The rain was coming down in fistfuls by the time they pulled
into the front parking lot of the Family Tree In-Home Health Care Companions, a
retirement home in an expansive colonial house, three stories, with heavy brown
wood siding and green trim. The place had a thick yard, un-mowed for some time,
and the shrubs running along under the window sills and hanging flower boxes
stood untrimmed. The glow of lights shone through the front door panes from the
lobby. The rain was streaming so rapidly the age-old gutters could be seen
spilling over everywhere. The manor house streamed waterfalls from the multitude of overhangs and window bays.
After telling
the Uber driver not to go far, "We may not be long." said Mettle,
handing over a three twenties to the driver, they bolted out of the car and
under the short roof over the entry doors. They could see lights on in the lobby. The door was unlocked and they both walked in. Worn wood flooring creaked under the woven rug in the middle of the room. Mettle discreetly rung
out her cap.
Nobody was in
the lobby but swinging doors on the other side of the room blocked any
further look into the home. A door stood closed in each wall to the left and
right of them. The walls were mostly covered by a grey and blue wallpaper with
antique-like scrolling , a bit yellow in places, and white chunky plaster
moldings crowned the tops. A reception desk sat in the northeast corner of the
room. A set of stairs going
up to the second floor. Began right behind the desk.
Giving Alex a
raised eyebrow, Mettle crossed the room and looked over the reception desk.
There was spiral-bound notebook on top of a pile of miscellaneous papers and
delivered mail. Alex kept his hands in his pockets but moved closer to the
swinging doors.
"Its a
feeding schedule for 30-40 residents." Mettle murmured.
"What
are they serving?"
"I don't
know. Its just numbers. Like Abraham Mercer is getting a number six today.
Mabel Gerard will be having number one..."
The sound of
something being moved, or slammed stopped Mettle short. Both looked towards the
swinging doors. The sound came from that direction, muffled, as if it had come
from down a hall or other room out back. Mettle set the notebook back down and
followed Alex as he pushed open the doors and went into the hall beyond. Well
lit, a wider hall crossed perpendicular in front of him. An exit sign pointing
in their direction was fastened above a fire extinguisher. The halls smelled of
floor cleaner, but no further sound could be heard. At the intersection Alex
called out.
"Hello,
anyone there? Hello?"
Nothing, except the murmur of the furnace and the
falling rain could be heard. It rang against the leaded glass which looked out
to a central patio where all the inner rooms seemed to face into.
Alex flipped
a coin and turned right. A greater common room was to his right. Where the hall
turned north again doors to the kitchen and dinning room code be seen.
Striding through the hall Alex stopped at the first door and opened it. A
darkened room, shades drawn. The glow of a heart monitor could be seen and the
bed was occupied by an elderly gentleman, bald, breathing and asleep. Mettle
turned on the light. The sleeping man did not stir. They proceeded down the
hall, opening each door they passed. More residents, elderly, in bed sleeping,
hooked up to a heart monitor. Alex, at one point, opened up an old lady's
eyelid and clicked on his cigarette lighter. He waved it back and forth.
Nothing.
"I don't
know what is wrong with these people," he said.
"I don't
think we should touch them," said Mettle. "Forcibly trying to wake
them up, I don't know? Could cause them harm."
"You
agree this isn't normal, right?" Alex inquired.
"Hell
no! There is definitely EE activity behind this and it is not for the good. You
can bet on that." Mettle answered.
The end of
the hall turned again into a perpendicular hallway extending to their left. You
could see the end of the matching parallel hall that way. More doors to the
rooms of residents lined each side. To their right the hall stopped short at a
fire door, presumably leading outside. In the north wall, ten feet before the
fire door was an open door. Light spilled into the hall and the sounds of a
radio could be heard.
Alex called
hello again and walked up to the door. It was an office and it was unoccupied.
the radio playing was perched on top of a file cabinet. A computer on the desk
was still on, and a cold cup of tea sat untouched.
"To hell
with it, I'm going to try and wake one of these elderly folks up. I need more
information." Alex announced while the two poked around the office.
"I don't
advise it, but I won't stop you. I'm going to go through some of the files and
rifle the desk."
Alex stepped
out and went down the hall three doors and opened the fourth. This one had a
large, heavy set man with a good start on a beard. Under the sheets he was
naked. The heart monitor indicated he was alive, but the breath was shallow,
you had to lean close to hear it. He examined the mans arms. Injections had
been given to his right arm on a regular basis and he had a tattoo just above
the elbow and needle marks. Alex stood up, walked over to the door he had left
open and swung it closed. On the back was a similar mark as the tattoo carved
into the back of the door with a knife. Alex snapped a picture with his phone.
He turned the doorknob to leave, but just then the old man sat up.
"Hello,
you all right? Do you know where you are?" Alex asked, one hand still on the
doorknob. The old man didn't reply but swung his legs off the bed and stood up
on shaky, spindly legs. His crotch was obscured by the his prodigious gut.
Drool flowed out of his mouth and he lunged for Alex. Alex quickly stepped out of
the room and closed the door on the man. The old man started tugging on the
doorknob.
The other
doors in the hall began to open. Out stepped additional elderly, naked and
vacant eyed, all turning in Alex's direction and walking towards him.
He backed up to the office where Mettle was taking some notes and stuffing some papers
into her pockets. "We got a problem, the old folks have woken up and they
are coming at me here."
"What?"
Mettle stepped into the hall with Alex. "Getting weirder."
"Welcome
to my world," he replied. "I can't restrain them all without hurting
some of them."
"I got
this." Mettle replied. She lifted up her arms and with the force of her
magnetic control ripped the exposed pipes for the fire sprinklers from the
ceiling and pulled them down to create a make-shift barricade. The crowd of
elderly crushed up against the pipes, oblivious to the water which now sprayed
all over the hall from the ends of the ripped pipes.
"We
should leave," Mettle said.
"Not
yet," Alex replied, "I found some marks on them, and the doors. Not
sure for who or what but it is an Infernal mark. Possession and corruption. Now
I know what I'm looking for I've located the source. Its below us. In the
basement, I reckon."
"We
leave by the fire door. We can then double back to the front door. Behind the
reception desk there is a door under the stairs. Got to be stairs to the
basement."
Mettle pulled
more pipes down and reinforce the barricade. There were easily twenty or more
souls by now clawing at the pipes in attempt to move them. Still, they made no
noise. The fire door was locked.
"That's
not to code." Mettle mentioned as she forced it open with a flick of her
hand. Her magnetic power making the thrumming sound it always does when she
used it. They found the front door had now been locked, "Someone was here,
we just missed them." They both agreed.
The front
door was easily forced with more magnetic manipulation and they crossed the
lobby again, accessed the cellar door and descended. It was a damp concrete
basement with the cement walls painted white. Partitions had been built to create
storage spaces, but one padlocked door opened into a larger, unfinished space.
It looked like the oldest part of the cellar. Granite rocks, joints smeared
with old, crumbling concrete made up the foundation walls and the floor was
dirt. In the middle of the floor was a small obelisk, Three feet tall. It once
was plastered, a small ring remained near the bottom. There were marks on the
plaster. These marks were matched with more being carved into the rough
sandstone where the plaster had worn away a long time ago.
"This
thing is radiating infernal energy. For those who know the right incantations
they can unleash its corrupting energy and create dangerous effects." Alex
explained. “You’ll find the marks I was mentioning on the back of the door.”
Mettle examined the back of the door. “Yup, you got some strange
symbols carved all over it. Can you stop it, stop this?”
“Yes, but we are probably going to have a lot of confused old
people when I am done.”
“We’ll deal with it. I found some info from the office. Whoever is
behind this has bought a lot of ammunition. The hell I’m going to let anyone
turn Capitol City into a warzone again.”
“Okay. This might freak you out.” Alex began rolling up the
sleeves on his rain jacket and he loosened his tie.
