Get Me To A Church

CHAPTER 7: PURGATORY

           Just before she got in a car crash and died, me and my friends decided to investigate Mrs. Packerton's apartment. Ashley would've come, too, but she had to watch her little brother. Todd was looping security footage of an empty hallway so we wouldn't be caught. It was just me and Larry.

           The apartment was smelly but relatively normal at first glance. There was a console table with a radio on it next to the green couch. Above the radio was a painting of a barn with a white picket fence surrounding it. It gave me a weird feeling. Leaning against the couch was a package of diapers. The kitchen looked normal, but there was a lock on one of the freezers. The fridge contained regular groceries — milk, juice, canned goods and bags of fruit. 

           Nothing meat.

           While Larry fiddled with the padlock, I looked inside the other freezer, which did not have a lock on it. Inside was more very regular food, including frozen vegetables, microwave dinners, and bologna. Behind me, I heard the lock click open, shut the freezer door, and turned around. Larry had unlocked the freezer. I stood beside him as he opened it up.

           Inside was a severed goat's head, glistening blood on his neck bone and splattered around. I recoiled and screwed my eyes shut tightly. I peeked at Larry, whose face was grossed out, but lit up with gratification. 

           "I knew it!" he said. 

           Just before he closed the freezer door, I noticed symbols that looked like pentagrams inside.

           "It is goats. I fucking called that shit, man," he nodded. He paused like he could see the disgust on my face (even though I was wearing my prosthetic). "Also, gross," he added.

           Even though we'd found the answer, I felt something itching at the back of my skull. Something didn't feel right, like it wasn't that easy. My gut feelings tend to be right.

           "I feel like it can't be that simple. Let's see if we can get into those bedrooms," I said. I'd checked earlier, and they were locked. Larry was good with locks — maybe he could get those ones open, too.

           Larry fiddled with the lock for a minute or so before turning to me and saying, "This is a bizarre lock, dude. I'm not sure if I can pick it, but I'll keep trying."

           I nodded and glanced back at the kitchen. There was a bloodstain on the tiled floor. I wondered if I could summon someone who may have been killed in Mrs. Packerton's kitchen. Maybe a year ago, Todd upgraded my Gear Boy (the latest video game console back then) by adding an antenna from a walkie-talkie and a bunch of cool robotic parts. I have no idea how they work, but now I can summon and talk to the dead when I press a certain button. We've dubbed it the "Super Gear Boy."

           The screen flashed green and I pressed the big red button on the console. The ground rumbled beneath me, and I moved out of the way for a goat with a floating head to spawn from the blood. I jerked back in surprise; first of all, I'd never summoned an animal spirit before, and secondly, that meant that Mrs. Packerton had just straight up killed some goat in her very own kitchen.

           "...Ummm. Hi, little buddy...?" I whispered.

           "Bah. Bah bah. Bah. Bah bah," said the goat. He sunk back into the blood and disappeared.

           "What in the hell was that?" Larry asked from the hallway.

           "A ghost goat, apparently. That probably shouldn't be surprising to me at this point but I definitely did not see that coming," I replied.