Chapter 24

After his announcement, the sheriff continued. "I’ve lived in this town for a little over twenty years, and this place has always been shrouded in mystery. From my understanding, rumors of satanic rituals and disappearances involving this place have gone on for generations. The townspeople were afraid of the place, wouldn’t even come around it for a long time. It stayed on the market for years, until Jon and Gillian Hanover bought it.”

For a while, the Hanover’s and their two children—a fourteen-year-old boy named Brock and a fifteen-year-old girl named Heather—were happy here, but they never could shake the feeling they were being watched. They reported several times of hearing strange noises at night, and the children would often speak of seeing a shadowy figure lurking in the corners of their room. Jon and Gillian tried to dismiss the noises as typical creaks and groans of an old house and the figure as a play on lighting. Nonetheless, they still felt a sense of unease. One night Heather woke Jon and Gillian, screaming that she had been attacked in her sleep. Of course they had immediately called us, and that’s how I became better acquainted with the happenings in this place.”

Sheriff Grace paused, clearing his throat before resuming his story. “As my deputy and I investigated, we, at first, thought it was just a simple case of a nightmare that massed into hysteria, as we could find no physical evidence of an assault on the girl. But the more we investigated, the more we realized that the truth was something far beyond our investigative skills when strange symbols began appearing on the walls as we conducted the investigation. My deputy and I were powerless to explain the events that were occurring. So, we called in a priest, and as we delved deeper into the history of this place, we began to uncover a web of black magic and realized that the truth was beyond imagination.”

Grace glanced at us, giving a shake of his head, almost as if not wanting to proceed any further, but then he said, “The house seemed to be feeding on our fear, growing stronger with each passing hour. Soon, it seemed to be alive. Its walls whispered secrets and shadows twisted into grotesque forms. Every step we took, every word we spoke, seemed to awaken some new form of horror. The priest, even with all his faith, was powerless against the darkness that dwelled within this place.The prayers he uttered, did nothing. It wasn’t long after that the family was murdered. We never were able to identify the murderer, and eventually the case grew cold."

While Grace had been talking, we had all fallen silent, but when he had finished, Brice murmured, “We’ll keep all that you have told us in mind, Sheriff, while we investigate our own case."

Sheriff Grace nodded, then stated, “Just be safe Agents, I don’t want to have to look into your murders as well."

At that, Ryan exclaimed, "It almost sounds like you blame the house for their deaths."

Grace shrugged. "All I know is there is something terribly wrong with this place."

At the sheriff’s words, a shiver of unease washed over me, and I felt we were being watched, but I shook it off, telling myself it was just a result of Grace's story.

Half an hour later, I hadn’t been able to shake off the feeling of being watched, and now, I could swear, I was hearing whispers as well. The voices were soft and indistinct, but they seemed to be coming from all around me, echoing off the walls and ceiling of the small room I was in. I tried to ignore them, but the whispers grew louder and more insistent.

Suddenly, a headache slammed through my head, and falling to my knees, I gripped it between my hands. The pain was intense, like a thousand needles piercing my skull. And as I clutched my throbbing head, I heard the voice of my Voyeur state, "Welcome home, Analise."

I moaned, my mind reeling from the intense pain that was wracking my body. "Welcome home?" I groaned, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I've been waiting for so long, you know, Analise. It's been so boring. But now, things are about to get interesting," he pronounced gleefully.

I tried to stand up, but my legs weren’t working. They felt like jelly, barely able to support my weight. Losing my balance, I fell back down to the floor, my head spinning. "What the hell have you done to me?" I snarled.

"Oh, just a little mind-bending exercise," he laughed. "Don't you remember, Analise? It used to be our favorite game. We can't have us getting bored, now can we?"

I groaned again, my mind reeling from the pain and the sheer absurdity of the situation. What the hell was this idiot babbling about? Getting bored? How the fuck could one get bored when this was their way of life: trapped in a game with a psychopath that made no sense, and had no qualms about causing pain and suffering. But even as I lay there, writhing in agony, I couldn't help but laugh. It was all so ridiculous, so absurd. I was at the mercy of my own mind and had been trapped in this game for what felt like an eternity, forced to participate in a never-ending cycle of macabre.

I thought about the countless times I had tried to outwit this nut, only to be thwarted at every turn. I thought about the endless puzzles and challenges that seemed to have no solution. And, I thought about the madman who had created this twisted game, who seemed to take pleasure in my suffering. But even as I lay there, writhing in agony, I knew that I couldn't give up. I knew that I had to keep trying, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed. Because deep down, I knew that there was a way to stop him. I just had to find it. And so, despite the pain and the absurdity of it all, I forced a smile to my lips as I sneered, “You won’t win. I will find a way to end you.” And I knew that I would, no matter what it took.

But even as I uttered the words, I knew that I would never truly be free of this monster. He had taken too much from me, and I would always carry his mark. But I would make him pay, I would make him suffer, and I would make sure that he never hurt anyone again. Within my head, I heard his eerie laugh. “You shall try, but you can’t kill what is already dead.” Then, I felt his essence wrap around me, suffocating me with his thick malevolence.

As I struggled to breathe, his diabolical laughter grew louder; it was a sound that could only come from the depths of hell itself. The air around me grew heavier, suffocating me, and I tried to scream, but my voice never emerged, as suddenly, everything went black. The darkness was total, an abyssal void that consumed all light and sound–an endless chasm of nothingness. It was cold and unforgiving, a prison of eternal darkness.

Within the void, I saw flashes of images, memories of a life no longer in existence. A man, woman, and two children. I tried to grasp onto anything that could help me to understand the images, but there was nothing. Nothing except for the coldness surrounding me. Just when I thought I was lost, a warmth wrapped around me, and the sound of Brice calling my name burst into the nothingness holding me hostage.