Soul Pills

Chapter 13

Marcus had been to the Kulas home a number of times since Hannah's treatment had begun.  Each time Hannah's progress was mirrored by the landscaping and state of the house itself.  The first time he had come definite signs of a negative presence were apparent everywhere.  Over the weeks that followed the Kulas family had been slowly making progress, repairing damage faster than the demon could cause it.  The last time he had been at the house the grounds had been tidy, the grass neatly trimmed.  The trees had been green and lush.  The windows were completely unbroken.

Things had changed.  Things had changed quite drastically.  Marcus stared down the driveway towards the house and clenched the steering wheel so tightly the leather seams made small creaking noises.  The tension in the muscles at the sides of his jaw made his face twitch and ache, and his brow was so furrowed that his eyes were little more than slits.

To his left and right the trees were all blackened and bent away from the house.  The grass this far from the house was still a little green, but the tops were singed.  As Marcus rolled down the driveway the grass turned brown, then black, and finally in a circle around the house the grass was completely gone. The ground where the grass had been was charred and cracked.

The Kulas home looked positively dejected, the outer walls were slightly buckled and the roof was listing to one side.  None of the window frames were rectangular any more, they slouched in the middle and only small shards of glass hung on making them look like smiling mouths with erratic glass teeth.

Marcus rounded the final bend and the circular driveway in front of the house came into view.  The fountain in the middle of the driveway was split right down the center and a thick brown fluid bubbled up from the middle.  The reservoir below the fountain was cracked in a number of places and the dark liquid was sloshing over the sides and running out of the cracks and onto the driveway.

Marcus parked his car a short distance away and got out.  He walked around to his trunk and got out a small backpack.  As he lifted the pack it made a clanking noise that echoed dimly off the front of the house.  Marcus slung the pack over his shoulder and as he turned he caught a flash of movement from behind the fountain.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver cross.  He held it in front of him and walked around the fountain.

As he came between the house and the fountain he saw a form hunched over the edge of the fountain.  It looked like a woman was washing her hands in the filthy sludge.  Marcus was about to ask her what she was doing when she rose and turned to face him, her soft yellow dress was stained all across the front with dark smudges.  Brown sludge ran in rivulets down from her wrists and dripped off of cracked fingernails, higher up a glistening red substance had coated her arms to just above the elbows.  The woman's hair was matted and hung in front of her face.  Even still Marcus knew just by her size and stance that it was Olivia.

Marcus didn't want to know the answer but asked anyway, "Olivia, are you okay?"

Olivia twitched a bit and reached up to push the hair away from one side of her face.  She smoothed her hair back with one hand, smearing her hair and face with sludge and blood.  She blinked a couple times and blood in the corner of her eye and replied, "I knew you would come."  Her voice was unnatural: it was the same strange medley he had heard in Hannah's voice so many times before.  Somehow the demon had gotten into Olivia.

"Come into the house," came a deep rumble from Olivia's throat.

Marcus darted a glance towards the house.  The sun was just going down.  There was still light, but not for much longer.  The house seemed almost pitch black now, in a few minutes there would be no way for Marcus to see inside without a flashlight.  Even though Marcus had a good flashlight in his pack, he knew that as soon as he got inside it would be useless.  It was a fairly simple thing for an entity this powerful to shut off a flashlight.