28: Omen

They gathered around the table again and Lizzy started the chant. They waited patiently for his ghost and hoped that he was just as friendly as before.

“This is stupid,” Nancy said. “We shouldn’t be tempting fate like this.”

“We tempted fate when we walked in that front door! Now we need to figure out what fate has in store for us and stop it if we can!”

The lights again blew out as a gust of wind breezed through the cracks chilling everyone and making the atmosphere even scarier.

“Maybe he’s busy! Maybe he can’t pop up whenever…”

“You rang?” Everett said behind Leah with a smirk posted on his face.

“Everett!” Daijah stood and moved towards him. “Thank you for coming. We need help, we need answers! Something took over one of us and the girls’ believe something has been in here tonight. What is it?”

He looked over the faces of everyone and sighed. He began pacing the room slowly taking in the sight of the place. “It was you wasn’t it?” he asked pointing at Jill. “What were you doing before it happened?”

“I was looking at a book. The book!” she exclaimed hopping up to retrieve it. She looked around the boxes and crates but couldn’t find it. “That’s strange. It was here I swear!” she said tossing small items to the side as she frantically searched for it.

“It had an inscription to Daijah, ‘My Darling Daughter’ and it wasn’t the one you brought with you.

“Uh huh,” Daijah said raising an eyebrow. “I think you might have met with one of those hallucinations.”

“But we all saw it!” she said looking towards Nedra and Kalene. “I was dreaming it up, I could hold it, flip through the pages! It wasn’t something out of a dream! You can’t touch hallucinations!”

“You can if they’ve manifested themselves,” Everett corrected. “And it sounds to me as though the house is ready; preparing itself for Halloween. You ladies want to get some place safe. Anywhere else but here! Have you tried the neighbors? Someone else on the island?”

“No, we haven’t Daijah said they weren’t friendly.”

“And she’s right but consider a house full of monsters versus a stranger staring at you or screaming.”

The room went silent and Everett again surveyed their looks. “It’s much more dangerous than it has ever been this year for some reason. There are a lot more creatures gathering this time around than ever before.”

“What? What do you mean?” Daijah asked.

“I believe the house has trapped you here because it wants you here. One of you has a special connection to this place. One of you has pretty much summed up the fates of your friends. Listen to me very carefully: if you don’t get out before Halloween, you WILL regret it.”

“It’s dark out! We’re really doing this now? If so we should try and get to one of them while we have the chance,” Holley said stepping towards the stairs.

“Yeah, let’s just hope we find one that doesn’t want to have us for dinner!”

They walked out to the front yard and moved as a group down the street to the first house.

“It’s Daijah,” Jill whispered to Kalene. “She knew what she was doing when she invited us here and I’m telling you that book WAS there and it was dedicated to her! Now everything is crystal clear!”

“Well let’s not forget that you were also possessed.”

“Yes but it ONLY happened AFTER I touched that book!”

“Well if Everett is right and one of us is the mole, we have to figure out who and get away from that person before it’s too late!”

Nancy knocked lightly and waited for someone to answer. She turned towards the group and shrugged not receiving a reply.

“Let’s try the yellow one down the street,” Leah said leading the way. She stepped up on the porch and before she could knock, a man answered holding a gun towards them and yelling for them to get off his lawn. 

They ran as quickly as they could down the street, stopping on the corner a far enough distance from his property.

“Great! We’re never going to find help this way!”

“But we have to keep trying. I don’t want to go back to that house.”

Nedra took lead this time and as they rounded another corner, the sky started getting darker. She glanced towards the town center and the clock that read 1:15pm and a look of fright crossed her face. 

Everyone turned to see what she was looking at and took a step back. “Impossible!” Freedom shrieked.

“M-m-maybe they’re trick or treaters!” Lizzy said not sounding convincing to herself.

“No, there’s…,” before she finished her sentence, Quiana was off back down the road and towards the house. The others were right on her tail and they took the steps two at a time rushing inside to safety.

“Please,” Karima said through pants as she tried to catch her breath. “Tell me those weren’t zombies.”

“I wish I could. But I’m pretty sure we saw the same thing!”

“It’ll be fun, you’ll see!” Marcus smiled at me
I grabbed a light and followed him beneath the willow tree
the old barn was dark and empty, not a single light shone through
it creaked and cried making the only sounds as the wind blew

Its appearance was grungy and worn down; the paint was cracked and peeled
the door hung by rusted hinges and the windows tightly sealed
the room smelled of mold and something old and dusty
I moved around and felt a tool; sharp, cold and rusty

“I don’t think we should be here, Mom said it’s dangerous.”
“Oh come on Daniel, relax! Don’t be such a wuss!”
I held my tongue and followed them as they climbed the stairs
fearing the night would not end well as does most dares

We took the steps two at a time; climbing higher and higher
“Who’s going to read first?” he asked taking a seat on the tire
“I’ll go first and share a story of the undead.”
“It’s sure to make even the bravest man wet the bed.”

“This is perfect!” Robbie cried as he pulled out the book of tales
“I think we should go I saw something around the hay bales.”
“It was probably just a cat, no reason for you to whine.
Now sit down on the ground beside me; you’ll be just fine.”

He started reading his story and suddenly I knew
we were not alone in here and soon they’d know it too
the moans started slowly; in tones deep and low
“What was that?” I yelled “We should really go!”

“Just your imagination! Now hush up and listen.”
I sat calmly holding myself as we completed our mission.
But the sounds returned again, and this time louder they met
“See I told you something was here, and it’s definitely not a cat!”

We jumped up and ran through the darkness really quick
“You’re not going anywhere!” his accent was pretty thick
One by one he stabbed us; our blood ran to the floor
I cried as I saw that I was just inches from the door

Regret and pain washed over me; as I struggled to survive
on this night of foolishness, we paid with our lives
the warnings were so clear and now I wish I’d listened
as the blood on the bodies of my friends in the moonlight glistened


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