Chapter 59: A Brush with Evil
Jason drove away from Kate’s house, his thoughts occupied until he suddenly realized his phone was missing. He slowed the car, patting his pockets and searching the console, but it was nowhere to be found.
“After calling Commissioner Bob, I must’ve left it on the sofa,” he muttered, irritation flickering in his voice. Shaking his head, he made a swift U-turn, heading back to retrieve it.
As he approached the house, something felt off. The front door was ajar, swaying slightly in the wind. Jason’s stomach tightened. Kate wasn’t the type to leave her door open.
Then, a piercing scream tore through the stillness. Adrenaline surged, and Jason sprinted toward the sound, revolver already in hand.
Inside the house, Jason skidded to a halt in the living room doorway. The scene before him froze him in place: Kate was slumped on the sofa, blood trickling down her forehead. Across the room, Ophelia lay crumpled against the wall, blood streaking her cheek.
Heart pounding, Jason scanned the room for an attacker, but the house was eerily silent. He hurried to Kate, gripping her shoulder. “Kate, who did this to you?” His voice was tight with concern.
Before she could respond, the air in the room shifted, heavy and electric. Jason turned sharply as Ophelia, still limp moments ago, was lifted into the air by an invisible force.
“What the—” Jason’s words caught in his throat as she spun violently and crashed into the wall again, her body crumpling on impact.
Jason’s hand tightened around his revolver, but he didn’t know where to aim. His breath hitched when a monstrous figure emerged from the shadows—a towering goat-headed apparition with burning eyes that seemed to pierce straight through him.
The creature’s guttural voice echoed in the room. “Who summoned him here?”
Jason stood frozen, his mind reeling. The revolver in his hand felt useless against whatever this was.
The creature turned its attention to Kate, gripping her by the neck and lifting her effortlessly off the sofa. She clawed at its massive hand, gasping for air.
“Jason, help us!” Ophelia’s trembling voice broke through the chaos, thick with desperation.
Jason raised his gun, aiming at the creature, but doubt flooded his mind. Would bullets even harm something like this?
The ghost’s grip on Kate tightened, her face pale and stricken with pain. “Jason, help me,” she rasped, her voice barely audible.
The creature sneered. “You’re useless,” it growled before releasing Kate, who collapsed onto the sofa in a coughing fit.
Leaning closer, the ghost whispered in Kate’s ear, its voice dripping with malice. “I’m leaving, but you cannot save her.” Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the ghost vanished into the shadows.
Jason darted to Ophelia, helping her to her feet before turning to Kate. His voice shook as he demanded, “Kate, what just happened? What the hell is going on here?”
Kate held her head, her voice weak but resolute. “Jason… if you hadn’t come, we’d both be dead.”
“Dead? From what? Who attacked you?” Jason’s voice rose, frustration laced with disbelief.
Ophelia, tears streaming down her face, interjected, “It wasn’t a person. It was a monster. A ghost.”
Jason stared at her, his brow furrowing. “Are you even in your senses?”
“You saw it!” Ophelia cried, her voice trembling but defiant. “You saw me in the air, Jason! You saw the bruises! How can you stand there and deny what’s right in front of you?”
Jason opened his mouth to argue but fell silent. The impossible scene replayed in his mind, challenging everything he believed.
“She’s right,” Kate murmured, her voice strained. “This house is haunted. That… thing has been tormenting me for weeks.”
Jason’s disbelief faltered as he looked at the bruised and terrified faces before him. “Haunted? Kate, how is that even possible?”
“I didn’t tell anyone because I knew they’d think I was crazy,” Kate confessed, her voice cracking. “But now you’ve seen it. You have to believe me.”
Jason remained silent, the weight of their words pressing down on him.
“I’ll explain everything,” Ophelia said, recounting Kate’s experiences—the strange noises, the violent encounters, the creature’s chilling threats.
When she finished, Jason ran a hand through his hair, his voice low and steady. “It sounds insane. But… I saw it. And I can’t deny what I saw.”
Kate’s eyes searched his. “You believe us?”
Jason nodded slowly. “I don’t want to, but I have no reason not to. You’re not the type to lie, Kate. If you were making this up, I’d have noticed something long before now.”
Relief flickered across Kate’s face, but her resolve hardened again. The ghost’s whispered threat echoed in her mind, a grim reminder that they had little time to act.