Viribus

Chapter 7: The search for Lillie

The sun creeps through a crack in the thick curtains and I open my eyes. Today is the day we're gonna find out the truth or maybe die trying. Grabbing my phone from the bedside table I see that it's just 7:30 in the morning and there's a text from Dimitri.
"Down stairs cooking breakfast, big day today!"
Wow, and he can cook? Pinch me I'm dreaming, no, actually this is nightmare. Viribus is still snoozing pretty good, his large body sprawled lazily at the foot of the bed. He wakes up as soon as I start to get out of the bed and stands at attention.
"Come on boy, let's go get us some breakfast, I say as I walk into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I immediately notice that the bloody writing on the shower glass is gone. If it wouldn't have been for Dimitri seeing it last night, I'd swear I was going crazy.
It's nice to have another person around to verify that I'm not going completely mad.
There are days when I feel like I can't even trust my own mind.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I can tell I've changed. I'm a much different person than I was a couple weeks ago. I was timid, shy and soft spoken. I was scared of my own shadow. This new Viviana has had a couple of near death experiences and knows life is short. I was nervous about today but I also knew that the only person standing in the way of my normal life was me and I was ready now, more than ever.
I finish up and me and Viribus go downstairs. The smell of coffee and eggs instantly hits me in the face and I can hear music playing. It's Elton John's- "still standing". I catch a glimpse of Dimitri cooking in the kitchen. He's wearing an apron that says "Kiss the cook" and he's actually dancing.
I watch him as he mouths the words and stiffly dances around the kitchen and I can't help but let out a small laugh. Dimitri looks up, obviously embarrassed.
"I didn't know you were standing there, well I guess now you know I can't dance.", he looks down at the floor, smiling. 
"No, now I know you can cook, you've got great taste in music AND you can't dance." We both burst out laughing.
"I've made eggs, pecan pancakes, bacon and I've got a big bowl of leftover chicken breast from last week for the coolest German Sheppard in the room."
Viribus's ears shoot up and he excitedly runs over to the makeshift dog bowl in the corner.
"Wow, you really know the way to a girls heart.", I say as I sit on the stool at the marble bar table. "Did you clean the shower this morning? I noticed the bloody words were gone."
"No, the words were gone when I got up too. It looked as if it never even happened..."
"I'm just glad we both saw it last night so we know it was really there. This thing is trying to make us doubt ourselves."
"Viviana, I have no doubt about what we seen last night. I've done some research just this morning and I found the perfect place to start our search today."
He takes a piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to me. It's an address with Lillie's name on it.
"So this is supposed to be where she lives? That's like 30 minutes from here."
"Yes, we can drop by there today and see if we can get some information."
I could tell Dimitri could see the uncertainty in my eyes.
"I think we should try to find a phone number for her and call first. It's only fair."
It only takes about 10 minutes of searching before we come up with 3 possible phone numbers.
"Welp! Here goes nothing.", I say as I grab my phone and start to dial the first number on the list.
It rings 3 times and a female voice answers.
"Hello?"
"Hi, may I speak with Lillie Liles?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, this is the smith residence now. Lillie hasn't lived here in a long time, are you a friend of hers?"
"Yes ma'am, I was just trying to see if we could catch up and I found this number associated with her name."
"Yes, she lived here about 10 years ago but has since moved. I do have her current number, if u wanted it. She's such a sweet lady, after we bought the house from her, we just kept in touch."
"I'd love that. Thank you so much."
She gives me a number that doesn't match either of the other two we had.
Once we get off of the phone, I realize I may have the ticket to freedom in my hand.
Me and Dimitri just sit there for a minute. I dial the number and it starts to ring. A woman answers the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Lillie Liles?"
"May I ask who's speaking?"
I pause....
"Yes ma'am, you don't know me but I know you. I live in your old house."
"You mean, the house I lived in 10 years ago? Kathleen is that you?"
"No ma'am, I mean your childhood home. My name is Viviana"
The line gets quiet.
"Mrs. Liles, I know this is all so weird but I've been living in your childhood home for a few months now and very strange things have been happening. I'm desperate for any answers that I could get. Would it be okay if we met up or I come to visit you so that we could meet in person?"
Once again, it gets quiet. I'm so nervous she might hang up.
"I'm sorry, dear, I just wasn't expecting that. I want to help you but it took me a long time to escape the evil in that house. I'm not sure if I can stand to talk about it anymore."
"Mrs. Liles, I completely understand but..."
"No, I don't think you do", she interrupts, "the evil that exists in that house is far more than you can ever imagine."
"I DO understand, Mrs. Liles and it's because unfortunately, I've seen it first hand. My life is in danger."
"Could I have some time to think about it? I don't want anything to happen to you but this is all really sudden."
"I understand. You can call me back at this number."
"Okay, I will call you back later on this afternoon after my stories go off."
She hangs up and my stomach gets that queasy feeling like right before you go to take a test you know you didn't study for. What if I never hear from her again? She obviously wants to leave the past in the past and I don't really blame her.
I tell Dimitri what she said and he thinks we should give her until 5 pm before calling her again to see what her decision is.
In the meantime, I need to grab some things from my house and just thinking about it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
In the car on the way to my house, I start to have those thoughts again. I really don't want to go inside. I could just forget this house and everything in it. I could just never go back.
There are a lot of things that I could do but this monster isn't going to leave me alone no matter what I do. I have awakened something and I have to fix it now.
Once we pull up in the driveway, it's like the whole mood in the car changes. Viribus is standing up in the back seat and hasn't moved. His eyes are still, he doesn't blink and they don't leave the view of the house.
Viribus can feel the evil from the house even from the car. The dark, demonic force beckons them to come closer. This house is a prison for souls that were evil long before they left the body they inhabited. This is a dangerous place for Viviana but if she decides to go in, he'll be right beside her.
"Are you sure u want to do this, Viviana? You can always buy new clothes."
"I'm positive, I'm not going to let this thing scare me out of my own house."
I tell Dimitri to stay in the car.I don't want to tell him, but I am scared. I'm actually terrified but being scared didn't stop this thing from trying to rip my neck apart. I take a deep breath and open the door. A warm gust of air hits me in the face and I take a look around. Nothing unusual so far. I walk to my room and go to my closet to grab my clothes. I go to open one my drawers to get some things but it's stuck.
Pulling as hard as I can, I yank the drawer open and it jams into the side of my very sore ribs.
"Damnit!", I scream as I clutch my waist. Viribus rushes to my side.
"I'm fine boy, it's okay."
As I sit there in pain, my mind goes back to the morning I broke my ribs; lying there in the back yard. Something was glimmering in the lawn that caught my eye. I had completely forgotten about it until just now. Curiosity gets the best of me, and Viribus and I go into the back yard to investigate.
It's a sunny day so maybe I will be able to find it again. Me and Viribus search everywhere and after 15 minutes, we're just about ready to give up and then I have an idea. I go over to the general area where I landed that day and lay on the ground. Viribus probably thought I was crazy but sometimes it's all a matter of perspective. I'd only been laying there for a few seconds when Dimitri runs in the backyard.
"Oh my God! Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, I'm on the ground because I'm looking for something. The day I broke my ribs, there was something in the yard that was gleaming and now I can't find it. I figure, if I lay in the same spot, it might catch the sun just right and I can see it again."
Dimitri just looks at me.
"Look at you! I'm impressed, that was smart. I came to check on you because it had been a while and I got a little worried but I see you have things handled. You see anything?"
"Actually I do, it's back further than I remember, by the fence."
We run over to the spot and see nothing at first but then Dimitri starts to kick at the grass and I can see what looks like an old flat piece of metal. The more he uncovered, the more unsettled I became. This wasn't an old piece of metal in my yard. It was a grave. The writing is not legible at all. The silver was weathered and and rusty.
"Do you think this is where they buried the brother?", Dimitri says as he tries to read the writing on the grave.
"That's exactly what I think."
I feel a vibration in my back pocket. My phone is ringing and it's Lillie.
"Hello?"
"Yes, Viviana?"
"Yes ma'am, it's me."
"I've thought about it and I think I'm finally ready to talk."