Little Jon peeked out through the curtain and saw Agnes circling the
trailer, muttering to herself as she slowly made her way around again. She
was raking her fingernails down the sides of the trailer as she walked, and
in the other hand she carried a large kitchen knife that swung to and fro,
gleaming menacingly as she gestured unconsciously. She began to call
Little John by name, asking him to come out and talk with her. "Come out
Jon, come out and visit with dear Agnes." "Aren't you glad I gave you that
amulet Jon ?" "Are you wearing it right now Jon ?"

Little Jon quietly reached down and yanked the amulet from around his
neck, throwing it to the floor under the table. He was panting and gasping,
. . . . close to hyperventilating !

Little John pushed himself into the corner of the trailer's walls and covered his ears tightly. This was way too much for him. The scratching on the trailer seemed to work its way into the very soul of Little John. Even with the palms of his hands pressed tightly against each ear, the scratching kept coming.

He kept telling himself that it would stop soon. He pressed his hands against his ears harder as he desperately wanted the noise to stop. Beads of sweat were breaking out on his forehead and he was trembling badly. He waited for it to just stop...

The noise was becoming slow and steady now. Little John's breathing began to slow down and his muscles stopped straining. In his head now, he enjoyed a slow steady squeal in seamless unison with his own relaxed rhythmic breathing. He was about to listen to Agnes tell him exactly what to do.

Little John stood up. He walked to the cabinet and retrieved a spool of clothesline. He untied the secured end and pulled a five foot section from it. He opened the drawer and produced a knife. He cut his piece from the rest and put everything back in its proper place. Little John looked above him at the ceiling.

He stood on the table and secured one end of the rope to the bar that operated the skylight. The other end he tied around his own neck. He stood on the table looking at nothing in particular. He concentrated on the slow steady squeal and his own breathing.

"Now only when I say, Little John. Only when I say."

Outside, Agnes was dragging her talons along the metal of the trailer. Her eyes were closed and she watching Little John. From inside her head she could see Little John inside the trailer. As she walked her view would change. As if the trailer was transparent. She had him now.

"Jonnie you best get down a'for momma comes back and catches you up there", said Liza, breaking the spell that Lil' Jon was under. He got down and hurriedly put the line away and told Liza to go back and lay down. " Whatever you do Liza, stay in there, don't come out for any reason!" "But I was hearing sumpin' Jonnie and it scared me." " I know, but listen to me, go back to the bedroom and stay in there. I will come and check on you in just a little bit okay, right now I have to do something." She didn't argue with her big brother anymore, she did as he asked of her. What to do though...he didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he couldn't open the door. He had to think of something....

Lisa was sobbing as Jon tried desperately to get the door open. Just when she was about to lose hope, Devon again appeared. "She has locked you in and I am sure she is at this very moment tormenting your children...she likes to torment and torture...she is evil...pure evil...I will let you out, but I warn you now, keep your eye on her...until you can get your family out of here...do not under estimate her and above all do not take anything that she offers you...and I mean anything...not a damned cup of sugar, not a pencil, nothing! You can bet that whatever she tries to give you will be cursed!" With that, the door flew open.. Jon and Lisa ran for their lives or rather for the lives of their children! She knew they had been freed, that damned meddling Devon, she would deal with him later...right now she had to go back home and hatch a plan...another perfect plan to rid her house and her life of these pests....these intruders...besides, she had made a pact...

The match, smelling strongly of sulphur, flew at the trailer as if in slow
motion, like a comet burning its way across a dark sky. Landing just back
of the propane tanks, on top of dead weeds and a couple of old oily rags,
it quickly ignited a small fire that grew in size rapidly. Smoke engulfed the
entire trailer, pouring inside from the floorboards and cracked windows.

Flames now leaped up along the sides of the trailer, . . crackling loudly.

It was this picture that confronted an out-of-breath Lisa and Jonathan as
they rushed from the basement of the house desperately seeking their
children !

Lisa again let go with a blood-curdling scream !

Jon ran fowards into the fire, the flames licking at his body...the heat was too intense... he ran backwards and fell to his knees, his body wracked with sobs...his babies...his precious beautiful babi... "DADDY!" Omg it was Liza...she was alive...."Where are you baby, where are you", cried Jon. Lisa was on her feet, searching through the smoke that filled the air...there...she could see Liza...and Jon...and ...they were all there..."Jon, there they are", she cried as she ran to her children. They were hiding in the old barn. " Jonny gots us out mommie, he sneaked us out the window and we was hidin' in here...that old lady burned the trailer...why did she do that daddy, how come she lighted a fire on us, I seen her do it, she was playing with matches...you told us not to, she is gonna be in big trouble ain't she daddy", ask Liza. She was scared and was talking so fast that they were having trouble keeping up with her words, but they didn't care....their babies were alive and safe, and YES Agnes was in big trouble...she had crossed the line...

[edit on 22-7-2009 by Greenize]

[edit on 22-7-2009 by Greenize]

Lil' Jon handed the baby to his mother and sank to his knees, tears streaming, weaving a path down his smoke blackened face. He had made it...he had gotten them out, and without her seeing them, and just in time. His daddy came and knelt in front of him and took him in his arms. " I am very proud of you son. That was a very brave thing that you did, very brave. You are a hero!" After a moment, lil' Jon looked up at his daddy and spoke... " She is a bad person...she is mean daddy. She was clawing on the trailer and scaring me and she was making me do stuff from outside... I didn't know what to do... she was pacing around...I kept peeping through the curtains...she went across the yard like she was going home... I grabbed baby Luke and told Liza to help Joey...we sneaked out the window on the back...just when we got into the barn she turned around and came back...I thought she knew we sneaked away...I thought we were dead...but she stopped over there and lit a match and threw it...she was laughing...then she left... I was so scared daddy..." after he had told his story, he again fell into his dads arms and cried..tears of relief and fear...

The house watched as the trailer burned. When the propane tanks finally
exploded, sending orange flames fifty feet into the air, the house watched
steadily as the trailer was torn to bits. Up in the attic, the pages of the
book turned slowly, in a loud, whipping-like manner. The pages turned
faster, and faster, until a dull roar began to shake the room !

A painfully loud scream echoed across the road from Agness Deerefield's
house. She had fallen to the floor on her knees, covering her ears with
her hands, tears streaming down her face. She bolted, as if having a
seizure, and fell face down.

Back in the attic, the turning pages slowed to a stop.

The dark spirit had again left her body. Agnes felt the pangs of what they had made her do. Those dear precious babies...those poor parents...her sister...Devon...her dear husband...and of course all the others...she hadn't wanted to hurt any of them. It was that damned cursed book. She didn't know how Devon had found it, and she couldn't tell her sweet Abby that it was hers. The book and the house were a team, and she was the coach. She had made a pact with the spirits that she had conjured and she didn't know how to make it all stop. She had no longer thought the words when she was grabbed up from the floor and thrown forcefully against the wall by unseen hands. She knew that she had to continue in the grisly games...do it or die... these were the last thoughts in her mind as she slid to floor....

Agnes came to about twenty minutes later, but stayed there on the floor
waiting for her strength to return. She had to play this game . . .or die ?
Play . . or die ? And then suddenly an idea came to her, and as she sat up
and wiped the blood from her face and arms . .it became a plan. A plan to
end this madness once and for all. What if . . . .

What if she could get the book . . and somehow make it down to the base-
ment . . quickly enough to enable her to "enter" that dimensional door to
the painting . . where Devon resided . . where it might not have power
over her anymore ? She could leave the book there with crazy Devon,
whose rabid curiosity had cost him his soul anyway ! She'd sneak out when
his attention was on the book . . and no one would be the wiser !


Outside, it began to rain again, softly. Lisa and Jonathan huddled with their
children in the old barn and discussed the feasibility of moving to the
house, as the barn's old roof was far from being water-resistant, and leaks
were now everywhere. Jonathan's guns and equipment had all been lost in
the trailer fire, and he was apprehensive to say the least. Lisa and the kids
worked on him, trying to convince him that being warm and dry was better
that being scared, and cold, and wet.


The intensity of the rain increased . . . as Agnes made her way over to the
house. It began to pour ! "Must get the book ! Must get the book !"
She was soaked to the bone in her slip, her bare feet were covered with
mud, and her cuts and bruises were bleeding again, but she was oblivious
to all of that now. "The book . . . must get the book. Must get . ."

Must get it...Agnes froze in her tracks. There before her stood what looked to her to be an army. An army of angry spirits..It was her dear sweet Abby that spoke.. " We know what you are thinking you stupid bi%*. Did you really think it would be that easy. That book belongs to us, this house belongs to us...how dare you sister..how dare you try and take anything away from us...you did this to ussss...this is all your fault." "I wasn't, I mean I didn't...I" ...Agnes stuttered, fear taking over every nerve in her body. " Save it Aggie...you can no longer be trusted to do what you promised to do. You must now pay the price"! "Noooo pleeeaasseeee, I am sorry, I..." before she could finish her sentence, the mob of spirits overtook her...tearing the flesh from her bones...ripping the hair from her head...all that was left of Agnes was the sound of her screams, still riding on the air and echoing through the trees...the deal was over...the book flew open, to the page were Agnes had signed her name in blood...the page was once again blank... it needed a new signature...now which one of the people hiding out in the barn would be the best candidate?

[edit on 24-7-2009 by Greenize]

They didn't hear the dying screams of Agnes. The wailing of baby Luke had drown them out. He was hungry and cold, they all were. Lisa pleaded with Jon to let them all go back into the house. "Jon please, there is food in there, the baby has bottles and formula still in there...and its dry and warm...please...its been a long long day...we can't walk out of here in the dark...come on damn it, its one night! Whats the worst that could happen in one night, besides, that crazy old woman is probably exhausted and long asleep by now." Wearily, Jon looked around at the worn and hungry faces of his children... dare he take his family back into that hell house... "Alright Lis, but I swear to God if I so much as hear the damned floor squeak we are leaving! I don't care how dark, how wet, how cold or how far...we get the hell out of here, understood!!" Lisa nodded happily, and gathered the kids...she knew they were scared, but it sure beat this crap and besides, she wanted to take a bath!

As they made their way back to the house, the spirits smiled...yes, Lisa would make the perfect one...they would give them this one night of peace... tomorrow was all that the time they would need to get her signature...tonight...yes tonight they would let them sleep...let them think they were safe....ONE night.....

The rain battered them all the way to the steps leading onto the porch.
In front of the door they paused, listening. Nothing ! It was quiet and still,
the falling rain making the only audible sounds. Jonathan turned the door-
knob and entered first, checking for any signs of foul play. He found the
ground floor to be safe and secure, and went back to let in the rest of the
family. Everyone slowly made their way into the kitchen. Lisa disappeared
into the living room where she unpacked more blankets and dry clothes
for everyone and brought them into the kitchen. Jonathan turned on all of
the stove's gas burners to heat up the room. Soon, the smell of soup filled
the air and everybody was feeling alot better about thenselves. The baby
was fed and changed and put down for a nap, its crib having been moved
into the kitchen as well. Thick slabs of ham were cut to make even thicker
sandwiches to dip into the soup. The family was together and safe . . . .
for now.

They ate in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts, none wanting to share, or maybe none of them were willing to spoil to calm mood that seemed to have enveloped them all...peace...like a warm blanket. they were blissfully unaware of the eyes that were on them, staring colding from every corner of the room.
They had been given orders to leave the family alone tonight..to let them rest and again feel a sense of comfort and serenity. Well, all of them but the woman. They had been whispering her name for a while now and were confident that she wasn't going to give them away... she was too comfortable now...warm and fed ...she wouldn't give that up by telling her family that she was hearing things... The old man laughed...the things that people would endure to keep the creature comforts...how he hated the trappings of the flesh...Yes Anges his beloved had murdered him...rusty axe right between the eyes as he had slept...but he didn't regret it... she got what she had coming to her anyway and so would these intruders.

Lisa sat quietly, sipping her coffee, praying silently that she wasn't giving any sign that she was uncomfortable. She had been hearing the voices...they were calling her name and had been for a a bit. She wasn't going back into that stinking barn...no way! She stretched and yawned as she stood from her chair. "Why don't you all go on to bed now. I am sure that it is safe. It has been a very long and traumatic day. I will clean the dishes and do some chores and be up directly." " I think thats a great idea. You kids do as your momma said. I will come and tuck you in as soon as we clean this mess up". "No, Lisa said, almost in a shout, I mean, really, I can handle it, besides, no offense but I wouldn't mind some time alone Jon." Jon nodded that he understood, and so he rounded the children and they left to their rooms as Lisa had requested.
The task had been entrusted to Abby. She had a kind face...she looked innocent. As Lisa stood at the sink, she raised her eyes to the window and caught the reflection of a young woman standing behind her.
Slowly, Lisa turned to face the ghost. Somehow she found that she wasn't scared. "Hello, Lisa said softly, she couldn't risk her family hearing her talking to herself. May I help you?" Abby stood there, smiling sweetly as she had been instructed to do. "I have something to show you. I think that it will make your life much much easier. Your husband is a stubborn man...I...we... can feel the love that you have for this house, and he doesn't want you to have it. All you need to do is come with me...come and stand before the council. IF they find you worthy and IF you agree to a few simple terms, this house, the land, all of it, can and will be yours forever. Do you accept this offer Lisa?"

It took Lisa only a moment to answer. The answer was yes! She did love this house...it was her dream home. "Allow me a moment to gather the council. I will return to you when they are ready." With that, the ghost vanished, leaving Lisa standing alone at the sink, the dripping sponge still in her hand. She started to hope that she had made the right decision, but quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. She turned her thoughts to the council...what the hell was that...council of what...ghosts...she laughed out loud at how silly that sounded. Oh well, its not like she was going to be telling anyone...who in their right mind would believe her anyway. She couldn't imagine what they wanted from her... it didn't matter anyway...she wasn't leaving here! This was her home now. The home that she had seen as a child. It called to her even then...she was home!

He tip-toed quietly down the hallway, careful not to make any loud noises.
Jonathan had tucked in the children and had waited for them to one-by-one
fall asleep. Lisa was still downstairs, humming to herself, and he decided
to take this opportunity to do a little more exploring up here and work off
his nervousness. He stopped when he reached the stairs to the attic. A cold
stream of air brought the hairs up on the back of his neck! As he was
about to turn back, a thud in the attic captured his attention, and he
turned around and climbed the stairs quickly, hoping to come upon what-
ever had caused the noise.

A long string that had once been white but now was filthy gray ran up to
the single naked lightbulb that struggled to light the interior of the attic
after Jon gave it a tug. The dim bulb provided just enough light for him to
make his way around, although the going was slow. Over against the far
wall he made a discovery . . more paintings, wrapped in burlap sacks. Five
in all, and all depicting different views of the house . . their house. Wiping
off some of the accumulated dust helped bring the pictures into focus, . .
. .and he almost dropped the one he was holding when he saw more
anguished faces appearing to be inside-looking-out, stark terror filling their
eyes ! Hurridly he covered them with the burlap, creeped out and scared.

It took all of his strength to lift the paintings and head for the stairs. He
began to sweat profusely.

Across the room, the book opened and the pages turned. Faster and faster
they turned . . until . . suddenly . . they stopped . . at a certain page . . a
blank page, with stains on it.

Jonathan wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Goose bumps
covered his arms ! He stumbled over to the top of the stairs . . and found
Lisa staring at him, her red eyes meaner than he'd ever seen them !
She carried a large kitchen knife, holding it with both hands. "WTF do you
think you're doing Jonathan ?" she asked in a trembling voice. "WTF are
you doing?" "Can't you just leave things alone?" "Can't you just leave my
house the way it is ?" Her voice rose to a scream, and she shouted, "Now
you've done it Jonathan, now you've done it !" "You're an intruder ! And
guess what we do to intruders, you bastard !"

With that, she lunged at him.

She brought the knife down across his up-raised arms, cutting him deeply
in two places. Spittle drooled from her mouth as she attacked him again.

Across the room, the book began to vibrate.

Jonathan pushed her away as best he could, his blood now streaming down
his arms and into his hands. Again she came at him, and this time his chest
began to bleed, but he slipped to one side and kicked at her knee. Down
she went, screaming in the slippery bloodfest. He kicked her in the side
but she jumped up and cut a groove across his thigh. He yelled at the top
of his lungs, telling her to stop. But one look into her eyes again told him
that she wouldn't, or couldn't, stop. She came after him again.

The book's vibration began to affect the entire attic. Everything began to
shake !

The knife came down in another sweep but this time Jonathan caught both
of her hands with his, and they struggled for leverage. Jonathan pushed
with the entire weight of his body and they began to fall backwards. The
knife struck the lone, naked lightbulb on the way down, bursting it and
causing sparks and glass to fly everywhere. The glass went unheeded.
The sparks, on the other hand, landed on extremely dry wood and dust
piles, and immediately started three or four small flare-ups. But Lisa and
Jonathan paid no attention. Both were bleeding now, and they craved more
from their opponent.

The pages in the book, previously stuck in one spot, now began to turn
frantically, the vibration becoming almost unbearable.

Throughout the house, wailing and screaming could be heard. It was as if
the house knew it was in extreme danger !

The children were startled awake by the screams. Not loud screams, but
screams of forlorning, of desertion and misery.

The painting in the dining room began to swing back and forth.

Once again, lil' Jon felt the urge to protect his younger siblings. As every window in the house was flung open by an unseen force, he woke his little brother and sister and gathered the baby in his arms and aided them down the stairs and back out to the barn. He had heard his daddy scream and his mother laughing a hideous laugh...he didn't understand what was going on, but he knew that it wasn't right...it was evil.

[edit on 28-7-2009 by Greenize]

[edit on 28-7-2009 by Greenize]

Jon was bleeding profusely from the wound in his thigh. He was rapidly loosing the strength to fight off the vicious attack that had come unprovoked from the love of his life. They had been struggling for the knife and for a moment he had taken it from her. She wasn't his Lisa,this thing had the strength of three grown men. Feeling the lifes blood drain from his body, all Jon could was throw up his arms and walk backwards away from her... forgetting the opening in the floor, he fell to the floor below with a thud...his leg broken...he didn't stand a chance...this woman...this thing that had taken over his wife didn't bother with stairs either...she jumped from the hole onto Jons chest, there she plunged the knife into his heart with such force that the blade lodge in the floor under him...as he died, he prayed "God protect my children!"