Manning

Chapter Two: Red Snow Freedom

Part Three: Secret Door

Inside the old house covered in sleet, Casey Jetsom’s found something new. Not like yesterday. All day yesterday he was putting up old clothes, cleaning out the kitchen appliances, sweeping and mopping, going through old boxes of crap, well... not all of it was crap. He had found some books he figured he’d need, being here without electricity, and went through a lot of old family albums. At best he knew half the people… at best. And now, here in front of Casey, is the only thing to throw him for a loop. A secret door. The whole wall of one of the bedrooms could slide about three feet if you pulled it just right, which he did, and now the exposed door is laughing at him. It’s only a matter of time before you open me and you know it. Might as well do it now. You know a secret this good can’t die.

He stands for minutes.

Please don’t be skeletons or snakes or anything crazy like that.

He grasps the rusted knob and turns… the door doesn’t budge. Gonna’ make you work for it. This time success, so to speak. The door opens to reveal steep stairs straight down under the house. I’ll need a flashlight. No second-guessing this time either. No second guessing this time either. To the car trunk and back and here we go in the darkness of secrets. Slight claustrophobia kicks in but I can still see my exit. Man, I have to be about twenty feet under the house by now. Finally, he stepped into a hidden room. There were candles standing about everywhere, so he lit a few, saw the red markings on the wall, then lit a few more. This is exactly what he was afraid of, it's scary and crazy. Bones are scattered everywhere and he's sure the red markings on the walls were painted with blood. Only things he can see are a little bookshelf and a square table made of bricks. He can see the blood is thickest on the table where the blood has filled and dried inside the cracked mortar. Maaaaaaan, I really don't wanna be here. He turns around, looking at the room and immediately feels eyes fixed upon the nape of his neck, fear freezing a hole through his spine. He feels if he grows scared enough his legs will freeze as well. Not tonight. Stepping towards the entrance, he doesn't look back, as though he's afraid of turning into a pillar of salt. He flies up the stairs, slams the hidden door and slides the wall closed. Big exhale... It's over. Out of sight but far from out of mind. But what now? What comes next? Ozzy looks at him from around the corner with excited curiosity. Who's room was that? Maybe tomorrow he should ride into town and check out my family history at the library. But for now he'll settle for the radio and a joint. It took nearly 'til midnight for Casey and Ozzy to fall asleep. But they know this place is wicked and they will receive no rest while here. We keep our eyes peeled.

Part Four: Ebony Silhouette

Oct. 22nd 1972

It's 2:34 AM and something's not right. Ozzy's gone, the candle's are all burned out and the batteries in the radio must've died. Dark silence... and something's definitely not right... What? What is it? My eyes search the darkness... There! Oh god, There's someone in my room! It looks like a skinny woman in a robe. What's she doing? What does she want? I can see her ebony silhouette perfectly. She looks tall and skinny with long hair. She smells of the woods... of dry leaves and dirt. She's just standing there, at the foot of my bed. I can't see her eyes but I can feel them on my face. What do I do? Should I speak? No, I couldn't even if I wanted to. I can hardly stand the crawling feeling on my skin that her eyes cast upon me, so I pull the covers over my head like a scared little kid. I squeeze my eyes shut and take three deep breaths. Okay... slowly pulling down the covers. Please be gone. Please be gone. Please be gone. I can't see her, but I feel her eyes now more than ever. She's no longer at the foot of my bed but right beside me, a mere inches. I quickly pull the covers back over my face and very slowly, very carefully turn over on my left side facing the wall, away from the phantom. I could feel pins and needles stinging all over my body as adrenaline coursed through me, but I remained as still as possible, taking 10 slow, controlled breaths, thought about checking for her again, then took another ten deep breaths. Wait. You're in the pitch black, in a scary situation. Don't you think you probably just imagined a moving silhouette? Well.......maybe, wait,.......yeah, I'm sure there's no one there. I uncover my head and roll onto my back. I open my eyes to see the phantom leaning over my bed staring me face-to-face. A gasp escaped my lips as I quickly rolled back over and wrapped my head in blankets. When will this nightmare end!? I lay there shivering in fear for nearly half an hour before I floated into sleep. I remember thinking with the light of a new day, maybe recent horrors will dwindle.

Part: Five

Oct. 22nd 1972 (still....)

There are many details I've been skipping, but they seem so trivial; what's the point of all the mundane facts? Well, I went to the library, found nothing, got pissed at nobody knowing how to drive, went out for a burger then went and sat in my car on the side of the road to eat and figure out what I was going to do next. But none of this matters because this will be my last night here and there's no way I'm spending my last night here in that house... I'd rather sleep in the car. I have the rest of today to pack-up anything I might want to keep, then I should be able to leave this hellhole by nightfall. Casey tries to roll up his window, but the handle breaks off in his hand. Well, so much for sleeping in the car.

Casey sits at his kitchen table and finishes his dry cereal. He's rather disappointed in not being able to sleep in his car. Sounds, to me, like fate. And Ozzy's been missing all day. I coulda' swore I just let him in like a few hours ago. Casey just made it inside not long ago and he's still drenched from the quickly growing storm. He stands up with a yawn and heads to bed deciding to take a break from all this mystery. Casey walks through the candle-lit hallway passing the other bedrooms and his mother passed him walking the opposite direction. A moment of confusion then the apparition is brushed aside as a trick of the eye. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, let's go to bed now key, key." Despite the odd feelings of a foreboding of sorts, Casey's managed to sleep, that's after a couple shots of vodka to aid though. No thoughts, sweet oblivion take me.

Oct. 23rd 1972 (3:33)

A demonic screech fills the darkness as Casey jumps out of bed and instinctively goes to the flashlight. It sounds like something's dying. The screech grows louder as he flicks the light on and points it at the doorway. Ozzy runs in soaking wet and jumps on the bed, claws dug into the mattress, screeching so loud I can see him vibrating with each wail. Oh no, my poor Ozzy. I want to pet him. Why are you in so much pain? What happened? How did you get outside? This time, the screech ends with a scraping gurgle and blood skeets onto the covers from his mouth and rectum as he collapses lifeless. Oh God. No, no. What the hell happened!? What now? I have to move him but I can't bring myself to touch his lifeless body. I stood there for only a few minutes but it felt like decades. Then I heard him, the beginning to my end, and he's walking across my yard humming Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. I stood at my window and saw him staring into my eyes from across the dark and rainy yard. I saw Hell and yet I felt loved. The man motioned his hand for me to come to him. In a short moment I'm walking out my front door into the dead of night. A thought passes my mind that this is very strange, something's not right, but it's hard to focus when in front of me is my love. He steps forward and embraces me. He looks into my eyes with a wide smile then kisses me hard, forcing his tongue into my mouth. His tongue snares mine and pulls it into his mouth. He then bites into my tongue and I can feel his poison coursing through me. I was paralyzed and content as I fell to the soggy ground. I woke for a second to find I was being dragged inside then I was out again. My last moments on Earth were in the secret room lying on the brick table, a victim for Hell. My tearful gaze upon the darkness. I won't be home for Christmas.