Chapter Eighteen

The first thing Ben saw when he rushed into the room was Cameron sitting on the bed, wincing with pain. His right shoulder was dislocated and obviously deformed. Tears streamed down his cheeks, no doubt from the pain.

“What happened to you?” Ben asked.

“It was that damned nurse again. She grabbed me by the arm and twisted it out of its socket. I tried to call 9-1-1, but there’s no signal.”

Ben checked his own phone. No signal. “What are we going to do?” he asked, starting to panic again.

“We’ve got to reset it. Grab my hand, and when I count to three, you pull as hard as you can until it pops back into place.”

“I can’t do that. Don’t you need a doctor, or something?”

“We’re fresh out of doctors around here. The closest thing we have is the ghost that did this in the first place. Now, when I say three, you pull. One, two, THREE!”

Ben pulled as hard as he could on Cameron’s arm. He felt the arm slide toward him and heard the grinding sound of bone-on-bone. He felt a pop, and Cameron sighed with relief.

“Is that it? Did I hurt you?” Ben asked.

“That’s it. I’m fine now. It’s back where it should be.” Cameron seemed relieved, and Ben noticed that the shoulder no longer looked deformed.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Oh, it hurts like hell. But it’s nothing compared to what it was a minute ago. It’s still going to stop my love life for a few weeks.”

It took Ben several moments to get the joke. When he did, the combination of fear and adrenaline caused him to laugh as though it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

Cameron noticed that Ben was wearing Tara’s backpack. “Where did you find that?” he asked.

“It was in the hidden room. I used it to hold all of the papers, and this really old book that was laying on the floor. The book wasn’t there the last time.”

“Well, we’re all packed up, then. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Wait. What if there is something in the book that will help us rid the house of the evil spirits? Don’t you think we should at least try?”

“Nope. That’s not what we came here to do. We got the evidence that the place is haunted, we got the evidence to show how it became haunted, and now, we need to get out before we, or more specifically I, get hurt again.”

“Come on. Let’s at least look. If there’s nothing there, then we can go.”

Cameron did not look happy with this idea, but he begrudgingly agreed to stay while Ben looked through the book.

Ben took the ancient book out of the backpack and starting browsing through it. There were spells, incantations, and directions for rituals. It contained the names of demons, and the specific functions each of these demons performed.

Cameron fidgeted nervously while Ben read. After about thirty minutes, Ben exclaimed, “I’ve found it! There’s a spell here to rid the house of the demon.”

“Don’t you think the government would have tried that?”

“Maybe, maybe not. But I’m going to try. I need a crucifix and some water. I’ll have to go back to the hidden room where the pentagrams are.”

After searching the room, Ben found an old necklace with a crucifix charm. He put it around his neck and filled a cup with water. He recited a blessing over the cup of water, which was all that was needed to apparently make holy water.

Armed with the necessary supplies, Ben crept slowly down the empty hallway. Outside room 515, he found himself in the same loop again. Just as before, the door to the hidden room appeared. Ben entered slowly and carefully. The room was empty, except for the drawings on the walls and floor. Ben quietly closed the door behind him. Without hesitation, Ben started performing the ritual.