The Blood On My Hands

Chapter 5

His foul sneer sends shivers up my spine.

The piece begins moving around the board, going through each letter of the alphabet, a sign that an evil spirit is being freed from the boundaries of the board.

I watch as Mark maneuvers his foot to break the salt circle. He looks directly at me and grins, the low candlelight casting an eerie shadow across his face.

"Spirits, I give you all consent to possess me."

With that, Mark takes one hand off the planchette, and pushes it off the board.

I watch in horror as blackness envelopes Mark's eyes and his mortal form is lifted off the ground.

Josh breaks his gaze from Mark and in the blink of an eye is pulling up from the ground, screaming at me to run.

And so I do. I run faster than I can ever remember. Down the stairs, through the house that used to be so clean and crisp.

Josh stops in the kitchen and begins filling a large pitcher with water.

"Do you have a Bible?" He asks me.

I nod my head and go sprinting to retrieve it from the bookshelf in the living room.

When I come back, the pitcher is filled and Mark is praying over it, crosses drawn all over his body.

He hands me the marker and instructs me to draw on myself as well.

By the time I'm finished, Josh takes the Bible from the counter and dips his hand in the pitcher and begins splattering the water on me.

"This will keep you safe. No matter what, do not listen to him. His foul words will reverse the effect of the blessings I have laid on this holy water."

I nod, still too struck with panic to talk.

"He's coming," Josh confirms and he grabs my hand to drag me along.

As we run out of the kitchen, I glance a peek outside the window to where I can see six cop cars piled out front, all smashed into each other, two of them flipped on their backs. From here, I can see about nine policemen smeared along the road, their blood and guts spilled in every spot in sight.

I hold back my vomit.

I can hear Mark pounding down the stairs. Faster than normal for a human.

"Where are we going?" I ask Josh.

"To the basement."

I ignore all my other questions and exert the rest of my energy into running away. Into putting as much distance between Mark and I as possible.

"He's catching up!" Josh says as we round a corner.

Suddenly, I see mark dashing after us, a blue, paranormal glow radiating off of him. His mouth is oozing black goo, the same shade of his eyes.

"We aren't going to make it! He's gaining on us!" Josh screams.

Suddenly, I'm all too aware what I have to do. Only one of us can survive.

I rip my hand from Josh's grip and urge him to keep going.

Josh makes it to the entrance and thrusts the basement door open, lunging in just as Mark comes barreling into the room.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to stay for a play date," Mark sneers.

"Stay away from me," I whimper.

"Ha! So naïve. Who's going to make me? Your dead sister?" He laughs at his own cruelty and creeps closer to me as I back up.

I take my last few steps before the wall appears behind me, officially closing off my escape from Mark.