Chapter Fourteen

Ben was out of breath from running. He stopped to rest, but his mind continued to swirl. What was this? Was he caught in a time loop? No, it couldn’t be a time loop. A space loop? Was there even such a thing?

He felt as though he had been running for hours, when it had only been a few minutes. He still hadn’t progressed a single step. He didn’t understand how this could be happening. He was both anxious and terrified. What if he never got out of this loop, whatever it was?

Ben’s legs were burning. His muscles were sore, and his lungs were on fire. He ached from the exertion, trying to escape this hallway. As he rested, hands on his knees, panting for breath, he noticed something was different. He was positive that door had not been there before.

Ben reached out and touched the doorknob. It felt real. He turned the knob and the door swung open. Ben stepped inside the room. He was able to move again.

This room was different than the others. There were pentagrams drawn on the walls and floor, papers littered the room, and right in the center of a large pentagram on the floor was an indentation in the carpet. Something was missing, and it had been taken recently.

Ben studied some of the papers on the floor. They were research notes, demonology research, and they were written on United States Department of Defense letterhead.

As Ben read, it became clear to him what had happened in the house. When it was a government research facility, they were trying to summon otherworldly entities and succeeded in summoning a demon, who then took control of the house. This demon had killed multiple people and trapped their spirits within the house.

One of the documents read, “March 15, 1934 – Today, we received a grimoire found in Russia. It contains many spells, rituals, and incantations for summoning spirits. There are also rituals for trapping spirits. We are finally going to be able to harness the power of the supernatural world and even use supernatural powers as a weapon to defend the country.”

“March 16, 1934 – The summoning experiment today failed. We were not able to make contact with any spirits. Will try again tomorrow.”

“March 17, 1934 –We’re having problems with the electricity. Lights flicker, then shut off by themselves. At first glance, it appeared to be a wiring problem, but now, we’re starting to suspect that yesterday’s rituals might not have been a failure after all.”

“March 18, 1934 – Dr. Keegan has lost his mind. During today’s experiment, he began speaking a foreign language no one else understood and then tried to scratch out his own eyes. He’s being taken to an asylum. Dr. Mangrum will take over the experiments.”

“March 19, 1934 – I am eternal.”

“March 20, 1934 – The staff are all scared. Some refuse to come back. Military police are dragging people in to work. Dr. Mangrum is dead. He killed himself last night.”

The last document said, “March 26, 1934 – Today, we had a priest bless the house, in an attempt to get rid of the demon we summoned. It was a disaster. The priest had to be carried out in a straitjacket and the demon remains. We fear the best course of action is to abandon the facility.”

Ben sat on the floor, looking at the papers scattered around him. He wondered how long the government had been experimenting with the spirit realm and if they had found a way to fix the problems that had been caused at Silverwood Manor. Surely, they must have an answer by now.

But the more pressing, immediate problem was how to stop the demon that possessed the house. Ben was an expert on ghost theories, but he knew very little about demonology. His phone was still in the bedroom, so there was no way to research anything until he got back there.

He had a thought. Maybe if he was close enough, his laptop could pair with his phone and he would be able to use the phone’s internet signal. He took off his backpack and pulled out the laptop.

Ben searched, but the internet connection was slow. The results finally appeared, and all seemed to deal with exorcism, and demonic possession of people, not houses.

He read through the first three pages of search results before finally giving up. There was no information about ridding a house of a demon. What he did gather was that he would need a silver crucifix to protect himself and the others. He wasn’t sure how reliable that information was.

Ben decided his best course of action was to escape. He would only fight the demon if he had to in order to get out of the house. He was scared. He’d read that demons could attach themselves to people, so even if he did escape the house, the demon might come with him.

For the first time in many years, Ben prayed. He had believed in God when he was child, and even as a teenager. Over time, however, he came to see the world as it was, and his belief in God faded. Ben turned to prayer now, as his last hope.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.”