CHAPTER IX
Ashes to Ashes
Kevin stumbled down the stairwell and into the living room.
“Holly!” he screamed, but there was no answer. He looked around in the dark but could barely see anything. The front door busted open and someone rushed in holding a flashlight. It was Miller.
Kevin stopped and watched as the detective hustled in and shut the door behind him. He was breathing frantically.
“Detective?” Kevin called out. Miller swung around fast and pointed his gun directly at Kevin. Kevin threw his hands in the air. “It’s me!”
Miller lowered his weapon and caught his breath. In the dull light of the flashlight, Kevin noticed that Miller’s coat was drenched in blood.
“What happened?” Kevin asked.
“Something’s out there…” Miller said. “It attacked me…”
“It’s Raven – she’s real,” Kevin said.
Miller looked around the room, aiming his flashlight. “Where is everyone?”
“I can’t find Holly. Ms. Watkins is dead – so is Valerie. There were more corpses upstairs. What the hell is going on here!?”
“The corpses, the creature outside – isn’t it obvious? Hilliard is haunted!”
“What do we do?” Kevin panicked.
“We need to get out of here!”
“Not without Holly!”
“Then let’s find her quick, because we have to leave – now!”
Miller aimed his dimming flashlight at all corners of the living room. Holly was nowhere to be found.
“Holly?” Kevin called out.
A scratching sound caught both of their attention and they both froze.
“What’s that?” Kevin whispered.
Miller shone his light around the room trying to locate the source of the scratching sound. He ended up at the blackened window. Miller took a few steps towards it. Something was on the other side of the window.
“It’s her…” Kevin whispered.
Miller slowly raised his gun towards the window, as the scratching sound grew louder. Miller kept his focus, and the scratching came to a stop.
The flashlight flickered and then died.
A deafening, inhuman shriek erupted from the darkness of the room and something pounced at Kevin and tackled him to the floor.
“Help!” Kevin screamed.
“Kevin!” Miller shouted back, aiming his gun blindly in the dark. All he could hear was the rustling sound of Kevin being attacked.
“Miller, help me!”
Miller couldn’t see anything, so he aimed his gun at the ceiling and fired off a shot. The room lit up for a brief moment with the muzzle flash of the gun and he could see the disturbing creature from outside – Raven – thrashing over top of Kevin in the corner of the room.
“Miller! Help!” Kevin screamed again.
Miller took a couple steps closer and fired his gun at the ceiling again. The flash ignited the room and Raven was still thrashing on top of Kevin.
Miller shot towards the ceiling one more time as he moved forward – the muzzle flash allowed him to see that he was close enough, so he quickly aimed his gun towards Raven while he still knew where she was, and he immediately fired a shot.
Raven shrieked a piercing cry and Miller heard her scurry away in the dark. Miller slapped his flashlight and it popped back on, only very dimly. He saw Kevin on the ground covered in cuts and scrapes.
“Are you okay?” Miller asked.
Kevin couldn’t respond – he was succumbed by fear. A crashing sound exploded behind them and they both turned around. The front door had been bashed outwards and they saw a quick glimpse of Raven scurrying down the porch steps and into the yard.
A woman screamed outside.
“Holly!” Kevin shouted. He stood to his feet fast and raced out the front door. Miller followed him outside.
The storm clouds had cleared and left a cold dampness in the autumn air. A full moon sat in the sky and illuminated the property in a soft, yet eerie glow.
Kevin and Miller ran down the front porch steps and into the soggy grass of the yard.
“Holly!” Kevin called out.
She screamed again – it was coming from the backyard.
Kevin sprinted down the side of the house and Miller followed close.
“Kevin, slow down!” Miller yelled.
As they reached the backyard, they saw a vivid glow radiating from inside the barn. Without hesitation, Kevin dashed for the barn and ran inside.
The large black cauldron, layered in spider webs, was boiling. There was a fire spewing from a nest of firewood underneath it. Inside the cauldron was a black, bubbling liquid with body parts sticking out of it – the two officer’s body parts.
Miller ran in behind Kevin and watched as the body parts boiled.
“Kevin, help!” Holly screamed. Kevin and Miller’s attention was drawn to the back corner of the barn where the decrepit corpse of Raven levitated just above the ground, trapping Holly in the corner.
“Get away from her!” Kevin shouted. Raven swung around in mid-air and finally revealed herself in all of her glory.
Her aged naked body hovered just over the barn floor. Her body was ill – her bones clearly visible through her thin and gristly skin. On her head, long and stringy erratic black hairs hung down low, covering her chest and most of her face. Her eyes were nothing more than hollowed out black craters that were oozing a thick, dark liquid. Blood was crusted in the corners of her mouth, which was wide with rows of jagged and broken teeth.
She tilted her head to the side and then reached her arms out towards Kevin and Miller. She hovered towards them at a quick speed. Miller lifted his gun and fired a shot, which impaled her chest. Blood sprayed out of the exit wound in her back and covered Holly’s face.
Holly screamed.
The impact of the bullet did nothing to stop Raven – she continued on course and wrapped her hands around Miller’s neck. He dropped his gun and flashlight as she lifted him off the ground. She tightened her grip and smoke began to billow from between her fingers. She shrieked and howled in a most inhuman way. Miller’s eyes widened and his throat closed up, preventing him from squealing.
The skin on his neck, under Raven’s grasp, began to bubble and melt. Holly cringed in the corner of the barn. Miller’s eyes shifted over and he looked at Kevin, who had frozen in fear. He snapped out of his state and looked to the wall where he saw an old, rusty hand scythe hanging on the wall. He ripped it from the wall and turned around to face Raven, just in time to see Miller’s body – from the neck down – fall to the ground.
Raven held Miller’s head in her hands and turned around. She dropped his head into the boiling cauldron and it sizzled.
Kevin swung the hand scythe down and stabbed it into Raven’s leg. She screeched and dropped to the ground. Kevin ripped the blade out of her leg and plunged it down into her shoulder. She screeched again, only louder this time.
“Kevin!” Holly screamed. She ran up to her brother and grabbed his arm.
He knelt down and picked up Miller’s gun and held it in other hand. “Come on,” Kevin said. They made a quick dash for the exit, but the barn doors closed before they could get there. Kevin and Holly stopped and turned around. Raven was hovering just above the ground again, directly in front of the cauldron.
Kevin released himself from Holly’s terrified grip and charged towards the ghoul.
“Kevin, no!” Holly shouted.
Kevin raised the blade and slammed it directly into Raven’s head. He released his hand from the handle and watched Raven drop to the ground again with the scythe sticking out of her skull. She collapsed into the cauldron, knocking it over.
The black liquid spilled all over the floor and ignited like gasoline from the fire underneath it. The fire quickly spread across the floor and climbed the walls of the barn. Raven screeched and shrieked hellish growls as the fire latched onto her and quickly engulfed her body.
She rose up off of the ground and lifted her arm, pointing directly at Kevin. Flames roared off of her and then she shot towards them.
Kevin ducked just in time and Raven crashed through the barn doors.
“Come on!” Kevin yelled and grabbed Holly by the arm. He led them out of the barn and along the side of the house. They passed a large propane tank against the house and Kevin stopped to look at it.
“Kevin!” Holly screamed. He looked up and saw Raven flying towards them, covered in flames.
“Run!” Kevin yelled. They both took off running along the side of the house as Raven was gaining on them. She let out an eerie cackle and then knocked the two of them to the ground.
Kevin rolled over and fired two shots at Raven, but missed. She hovered above the ground and circled the siblings.
A ‘kaw’ caught Kevin’s attention. He looked at the side of the house and saw the black raven land on the propane tank. He had only one chance.
He aimed the gun at the propane tank and pulled the trigger. The bullet collided with the side of the tank and exploded.
A giant fireball erupted from the tank and spread across the grass and to the cornfield, igniting the stalks. The side of the Watkins’ house crumbled and the explosion spread into the living room. Within seconds, the house was completely engulfed.
Raven watched as the house burned just as she did. She turned back around and fell to the ground – the fire was eating away at her skin. She was becoming weak.
Kevin helped Holly to her feet and they faced Raven. With the scythe still sticking out of her head, and her entire body on fire, she found enough vigor to make one last dash towards them.
“Run!” Kevin grabbed his sister by the arm and they turned and ran into the cornfield. They dodged the tall stalks of corn, trying to outrun the witch. Holly looked behind her and saw a ball of fire following them, sending the flames reaching just above the tops of the corn.
Raven screeched loudly and finally came to a stop. She dropped to the ground and started to crawl. Kevin and Holly stopped and watched as the stalks of corn around Raven burned and dwindled away. They watched as she burned in the cornfield once again.
Kevin looked up over the tops of the corn and saw the Watkins home burning. The flames reached up into the night sky and lit up the entire property.
They both watched as the body of Raven deteriorated in a burning pile of black ash. The fire continued to spread in the cornfield.
“Come on,” Kevin said calmly to his sister. They turned and headed through the field in the direction of the road.
Moment later, they exited the cornfield and walked out onto Amity Road. They followed the street back towards the Watkins property and stopped when they reached the vacant police car. They stood there and watched as the house and barn burned down.
The blaze in the cornfield began to dwindle and isolated itself to just the edge of the field. Kevin and Holly were speechless. They didn’t even know what to say or how to react.
Kevin felt a vibration in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out his phone and saw that it had restarted and was turning itself back on.
“My phone’s working,” he said with a smile on his face. He thought for a moment and then opened the driver’s side door of the police car and sat in it. The keys were still in the ignition. He turned the key and the engine started.
Holly sighed in relief.