halloween haunting, a story by greg(reader's discretion is strongly advice)+15

Episode 7

Kevin opened his eyes to darkness. He was lying
on a hard wood floor, but he wasn‟t sure where.
He sat up in a quick panic.
“Hello?”
he called out into the dark room. He could hear a
low, sickly breathing coming from somewhere
nearby. He stayed quiet and listened. Someone
was in the room with him. He shifted his eyes
back and forth trying to make out anything, but it
was just too dark. “Holly?” Kevin whispered.
“Holly‟s not here…” the sickly old voice cackled.
Kevin waited a moment to respond and then
thought he knew who he was in the room with.
“Ms. Watkins?”
“Yes…” she whispered.
“Where am I?”
Elizabeth didn‟t respond. Her breathing became
phlegmy. Kevin didn‟t know what to do or say.
He wasn‟t sure what was going on.
Elizabeth finally broke the uncomfortable silence
and quietly spoke softly to Kevin:
“You know, there was a mass murder at a house
on Roberts Road – the guy killed his family with
an axe and then hung himself with a chain at the
bottom of their main staircase.
“The auditorium at Davidson High School is
supposedly haunted too,” she continued, “but for
some reason, for the past thirty years, the city of
Hilliard has mistaken me for the Devil. The
murders on my property, the fires in the fields –
I‟ve been accused of all of this. I‟ve been called
a witch – a woman named Raven who used to
live on this land; this very lot of property.”
Kevin spoke up. “How do you explain all of this
stuff then? Five people died of heart attacks in
your house – one of which was my little sister –
and a girl hung herself. Tell me, Ms. Watkins,
how does this happen?” Kevin‟s voice trembled
as he held back tears.
“I‟ve already told the police that I know nothing.
I did not kill anyone, nor did my husband. I am
not a witch…Raven, she…she…”
Elizabeth quieted down. Kevin couldn‟t even hear
her breathing anymore.
“Ms. Watkins?” he whispered loudly. Elizabeth
cleared her throat and then whispered very
quietly: “…she‟s real"
"What do you mean, she‟s real?”
“Raven is real; she‟s not a legend or a myth.
She‟s not just some piece of local folklore. She‟s
a living, breathing, hellish creature who haunts
Hilliard. And she terrifies me…”
Elizabeth‟s speech was starting to send chills
down Kevin‟s spine. He adjusted uncomfortably
in the darkness and stood to his feet. His heart
was now beating faster and the room grew
colder. Elizabeth continued:
“She used to look through the living room
windows at me. She‟d put her hand on the glass
and smile the vilest smile you could imagine. She
had no eyes – only hollowed out craters in her
face. Her teeth were jagged and rotten. She‟s
very protective of her property…”
“We have to get out of here,” Kevin spoke loudly.
“Where‟s Holly?”
“It wouldn‟t do any good to run, young man.
She‟ll find you.”
“Where‟s Holly!” Kevin shouted.
Elizabeth laughed. “We‟re all going to die tonight
and Raven will win. She always wins"...
"Ms. Watkins…where‟s your caretaker. Where‟s
Valerie?” A cold hand reached out and grabbed
Kevin‟s arm. He screamed and stumbled
backwards in the dark room.
“Who‟s there? Who is that?!” he cried.
“She‟s here,” another woman‟s voice whispered
right into Kevin‟s ear. The lights in the room
flipped on and Kevin was face to face with
Valerie – her neck was bleeding from deep burn
wounds.
“She‟s here…” Valerie repeated as she gurgled up
blood. She then fell towards Kevin. He caught
her and laid her down on the floor gently. Kevin
looked up and saw two more of the dead corpses
slowly shuffling towards him. “Jesus!” Kevin
jumped to his feet and saw Elizabeth sitting in
her wheelchair, blocking the door – the only way
out of the room. Kevin made a split decision and
raced towards the corpses and threw all of his
weight into them. They both hit the back wall
and squished up against it. Both bodies fell to
the ground, spilling muddy water out of their
mouths. Kevin kicked one of them in the head,
and the head exploded in a gushing fountain of
blood. He gagged and turned towards the door
and saw Elizabeth sitting in her wheelchair – as
white as a ghost
"Ms. Watkins!” Kevin rushed up to her and
tapped her gently on the shoulder. Elizabeth‟s
eyes were plastered wide open, forever caught in
a frozen state of fear. She was dead, and she
appeared to have been dead for hours.
A slimy hand grabbed Kevin‟s ankle and he
turned around fast. The other corpse had
crawled up to him and was trying to stand. Kevin
held his breath and stepped down on its head,
smashing it into another gooey, gory mess. The
lights shut off and left the room in darkness once
again. Kevin fumbled with the wheelchair and
moved it out of the way before opening the door
and feeling his way back out into the upstairs
hallway.........

Kevin stumbled down the stairwell and into the
living room.
“Holly!”
he screamed, but there was no answer. He
looked around in the dark but could barely see
anything. The front door busted open and
someone rushed in holding a flashlight. It was
Miller. Kevin stopped and watched as the
detective hustled in and shut the door behind
him. He was breathing frantically. “Detective?”
Kevin called out. Miller swung around fast and
pointed his gun directly at Kevin. Kevin threw his
hands in the air. “It‟s me!”
Miller lowered his weapon and caught his breath.
In the dull light of the flashlight, Kevin noticed
that Miller‟s coat was drenched in blood.
“What happened?” Kevin asked.
“Something‟s out there…” Miller said.
“It attacked me…”
“It‟s Raven – she‟s real,” Kevin said
Miller looked around the room, aiming his
flashlight.
“Where is everyone?”
“I can‟t find Holly. Ms. Watkins is dead – so is
Valerie. There were more corpses upstairs. What
the hell is going on here!?”
“The corpses, the creature outside – isn‟t it
obvious? Hilliard is haunted!”
“What do we do?” Kevin panicked.
“We need to get out of here!”
“Not without Holly!”
“Then let‟s find her quick, because we have to
leave – now!”
Miller aimed his dimming flashlight at all corners
of the living room. Holly was nowhere to be
found. “Holly?” Kevin called out.
A scratching sound caught both of their attention
and they both froze.
“What‟s that?” Kevin whispered.
Miller shone his light around the room trying to
locate the source of the scratching sound. He
ended up at the blackened window.
Miller took a few steps towards it. Something
was on the other side of the window. “It‟s her…”
Kevin whispered.
Miller slowly raised his gun towards the window,
as the scratching sound grew louder. Miller kept
his focus, and the scratching came to a stop.
The flashlight flickered and then died.
A deafening, inhuman shriek erupted from the
darkness of the room and something pounced at
Kevin and tackled him to the floor.
“Help!” Kevin screamed.
“Kevin!” Miller shouted back, aiming his gun
blindly in the dark. All he could hear was the
rustling sound of Kevin being attacked.
“Miller, help me!”
Miller couldn‟t see anything, so he aimed his gun
at the ceiling and fired off a shot. The room lit
up for a brief moment with the muzzle flash of
the gun and he could see the disturbing creature
from outside – Raven – thrashing over top of
Kevin in the corner of the room.
“Miller! Help!” Kevin screamed again.....
Miller took a couple steps closer and fired his
gun at the ceiling again. The flash ignited the
room and Raven was still thrashing on top of
Kevin. Miller shot towards the ceiling one more
time as he moved forward – the muzzle flash
allowed him to see that he was close enough, so
he quickly aimed his gun towards Raven while he
still knew where she was, and he immediately
fired a shot. Raven shrieked a piercing cry and
Miller heard her scurry away in the dark. Miller
slapped his flashlight and it popped back on, only
very dimly. He saw Kevin on the ground covered
in cuts and scrapes.
“Are you okay?” Miller asked.
Kevin couldn‟t respond – he was succumbed by
fear. A crashing sound exploded behind them
and they both turned around. The front door had
been bashed outwards and they saw a quick
glimpse of Raven scurrying down the porch steps
and into the yard.
A woman screamed outside......