In Parched Gardens: Book 2

Chapter 6: In Voice Undone

They stood in a semi-circle in front of the large two story brick building with an old white porch. Twilight was yawning now and dusk was stretching across the sky. They couldn't easily see the horizon line, obscured by the homes of Allbrook around them, but the glimmer of dark orange hung just above the fields to the west. And above them, like a deep blanket, a purple-blue began to expose the stars.

"This building," Isaac started, "Allbrook Funeral and Cremations, has stood on this spot since construction finished in 1925. David Anderson, a local man, had the building built and was the first mortician here for nearly forty years. At first, the building was intended to be both a funeral home and the actual home of the Anderson family. Nothing strange related to the building was reported until the 1980s.

"After David finally retired, his son, Arthur, took over the business. Arthur's own son, James, replaced him, but he stepped down in the early 80s and the building was bought by someone unrelated to the Andersons. Starting in the 80s, the business began to change hands fairly quickly and rumors began to start. At first, they were only whispers around town of someone standing in the top window there," Isaac said, pointing at the middle second-story window. "Later, some said that when they visited, they'd heard strange noises, like whispering or whimpering maybe, but they couldn't find a source for it.

"By the late 80s, these stories were well known. And then in 1989, when an electrician was in the basement trying to fix something with the wires, he found a book and some bone fragments hidden behind a loose brick in the wall. It's said that when he read the book, it contained strange spells and incantations. Some of the spells seemed to possibly be dark invocations, calling on powers the electrician had never heard of. And worse," Isaac said, drawing them in, "some of the spells included lists of ingredients and directions. Some called for pieces of bone, of blood, of parts of organs.

"It seems," Isaac said somewhat softly, "that the Andersons, or maybe someone after them, were practicing some dark magic here. And what would be a better place?" Isaac added, turning slightly toward the building. "Here they could perform their rituals in secret and they would have all the ingredients they could possibly need. In some circles, this became known as the Necromancers' House. It's said that at night, in the dark hallways of the house, cries and moans can be heard. Sometimes, it's said, the rattling of chains, as if from the basement, echo down the halls. Some wonder if it's just the many deceased who have passed through the funeral home. Or maybe, it's more tortured spirits raging against the desecration of their bodies - raging against irreverent attempts to use them for some kind of augury of bones.

"Whatever it may be, though many who have been in the building report these things, stretching back for many years now, no mortician there has ever confirmed any of it. Dating back to the 80s when these reports began to surface, each mortician has denied them, outright. Maybe they don't really happen," Isaac said, looking out over them, pausing, "Or maybe they don't want to acknowledge the whispers and the rattling of chains that haunt them too. And now," Isaac said, pointing southeast toward Allbrook Park only about three blocks from them, "on to the park."

"Oh good," Maria said to Fin and Natalie as they walked, "I've wanted to go to the park more."

Natalie chuckled slightly. "Was this what you had in mind?" she asked her.

"You know," Maria started, "probably not, but it'll still be a way to get to know the park more... even if it makes me never want to go back." She paused for a minute. "I'm kinda surprised about the kids here," Maria said, motioning her head toward the younger people in the group, probably around middle school age. "These stories are kinda intense."

Natalie chuckled again. "Yeah," she replied, "Who knows how many times they've been to this before. I doubt these bother them now."

"I guess," Maria replied skeptically. "You said you haven't ever been to this before, right?" she asked Fin.