Pennsylvania: the good ole state many of the founders of this country called home. Well, it's where they decided this country was going to be a country, anyway. I was nowhere near there. Actually I was somewhere in Canada maybe four hours past the border above New York. It wasn't just me because Roy was still with me. I honestly wasn't sure how much longer the two of us were going to be together but I didn't really see a reason why we had to separate. I enjoyed having the company and he was actually good at what we do.
The country up there is absolutely beautiful but I never ventured there that often. There was never that much activity outside the US so I never left. Plus I knew that Kelly's agency extended outside the country and even across the sea. Oh yeah. I should probably tell you that I haven't talked to Kelly since the whole incident where a lot of her agents died. I was sure she still wanted to bring me in and I can't imagine that she and the rest of her agency is too happy about what happened.
Anyway, the town we wandered into was a small town with a lot of woods. We were there because there had been reports of disappearances and people seeing some strange stuff near an old mansion on the outskirts of the town in the middle of nowhere. I wasn't sure what it was yet and I know what you're thinking but I don't believe that it is ghosts. I hoped it wasn't, at least.
I had learned about the mansion because someone had been looking to restore the place but they had been having a lot of trouble due to the disturbances. The place was rumored to have been haunted for years but it was only recently that someone wanted to fix it up. I know all of this because I read it online, okay? The person that is restoring the place posted online looking for help. Given our background, Roy and I answered the ad. Most of the comments mocked the person, whose name is Rita, but we believed her. And more importantly, she believed us, which is silly because I lied. We posed as paranormal investigators by the names of Randy and Patrick, and we were there to cleanse the house of all evil spirits. Does this story sound familiar to you? I can't put my finger on it.
Rita told us to meet her at a coffee shop in the middle of town and she was late.
"What time did she say?" Roy asked me as he took a sip of his coffee.
"She said nine," I assured him.
"AM or PM?"
"AM, jerk."
"Just checking, Harry." Some of you may get that. Dumb and Dumber when Harry tells Lloyd to meet the girl at the restaurant for drinks at 10 in the morning and then realizes that it was 10 at night but he was actually lying the whole time because he was actually meeting with her. That was a mouthful. Just dropping some knowledge on you. If you haven't seen that movie then you disappoint me severely.
"How's the coffee?" I asked him.
"Terrible, but it gets the job done," he replied. "You don't drink coffee?"
"Don't need it. I'm a paladin, remember."
"You're missing out."
"Not really. It tastes terrible."
It was around 9:15 when Rita finally showed up. She was a very plain looking woman with bleach blonde hair that was tied up in a bun. She was wearing a blue suit and looked like someone who always got what they wanted. There was a demanding look plastered on her face.
"Hello, Dave and Patrick," she said, shaking our hands.
"Hello," we replied in unison.
"Let's get started. I want to make sure that the two of you are not just pretending and plan on stealing my money."
"Ma'am," I started, "we have been exorcising ghosts for a very long time." I began to feed her a bunch of bull-crap about how we went to school for it and the extensive studies we had done. Honestly, I can't even remember what I said. If I told her the truth then she would have sent us both packing.
"Good," she said. "Now I need this done quickly. I can't get anyone to work out there due to the?problems."
"Fast is our middle names," said Roy.
"I hope so. I would prefer for you to begin immediately."
"So would we."
"Now, there have been some problems during the day but most of the reports have been at night."
"That shouldn't be a problem," I said.
"So you don't mind spending the night?" she asked us.
We did. At least I knew that I did. We had no intentions of spending the night but in fact planned on dealing with the issue as quickly as possible.
"If that is what it comes to," Roy responded.
"Let's go then," she demanded.
"Lead the way."
We followed her outside to our cars, so we could go to the mansion. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
The house was about 15 minutes from the coffee shop and there was literally nothing else around it. Nothing except for woods and the feel of death, that is.
We got out of the cars and headed towards the front gate, which was what you would typically expect in this scenario: a brick post and a metal gate and fence with arrowheads on top surrounding the property. It was rusted with some sort of family crest built into it and it looked so, so creepy. I couldn't see the house yet because of all the trees. It's killing me because this definitely reminds me of something.
The three of us met by the front gate and I could tell that Rita felt uneasy. Her hands were fidgeting and her eyes were shifting back and forth. I thought it was funny but then again I haven't feared for my life in a very long time.
"So this is it?" Roy asked. It was a redundant question.
"Yes," Rita replied.
Roy and I just stared at it for a few seconds.
"You don't plan on backing out, do you?" she asked us.
"Not at all," I assured her. "This is nothing we haven't dealt with before."
"How old are you?"
"I'm 22."
"You look 17." She seemed unconfident in my ability to do what I can. She was right about my age and I understand her concerns but she could still shut up.
"I get that all the time."
She still seemed unsure. She didn't have a problem before so I'm not sure why it mattered now.
"Well," she began, "I'll let you gentlemen in from here."
"Not walking us to the door?" I asked.
"No. This is as far as I go." She opened the gate, looked down the driveway for a second and then walked briskly back to her car. She left a trail of dust in her wake and within seconds she was gone.
"That's comforting," I said.
"Extremely," Roy agreed. "I'll go grab the car."
"No. That's my car. I'll get it."
"We should have taken mine."
"Maybe if you didn't get hurt by a couple of werewolves and vampires you'd have your car, but we had that towed to my storage unit."
"Just get the car."
I got my car, stopped next to him so he could get in, and then headed towards the house.
The driveway was long and weaved back and forth like a snake. It was flat with trees lined up and down the entire thing. It took us two minutes to actually reach the house. The oversized mansion matched the look of the gate: creepy. A part of me did feel like turning back but I didn't. Of course I didn't.
As we stepped out of the car I felt an odd sense of fear and hatred wash over me, like nothing I've ever felt before. I'm not really sure what that was but I definitely didn't like it.
"You okay?" Roy asked me. He must have noticed something on my face.
"Yeah," I lied. "I'm fine."
"Just don't throw up or something. We can do this."
"Shut up."
We headed for the front door and I started to feel regret, like we should turn around and run. I couldn't do that, though. But something definitely felt wrong.
You ever watch the movie the Haunting? It was a terrible movie but the trailer was absolutely terrifying. It showed parts of the house describing it as if it were a face and then the woman speaking invites you in as the house bites at the screen. It looked so scary, but then it wasn't at all. My point is that was exactly how the house that I was standing in front of looked like to me. I felt like it was just goi
ng to jump out and eat me at any second.
The front doors were tall with stone lion heads built into them. It was very typical. Everything about this house was typical when it comes to haunted houses. It was also huge. If this place was so notorious for being haunted that people wouldn't even go near it then how did Rita plan on getting people to stay there once she fixed it back up? I would never stay in a place like this. Actually, I probably was going to that night. Who knows what the place had in store for me? I do. We'll get to it.
For the longest time we just stood in front of the house, waiting for the other one to make a move.
"I'll go first?" I said.
"By all means," Roy replied.
"Chicken."
I opened the door, which was unlocked by the way, and it groaned in great protest. The place was the haunted mansion that time forgot. There was dust on literally everything. It was a good thing that I don't have allergies or I would have been sneezing up a storm.
When you first walk in it was a great room with a high ceiling and set of stairs that led to the second floor. There was a chandelier hanging low that was decorated with crystals. To the right looked like a library and to left was some sort of living area or common room.
"Where do we even begin?" Roy asked.
"We could just aimlessly wander around the house until something attacks us?" I suggested.
"Sounds like a good plan to me. What do you think is in this place?"
"I don't know. I just hope it's not ghosts."
"You afraid of ghosts?"
"No. I just don't like fighting something that I can't fight back."
"Fair enough."
We made our way into the library and I scanned over the books, wondering what I would find. There was nothing that I recognized probably due to the fact that they were more than likely published before 1900. I like to read occasionally but nothing that old.
There was a piano off to the side of the room and a fireplace on the opposite wall. How clich?.
"It sounds like there are ghost here," Roy pointed out.
"It always sounds like there's ghosts," I retorted.
"True. I agree with you, though. I hope it's not ghosts."
Roy made his way over to the piano.
"Do you play?" I asked him.
"A long time ago I was known to play a little here and there," he informed me.
He sat down and wiped all of the dust off of the keys.
"You might draw attention to us," I said.
"I know," he responded. "I want to get out of here fast, don't you?"
"Fine."
He pushed one key and then stopped, because it sounded awful.
"This is way out of tune," Roy informed me.
Suddenly, the fireplace lit up, but there was no one there.
"Um, what the hell was that?" Roy blurted.
"Yeah, I don't know," I admitted.
I turned around just in time to see the chair flying right at my face.
When the chair was inches from my face I shifted my body to the right so it passed right by me. It felt like I was in the Matrix being a wicked badass. The only thing is a badass wouldn't have let the chair crash into Roy. He yelped with surprise and was knocked off the piano.
I didn't have time to check on him right then, though, because I was more worried about whatever had thrown the thing at me. Plus Roy was a big boy and the chair wasn't that large.
Looking back and forth I tried to get a lock on whatever threw it but there was nothing that I could see. I went to the room the chair was previously closest to and looked in there but there was nothing. Weary, I went back to Roy to check on him.
"Sorry about that," I said. "I probably should have just knocked it out of the way."
"Yeah, that might have been a good idea," he spat.
"I'm not used to having someone with me, you know."
"I've been with you long enough you would have figured you'd remember that I was there."
"My instincts kicked in and my body responded. Suck it up."
"Little ungrateful jerk." He muttered that last part under his breath but he might have forgotten that I am a paladin and that the house was deathly quiet, so I still heard him. I didn't bother responding to it, however, because I'm better than that.
Feeling that the room we were in was okay we decided to venture out into the rest of the house in search of the supernatural being that was haunting this domicile. It was decided that splitting up was the best thing to do. It was nice having someone else to split the workload with. It made everything go a lot faster.
I was in the kitchen and it was probably the largest kitchen that I had ever seen. Sure it was covered in dust and practically empty but I could imagine that in its heyday this place was amazing. Now it was just an oversized piece of crap taking up unnecessary space. I wondered if the lady cared about all of the furniture that was in the place because there was no telling what kind of condition it was going to be in after we were done with it.
Absentmindedly, I turned on the faucet to see if it would work. It didn't. I continued to peruse around the kitchen, searching for any signs of anything but came up short. It was starting to look like it was a ghost, or several, that was haunting this house. How much I hate ghosts is something that can't be measured. I hoped that I was wrong.
Roy and I searched the first two floors and found nothing but old belongings and more dust. All we had left was the basement and I had a strong feeling that the monster inside would reveal itself down there.
"You want to go first?" I asked Roy as we stood at the top of the stairs.
"No," he admitted.
"I didn't think so." I pushed passed him and headed down.
The steps were made of stone and the basement was much more elaborate than I had expected it to be, especially for such an old building. There were a series of hallways with doors running under the house like a giant maze. Funny story, there is a hedge maze outside but I'll get to that fun stuff later.
"Let's take this door to door then," said Roy.
"Yeah," I agreed.
The first door led to an empty room. It was nothing but cement and dirt. Why was the floor dirt and not cement? Oh well.
"Uh, Wes?" Roy called my attention. He was still standing in the hallway.
"What?" I asked him.
He didn't respond.
"What?!" I repeated, a little more aggravated.
After no response again I looked out in the hallway. All he was doing was point down the hallway, looking like he'd seen a ghost. That might have been because he did see a ghost.
There was a little girl at the end of the hallway, maybe 11 years old, with a white dress. She was extremely pale and was covered in bruises. Plus the dress was all torn. I don't know what it is about little kids but they are just creepy as hell when they are in a horror story.
The girl started running right at us. There was no mistaking that she was a ghost.
The creepy child was heading straight for us and there was really nothing that we could do about it. It wasn't like we could hit her with iron or salt and she would just wither away. Nope. Instead we could either stand there and take it like men or run away. I felt like running away. Unfortunately Roy wasn't thinking the same thing.
I turned around to run away like a little girl and ran right into him. We both crashed into the ground, hitting the cement hard. He yelped, again, and I let out a gasp of air. Before he could start yelling at me I jumped up and braced myself for impact, but there was no one there. The little girl had disappeared as ghosts often do.
I was angry, I mean really mad. I hadn't dealt with ghosts since the last time I told you about them and I had really hoped that would have been the last time. But that, of course, was just wishful thinking. People die every day and there was nothing that I could do about that.
"What the hell?" Roy complained.
"Sorry, again," I replied.
"You went to run? Seriously?"
"There
was a ghost running right at us."
"It was a little girl."
"But she was a ghost!"
"Are you telling me that you are going to run from ghosts?"
"What would you do? You can't exactly fight them."
"I wouldn't run."
"Well, if you did then we wouldn't have collided."
He punched me in the shoulder. Not that hard but enough to make a point.
"You're a paladin," he said. "Act like it."
I let out an exasperated sigh.
"You feel better now?" I asked him.
"A little, yeah," he responded.
"Can we look around now?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you."
We spent a couple of minutes looking around and spent the time searching quietly, still angry at one another. I didn't like to hold grudges so I hoped that Roy was the same way.
"Who do you think that girl was?" he asked me.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I'm thinking that maybe we should have done a smidgen of research."
"We kind of dropped the ball on that one."
"That's so stupid. I always research." That was a lie. But I wanted to look more competent than I really was. I kind of suck, don't I?
We were walking around some sort of lab looking room, when it hit me. Remember when I told you that when we had first arrived I got that really bad feeling, like death was around us? Well, I felt it again. I don't know what it was or where it came from but I certainly didn't like it.
I looked over at Roy and he didn't seem that affected by whatever it was.
"What?" he asked when he noticed that I was looking at him.
"Nothing," I lied.
"You feeling okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine. You?"
"I'm good."
"Great."
"Yeah."
I headed toward the door and left the room, satisfied that there was nothing in there. When I walked through the next door I started to get a feeling that I knew why there was a ghost in the house and that there was probably going to be a lot more. It looked like the room was some sort of torture chamber. We were in a lot of trouble.
The room was full of all kinds of devices that made my skin crawl. This was a house of torture and I could only assume there were a lot of souls that were put through hell. All of the devices were blood stained and rusted. The room was rather large as well.
Eventually Roy joined me in the torture chamber.
"Uh," Roy started, "wow. This is disturbing."
"Yeah," I said.
"This place is worse than I thought. There's no telling how many ghost are in this house."
"Why have we only seen just the one so far?"
"I don't know, but we really need to know what happened in this place."
"Oh really? Why?"
"Because if we don't know what these people need then we can't get rid of them."
"You jackass. I know that. I was being sarcastic."
"I know that. You were being the jackass."
I let out a long sigh. "As much as I would love to beat the poop out of you we really need to get going." I didn't say poop. I'm sure you can think of what I said instead. Just use your imagination.
We searched the room trying to find any clues that may be in there when I came upon a journal. It had William Haverfield etched on the front of it. I opened it up and started searching through the pages. For the first 20 pages there was nothing but scientific mumbo jumbo but then things started to get a little bit interesting.
September 5, 1892
I had my first subject today. A 12-year-old boy I found living on the streets in the city. Subject is Caucasian and is four feet tall with black hair. I found him rustling through the trash in search of food.
Okay. I'm going to be honest, the writing after that got really technical and 80 percent of it went right over my head. So I'll skip ahead a little bit.
The test went well. My wife was completely oblivious to the screaming. Subject responded as expected. I am well on my way to achieving absolution. Hopefully tomorrow will go just as well.
"What are you reading?" Roy asked me.
"Oh," he caught me by surprise. "It's a journal. I think it belonged to the guy that built the house."
"Anything good?"
"This guy was extremely sick."
There was a sudden noise back in the hallway.
"God, I hate ghosts," I complained.
"Let's just go see what it is," Roy demanded, remaining as calm as ever. I hated him for that because I knew that he was just as freaked out as I was. He was just hiding it better. But I didn't see the point in hiding the fact that ghosts suck. I shoved the journal into my jacket pocket.
We ventured out into the hallway, heading toward certain doom. I knew exactly what was waiting out there for us. It was an angry ghost. I had known before we had come here that that was exactly what we were going to be dealing with, I just held onto a sliver of hope that I was wrong. False hopes are a big part of what I do. You can call me a cynic but when you have lived the life that I have then it's pretty hard not to be.
The only light in the basement came from the flashlight that Roy held in his hand. Of course, I can see in the dark but his flashlight was screwing that up. So, I tried not to rely on that power and focused on the illumination from Roy.
"How big is this basement?" Roy asked, rhetorically. I felt like answering anyway.
"I'm sure it's about the same size as every other floor," I replied.
He turned around like he was going to hit me but didn't. That was a good choice because I would have laid him out flat. That is when the worse thing that could possibly happen in that situation happened.
A spider jumped from the ceiling and landed on my face, and the thing was huge. I reached up as quickly as I could, moving faster than I probably ever had in my life, and swatted the monster off of my face. Before the thing could run away I stomped on it, ending it for good. In hindsight I might have overreacted just a little bit but I really, really hate spiders. I would have rather have dealt with every ghost in the world than deal with one, tiny spider.
Roy was staring at me like I had three heads.
"Seriously?" he asked me.
"I don't like spiders," I responded.
"At of all the things you face you are afraid of spiders?"
"They're so creepy. They have eight fury legs and like a hundred eyes, and they crawl around like the little creep bags they are."
"Sometimes you astound me."
"Don't act all high and mighty."
"Pull yourself together."
He turned around and started walking further down the hallway. I contemplated knocking him upside the head but that wouldn't do either of us any good. Instead I followed him.
We continued to search from room to room, looking for anything that could tell us what was going on and that is when I remembered the journal. I opened it back up and continued to read.
September 6, 1892
It is the second day of my experiment. Subject holds on, hopeful that he may survive. He will not. But he cannot let go yet as the procedure will take several days.
Blah, blah, blah. And blah blah blah blah blah. Skipping ahead a little bit.
September 7, 1892
Subject did not survive the third day. I am frustrated to say the least but experiments take time and will result in several failures. I will need to head back into the city to find another test subject.
"What's this?" Roy asked. I looked up to see what he was talking about.
We were in a room lined with books, sort of like the library but full of encyclopedias and various journals.
"What's what?" I asked him.
"This," he repeated. He was looking at something that was sitting on top of one of the bookcases that was attached to the wall. The thing he was looking at was some sort of statue.
"It looks like a statue," I said.
"That is does. But I just have a weird gut feeling
about."
Roy studied it, trying to discover all of its secrets as if it would just reveal itself by him staring at it. Eventually he reached up and pulled on the statue. He didn't have a good grip on it though and it dropped to the floor, smashing into pieces.
"Smooth," I teased.
"I guess I was wrong," he stated.
"What were you expecting?"
"You know in the movie when they pull on something on a bookcase and it reveals a secret room? I was expecting that."
"Why in the world would you think you have to pull on a statue? It's always a book on the shelf."
I randomly reached up and grabbed a book to prove a point. Nothing happened.
"There isn't going to be a secret room," I said. "Especially since the torture chamber is there for anyone to go into." I paused for a second. "This guy had a wife."
"So?" Roy wasn't making the connection. That might have been because he hadn't read the journal.
"He was hiding this place from his wife."
"And your point is?"
"I think it's crazy to believe that his wife never came down here. So how could he hide it?"
"I don't know. Maybe there used to be a lock on the door to get down here."
"Maybe."
I looked around the room a couple of times.
"Let's get out of here," I suggested. "This room gives me the creeps."
"Really?" Roy asked. "Why?"
"I don't know. It just does."
"Okay."
We left. That room really did give me the creeps and I didn't know why. It made my skin crawl. Later I would find out exactly why that room freaked me out.
The rest of the basement was relatively normal, compared to the rest of the rooms that is. A couple tables with straps here, some cutting tools there. It was all some really average stuff. I felt very comfortable and very at home in that place, like it was the safest place on Earth.
I looked through the journal some more to see if there was anything relevant but it was just a bunch of pages about this guy grabbing some homeless people and torturing them until they died. This guy was really disgusting and I really wanted to know what he was trying to do. Half of what he wrote made absolutely no sense, though. So it could have been written in there somewhere and I just missed it.
"I think that covers the entire basement," Roy pointed out.
"Pretty much," I agreed.
"No more ghosts."
"Just the creepy little girl."
"So, what now?"
"Back upstairs?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
We made our way back to the staircase that led to the main floor. There was a sudden cool breeze that came from nowhere. Roy stopped just as he was about to ascend the stairs. He turned around.
"Did you feel that?" he asked me.
"Yes I did," I replied.
"What was that?"
"I have no idea, but I'm thinking that we should get up the stairs as quickly as we can."
"Agreed."
Roy climbed the stairs quickly with me right in tow. The only problem was that when we got to the top of the stairs the door was locked.
"It's locked," Roy informed me.
"Well, then unlock it," I suggested, aggravated.
"That is a great idea. I'll take that under consideration."
"Get out of the way. I'll get it open."
Now I can understand that what happened next was pretty funny but at the time it really pissed me off. I tried to kick open the door but it felt like I was hitting an eight-foot thick steel wall. I flew backwards and tumbled down the stairs like an idiot. When I reached the bottom I flew backward right into the wall. It hurt a little.
Roy ran down after me.
"You okay?" he asked me.
"Stellar," I choked.
"What was that?"
"I don't know. There is no way we are getting out that door, though."
"How could you not break through?"
"Obviously, someone doesn't want us leaving."
"I got that impression. Where are we supposed to go then?"
"Let's just walk around and then we'll figure it out."
That's what we did. We searched every room again over and over, but there was no other way out. We were actually trapped in the basement. Even though I am not claustrophobic I started to feel like I was. It was like all of the walls were closing in on me and there was nothing that I could do to stop them.
"Okay," Roy started, "this is awesome."
"We'll find a way out."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I never die."
You will today, Wes Parker, whispered a voice.
I looked around trying to find the source of the voice but there was no one else there. And the scariest part was, how did it know my name?
"Tell me you heard that," I said to Roy.
"Heard what?" he asked me.
"The voice."
"What voice?"
"The voice that just whispered that I was going to die."
"There was no voice. You going crazy on me now?"
"We are in a house full of ghosts. Obviously, one of them spoke to me. Remember that I am a paladin and can hear more than you can."
"I just think you are going crazy."
Maybe I was but I definitely heard someone speak to me and it was a very unsettling. I have been threatened more times than I can count but having some creepy voice telling me that I was going to die tonight made my skin crawl. Even though I am a paladin it doesn't mean that things can't make me nervous. Oh my, a weakness, stop the presses.
I started walking around so I could find another way out. I figured it would be better if we split up so we could cover more ground.
Did that ghost say today? What time was it? I honestly lost track but did he mean that it was going to be before nightfall or did he just not know the difference between day and night? Maybe he meant tonight but said today. No need to worry about that now.
I went back to the torture room figuring that I might find something. I didn't. Just a bunch of tools used to cause others pain. I really wanted to know what this monster was doing, so I took another gander in the journal. I skimmed through as quickly as I could and skipped ahead, a lot.
October 16, 1894
I am close. The closest I have been since the beginning of my experiments over two years ago. I can feel it in my bones, in my soul that I will achieve what I have moved here for. I left my home in New York to be here. It will all be for a very worthy cause.
There was still nothing in the journal about what the man, William, was doing, but he had been doing it for over two years and in that time there were a lot of people that he killed, many innocent souls. I guess I'm not 100 percent sure that all of them were innocent but I highly doubt that William took the time to find criminals, nor did he care if they were or not.
I flipped to the next page but it was blank.
"What the heck?" I said to myself.
I kept flipping pages but the rest of the journal had nothing in it.
"What happened?" I asked no one.
Whatever William was trying to do, I wasn't so sure that he had finished it. I began to wonder if anyone had been down in the basement since William had died or whatever happened to him.
I heard a scream.
"Roy?" I yelled back like an idiot. I knew it was him that screamed and I knew that he wasn't going to be able to answer me.
He screamed again.
"I'm coming buddy," I shouted. I hoped he heard me that time. I also hope that he wasn't dead yet either.
I rounded a corner and ran straight into the room I know I heard the scream come from but there was no one in there. I looked back and forth a few times, as if something was going to appear out of thin air, but there was nothing new.
"Where the hell did you go?" I had come from the only way that Roy could have gone.
I realized that I was in the room with bookshelves that gave me a bad feeling.
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"What is going on in here?" I asked the open air.
I turned back around. Remember what I said about things appearing out of thin air? Well, I had more than 10 ghosts standing there staring at me. I felt my heart hit the floor.
"Hi," I said.
It felt kind of stupid. I have a large group of ghosts standing in front of me and I say hi. I'm sure there were a bunch of other things that I could have said instead but that was the only thing that I could think of. Think of me what you want but you face off against a bunch of ghosts and see what you say.
They all just stood there and stared at me, like a bunch of creeps. I didn't see the little girl that first appeared but I'm sure that she was hiding in the group somewhere.
"So you guys all look a little angry," I said.
They remained silent.
"Does anyone feel like sharing why you are here?" I asked them.
They still remained silent.
"This is extremely awkward," I pointed out. "If any of you want to do anything; speak, attack me, moved one step, that would be great."
Nothing.
"Tough crowd."
"Be silent, Wes," the voice from before whispered.
"Who said that?" I asked.
"I said, be silent."
In interest of staying alive I listened.
"I am glad to have finally met you," the voice continued. "I have heard so much about you."
That was very encouraging.
"I have your friend," he informed me. "If you wish to keep him alive then you will follow my instructions."
"What if I don't wish to keep him alive?" I asked.
One of the ghosts darted out at me and knocked me into the wall. It took a few seconds for me to start breathing again.
"Anything else you want to say?" the voice asked me.
"I'm good," I choked.
"In the room in which you stand lay a pathway. Find that pathway and it will guide you further on your journey."
"Seriously?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"My 'journey'? I'll get right on that Gandalf."
I don't know why I open my mouth, knowing that I will pay for it. Another ghost threw me up into the ceiling. Hitting the floor definitely didn't feel all that great.
"Time is of the essence," the voice warned me.
All of the ghosts disappeared. Who was the voice? Was it William or something else? Either way I could feel the shivers running up my spine with each syllable he spoke.
I looked around the room a hundred times-maybe more like three-and couldn't find anything of importance. It was just an ordinary room with an ordinary arrangement of bookshelves. I thought back to Roy's original thought when we were in that room. Maybe there was some way to open a doorway behind one of the bookshelves.
I walked over to the one that we were at before because if there was a moving bookcase this is the one that would make the most sense. It wasn't against a wall where I knew there was another room behind. I scanned through the books to see if any of them seemed out of the ordinary but none of them did. There had to be one. I tore all the books off but all of them just fell off. There was nothing obvious, but there had to be something in that room otherwise the voice wouldn't have said so.
That's when it caught my attention. On one of the other bookshelves one of them look out of place. It was very subtle but it was made out of wood. Sure enough when I pulled on it the bookshelf swung open, revealing a tunnel behind.
"I have a bad feeling about this," I said to myself.
I followed the tunnel for a good mile. It twisted and turned, and went up and down, until it finally led me outside. I was standing at the beginning of the biggest hedge maze I had ever seen. I was about to embark on the most un-fun maze of terror ever.
So mazes are fun right? You start at the beginning, try to work your way through and solve the puzzle, and then you reach the end. Ta da! You have accomplished something. Wrong. They are not fun because they make you feel stupid that you can't just get from A to B without jumping through hoops and running into walls. To top it off the maze I was about to walk through was full of fun surprises.
I headed through the entrance of the maze, which was a giant metal gate. Each side of the walkway leading to the maze from the house to the gate was lined with hedges that were almost as high as the house. Right at the entrance, the maze split to the left and to the right.
"Awesome," I muttered to myself.
"Most definitely," said a ghost, who appeared right in front of me.
Instinct kicked in and I roundhouse kicked the guy in the head, but my foot went right through.
"'Ello," he said.
I looked at him for a second. "Did you just seriously say 'ello'?"
"Yes, sorry. My voice gave out for a second there. Hello."
"How could your voice give out? You're a ghost."
"I am a ghost, but I am not dead, you know?" He seemed very offended.
"Yes you are."
"Tomayto, tomahto. I will be your guide through this maze."
I was a little confused.
"That creepy voice sent a guide to help me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
The ghost simply shrugged his shoulders.
"I am Jonathan," he informed me.
"Wes," I offered.
"I know."
I wasn't really sure why the voice, who was more than likely trying to kill me, sent someone who could help me get through this maze. It didn't make that much sense to me.
"Okay," I said. "You are my guide, so guide me. Where do I go?"
"I don't know," he replied.
"What do you mean you don't know? Where do I go?"
"Where do you think you should go?"
"I'm starting to understand why the voice sent you."
I didn't bother to answer Jonathan's question and went to the right.
"I wouldn't go that way," he said. This ghost was really going to make this walk even more miserable.
"Would you say that I should never go that way?" I asked him. Sometimes I just can't help myself.
"I wouldn't say never. I would just say that right now, this time, I wouldn't go that way."
"If I could punch you in the face I would."
"That would be counterproductive. Let us move on."
"Oh please."
"That's the spirit." Obviously, sarcasm was lost on this guy. Or maybe he was ignoring it.
I headed to the left, going the direction that the ghost implied I go down. I stopped for a second to make sure Jonathan wasn't going to say anything but he just smiled at me.
When I reached the end of the pathway I turned to the right. The ghost was in front of me.
"Look out," he said.
"What?" I asked.
He moved to the right and a large, stone ball headed straight for me.
Luckily the ghost warned me with plenty of time to spare. As the giant ball made of stone flew toward me like a cannon ball I jumped in the air doing a barrel roll right over it. What surprised me was that when the ball hit the hedges it didn't go right through. Instead it bounced off and rolled right back towards me. It was going a lot slower this time so I just moved out of the way and let it roll by. I looked around and tried to find out where the ball came from. There was no obvious source.
"Do try to watch out," Jonathan suggested. "There are plenty more surprises."
"I'm looking forward to it," I said with so much fake enthusiasm.
I walked through the maze making left turns and right turns, not really sure where I was going and receiving no help from the ghost sent to help me.
"So what's your story?" I asked him.
"It is such a long one," he exclaimed.
"Something tells me that we are going to have plenty of time."
"I was once a respected man of the community, from upstate New York. But now I am dead."
"I thought you said your story was a long one?"
"Ha. I guess not. O
ne can never really tell, can they?"
"You are a real pain in the ass. Do you think you could just leave and let me go through this on my own?"
Jonathan stopped walking and looked at me. "I don't think I can do that."
"I was afraid you would say that. Will you at least tell me where to go?"
"Wherever you feel is best."
I grunted in anger and walked right through him.
"I never!" he shouted.
I had no idea where to go, and I had no idea how far I had even gotten into the maze. Jonathan followed right next to me and didn't say a word but he kept humming a melody that I couldn't quite recognize. Either way I hated this ghost with every fiber of my being.
I wanted to find Roy and get the heck out of the house because I suspected that whatever was waiting for me at the end of this labyrinth was not pretty. Of course it wasn't going to be pretty. When were the things I faced ever not ugly? Never. That's when.
"I've always liked this maze," Jonathan told me.
"How long have you been here?" I asked him.
"Who really has the time? Mmmm?"
"Has the time to do what? Keep time? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"
"It sounds pretty normal to me."
"Well, maybe because you're an idiot."
"Name calling is beneath you, Wes."
"No. Not really."
"Touch?."
When I first left the house I could have sworn that the sun was out, but now I realized that dusk was upon us.
"When did it get dark out?" I asked him.
"Just now," he replied.
"Wasn't it light out when we first walked out here?"
"Yes."
"What time was it?"
"Around 11 am."
I stopped, not really believing what he just said.
"What time is it now?" I dared to ask.
"Seven at night," he answered me.
"What? We've been walking around for eight hours?"
"Yes."
"But how?"
"That's the beauty of this maze. It will feel like minutes but it has really been hours. You could be in here for a very long time."
Okay, so I was in a bit of bind. I could be wandering around the maze for days, months even, and never even realize it. It had been over eight hours but it only felt like 30 minutes. I had to find the end of this place as quickly as I could. Who knows how long that was going to take?
"Has anyone ever gone through this place before?" I asked my useless guide.
"Only a few," he replied.
"I'm going to guess that it didn't end very well for them."
"They died."
"That was very blunt."
"Why dance around the point?"
"You're joking, right?"
"No."
"All you are doing is dancing around the point. If you got straight to it I would be at the end of this maze already."
Jonathan didn't bother responding to me.
I started to think about Roy and hoped that he was okay. It was very plausible that he was being tortured as I was navigating the labyrinth made of hedges. I assumed that the voice that had spoken to me was William. I wasn't really sure how he was doing it but more than likely I was going to find out.
I came up to a crossing that split in three different directions. I had no idea where to go, of course.
"I don't suppose that you are going to tell me where to go?" I tried.
"Go down the middle row," he answered.
"Really?"
"What?"
"You actually told me where to go."
"I figured I would take another approach."
"I appreciate that." I should have known that he wasn't helping at all, but given the situation I was in, I followed his lead.
After about 100 feet down the path there was an open circle with nothing in it. It was a dead end.
"You've screwed me," I stated.
"It depends on your prospective in the situation," he replied.
All of a sudden the ground started to shake and there was a loud grinding noise. A giant hedge now blocked the entranceway that I had just walked through.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Things are going to get hairy," Jonathan taunted me with a smile.
Three hedges that formed part of the circle dropped, revealing three werewolves. How were there three werewolves locked in this maze alive? They all stalked toward me, hunger in their eyes. We were in a very tight space, so this was not going to be easy.
I only had a second to think before the werewolves attacked me. Jonathan was gone-no surprise there. Luckily I had my axes by my side. Oh, wait a minute, no I didn't. I didn't even have a gun on me either. Did I walk into that house unarmed or did I lose them at some point? I felt so incredibly stupid. They would have been useless against the ghosts but I could have really used them at that moment.
The first one jumped in. Relying completely on my hand to hand, I darted to the right, grabbed the werewolf by the head and slammed it into one of the hedges. I could have sworn that I heard something crack but that didn't put the werewolf down. It came at me again.
Another one of the werewolves went to attack me from behind. I did a backflip right over the beast so that the two werewolves collided together. They both fell to the ground. There was still another one, though. If I hadn't known before I would have certainly known after it slashed me across the back. I yelled in pain and did a somersault to avoid another gash.
"I hate you hairy monsters," I spat. One of the werewolves responded by taking a quick, strong swing at my head. I ducked and let its massive paw narrowly miss my skull.
While the werewolf was vulnerable I drove my fist into its kidney. It yelped in pain and hunched over a little. I jumped up as quickly as I could and wrapped arms around its oversized neck. I was about to snapped its neck like a ninja but one of the other werewolves grabbed me and threw me into the hedges. They must have had steel behind all of the growth because it was very, very solid.
I wasn't so sure how much longer I was going to last without my axes. Before you start judging me, yes I can take on three werewolves. But, it is very difficult to fight them in a space only ten feet wide with no weapons. Not exactly an easy thing to do.
While I was on the ground one of the werewolves dove at me with its mouth open, itching to eat my face.
"Flesh," it breathed. I told you it wanted to eat my face.
"That's what I am made of, yes," I said, stating the obvious.
"Hungry."
"I can imagine."
"Hungry."
"Yes you said that." I was having trouble holding the thing back. Why were none of the other ones attacking me yet?
"Flesh."
These monsters must of have been locked up for a long time. They had completely lost their minds.
"I really don't want you to eat me," I said.
With quick hands and a twist of my body I was next to the giant wolf with my hands prying its mouth apart. A werewolf's mouth is stronger than a shark but I was doing well enough. I put an extra effort and pulled as hard as I could. I could tell you the next part but I think can figure out what happened. Let's just say the werewolf was definitely dead.
"Okay," I began, "who's next?"
"Hungry," one of them said.
"Flesh," said the other.
"I'll just pick one then," I stated.
"Or we'll pick," said a voice.
Just then a large group of ghosts swarmed me, giving me no chance at leaving. That's right ladies and gentlemen; I was in big trouble.
None of the ghosts actually attacked me but they were whirling around me like a tornado. Every few seconds, a werewolf's arm would swipe at me. Sometimes they connected with me and I suffered a few more cuts. I was getting very frustrated.
One of the werewolves went to slash me across the chest, so I grabbed its arm and threw it into the other one, knocking them both over. The ghosts were still moving aroun
d me, making it almost impossible to see. I needed to get out of that little area, and fast.
"I need to get rid of you guys," I said.
As quickly as I could I spoke the chant to expel all of the ghosts. They would be back at some point but at least they were gone for now.
I looked back and forth, searching for a good way out when one of the werewolves tried to attack me. I saw it coming at the last second. I leapt into the air and used the werewolf as a jumping point. It was exactly what I needed to get out of there. I soared through the air and above the hedges. It wasn't quite enough to make it all the way over but I landed right on top. I didn't waste any time and started running.
"If I stay on top, I can probably get to the end faster," I said out loud.
"No you don't," someone yelled.
I turned to the left to see a ghost heading right for me. Luckily I saw her in time and just ducked. What I didn't see was the ghost from the other side, so they knocked me right over. I didn't get a chance to see if it was a he or she.
"This maze sucks," I complained.
"That is a matter of opinion," said John, showing up from out of nowhere.
"Oh yay, you're back."
"Of course. I'm here to guide you."
"To where? You just led me into a trap."
"Perhaps."
I let out a long sigh. I wondered if this guy was once a nice person, but I got the distinctive feeling that he wasn't. Ghosts don't just change their personality because they are dead. They are who they are.
"Are you going to help me?" I asked Jonathan. "At all?"
"Not really," he answered me honestly.
"You know I'm going to get rid of you, right?"
"I am honestly not sure what has taken you this long."
I spoke the words and he was gone. I hoped it would be a long time before he ever showed back up.
I heard a howl come from behind me. I turned around and saw the two werewolves running right towards me. I wasn't in the mood to fight them so I started running. Hold back your judgments.
As fast as I am, werewolves are much faster, so eventually they caught up to me. I had no choice but to fight. I decided to fight back with a more aggressive, powerful approach. I double punched the first werewolf, sure that I broke something, and it flew back into the other one.
We went back and forth for a little while, wasting a lot of time. I grabbed one of them by the head and then ran along the hedge, twisting its neck as I did so. The wolf fell. The other one suddenly attacked me like it was a rabid animal. I put my reflexes into overdrive to avoid being mutilated by the thing and barely came out of it alive. I did, though.
I jumped off one of the hedges and went back and forth to each side of the pathway, going higher with each jump, until I finally reached the top. I started running. I looked back and saw that the werewolf followed me up.
"You certainly are a persistent breed," I muttered.
"Flesh," it yelled.
"Yeah, yeah."
I looked further up ahead and saw that there was a large opening and I knew that I had to get to it.
"Follow me, jackass," I taunted the werewolf.
The opening was 10 feet in front of me and the werewolf was five feet behind. I leapt in the air and twisted around so I could see the monsters. It had jumped right after me and was flying right for my face. As it hit me I grabbed it, spun in the air and whipped it toward the ground. Luck was on my side because there was a spike in the middle of the ground.
I landed on the ground with a soft thud.
"Ha!" I shouted at the dead wolf.
I looked around and saw where I was. It was like some sort of alter for the son of the devil. The feeling I mentioned earlier washed over me like a 40-foot wave. I almost fell over backwards. Then I saw Roy, strapped up to a pole like some offering.
"We've been waiting," said the voice. I turned around, but I wish I hadn't.
There she was, the ghost with the voice that had been taunting me. She was surrounded by a bunch of other ghosts and a man that looked like a zombie. I wondered who that might be.
"You're a woman?" I asked, confused.
"Were you expecting something else?" she asked me.
"Kind of. You sound like a man."
"I am not."
"You sure sound like it."
"Silence." Her voice boomed with an echo, making my skin crawl even worse than it already was.
I looked over at Roy who looked like he wanted to cause me some physical harm. I really can't help it. I feel the need to mock or insult people, or in this case ghosts, at times of stress because it calms me down. Who am I kidding? I insult people all the time. It's how I am. Deal with it.
"I am glad to see that you made it to the end of the maze," she said.
"Well, with old Johnny Boy helping me I almost didn't," I pointed out. Of course she already knew that.
"He can be difficult, but he is rather useful."
"Who's the stiff?" I pointed at the zombie.
"William."
"That's what happened to William?" She nodded her head. "Things certainly didn't work out for him."
"He got what I promised him."
"And what was that?"
"Eternal life."
I looked back and forth between the woman ghost and William.
"Something tells me this isn't what he had in mind." I'm sure she knew that, too.
"It does not matter what he expected," she said matter-of-factly. "I lived up to my promise."
"You're not exactly alive, so you didn't live up to anything."
That one earned me a solid punch in the chest. She sent one of the ghosts to do it and it kind of hurt. I rolled backwards right into one of the hedges.
"Are you finished?" she asked me.
"Yeah," I lied.
"I have been waiting for you."
"Ah crap. Why?"
"You sound disappointed."
"Whenever someone says they've been waiting for me it means something very unpleasant. Let me guess, you are a very old ghost and you are gathering a bunch of ghosts to rule the world?"
She didn't say anything. She only smiled.
"You see what I mean?" I asked her.
"William was very critical for me being here," she told me.
I just nodded my head.
"What is all of this?" I pointed at everything around us.
"A means to an end," she said. "You are the last piece of the puzzle."
"What puzzle?"
"My return."
"Who are you?"
"The first."
"First what?"
"Ghost."
Yep, that was happening.
The first ghost, ever. To me it just seemed like an outrageous claim but when you figure what I had been running into over the past year, who knows? I tried to keep my composure, not giving away the fear rising inside of me.
"The first ghost, huh?" I asked redundantly.
She just nodded her.
"I thought that prince guy was the first one," I said.
"Prince Gregory?" she asked me. "He was nothing."
"Just really old I guess."
"I died in 5000 B.C."
"How can you speak English then?"
"I have been around long enough to learn."
"How are you here?"
"You see that object that your hairy, big toothed friend is stuck to over there?" She pointed to the werewolf that was stuck on the spike.
"That's not my friend," I pointed out.
"That was a statue made for me."
"It's just a spike."
"William learned about me on a trip to Lithuania. I have been transported to many places over the years and have taken many lives for the sake of my own. I promised him the prospect of eternal life."
"Why him?"
"Because he had the resources and the motivation. There were many before but none of them worthy."
"I'm guessing that you need souls in order to get free?"
"Correct."
"And he was gathering those souls?"
"Correct."
"Then why did you kill him?"
She laughed.
"I did not kill him," she defended herself. "One of his victims got the better of him."
"I certainly did," said Jonathan, who fell from the sky.
"I kept William as he is because I am tied to him, and now Jonathan is being punished."
"No punishment for me. I enjoy it." I could hear the sarcasm hidden in his voice.
"Right," I said. "Now what?"
"Now I have to kill you," said the ghost. Let's just name her Regina. "And then I am free."
"I don't think so." I spoke the words that would banish her, but she didn't go anywhere.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?"
I knew I needed to destroy the statue that the werewolf was pegged on but there was no way I could do that, not easily. I was pretty sure that Roy and I were both going to be dead very soon.
I looked over at him, wondering if it was going to be the last time I ever saw him, or anybody for that matter.
Regina flew at me like a bat out of hell. I jumped to the side and rolled, avoiding certain death. Before I stood up she slammed into me with amazing strength. I flew into the spike and bounced off it like a super ball.
"Time to pay the price, Wes Parker," she taunted.
I prepared for my death. But then I looked up and saw something I honestly did not expect.
The man with the long coat and hat dropped down, landing in between Regina and I. That guy just kept showing up everywhere. Was he always following me?
Remarkably Regina didn't attack him, but instead she looked like she was a little afraid.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him.
"I cannot allow you to harm him," he told her. "I have plans for him."
"As do I."
"I'm afraid that I need him alive."
The two of them went back and forth a couple of times, so I decided to use that time to get Roy free. I felt that I had a chance to escape and I needed to act upon that.
I got over to Roy and ripped apart the straps that were holding him down.
"We need to get out of here," he stated the obvious.
"No kidding," I replied. "Follow me."
I headed for the entrance to that area but I didn't really want to head back through the maze. There had to be another way out of there.
"Where do you think you are going?" Regina asked.
"We were thinking about leaving?" I tried.
"Never!"
She flew at me ridiculously fast but before she could reach me the man jumped in between us again and knocked her to the ground. I don't know how he was able to actually hit the ghost.
"Get out of here," he ordered us.
"Where do I go?" I asked him.
"Over that hedge." He pointed to the hedge on the opposite side of the area. I darted towards it.
Roy was right behind me when I reached the wall and I hoped that he would understand what I wanted to do. I put my hands down for him to step on them and he did. I then lifted and threw him high into the air so that he landed on top of the hedge. The only problem was that I couldn't jump that high. That didn't matter, though, because the guy in the trench coat-what was his name again-grabbed me and threw me right up next to Roy. I didn't waste any time and just jumped down.
"Jump," I yelled.
"Are you crazy?" Roy asked me.
"Just jump you idiot!"
He did and I caught him.
We were in the woods somewhere behind the house. After a while of walking around we found the front of the house but my car was gone.
"Where's the car?" Roy looked around trying to spot it.
I had no idea but before I could say anything the man appeared out of nowhere in front of us.
"Wes," he said.
"Stalker," I replied.
"You need to be more careful."
"Why don't you just kill me?"
"I've told you."
"Yeah, yeah. You have plans for me."
I suddenly realized that he might kill Roy. I decided to keep my attitude in check.
"I don't suppose you are going to help me destroy that statue in there?" I asked him pointlessly. "To get rid of Regina."
"Who?" he asked. I forgot I made up that name.
"The ghost lady."
"There's no need. She needs a paladin to be released, just like Prince Gregory would have needed. Just stay away and she cannot leave."
"But people can still die."
"That doesn't matter. Soon enough none of it will matter."
"What does that mean?"
Before he answered, he was gone.
"Who was that?" Roy asked me.
"That guy I told you about," I said.
"Why did he help?"
"I think he does want her out but he doesn't want me dead. Not yet at least."
"So where's the car?"
"We'll get it back."
I wasn't 100 percent sure where the car was but I had my suspicions. Either way, we had one more thing in that town to take care of.
We headed back into town, which took a few hours since we had to walk, and I called Rita to meet us. She sounded surprised on the phone, just as I had expected her to be. It was light out again by the time we reached the center and all of the shops were just opening up. We met at the same coffee shop we had the day before.
"Hello," I said to her as she sat down. She flashed me a quick smile, but didn't say anything.
I stared at her and waited for her to say something. I needed to be in control of this conversation.
"Did you get rid of them?" she asked quickly and quietly.
"No," I replied. Roy seemed a little surprised by the attitude I put behind my answer. "But you already knew that didn't you."
She looked scared.
"Where's my car?" I asked her.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied. It was so obvious she was lying.
"Where is it?"
She looked like she had some reservations, so I leaned forward just to put a little fear into her.
"It's at the junk yard," she finally answered.
"If anything is missing I am going to be really mad," I told her. Just so you know everything was all there.
"I have no idea what is going on," said Roy.
"Regina needed a paladin," I started.
"Who?"
"The ghost lady."
"Oh right."
"Anyway, she needed a paladin. We are in a short supply as of late, which leaves just me. She could wait and hope that I would eventually show up or she could lure me in."
"Okay?"
"William certainly can't help with that because he is just a zombie. His wife on the other hand is more than capable of doing that."
Roy looked back and forth between Rita and I a couple times before his brain finally figured it out.
"You're William's wife?" Roy asked the obvious. "How?" Rita didn't say a word.
"Regina gave her eternal life since William had died," I answered. "Or she was going to do it anyway."
"So you're not human anymore?"
"She's something else. Ghosts can grant other's eternal life but if the ghosts get removed from this world then so do they. And they don't go somewhere pretty."
"Do we kill her?"
Rita jumped at that one.
"No," I answered him. "When she gets back to Regina I'm sure she will be a little more than displeased."
With that little chestnut I walked away leaving Rita with her thoughts. Roy followed me out.
"We're just going to let her go?" Roy asked me.
"Yeah," I said. "Either Regina will take care of her or she'll run away. Since I'm the only paladin and she can't trick me again then she'll have no use for her."
"Good point. We have to get rid of that statue."
"I know, but I'm not really equipped to des
troy it. We can't go back right now because she'd know we were coming. We'll have to come back at some point and hope no one goes in there."
It was the best we can do. Honestly the last disappearance was years ago because people were smart enough to stay away. I would come there some day and destroy it.
CASPER! That's what this reminded me of. The lady hired Bill Pullman, or Paxton, whoever it was to get rid of the ghosts in the mansion.