Chapter 7
It began to thrash around under the table, its long nails gouging deep scratches into the wood, but we were inside the wall. The creature couldn’t see the false panel in the dim light.
Frustrated, it let out a low, guttural hiss and backed out from under the altar.
“Fine,” the creature rasped, its head snapping upward toward the ceiling. “If the little ones want to play hide-and-seek, I’ll just take the big one first.”
The creature didn’t stand up. Instead, it crawled over to the heavy oak wardrobe standing against the far wall. The very wardrobe our father, Wade Callaway, had climbed on top of.
The creature began to scale the wardrobe.
It didn’t climb like a human. It moved like an insect, its limbs bending in impossible ways, its long nails digging effortlessly into the solid oak.
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
It moved with terrifying speed. Within seconds, it reached the top.
A heavy, terrified silence hung in the room. Then my father’s voice broke the quiet.
“Mom, no. Please, it’s me, Wade. I brought you your favorite tea last year. Remember? Mom, don’t look at me like that.”
“You left my grandchildren to starve,” the creature replied, its voice devoid of any maternal warmth, replaced by a cold demonic hunger. “You never came back. You only came back today to steal the deed to the house.”
“No, I came to see you. I swear. Ah! Get away from me! Get away!”
The sound of a brief, violent struggle echoed from the top of the wardrobe. Then came the wet, sickening sound of tearing flesh and snapping bone.
Wade Callaway’s scream was short, abruptly cut off by a sickening gurgle.
A heavy thud shook the floorboards as something large and limp was thrown from the top of the wardrobe to the ground.
Blood began to pool across the wooden floor, slowly creeping toward the altar table.
River squeezed his eyes shut, his tiny body shaking violently. I held him as tightly as I could, silent tears streaming down my face.
Our father was dead.
The man who had abandoned us, who had tried to sacrifice us to save himself, was gone.
“Two left,” the creature hissed from the top of the wardrobe.
Then came the heavy sound of it crawling down the wood. It hit the floor with a wet smack, dragging itself toward the door.
“Come out. Come out, wherever you are.”
Its voice faded as it slithered out into the courtyard, the door creaking shut behind it.
We were alone in the dark wall cavity.
I waited for what felt like hours, listening to my own rapid heartbeat. Only when the absolute silence of the east room convinced me the creature was truly gone did I dare to breathe.
You can’t stay there.
The mysterious voice echoed again, calm but firm.
The smell of your father’s blood will attract it back. It will tear the room apart until it finds you. You need to leave the house.