CHAPTER 12
Presley and Jesse left the castle. They followed the map, briskly walking through a tunnel and into an open field. They moved silently, as they each pondered what lurked ahead at the Manes’ mansion. Presley also thought about Jesse’s life, and wondered if he was going to be okay once she was gone.
“So, will you just go back to the town after Paulette and I leave?” she asked. He nodded his head.
“Do I have any other choice?” he asked.
“No, I guess not. I wish there was a way for you to come back with me,” she said softly.
“Me too. But, I don’t know. Even if I could come back, which I can’t, what would I do there? It would be a completely different world than the one I left, you know? It would almost be like living on a different planet. Everything has just changed so much. It's not the same world.”
“Still, what if you could? Just entertain the idea . . . what if?”
“If I could come back and be with you? Well, I wouldn’t ask for anything more. We could have had a great life together, but it’s just not possible.”
“What if we could go back to our previous life?”
“Well, your previous life is my existing life. I would do anything to go back in time. I wish you could remember how great we were.” There was a long pause.
“We had such a great story. You were, and still are, everything to me. When you said that you would marry me it was the happiest day of my life. It was all so perfect,” he reminisced.
“Well, you know what they say?” Presley smiled. “‘It’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.’”
Jesse laughed in an effort to hide his pain. He looked down as tears filled his eyes.
“Well, if you believe that . . . then you’ve never lost a love."
≈≈≈≈≈
Porha seemed peaceful and quiet. Purple and blue birds flew overhead. The flowers swayed with the wind and the weather was perfect. They walked for most of the afternoon without incident.
“How much longer until we reach the mansion?” asked Presley.
“It should be right over this hill,” he said. As they reached the top of the hill, the beautiful day suddenly turned grim. The sky grew dark, and they knew that they were in the presence of evil.
The gothic - like mansion was dark and mysterious.
Broad buttresses extended from the stone wall. The mansion had steep gables and oriel windows that protruded from the wall as well.
They cautiously crept up the old, cracked walkway to the entrance. With each step they took, their breathing became loud and heavy with anticipation.
“I’m so scared,” mumbled Presley. Jesse took her hand in attempt to relieve her nervousness.
“I know you are. Just keep thinking that as soon as we save Paulette you can go home,” he said in an encouraging tone.
≈≈≈≈≈
Years before, the old mansion was unwillingly vacated by a family of porits when the Manes forced them out, taking over the space as their own. Large gargoyle statues stood high on the roof. The house was huge with multiple rooms and winding hallways. It seemed that the mansion was never ending.
They noticed a bronze - skinned woman who looked lost, her wide, black eyes wandering. She walked to the front door of the mansion, and then disappeared through the doorway into the house.
“I don’t think she saw us,” Presley said with amazement.
“No, she must be a porit. They won’t harm us. They won’t even know we’re here.”
“You mean a dead porit? None of the porits will know that we’re here?” Presley asked confused.
“No, don’t worry about the porits. They’re harmless. If you’re going to worry, worry about the Manes,” he whispered.
They opened the door to the mansion and slowly walked inside. The bronze - skinned lady was standing by a long beautiful spiral staircase, peering up at it as if she were waiting for someone to come down. Nobody was at the top of the stairs, but still the woman waited, silently.
“Can you hear me?” Presley whispered to the lady.
The lady didn’t move. She stood - staring ahead, just waiting.
“This place just keeps getting stranger and stranger,” Presley said.
“You’ve got that right,” Jesse agreed.
Suddenly, the lady sharply turned her head toward them. Presley gasped. The woman’s eyes were dark as night. Her mouth was gaped open as if she had been frightened. Her haunting eyes focused on Jesse and Presley, as she quickly began to move toward them with her head tilted.
“She sees us, Jesse. What’s she going to do?” Presley moved closer to him. The lady, keeping a steady pace, walked directly through Presley and then down the hallway until she was out of sight.
“Where did she go?” Presley asked nervously.
“It doesn’t matter where she went. We need to find Paulette,” his voice cracked.
“Where do we start?” she asked.
“Let's go upstairs first. If she isn’t up there we can back track down here again,” he said
“Okay,” she said her voice low and quiet.
They went up the long staircase and down a dark hallway. Jesse carefully opened the first door of many. They walked inside a magnificent room. The room had an oversized red velvet couch and dark red chairs surrounding a large table. Shelves displayed hundreds of books, which covered the walls from the ground up.
As they turned to leave, Presley saw a red illuminating light shine from one of the books that rested on a shelf high above her reach. Jesse found a ladder tucked away into the far right corner of the room. He dusted it off and aligned it to the radiant book. Presley climbed the ladder and took the enchanted book down from its shelf. Excited, she opened it to a random page. It was written in an unrecognizable language. Jesse glanced over her shoulder.
“This must be the porits’ language,” he said. Presley stood in silence for a moment realizing that she was holding a book which belonged to another species.
“Put this in your bag,” she told Jesse.
“What? You want to take it?”
“Yeah. I don’t think any of the porits will miss it. They are dead.”
As ordered, Jesse put the book in his bag and they went on. They searched all of the upstairs rooms, with the exception of one, and they still hadn’t found Paulette.
“I don’t think that she is up here,” he said.
“We still have one room left,” she said hopefully. “Do you notice how quiet it is here?”
“Yeah, it’s creepy quiet,” he agreed.
They arrived at the remaining door. Jesse cautiously opened it, he slowly peeked his head inside. His eyes darted around to each corner of the massive room.
“Nobody,” he said disappointedly.
The room was completely white with the exception of a lavender canopy that draped above an extravagant bed, which stood directly in the middle of the room. Tiny delicate designs were engraved on the wooden poles that held the deep sheer purple canopy, which elegantly draped to the floor. A fancy white pearl vanity sat adjacent to the bed. Presley sat on the silky cream soft fur stool, which matched the carpet. Presley stared at her reflection in the oval mirror. Small dim lights glowed all around it. Inside the vanity was unusual makeup and large plush brushes.
“I can’t believe this place! Look at this vanity!” she said excitedly. She rummaged through the drawers.
“Shhh. Did you hear that?” asked Jesse, as he turned toward the doorway.
“I didn’t hear anything,” she whispered back.
“No . . . listen,” he said again, as the sound of footsteps drew nearer. Slowly, the door opened. Presley hid behind Jesse as he positioned himself in a defensive stance.
/> “Sarah!” Jesse’s voice cracked again. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to help you,” she said.
“How did you find us?” Presley asked relieved.
“I’ve been following you since you left town,” admitted Sarah.
“You followed us?” Jesse repeated.
“Yes, Jesse, I followed you. I had to make sure that you were okay. I’ve been so worried,” she said tenderly, as she touched his cheek with her hand. “I found Paulette walking through the woods the night that Fiend convinced her to come here to the mansion. I was fortunate to get away when I did,” she said.
Presley knew that Sarah’s motive was to have Jesse for herself. Presley scowled at her indicating her displeasure at Sarah’s presence.
“I’m pretty sure that I know where Paulette might be.” Sarah motioned for Presley and Jesse to follow her. “I think she’s in the basement,” she said.
“How do you know that she is in the basement?” Presley asked skeptically.
“I heard a scream earlier when I was outside. It came from the basement,” she responded with her usual haughty tone. “She just has to be in the basement,” Sarah insisted.
“Let’s go and get her,” Jesse said as he walked toward the door. They walked back down the hallway and down the winding staircase. It seemed longer than before. The bronze - skinned lady was at the bottom of the staircase, waiting as she had been before. They walked past the lady and continued on until they reached a screened porch in the back of the mansion. The screen was torn, and very little remained of a once functional porch. Numerous spirits were drifting aimlessly about, some mumbling and others crying.
“They don’t know that they’re dead,” said Sarah.
“What do you mean?” asked Presley.
“These are the lost spirits of the porits. They can’t understand why they are here. They want to go home but they don’t know where home is. They want their families, but they can’t find them. They are lost. They never sleep. They spend their days and nights walking this area, trying desperately to figure out who they are and how to get back. They repeat the same actions day after day minute after minute.”
“So, this is what Fiend did with the porits’ souls,” Jesse said in amazement.
“Actually, these are the souls who refused to help Fiend once he had their souls. So, as punishment he took away most of their memories, only leaving some which cause them to exist in a state of constant confusion. It’s torture.”
“Yeah, Manna already filled us in,” replied Presley, looking at Sarah out of the corner of her eyes.
“Manna? You mean you’ve seen Manna?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, we met him. He helped us to find our way here,” Jesse said.
The dead porit lady reappeared and glided past them. She stopped near the water mill that continued to turn, but was absent of any water because the river below it had completely dried up. The lady stared off into space waiting for an unknown someone or something.
They walked back into the mansion searching for the stairs that would lead them to the basement. Sarah led them through a furnished kitchen and guided them out the kitchen door. Now, outside, they rounded the mansion and in the yard, Sarah, just by chance, found a metal handle. She pulled the handle which was attached to an iron door.
“It’s a cellar. We found the stairs!” Jesse said excitedly over his shoulder to Presley. They walked down into the musky basement and heard a piercing scream. Jesse began to run toward the scream.
“Paulette, Paulette!” he shouted.
“I’m in here!” A voice shouted back. They followed the voice to a dimly lit room where Paulette lay curled up in the dark corner, as Manna‘s crystal ball had shown. Jesse scooped her up and held her.
“We came for you,” Jesse whispered in Paulette’s ear. “Where are the Manes? Where is Fiend?” he asked as he held her tightly.
“I don’t know. They took my crystal and now I can’t see them,” she cried.
“Okay, maybe we can get out of here safely. We haven’t seen them either. Maybe they are gone. Maybe they don’t know that we’re here,” he said frantically, trying to gather his thoughts. “I am going to check the hallway and stairs to make sure that this isn’t a trap. To make sure that they aren’t waiting for us. Paulette, you stay here with Presley and Sarah. I’ll be right back.”
“Sarah, how did you find us?” Paulette asked. As the last word left Paulette’s lips, Sarah vanished right before their eyes.
“What just happened?” screamed Presley. “Did you just see that? She disappeared. Where did she go?”
“I don’t know but she’s gone,” Paulette whispered as she looked around the room.
“Who is she?” Presley said breathless. Sarah reappeared just as Jesse dashed back into the room.
“What happened? Did you see Fiend?” he asked. Presley’s trembling finger pointed to Sarah.
“No. Not Fiend. Sarah. She just disappeared - completely disappeared, right here in front of us!” yelled Presley.
“When you came back, she reappeared. She’s dead. She’s a ghost,” gasped Paulette. The room grew quiet and all eyes were on Sarah.
“Who are you?” Presley demanded. Sarah eyes began to change colors until they adjusted to a deep dark black.
“When I left the room I had the crystals,” Jesse explained. “The crystal’s power materializes spirits. Without it they are invisible. She’s a spirit. She’s one of them,” he whispered. “Sarah, what did you do? You joined the Manes? How did they get to you? You agreed to go with Fiend?”
“I went looking for you. I needed to find you. I couldn’t stand that you had fallen for this girl,” Sarah said in a condescending voice.
“I was confronted by Fiend and the Manes and they made a deal with me. They promised me that if I joined them they would make sure that we would be together. I love you, Jesse. You know that. I’ve tried everything to get you to see how much I love you. No matter what I do you have always turned me away because of her. Don’t you see? She is Presley . . . not Emily!” Sarah shrieked.
“No. She is the same girl to me,” he said.
“But she doesn’t even remember you!” she laughed.
“It doesn’t matter, she knows me.”
“Jesse, come with me,” Sarah begged. “The Manes will take care of us. We could be together, you and me - finally together,” she said.
“What don’t you understand?” he asked. “I don’t love you. I don’t want to be with you - I never have. I have only loved one person. Emily is and always has been the one. I will always love Emily. Sarah, you did this to yourself. You chose this. You chose to go with them,” he said harshly.
Sarah let out a blood curdling scream, “They will kill you. They promised me. You will die and then we will be together,” she cried.
Jesse, Paulette and Presley ran through Sarah and swiftly up the stairs. Fiend shot down from the ceiling and landed on the floor in front of them.
“Going so soon?” he asked. His voice sent a shock through Presley’s body and she began to shake. Through the window Presley could see the sky darkening, thunder roared and lightning flashed. Fire began to fall from the ceiling. Fiend jumped up to the top of the twenty- foot ceiling and gathered the fire in his hands. He flung a fireball towards Paulette, burning a hole through her dress. She screamed in pain. Jesse tackled her to the floor and rolled on top of her, smothering the flames until the fire had dissipated.
“Why are you doing this?” shouted Jesse.
“Creating your fears, giving them life, gives me pleasure. There is nothing I enjoy more . . . apart from collecting souls," he sneered.
Paulette was so intensely terrified she became too weak to stand. Presley stood over Paulette’s limp body, wanting to protect her, b
ut knowing that she would be unsuccessful if Fiend were to contest.
“You have two choices. You can either choose to join me, or die,” Fiend crouched down low ensuring that Paulette could see his large forceful red eyes, inducing panic in them all.
“Why do you want our souls?” asked Jesse as he clutched Presley arm.
“Since the beginning of time there has always been the notorious good versus evil, correct? I had a choice, much like you have a choice now. I had the choice to be either good and live under another’s control, or control my own destiny. Make my own rules. Live my own way. Aren’t you tired of your fate being determined by some cosmic source who you never see? Are you ready to come with me and design your own fate, and be in control of your own destiny?” he recited this anecdote as if he had told the story numerous times before. The windows burst and a gust of wind whipped through the room knocking Presley off balance and she fell to the floor.
“The more souls I collect, the more powerful I become. In turn the more souls you help me to collect, the more powerful you become as well. There are no smoke and mirrors,” he chuckled. “What you see is what you get. If you decide you want to join me, every need of yours will be met, every desire will be fulfilled. This planet will then be ours for the taking! I have already won the souls of most of the porits’, of course, and all that is left are the souls in your small town. With your help we can conquer this planet once and for all.”
The storm was merciless. The old ceiling began to leak. The conversation continued, the tone symbolically mirrored by the clapping of thunder and deluge of rain.
“Why would I help you?” Jesse asked.
“Why wouldn’t you? You have a miserable existence. Your family is dead; your soulmate doesn’t know who you are. You’re nobody to her. Nothing. Think about it. What choices do you have? What is your plan? Are you going to stay here?
Until . . . when? Forever? You won’t grow older and the only way you will die is by an unforeseen accident. I guess you could kill yourself, but wait; I would end up getting your soul that way too! So, you tell me, what choice do you really have? If you and Presley decide to come with me - at least you will be together.”
“There is no way Presley’s going with you,” Jesse said sternly.
“Fine. And you?” Fiend asked. Jesse looked at Presley and shook his head.
“No,” he said. “None of us are going with you. You are the reason I’m stuck here now.”
“Now, wait. You can’t give me the credit for your own misfortune. What were you doing at the creek that day you came here? Who were you with? Oh, yes . . . Sarah. Isn’t that right? Didn’t you both come here at the exact same time? What were you doing with her? Weren’t you engaged to Emily?” Jesse looked at Presley with despair in his eyes.
“It wasn’t like that, Presley. Don’t listen to him,” he pleaded. The dead porit lady entered the room oblivious of her surroundings. She knelt down on her knees crying into her hands apparently begging for some sort of resolution.
“I can promise you this, Jesse,” Fiend said firmly, “If you aren’t careful this is what your destiny will look like,” Fiend pointed to the woman. “Sad isn’t it? She’s looking for her family, yet she isn’t even sure who her family is. She’s looking for her home, but she’ll never find it. She’s grasping at anything even vaguely familiar to her. As soon as she remembers a glimpse of her old life, the vision is gone as quickly as it came. Constant torment,” he grunted. “Constant hell,” he smiled. “She chose poorly. She signed her soul over to me as did her entire family, but when it came time for me to collect; she tried to back out of our agreement. She didn’t want to do what I asked of her. So this is the anguish she must endure for her foolish disobedience.”
The porit woman slowly stood back up. Her ghostly image walked through the wall and she was gone.
“We aren’t coming with you,” Jesse said firmly.
“Still not, huh? That’s okay. I realize this decision can take some time. I must move on to the next plan.”
“The next plan?” Jesse repeated.
“Yes, my next plan. Remember, I still have Sarah’s soul. She will prove to be useful to me." Fiend’s massive wings unfolded from his back. He screamed in pain as his facial features radically change shape. Simultaneously, the storm ceased and the wind calmed. The mansion was quiet. Presley stooped to help Paulette up. Jesse scanned the room to ensure that Fiend had indeed left the mansion. The shattered window was now intact, and there wasn’t any sign of the fire that had encased the room just moments before.
“I’m ready to go home now,” Paulette whispered.