see if there were some way to stop what was happening to me. And ask him why nothing like this has ever happened to him."
"That was the last time I heard from my dad." "Later that night I went over to my dad’s, but he wasn’t there." "I went straight up to the old Cranes place and pounded on the door, but no one answered." "I went around to the back of the house and tried the back door and it was open so I went in."  "I searched the house top to bottom but it was empty."  I went back into town and got the sheriff. I had told him that my dad said he was going out to the Crane place to talk to the old man about something and hadn't come home."  
 Still standing and listening in disbelief, I asked him again why his clothes were ripped.  Red shook his head and said he didn’t want to say right now.  I asked him if he was the one that killed Earl.  He stood up and looked at me. Then said yes.   "Oh My God WHY? ", I asked.
He told me Earl wasn’t what I thought he was. "What do you mean by that",  I asked.  Red said, "Do you remember that day you followed that wolf into the cellar?"  I looked at him and said,  "How do you know about that?"  He asked me again, do you? I nodded, and then he told me that was Earl.  He was what was killing all these people around here. I took a step back, what! No that’s nuts, all of this is crazy.  Red spoke up louder, then grabbed my arms and said no, it’s true!!. He wanted to kill you so no one would move into this house because this is where there secret is hidden. I think they killed my dad because he knew something, I have been trying to figure just what that is but can’t. The next day Earl helped you move. This was his opportunity to get rid of you, just like so many others before you, but this time his plan was foiled because I was here.  I heard that Earl had come up here to help you and I knew I needed to get here fast. What you didn’t know was I wanted you to believe he didn’t want to be here, but in reality he wanted you to feel like you had led the way. Once you went back inside, he started to follow you.  That’s when I confronted him, but you came out too quick before I could finish him.  When you finally saw him walking down the road, he was already close to dead, and when you went to get help I finished him.
Again I didn’t believe what I was hearing. He told me he wasn’t sure it was Earl that was killing all these people, but once he found out he had went with me up here, he knew he had to watch him.
"I knew I was right when I saw him change just as you went inside the house," Red said.   "I had to act quick, he wasn’t quite changed when I slashed his throat, and he took off down the drive way trying to get away as fast as he could, but it was too late."  "Once he turned back into human form, that’s when I knew he was close to death."

Chapter 25

Red grabbed my arm and turned me around, then told me I needed to listen to him very carefully, I nodded and said ok, he said that it was about his Dad and also about what I had seen in the house. He reached around me and turned the knob an...d pushed open the door, then said it will be alright and that the wolf was gone, I looked back at the open door and then slowly walked in. I heard the door shut behind me, not wanting to take my eyes off of what was in front of me I told Red that maybe we should leave the door open in case that thing wants to get out. What he said next raised the hairs on my neck, and made it almost impossible for me to turn around and look at him, He said that it doesn’t want to get out it lives here, what the hell do you mean it lives here I asked? He walked by me and went into the living room, my eyes fixed on his every step I followed him, he sat on the chair next to the fire place, then looked over at me and asked me to sit down. Still clinging to the fire poker I said don’t you think we should look for that dog or wolf? He shook his head no, and then asked me again to sit down, reluctantly I walked over to the couch and stood there a few seconds before sitting down, I was so uneasy about all that has happened to me.
I asked Red what he meant when he said that the wolf lives here, and what did his Dad have to do with any of this and why is your clothes all ripped apart and what is stain on your shirt, is that blood? I could see Red getting uneasy, he leaned forward and told me that what he is about to tell me is going to be hard to believe but it’s all true. Will explain why your clothes are all ripped?
He sat back in the chair, then he said he had gone through a change, my eyes narrowed, I change, what do you mean by that? He told me that he would tell me everything but wanted to tell me how this all started, I was getting really uneasy about all this. He said it started about thirty years ago, My Dad had a lumber yard in town and had a late night delivery out here, the man told my Dad that he wanted to have him bring some plank boards up to this house but couldn’t do it until one am. My Dad asked him why he couldn’t just drop the boards off outside and send him the bill, but the man insisted that it be brought up there at around one am, My Dad was a gentle man and respectably agreed to the man’s conditions. When my Dad showed up he said there was what my Dad said a large black wolf sitting on the porch, he was used to making delivery’s to places that had dogs so he wasn’t too worried, only that this one seemed pretty big. As he walked up to the door he said that he was keeping an eye on the wolf when right in front of his eyes the wolf turned into a man, what are you talking about I said, the wolf turned into a man right in front of your Dad, that’s crazy! What are you trying to do here Red scare me more than I already am? Red continued on, he said that his Dad wasn’t really sure if he believed what he was seeing, and figured it was just late night jitters, then the man walked up to my Dad and told him that they needed his help. The man told my dad that he wanted to have a special room built and he knew my Dad to be a good carpenter, My Dad confronted the Man about what he had seen, but the man denied it. After off loading the boards the man again asked him to do the job and offered my Dad a lot of money to do it, the only stipulation was he had to do it at night. At first my Dad said he didn’t want to do it, but business was slow that year and he really needed the extra money.
I said that still doesn’t explain the wolf I saw and the fact your clothes are torn, He shook his head, then said, remember when I meet you in the café and I told you that my Dad had a heart attack and died? I said yes, why?
Well one of the nights my Dad was working out here he did have a heart attack, and was close to dying when the man told him he wouldn’t have to die and that he could save him, but he wouldn’t be the same ever again.

Chapter Twenty Four

I grabbed the blanket and turned toward the dog, as I leaped through the air and onto him.  I collapsed to the floor landing on nothing but the blanket.  Somehow I had missed him completely or so I thought.  I spun around thinking the worst. My hands were ready to try and grab his neck to hold him off any way possible, but there was nothing there.  I didn’t even hesitate.  I scooted backwards toward the fire place and grabbed the poker then jumped to my feet and waited.  I listened carefully to see if I could hear him breathe, but nothing.  I cleared my throat hard, then hollered,  "Where are you, you son of a bitch?!! " I was sweating like mad, and shaking uncontrollably.  I didn’t understand how he had gotten in here in the first place. The image of him was embedded in my mind.  His long black hair, and those black eyes staring at me as he growled that horrible growl; I really didn’t think it was a dog at all , it seemed too big for one. I thought it through, picking out every detail, from the height and size of him to his large fangs and long tail.  I think it might have been a wolf.
Waiting no more I crept toward the doorway leading out of the living room.  Every step I made seem to make the floor creak.  I stuck the poker around the corner and hollered, but nothing moved or attacked so I peeked around the corner down the hallway running back toward the kitchen, then stepped out into the hallway.  I glanced up the stairs to see if I could see him up there but nothing was there either so I took a step closer toward the kitchen. I thought about opening the door so if he wanted to get out,  there would be away for him to escape,  so I slowly walked backwards toward the door.  I reached for the knob but kept watching wildly for any movement in front of me.  As I swung the door open, my back to the door,  I heard a voice.  I didn’t even give it a second thought.   I spun around swinging the poker at what was there, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it.  To tell you the truth I don’t even think I remember seeing anything at that moment other than the vision of that thing jumping on me.  I swung wildly then I heard a man’s voice yell out  SCOTTY! Focusing on what was there I stepped back and put down the poker.  Oh my God, it was Red.  I was out of breath and shaking.  He asked me what the hell was wrong. I was at a loss for words at first, then I stepped out onto the deck and closed the door behind me. "I’m so sorry, Red." "There is a wolf in my house." His eyes narrowed and he said,  "A wolf?" "What do you mean?"  I explained to him what had happened and that I was just about to open the door to try and scare it out when he had showed up and startled me.  I told him I didn’t mean to swing at him but I didn’t know what was behind me and that I was really jumpy.
I stood there catching my breath, still telling him every detail of what happened when I noticed that his clothes were torn to shreds. He had what looked like a blood stain on his right shoulder, and his hands were all dirty.   I glanced up at him, then asked him what the hell happened to him? He stared at me with a demanding stare and told me that he needed to talk to me about something.  I asked him if he was alright and if he needed a doctor and he shook his head no.  Then he asked me if we could go inside.  I was about to open the door but then turned to him and said,  "We can’t." "That big dog or wolf or whatever the hell is still  in there!"

Chapter Twenty Three

After they left the nurse checked me over, then asked me if I was feeling better, I said yes then asked her when would I be able to get out of here, She smiled and told me that she would have to wait and that it was up to the doctor and that he wouldn’t be in until the morning, I asked her what time was it getting to be, she told me it was around ten o’clock at night, Wow really, I couldn’t believe it, how long was I out I asked her, she looked puzzled then said she thinks I was only in here for about a hour or so, an hour? What are you talking about I said, I though you said it was ten o’clock? Yes it is she said. I thought back at what time it was when I had picked up Earl to come and help me, It had to been around two pm when we got done, so I figured by the time the Sheriff arrived it had to be at least close to three, I turned to the nurse, then I asked if she was sure that I was only here for an hour, she said it had to be close to that, then asked me to look at my wrist band because that has the time when you were admitted, I turned the band around so I could see the time, It said eight fifty five pm. She asked me if everything was alright, I said yes then asked her if I had any stitches or anything? She looked and said no, and the only thing they were monitoring me for is a concussion, we already gave you a cat scan and it checked out fine. The doctor said to keep a close eye on you and he had giving you a light sedative to slow down your heart rate, other than that we feel you will be fine.
The next morning I woke up ready to get the heck out of there, another nurse came in to check on me and I asked her if I could go home now, she walked over and checked the monitors then told me that the doctor does his rounds at eight am so he will be here shortly. I didn’t really like the idea of being here anymore than I had to so I asked her if she could see if he could check me first, as she left the room, I sat up and swung my legs over to the side of the bed and stood up, I was a little lit headed but figured it was just because I had been hit on the head pretty hard. After a few minutes the door opened and the doctor came in, He said well it looks like you’re ready to get out of here uh? I told him yes then he asked me to sit down for a minute while he goes over some things, he told me that I might be a bit dizzy for a little while until the swelling goes away, and that I shouldn’t lift anything or drive a car, but other than that I can release you as soon as we get your paper work done, I quickly asked him about driving a car because I didn’t have anyone else around to drive for me, he shook his head and said that he didn’t recommend that at all because it was too dangerous this early after a head trauma like that. He told me that they have someone that can bring me home so I wouldn’t have to drive. I said that would be great, then I started thinking I didn’t even know where my truck was anyway.
About an hour later I was in getting a ride home from a elderly man that drove the service vehicle for the hospital, he asked me where I lived, when I told him I could see his eyes light up, I couldn’t help but ask him what that look was for, Oh I’m sorry sir, it’s just that I heard some bad things about that area. Then he didn’t say another thing, I asked him what kinds of things, but he just kept a straight face forward and never said a thing, as he pulled up the drive way I could see his eyes passing back and forth, it was as if he was looking for something, he pulled up to the front of the house and waited for me to get out, I was barely out of the van door when he put it in gear and started backing up, woo I said, the door of the van pushing me back a few steps, he looked over at me and said he was sorry but he needs to get going right away, I thanked him for the ride and as soon as I closed the door he floored it out of my driveway and out into the street without even letting off the gas. I shook my head in disbelieve as to how people are so skittish around here, I walked up the steps and onto the front deck, then turned and watch as he turned off of shallow pine onto willow, I shook my head again then went inside.
I just wanted to go lay down on the couch and forget any of this had happen, when I walked into the living room, my heart damn near blew right out of my chest, I couldn’t even take a breath, because of what I saw standing next to the fire place, it was that big black dog! I thought about spinning around and running for the door, but then figured he would have me before I would even take two steps, motionless I stared at him, his mouth was partly open and I could see his razor sharp teeth, all I could think of is what that is going to feel like once he decides to attack me, my eyes looked around the room trying to find something to protect myself with but couldn’t see anything except for the fire poker that was six inches away from him.
I swear hours went by when I finally knew I had to do something, so I cleared me throat, his ears perked straight up and he moved forward just a little, then I said, how is it going boy, where did you come from, I could see his hair stand up on the back of his neck, then a low steady growl that seemed to echo throughout the house, the sound he made terrified every bone in my body, I knew there was nothing I could do at this point other than try and fight him off the best I could, I thought about rushing him, maybe I could get to the poker and somehow use it to defend myself, his eyes were focused hard on me now, they were almost black, drewl fell to the floor as he let out a blood curling bark, then he took another step closer. I saw that there was a blanket draped over the back of the couch and figured I could get to it before he could get to me, if I could, then maybe I would be able to wrap it around his head and hopefully hold him down until I could get to the poker, I hadn’t even finished running the thought threw my head when I made a leap for it, all I remember from that point was...