THE DEVIL'S CONSPIRACY Chapter 8: You left me here
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THE DEVIL’S CONSPIRACY
Chapter 8: You Left Me Here
“You left me here.”
Michael stared at the boy.
The words echoed inside his head.
He wanted to run.
Every instinct told him to turn around and escape the house, but his feet refused to move.
The boy stood on the other side of the black doorway.
He looked no older than eight.
Michael knew that face.
It was his own.
“Who are you?” Michael asked.
The boy tilted his head.
“You really don't remember?”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
The boy smiled sadly.
“You promised you wouldn't forget me.”
Sarah grabbed Michael's arm.
“Don't talk to him.”
Michael pulled away.
“Sarah, I need answers.”
“You won't like them.”
“I'm already past that point.”
The boy stepped closer to the doorway.
“I can show you.”
Sarah's expression changed.
“No.”
The boy looked at her.
“You're afraid.”
“I know what you are.”
The boy smiled.
“Do you?”
Michael looked between them.
“You two know each other?”
Sarah remained silent.
The boy answered for her.
“She knew me before you did.”
Michael's heart began pounding.
“Sarah?”
She looked away.
The boy continued.
“She was there when they buried me.”
Michael froze.
“Buried you?”
The boy nodded.
“Under this house.”
A cold sensation ran through Michael.
He looked at the floor.
“You're saying your body is here?”
“My body.”
The boy smiled.
“But not all of me.”
Michael remembered the stranger from Chapter 7.
The older version of himself.
The man who claimed to be the part of Michael that had died.
“Where is the man I saw earlier?”
The boy's smile disappeared.
“He isn't a man.”
“Then what is he?”
“What's left.”
“Left of what?”
The boy pointed at Michael.
“Me.”
Michael stepped backward.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head.
A memory appeared.
He was a child.
Running through the old house.
Someone was chasing him.
His grandmother screamed:
“Michael, don't open the door!”
But there were two children.
Two Michaels.
One was running toward the basement.
The other was running away.
Michael squeezed his eyes shut.
“No…”
Sarah caught him.
“What did you see?”
“Two boys.”
“Yes.”
“They were both me.”
Sarah nodded.
Michael looked at her.
“Why?”
She hesitated.
“Because your grandmother was trying to fool the entity.”
“How?”
“She believed that if there were two of you, it wouldn't know which one belonged to it.”
Michael stared at the boy.
“But it knew.”
Sarah nodded.
“It always knew.”
The boy stepped out of the doorway.
Michael immediately moved backward.
Sarah whispered:
“Don't let him touch you.”
The boy stopped.
“Why?”
Sarah didn't answer.
The boy looked at Michael.
“Because if I touch you, you'll remember everything.”
Michael's voice trembled.
“Then touch me.”
Sarah's eyes widened.
“Michael, no!”
But the boy reached forward.
His fingers touched Michael's hand.
Everything disappeared.
Michael saw his grandmother standing in the basement.
She was younger.
Much younger.
Malachar stood beside her.
Between them was a black stone table.
Two children were lying on it.
Michael.
And the other boy.
His grandmother was crying.
Malachar said:
“One must be given.”
She shook her head.
“I can't.”
“You made the agreement.”
“I was wrong.”
Malachar stepped closer.
“There is no wrong after the bargain.”
Michael watched helplessly.
His grandmother looked at the two children.
Then she made her choice.
She pointed at the other boy.
“Take him.”
Michael screamed.
The memory shattered.
He fell to the floor.
Sarah knelt beside him.
“Michael!”
He pushed her away.
“You knew.”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“You knew she chose him.”
“Yes.”
“My grandmother sacrificed him.”
“Yes.”
Michael looked toward the boy.
The child was crying now.
“She promised she'd come back,” he whispered.
Michael couldn't speak.
The boy continued.
“She told me she would save me.”
Michael looked at Sarah.
“What happened to him?”
Sarah lowered her eyes.
“She buried him beneath the house.”
Michael felt sick.
“And me?”
Sarah looked directly at him.
“You were taken away.”
“By who?”
“Malachar.”
Michael's blood ran cold.
“Why?”
Sarah whispered:
“To erase your memory.”
The boy stepped closer.
“And it worked.”
Michael stared at him.
“But you're still here.”
The boy nodded.
“Because your grandmother couldn't destroy me completely.”
Michael looked toward the floor.
“What are you?”
The boy's face became expressionless.
“The part of you that refused to die.”
The house suddenly shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The black doorway began opening again.
Sarah stood.
“We have to go.”
Michael didn't move.
“Where?”
“Anywhere away from that door.”
The boy suddenly turned toward the darkness.
His expression changed.
For the first time, he looked terrified.
Michael noticed.
“What is it?”
The boy whispered:
“It's coming.”
A deep sound rolled beneath the floor.
Boom.
Sarah grabbed Michael.
“Now!”
They ran down the corridor.
Behind them, something entered the room.
Michael didn't look back.
They reached the staircase.
Sarah stopped suddenly.
Michael nearly crashed into her.
“What?”
She pointed downward.
The staircase was gone.
There was only a black pit where the basement stairs had been.
Michael stared.
“How are we supposed to get out?”
Sarah shook her head.
“We aren't.”
A voice came from behind them.
“You never were.”
Michael slowly turned.
The boy stood at the end of the corridor.
But he was no longer alone.
Behind him stood the older Michael from Chapter 7.
The two looked almost identical.
Except the older one was smiling.
Michael felt his blood run cold.
“You're both here.”
The older figure nodded.
“We've always been here.”
Sarah whispered:
“Michael, don't listen to them.”
The older figure looked at her.
“Why are you still lying?”
“I'm not.”
“You know what happens when he remembers.”
Sarah said nothing.
Michael looked at her.
“What happens?”
The older Michael answered.
“He dies.”
Michael's heart stopped.
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
The older figure smiled.
“He has already died three times.”
Michael stared at him.
“Three?”
The figure nodded.
“And each time, your grandmother brought you back.”
Michael's voice became barely audible.
“Why?”
The older Michael pointed toward the basement.
“Because every time you return…”
The black pit beneath the staircase began glowing red.
“…the door gets closer to opening.”
Michael looked down.
A black symbol appeared beneath his feet.
Sarah backed away.
“Michael…”
He looked at her.
“What?”
She was crying.
“You were never supposed to survive this long.”
The floor suddenly cracked.
Michael fell.
Sarah screamed his name.
He grabbed the edge.
Something beneath him caught his ankle.
He looked down.
Two pale hands were wrapped around his leg.
Then a familiar voice whispered from below:
“Welcome back, Michael.”
He recognized it immediately.
It was his grandmother.
But this time, he knew the truth.
It wasn't her.
It was the thing beneath the house.
And as it pulled him into the darkness, Michael heard the little boy whisper one final sentence:
“Now you'll remember why I had to die.”
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