Evergreen by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 23

Bobby and Katie had been repeatedly warned about the Redfield house. Everyone seemed to use the same words. ‘It’s not safe up there’. But, having stood outside its doors on more than one occasion, the house appeared both intact and inviting. In secret, they had talked about it often and the repeated warnings only piqued Katie’s curiosity. Many times, telling a teenager not to do something only serves as an invitation. She had been specifically told by her father to stay clear of the house, to take an interest in something else while the copies that came from Bobby had been disposed of. But, they were no longer needed and Katie, being especially willful, felt that the only way to learn more about the Redfield house was to go there, not to stand outside staring at the windows, but to venture into its rooms and through its hallways. In her mind, the house begged for a personal visit.

For years, the old Victorian house had been in possession of its own soul, a dark spirit that lurked deep within its very matter. For years, it lay in quiet repose as a well-preserved corpse in the cold earth. But now, something had caused it to stir. Perhaps it had become interested in those who were most curious about it. Or maybe, it hadn’t resurrected itself with an appetite for its usual fare.

But Katie was driven by curiosity, not caution, while Bobby had heeded Christine’s warning. His fearfulness led him to be easily affected by the voice of authority and her stern words effectively deflated his own curiosity. But Katie had other ideas. She had known him long enough— especially throughout high school—that she had become very much aware of what Bobby wanted.

It was Saturday afternoon, one week before Thanksgiving. Bobby and Katie met at the pizzeria on Main Street. Business was slow that time of year. People hunkered down for the coming winter and, thus, tended not to spend a lot of time outdoors. This left Bobby and Katie with a good deal of the pizzeria to themselves, and Katie was quick to take advantage of the resulting privacy. “So,” she began. “You wanna go up to the Redfield house and look around a little?”

Bobby hesitated in his eager consumption of pizza. “Are you kidding?” he replied. “I was told to stay away from that place by the Sheriff. If she catches me up there, my parents will have a shit fit and didn’t your father tell you not to go there, too?”

Katie rolled her eyes at the idea that anyone would try to quell her rebellious nature.

“Look, it’s just an old house,” she answered. “It’s not like there’s some kind of curse on it. Unless you think it’s haunted or something.”

She had remembered back to when the new deputy caught them in front of its façade and resorted to a bit of teasing. Bobby quickly became irritated by her taunting and spoke up defensively.

“I know what I saw. So can we just eat already?” Regret was immediate and Katie, having apologized, decided to change tactics, using her girlish charm. Not as a tease, but as bait. She was determined to explore the house, but doing it alone was not something she had the courage for.

“I bet it would be a great place to make out,” she said. “Don’t you think?”

Bobby continued with his pizza when Katie followed up by touching her foot to the inside of his ankle and sliding it up to just below his knee. Yes, he was anxious about exploring the Redfield house, but Katie’s touch triggered a flood of testosterone-driven fantasies. His reaction was immediate, and he quickly lost his ability to think rationally. Seeing Bobby become flushed, Katie took their conversation to the next level.

“And if we brought a blanket...,” she continued. She blew him an affectionate kiss from across the table as Bobby’s forehead beaded up with sweat. Given his fear of going into the house, he thought they might reach a compromise. Perhaps Katie’s suggestion could be carried out elsewhere, maybe a small tent in the woods. But Katie was quite single-minded in what she wanted and nothing would change her mind.

Bobby had stopped eating the instant Katie’s foot touched his ankle. He was both aroused and startled at the same time. At the age of eighteen, they were very aware of their developing needs as they began to enter adulthood and Katie, instinctively, knew how to play the game. “You know, everyone at school’s still waiting for you to go into that house,” Katie said.

Bobby didn’t care about the opinions of the kids at school, and he didn’t care about what they expected him to do. Deep down, Bobby was becoming a stronger person, but when Christine spoke to him about staying away from the Redfield house, he took her warning very seriously. Naturally, the words were especially effective as she was in uniform at the time. However, his anxious concern for the potential consequences of ignoring the Sheriffs warning was quickly being overshadowed by the reward of exploring the house with Katie and it didn’t take long for Christine’s words to be drowned out by the possibility of his first sexual encounter.

“You’re kidding,” he said. “Really? In that old place?” With a teasing smile, Katie moved her foot to the inside of Bobby’s other ankle.

“Why not?” she replied. “It’ll be private, and we can do whatever we want.”

Bobby felt the blood rushing to his face as reason left his mind. Now, Katie’s toes crept up just beyond the inside of Bobby’s knee as his skin flooded with goose bumps. “We can go right now,” she said.

Bobby’s hormones suddenly went into overload as he struggled to regain his senses. He knew what he should do, but he also knew what he wanted and this might be his only opportunity.

“Now?” he asked. “You mean, right now?” Katie nodded eagerly as her eyes brightened with excitement. She had caught the bull by the horns and had every intention of going through with what she had proposed - at least, to some degree.

Bobby’s reaction was sudden and awkward as he hastily fished enough money from his pockets to pay for the pizza. From there, they hurriedly made their way to the edge of town. The streets were nearly empty and there was no sign of the sheriff or the deputy. It seemed that getting to the Redfield house would be easier than either of them had suspected and soon; they found themselves at the edge of the woods. It was now cold enough that there was an accumulation of light snow on the ground as well as any exposed rocks. But until mid-December, there wouldn’t be so much snow that one couldn’t easily walk through it. Holding hands, Bobby and Katie quickly walked the roughly two miles through the woods with excited anticipation. But having been raised in the mountainscape of Evergreen, a two-mile walk was both quick and effortless and after climbing the short hill, they soon found themselves standing in front of the Redfield house. Katie was fascinated while Bobby was, again, struck by the feeling that something might be staring back. Ungloving a hand, Katie reached over and gave Bobby’s backside a gentle rub. Noticing he was becoming anxious by its dark appearance, she thought that he could use a bit of encouragement. He took a startled, yet aroused gasp as his face, again, quickly flushed.

“Shall we?” Katie asked.

Bobby let out a deep breath as his body continued to respond to her touch. The excitement and anticipation he felt brought out a sense of determination. It may only have been the determination to lose his virginity, but it was enough for him to overcome his previous fear of the house.

Bobby took the lead as they slowly walked up the front steps and onto the porch. The front door had been padlocked, but oddly, they found it hanging open on its latch. He reached for the doorknob and grasping it, felt the stinging cold of its brass surface. He looked at Katie with a cautious expression as she teasingly raised her eyebrows. Once the door was open, there would be no going back. Bobby would be pulled in by an insatiable curiosity once the house’s interior presented itself and as he pushed it open, its hinges let out a deathly yawn that carried through to the rear of the first floor and back. Its shrieking sound sent both teens into a moment of heart-stopping panic. Bobby felt his blood run cold as he stood at the open doorway, startled out of his skin. Katie, however, found the sudden surge of fear exhilarating as her heartbeat pounded in her ears and the fine hairs on her skin raised themselves up. But her recovery from this brief experience was quick and left her feeling even more adventurous than when they arrived. Bobby, on the other hand, was not quite as strong and certainly, not nearly as adventurous. However, he brought himself to step into the doorway with one single goal - getting laid. Bobby swung the door wide as they both walked in. Their shoes trod lightly on the dusty floor as though the smallest sound might wake the souls of the damned. As Katie closed the door behind them, its hinges gave out another horrific groan. Bobby once again leaped from his skin as he turned back to Katie with a flash of anger.

“Could you not do that?” he whispered. Katie shrank back slightly while removing her hand from the doorknob.

“I couldn’t help it,” she whispered back. Bobby took her hand in an act of apology as she stepped up to his side. He turned and spoke softly in her ear. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to get angry. It’s just that this place gives me the creeps.”

Taking another few steps, their eyes became wide with amazement and fearful anticipation. The paper walls display a multitude of holes where birds and mice had taken refuge. Over the years, the plaster ceiling had begun to crumble, leaving its irregular shapes scattered on the floor, popping and crackling underfoot. Still, with joined hands, they walked left and found themselves in the wide doorway of the living room. Although roughly fifty years had passed, every stick of furniture remained. Nothing, it seemed, had been touched since the Redfield’s bodies had been removed all those years ago.

“I thought this place was gonna be empty,” Katie whispered.

Without entering the room, they stood studying every detail. The fireplace was carved from marble. The framed portraits on the adjacent walls were aged and dusty. Sitting in a corner, a Boston rocker was left eerily motionless, as if waiting for its owner to return to its comforting sway.

“Hey!” Katie whispered loudly. “Look at this!” Bobby quickly caught up to her as she stood in another wide doorway.

“Holy shit!” he said. “Wasn’t it just the two of them living here?”

Beyond the doorway was the dining room. In its day, it was a splendid work of art. Its heavy oak table still stood broadly, dusty and faded but otherwise unravaged by time. The fixtures adorning the walls were a dark mahogany with more portraits. But these were different. Katie walked in, wanting to get a better look and wiping the heavy film of dust from one of its protective panes, she was startled to discover an old sepia-toned image of a small family gathered around the open casket of a child. She had been dressed in a delicate white Victorian gown, her face fallen into an open-eyed gentle smile. Those surrounding the deceased girl stood with expressionless faces, lending a darker tone to an already morbid sight. Bobby’s words had gone unheard as Katie made her way around the dining room’s grandiose expanse. Upon examining the rest of the portraits, Katie discovered a similar theme among them. They were all pictures of the dead.

“This is fucked up,” she whispered to herself. “Bobby, you’ve gotta see these.”

Neither of them understood the idea behind postmortem photography, a Victorian art form intended as the final expression of caring by the family of the deceased. Bobby walked into the room, his eyes soaking up every detail. But as he approached Katie, the portrait forced his eyes to its macabre content. He stood in front of it with an expression of horror.

“Shit,” he whispered. “That is fucked up.” He looked down towards the bottom of the portrait where the words ‘Memento Mori’ had been beautifully written with what appeared to be a fountain pen. “What does that mean?” he asked.

He pointed a finger to the partially faded words. Katie moved closer and studied the words intently. Whispering them to herself, she recognized them almost immediately. “Remember death,” she answered.

Bobby looked at her in amazement.

“How did you know that?” he asked. He was truly impressed with Katie’s knowledge of something that seemed so obscure.

“I took a class in Latin,” she answered. Bobby looked around to see similar images covering the walls. He felt his skin crawl and walked back to the doorway. Katie soon followed. However, both of them wondered the same thing. How could anyone eat in the room where death hung on every wall?

They quietly toured the rest of the first floor. The kitchen was littered with chunks of plaster and chips of lead paint. The pantry was full. But, it’s entire food stock had been raided by birds, mice and anything else that could find its way in. There were a few canned items, but nothing that looked edible. As deep in the woods as it was, the house was constructed without a basement. Finding this to be the case, Katie took the lead and started toward the staircase. Catching up to her, Bobby asked about what had been on his mind for the last hour or so. “So, when do you wanna make out?” Having begun climbing the stairs, Katie turned back and answered him with a teasing smile.

“Don’t be in such a hurry,” she replied. “Let’s check out the rest of the house first.”

She continued up to the second floor as Bobby followed close behind.

The banister had cracked in numerous places over the course of many seasons and as Katie reached the top of the stairs; she looked out into the carpeted hallway of the second floor. She motioned Bobby towards her. “C’mon,” she said.

Her eyes lit up with the excitement of further venturing into what both knew to be forbidden territory. Walking into the hallway, they found the darkness unsettling. Daylight had been effectively removed by the closed doors that lined the narrow passage. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever as Katie decided which room to enter first.

“Which one you want to go in first?” she asked. To Bobby, the choice was irrelevant. He didn’t want to go into any of them and upon entering the house; He had quickly come to the conclusion that behind every closed door was the potential for trouble, no matter what its form.

Again, Katie led the way. The floorboards creaked with each step as she approached the first door on the right. As she reached for the doorknob, Bobby interrupted. “You really want to do this, don’t you?” he asked. “Let’s just find a place to make out.”

Katie was not surprised by Bobby’s request. But turning towards him, chastised him anyway.

“God, you men only think about one thing, don’t you?” Bobby was growing both anxious and frustrated. “Can we just hurry?”

But Katie wanted to take her time, if for no other reason than to provide Bobby with a bit of playful torture.

Turning the doorknob, it let out a loud clack, made louder by the room’s walls as it bounced between them. Like every other door, its hinges screamed painfully and although Bobby had come to anticipate this, his senses were still shaken by the sound of rusty metal grinding against rusty metal. Katie pushed the door open - a few inches at first. Seeing only dust and old furniture, she walked in with Bobby following behind. The wallpaper opposite them was yellow and faded from years of sunlight burning through the windows. There were two tall windows with what remained of rolled down shades. The remnants lay in rotting pieces on the floor, shattered by time and the cold of northern Maine winters. Standing in the middle of the room, their eyes examined every inch, every corner, and crevice. The room, like the first floor, was fully furnished. Nothing appeared to have been touched.

“Have you noticed something?” Bobby asked. “It looks like everything’s still here - like they just walked out.” Katie had noticed as soon as they walked into the house. “Yeah,” she answered. “Kinda creepy, isn’t it?” Bobby wandered over to one of the windows and looking out towards the woods he was startled by the sight of an elderly woman dressed in black formal attire. Staring at him, her face was drawn down into an emotionless expression. But her eyes burned into him with the rage of a vindictive God, bent on ridding the earth of its human vermin.

Agasp, Bobby took a sudden step back from the window. His face suddenly paled with fear. “Katie,” he began. “Get over here!”

He quickly motioned her towards the window while pointing at the angry specter.

“Look at that!”

“What, another ghost?” she asked teasingly. Stepping up to the window, they both looked out onto the ground below. The angry shade had vanished, its form dispersed with the chilly, late afternoon breeze. Bobby was both frustrated and alarmed.

“It was there!” he began. “It was right there!” Katie’s skepticism came to the surface as she let out a sigh.

“I think this place is starting to get to you,” she said. “No!” Bobby interrupted. “It was the same thing I saw the last time!”

Katie suggested he returned to the hallway, thinking that if she could keep him away from the windows, he might calm down. Obviously, his anxieties about being in the house were causing his mind to play tricks on him. As for Katie, the very idea of ghosts seemed more than a little far-fetched. But she had a remedy for Bobby’s frayed nerves and thought it might be time to make good on her end of their arrangement.

She gently took Bobby in her arms and almost immediately felt his body relax as every muscle lost its tension.

“Let’s go to one more room, then we can get out of here, okay?”

Bobby nodded as Katie took his hand, interlacing her fingers with his and walking side-by-side; they made their way down the hallway, toward the next door. Standing in front of it, Katie glanced over at Bobby, studying his face out of concern. Placing a hand on the doorknob, she immediately noticed that something was different. It was warm to the touch, unlike the last, that felt cold and inhospitable. For the first time since stepping through the front door, Katie had become not only suspicious but afraid. But, in spite of her reaction, she slowly pushed the door open only to feel a small gust of warm air. This she found unusual as well. The November air brought a noticeable chill to every dark corner of the house. A warm room would be highly suspect of something that could not be explained.

Only a few heartbeats had gone by as Katie continued to push the door open when both were struck by a bright light. It’s beam shattering the dim, colorless hue of the hallway. Further pushing open the door, the room lit up with a brilliant white with unstained walls and furniture cleaned to a fault. The bed was pristinely made without a single wrinkle across its cool cotton sheets. Never had she seen such shimmering Victorian beauty and walked in as if the gates of Saint Peter had opened before her. Bobby, however, experienced a different reaction. He had not been taken in by the fantasy that seemed to have created itself but grew tense and suspicious of something that could not possibly be. He stood near the doorway, trying to make sense of the room’s almost sterile appearance as Katie jumped in with both feet. She threw herself on the bed and bringing the lace-covered pillow to her face, deeply took in its freshly laundered scent. “Uh, don’t you think this is just a little weird?” Bobby asked.

Lying outstretched on her side, Katie moved away from the center of the bed and began rubbing it suggestively with the palm of her hand.

“Yeah, I know,” she answered. “But, it’s the perfect place to make out, don’t you think?”

Strangely, the air was warm enough that they could remove their jackets hats and gloves. Katie kicked her shoes off, letting them tumbled to the floor as Bobby closed the door and walked up to the edge of the bed. He was still anxious about how different the room was from the rest of the house, but Katie was the adventurous one and didn’t, for even a moment, question what seemed to be a blip on the radar of reality.

The smooth, firm bed left Katie relaxed, yet sexually charged and as she got to her knees, reached under the back of her top and unfastened her bra. Sliding the straps down around her arms, she slipped it off her body and tossing it to the foot of the bed, lay back down on her side. Bobby was suddenly reduced to muted mindlessness as Katie grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the bed. But at the youthful age of eighteen, they were both fully ignorant of the mechanics of passion and as with most young relationships they would be ready for that level of intimacy when Katie was ready. However, Bobby, having become easily aroused by the sight of Katie removing her bra, was ready for anything and easily lost himself to the moment. Crawling onto the bed, Bobby faced Katie as they embraced each other, both taking a deep breath of excitement as their lips met. His hands wandered awkwardly over Katie’s breasts as she giggled excitedly. Her inexperienced body was unable to determine physical arousal from the stimulation of being tickled until Bobby’s fingers found their way to an especially sensitive place.

Katie took a sudden breath as her eyes widened with arousal. It was a new experience for both of them - playful, yet innocent. But in his boyish enthusiasm, Bobby let his hands wander a bit too far south, only to be stopped by Katie’s hand.

“I’m not ready for that,” she whispered. “I’m sorry,” Bobby replied.

His guilt was immediately obvious and Katie, knowing his nervous nature, tried to soothe him in his self-conscious reaction. Bringing a gentle hand to the side of his face, she kissed Bobby on the lips.

“It’s okay,” she said in a whisper. “Maybe next time.” They lay in each other’s arms for what felt like an eternity and although the afternoon sun was beginning to fade into evening; the room remained lit with its eerie bright light. It seemed to come from no particular place, yet filled every corner of the room. But from the woods, it was as the rest of the house - dark.

Before dozing off completely, Katie sat up on the bed. Startled by the suddenness of her actions Bobby bolted up and inquired as to what might be wrong. “Nothing,” she answered. “C’mon, let’s check out the rest of the house.”

In spite of how relaxed Bobby had become, his anxious concern still managed to find its way to the surface. “Shouldn’t we get going?” he asked. “We’ve been here for a while now.”

Katie made the assumption that because the room is so brightly lit, the day must still be young and without glancing out the windows, Bobby made the mistake of agreeing with her. Whatever it was that controlled the house had fooled them both, tricking Bobby and Katie into remaining as guests of something that would soon force is presence upon them.

After putting their shoes back on, Bobby and Katie retrieved their jackets, hats, and gloves. Opening the door, they let themselves back out into the hallway where the air had grown cold enough that their breath could be seen hanging near stillness. But on their way to the stairs, Bobby glanced back toward the still brilliantly lit room. It occurred to him for only a moment as another odd feature stood out. Normally, a well-lit room casts a beam across the floor of a darkened place. But the border separating the room from the hallway was marked by a sharp line of darkness. It was as though they had crossed the boundary from one world and into another and the hallway was strangely devoid of the glowing light that illuminated the room. But, Katie was in a hurry. She was eager to explore the rest of the house, and Bobby was quick to follow. Stopping at the top of the staircase, Bobby glanced out of a nearby window.

“Hey,” he called.

Katie was already investigating the open space of the third floor.

“What?” she replied.

“It’s getting dark out,” Bobby answered. “We really should get outta here.”

But, Katie was prepared with a pocket flashlight. It wasn’t much, but she anticipated that if she could talk Bobby into going into the house, they might be there a little longer than she expected.

“Oh, c’mon,” she said. “Don’t pussy out now. Do you wanna see where it happened?”

His fear of the house had so consumed him that Bobby forgot about the murder.

“How do you know where it happened?” he asked. The third floor was, essentially, a large attic. With a ten-foot-high ceiling, it could serve many purposes. But the Redfield’s had left it mostly empty, save for a few sticks of furniture and an oriental rug.

“Where else would she have done it?” Katie replied. Shining her small light around the third floor, its beam found the closed door of the back room. “I’ll bet it was in here,” she said.

She approached the door as Bobby cautiously followed.

There was nothing unique or odd about the door, in spite of what had taken place on the other side. Grasping the doorknob, Katie noticed it was colder than she had expected.

“Shit!” she exclaimed. “That’s cold!”

She put her gloves on and turning the doorknob, found its mechanism oddly silent and opening it slowly, both were startled by a deafening silence as his hinges moved without the typical shriek of rusty stiffness. Opening it further, Katie searched the room with her flashlight. Boxes and wooden trunks had been stacked against the far wall. Stepping in, Katie continued to scan its contents when the beam of her flashlight fell on an object that seemed intentionally placed in a specific part of the room, just beyond the middle of the floor. Bobby stepped up next to her and studied what had been Cecelia’s altar to Lilith.

“What the hell is that?” he asked.

Curiosity overpowered both of them as they walked up to it, knelt down and found the symbol of the dark moon painted on its surface.

“Looks like the Mrs. was into some pretty kinky stuff,” Katie said.

Bobby studied it further.

“Hey,” he began. “Wasn’t this on the marriage license?” The paint had faded over the years but was still clearly visible.

“Yeah,” Katie answered. “Maybe she was in a cult.” Standing back towards the doorway, they made another examination of the room and looking over the floor, their eyes stopped on a blackened shape that layout at their feet. “Holy shit,” Bobby said. “What does that look like to you?”

The shape was both obvious and familiar. When a body is left for an extended period, the soupy fluids of decay, seeping out onto whatever it happens to be lying on - a couch, a carpet or bed. Essentially, the body of the late Arthur Redfield had begun melting into the floor, leaving only his shape behind and even though his remains had been removed long ago, no one stayed behind to clean up the mess. But as for Cecelia, her cause of death had been listed as unnatural and it was also noted that her remains had not left one trace of decomposition behind.

Bobby and Katie stood looking at the dusty, thin layer of human leftovers, seemingly burned into the floor. The passage of time had rendered the room free of the odor of death, but something had been left behind - something that hung heavy in the air, something that could be felt, permeating the soul.

“I thought both of them died up here,” Katie whispered. “That’s what I thought,” Bobby replied. They were suddenly struck by a feeling neither could define. In sharing this experience, both found it especially disquieting. The house had, for quite some time, been in a light slumber - waiting. Now, it’s quiet repose had been disturbed, and it took an active interest in the lives of those it saw as intruders. But it also needed to be fed, and these opportunities were rare.

Bobby and Katie stood side-by-side, looking at each other with a puzzled expression.

“Do you feel that?” Bobby asked.

Katie had become visibly frightened. “You think someone else is here?”

Turning toward the open doorway, Katie searched the third floor with her flashlight, only to find that they were, indeed, alone.

“I swear, I feel like we’re being watched,” Bobby said. “Yeah,” Katie replied. “I feel it too.”

But at the very instant Katie had finished her words both were startled into a scream by a loud shriek, accompanied by a large shadow and the sound of wings fluttering past their heads. Among the other creatures that made the Redfield house their home, a screech owl had taken up residence, using a broken window for entrance and egress.

“Fuck!” Katie screamed.

She had already begun to feel spooked by the very palpable change in the air. Now, with the sudden appearance of this earthly apparition, Katie started to feel the darkness closing in on her. Soon, her strength would not be enough for the recovery of her wits. Bobby had also been startled. But from the outset, he had expected that something of a dark nature would occur. Unfortunately, the owl’s sudden flight was not what he had expected. That event was still to come and would be well beyond the unimaginable.

“Jesus Christ!” he exclaimed.

He looked at Katie, who was wiping tears from her eyes. “I just about shit my pants.”

His words were completely spontaneous and brought a giggle out of Katie, in spite of her sudden fright. “We need to get out of here,” she said. Her voice was somewhere between tears and laughter. “Yeah,” Bobby began. “I was ready when we came in.” Leaving the room, they walked toward the staircase. The owl had not left, but remained nearby, watching them as though standing guard as the houses lone sentinel. Bobby and Katie were startled again as it chirped out a loud scolding for their blatant act of trespass. “Shit!” Bobby yelled.

The experience of being startled was beginning to wear on his nerves as he started to see the owl as a personal enemy.

“Goddammit, I’m gonna kill that fuckin thing!” Katie couldn’t help thinking how odd it was for Bobby’s mood to quickly shift from his usual neurotic caution to resentful anger. In her memory, she had never seen Bobby become angry. He always managed to avoid confrontations and any other situations that might engender a degree of hostility. Deep under the surface, Bobby was completely uncertain as to how to become angry. This was most likely the genesis of the majority of his issues, until now.

Katie stopped just short of the second floor and turning towards Bobby asked, “Are you okay?” He continued down the stairs, passing her on the left. “Yeah,” he answered. “I just want to get the fuck out of here.”

Concerned by his sudden change of mood, Katie put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Bobby, we're leaving, okay?” she said. Normally, her touch prompted him to relax, draining him of anxiety and fear. But upon making contact, Bobby quickly brought up a hand and deflected her compassion. He walked quickly past her on the stairs, leaving her to follow. Katie thought that maybe, once they were out of the house, the cold November air might soothe his frazzled nerves. Until then, she would give him his space, walking several feet behind him. Not only had she become fearful over the odd change she felt in the house, but now, Katie feared something she saw in Bobby she had never seen before. But, there was something else. Something she couldn’t put her finger on. It spoke loud and clear through the expression etched on his face. Yet, it lay beyond anything she’d ever seen in Bobby. Katie feared that, in his current state, he may have become unpredictable.

Walking through the second floor, Katie noticed how dark it was becoming. She continued to illuminate the floor ahead of them as Bobby, with his emotions mounting, stormed down the staircase leading to the first floor.

“Bobby!” she called. “Bobby, wait!” Neither stopping nor slowing, Bobby trotted down the stairs ahead of her, his face twisted by rage - his teeth gnashing together. Over the briefest period, Bobby had developed the temperament of a caged animal. All he wanted was to get out. But there was something his enraged mind had not noticed. It screamed out at him as he marched toward the front of the house. But his mind had turned a deaf ear to everything, rational or otherwise.

The first floor had become black, causing Bobby to lose his sense of direction and walk into the edge of the living room doorway. His face smashing against its width, he heard and felt the fracturing of cartilage as his nose crushed itself under his body’s blind momentum. Instinctively bending down, he grabbed his face with both hands. He felt the warmth of his own blood run into his palms while his face erupted in mind shattering pain. Not being familiar with the pain of physical injury, Bobby’s anger became that much more brilliant as his state of mind fell into a state of action.

“Fuck!” he screamed.

In the overwhelming silence of the house, the patter of blood against the aged hardwood floor echoed off the far walls of the first floor. Bobby groaned angrily through clenched teeth as he cradled his face with open hands. Running up behind him, Katie, having heard his painful cursing, came to his aid. Shining her flashlight on him, she was quickly terrified by his expression. Bobby’s skin was pale, yet offset by the contrast of blood running down his face and onto his jacket. More disturbingly, his expression was twisted into a knot of anger, leaving him nearly unrecognizable. He had seemingly taken on the appearance of a highly agitated, angry dog - someone who could kill from nothing more than a reflex.

Katie didn’t let Bobby’s maddened appearance keep her from going to his aid.

“Bobby,” she began. “What happened?” Bobby turned his head, his eyes staring as though unable to recognize her. Katie made the mistake of putting a hand on his shoulder, heightening his agitation to its breaking point.

“Get the fuck away from me!” he screamed. He pushed Katie away, sending her to the floor. “I just want to get the fuck out of here!” Katie quickly got to her feet but maintained a safe distance. Bobby had, over a surprisingly short time, transformed into something Katie found not only unfamiliar but terrifying and thus very threatening. “Bobby,” she said cautiously. “We’re going to get out of here, right now.”

She stretched her hand out to him as he began crying. Something about the house had taken him over, destroying his ability to reason. In an instant, Bobby’s state of mind had taken a more painful turn. But in desperation, he took Katie’s hand as his sole source of comfort and pulling each other in, they embraced tightly. At this point, each needed the other as both felt the house closing his grip around them.

“C’mon,” Katie continued.

They walked arm in arm as Katie led him through the pitch blackness toward the front door.

They arrived by the narrow beam of Katie’s small flashlight only to encounter a blank wall. She was certain they had gone in the right direction.

“Fuck!” she whispered.

Bobby was near collapse as his mind began to enter a state of shock and physically, he was beginning to weaken. Soon, Katie would be unable to support his weight and would have to find the way out alone. She pulled Bobby away from the wall, turning towards the back of the house. The dim bulb of her small flashlight cut the heavy enveloping darkness like a hot wire through butter. Katie aimed it at the floor in order to guide their steps. But, as they approached the staircase, she became overwhelmed by Bobby’s weight as his knees buckled from exhaustion. “Bobby,” she began.

Her voice had quickly become strained as she guided Bobby to the bottom of the stairs.

“I can’t carry you.”

She tried to gently lower him to a sitting position but was only able to give him a guided drop to the third step of the staircase.

“Stay here,” she continued. “I’ll find the door. I’ll be right back.”

Although she had lost her sense of direction, Katie wandered to what she discovered to be the back of the first floor. It should have been easy to recognize, but something had changed and as Katie surveyed the room, she found, to her horror, that the windows, as well as the back door, had also been replaced by empty walls. Anything that could have acted as an exit had disappeared. They were now held hostage by whatever it was that had altered the very structure of the house.

Katie investigated the first floor more closely. She went into the dining room and shining her flashlight around at the walls, found that these too, were absent of anything that could be used as an exit. The living room presented itself in the same manner. Returning to Bobby, Katie found him leaning against the staircase banister with an empty expression. She shook him gently by the shoulders while calling out to him.

“Bobby!” She shook him again. “Goddammit, Bobby!” He appeared to be sleeping with his eyes open and for a fraction of a second Katie’s imagination displayed him as having mysteriously died. But he was neither awake nor asleep nor dead. His mind had become fractured by what had wakened within the house, something that had been birthed by selfishness, vanity, and evil, using ceremonial murder as a conduit of expression. But Katie did what she could to remain strong, in spite of the terror she felt at the idea that they may not be able to escape. She knelt down towards Bobby at eye level and grasped his hands. “Bobby, I’m going upstairs,” she began. Katie looked him in the eyes, trying to make a connection. “I’ll be right back.”

She darted around him as she quickly made her way up the stairs. But before stepping out onto the second floor, she aimed the beam of her flashlight down the stairs towards Bobby, who remained frozen in place. Katie wasn’t sure how many of her words had gotten through to his shattered psyche. But now, the only thing that was driving her was the need to escape.

Continuing to the second floor, Katie searched the rooms lining the hallway. The last of which was the room she and Bobby had spent, at least, thirty minutes in, lost in each other’s arms. She remembered how brilliant and beautiful it was and hoped it would be more than a romantic sanctuary, that it would offer them a way out. But approaching it, Katie found the door closed. She didn’t recall either of them closing the door, but tried not to give it too much thought. Turning the knob, she pushed the door open and hearing the rusty wail of its hinges; she was startled to find the room in a state of dim, dusty disrepair. Where there had recently been almost sterile, glorious Victorian beauty, there was a room that appeared fitting to the rest of the house. Its walls and floor stained with age - the bed, moth-eaten, tattered and in complete disarray.

Katie was suddenly overwhelmed with confusion and fear and backing out into the hallway, she was startled into a scream by Bobby’s unexpected presence. She spun around with a gasp, only to find herself confronted by a frozen, angry expression.

“Bobby!” she began.

She had slowly begun to recover her senses while still noticing Bobby’s menacing face.

“Jesus fucking Christ! Give me a warning next time, okay?”

Bobby remained silent; his unblinking eyes pierced her soul through the cold darkness. Katie’s reaction was a mix of fear and concern. She reached out to grasp his hand, thinking that the warmth of her touch might provide a degree of healing and bring him back out, back to the present.

“Bobby, are you...”

Her words were suddenly cut short when Bobby raised a fist and struck her hard across the face, knocking her to the floor. Shaken by his sudden, unexpected assault, Katie rose to her feet, falling back against the wall with a thud. Her breathing quickened as her eyes teared up, her mind flying into a panic. But in spite of her rapidly swelling face, she believed Bobby could still be reached. “Bobby, it’s me, Katie! What’s wrong with you?!” Her tearful question was answered by a second blow, rendering her unconscious.

She awoke sometime later to find herself on her back, in the third-floor room they had investigated earlier. She took a deep breath while opening her eyes. The side of her face was swollen and throbbing. As Katie’s mind began to clear, she noticed a weight holding her to the floor. Having lost her flashlight, she extended her arms through the space in front of her while trying to sit up. “Bobby, is that you?” she whispered. Her words were met with silence. Even the weight that held her down remained unmoving and as her palms made contact with Bobby’s chest, she discovered that he was sitting on her, a knee on each side of her body. “Bobby?” she continued fearfully.

Although the room was pitch black, Katie could feel his eyes on her and as she tried to sit up, Katie felt Bobby’s hands suddenly grip her shoulders, forcing her back down. The back of her head struck the bare hardwood floor as tears returned to her eyes.

“Bobby, please, stop!” she pleaded.

The back of her head ached while her mind began spinning. Bobby released his right hand and in the next moment clicked on Katie’s flashlight. After forcing her into unconsciousness, he picked it up so as to illuminate his way, dragging Katie by the wrist. But he brought one more item. Before following her up the stairs, Bobby felt his way through the dimly lit first floor and into the kitchen. There he found a serrated kitchen knife and slipping it beneath his belt, mindlessly followed Katie up to the second floor.

Bobby released his other hand and set the flashlight on the floor, pointing its beam at the ceiling. Reflecting back, it cast an eerie glow throughout the room as he grabbed Katie’s top with both hands and violently tore it down the middle. With her head still adrift from its impact with the floor, Katie tried to force herself into awareness, while Bobby used the serrated knife to cut off her bra. She attempted to fight him off but was met with the force of Bobby’s open hand as he slapped her across the face. Feeling a burning on the side of her face, Katie began crying hysterically - terrified that Bobby would quickly go from punching and slapping to a more painful assault. Still, he had not spoken a word.

Katie’s lip had split open as her nose began bleeding and with the knife in his right hand, Bobby dipped his fingers in the blood that made its way down the side of her face. Bringing it up to his face, he examined it closely, as if discovering it for the first time. He looked at the altar with its faded symbol and in a state of mindlessness Bobby reached down and used Katie’s blood to paint the dark moon on her chest as she continued to bleed.

Katie stirred as her senses came back to life. The events of the last few minutes roared through her head as she, again, made eye contact with Bobby. By this time, he had picked up the kitchen knife and froze momentarily while holding it high over his head, clasping it with both hands. Katie’s eyes widened with terror and a long, loud scream exploded from deep within her soul. “Bobby!”

Almost at the same time, Bobby arched back, raised his face to the ceiling, and let out a scream like a wolf baying at the moon. The moment froze in agonizing eternity as time slowed to less than a snail’s pace. In the next flash of time, Bobby swung the knife down towards Katie, its blade slicing through the cold air. Its rusty steel penetrated Katie’s soft, smooth skin and sank deeply into her chest. With her last moments of consciousness, Katie’s gaze froze on Bobby’s face. Her dimming mind had fallen into a deep denial of the fact that she would soon die at the hands of her best friend. Someone she had known all her life. Bobby had driven the kitchen knife into her chest slightly up past the handle. He felt the beating of her failing heart pulsing through it and into his hands as he let out a sigh of arousal. Bending down, he sampled the last taste of her lips, drawing his tongue from her chin to the tip of her nose while a twisted smile etched itself across his face.

In the next moment, Bobby bolted back up to a sitting position, removing the knife from Katie’s chest in one fluid movement. The dull rusty blade, uncorked from her body, released a fountain of warm red blood. Not as a series of pulses, but a river. It spattered against the ceiling and washed over Bobby in one torrential wave. Falling into a sudden state of exhaustion, Bobby tumbled back onto the floor. His hand still loosely gripping the knife as Katie’s cooling blood dripped off its rusty brown surface. As Katie’s body lost its warmth and her skin turned a lifeless yellowish white, Bobby finally broke his silence and as his eyes stared up at the ceiling, his lips uttered two quiet words.

“For you...”