10. Grimoire- part three
The old man's expression changed effortlessly to its original one of courteous hospitality. 'My friends, my friends, you cannot be so foolish as to think you may have planned my murder, surely? If tomorrow I do not leave my usual grocery order in its regular place, there would soon be investigators on my property. That same person who collects my orders and delivers my grocery could not fail to recall a foreign name and the uncustomary address in Norwich to which he had posted my correspondence.' The old man grinned valiantly and moved to the safe. He placed the book beside the safe. Turning to open the safe door, he ended his words of warning with, 'However, the time for The Book to change hands has arrived, and so you may return to me with the money as agreed, and the treasure will be yours.'
Mr Guven, still pointing the gun, looked to Mr Sadia for a signal. As the old man opened the safe door, he said, 'On the other hand-who knows of your visit to me? You yourselves have assured its secrecy.' He took from the safe a revolver. He turned and pointed it at Sadia.
A single, fearful shot fired. The sound, and the smell of gun smoke, filled the room. The old man fell backwards onto the wall, sliding down it and onto the floor by the beast's door. The captive creature howled and screamed, smashing the door from the inside. Roaring orange flames fired out from under the door. Black smoke rose in billowing clouds to the ceiling, swirling around the top of the door.
The two thieves, the smaller one clasping the grimoire, hurried up the stairs, but, at the top, the key would not turn to unlock the door. Thick smoke drifted towards the tiny windows and up towards the men at the top of the steps.
The old man struggled to his knees, clasping his wounded chest. He raised himself up further. He stood and opened the top bolt to the door but then before the other men had noticed he was not yet dead, he fell back to the floor. The beast's bellowing exploded to reverberate around the cellar.
Guven ran back down the stairs to the safe- just as another shot fired out. The old man had retrieved his weapon, but after just one inaccurately wasted round, he dropped the gun and fell back to the floor. Guven took out his weapon and put two more rounds into the old man. The old man's gun was kicked across the floor. The safe was lifted from the cupboard and carried to the bottom of the stairs.
The raging creature thrashed and hammered at its door. Flames licked around the bottom of the door and up the sides of the door frame. Wood smouldered as more smoke filled the room. Guven, cuddling the safe, stepped up the stairs one step at a time. At the top, he positioned himself and swung a practice swing at the door. There was little space to swing his body, but the safe was heavy, and Guven was, after all, the circus strongman. The second swing looked a little more promising. The third swing was for real, and the door was smashed at the lock. The safe fell from Guven's hands to the wooden platform floor, splitting the timbers apart. Smoke clouds had now drifted to the top of the stairs, making the men cough violently.
The half-bolted door keeping the dragon at bay began to shatter at the bottom. The creature's scaly snout with long flaring nostrils protruded through the broken panels.
Guven thrashed and punched the broken wood around the door lock until he was able to pull the wood and the lock away. Smoke and the roars from the creature were now filling both men's heads. The creature's head and one front limb broke through the bottom of the door. The clawed foot of the second limb gripped the outside of the door, tugging and jerking at the damaged wood. More timber broke away. The bottom of the door opened up, and more of the creature forced its way through the ever-widening gap.
The men ran through the house. Sadia sped through the half-open exit door, but Guven needed to squeeze and force his way through just as he had needed to enter. By the time both men had left the house and were crossing the muddy puddle where they had seen the ominous footprints, The Visahap was breaking free from the flaming bolted door. The door smashed from its hinges and fell to the floor, its flaming timbers licking around the legs of the table on which the attaché case and money still lay.
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God of Odd
Paranormal'At the time, we assumed it was all fun and trickery arranged for the occasion- several sessions later, we learned otherwise. The creepy events we were to witness in that old house were indeed very mystical, and I might add, for us, life-changing. T...
