week’s sleep. I’ll sleep today, and we’ll try again
tonight.”
“What?”
“We’ll do it
again tonight,” Roy said. “I need to go deeper.”
“Like hell! You
just said this – whatever it is – is evil. If that’s true, shouldn’t we steer
clear?”
“Evil is
only powerful if you don’t stand up to it,” Roy said.
“I felt that last night,” Steven said. “It was powerful. It could just have easily
killed me as held me down. Seems to me we’re flirting with disaster here.”
“It’s not
going to kill either of us,” Roy replied.
“How do you
know that?”
“It needs us
alive. There’s something it wants. Killing us doesn’t achieve its goals. Listen,
I’m a little more skilled in this than you’re giving me credit for.”
“Isn’t some
caution in order? I don’t like the idea of you walking in there and just
opening yourself up to it. It scares the hell out of me.”
“Listen,”
Roy said. “What we need right now are answers. We’ve got a dozen pieces of a
five hundred piece jigsaw puzzle, and the only way to get more is to dive in
and get them. Besides, it’ll drive me crazy not knowing. There’s a few things I
can do for precaution’s sake. But we need answers Stevie, or you’ll never have
a night’s sleep in that house again.”
Steven felt
his father winning the argument, but he still needed to take some action on his
own. If more answers were needed, he knew where to get them. And this time he’d
watch his rudeness to make sure the answers flowed.
Chapter Eight
Steven
parked the Accord at trailer number 48 and waited for the truck at number 56 to
pull away. It was 6:50, and if he had calculated correctly, John would leave
for work in a few minutes. Then he’d walk over to Debra’s trailer and start
again. This time he’d make sure she knew he respected her beliefs.
He thought
over the events of the last couple of days since he’d visited her last. The
knockings that had, back then, terrorized him enough to seek her out now seemed
like child’s play, almost cute in comparison to the encounters he and his
father had endured. While he was still a long way from being able to profess a
belief in anything like religion or god, his experiences of the last 48 hours
made it much easier to not crack a patronizing smile when someone said “evil.”
Steven saw
the truck back out of their driveway and head the other direction. There
must be a closer exit that way, Steven thought, noting to try it himself
when he left.
He waited a
few minutes, not really sure why. If John was going to return home, it could
happen any time he was there, not just in the first few minutes. But he waited
nonetheless, thinking it might lower the chances.
When he felt
it was safe he walked up to the trailer and knocked on the door. After a moment
it opened.
“Oh. It’s
you,” Debra said, surprised.
“Yeah, it’s
me. I was wondering if we could try again. With me keeping my mouth shut this
time,” he smiled.
She smiled
back, thought about it. “Sure. John just left. But I suppose you knew that.
Come on in.”
Steven
stepped up into the trailer and resumed his seat on the cluttered couch. Not
much had changed since he left two days ago, including the cat piss. He
resigned to not let it show on his face.
Debra sat
down across from him. “I gotta tell you, you look awful. I don’t mean it
personal, but obviously things aren’t getting better.”
“You’re
right,” Steven answered. “They’re not. I had a few more experiences in the
house and decided to get my dad involved. He’s had some experience with events
like these.”
“Oh, has he?”
Debra asked. “Did he see something in the house?”
“Yes, he
did.” Steven was unsure how far he should go, but he did want Debra to feel
comfortable with him, enough to speak to him about her father-in-law’s
experience. “He went into a sort of trance, and we both saw a figure, kind of a
shadow, that had —
tonight.”
“What?”
“We’ll do it
again tonight,” Roy said. “I need to go deeper.”
“Like hell! You
just said this – whatever it is – is evil. If that’s true, shouldn’t we steer
clear?”
“Evil is
only powerful if you don’t stand up to it,” Roy said.
“I felt that last night,” Steven said. “It was powerful. It could just have easily
killed me as held me down. Seems to me we’re flirting with disaster here.”
“It’s not
going to kill either of us,” Roy replied.
“How do you
know that?”
“It needs us
alive. There’s something it wants. Killing us doesn’t achieve its goals. Listen,
I’m a little more skilled in this than you’re giving me credit for.”
“Isn’t some
caution in order? I don’t like the idea of you walking in there and just
opening yourself up to it. It scares the hell out of me.”
“Listen,”
Roy said. “What we need right now are answers. We’ve got a dozen pieces of a
five hundred piece jigsaw puzzle, and the only way to get more is to dive in
and get them. Besides, it’ll drive me crazy not knowing. There’s a few things I
can do for precaution’s sake. But we need answers Stevie, or you’ll never have
a night’s sleep in that house again.”
Steven felt
his father winning the argument, but he still needed to take some action on his
own. If more answers were needed, he knew where to get them. And this time he’d
watch his rudeness to make sure the answers flowed.
Chapter Eight
Steven
parked the Accord at trailer number 48 and waited for the truck at number 56 to
pull away. It was 6:50, and if he had calculated correctly, John would leave
for work in a few minutes. Then he’d walk over to Debra’s trailer and start
again. This time he’d make sure she knew he respected her beliefs.
He thought
over the events of the last couple of days since he’d visited her last. The
knockings that had, back then, terrorized him enough to seek her out now seemed
like child’s play, almost cute in comparison to the encounters he and his
father had endured. While he was still a long way from being able to profess a
belief in anything like religion or god, his experiences of the last 48 hours
made it much easier to not crack a patronizing smile when someone said “evil.”
Steven saw
the truck back out of their driveway and head the other direction. There
must be a closer exit that way, Steven thought, noting to try it himself
when he left.
He waited a
few minutes, not really sure why. If John was going to return home, it could
happen any time he was there, not just in the first few minutes. But he waited
nonetheless, thinking it might lower the chances.
When he felt
it was safe he walked up to the trailer and knocked on the door. After a moment
it opened.
“Oh. It’s
you,” Debra said, surprised.
“Yeah, it’s
me. I was wondering if we could try again. With me keeping my mouth shut this
time,” he smiled.
She smiled
back, thought about it. “Sure. John just left. But I suppose you knew that.
Come on in.”
Steven
stepped up into the trailer and resumed his seat on the cluttered couch. Not
much had changed since he left two days ago, including the cat piss. He
resigned to not let it show on his face.
Debra sat
down across from him. “I gotta tell you, you look awful. I don’t mean it
personal, but obviously things aren’t getting better.”
“You’re
right,” Steven answered. “They’re not. I had a few more experiences in the
house and decided to get my dad involved. He’s had some experience with events
like these.”
“Oh, has he?”
Debra asked. “Did he see something in the house?”
“Yes, he
did.” Steven was unsure how far he should go, but he did want Debra to feel
comfortable with him, enough to speak to him about her father-in-law’s
experience. “He went into a sort of trance, and we both saw a figure, kind of a
shadow, that had —
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