I shook my head to rid myself of the thought. This was Cary Beacroft’s home, at least for the rest of the month until his contract ended. He’d warned me not to go into the basement, I’d ignored him, and he’d been injured saving me. I shouldn’t be thinking about forcing him out, especially since I was sure he painted it and, by the looks of things, had kept the place up instead of letting it become as dated as the manor.
To my surprise, Cary stood up when I entered the room. “Mr. Beacroft, are you okay?” I asked.
I’d barely entered the cottage when he turned toward me, and I could immediately tell something was off. His smile was wrong, like it didn’t belong to him. “You… you filthy worm, you think you can come to my home, to my property.” Cary was yelling at me now. “You think you can come here and displace me? I’ll kill you like I should’ve killed him and his pervert—”
I stood frozen on the spot, watching as Cary seemed to be at war with himself. “I’ll not have it!” he roared when he looked over at me again. Then, almost as if he were arguing with someone else, he yelled, “I won’t let that bitch’s whelp have what’s mine!”
Cary shook his head and fell back onto the couch. “Cary, a-are you okay?” I asked, not daring to move toward him.
When his eyes met mine, I could tell it was Cary this time and not… whatever that was.
“Did he possess me?” he asked, then looked at his hands. “Did that son of a bitch really possess me?”
I didn’t know how to respond. I was petrified that if I moved, the thing would possess him again and come after me. I was at least a foot shorter than Cary and definitely not as strong. I wanted to be able to bolt out the door if I needed to.
“Shit, I need to get the coven up here now. Evan, can you help me?”
When he looked at me again, he quickly stood and crossed the space between us. I backed up, reaching for the door handle.
“Wait, Evan, it’s me, Cary. The scratches gave him… never mind, it’s me now, he won’t be able to possess me again. Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath. “I should’ve predicted this. How many times did my grandmother pound into my head that being touched by the dead was their way of entering your body.” He signed then, a mixture of frustration and concern evident on his face.
“I-I can’t stay here,” I said as I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. “I-I’m not safe here. You… he… I-I just can’t.” I bolted, rushing toward the lake even though I had no idea where I was going. Shit, all my belongings were still at the manor, but I’d be damned if I ever stepped foot in any part of that place again. Fuck the state, and fuck its returning things to my family. It would do me no good if this place cost me my life like it had my great-grandmother.
My mind spun as I approached the driveway on the other side of the lake.Crazy, my mind screamed at me. This was insane… but it felt so real… but how… how could it be? In the end, it didn’t matter. Whether Cary was a witch, whether that thing in the basement wanted me dead, whether leaving would’ve disappointed generations of my dead relatives, I needed to get the hell away from here.
10
Cary
Iwatched as Evanscurried off my porch and ran down the lane. I reached over my shoulder and was pleased the burning sensation had at least stopped enough that I could drive. Not bothering to put on a shirt, I grabbed my wallet and keys and rushed into the garage, where I kept the Lexus belonging to the estate.
It only took a moment to catch up to him as he was still speed-walking down the lane. I slowed alongside him and rolled down the window. “Hey, can we talk?” I asked, but he ignored me and kept walking.
“Evan. Mr. Garland, I promise you aren’t in danger from me. It was just a fluke.”
“Ghosts don’t just possess people or attack people. Ghosts don’t even exist! At least, I didn’t think so until yesterday. Now I’ve been attacked three times in two days. Nope, I need to get out of here, get back home where I belong. This place… it’s cursed. It was a curse for my ancestor, and it’s a curse for me.”
“Or it’s not a curse, but the entity wants you to think it is,” I countered.
He stopped. “What’re you saying? That he’s driving me off, because what? He wants the place for himself?”
“I don’t know, all I do know is he’s never attacked me or anyone else until now, and there’s a reason for that. Why don’t you come back with me to the cottage? You’ll be safe there.”
“Until he possesses you again.”
“No, that was residual from the attack. I warded myself before I fell asleep, so the cottage is safe, and he is back where he belongs in the basement. He’ll be too weak to do anything for at least another turn of the moon.”
“‘Turn of the moon,’” Evan repeated as he continued walking. “This is crazy, like I somehow got caught up in a Stephen King movie. You know they all die in Stephen King movies? I am not one of those idiots who sticks around waiting for the evil clown to eat me. I’ve got some freaking sense and I’m making my escape before the shit hits the fucking fan.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his dramatics, though not totally unwarranted, and he turned on me. “You think this is fucking funny? Look at you. You’re still wrapped up because a monster attacked you, then took over your body to threaten me, and you think this is funny?”
I stopped the car, put it in Park, and got out. “Listen, no. No, it’s not funny, but you are… well, you’re sort of cute when you’re having a rant.”
Evan’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again before he closed it and shook his head. “I-I just can’t deal with all this right now. I’m going to the hotel I stayed at last night. Then I’m going to get on a freaking train and go back to Virginia, where I belong. This whole mess can burn to the ground for all I care.”
“I don’t blame you,” I said, leaning back against the car.
“What?” he asked, as if he’d expected me to argue.
