The Blackham Mansion Haunting (The Downwinders Book 4) (19 page)

When he reached the end of the hallway, he opened the
exterior door — there was the cinderblock, strapped to the wood of the kitchen
floor. Another chill. He closed the door.

He returned to the staircase and began to ascend, taking each
as slowly and quietly as he could. He was beginning to feel that he was moving
silently; he’d gained some control over how to lower his weight on his foot
with each step, and he was minimizing the creaks and groans the old house
wanted to emit.

When he reached the top, he looked to the right and saw the
broken out windows that looked over the back yard, remembering Lorenzo’s story.
He imagined walking to them and seeing Henry and Emma, tending roses or pruning
trees. He went to the first of the rooms and continued his search. He found one
or two hanging bodies in each, and piles of debris, but no David or Creepsis.

When he reached the master bedroom, he found another dozen
corpses suspended from the ceiling.
One of you is Abraham,
he thought.
He looked them over, trying to decide which one seemed the oldest. It was
impossible to tell — they were all dusty, wrinkled and mummified, only kept
together by the clothes they were still wearing.

They could come alive at any second,
he thought, deciding that the master
bedroom and the parlor were the least advantageous places to be. He walked back
into the hallway.
No one,
he thought, and found himself walking to the
broken out windows he’d observed earlier. He looked down into the yard.

None of the bodies I’ve seen looked freshly killed. David is
still in here, hiding somewhere. And so is the Creepsis. I’ve checked every
room…

As he looked out the window, he saw a pile of boards lying
there, thrown together haphazardly as someone had removed them from the house
years ago. There was a long metal pole sticking out from the pile. He wondered
for a second what the pole might be.

Then he turned, walking back to one of the rooms. He opened
the door. A similar pile of boards lay in the corner, haphazardly thrown, but
completely obscuring whatever might be in the corner.

David?
he whispered.

Winn?
he heard back.

Winn walked to the pile, quietly lifting the boards away from
David.

Nice hiding,
Winn whispered.
Fooled me.

There’s not a lot of places to hide in here,
David said, helping to lift the
boards away without making any noise.

Didn’t you see me come in?
Winn asked.

That door has opened and closed four or five times since I
started hiding,
David replied.
I assumed it was the Creepsis.

Did you see it?

The first time, yes. I was peering through the cracks in the
boards. It must not have a sense of smell.

I didn’t see it in any of the other rooms,
Winn replied.

Did you try the closet under the stairs?
David asked.
I think that’s where
it stays.

Of course,
Winn thought.
Where I found Jacob’s body — where it puts
things that are important.

I initially ran there to hide when I was first pulled in,
David said.
But the longer I
stayed in there, the creepier it got, and I began to get the feeling it’s where
it preferred to hide. So I decided to find another place. I’m glad I did before
you collapsed the houses. Where’s Deem?

I’ll tell you later,
Winn whispered. He showed David the launcher.
This should
take it out, compliments of Lyman. Whatever you do, when you see me aiming at
it, stay the hell out of the way, alright?

OK,
David replied.

We gotta move quietly,
Winn said.

Believe me, I know,
David replied.

Winn turned and motioned for David to follow him as they left
the room and made their way to the stairwell. They descended silently. As the
door to the closet came into view, Winn kept himself turned, facing it as he
took the final steps to the bottom.

How are we going to do this?
David whispered.

Stay behind me,
Winn said.
I’ll open the door and we’ll see if it’s
inside. Then I’ll shoot it if it is.

I can get the door,
David said, moving around Winn to position himself.

No!
Winn whispered.
Don’t! Stay behind me. I can’t take any chances with this
thing.

David shrugged.
Alright,
he whispered back.

Winn approached the door slowly. It wasn’t shut completely;
he could see that the handle mechanism didn’t work anymore, the way it had when
he’d explored the space and found Jacob’s body inside. Now the handle looked
like it was barely hanging in place, and the door stood ajar a half inch. He
wondered if the Creepsis was just inside it, staring out at them.

He readied the coal, positioning it over the tube, and used
his foot to pry the door the rest of the way open. Just like before, there
wasn’t enough light in the stairwell to illuminate inside.
I can’t shoot
this thing until I’m sure it’s there,
he thought.
I’ve only got one
shot, and this one has to work.

He positioned himself just outside the door, straining his
eyes to see inside but not able to pierce the shadows. He knew Jacob’s body was
still there, but it was too dark to make out.

If the Creepsis is in there, he’s cornered. I can fire this
thing, and he’s done. But I have to be sure. Can’t shoot it into an empty
closet.

Bingham?
Winn called.

Silence.

You used to be Bingham, remember? Willard Bingham. Murderer.
Serial killer. I know you’re there. Come out! Come out and face me, you sick fuck!

Then he saw the eyes. Two eyes that somehow managed to catch
and reflect the slim light from outside the closet.

Winn raised the launcher and dropped the coal.

Then he heard his name called, behind him. It was faint and
in the distance. It wasn’t David calling, it was someone else, a voice he’d
heard before.
Lorenzo’s voice,
he realized, just as he grasped that the
eyes in the closet were too high off the ground to be the Creepsis.
Those
are Jacob’s eyes
, he thought.
The Creepsis isn’t in here.

He wheeled around, David now right in front of him, and the
Creepsis ten feet from David’s back, scuttling down the hallway toward them. It
reared up on its hind legs, exposing its underbelly once again, and Winn knew
it would leap through the air any second and land on them.

The launcher was rumbling in his hands, building the same way
it had just before he shot Deem. David was still in its path.

He placed the launcher in his left hand, trying to steady it,
and with his right he grabbed David, pulling him down and to his side just as
the tube expelled the red netting. It hurled through the air.

Too high!
he thought.
You overshot it! It’s going to hit the ceiling!

But the Creepsis leapt at that same moment, just as the
netting arced up, bringing itself into its trajectory. When the lower edge of
the netting hit the legs of the creature, it quickly swirled around the rest of
the monstrosity and began to collapse. Within seconds it shrunk in size until
it was no larger than a basketball. Then it kept shrinking, and, just as it had
taken Deem, it took the Creepsis. There was nothing left.

Winn stood looking at the thin air in front of him, now empty
of the monster.
It’s gone,
he thought.
Gone to wherever Deem is.

David was picking himself up from the floor, turning to see
the Creepsis. There was nothing to see.

Try to drop out,
Winn said to him.
See if you can drop out of the River
now. If you can, I’ll see you back in Leeds.

Winn watched as David disappeared, rapidly fading from view.
He let out a heavy sigh and left the flow himself, finding he was back in the
living room, still seated on the floor.

He picked himself up and looked around the empty mansion.
Then he walked to his Jeep and pulled out two gallon cans of gasoline. He
walked through the first level, dousing the rotted wood, making sure to pour
liberal amounts over the three doors: the front, the hallway, and the kitchen.
He left one can half full, sitting right next to the kitchen door. Then he
stepped out of the kitchen and walked back to his truck, replacing the other can.

As he pulled the spool of fuse from the Jeep, he remembered
Carma saying, “Of course you can have some, if you intend to use it judiciously!”
It made him smile.

He tied one end of the fuse around the handle of the gas can,
ensuring that its end went down into the container. Then he ran it outside. He
made a quick estimate of the fuse’s length, then cut it, and pulled his lighter
from his pocket. He popped it open, and began to lower the flame to the fuse,
when he stopped himself.

Instead, he pulled out a cigarette. He lit it up with the
lighter, and took a long, deep draw. As he expelled the smoke into the last
moments before dawn, he felt a huge burden lift from his shoulders, although
the pit in his stomach still remained. He lowered the lighter to the end of the
fuse, and watched as it began a slow burn toward the kitchen.

Then he got into his truck and drove out of town.
I’ve got
ten minutes to be somewhere else,
he thought.
Maybe I can make the
interstate by then.

He knew the residents of Paragonah would be awoken by the
sound of the community fire alarm, and several men would haul themselves out of
bed and race to the fire station. He imagined them wiping the sleep from their
eyes as they drove past the cemetery and to the old mansion, contemplating if
it was a fire worth fighting or not.

It was, after all, a derelict building with a nefarious past.

Come on guys,
Winn silently encouraged the firefighters.
Just let it
burn.

As he pulled into Carma’s driveway, Winn could see David and
Carma already standing outside the house, awaiting his arrival.

Carma ran to Winn’s window before he could open his door.

“Glad to see you back and alive!” Carma said. “I was
worried.”

“How is Deem?” Winn asked.

“No change,” Carma replied. “Her body is still in the cave
with Lyman.”

David was standing behind Carma.

“And you?” Winn asked David.

Carma stepped aside. “He’s better! Woke up about an hour ago.
Been anxious to see you.”

Winn opened his arms and gave David a big hug.

“Thank you!” David said as Winn lifted him off the ground,
swinging him in a circle. “I owe you my life!”

He sat David back down. “You’re welcome,” Winn replied.

“Did you burn it down?” Carma asked.

“Didn’t see it go up,” Winn replied. “As long as that fuse
worked, it should be gone.”

“Can we go back up there later today?” David asked. “I’d like
to see the remains — just to be sure it’s destroyed.”

“No problem,” Winn replied. “I’d love to see that too. Just
let me get a few hours of sleep.”

They all walked together into the house. Carma offered to
make food, and David took her up on the offer. Winn said he’d try to eat a few
bites. They sat around the table.

“Carma told me what happened,” David said, scooping some
eggs. “What I don’t understand is how you knew Lyman would see you when you
brought Deem back. I thought he only appeared during the moon’s zenith.”

“Well, the truth is, he can appear at any time,” Carma
replied. “But when he appears during the zenith of the moon, it doesn’t cost
him. He’s cheap. So we try to limit visits to then. He’ll be paying for last
night for quite a while.”

“What does it cost him to appear other times?” Winn asked.

“That,” Carma replied, “is something I’m not allowed to
share.”

“Of course,” Winn said. “I think I knew the answer to that
question before I asked it.”

“What are we going to do about Deem?” David asked. “We have
to save her.”

A brief look of panic washed over Carma’s face, then she
pushed herself away from the table and stood. “Might as well get this over
with…” she muttered as she turned and walked into another room.

Winn exchanged a confused glance with David, but before they
could speak, Carma was back in the room, holding a knife. For a brief second
Winn thought she might have gone mad, and might raise the knife to kill them
both, like a crazed Piper Laurie. Instead, she passed the knife to Winn, handle
first.

“Normally I wouldn’t require this of people I know and love
like you both,” Carma replied, “but Lyman insists.”

Once Winn had the blade in his hands, he recognized it as a
knife used for elemental oaths.

“How do you want me to word it?” Winn asked.

Carma waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, just something or
other about not divulging anything related to Lyman and what I’m about to tell
you.”

Winn placed the blade on his palm. He drew it quickly across
his flesh, and he heard David gasp. With blood dripping from the palm, he
raised it to Carma. “I swear an elemental oath that I will never reveal
anything about Lyman to anyone, including whatever you’re about to tell me.” He
lowered his hand and passed the knife to David.

David stared at the blade’s handle, not moving to take it.
His mouth was still full of eggs he hadn’t finished swallowing.

“What the fuck is this?” he mumbled around the food.

“It’s an elemental oath,” Winn said. “You’re giving Carma and
Lyman permission to kill you if you ever break it.”

David looked up at Winn, then back at Carma.

“Like I said,” Carma replied, “I wouldn’t require it, but
Lyman insisted. What I’ve got to tell you is extremely sensitive. He wanted to
impress that upon you.”

“Your hand!” David said after swallowing, staring at Winn’s
palm. “No blood?”

“It heals as you make the oath,” Winn replied. “Just do and
say what I did. As long as you can keep your word.”

David took the knife and Winn watched as he looked at it,
turning it over in his hands. It had strange designs etched into the blade, and
when David ran his thumb lightly over the sharp edge, he inadvertently drew
blood.

“A thumb won’t do,” Carma said. “Across the palm.”

David lowered the blade to his hand and pulled it, wincing as
it sliced into his skin. Then he raised his palm and repeated Winn’s words.
When he lowered his hand, he marveled at how it had healed.

“Here, give me that,” Carma said impatiently. “I didn’t even
want to bring it out. I was forced to.”

David handed the knife back to Carma and she disappeared
again, returning within moments, empty handed.

She reached for the coffee pot and refilled her mug.

“Now that
that
unpleasantness is out of the way,” she
started, “I’ll let you in on some of Lyman’s plans, and why Deem may not be
around for a while.”

▪
▪
▪

Deem?
she heard.

Is that you, Lorenzo?
she thought.

It is,
Lorenzo replied.
How wonderful that I can still talk to you! And no
mirror.

Oh, Lorenzo, I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear your
voice! You’re not dead!

No, I’m still kicking.

I understand the house is burned down,
she said.
Winn torched it.

Yes, just after he killed Bingham,
Lorenzo replied.
I saw them kill
him, through my kitchen door. At least, I think they killed him…he disappeared.

Bingham’s insane,
Deem replied.
A mad, raving lunatic. Half of them are, in
here.

Where are you, exactly?
Lorenzo asked.

I’m not supposed to say,
Deem replied.
I’m supposed to keep things top
secret. But I suppose you’re not going to tell anyone anything, are you? Where
are
you
, exactly?

Back in a house. Looks exactly the same to me as the one I
was trapped in.

That makes sense,
Deem said.
If the Creepsis stung you, and it sent you back
twenty-four hours, it would have to send you to the house you were trapped in. That
house didn’t exist anymore because of the collapse, so it had to be created to
hold you.

I saw Bingham attack your friends,
Lorenzo replied
. I tried to warn
them. They managed to dispense with Bingham somehow. Then I watched through the
doorway as the house burned.

But your house is still intact?
Deem asked.

Yes, still here. Same as always.

What’s outside your kitchen door now? The charred remains of
the original house?

No, there’s nothing outside,
Lorenzo answered.
Just blackness.
Same with the other two doors.

So your house is floating unattached to anything, just
surrounded by darkness?

Yes,
Lorenzo answered.
But I can walk out into the dark. I just tried it.
I’m standing in it now. And I heard you while I was out here, so I called to
you. Maybe it’s the connection we made — it might transcend the mirror. Let me
try an experiment. See if you can hear me as I walk back into the house.

Deem waited. After a minute Lorenzo returned.

Hear anything?
he asked.

Nothing,
she replied.

Interesting. I walked back into the kitchen and tried to talk
to you. I guess it only works when I’m out here in the dark.

And it might be working because of where I am,
she replied.
Like you, I’m surrounded
by darkness.

You never did tell me where you are, Deem.

It’s horrific. You hear screams, but you can’t see anything. It’s
completely dark until you run into someone; a faint light emanates from
everyone here, just enough to see them when they’re close. Walk five feet away,
and they disappear into the darkness.

There are people there?
Lorenzo asked.
With you?

Lots of people. At first I was terrified of them. You can’t
see them coming, and when you finally do see them, they’re horrible. I spent
the first day just fighting them off; they thought I was food, or someone they
could take advantage of. I would kick and punch until they disappeared into the
darkness. I was shocked when I ran into Bingham. We fought for a while, until
he realized he couldn’t do anything to me; then he slunk off. I’ve been
thinking about him, and what happened in the house. Did you or Jacob ever
discover why he was able to do what he did? Maybe Jacob’s father had some idea
of why Bingham was so powerful?

Jacob and I both speculated,
Lorenzo replied.
Energy in the
house developed in response to all the séances, and I felt it had manifested in
him, just after his burial. Jacob thought it was more than that, that Bingham held
a malevolent ability while he was alive — hence his murderous tendencies — and
that we triggered something even bigger in him. Where that kind of evil comes
from is a mystery to me…perhaps the devil. It terrifies me to think you’re
trapped in there with such a person. Can you get out?

I’ve tried. You can walk and walk for miles, and it’s all
just darkness, never ending. I ran into the same people again and again. I
think it loops back on itself, like you’re walking in a circle but you don’t
know it.

You seem rather calm for being trapped in such a terrifying
place,
Lorenzo said.
I applaud your clear thinking. I was crazed with fear for the first few months
I was imprisoned, before I learned to adjust.

I was petrified until I talked to Lyman,
she replied.
If you had seen me
before then, I was hysterical. Now at least I understand what happened. Or, I
think I do. I’m not entirely sure.

Who is Lyman?

That’s a good question, Lorenzo,
Deem replied.
I thought he was
just a powerful old ghost that I knew, someone obsessed with fighting against
the church. I think my estimation of him was way off.

Fighting against the church?
Lorenzo asked.
That seems unwise. Why
would he do that?

Because of what they did to him,
she answered.
It’s a long story.
I’ll tell you all about it sometime.

He talked to you? Where you are, now?

Well, not him directly,
Deem replied.
He sent messages to me through someone
else. I’m trapped in a soul cage, and there’s no way out. Well, take that back,
there is a way out, but Lyman would have to let everyone else who’s in here out
with me, and he can’t do that yet. He’s been collecting people in here for some
big attack he’s designing. Now that I’m wrapped up in it, he’s accelerating his
schedule. At first he seemed really upset that I was in here with these sickos.
Now, I think he’s developed a way to use me to help him complete his plan.

He’s taking advantage of the fact that you’re in there?

Basically. I’m happy to help him. Anything to get out of
here. You can’t believe the weirdos I’ve run into. Really twisted people.
You’ve been the first sane person I’ve talked to.

Sounds horrible. But at least there are people there. Here in
this empty house, there’s no one.

They’re not people worth knowing, Lorenzo. At first I was desperate
and tried to communicate with a couple of them. One guy I was talking to
suddenly started relating his string of serial killings; he’s reliving them
over and over. You could see the delight on his face as he described each gory
death. I couldn’t take it, so I abandoned him. Another guy seemed reasonable at
first, then he started babbling. He claimed we were in a place called Volocro,
and that everything was about to collapse. When he tried to rape me, I left
him, too. Ever since I got word from Lyman about what’s happening to me, I’ve
tried to just find my own patch of darkness and stay away from the others.
They’re all in here as part of a weapon, because of their twisted minds. I’m
just here by accident, waiting to get out. And to execute whatever plan Lyman
has in store.

It sounds as if you might be on your own for a while, then.

Well, it’s better than that, Lorenzo. I’ve got you! And
you’ve got me. We can keep each other company.