The Core of F.E.A.R

It was a cold frozen over winter and the blackest of all nights when Loren was babysitting her siblings Katie and Adam. It had been a long day and she was just putting the children to bed, when she heard a noise outside, a rustling on the rickety porch… Loren slowly walks downstairs to the sliding glass door in the kitchen.

The Big Move

Emily and Jason Hardcastle are very excited about changing their lives, and it is all beginning with a big move, a move that would change their lives forever. Emily is a Finance Attorney that restores old houses and buildings and Jason is an Architect that will be able to start his own Architect company, by moving from New York to Kofa Arizona he will finally have his dreams for himself and family come true, and since Emily works from home in her field it was the perfect time for the move. The children of course did not want to move leaving their home, their school and their friends, but they understood that this decision would change all of their lives for the better. Loren a head strong fearless 16-year-old, Adam a 12-year-old that is very spirited and full of wonder, and of course the youngest is Katie who is 10 years old outgoing, creative with a mountain of curiosity to boot. The move to Kofa, Arizona is much different from the city, but it is exactly what we need a quiet quaint town away from the mundane congestion of the city. The house was searched for on the internet and bought, Emily fell in love she was going on and on to Jason, “it’s a beautiful home as far as pictures go”. On arrival to their desert oasis unknown by them the house and the land held secret pockets of daunting despair of unsolved mysterious deaths over the years, the family had no clue of what awaited them and had been waiting for a long, long time for unsuspecting strangers to embrace and fill them with suffering EVIL! The family arrives at their new home and was amazed at the garden landscape Emily sighs and says, “Oh My God” Jason this reminds me of a lotus creek garden with the tall oaks and hickory trees that shades the garden, which is located by the creek, the garden has such delightful smells that dance through the summer breeze, the sounds of birds singing whispering songs through the trees that bring her to awe, such a wonderful mix of fragrances that have been brought to life by the sounds of nature. The house was what they least expected, old and rickety, gloomy, out of place and dispositioned it was a house that had a sight of impending destruction that contours into crimson dismay, but Emily giggled and said; “this is what we bought good thing you’re an excellent Architect honey, punching Jason in the arm. The house stood unrealistically dormant and abandoned opposed to the vibrantly beautiful garden encasing it, the light from the sun seeps towards the grimy windows it felt as though the house was watching us through blood stained eyes, chills begin to weld up in Emily ripping through to her insides claiming any and all innocence she had ever known. The house was a dark sinister color; as we stepped onto the old rickety porch the boards let out a frightening moan… we proceeded inside to see cobb webs and gloomy dark shadows that seemed like lost souls at play and in shock from our intrusion. We began unpacking and settling in our new house began feeling homey and the walls throughout our home had new life from the fresh paint and redecorating she sighed, “it’s a wonder that this is the same place we saw months ago.

The kids start school on Monday they are nervous, but excited of the new journey we are taking together and it feels as though things couldn’t be better! Loren begins school at Kofa High School where she is quickly be-friended by a dark eyed boy with bronze skin, full head of dark wavy locks that only enhanced his deep paralyzing stare, he introduced himself as Jared Grimes, a veil of the spirit realm; naturally I shake his hand with a slight giggle presenting myself… I am Loren Hardcastle it is very nice to meet you! Jared was a very handsome, but also an odd ball of sorts in a interestingly peculiar way with an IQ of 180 to say the least. Finally! A miserable first day of school was coming to an end and all I thought of was New York and all my friends how I missed the busy shuffle and the smell of food traveling around the city.

While walking home Loren decided to do some exploring, she discovered a small passage way which looked like a short cut as she walked down the path reaching the cemetery of broken headstones and thick gloomy fog settled in as if it were following her, and a stiffness filled the air… The closer she came to reaching the end of the cemetery the further it seemed and behind her she could hear a wailing sound in the mist of the fog, as she walked faster looking back there floated a dork shadowy figure, another, and yet still two more appeared just starring at her as their wailing fell in synch becoming louder and louder. The ground began to shake Loren began to run and run non-stop, but the more she ran the closer the shadows became darting frantically back and forth, the ground literally was ripping apart beneath her she saw the back door and dived towards it, noticing that the land was receding backwards from the house. She flew through the door slamming it shut and locking it behind her, Emily ran from the kitchen grabbing Loren; “What is going on she demanded”, Loren was trembling trying to tell her mother the event that occurred! Calming her daughter down she peered through the window and saw four dark shadowy figures with crimson blood eyes glaring at her into her soul, she screams as the shadowy figures dart back and forth inching closer and closer.

Jason had finished work early and was on his way home when he heard a loud buzzing sound that sounded like thousands of bees swarming above his truck following him, he drove faster, but the faster he drove the closer and the louder the buzzing became, consuming his thoughts. Jason stopped the truck and got out looking every which way for the horrid sound picking away at his sanity, but there was nothing at all as he fell to his knees grabbing his head screaming finally the noise started subsiding… taking deep breaths getting back into his truck he noticed his hands were bloody with clumps of oily residue- looking in the mirror; “What the HELL”! He was bleeding blood clots that looked like orangish gooey slime running down the sides of his face. Loren and her mom race frantically to lock the doors and windows taking the younger children and heading to the living room couch bundled together, as the doors and windows begin to shake fiercely for what seemed to be hours the sounds of wailing as objects around them and the house crash to the floor from the counters, tables, and off the walls. The front door was shaking so hard that it flew off it’s hinges, Loren screamed in terror as Emily pulled them all closer trying to comfort their tears and fears as best, she could and as swiftly as it all began it left and there was nothing but cringing silence even the air became still. Jason arrives at the house and falls out his truck crawling from the buzzing terror in his head subduing him to excruciating pain, once on the porch he tries to stand and tumbles into the front door where he falls helplessly Emily runs over to him, she could feel all the agony he was in as he passes out from all the clumps of greenish red molasses, she yells for Loren to bring towels as she calls the ambulance frantic with worry. Upon arrival at the Yuma Reginal Hospital, upon arrival at the hospital Jason begins having convulsions and he was immediately taken to a near by operating room to stop the fluid and gain some control over his seizure, but the excessive fluid continued the more the Doctor tried to stop the fluid the more it seemed to pour out of his body. Finally gained control of the seizure; known as a Hydrocephalus where cerebrospinal fluid in the cavities of the brain it keeps building up causing an obstruction that eventually prevents the proper drainage of fluid… We must place a shunt in his brain to aid in alleviating some of the pressure, Emily arrives at the hospital with the kids looking for some answer to what was happening to her husband, she began filling out the medical forms, during the surgery the unknown substance now coming from his ears, eyes and now his mouth had become a greenish now orange jelly-like substance it was gathered up and sent to the lab for testing… All the tests that were ran on Jason came back inconclusive, now that he was stable, we had to place him in isolation and call in Emergency Medicine Specialist, Immunologists, Cardiologist, Hematology/Oncology and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). We heard a call for the Hardcastle family, and we stood up as an older woman in her mid-50’s walked over to us, “how is he”? Hello, I am Dr. Stewart and he is stable and we have him as comfortable as possible, we have him in quarantine currently. Can we see him? Not at this time she exclaimed, and you all will have to come with me… What why? Well, as a precaution we will need to have you all as well in the isolation ward until more clarification on the gooey substance can be identified! I was allowed to leave with the children after 72 hours, because detaining her and her children was not sensible sense, they exhibited no signs of whatever was happening to Jason, but before leaving we were able to look through the glass at my suffering husband his condition was worsening by the second. While driving home Emily reminisces of how much she loves Jason and on how much she needs him. Emily pulls into the driveway with the kids still asleep in the back seat, as Loren asks; “Dad is going to be ok… Right mom”, of course he is honey get the kids out of the car and I will be in soon. Emily sits in the car closing her eyes she begins to pray for her family and especially for her husbands’ health to be strengthened, to PLEASE… please show favor in our time of need! The lab completed more tests and all the tests performed came back also inconclusive, the family was back sitting in the waiting room hoping and praying that the new tests would provide a cure, but everything inconclusive again… We sat waiting for 2 hours that seemed like an eternity Emily heard a voice behind her, “Hardcastle”, she turned and raced over to a short, slightly gray-haired man with glasses they shook hands while he was introducing himself, I am Dr. Robert Kevorkian a specialist in the field of infectious diseases, Emily immediately interrupted “How is he, can we see him”? “Will he be Okay”? Well as he began to speak; he has slipped into Acoma, he is being given fluids through an IV, and being made as comfortable as possible, but with these second round of tests in all areas of expertise, I am afraid it’s not looking good all we can do now is wait to see if the antibiotics and the steroids will begin to work, and for his pain we have a morphine drip. Mrs. Hardcastle, we have looked and researched virus strands, parasites, all known bacteria, we have performed extensive endoscopy methods as a well as blood tests! Trust me that we have exhausted all avenues, so we are doing everything possible to stabilize your husband, and at this time you may see him, but he is sedated. Emily, yells with fear in her throat, “What’s wrong with him, ma’am we have no idea of what is happening to your husband his body seems to be shutting down, our only hope is that he starts responding to the treatments, but if you will follow me, I will escort you to Intensive Care now. We were allowed to see Jason through a thick paneled glass only! Oh… how Emily wanted to hold and comfort him, just to let him know that she was there with him, he was in so much pain even in Acoma his body cringed and jerked his body jerked so hard and uncontrollably that he fell to the floor Doctor’s ran in lifting him back onto his hospital bed, and began in upping his sedation medication, in order to help calm his convulsions.

Back home Emily is trying to make some sense out of all that has occurred since the move, she shook all the weird mysteriousness away, and began explaining to Loren that Dad would be home soon and his little bug was just that a bug that needed antibiotics dismissing everything with rational explanations… Emily calmly began explaining to her children that the dark shadows were only trees fraying back and forth from the wind and the flickering lights, and the trembling was simply a small scaled earth quake. Loren looked at her mother and her siblings and thought wow she has really cracked or something, for Loren knew it was much more sinister and unexplainable than what her mother was trying to convince herself of, but to comfort her mother and her siblings she agreed and allowed for her mother’s reasoning to comfort her as well. It was getting late time to put the kid’s to bed, since she to had to be up early to head to the hospital; Jason has awakened and has no clue of where he is, or how long he had been there…

He took a deep breath and looked around ok he said, “I…I’m in a hospital”! He began pressing the nurse’s button, and soon doctor’s and nurses swarmed the room with more questions than answers, he tried to sit up but fell back onto the pillows, finally a loud voice said clear out he needs his rest and that was that. The room was quiet as his head was screaming from pain, fear, and exhaustion he sleeps… Jason was awakened by a loud noise coming from the other side of his room door, it was a loud clicking sound he took the IV out of his arm and stumbled around towards the door, opening it and stepping out into the bright hospital hallway… with each step he made the clicking sound turned into the familiar sound that had put him in the hospital, that buzzing sound is so excruciating and much, much louder than before and distinct like an old childhood nursery rhyme. As the hallway became dimmer and dimmer it became harder to breathe as feelings of despair and impleading doom was surrounding him while the buzzing sound got closer enveloping his thoughts, becoming one with his conscious and unconscious state… The closer he got to the exit door the tighter and smaller the hallway seemed, he fell to the floor in agony as his hands began oozing orangish green thick like substance; He let out a cringing gurgling scream and he was emerged in glowing fluid matter, all that was left of him was an eyeball that was covered in blackened muscle tissue pulsating with palpitations of a non-existent life cell He… He was gone! Emily answers the phone “Hello,” YES! May I speak to Mrs. Hardcastle this is Dr. Stuart, this is she is something wrong? It is urgent that you get to the hospital right away… IS HE ALRIGHT? She asks with fear gripping her very being! Just please Mrs. Hardcastle get here as soon as you possibly can. (The phone goes dead). `Emily drops the phone and rushes to get dressed, she then wakes up Loren so that she can get the kids up and off to school! Yelling as she reaches the front door, “I have to get to the hospital, Mom is everything okay with fear escaping from her throat, Yes! Yes, I’m sure everything’s fine as the door slams shut behind her. Emily races to the hospital arriving at 7 am Dr. Stuart is at the front desk, I noticed a couple nurses crying she calmly says, “Mrs. Hardcastle please come with me; as Emily followed the doctor to her office, Emily begins to feel deep panic and despair building within her consciousness making each step heavier and heavier to take, as if she were waited down with cement blocks. Dr. Stuart asks her to sit down as she closes her office door… Emily snaps just tell me; is my husband alright? Please Mrs. Hardcastle have a seat… I am sorry to inform you that your husband has passed away early this morning. WHAT! NO…NO panting heavily, where is he? I need to see him NOW demanded Emily as tears flow uncontrollably breathing hard trying to catch her breath, trying to gain some sort of composure for the unexpected news that is smashing hard into her chest taking hold of her reality. Mrs. Hardcastle please try and calm down there’s more I must tell you… Dr. Stuart clears her throat… When we found your husband, he was out of his room in the corridor hallway heading towards the exit, and the most disturbing part was…was… what was left of him. What, what exactly do you mean left of him! I think you should brace yourself Mrs. Hardcastle, due to the nature of your husband’s death… All we found, uhm all that was left was one of his eyeballs. (Emily gasps) OH MY GOD! NO…no…no Jason!

As Loren was getting the kid’s ready for the bus, she noticed a chill through the house as she approached the front door, there was a loud knocking and she asked who is it? Nothing, no one answered she looked through the peep hole and saw no one at all, so she preceded to call her siblings: Katie, Adam I hear the bus pulling up, as Loren was helping Adam put on his jacket and grabbing lunches as the bus driver began beeping the horn, and they were off to school… At school Loren meets up with Jared and Jared notices that she seems distant, so he asks is everything ok… She nods yes, he says quickly; No, I mean with the house! Is everything ok at your house?

Loren looks at him sharply with confusion for the question, I ask because I have been getting some very strange visions surrounding your house and your family. What do you mean asked Loren—here he says, “meet after school and I will show you exactly what I am talking about! “OK”? Well if it’s that important? I think it is very important exclaimed Jared ----- Loren meets Jared at her locker, he proceeded to take her towards an empty bench: There’s something that you need to read and only then will you gain a better understanding of my visions! They sit down as he pulls an old book from his backpack, I found this old book in my Grandfather’s attic, it was wrapped in a towel and stashed into a pocket within the walls I noticed that it’s part of a collection of Voodoo rituals that my family has been into for centuries, ok here look at this what does the picture look like? Loren takes the dusty old book, she blows dust from the page, and she becomes gripped with chills: He continues, so I was looking for more information on the visions I have been having since meeting you, and as I was looking through it I noticed and noticed the picture your looking at… It looks exactly like your house doesn’t it? She begins to read the words beneath the picture of the decrepit dwelling was the name of the house; “The Shadows Den”, and she continued all those who intrude will be demonically absorbed into the furnace of hell and hell they shall bare from within for all eternity. What is this? Seriously Jared, why are you showing me this terrible book for she gasped… Well Jared says, as I told you I have been having these visions of you and your family in a tunnel of unrelenting darkness and pain of long endless proportions, he falls silent and begins to shake as Loren calls out to him… Jared are you ok? Jared what’s wrong… Jared please, he comes back to reality looking at her with fear in his eyes… Loren, you need to hurry home your mother needs you now!!! It’s your dad… SOMETHING… horrible has happened. Loren rushes home running faster and faster her heart pounding hard within her chest as her mind crashes towards impending collapse, she bursts through the door calling out for her mother--- MOM…MOM! Are you here? Yes, I am here honey, I’m in the kitchen. As Loren comes closer towards the kitchen, she hears her mom crying and runs to her, please mommy tell me that everything is okay with dad please!?! Emily looked at her daughter searching for some resolve that would somehow make the news lighter… No sweetheart, your father is…he’s gone honey I’m so sorry, but he died this morning. Loren fell to the floor, saying over and over WHAT… what…what did you just say as echoes of memories shuffle through her head there’s silence and Loren’s’ scream of NO…No…No…No as tears pour from her eyes, her heart, her mind began filling with anger. All the kids were home and crying as Emily tries to comfort them, Loren can’t anymore she tares away from them and runs to her room slamming the door throwing her things everywhere screaming as she pulls and throws all her dresser drawers out and to the floor. As the family tries to pick up the pieces after the funeral things, memories, and emotions became unbearable. 3 months after Jason’s death the dreams began to hit harder and to become more vivid to Emily, she was at a point where sleep was impossible, so she began seeing a Psychiatrist for aid for understanding why she would awake with bruises and in ending her demented dreams that brought her night sweats and a dismay of twisted screams of fear, loss, and doom! Dr. Anthony Owen was her Psychiatrist for the last six months and her sessions began with unstructured blackouts of missing time and a deep paralyzing fear of what was chasing her within her dreams, a deep dark shadowy figure with sharp glowing purplish orange eyes, her gut her fear was warning her that it was death gaining ground on her while she slept, so it was more gripping than night terrors, because somehow it was inside her and beside her even when she was awake taunting her sanity with escapable madness--- Dr. Owen asks; “ What more can you tell me about the entity or the experiences you are having in your dreams?” Emily begins… Well it begins every night with a cold dark room, where I hear these deep long moans at first and then whispers that get louder and more profound wanting me to become one with it. I see a door it opens and then I begin to run towards it, but I can’t my mind is moving, but my legs aren’t and then there’s this glob of goo that feels like gritty, thick slush all around the room on the walls everywhere like liquid bubbles, then a light comes on that envelopes the room and all around the air becomes so thick with floating dark gloom of cold nothingness reaching for me, scratching at me pulling me closer and closer, clawing trying to pull me into an abyss of nothingness, then there’s a flash of a image of pure evilness crying, beckoning me from HELL itself molding itself with my flesh… I wake up with these bruises and scratches soaked from the inside out with desperation and fear! Dr. Owen breaks the silence and stops writing, ok Emily I would like for you to write all that down that you can remember from every dream that you have write down your emotions, the smells, the sounds as well as the details of the dream from beginning to end for our next session where then we will discuss the possibility of hypnosis treatment, so I will see you in two weeks. Emily left the building heading home, and she was feeling exhausted and in defeat with her dreams along with the bruises that consumed her body, it was around eight pm (8:00 pm) when she arrived home her head fell limp against the steering wheel with the loud sounds of moaning ringing in her head she saw a horde of dark illuminating clouds while putting the car in park and a thick fog surrounding the house and the driveway, she felt a dead freezing chill all around her being, becoming one with her taking her sanity! The kids all ran outside to meet her as she stepped out of the car she became aware of the dark shadowy figures within the fog moving closer as her ears begin to pound from the sound pulsating and shadowing her mind taking hold of her very soul, she began screaming as she was lifted up towards the sky, the children begin screaming and running to reach for their mother yelling; Mom… MOM Noooo…. As the darkness pulled her even higher! Emily looks at her children reaching for them in agony as she began felling her skin release from her body and the muscles twist inwards and out, the children screamed looking on in horror! Loren calls the police panicking as she tries to explain what was happening, she stays on the phone with dispatch as she grabs and holds her younger brother and sister trying to calm them down while watching in horror their mother being tortured, as a hole opens up within the dark sky like a vacuum, Emily yelled and screamed from the haunting digestion process beckoning her cells, her nerves, her very blood as her body flipped in and out of what looked like a pin head hole that was consuming her until she exploded, blood blasting shattering to the ground as the on lookers of neighbors hear smashing and crushing bones as she was being evaporated within the dark night of the sky… As police vehicles arrive their cars were splattered with blood, bones and three fingers hit the windshield of an officer’s car and then Emily Hardcastle was gone. Loren went to inform the officers and try to answer any questions they might have and Adam was sitting on the porch crying, as the fog disappeared the spot where Katie was standing began melting away, she screams for HELP! Adam looks up immediately and as the ground gives Adam leaps forward grabbing her by the wrist as the ground dissolved beneath her, Loren runs over as fast as she can as Adam reaches in and grabs Katie by her pants and pulls her up out of the ground, Loren grabs Katie at the same time Adam screams from something scratching him on his arm from within the gaping hole, his arm was gushing so much blood that turned into a watery, slimy, purplish, oozing foam that opened wider on his forearm… officers raced over to him with EMT’s following right behind, he was not breathing, so CPR was immediately administered after two minutes they finally got a pulse, but he was not responding Adam Hardcastle had fallen into an comatose state he was rushed to the hospital and Loren put Katie in the car to follow the ambulance to the Yuma Regional Medical Center E.R Department as she was walking around to get into the driver side she looked around at all the cars and lights realizing that her mom was gone and all that was left of her was bagged and tagged.

Emily Hardcastle had vanished from existence and all was lost, empty, cold, and alone from the occurrences that took place on that sinister, frightful night.