The Legend of Darklore Manor and Other Tales of Terror (18 page)

     Though he had a long list of suspicions about everyone in Gloucester, Theo remained focused on his mission. He missed his friends and his parents. Everyone that he ever held dear had been taken by Darklore Manor and the ghosts that haunted it, and he wanted revenge.
We arrived in Gloucester early Halloween evening, just after the sun had set. The leering faces of jack-o-lanterns watched from the shadows, welcoming us with fiendish smiles as we drove into town. Piles of red and brown fallen leaves lined the streets and sidewalks beneath barren trees that stretched skyward toward the crescent moon. The town itself looked exactly the same as I remembered it. Nothing had changed. It was if it had been frozen in time for the past decade.
     As we headed out along Old Salem Road a heavy fog had begun to roll in from the seacoast. Before long we were engulfed in a dense mist. When we got about a quarter mile from the mansion, Theo directed me down a dirt path off the main road.
     "The cops will be watching this place tonight," he said. "They do every Halloween now."
     We left the car hidden in the trees and Theo led me through the woods. While an eerie calm had settled over the misty forest, the distant screech of owls interrupted the silence at irregular intervals. After a short trek, we emerged from the woods alongside the spiked gate that surrounded the house. I glanced back toward the front of the property. The stone griffons loomed like enormous vultures perched upon the gates, waiting to pick the flesh from the bones of the dead. As I squinted into the fog I could barely make out the outline of a police cruiser, parked off the side of the road, across from the entrance gate.
     "See?" Theo whispered, pointing to the car, "What'd I tell ya?" He nodded back in the opposite direction and said, "This way."
     I followed him along the wrought iron fence that surrounded the manor till we came to one of the tall stone posts behind the house. A narrow gap between the post and the iron rails allowed us to squeeze through and onto the property. The dense fog obscured the manor house, reducing it to a towering silhouette looming in the distance. As we drew nearer, the sinister architecture of the mansion became visible through the mist, and we beheld Darklore Manor in its awful majesty. Black and silent, heartless and deathly still, this was indeed a house of horrors and I fully dreaded whatever nightmares awaited us within.
     We crept up to a window near the back door. Theo withdrew a pocket knife and slid it between the panes. Within seconds he had thrown the window latch.
     "Wait here," he said, "I'll unlock the back door."
     Quickly and quietly, he slipped inside the house. A few seconds later I heard the sound of the door bolt being thrown. The heavy back door opened and Theo waved me inside. I took a deep breath of the autumn air, then entered the house, locking the door behind me.
     We headed straight for the library, trying not to use our flashlights unless absolutely necessary, and then only for a minimal amount of time. We avoided passing near any of the mansion's front windows for fear of alerting the occupants of the patrol car. The echoes of our shuffling footsteps sounded like voices whispering in the surrounding shadows. I kept my eyes focused straight ahead, ignoring the unnatural shapes that seemed to stir and slither in the periphery of my vision.
     We made our way through the entrance hall and into the south wing, then down the corridor of portraits into the library. Once we entered the chamber, I closed the library doors and drew the heavy, dusty curtains before lighting a lantern. Cobwebs clung to the monstrous faces of gargoyles in the four corners of the room but their combined scowls could not conjure the sense of menace that was created by the ominous portrait of Edmund Darklore that seemed to watch our every move us as we made our way across the chamber.
     When we reached the far end I rested my hand on the central bookshelf. "This is the one."
     Theo approached the tall shelf and said, "If we're lucky, the door will be open or the key will still be in the lock." He grabbed hold of the bookcase and pulled it toward him to reveal the tarnished bronze door hidden behind it, but the entrance was sealed shut and there was no key to be found.
     "Can you pick the lock?" I asked.
     "I don't know. I'll give it a try. The key had a complicated design, so this might not be easy."
     He withdrew a set of lock picks from his jacket pocket and inserted two of the tools in the keyhole. After a few minutes, Theo voiced his frustration. "This might take a while. I can shift the tumblers, but..."
     "Shhh," I interrupted. "I thought I heard something."
     We sat in silence for a moment, listening intently for any telltale noises that might alert us to unseen dangers. I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my chest. My pulse quickened as I heard the sound of floorboards creaking outside the library door.
     "Footsteps," I whispered, "and it sounds like their coming closer."
     I put out the lantern and we quickly hid behind the drapes that covered the large bay window. We heard the library door slowly squeal open, followed by the sound of footsteps entering the room. I peered out from behind the curtains to catch a glimpse of whoever had followed us into the library and what I saw made me shudder with terror. A tall shadow stood in the doorway, blocking the only exit.
     In desperation, I turned back toward the window, searching for a means of escape, but the leaded glass was firmly sealed in place. I looked at Theo and noticed that he was staring at something that had caught his attention outside. In the distance, a dark figure rose from the mist and was slowly moving across the lawn. At first it appeared to be no more than an obscure silhouette amidst the consuming fog, but as the figure drew closer, it became more distinguished and I could discern the form of a young woman, draped entirely in black. Her dark hair floated in the breeze as she slowly drifted along beneath the moonlight, then she vanished into the mist once more.
     The sound of footsteps resumed, drawing my attention back to the unknown intruder inside the library as it slowly made its way across the room. The floorboards creaked as the shadow approached to within a few feet of the window then the footsteps stopped and the room fell silent once more. I took a deep breath and held it, daring not to move or utter a sound. Suddenly, an icy chill crept down my spine and some inner sense caused me to look back behind me. I slowly turned my head to face the window and as I did, I was met with a ghastly sight. The shadowy specter that had disappeared in the fog was right outside the window, leering at me through the glass with soulless black eyes, its deathly pale face only a few inches from my own.
     I screamed and jumped backward, and as I did, a tall figure threw open the curtains and my eyes were accosted by a blinding light.
     "What the hell is going on here?" a deep voice boomed. The intruder lowered his flashlight beam and I stared into the familiar face of Sheriff Hill.
     Frantically, I blurted, "There was something outside the window! It was there in the fog—a ghost... a woman dressed in black. I think it was the spirit of Belladonna Darklore." I turned back toward the window, but the ghoulish phantom was gone.
     The sheriff squinted as he peered out into the misty night. "There's nothing out there now," he said.
     Theo shone his flashlight on the sheriff and asked, "What are you doing here?"
     "I should be asking you that question, Theo," the sheriff replied, making it clear that the two were no strangers. Sheriff Hill shifted his stern gaze to me and said, "I got a weird phone call from your friend Sandra earlier this evening. She told me that you'd be coming here tonight. She sounded pretty shook up. She made me promise to look into it. To be honest, you two are the just about the last people I would've ever expected to find inside this place. What on earth could ever have possessed you to come back here?"
     After taking a second to compose myself, I calmly answered, "We think we may know what happened to the kids that disappeared three years ago."
     "Is that so?"
     "They're in there," I said, pointing to the bronze door adorned with the shield and runes. "It leads to a crypt below the mansion."
     Sheriff Hill stepped over to the hidden door and tested it to see if it would open, but it didn't budge.
     "How would you know where this door leads?" he asked. "And what makes you think that those missing kids are down there?"
     I shook my head to concede that I had no good answer. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
     "Try me."
     "Don't waste your breath," Theo said, glaring at the sheriff, "he's not going to help us. He doesn't want anyone to know the truth about what happened here. He and the rest of the city officials are in it together. It's a conspiracy to bury the town's horrible secret."
     "That's not true, Theo," the sheriff replied patiently. "I'm not the enemy. Believe it or not, I want to get to the bottom of this just as badly as you do." From his shirt pocket he withdrew a large brass key. "This should lead us to some answers."
     Theo's eyes grew wide. "Where did you get that from?"
     "It belonged to Richard Franklin. It was inside an envelope that was in his pocket when he killed himself. I did a little digging over the years and I found out that all the members of the Brotherhood had their own keys to the ritual chamber. But you already knew that, didn't you, Theo?"
     Theo's expression became less agitated and his tone softened. "I heard rumors that Mr. Franklin left a suicide note, but the facts were covered up."
     "It was the mayor's decision," the sheriff said, "and it wasn't a suicide note. It only had two words, written in Franklin's handwriting."
     "What did it say?" Theo asked.
     "'Forgive me.'"
     "For what?" I asked.
     "I don't know for sure," he said, "but I have my suspicions."
     "Didn't the note say anything else?" Theo asked.
     The sheriff cast a stern look in his direction. "There was one other word, but it wasn't in the note. It was carved into his forehead."
     "What did it say?"
     The sheriff paused as if considering whether or not to reveal the dark secret he had kept for the past decade, then uttered the word: "'Sinner.'"
     After a brief moment of contemplation, I said, "According to Sandra, Belladonna's spirit told her that the sinners had to be punished."
     "Why would Franklin come back here?" Theo asked.
     The sheriff shrugged, looking around at the grim, macabre décor of the library. "No one really knows why he came to the house—maybe to lock the last key inside the vault. He sure as hell didn't come here to hang himself."
     "Something summoned him here," I said. "He had to heed its call. There's something in this house—an evil presence that's been here since before the mansion was built. I think it may have been here for centuries. The spirits of everyone who died here are trapped inside this house. Something is keeping their souls from finding eternal rest."
     "If you've got a theory, I'd like to hear it," the sheriff said.
     I stepped over to the large painting depicting the war between angels and demons, keeping my flashlight trained on it. Radiant seraphim thrust golden lances down upon winged devils, sending them plummeting into the fires of Hell. "As you may know, Lucifer was once an angel who was said to have been transformed into a loathsome demon after he and his legions were driven out of Heaven. Lesser-known tales describe other fallen angels known as the Grigori and the Nephilim, also known as the Watchers, who walked among men as gods, sharing arcane knowledge that had been forbidden to mankind. It was said that these unearthly creatures spawned children with mortal women and instructed their offspring in the ways of dark magic. After they were banished from the kingdom of Heaven, the Watchers were said to reside deep in the earth, seeking the solace of shadows and darkness.
     "Similar legends have been recorded in every ancient mythology. The Sumerian texts contained within the Ebon Scrolls describe monstrous deities known as the Dark Gods that were said to rule the Earth eons ago. These entities preyed upon mortal lusts and desires, using men's weaknesses and fears against them. According to the legends, the Dark Gods fed on the blood and sorrow of humans and captured the souls of their victims."
     "I'm not sure I follow you," the sheriff said, his brow furrowing. "Are you saying that this place is haunted by an ancient demon, or do you think it's some sort of fallen angel?"
     "I think they're one and the same."
     The sheriff pondered my words for a long moment, then said, "I'm not a superstitious person, Miss Moore. I never used to believe the stories about this place being haunted or cursed, but I've seen the evidence and I can't deny the facts. Over the years I've witnessed things that have changed my opinion and I've come to the conclusion that something unnatural resides here. Some people call it evil. I really don't know what it is. Nobody does."
     The sheriff walked over to the secret door and slid his key into the lock.
     "The way I see it," Sheriff Hill said, glancing back at me with a half smile, "there's only one way to find out." He turned the key and pulled the heavy door toward him. With the groan of rusted hinges, the bronze barrier swung open to reveal a narrow stone staircase leading down into thick, subterranean shadows.
     Theo took a step toward the door, but the sheriff stopped him. "Hold on," he said. The sheriff walked over to the medieval weapons display hanging on the wall behind the desk and removed a broadsword. He stepped back to the secret entrance and wedged the blade between the door and the frame, securely propping the entrance open.
     "I'm not taking any chances," he said. "No one knows where we are and I don't want to get trapped down there."
     Sheriff Hill led the way and Theo and I followed him into the dismal chambers concealed below Darklore Manor. The sour scent of must and mildew filled the air as we descended the winding stairway that twisted deep into the earth. We emerged in a large circular vault that had been quarried from the bedrock far beneath the mansion. The stagnant air was cold and stale, and although there were no apparent signs of life, I could not escape the disturbing feeling that we were not alone in the chamber.