After apause I finally took a deep breath and told Gwen, “Okay, take me toEsther. I don’t know what’s going on but I’ll do whatever Ineed to save Seb. He was more than a brother and he risked his lifefor me, as did you and Esther. But, I won’t leave here tonightunless I know all of you are coming with me.” I vowed, tasting hot,salty tears in my dust filled mouth. She smiled, almost a fullygenuine smile and then tensed, her entire body stiffening sharply.“Whyhaven’t we</I>been taken? I don’t know about you but I haven’t seen any ofthem</I>,and I haven’t been careful with where I’ve been looking. We’vebeen emotional and careless, and they haven’t come for us.” Gwenpanicked.“Ihonestly don’t know. Let’s just go and get Esther, and get thehell out of here as soon as we can. I’m sick of this goddamnedhouse.” Sullenly, I glanced back at Seb one last time, and tried toremember the good times and when he’d been happy and alive. Iremembered when we were younger before our parents died, at thenatural little river we used to love in the garden of our holidaycottage. I’d been standing on the rocks, peering in at a fish thathad gotten caught between a rock and a section of a log that hadfloated downstream. The doomed fish, head above water, had fascinatedme for a good thirty seconds, blocking out the everyday noises anddistractions of life. I was concentrated so hard on this shiny, greenfish that I didn’t notice Sebastian approaching. As a joke he’dshouted “Rick the pri-” but before he could finish his usualtaunt, I had been so surprised I lost my already clumsy footing andslipped head first into the river. My legs tangled and brain numbwith shock I’d done nothing but lay there panicking insanely untilSeb had sprinted over and yanked me out, feet first. I’d survivedwith just shallow scratches and bruising, and since then Seb hadgiven me many reasons to owe him my life. This was my time to repayhim for everything, and I wasn’t going to let him down no matterwhat.
I tookher hand firmly, letting her know I’d be there until the end.Before I let her take me to the last place she’d seen Esther, Ilooked into her emerald green eyes, without saying a word, told hereverything would be okay for us both in the end. She seemed tounderstand and squeezed my hand lovingly.We creptthrough the corridor carefully, trying not to make a sound. I knewthey would find us no matter how much noise we made, but it made usboth feel better. I felt the room we were just in was sacred orprotected somehow, but now we had left it, they were starting to comeback. Reaching for us and groaning with anger and greed, I kept myeyes fixed on random pieces of furniture to not get caught withintheir grasp.From mydreams I gathered that if they managed to get me, they would take mesomewhere that agony would replace life and sanity, and I wouldslowly become one of them. I would forget everything I ever loved,and who I was before. My mind would be history, taken over bythoughts of causing pain and death. I would eternally reach for mynext victim to torture. Outside of the house, Gwen had never beenable to see them, experience the horror of constantly being watchedand silently threatened. However inside this house filled with hellshe could now see what I’d lived with for most of my life. Usuallythey kept their distance and I felt a kind of boundary between us,but that seemed blurred or non-existent now. Even in the grounds ofthe house, the radiating sense of pure evil was hard to ignore. “Here,this was the room. She began her chanting, swinging that glitterywhite rock and saying words in a language I didn’t recognise. Shetold me no matter what, I had to keep my arms circled around her. Shesaid that if Seb hadn’t... well, that it would be a lot stronger,having two of us to circle her and keep her protected. But they begangetting... angry. Roaring and screaming and trying to rush forwardsto us. The further in the chant she got, the closer they managed tosurge forwards. There were hundreds of them. I stared one of them inthe eyes, her mouth just stretched so wide open that I could see herblack tongue and dark yellow teeth. I could smell her hot, rancidbreath. Then another one of them came closer and grabbed me. It wasthe same one from your dream, the tattooed man.”
Shebegan sobbing quietly as she talked but I couldn’t see her face asI concentrated on keeping my gaze on a cracked vase next to the door.I could tell they were listening. “When it touched my arm, itsizzled and I could smell my own flesh burning. I could tell Estherwas almost done with her chant but I couldn’t hold on any longer. Iscreamed and clenched my eyes shut and suddenly they were allgrabbing me, pulling out hair and scratching my body. I ran, and l-Ileft her. I didn’t know what to do! I thought I was going to die!”Her sobs echoed around us, fuelling their excitement. “It’snot your fault. Anyone would have done the same. I’ll protect younow, Gwen.” I said reassuringly, trying to keep her calm. “I’llnever let you be alone.” I knew if I had been in the same place,with a practical stranger with wicked beings trying to take me withthem, I would consider it too. Gwen was gaining nothing from beinghere, apart from a normal boyfriend at the end of it. She had alreadydone so much by even coming here, I couldn’t be angry. I didn’treally know Esther either, only that she had promised she could helpand had been through something similar to me, and if I managed to donothing but trust her, we would all come out of this alive.Houseof LiesWhen thefour of us had sat outside the house, each with dread in ourstomachs, Esther had turned to look me in the eye and said, “Underno circumstances do you enter the house. We are going in, doing theritual, and leaving. The ritual will lock the demons in that damnedhouse, and then we shall burn that house to the ground so they can’taffect anyone ever again. For reasons you can’t comprehend, youmustn’t go inside. If any of us die, it wouldn’t be a tragedy. Ifyou die tonight, the world will suffer.” I had nodded, knowing herwords were overly dramatic to try and convince me not to come. If I’dhad my way I would have been part of the ritual too, to help, but wehad come to a compromise I could wait outside in the car. Aftertwenty minutes, I had heard Gwen’s screams of absolute terror andwithout even thinking I’d rushed inside and got us both trapped. Atfirst we had tried smashing windows with chairs and lamps, then thefront door. But everything was solid, unbreakable. We knew we had todo something, and that was when we instinctively knew to watch wherewe looked and, from Gwen’s experience upstairs, not to shut oureyes.
I’dlived my entire life seeing dark, shadowy people pass by the outeredges of my sight and not really paid much attention, decidingeveryone must see like I do. Until one day after my parents died andI was in that lonely hotel room and I tried to stare at one, hopingit would take me. He had stopped walking. I kept focusing on him. Isaw his shadowy profile change and turn until I knew he was facingme. I willed him forward so I could see who he was. Closer and closerhe had come. Then when he was just an arm’s reach away, I could seehis grey skin covered with deep red scars When I went to stare him inthe eyes, I gasped. The bare eye sockets had purple veins bulging andpulsing like worms, the inner flesh looked moist and bloody. Ireached into my pocket for the Xenith pendulum I knew would be there.It smirked, and started pacing backwards, face always pointing to meso I could see its disfigured form until it reached the fuzzy outerlimits of my sight.Withless anxiety than before I opened the door that I expected to lead usto Esther, and stepped inside with Gwen. The room we were in was darkbut it also felt like it was in black and white, like a vintage film.I didn’t want to rub my eyes in case that gave them enough time tocatch me, but like in the other room I felt protected. Gwen squeezedmy hand, more for her benefit to make sure I was still there than tocomfort me. A young girl wearing a frilly pink dress and ornate hairband skipped to us. To the side of the room I noticed a smalldinosaur and a vicious looking dog. Even the sight of my childhoodfriends made me feel braver, and I swallowed hard to get away thesour taste of fear.“Gwen!Rick! Essa happy to see you both!” Sang the innocent little voice,beaming up at us with her two front teeth missing. “Esther?”Gwen sounded shocked. After seeing Seb, I wasn’t as surprised aboutanything. “Esther, we need your help. How can we help you escape?”
“Escape?Why would Essa want to go? I’m awake, and I don’t feel tired!When Essa feels tired, they come closer. When Essa falls asleep, theycome for her. Essa draws pictures of them, and they come real. Theyscare Essa but they leave her alone when she draws ‘cause it helpsthem live with her. But Essa doesn’t want them to live with her.Essa get scared when she get tired unless she has pretty necklace.”Esther waved her hand to show the Xenite pendulum that she had tiedaround her wrist. “Esther,hunny, Rick and I need your help.” Gwen knelt down to Esther’slevel and smiled maternally. “You need to tell us how to get rid ofthe nasty people, so they can’t bother anyone ever again. Then youcan go to sleep and they won’t scare you anymore.”“Prettynecklace, they don’t like. But, we need to say funny chant. Rickknows it.” “Idon’t know any other language than English, I have no idea whatshe’s talking about. I don’t know you, and I don’t know what’sgoing on but I want it over with! I want Seb back!” I shook myhead. I certainly didn’t know any ritual chants.“Essaconfused, Rick. I know you. Rick, Rick, Rick. Sebastian, too. Seb!Sebastian. Yes, Richard and Sebastian and Sally and Lawrence.” Hervoice sounded as if it was maturing very quickly as she listed ournames, and my parent’s. “Sally, she was my daughter. Lawrence, myson-in-law. You were oldest. Seb adored you, you always looked afterhim like your own precious child. Sally gave birth and forbade mefrom visiting, in case the demons were contagious, she didn’t wanther pure, untainted babies to be cursed like her mother. But itwasn’t me or the house that was haunted, it was my subconscious. Itwasn’t catching, you were safe.” She sniffed back tears andpouted childishly.