Invisible Terror Collection Part 11

"Please! Help me, help me ..."

"Becka!" Scott called.

"Right here," she answered. She emerged through the fog, half dragging, half carrying Krissi.

As Krissi grew close enough for Philip to see, he gasped, "Who are you?"

Krissi began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Look," Becka ordered, "you two, stay put! Stay right here.

Scott and I, we'll find the others."

"No! Please, don't leave me here," Philip begged. "I wouldn't know ... I don't know where I am. I don't know how to get out."

"Right now, none of us do," Scott answered.

"Becka ... ," another voice wailed. "Becka ..." Rebecca recognized it instantly. It was Julie - straight ahead, near the center of the room. She eased Krissi against Philip. "Stay here. I'll be right - "

And Darryl's voice, off to the left. "My eyes, I can't see ... my eyes ..."

"I'll get him," Scott said. "You take care of Julie." Becka nodded and made her way through the cold, choking vapor. "Julie," she called, "Julie, where are you?"

"Here ..." The always-a.s.sured Julie sounded very, very frightened. "I'm over here."

At last Rebecca spotted her through the fog. She lay on her back with her head raised. "My body ... I can't - " Panic filled her voice. "Becka, I'm paralyzed. I can't move!" The thought filled Becka with fear and rage. Julie was a gifted athlete. She was going to State in track. She lived and breathed sports. And there she was, lying on the floor, twisted in a heap.

"Stop this!" Becka shouted to no one in particular. "I demand that you stop this! Stop these lies!"

As if in response, the floor started to rumble and shake again.

But Becka would not back down. "In the name of Jesus Christ, I demand that you stop this! Now! Stop it this instant!" The rumbling subsided. Slowly, until it had completely died. As it faded, the fog also began to dissolve. Not completely, but enough that Becka could make out the others scattered around the room.

There were Philip and Krissi huddled together on the floor.

Beyond them she could see Scott helping Darryl to his feet. And beside her was Julie - too strong to cry, but unable to move and wild-eyed with fear.

But where was Ryan? And what had happened to the Ascension Lady?

Becka knew what she had to do. As frightening as it was downstairs, she knew the source of the evil was upstairs. In the room at the end of the hall. The room where they had seen the shadows fighting. The room that had been videotaped ...

If they were going to put an end to this, they were going to have to confront whatever was in that room. And the only place to confront it was at its source.

Becka fought off a shiver. "Okay," she said as she slowly rose to her feet. "Somebody give me a hand with Julie."

"Where ... where are we going?" Philip asked timidly.

"We're going to stop this once and for all. We're going to get everyone back to normal." She sounded firm and in control on the outside. She just wished she felt that way inside.

It took all of Scott and Rebecca's encouragement and insistence, but the beleaguered troop finally rose to their feet and started forward. Becka nervously took the lead, followed by Julie, who was supported by Scott and Philip, and Darryl, who was led by Krissi.

Becka's face was firm with determination. This had to stop.

Now.

9:10 p.m.

"You look terrible," Todd said as he entered the church office.

Susan glanced up from her desk and instinctively straightened her hair. It was a mess. Though she and Todd had been married several months, she still always wanted to look her best around him.

"I brought Chinese," he said, referring to the large white sacks of food in his hands. The smell was wondrous, reminding Susan that she'd completely forgotten about dinner. He set the bags on the desk, gave her a kiss, and pulled up a seat. "So tell me what's going on."

"Rebecca Williams, her brother, and a bunch of friends are over at the Hawthorne mansion."

"What are they doing there?"

"They're with Priscilla Bantini, the owner of the Ascension Bookshop. She's holding a seance."

Todd whistled softly. "We'd better get over there." Susan shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I can't explain it, but I think ... I think we're supposed to stay here. I think we'll be of more help staying here and fighting for them in prayer." Todd looked at her a long moment. He really loved this lady.

There was a quality about her, something so virtuous and connected to G.o.d that it made her more appealing than he'd ever dreamed a woman could be.

He smiled and pushed up his sleeves. "Then we'd better get down to business."

She nodded. They took one another's hands and bowed their heads. Susan glanced wistfully at the food sitting on her desk. It was going to be a while before they got to it.

9:25 p.m.

Rebecca and the group made their way into the entry hall. Just like before, there was the tinkling of crystal as the chandelier over their heads began swaying. And everyone went out of their way to avoid walking underneath it.

Now they stood before the ma.s.sive stairway that loomed above them. As they paused, looking up, Scott joined Becka.

"What do you think?"

"I think we don't have a choice."

Scott nodded silently.

"What was that?"

"I didn't hear - "

Becka held up her hand for quiet. There it was again. A faint whimpering. It came from under the stairway. "Who's there?" she called.

It stopped for a moment, then continued. Becka threw a look at Scott, then cautiously moved to investigate. "Who is it?" As she worked her way along the base of the stairs, she strained to see through the darkness. At last a shape came into view. It was the shape of a young man - one she knew very well - huddled against the wall.

"Ryan?"

The shape pulled itself closer to the wall, burying its face into its knees.

"Ryan?" She knelt and touched him. He looked up; his cheeks were stained with tears. It made her skin crawl. In all the time she had known him, she had never seen him cry. "Ryan ... Ryan, what's wrong?"

His voice was thick. "They're dead!"

"What?"

"Mom, my sister, my little brother - " he swallowed back the rising emotion - "they're all ... dead." Becka's heart broke as she reached out for him. "No, Ryan, it's not true, it's a lie!" She pulled him close. He buried his face deep into her arms like a little boy. She held him tightly and could feel his body trembling with silent sobs. "It's all lies, Ryan, it's not true. None of it is true."

He looked up at her. Becka's throat ached with emotion as she stared down into those deep blue eyes. Eyes that usually sparkled with such life but that were now filled with agony.

"I saw them," he choked. "I saw the crash." His lip started to tremble, but he fought to continue. "I was standing right there in the road, Beck. They swerved to miss me - I saw them hit ...

I saw them hit the truck."

"No, Ryan, it wasn't true, it was - "

"I saw!" He was shaking again, fighting back another sob. "I saw them go through the windshield ... I saw my sister ... her little head - " He broke off.

Becka's arms tightened around him. Tears burned her eyes as she stroked the back of his head, trying in vain to console him. At last she turned his face toward hers and looked directly into his swollen, red eyes. "Listen to me, Ryan. It's not true. It's a lie."

"But I saw it ... I heard them screaming." She shook her head. Tears spilled onto her own cheeks.

"They're lies. That accident never happened." He searched her face, trying to understand. She continued.

"You can't go by what you see."

"But the screams - "

"You have to believe. Remember? We can't go by what we see or what we hear. We have to trust G.o.d, to believe what he says.

His truth, Ryan, remember?"

New tears sprang to Ryan's eyes, only now they were tears of helplessness. "I can't," he croaked. "It's ... too hard." Becka swiped at her eyes. "I know. I know. But he can give you the faith. If you ask him, he'll give you the faith." His eyes started to falter, to look away.

She gripped him tighter. "Ryan, G.o.d will help you believe!" She was practically shouting. "He'll help you believe, but you've got to ask, you've got to ask him!"

Her intensity drew his attention back to her. Then, ever so slowly, he began to nod. "Yes ... ," he whispered.

Before Becka could respond, there was a sudden tumbling and crashing on the stairs above them. They scurried to their feet and ran to the base of the steps. Becka was the first to see him.

"Scotty!"

Her brother lay sprawled out at the bottom of the steps. He and the others had started to climb on their own, but he'd slipped and fallen. Yet it wasn't the falling that horrified Becka - it was her brother's neck. She had never seen a head twisted in such a strange position. Instantly, she knew the reason. His neck was broken.

"Scotty! Scotty, no!!" She dropped to his side. He did not respond. His eyes were closed and he was not breathing. "Scotty, Scotty, wake up! Scotty! Oh, G.o.d - no ... please, please, not Scotty!" She threw her head back and cried. "Please, Jesus!

Please."

Tears fell from her lashes onto his lifeless body. "I warned you!" she yelled. "I said you weren't protected. Dear G.o.d, please, please ..."

"Becka - " Ryan knelt beside her. "This - this isn't true. It can't be."

"What are you talking about?" she wailed. "Look for yourself."

"No, no, it's just what you told me. This isn't real; this couldn't have happened."

"Look at him!" she shouted.

"It's not real, Beck." Ryan's voice was growing steadier. "It's another lie. He believes in Jesus; he's protected."

"No, that's just it - he wasn't protected. He wasn't wearing his - "

"G.o.d wouldn't let something like this happen, not the G.o.d I've been reading about. He wouldn't let this happen to one of his own. Not by that - " he motioned toward the top of the stairs - "that thing."

"But - "

"Believe ... Becka. You said it yourself, you've got to believe.

Don't go by what you see; go by what you know. G.o.d wouldn't let something like this happen. Not here, not like this." She continued staring at her little brother. Next to Mom, this was her greatest love, the only family she had left.

"Believe," Ryan repeated. "It's another lie ... it's not true, it's a lie."

Becka blinked. Slowly her eyes rose to meet Ryan's. Was it possible? Was this just another counterfeit?

She looked back down to the body. No! This could not be her brother. Whatever it was, it was not Scotty. Scotty was not dead.

He couldn't be dead. Scotty was alive, Scotty was - "Beck. Hey, Beck."

It was her brother's voice. But it wasn't coming from the body. It was coming from ...

She looked about, baffled.

"Up here." She turned to the landing at the top of the stairs.

There was Scotty, standing with the others. She gasped and looked back to the body in front of her.

It was gone.

"Beck, are you okay?" She looked back up. He was leaning against the rail, bracing himself against the pain in his head. He motioned for her. "There's something up here you'd better see.

Hurry."

She threw a look at Ryan. He gave a half-smile. Together they rose and raced up the stairs.