Chapter Four.
Michelle
I wanted to yell demon, but I didn’t have enough evidence yet.
On speaking with Callum, he was feeling the same about what he’d witnessed in Sleepy Hollow.
But neither of us would jump without concrete proof.
An exorcism was never to be taken lightly, nor decided on a snap decision.
Callum and I had agreed that I’d continue here when Jack came across, and he’d remain with the cemetery.
Callie wouldn’t mind and would certainly understand.
The teams were often fluid, but it was wise for the priest who’d started the investigation to stay put.
What worried me was two demons running around in such a short distance.
Demons were more common than people believed, but two this close together?
No, that was rare. Demons were territorial, and there were only fifty miles between the locations.
Were they in competition with each other? Was one trying to outdo the other? Were they aware of each other? They were questions I probably wouldn’t get the answer to, and they weren’t important, in all honesty.
What was important? Ensuring their evilness would not spread. If these were evil spirits, then Callum and I could send them back to hell. If they were demons, we’d fight with our hands, but we’d win. I was certain of it.
Celt
I literally hated what was happening. Chey was obsessed now, though, despite being terrified.
I’d not slept well, keeping one eye open.
Chey had been dead to the world, no pun intended.
I don’t know how Sunny managed this shit all the time.
He had to have nerves of steel because the danger to Chey scared the fuck out of me.
Callie was insane to do this daily, and it had certainly changed my opinion of her. She possessed a strength that wasn’t visible.
Chey was in the kitchen with her now, both of them discussing what had happened with Michelle.
Although tonight was a fresh start, I couldn’t wait to leave.
I’d not realised how dangerous an investigation could be.
The cemetery was getting a lot of activity, too, but this house scared the hell out of me.
Callie and Michelle were convinced that the entity knew about the false rumours and was acting on them.
Me? I just felt the whole situation was batshit crazy.
It didn’t matter what I thought. Chey was loving this and got bragging rights from this haunting. If my woman was happy, that was all that mattered.
“Callie!” Sunny roared from somewhere in the house.
Callie, Chey, and Michelle burst from the kitchen and nearly ran me down. Damn, they could move fast when they wanted. They rushed towards the stairs where the shout had come from, and Sunny came clattering down.
“What the hell?” Callie exclaimed.
“Nobody open a door or window, but look outside,” Sunny ordered.
I frowned at him; he was slightly pale under his tan, and I wondered what had happened now. I headed for the nearest window and whimpered when I saw what was waiting.
“Ah, shit,” I moaned. My greatest fear stared back at me with beady eyes, and not just one pair of them. Hundreds of rats surrounded the house, all the size of a small cat—all with red, glowing eyes.
“Celt?” Callie asked as I backed away and plastered myself to the wall.
“He’s afraid of rats. He used to have this recurring nightmare of a rat eating his eyes while he was alive,” Chey murmured, but I heard her.
Sunny stared at me in horror. “Are you fuckin’ warped or what?” he insisted.
“Shut up!” I hissed.
“You poor, fucked-up bastard. You need help,” Sunny stated as Callie bit back a smile.
“Stop taking the piss, what the fuck are we going to do?” I demanded, as I hid my shaking hands. Jesus, I was acting like Chatter!
“Callie!” Michelle called, and I realised she wasn’t here. Everyone rushed past me, and we found Michelle in the dining room.
“Run.”
“Die.”
“Flee.”
“Suck blood.”
“Save yourselves.”
“Murder.”
“Escape.”
“Slit throats.”
“Warning.”
“Pound your skull.”
“What the fuck?” Callie exclaimed. She gazed between the Spirit Box, which was yelling warnings at us, while the Ovilus made threats.
“Leave!”
“Strangle.”
“Get out.”
“Fuck you up.”
“Danger.”
“Kill you.”
“Callie, they’re turned off,” Sunny announced, shaken. If Sunny was disturbed, then I’d every right to panic.
“Pack your shit!” I ordered Chey. She snorted at me even though she was scared.
“Check EMF fluctuations,” Callie said to Michelle. The threats and warnings kept coming as Michelle checked the base stats.
“It’s colder than it was, and the EMF keeps fluctuating. There’s something active here,” Michelle stated. Yeah, like we needed that confirmed.
The Spirit Box and Ovilus fell silent, and we looked around, each of us on guard.
“Tonight, we don’t split up,” Callie said.
“I feel like this is aimed at women?” Sunny inquired, and we turned to look at him.
“What?” I demanded.
“Does this seem as if it’s about to amp up?” Sunny asked.
“Yes, it does,” Chey agreed.
“And we discussed earlier that Jack’s group was coming, and they were all men. Now we’ve this,” Sunny pointed out.
“Well, I said I was staying,” Michelle interjected.
“Yeah, but Callie and Chey are leaving. I believe women are the targets. Everything has either been aimed at them or isolating them,” Sunny replied.
I thought back to what we’d captured. Damn, Sunny was right.
“This thing wants the women?” I asked.
“Yes,” Sunny said.
“I can’t disagree,” Callie drawled.
“Then it’s a good job we leave in the morning,” Sunny stated.
Famous last words. Throughout the house, we heard shutters and doors slam. We hurried into the foyer.
“I didn’t say we were leaving now, asshole,” Sunny growled out.
There was no reply.
“Are we trapped?” Chey asked with fear in her voice.
“No. We’ll get out,” Michelle replied confidently.
Laughter rang out, making us all jump.
“Stay,” the voice rolled through the house. It sounded masculine.
“Not happening,” Michelle announced.
“Wrong!”
“What the hell is that?” I snapped.
Everyone stared at the top of the stairs. A black mass was forming there; it was shapeless yet so dense that you couldn’t see through it.
“Is that a manifestation?” Sunny demanded.
“No. I don’t sense it is. I think it’s playing, but just in case… salt circle,” Michelle said to Callie. Callie nodded and began sprinkling a liberal dose of salt around us. Michelle grabbed her Bible and held it out.
“Sunny, use the Holy Water,” she ordered.
Michelle stepped outside the circle, and I moved to grab her.
“Celt, trust Sunny and me,” Michelle stated. Confidently, she headed up the stairs as we all watched. Sunny was behind her, flicking Holy Water over her shoulder as they moved closer.
The mass kept growing, and I yanked Callie and Chey close. I’d lay my life down to protect them, but how the fuck did I fight that?
As the entity lunged, even bigger now, Michelle held her Bible up.
She began speaking, ordering it to leave, and it shrieked as Sunny flicked Holy Water over it.
The evil thing lunged at Michelle again, nearly grabbing her.
Sunny picked Michelle up as her prayers got louder, and he dumped his entire bottle over the black blob.
It screamed, making us cringe and cover our ears.
“Salt!” Michelle cried as the mass cringed away from them. Sunny grabbed a small tub from his jeans pocket and pried the lid off. Michelle pushed forward as Sunny slung the salt everywhere, and Michelle pressed her cross into the sizzling entity.
It screeched, and beams of light pierced it.
Then, with an agonised scream, it exploded.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
Jack
“Where are we heading tonight?” Callum asked as he parked up.
“We’re going to search for the Lavender Lady. Also, legend has it there’s a ghost dog that haunts with a Woman in Black,” I replied.
“They haunt together?” Hugo inquired.
“Yes. People believe it’s her dog. They’re both meant to be benign,” I said.
“Well, after that thing yesterday, harmless would be a change,” Connor stated.
“Can’t argue,” I agreed.
We headed into Sleepy Hollow Cemetery with Freddie’s equipment.
It worked really well once you adapted to it.
Where a normal SLS camera showed the outlines of walls, objects, and spirits, this one was transparent, making the path visible.
The outlines were bolder, but the background was fainter.
It was disconcerting at first, but I was getting used to it pretty quickly.
It was like walking through a virtual reality world, but we could see our own world beneath. Freddie would make a killing with these if she released them for wholesale.
Once we were inside the cemetery, I took the lead. We headed back to the oldest spot, all of us on guard and alert.
“It feels the same,” Connor stated as we closed in on it.
“Yes. But I don’t see the creature,” Hugo replied.
“Which means it might be in hiding,” Callum mused as he looked around.
“The temperature is holding steady…” I broke off as we heard singing. It was faint, and a chill ran down my spine.
“She’s coming,” Callum murmured.
“Yeah.” My head was on a swivel, keeping an eye out. I caught a flash of lavender skirts, and then she disappeared.
“Are we being hunted?” Connor asked, and I turned to him.
“What?”
“She shows herself to get us to follow her, and we’ve just arrived here, and she’s now showing herself to keep us here,” Connor said.
Callum broke into a flurry of movement. He sprinkled salt around us and readied his Bible. Just as he finished, the creature appeared again. Lavender Lady stood by it, her hand on its arm, almost controlling it.
She tilted her head and beckoned to us.
“Not happening, spawn of Satan!” Callum taunted.
She frowned, and then an alluring smile crossed her lips. “Come to me,” she called, beckoning with her fingers.
“Not fuckin’ likely,” Phil replied, making me laugh despite the situation.