Stories told across the realm of the Terrordrome Universe, learn unknown truths about your favorite monsters and future horrors and discover the witnesses and survivors who are telling them. Remember that every legend starts from a touch of truth after all.
NEVERMAN, THE DAY I NEVER EXISTED
Part 1
I was twelve the day I disappeared from this world. Today my name is irrelevant, but at the time the events happened my name was Todd Fletcher. I had parents, I had a sister, I had friends but most importantly, I had an existence! Today I exist no more and I need to tell you what happened to me, I need to tell this story because I want to say I had a life once, I existed, I was a real human being and maybe this will help others who might have been caught into oblivion the same way I was. Beware the Neverman, if you ever cross his path, just run and pray he doesn’t catch you.
On November 2nd of 1985, I was walking home after school, the days had started getting shorter and at 5 p.m. the lights of some houses and stores were already on. It wasn’t dark yet but dusk was around the corner. I was walking alone, I had no friends who lived near me so I always walked back home alone. I didn’t mind that much as I was the kind of kid who enjoyed a certain level of solitude, now I wish I would have been more keen on having more friends around me, especially on that day.
There were still some Halloween decorations on the front yards of some houses. Some of these decorations would stay there for a week or more after Halloween. The streets were still full of devilish figures and fancy luminaries. The reddish leaves were starting to cover the ground and the wind would blow refreshing air.
I was a few blocks from home when I noticed a peculiar figure, seated in a large rocking chair on the front porch of a house. At first I barely noticed it, but something caught my attention longer than I wish I had. What I would have described at first looked like a “man” with a very slender body, dressed in an old-fashioned suit with indistinguishable patterns on it. He was sitting with his back very stiff, his legs were closed, and he had a strange shaped suitcase he seemed to grab tightly on his knees. His attitude was like of someone who would nervously wait in a waiting room of some kind of medical care center or for an important job interview. He wasn’t moving at all so I assumed it was another Halloween decoration, an elaborate one. As I was closing distance to this strange character, the most striking thing about him was certainly his head, it was bald and lacked ears. His facial features were hard to read, like if all the normal features a face would have have faded or been somehow deformed. Whoever came up with this decoration was either very bad with basic anatomy or very good at making things look creepy.
I could have crossed the street at that moment and perhaps my fate would have been different, but my parents’ house was on the same side of the street, and in my defense it was 2 days after Halloween and such a figure wasn’t totally out of place. So I ignored my instincts and kept walking on the same sidewalk, with my head down. As I was at the same level as him, my head turned to him again. I would never know what took me, I had the intention to ignore the grotesque figure until it was out of my sight, but I can’t explain why my head was compelled to look one last time. And to this day I curse myself to what made me look in his direction once more.
What I saw froze me to the point I stopped breathing for a few seconds. His fingers had briefly released its grip on the handle of the suitcase and his head promptly angled in my direction, and then I saw his face clearly, that’s when I started to panic. This thing had a sort of horizontal scar for a mouth and a pair of mouths where its eyes should be. The “mouths had no lips, uncovering two rows of teeth messily implanted right upon the skin and the scar happened to stretch out to the shape of a hole, like a fresh wound that would suddenly form itself in the lower part of his face, this thing had the most repulsive face I’ve ever seen in my life, but what frightened me the most was that this thing was alive, and aware of my presence.
Time seemed to have stopped, I stayed there for what seemed to have been years, unable to continue walking. I couldn’t stop staring at this nightmarish character until he slowly stood up, his face staring at mine. I knew I had to do something but this creature seemed to have some kind of hypnotic power over me. I was scared and fascinated at the same time. When it finished getting up, I could clearly see this entity was pretty tall with long slender limbs, the suitcase was hanging from his right hand and something odd about his body movements gave me the confirmation that this creature wasn’t entirely human. There wasn’t anyone hiding inside a costume, this was him, what I would later call the Neverman.
Suddenly the panic kicked in and the adrenaline rushed through my body. I was able to break free from numbness and started to run away. As I recall, I was running faster than I have ever did before, I thought I would lose this spectral figure and quickly hide into the safety of my home, I’ve never been so wrong. First I thought I’ve lost him, I assumed such a tall being wouldn’t be able to move so swiftly, but then I clearly heard his heavy footsteps closing distance behind me. In an attempt to rationalize the situation, my mind switched back to the possibility of a prank perpetrated by some teenagers. The prank would be revealed, and they would laugh at me and all would go back to normal, if only this was true.
So I turned around to see how close he was from me and if anyone would intervene. I recalled crossing paths with people walking by, there should have been someone witnessing the scene and able to help a little boy in case of danger.
The scene I witnessed at that moment was the first hint I wasn’t going to make it. To my biggest despair, not only was the Neverman a few feet behind me, walking at a steady pace but nobody around seemed to notice him, which was extremely odd to miss such a peculiar silhouette in the middle of the street. Nobody was looking in our direction, like if we didn’t even exist; this was straight out of a nightmare. I’ve never been so desperate. I just kept running until I felt his hand grab my shoulder with a powerful grip. I still can remember that moment like if it was in slow motion, his strong grip made me lose balance; as I was falling I lost a shoe. I landed on my back and his horrible face appeared above mine, I tried to set myself free and stand up but there was no point, his hand had me pinned down like a butterfly on a wooden board. He was standing over me, silently while I desperately kept struggling to set myself free. Then his mouths, in the place of where his eyes should be, began to shudder frantically, he moved his entire body over me like a spider about to feast over its prey. I cried so hard that it would have been impossible for anyone to ignore me from miles away, yet nobody ever came. As his face got closer to mine, I heard the Neverman’s voices coming from his two mouths, two distinctive voices speaking at the same time, though with two different tones, both saying:
– “I like your ears”
And with his other hand he started to touch my left ear nervously, like a madman excited before doing something terrible to his victim. He took me with both his hands and he lifted me from the ground with an ease that taught me that I wouldn’t be able to resist his strength no matter what I would try. He lifted me in the air, facing me, at this point I was scared to death and wasn’t even resisting. I heard a noise underneath me, I managed to look down and the nightmare grew even stronger. It was the suitcase; the suitcase was underneath me and it was alive. There were tiny legs on the four edges of the bottom and it placed itself right underneath me while the Neverman had me hanging above it. The suitcase opened and revealed a gaping hole surrounded by sharp teeth, similar to that of a shark. The inside was made of palpitating living flesh but looking inside the hole revealed nothing but pure emptiness. On the top part of the suitcase, there was the same type of disgusting flesh, teeth randomly spawn and in the center was an eyeball and the teeth around it acted like its eyelids, opening and retracting nervously and the eye was staring right at me. His suitcase was a living giant mouth, how could this be real?
The Neverman had a strong hold on me, and as I let my last scream out, he pushed me towards the open mouth of the creature and I was sucked in faster than I could realize.
I stayed conscious for a few seconds more, just to see the opening where I came from scaling down quickly as I was falling into a void. After that, time and life itself just stopped., I just ceased to be.
Part 2
It was by a fresh night in March that I was reborn. One second before there was only the darkness of the void, the second after I was in the middle of a children’s park somewhere in the vicinity of my neighborhood. I stayed there, totally motionless, trying to get a hold of my senses. My whole body was coming back to life after what appeared to be a very long period of total inactivity. At first only my eyes were able to assess my surroundings. My brain was immediately overwhelmed by a thousand sensations. I was suddenly overwhelmed by pure excitement and fascination: I was alive!
Then I started to walk around, fearing this sweet dream could suddenly end and I would be back to the nightmare of the void; I managed to escape for a few seconds. I was back in the streets of my old neighborhood, I was mesmerized by the beauty of the world. After a moment of wandering enjoying my escape, my delight was interrupted as I bumped into a man exiting the front door of his house. He looked at me, and I instantly felt so thrilled, he could see me! I was real and part of this world again! I expressed all my gratitude to the man who definitely didn’t understand my situation, instead he stared at me from top to bottom with disconcert in his eyes. That’s when I realized I was still wearing the same clothes as the day I departed from this reality, and they barely fitted me anymore. I walked away to get a better assessment on the situation.
I don’t know how long I’ve been away, but one thing is sure, I must have disappeared at least a decade or so, my body was definitely older and taller. The fabric of my clothes looked worn out… “Where the hell have I been?” I barely remember anything on the “other side”. Only fragments of memories and it only involves darkness and coldness. I’ve been abducted by the Neverman and somehow I’ve managed to escape his realm or wherever he took me to. I don’t know how I escaped and if the Neverman was aware of my escape. I needed to protect myself if I ever faced him again. Instinctively I imagined that the safest thing to do was to run to where I lived. And that’s when I realized my nightmare wasn’t over., It had just begun.
I got to my parents’ house, all the lights were off, it was too dark to tell if anything had changed during those years and I was too panicked to even notice any of that. I rang on the doorbell and waited.
After a minute I heard sounds from the first floor, then lights inside the house. Finally the lights in the hall turned on and I saw a familiar silhouette through the door’s window coming towards the front door. It was my father. Before opening the door he asked:
– Who’s there?
– It’s me, it’s Todd! I replied
– Who?…
– Dad it’s me, Todd, I’m back, open the door please!
– I don’t know any Todd, you must have the wrong address.
Was it possible that my dad had grown old and had these mental diseases where people can’t remember their own family members anymore?
– Please dad, it’s me, please let me come in!
After a few seconds of hesitation, my dad finally decided to crack open the door., His appearance stroke me, he had aged too at least 10 years older or so.
He was on his guard and stared at me from top to bottom.
– I don’t know you and I don’t have any son. If this is a joke it ain’t funny, please go away or I’ll call the cops.
I was dazed, it was like that old TV show The Twilight Zone, where absurd and unexplainable situations happened to random people. I was so shocked I couldn’t think straight and say anything convincing, I’ve just managed to add:
– Please don’t close that door, I can explain, it was a long time ago maybe but it’s me, Todd.
In the background I noticed my mom had come downstairs so see what was going on, she stayed carefully behind my dad but she was able to look at me.
– Who’s this Karl? She asked my dad.
– Mom! it’s me! Your son! I’m Todd! Please let me in. I shouted over my dad’s shoulders as tears started to fill my eyes.
I nervously assessed my face with my hands. Could it be that have I been injured and deformed somehow? But everything seemed normal.
And I heard my mom say:
– Close the door Karl, I’m calling the police.
And the door of my house closed on me.
Should I have waited for the police to come that night? Would have they been able to help me and clear out the confusion of this situation? I don’t know., I’m not so sure now.
I fled in the darkness of the night and seeked refuge somewhere else.
During the next few days, I was extremely disoriented. I stayed hidden in the backyard of an abandoned house and only came out of my stash at night to steal some leftovers I could find in the trashcans. Later on I managed to find new clothes at the salvation army camp in my area.
My daily routine was to go to any of my friend’s places, at the stores I used to buy stuff to see if anyone could recognize me, the answers were depressingly the same each time, no one seemed to know me. Not only could they not recognize me, but they couldn’t even remember anyone called Todd. Each time I would recite an old memory that I have shared with these people about 10 years ago, I gave details about the time when it happened or I would tell them details about their siblings the best I remembered. But the reactions would always remain the same: these people didn’t know me anymore. Not only did the Neverman take my life but he erased any trace of me in this reality as well, it’s like I’ve never existed.
I was never able to track down the possible crumbs of my existence to the intimacy of these people. Were there any pictures left of me somewhere in their houses, a video of a birthday party, an object that I gave them that would trigger a memory of me, any proof I’ve ever lived in this continuum alongside them at all? It wasn’t easy to investigate about my past life, to stay hidden and alive in the streets without going insane at the same time.
One day I had lost all hope and when I seriously doubted about my own sanity, I dared to enter a police station. Maybe it was better if I was taken into a mental institution after all, they would take care of my condition and my insanity. I wouldn’t have to keep hiding and wandering like an animal; they would take care of me. To my despair, even the police didn’t have a clue who I was, nothing was in their registry and soon they would just conclude that I was a crackhead, they gave me the numbers of associations that helps homeless people, nobody was of any help.
After a while I gave up searching and I focused on my survival in this new world where I seem to have never existed in. I live in constant fear to see the spectral shape of the Neverman to re-appear anywhere behind me or in the shadowy corner of each and every building. I was a survivor of the Neverman and I became obsessed with him, how long would I escape his wrath? How long would I last hidden from him? Would he eventually find me while I’m asleep? And how would I defend myself from him? These were the questions that would fill my mind and terrify me day after day. Soon, another question started to haunt my mind: were there others like me out there? Were there other Neverman survivors? I slowly started to realize my survival depended on the answer to that very question.
Years have passed since I came back from oblivion. I struggled to rebuild myself a new life I could hold on to. I know he’s still out there, perhaps looking for me, but today I have a new identity and I’ve developed unique skills that not only helps me to stay hidden from him but also allow me to track him down in return, henceforth we have this demonic bond. Since then I’ve pledged to help other Neverman victims and I will be after him until I kill him. He stole my life, but I have a new one now: I’m a demon hunter!
NIGHT OF THE CLOWN
It was September, and the days were still warm in the afternoon. Jesse had invited his two best friends Dwight and Michael to chill in the garden of his house after their first day at St. Louis College.
Their bicycles were left scattered on the lawn while they enjoyed cold soda under the terrace rooftop in the backyard. They had convinced their parents to go to the same college, claiming it was a choice made because of their future career, but it was in fact an excuse to stay together a few more years before University scattered them away.
Michael adjusted his glasses and started to describe how his new teachers were all a bunch of weirdos and how he already couldn’t stand them. Dwight was removing some dirt from his shoes when Jesse came back from the kitchen with two cans of Coca-Cola and a Dr. Pepper for himself. He tossed the cans to his friends before taking a seat and watched the horizon with a serious look in his face. Dwight and Michael both opened their cans nearly at the same time and instantly got soaked in a big splash of soda, a few seconds of silence passed until Jesse couldn’t contain his seriousness any longer and bursted with laughter. He was soon joined by Michael and Dwight, they laughed out loud for a good while, relieving all the stress of the day at that very moment.
From the backyard porch of Jesse’s home, the view gave into the empty fields that separated the houses from an abandoned amusement park. From there you could only see the top of the “Devil’s Mountain” roller coaster and the enormous ferris wheel in the background. It always gave an eerie vibe to the view, especially on foggy days or during the fall. Everybody in the neighborhood got used to the view, but for a brief moment things got even more strange with what seemed to be a meteorite. A bright light was traveling in the sky leaving a white trail of smoke behind. From the distance it wasn’t easy to assess the size of the object, but it sure wasn’t tiny. The boys immediately noticed it and were stopped in the middle of their conversation as they stared at the spectacle in wonder. The sighting was silent and beautiful, yet it had something frightening to it. The meteor finished its ride right in the middle of the abandoned park. How cool was that? The boys looked at each other, astonished by what they have just witnessed, they smiled and jumped off their seats. Dwight and Michael were already on their bikes while Jesse insisted on getting a flashlight. They all had their cell phones ready to record their next adventure. So in the beginning of the evening, they departed to the abandoned park.
Trespassing on forbidden property wasn’t a new activity for them. In fact, they had already covered the area more than once. There was nothing like urban exploration when they were bored, especially when places were spooky. They rode their bicycles like crazy and got to the perimeter of the park in no time; they knew the fastest path. The perimeter was closed off with layers of metallic fences, but they also knew the areas where holes were cut out, wide enough for small bodies to enter the forbidden zone.
They had to leave their bicycles at the entrance of the opening; from there they had to wander on foot.
They soon had their shoes drenched in mud, the abandoned zone was half-flooded and many parts were unworkable. By the time they were inside the park, it was dusk and they had realized they’ve never been here so late.
They walked among the derelict of the attraction’s structures as daylight was rapidly fading away. Everything started to look so sinister, and harmless objects started to shape into menacing silhouettes. The gigantic structure of the ferris wheel and all the other big attractions looked like still shadowy giants observing them over a dying sky. Everything was so quiet, with the exception of the sounds coming from the metal structures squeaking from time to time, some torn apart banners and flags lazily flapping in the wind, and the mockery of a lone crow observing them from the top of a shack. Instead of traditional fairground music that there used to be, those sounds were the new soundtrack of this creepy place.
There were no signs of any sky fallen debris anywhere, so they just kept walking around, trying to comfort themselves with cheesy jokes, until they found what they were looking for.
At the end of a corner, they discovered a building structure with a hole in the rooftop, there was some black smoke coming out from it, like something hot just went through it and landed inside the facility. By the look of it, the building must have been a restaurant. The boys easily got inside by entering through the large broken windows on one side of the building. The interior was dark and full of debris everywhere, they navigated their way through all the scrap metal and walked up to what have once been a large kitchen. There, the place was a complete mess, like something they had seen on TV in overseas war news. Asides from the mess they witnessed all around the park, there was a huge pile of debris in the middle of the room. Most of it were pieces of the rooftop. Michael wasn’t sure the area was safe, what remained of this place looked like it would collapse at any time and bury them in the process. He insisted on leaving this room right away and exiting the park. Dwight and Jesse agreed on this idea, yet they were clearly more fascinated by their finding than Michael was. They were really eager to find out about the object that came from the sky. Their imaginations have been triggered by this unusual event and they could still handle more of this unearthly situation. Jesse and Dwight started to carefully dig into the pile of debris while Michael decided to wait for them outside, visibly upset.
Whatever went through the roof was under the pile of dust and scrap. They could certainly remove some of the scrap and find out what was under. In an attempt to find the best angle to dig, Jesse found out there was no need to dig out anything. Whatever landed in this place had since then “hatched”, and whatever was inside found its way out. Dwight ran to Jesse’s spot and stared at the hatch exit. They couldn’t clearly assess the outside of the mysterious object, but the inside was exposed to Jesse’s flashlight and it was like nothing any of them would have guessed. It was like if they were looking at the inside of a human body. The surface of the inside was apparently made of organic matter.
– “What the fuck is that shit supposed to be?” Jesse stammered out.
– “I don’t know man, it looks like some kind of cosmic asshole or something.”
They looked at each other and as soon as they started laughing, they were interrupted by a noise coming from behind them. They jumped, and Jesse immediately aimed at the direction where the noise came from with his flashlight. Right behind them was another room. The door had been taken out of its hinges and the flashlight’s beam wasn’t strong enough to cut through the darkness.
– “Yo Mike is that you!?” Dwight shouted.
Again, they heard a noise coming from the same direction, they jumped again. This time Jesse shouted:
– “Michael! Stop being an ass and show yourself!”
After a short moment, they heard Michael’s answer:
– “Guys, it’s getting really dark out here, we need to get the fuck out already!”
Except his voice wasn’t coming from the dark room behind them, Michael was still outside the building. Jesse and Dwight looked at each other. They were not laughing anymore, and they were not alone. Then Dwight frowned:
– “It’s a fucking animal or something, it’s gotta be.”
– “Yeah or it could be a crazy homeless dude with a knife just waiting to attack us, let’s get out of here, I think I’ve had enough.” Jesse replied.
Dwight grinned at Jesse:
– “Oh you’re scared now. Come on, give me the flashlight, I’ll go.”
– “No, I’m keeping it! Alright let’s take a peek.”
Dwight digs up a metal bar from the pile of scraps and Jesse improvises by grabbing a brick. They moved towards the entrance and carefully stepped into the dark room. As they were walking, they could hear a squishing sound coming from the floor. Jesse noticed they’ve been stepping on a gelatinous substance trail on the floor that sticked to their shoes after every step. His flashlight revealed the organic trail was coming from the hatch and leading to the room they had just entered, the trail lead to the center of the room and subsequently to the most nightmarish thing they would ever experience in their whole life.
There, in the middle of the darkness, highlighted by the shaky flashlight, lied the most grotesque abomination. If the boys had to describe this thing, it would be a maelstrom of flesh the size of an adult, composed of pulsating and formless muscles covered with dark veins all over. That was for the bottom part, as Jesse illuminated the upper part of the mass, it molded into a more recognizable shape, the flesh seemed to fuse with the upper body of a human dressed in a very familiar trait, that of a clown.
– “Oh my god! Sir are you alright?” inquired Dwight. Jesse looked at him with an incredulous face. Looking at Dwight’s expression he understood his friend thought this guy dressed in a clown suit was being attacked by this slime, devouring his legs up to the top. But Jesse kept illuminating the shape in front of them and understood this thing wasn’t eating up a human body, it was transforming into it! The gelatinous form was shaping into a full human body, imitating the clothes in the process.
As the transformation was taking place, the head of the clown was facing to their right, staring at the wall in front of it. It was standing still except from small spasms frantically shaking the torso from time to time. Squishy sounds emanated from its transforming body and disgusting transparent fluids spurted out of some holes created and immediately closed all over its body.
– “Dwight, I don’t think this is…” Jesse started to say, but his sentence was interrupted by an awful sound that came out of the open mouth of the creature. It sounded like an agonizing animal about to die in a slaughterhouse asking for mercy. It resonated loudly in the small room and it froze the two boys. This thing was being born and its transformation was finished!
The creature’s attention was drawn towards the two boys who were in a complete state of shock, shaking their bodies and stammering out. The hideous clown slowly turned its head towards them, its yellowish eyes gazing on the two and revealing a mouth filled with narrow fangs. It had an indecipherable expression on its face.
Jesse screamed out loud and started to move back, finally able to control his body again. Dwight was still immobilized by fear and couldn’t stop staring at the creature, like if he was hypnotized. Jesse found the strength to steer out of his own trance and fled from the room. It was the last time he ever saw Dwight.
Adrenaline ran through Jesse’s body as he sprinted towards the building entrance like a bullet despite all the debris and scrap littered on the floor.
Michael first saw the beam of light from Jesse’s flashlight moving in all directions inside the dining room. Then Jesse spawned out of the darkness and bumped into him so hard they almost fell down.
– “What is it, where is Dwight?” Michael asked nervously. The only word he got right from Jesse frantic voice was:
– “M… M… Monster inside… run, RUN!”
Before Michael could assess the situation, Jesse was already out of sight and had fled into the dark, with the flashlight’s beam of light fading away quickly. Michael still couldn’t decide if this was an elaborate prank or if they were truly in some kind of danger. He looked inside the dining room, it was even darker then it was when they got here. There was no movement or anything that led to believe there was something to fear, until he heard a loud and long scream coming from inside, a scream of pain and agony that no one could have faked. His friend Dwight’s scream.
At this point, Michael’s mind was bypassed by survival instinct and his legs started racing in the same direction Jesse’s had. He had never run so fast in his life, with adrenaline flowing in his blood like an open canister and oxygen burning his lungs. But unless Jesse, who brought his flashlight, was still around Michael had no way to clearly see where he was going, the place had become way too dark now. He fell into a deep puddle of mud and his body slammed the ground hard. His glasses had vanished in the dark. He had broken one of his front teeth in the process although he didn’t feel a thing thanks to the adrenaline. He was able to get back up quickly but without his glasses he wouldn’t be able to get too far without stumbling or falling again, he was indeed in trouble.
As he was recovering from his fall and was struggling to see which direction to take, he never paid attention to the shape jumping from rooftop to rooftop, following him, hunting him down.
Michael was carefully running in a mist of darkness, his arms wildly waving in front of him to prevent any unfortunate collision. His partial blindness had put him in state of total panic, screaming for some miraculous help to come.
But the only thing that came to him was pure terror. A swift form, on the rooftop of a nearby attraction structure, leaped into the air and silently glided toward its prey. It nailed down Michael so hard to the floor that this time he wasn’t able to recover at all. Upon him was standing the clown figure Jesse and Dwight had encountered back at the abandoned restaurant. A small membrane between its arms and legs quickly retracted inside a breach on the side of its body that instantly closed up with a viscous sound. With one foot over Michael’s body, pinning him on the mud, the boy stood no chance to ever fight back. The clown’s face approached the back of Michael’s head, opening its mouth wide enough to reveal a big row of razor-sharp fangs. Its jaws closed on the boy’s head and snatched it like how someone would bite a sandwich. Liters of blood instantly flowed out of Michael’s severed throat, spreading into the mud creating a disgusting mixture. The evil clown’s eyes closed in delight while its throat stretched out, swallowing Michael’s head altogether. When it finished digesting the boy’s head, it sniffed the air and jumped into the heavens again, going after its next prey.
Thanks to his flashlight, Jesse managed to find his way back with ease. He stumbled many times but never fell down. The fences of the park were in sight when he suddenly tripped on a rock. He fell on the soft grass and mud and was able to recover easily and without being hurt, but when he looked up he realized he wasn’t alone. In front of him several black silhouettes were getting out of Hummer-esque cars. They had powerful flashlights and were headed his way. Most certainly they were the police and they got word of what was going on here. They would protect him.
They soon spotted him and blinded him with their lights. When they reached out to him he got a closer look at them and he couldn’t recognize their outfits, these weren’t cops. They looked more like governmental agents of some kind. He had seen enough thriller movies to understand whoever they were, these people showed up in very unusual situations, as it was clearly the case.
He took a quick look at them and there was something odd about them, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. They were all dressed the same way, a black suit, with a white shirt, and a black tie. They were also all wearing black sunglasses, which made absolutely no sense now that it was night. In the middle of a muddy ground they sure looked completely out of place, but there was something even stranger about them.
One of them had said something into a device attached to his wrist, Jesse couldn’t hear what it was. As they were surrounding him he started to feel uncomfortable. He looked at the one who stood behind him and when he looked back at the ones in front of him, it struck him: their faces were all identical!
One man stood out from the bunch and walked straight toward him, he also had the same face yet he was older than the others. He wasn’t wearing black sunglasses and his eyes were crystal blue, he had a very striking gaze that immediately intimidated Jesse.
– “What’s you name son, and what are you doing here?” Said the man with a clear and engaging voice. He had a strange subtle accent Jesse couldn’t identify.
– “My name is Jesse Northwood, th… there’s a monster in there, I… I think he killed one of my friends…” told Jesse still in shock after what happened.
One of the men looked at the older man whose expression stayed the same, staring at the boy like he was probing his mind with his strange eyes.
– “I see, can you take us to where you found this… monster?” Asked the man.
– “It’s… It’s this way.” pointing at the direction he came from “I… I don’t wanna go back there, sir, please, I wanna go home.”
The man stared at him more intensely this time and after a few seconds of silence he replied with an almost menacing tone in his voice:
– “You’re going to stay here until we check the scene out, understood?”
Jesse nodded and looked down with a shy “Yes sir.” But the truth is he was terrified, not only by whatever he had witnessed back there, but also by these men who appeared out of nowhere and didn’t really seem to care about him. He needed to find a way to sneak out of this place.
But before he could start planning his escape, the final act of terror broke loose in front of his eyes again.
The devilish clown figure fell from the sky and had landed in front of the group of men, crashing onto the ground with a thud. He stood up slowly while all the men were pointing their flashlights at him, finally revealing all the details of its body to the crude lights. The intelligent organic mass that had come out of the meteorite had now assumed its final form: a nightmarish clown raised from hell, dressed in a colorful costume soaked with the blood of its first victims.
The black suits unsheathed their handguns at once and pointed at the clown who opened its mouth wide and hissed violently in reaction to the threat. In the blink of an eye, a bluish bile squirted out of the clown’s throat in the direction of the closest man in black, targeting his torso and part of his face. The man immediately stepped back and screamed in pain, the bile visibly was a powerful acid that could burn flesh and fabric immediately creating a deep wound and releasing a thick white toxic smoke in the process.
– “Shoot it!” yelled the older one. Despite the situation he was still surprisingly quiet.
The clown was barraged with a wave of deadly bullets aimed straight at its body and head. Its body reacted to every injury with frantic movements, but it remained standing there, its upper body bent over letting a collection of transparent yellowish fluids flowing out of its wounds. The men had stopped firing but stood their ground. The clown staggered back, trying to recover from the gunfire. It lifted its head up, there was a big hole in its forehead and its left eye was gone. Suddenly, with a demented smile on its face, the clown grabbed the sides of its head with its two hands, like if it was imitating someone in fear in an exaggerated way. Then it plucked its own head from its neck with a sickening sound, holding it high above its body as a brownish liquid dripped from it. A grey smoke started to come out of its ears, mouth, and also from the hole on its forehead.
– “Step back everyone!” ordered the leader of the men in black.
And without the group of men able to anticipate what followed next, the clown threw its own head straight at them. At the first thing the head made contact with, it immediately exploded in a deadly splash of acid sprinkling on everyone around.
Jesse was luckily spared by the acid as he was standing behind one of the men. In the middle of all the confusion he seized his chance and fled the scene. He quickly found his way out through the hole in the fence, got on his bicycle, and disappeared into the night.
The men in black slowly recovered from the attack, most of them managed to cover their faces with their arms and oddly enough their suit seemed to resist the abrasive substance. The clown however was gone, demonstrating an extraordinary survival capacity and impressive biologic weaponry.
The leader of the group scanned the surroundings before talking to a device on his wrist:
– “T.H.I.S. has landed and is operational. Confirming transition from phase 1 to phase 2 achieved. Tactical senses fully operational.” He looked around, searching for the boy, nowhere to be found. He added: “We also have a code 16, deploy a team and search for a teenager named Jesse Northwood, priority: high.”
BLOODY MARY BLOOD TIES
Her hands were still nervously shaking under the table. Her face hidden underneath her thick hair and looking down, she was praying in a hushed voice. Sometimes she would burst into tears just for a few minutes, trying to release the tension, but the feeling of desperation wouldn’t leave her. She remembered a video about meditation she saw on YouTube and tried to breathe deeply and let go of her thoughts. But every time she tried to close her eyes, even for only a few seconds, it was even worse: images of lacerated skin, open wounds spilling blood on the floor, and broken limbs flashed in her mind like some hectic stroboscope. She lifted her head in search for air, she didn’t know how long she’s been staying here anymore. For a second she thought she heard a whisper. Slowly, she turned her head to the left and dared looking into a large mirror that nearly covered an entire wall. There she could see herself, a terrified teenage girl alone in a small white room with only a single door and a crude white light over her head. Her clothes were still stained with dark blood and her hair, all messed up, was covering half of her face. She looked exhausted and vulnerable.
She was startled as the door behind her opened. Two detectives re-entered the room after what seemed to be years. The tallest one rushed inside the room and sat right in front of her. The other one followed in, locked the door, and stood there staring at her.
The man in front of her combed his blond hair with his hand quickly with a sigh and said:
– “Ok… we’re gonna do this one more time, I seriously urge you to come to your senses now, in your interest. Please state your full name and age for the camera and tell us what happened at Lisa Rappoport’s residence tonight.” He pointed his finger at the camera behind him. “This time we’re gonna spend more time on all the details you remember, from the moment you got inside the house until the moment you got out, alright?”
It was the third interrogatory session in a row, the previous one lasted two hours, she was close to a breakdown, but she wouldn’t change her story because all she was doing was telling the truth.
– “My name is Angela Gutierrez, I’m 17…” She said with a hoarse voice “…And this is what happened last night…”
She had been invited to Lisa Rappoport’s party last night. Something that anyone in their right mind wouldn’t have refused. Lisa was one of the popular girls in college. She was pretty, smart, and nice with everyone, and her parents were rich, meaning she was living in those dream houses in tidy neighborhoods, with a terrace, a swimming pool, and everything. A party at her place was most certainly something you didn’t want to miss under any circumstances, a once in a lifetime event!
Angela didn’t know Lisa very well, she wasn’t really a friend of hers, but she was able to help her out in a critical situation in the girls’ bathroom a couple of weeks ago. Angela entered the bathroom, finding Lisa “trapped” in one of the toilets, it was that time of the month and she didn’t have any pads with her. Angela kindly gave her one of hers and it saved Lisa’s day, and apparently Lisa hasn’t forgotten about that, so she repaid the favor by inviting Angela to her party.
It made her extremely happy and had had her thinking about the party during the following days until the night came. Angela wasn’t exactly the popular girl type you could say, she wasn’t a bullied girl either, she was just average and never got any special attention until recently. Somehow people in her class got word she had been invited to Lisa’s party and since then it seemed she was looked at with greater attention. People would talk to her in a more friendly and respectful way. That was the power of Lisa’s invitation!
It was Saturday, the day had arrived. Angela woke up very excited, she had breakfast, called her best friend on the phone, and later met her at the shopping mall. Her friend helped her choose a classy pair of white denim pants, a sexy t-shirt, and even a brand-new mid-season leather jacket. They had lunch and her friend even convinced her to get a brand-new haircut and have her make-up done. A couple of hours later, she admirably examined herself in a mirror and she couldn’t recognize herself. She had transformed into this one hot, self-confident girl who boys would gaze upon and make other girls envious. She never thought she could look so good. She was amazed how circumstances could beget such changes in one’s life. She couldn’t stop looking at herself in the mirror, amazed and proud of that girl. One lucky girl who’s gonna have one hell of a party tonight!
She arrived in front of Lisa’s imposing residence and for the first time of the day she had goosebumps. It wasn’t a house, it was a luxurious mansion! From across the street it looked breathtakingly splendid and classy. There were cars parked all around the residence and people were arriving at a regular pace. It was still early in the evening and you could already hear the music pumping out from the living room and the backyard. This would be a night to remember, and so she entered the party.
She cautiously walked inside the hall, crossing paths with boys and girls grabbing glasses of cocktails, coming and going in different directions. She entered the living room and was immediately impressed by the number of people already here, some standing, forming circles of chat, others dancing to the sound of the loud music and others chasing themselves visibly already under the effects of the alcohol or any other substance. It was any teenager’s dream party and she couldn’t believe she was living this dream, although she would have loved her friend to be there too.
As she started to explore the first floor, she found Lisa in the kitchen, surrounded by her best friends and a bunch of wannabe boyfriends competing to have her attention. Lisa was gorgeous and for a moment, Angela felt like she didn’t belong here. She didn’t come from the same world, she’d never been to any fancy parties or anything like that. She suddenly doubted her clothing and her haircut, she wished she could have checked herself in the bathroom one more time before arriving. Lisa noticed her and warmly welcomed her inside her circle.
– “Angela! You made it! I wasn’t sure if you would come. Look at you girl, you look so hot!” Lisa exclaimed with her typical disarming smile, making Angela immediately feel at ease. “Come here, I want to present you to these guys here.” Lisa introduced her to her friends and recounted the circumstances of how they met by cleverly omitting the details of how they actually were forced to talk to each other. Angela was surprised how kindly Lisa treated her despite the fact they didn’t know each other very well until just recently, and all because of a fortuitous event. Life could be sometimes surprisingly great she thought. After a moment Lisa had left to meet another group of friends in another area of her palace. Angela kept exchanging a few words with the boys who now seemed interested in her before leaving the kitchen too. She took upon the task to visit the vast mansion and see what surprises this party had to offer her.
Everywhere she went, boys would notice her. She was really transformed, she could tell when she stopped in front of a mirror, she was indeed a hottie tonight! No boy had yet talked to her, but the night was young.
But foremost she was conquered by the beauty of this place and she decided to explore the first floor. She climbed the wide stairs with beautiful artwork on the rails, circling around a huge vintage chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. She passed by a few couples seated on the stairs, too busy kissing each other to notice her.
She stayed leaning on the rail of the first floor for a little while, looking down on the people standing underneath, sipping her vodka-orange juice when something drew her attention to one of the corridors. A group of four noisy girls came out of a bedroom, shouting and laughing loudly. They carried beers, cigarettes, and candles. They looked very excited to say the least. Angela recognized them, they were in the same age group as her but from a different class. Sharon was the slim tall one, Cynthia wore glasses and still managed to stay pretty, Lucy was the smallest one, and Lori was the cute leader of the group.
Lori tried to open the locked door of the bathroom across the corridor, but someone inside yelled something which made them laugh even louder. Then, Lucy noticed Angela. She stared at her for a few seconds before elbowing the other girls, without the need to say anything else, they all reacted with more laughter and a loud: “Ohhhh yeah!”
Angela politely frowned with a smile, she looked back quickly to see if the girls were seeking out someone behind her, but there was nobody there. They kept laughing, and one of them said:
– “Yes you! Come here, we need a fifth person for our little game, what’s your name again? Patricia?”
– “I’m Angela, and nah I’m fine thank you, I’m gonna stay here.” Angela replied with a shy smile.
– “Awe come on girl, we need you to do this. Come on, it’s gonna be fun, I promise!” she had obviously drunk a few beers.
She came towards Angela and grabbed her by the arm like they were best friends and brought her to the group. Sharon welcomed her by putting a beer in her hand and winking at her. The others kept laughing
– “What are you guys up to?” asked Angela. To what Lori turned around and playfully replied:
– “We are going to summon spirits!”
– “Oh no no no, you guys aren’t serious, are you?” Angela scowled and stared at the other girls to see their reaction. “You can’t be serious, come on guys, these things aren’t real.”
– “So what are you afraid of?” thwarted Lori, supported by the other girls. Angela pinched her lips and smiled. She couldn’t refuse such an opportunity to make friends while doing crazy things tonight!
The door finally opened, and three girls came out without even paying attention to who was knocking.
The group of girls entered the bathroom and Lucy asked:
– “So you comin’ or not?”
Angela finally agreed and followed them inside.
The bathroom was splendid like the rest of the house, tastefully decorated and large enough for the five girls to fit in. Lori immediately lit up a cigarette and with the lighter she lit the candles, after she placed them in a circle in the center of the room, then started to look around visibly searching for something. Sharon turned off the lights and the place instantly became a shady and eerie scene where five people would meet for some mysterious deed. Angela wondered if they had planned this event for a long time or if it was something they had just came up with after a few too many drinks? But she was excited by the unusual event taking place. They all sat cross-legged on the floor around the circle of candles. Angela suddenly felt like she was part of a witch meeting or something. Lori came back with a small oval mirror that could rotate on its basis and sat next to Angela.
– “That’ll be perfect, check it out.” She said holding her cigarette in her mouth. She put the mirror in the center of the circle, she rotated the mirror facing up. “There we go!”
– “Why did you put it like that?” asked Sharon.
– “Nobody has to see her own reflection to make this work. Lori replied.
– “Where did that BS come from?” frowned Lucy “Don’t you have to just say her name four times in front of the mirror?”
– “Nope, the summoners need to be out of the frame, and then her name needs to be said FIVE times by five different people.” Said Lori with an odd expression in her face and squinting her eyes.
Angela looked at them all and realized they were talking about the legend of Bloody Mary, they wanted to actually summon her! That was something almost every kid would have tried once in their lifetime. But she also recalled that there’s a catch at the end of the legend: the spirit of Mary, once called out, would kill the summoner. She fixed her eyes on Lori and Lori stared at her in return.
– “You guessed it, we’re gonna try to call Bloody Mary, but don’t you worry about any tragical ending honey, if the five of us do this without breaking the circle, she can’t hurt us.”
Sharon still dared to snigger, but the other girls had become a bit more serious. Angela didn’t believe anything of the legend but was still intrigued by the turn the night was taking.
Lori explained the rules:
– “Alright guys listen up…” She was interrupted by three loud knockings on the door!
All the girls jumped, Cynthia even let out a small scream before bursting into laughter. There was nothing like one last jump scare to release the tension. Sharon yelled some profanities to the person behind the door who didn’t dare to insist and walked away. Which made the girls laugh… for the last time in their lives.
– “Ok everyone, close the circle by holding hands. I’m gonna start the invitation and you need to stay put. Don’t say a word until I’m done. Then and only then, each one of us shall say her name once. I will start first, then Cynthia, then Sharon, then Lucy and last will be you Angela. Understood?”
Everybody nodded and held hands.
And so the chain reaction started.
She had memorized an entire incantation by heart:
“In the darkness, shall I call you
From your slumber, may I wake you
By the blood, shall I feed you
Mary!”
– “Mary.” added Cynthia
– “Maryyyy.” added Sharon in a playful tone.
– “M.. Mary.” added Lucy, visibly stressed out
It was Angela’s turn, but she kept silent. Cynthia lifted her eyes towards her, soon followed by the other girls. Lori leaned her head and glared at her spelling a silent “Come on!”
Angela sighed and said it low and quickly:
– “Mary.”
Nothing happened.
No one dared to move. Nobody looked away from the mirror in the center, only Sharon allowed herself to glance around.
Then the room became strangely quiet. Too quiet. Even the noises and music beyond the door seemed to have stopped. It also seemed to Angela that the room had gotten darker, and colder.
But still nothing happened.
– “It’s not working.” crooned Sharon, and she dropped her hold on Cynthia and Lucy’s hands to grab her beer.
– “NOOOO, don’t break the circle!!!” yelled Lori
At that same moment, they heard the sound of glass breaking. It was neat and brief. Everyone noticed the mirror now had cracks!
Sharon had held hands back again in a hurry, but it was too late.
They started to hear a hum in the room, first very low and then very loud. Cynthia and Lucy started to scream. Then an unbearable screechy sound tickled their eardrums. Lucy wanted to release her hands, but Angela’s grip was too strong, even if at this state the circle had been broken. And that’s what she was waiting for!
The mirror suddenly started to move, first it slightly wobbled, then it violently rotated in Angela’s direction. All the girls looked at her all at once, wide-eyed.
The mirror was facing straight at Angela who was paralyzed by fear. But she couldn’t see her reflection in the mirror, the mirror was empty, like a black puddle… a deep hypnotizing black puddle from where pure hatred seemed to emanate, sucking all life inward like a vacuum. The cracks started to extend beyond the frame, in the “real world” radiating all around. Angela could even see the background distorted in-between the cracks, like a refraction shattering reality.
And from the dark curtain she revealed herself, in a swift and elegant motion, she stepped out entirely at once, it was her glorious entrance to the physical world. The dark queen of the void stood in front of Angela, as the cracks began to retract, closing the mystical portal behind her.
She was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. She was wearing a lovely black long dress from another time. Her torso was confined inside a corset made of exquisite lacework. Her face was gorgeous, and her skin looked like it was made of silk, pale like the moon.
Her dark hair was mounted in a strange hairstyle resembling two evil horns on top of her head.
Her evil presence vibrated across the room. She was staring straight at Angela who stepped back and found herself back to the door.
The other girls were screaming loud, terrified, and hysterical, gathering in one corner of the room.
Then Bloody Mary spoke with her deep voice:
– “I shall answer your call and award you with the death you seek, my child, for such is your destiny”
– “I… I didn’t call you, I swear, I didn’t mean to!” Angela replied in tears.
– “Oh yes you did, it was your blood that lead me to you”
– “No, no, no, please! I don’t want to die!”
Angela was nervously crying, her body collapsing under her own weight, she was on her knees and begged Mary with a choked voice.
– “Please, please madame, don’t kill me.”
Bloody Mary kneeled down, her face a few inches from the girl’s face. She grabbed a long pair of scissors from under the folds of her dress and caressed Angela’s cheeks with it, she talked in a smooth voice:
– “Don’t judge me wrong child, I’m not a killer, I’m simply a survivor. You agreed to help me, and I graciously accepted it, by this contract your blood is now mine.”
Angela snapped and shouted:
– “I CAN GIVE YOU MORE BLOOD, I CAN GIVE YOU MORE BLOOD! Let’s make another contract and I will provide you with more blood, lots of blood!”
Bloody Mary winced and stared right into the girl’s eyes, she was intrigued by her offer.
– “Hmph, don’t you dare go around fooling me child, for I will make your death very painful if you do!”
– “I’m not, I’m not, I’m serious! Spare me and I will bring you blood, a lot more blood.”
– “Hmmm…” Mary thought for a moment.
– “I accept your deal.” she said.
Angela couldn’t believe she actually managed to save her life by dealing with a ghost or whatever Bloody Mary was.
– “Now where’s my due?” Mary said with a threatening voice, her expression was back to that of an extremely angry woman.
Angela silently pointed at the group of girls in the corner of the room.
Bloody Mary turned around to contemplate the prize of her deal with an evil smile carved on her lips.
– “Yes, that is indeed much better.”
The four girls were taken aback, Lori stared at Angela in the eyes, she could have killed her if she wasn’t already the prey of an uncompromising ghost.
That’s when Bloody Mary dashed towards the girls. She moved so fast that Angela lost sight of her for a second. From where she was standing she witnessed the swiftness and efficiency of her attacks on her victims. Blood spurted and splattered on every wall of the bathroom while the bodies of the girls were stabbed, cut, and violently thrown across the room, breaking the toilet and sink in the process as their heads had landed on them. The poor girls didn’t even have time to scream as their blood was flooding the floor and their bodies and limbs littered the place, like abandoned broken puppets.
Then, when Angela thought she had witnessed the strangest possible thing, she watched the scarlet liquid rise into the air, flowing in the air, and heading towards Mary. Liters of blood was pouring in reverse and was absorbed by her body like some mystical enchantment. Bloody Mary’s eyes were closed in delight, her tongue out and tasting some of the blood streaming at her.
That’s when Angela fainted.
What she remembers afterwards were quick flashes: people breaking into the bathroom, one of them throwing up. Angela being taken into custody by policemen in front of the mansion, Lisa in the middle of the crowd watching her, horrified and crying. Bloody Mary watching her in the rear-view mirror of the police car.
– “You’re not getting away like that, kid! I swear the prosecutor will eat you alive.” Said the blond officer who’s clearly had enough of her version of the story.
– “She’s trying to play the nuts card. Her lawyer is gonna make her plead insanity, don’t you get it yet?” Replied the other policeman.
Angela had told them exactly what had happened, but what were the chances they would ever believe her anyway? The blond officer didn’t want to let go and kept yelling at her.
– “You won’t get away with this, not this time! I’m sick of your kind, you retarded little shits who have it all! You grow bored with life, watching all these shitty violent shows on TV, competing with each other to see who makes the sickest videos and upload it on the internet. You think it’s cool to act like psychos and stuff, and eventually you kill someone innocent just to show the world you exist or something! What a fucked up generation!” He had his face so close to hers that she received sneezes while he was yelling at her.
– “Jim, let her go, that’s useless.” advised his colleague.
– “You make me sick! I’m gonna make sure you rot in jail, trust me on that!” The blond officer added before slapping her face.
– “JIM! Okay… let’s get out of here.”
They were heading towards the door when Angela suddenly said:
– “Wait… I’m gonna confess.”
The blond officer came back, putting his two hands on the table:
– “Oh now she wants to confess! You hear that Collins!?”
Angela lifted her head and confronted him, looking straight into his eyes.
– “You wanna see if I’m the sick one? You wanna see if I’m the psycho here?”
– “Yeah show me! You wanna play tough now? Just show me what you’re made of.”
While his colleague yelled something at him and tried to grab him by the arm, Jim never heard the five words that Angela was whispering while looking at her reflection in the mirror. Jim never saw the haunting figure coming from behind him and when he felt a horrible pain in his back and saw the tip of a long pair of scissors bursting out of his chest, it was already too late. He looked at the girl seated in front of him, his face full of disbelief. The other officer screamed and grabbed his gun, but before he had the chance to aim at the dark specter, his blood was already spattering the door. They both collapsed to the floor.
Three police officers in the corridor heard loud noises coming from within the room. When they entered, they saw the bodies of their colleagues lying face down in a pool of blood, their limbs creased in weird positions. The table and chairs had flown across the room, the camera was destroyed, and a thousand pieces of the large mirror littered the floor.
Apart from the bodies of the deceased cops, they never found any traces of somebody else in the room.
WHITE LADY DEATH WISH
Darrell was in the middle of a dream when his cell phone rang. He instinctively grabbed his cell phone under his pillow and placed it right under his nose, he didn’t have his glasses on: it was Audrey and it was 3:12 AM. She sounded so excited he couldn’t understand a word she was saying.
– “Hold on Audrey, slow down please. What’s… what’s going on?” whispered Darrell.
– “I found it! I f*cking found it, and I just bought it!” she said trying to hide a certain excitement.
– “You found what? Audrey it’s the middle of the night, I’ve gotta get up early tomorrow for my shitty job, what the hell do you want!?”
– “The dagger! I’ve got the f*cking dagger! I bought it and it’s gonna be here in a couple of days!”
Darrell stayed silent for a moment, trying to make sense of all this, then it hit him, White Lady’s dagger!
– “No way!” he said, suddenly excited too.
– “Yes! I found it! I finally found it! I told you I would!”
– “Okay, huh, did you check all the marks and details? How do you know it’s the real one?”
– “Dude, of course I checked everything, do you think I’m a retard. It’s got all the details, it’s a perfect match. It’s the dagger, her dagger!”
– “Oh man, it better be, this could be the video that’s gonna make us famous!”
– “Hell yeah!”
Two days later, Darrell arrives at Audrey’s apartment. She opened the door for Darrell and he followed her to the living room. She was all dressed up with her complete gothic outfit and it suited her well, black leather showing off her attractive curves, pale makeup that contrasted with her beautiful dark eyes that brought out her seductive personality. He would have certainly fallen in love with her a long time ago if it wasn’t for Audrey’s dark side and self-destructive tendencies that the scars on her wrists could testify. She was the typical dark, gothic young adult fond of grim, twisted matters and he was the typical chubby nerd and also one of her very few friends.
Allen was already there, setting up the camera’s lens and microphones. They shook hands while Audrey disappeared into the bathroom to finish putting on her makeup.
There was a small cardboard box sitting in the middle of a low table, still unopened.
– “I hope it’s for real, otherwise it’s gonna be a comical episode, I tell you what.” said Allen while checking the spotlights.
Allen joined the duo only a year ago. A simple guy, laid back and shy. He was the tech guy of the team, and preferred to manage things behind the camera.
Audrey comes back with shots of vodka for everyone and answers Allen’s question:
– “It is, I’ve spent enough time doing my research, tracking different owners, and the timeline.”
– “But what if it’s just a replica, it just won’t work according to you.” replied Darrell. “Or what if it’s not even what you’ve ordered, who’s the seller anyway?”
– “I have that feeling again you know, it’s the real thing.” she replied quietly.
– “Ah yes, your… connection.” Darrell said while staring at Allen, expecting the same skepticism from him, especially him.
– “All I know is that we’re gonna make this video and our million subscribers will watch it no matter how real this is.” Allen winked with a big forced smile on his face.
– “You’ve got a point!” concluded Darrell.
Half an hour later Audrey was ready, while Darrell checked his microphone one last time.
Allen made sure they were right in the frame of the camera and started shooting.
Audrey smiled and started off with her signature welcome.
– “Creep or Treat everyone, this is Audrey” followed by Darrell’s line “and I’m Darrell, and welcome to another episode of ‘Signs of Evil!’”
– “Alright so tonight we’re doing the unboxing of an object that will be crucial in our next quest to uncover ancient evil! Darrell, would you please explain to our viewers what we’re up to?”
– “Absolutely Audrey, but first I need to tell you a story. You guys probably know her by many different names: The Weeping Woman, The Ghost Lady, The Running Lady, La Llorona, or simply as The White Lady. It’s a worldwide phenomenon where a ghost woman, usually dressed in a white dress, is seen in specific areas. Sometimes she just teases and frightens the local folks, other times she makes direct contact with people. The reason of these apparitions varies depending on the stories or location, but often the White Lady is seeking revenge over her death or tries to show the way to a hidden treasure she hid before she died. But we could simply describe her as the embodiment of women’s souls who have met a tragic and often violent death. It’s the quintessence of female agony coming back to haunt us all. Imagine a thousand horrible deaths and desperate souls merging into one single entity. That’s what the White Lady is and we are here today to shed some light on this phenomenon with the help of what’s inside of this box.”
Allen zoomed in on the cardboard box. Audrey grabs the box and shows it to the camera, continuing Darrell’s introduction.
– “Turns out the spirit of the White Lady is often linked to an artifact, which happens to be this weapon that literally created the first White Lady… by killing her. It is a sacred dagger that some say is possessed by a demon or evil spirit. The dagger’s origin is a different topic altogether and will probably be the subject of another video, but for now we’ll focus on its link with the White Lady and the power it exerts on her. Because based upon the old writings and folklore, whoever possesses the dagger can control her.”
Audrey shakes the box to the camera.
– “Now believe it or not, after months of extensive research across the internet, our team was finally able to get their hands on the actual dagger.”
Darrell nodded with a smile.
– “Let’s open our present, shall we?”
They tore apart the box and removed the sheets of paper filling the box. Audrey and Darrell were suddenly very quiet, Allen approached the box and got his camera even closer. Audrey lifted up the dagger in the palm of her hands, showing the artifact to the camera. If it wasn’t the exact object they were looking for, the dagger unarguably stood as a refined piece of art. The handle seemed to be carved into a translucent dark kind of marble stone, covered with blurry yellowish veins. Light refracted inside in a strange way, like if some mischievous lifeform was trapped inside. The blade was a work of art in itself, forged in silver and engraved with detailed mystical runes. It would also catch light in a peculiar manner, flashing back the reflection like some kind of warning.
– “Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you White Lady’s dagger…” said Darrell with a low voice.
Audrey was completely fascinated by the weapon’s beauty, caressing the blade from the tip of her forefinger. Eventually she cut her finger and a drop of blood beaded out, which freed her from her trance.
– “The blade is still so sharp after all these centuries.” she whispered.
– “Now that we have this dagger, things can really start to get fun.” said Darrell. “Next stop is Greenwood Cemetery, where there’s the highest sightings of the White Lady. This is where we think we’ll have better chances to summon her and possibly make an encounter with the help of the dagger, the long-lost item that she’s been desperately seeking for centuries.
– “And cut!” added Audrey.
The team geared up for exterior shooting, they packed all the necessary material which fitted into one bag. They jumped into Darrell’s car and hit the road toward their destination. They stopped by at a Starbucks and got their hot coffee that they took with them. They kept discussing their plan in the car as Allen kept recording along, this would add to the dynamic, balance, and pacing of the video.
Audrey seemed even more enthusiastic than in any of their other previous quests. She’s been on this case for months now and she’s been carefully preparing this episode. She had read everything available on the White Lady’s subject, she bought books, and even did some research at the national library. She got overly involved in this topic, sometimes neglecting the other subjects of other episodes. Now the dagger was resting in her backpack that she held against her chest. It was not only the key to a great episode, but possibly a game changer in her life, boosting her career, not to mention her name would be famous in the paranormal research community. She kept day dreaming about her future success until they arrived at the gates of Greenwood Cemetery.
– “So, where do we start? Should we search for the spookiest spot or how does this work?” asked Allen.
– “I think it doesn’t really matter since we have the dagger. We could summon her from anywhere I guess.” Audrey replied while gazing at the cemetery through the window.
Allen looked at Darrell who shrugged his shoulders.
– “So why did we drive here? Couldn’t we have stayed at your place?” frowned Allen.
– “Because a cemetery looks much better than my apartment, we’re trying to attract as much viewers as possible remember?” Audrey immediately replied.
Again Allen looked at Darrell.
– “She’s got a point” he said.
They parked the car and walked to the entrance of the cemetery. From there they followed Audrey without asking any questions as she seemed confident leading them to a specific spot.
After a little while, they arrived at an intersection with gothic arc gates set up with iron grid doors. Beyond this crossroad stood a magnificent cupola supported by Greek-styled columns. In the center lied an imposing Anon statue. Allen immediately started to record as he spotted a great place for a background. And he was right, Audrey turned around with a little smile.
– “Here, this is a nice spot, what do you think guys?” she said.
The boys smiled in return. Crypts and tombs surrounded the cupola, it was like the center place of a necropolis, with different architectural art style straight from past centuries. The vegetation had claimed its rights among the human structure, invading every area it can with tall grass, imposing trees, and vines, putting the place in a perfect balance between life and death. A natural gateway between the paranormal realm and our world. There was nobody besides them, which was perfect for the circumstances.
– “We ready boys?” asked Audrey.
– “Whenever you are.” replied Allen who had already started to record.
Audrey put her backpack down and took the dagger out and carefully hid it inside her leather jacket.
They gathered under the cupola and they started shooting. Audrey talked to the camera and explained that they would look for signs of any kind of manifestations. If nothing happened then they would try another way to summon the White Lady.
Allen panned the camera around while Audrey and Darrell kept filling the soundtrack with comments. There was no sign of anything happening. Only the wind in the trees and the sky getting darker as the day was coming to an end, the air also got fresher, but nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen.
Allen stop recording and they took a break; they all sat on the stairs under the cupola and the boys had a snack.
Darrell took a sandwich with peanut butter and strawberry jam while Allen had a chocolate bar. Audrey wasn’t hungry, she just kept gazing around, still focused on her quest. Allen finished his snack and stood up, checked his camera, and adjusted the setting as the day was growing darker. He aimed his camera at Audrey and Darrell and froze. He stuck his face to the screen.
– “Guys, guys…” He said with a low voice.
– “Yep, I think Allen is right, we should go and try another day. Or another location…” sighed Darrell
Audrey remained silent.
– “No, guys, I’m telling you something is going on. I can see something moving right behind you guys.” said Allen
Darrell raised his eyebrows and looked behind, Audrey did the same, but the only thing they saw was the still statue sitting on its pedestal and the only thing they would feel was the cold wind. They frowned and turned back to Allen. He was holding his camera tight and was walking slowly towards them, toward the silhouette he was seeing in his little screen. He stopped right in front of them, lifting his head and looking back to his camera screen.
Darrell stood up and looked over Allen’s shoulder, staring at the screen too. What he saw gave him the chills.
– “Audrey, we have found her… She’s standing right behind you.” said Darrell
– “If this is a joke…” She promptly stood up and took the dagger out of her jacket and brandished it like if she was about to stab someone.
Suddenly a mysterious fog started to roll in, seeming to originate from nowhere, as it formed on the ground. The fog started to rise up and shape itself into a humanoid form. At the same time, a swarm of small pieces of ragged, white fabric seemed to materialize from thin air. It swirled around the figure of fog now turning into a smoky maelstrom and assembled into a white dress, conserving it’s torn and ragged aspect. The fog quickly solidified into a human body made of flesh and bones, or so it seemed.
The White Lady was standing right in front of them, her dead white eyes fixed on the three, with a chilling blood expression in her livid face that could have been that of a dying woman. She almost looked like a statue with her almost translucent skin, with dark veins browsing underneath, like a sculpture made of marble in a museum. She had dark long dirty hair, with cluttered wicks partially hiding her face.
The three stepped back, Allen even stumbled and fell down the stairs and got up as fast as he could.
The White Lady turned her head to face Audrey with her hypnotizing dead eyes and she rose her right arm in her direction.
– “That dagger belongs to me, give it to me.” said the ghost with an imperious voice, full of anger and bitterness. A windy sound came out of her throat when she spoke, like if she had asthma.
The two boys were the most frightened of the three, as they continued to step back, visibly terrorized by this unusual sight. Audrey stayed still where she was, sporting a determined expression and a fierce look in her eyes, her hand strongly clutched to the dagger.
– “No, this dagger is mine and I’m keeping it.” Audrey calmly said, with a bit of tension in her voice betraying her braveness.
The ghost opened her eyes even wider, outraged by Audrey’s answer. She dashed in her direction so fast that her face stood two inches close to the girl in a blink of an eye, her dress following her body in a delayed slow motion as if she was moving underwater with pieces of fabric peeling off and immediately disintegrating into the air. She startled Audrey, but the young woman managed to stand her ground. The White Lady was trying to intimidate her, but visibly she could not touch her or harm her, the dagger was protecting its new owner.
The White Lady slowly retracted, while still maintaining a furious gaze and started to float around Audrey as if she would assess her enemy and tried to find a crack to exploit. The girl slowly turned around and followed the ghost’s every move, staring right at her.
Again, the spectral figure dashed forward and stopped right in front of her in a swift motion.
– “I will devour your soul and it will rot inside of me forever…” said the White Lady with a chilling smile.
Slowly Audrey glanced at Allen’s direction, she was sweating and looked very tense despite her apparent calmness. Her hair rose up, floating around her head from the electric charge emanating from the phantom.
– “I hope you got that on tape Allen…”
– “Hell yeah I do!” he said, remaining professional despite the odd circumstances.
Audrey firmly kept the dagger close to her chest while raising her left arm straight forward.
– “Now get away from me and always keep your distance at least 10 feet away…”
The White Lady unwillingly obeyed and silently moved back without her feet touching the ground.
Audrey sighed in relief and relaxed a little bit, seeing that the dagger and the legend about its power worked liked she had hoped it would.
Darrell was still speechless and sweating, but he also started to relax a bit.
Audrey turned around and faced the camera.
– “This is Audrey from the ‘Signs of Evil’ channel, and what you just saw is an authentic ghost summoning taking place right here, right now at Greenwood Cemetery in New York. This dagger I have right here in my hand is an ancient artifact linked to the spirit of the White Lady, the phenomenon sighted all around the world. There is no fakery here, this is a genuine recording of a ghost I’ve managed to lure into our plane of reality.” she said proudly with a touch of excitement in her voice.
The White Lady was standing where Audrey had ordered her to stay, floating in the background behind Audrey. Shyly, Darrell nervously entered in the frame, carefully watching his back.
– “Absolutely, this is probably the first time ever that an event like this is caught on camera and it’s brought to you by the ‘Signs of Evil’ team, we’d like to remind our viewers that…” Darrell added before being interrupted by a loud howling behind him.
The White Lady charged at Audrey once again as she was facing the camera and neglected to keep an eye on the spirit for a mere second. The static charged friction shoved Darrell and almost made him stumble like if someone had kicked him in the back.
Audrey stumbled back, but she managed to avoid falling and to keep the dagger out of White Lady’s grasp.
– “I said this dagger is mine and you will return it to me!” the White Lady yelled, spitting all her hatred to the young woman, floating a few inches from her face.
Darrell and Allen were frightened and worried now. It seems they have awakened this horrible entity and it looks like it wasn’t going away until it gets what it wants. Audrey may have thought she could have easily handled this situation and control the ghost with the dagger, but how long would she be able to do so? The White Lady looked relentless and full of negative energy. What have they done?
– “Audrey, maybe you should do as she says and we get the hell out of here, we have enough material to close this video…”
– “Or maybe we just get the hell out of here right now…” Allen added. “Keep the dagger locked away somewhere Audrey and forget all this for now.”
– “Can’t you guys see? She can’t harm us, she’s pissed off, but she can’t do anything.” replied Audrey with a smile, hidden the dagger in her back and gaining confidence again. The White Lady kept floating around her, but was unable to directly touch her, as she would be stopped by an invisible wall. She moved back with a different expression in her face, but still visibly upset.
Allen grabbed Audrey’s arm.
– “Audrey, we need to go now, I’m not feeling this.” he said nervously, constantly keeping an eye on the vengeful spirit.
– “No, we can’t leave, this is what we’ve been waiting for! Dude, this is our chance to be rich and famous!” replied Audrey, not letting the ghost out of her sight.
– “Well as for me, I’m outta here, you guys enjoy your party.” Darrell said, already walking away.
– “Damn you Darrell! Now that we’re dealing with the real thing, you chicken out on us!?” Audrey yelled at him.
The White Lady noticed the conflict arising in the group, she smiled and slowly started to fade away, disappearing into the darkness, with small patches of fabric dissolving in the air.
– “Shit! Shit! Shit! Where did she go?” said Audrey.
Allen used his camera and tried to track down the White Lady, hoping he could still see her like he did before. He turned around nervously, trying to catch anything on screen.
Audrey raised her hand, flailing the dagger in the air.
– “Hey, White Lady! It’s here! Your dagger is here! Come and show yourself now, I’m ordering you to show yourself at once!” Audrey yelled out, but she got no reply.
It was night now and the place was almost completely dark. The only source of illumination was coming from the lights of the city, glittering in the background. The air was freezing and even snow began to fall.
Audrey kept looking around, trying to accommodate her eyes to the dark, and after a little while, she had realized that even Allen wasn’t around anymore. She called his name several times, but Allen didn’t answer or show up, and Darrell had left long ago. She was all alone and didn’t know what to do, she hadn’t planned this and was terrified.
Darrell was arriving where they had parked the car. He was looking for the keys in his pocket, still shaken by the sighting, and not thinking straight when he heard someone behind him:
– “Can you help me please?”
He turned around to see a young girl standing there, crying and looking miserable. “I was with my parents, but then I got lost, now I can’t find them. Can you help me please?”
Darrell was upset and confused, the night had already been chaotic enough and now this little girl showing up, asking for help, but she was very young and looked so helpless. Darrell looked at her and decided he should indeed help this little girl.
– “Alright, alright, we’re gonna call your parents, do you know their number?” He said while looking one more time in the direction where the group had previously gone to venture. When he turned back to talk to the child, she had the face of the White Lady, angry and menacing. He stumbled back, bouncing into the car. The little girl dashed towards Darrell in the blink of an eye and sunk into him. He had been possessed by the one of the many faces of the White Lady, Audrey never mentioned that particular ability from the ghost, but it was irrelevant now, his body was under the control of the White Lady.
Allen had also suffered the same fate, just when he had spotted the White Lady on his camera again and started to follow her, he noticed that the ghost had played with his senses and separated him from Audrey. He’s been under her spell until the White Lady manifested right in front of him, becoming intangible and making it through his body, taking possession of his mind.
Audrey turned around, desperately calling to her friends, lost and confused, not knowing what to do or where to go anymore. It seems she had underestimated the White Lady’s extraordinary abilities and under-evaluated the situation she created for herself. That’s when she saw her friends coming back, she felt a rush of relief and sprinted towards them. They both seemed very calm, even Darrell looked like he had come to his senses again. As she was getting closer to them, she noticed they were even smiling. Was it a prank played on her? Have they planned this all along in order to record the best reactions on camera for the show? It seemed highly plausible now that things seemed to have gone back to normal and they were all back together again. She got so convinced about the prank possibility that she didn’t watch for any signs. Something was wrong, but it was too late now.
Allen pounced on Audrey, and immobilized her with his strong arms, Darrell grabbed her arm and snatched the dagger right out of her hand. She looked at him, in complete shock and disbelief. His face had strange waves running over it and when his eyes turned white, Audrey noticed there was another face juxtaposed to his friend’s. She recognized White Lady’s traits moving underneath Darrell’s face, like if her body was acting the same way as his, but with some slight delays. She understood the ghost had taken control of his body and there was nothing he could do now to escape. The only sign that Darrell was still inside and conscious of his possession was a shed of tear rolling down his cheek.
In a lust of violence and rage, Darrell plunged the dagger into Audrey’s body an unlimited number of times, splattering blood everywhere around them while Allen continued to hold her tight. She didn’t scream too much as she quickly got short of breath, the pain scorched her mind to the point that she almost fell in a trance. Darrell would not stop stabbing, sending small pieces of flesh flying in the air when her whole body was already drained of blood.
Audrey’s mind had already left this world and was wandering into an infinite void of complete darkness. The reminiscence of her life still echoed within her soul until nothing was left to hear or see.
Then, when she thought her soul was finally at peace and that she would forget about the pain and horror of the last moments of her life, she woke up.
The darkness tore apart and dissipated around her, revealing a new state of awareness. She looked at herself and her body was in the same state as when she had died, her belly wide open in an obscene gaping wound. The pain slowly started to come back, burning her entire body. Her mind could sense her surroundings and she first thought she was in the middle of a small dark room. As her senses got familiar with her new environment, the walls of the room started to stretched further away, revealing a much bigger scene, a horrible scene. The ground consisted of bodies piled up one over the other, all drenched in dark blood; tons of naked female bodies lied upon each other. Everywhere she looked, she could only see agonizing figures, screaming in pain. Extended arms desperately seeking help rose from underneath layers of moribund bodies, like if they were grown, spreading all over the place. The darkness gave up to a red, dark, cloudy sky, which in turn revealed a field filled with thousands of agonizing bodies, forming a surreal landscape of infinite torture. Hills of contorting bodies and steams of blood extending to the horizon. The sounds of thousands of screaming and lament resonated as far as one could hear. There was nothing but pure desolation, pain, and sorrow in this place.
– “Welcome to your new existence Audrey.” said the White Lady, standing next to her. “You will now share your pain with all of us and we’ll welcome yours. You can now taste an infinite world of agony and endless sorrow, from which we gain our power.”
Audrey collapsed and fell to her knees from the pain, but also from the terror. The White Lady got closer to her face.
– “Isn’t this what you’ve been looking for all your life? You like to suffer don’t you? Now you’ll have all of eternity to enjoy pain, just like us, united forever.” she shows her the dagger. “And with this, we shall extend our realm even farther. Rejoice as you are now a part of the great legend.”
Audrey could no longer stand the pain, both physical and mental, she screamed as loud as her exposed lungs could allow, her scream and despair blending into the land of lamentation.