CARRIE

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The next day, we decided to leave home early and stake out the place. We talked about it after we got home last night and agreed to observe the place today, and see who comes and goes so we know the best time to enter the castle. We took a camera, a note, and some snacks and water. “You have all we need? Or are we forgetting something?” I asked Carrie and Leah as we stepped outside. “Yeah, we didn't forget anything on the list. Everything’s here”. We wrote a list last night and kept adding to it as we remembered.

We drove down to the castle and parked across the street. We brought out the camera and note, then we waited. We waited for anything out of the ordinary, anyone going in or coming out. Anyone even looking at the building funny. We also brought a couple of books we took from the storage rooms, to pass the time.

“This says the ritual to summon a demon needs a human sacrifice too and the demon possession spell requires the blood of someone close to you” Carrie took a sticky note and wrote down some important things from the ritual book.

“It's been hours, no one has gone in or comes out.” Carrie was visibly frustrated as she slammed the book. “It's annoying, I know. But we planned for this, we knew this was a possibility when we decided to come here” I explained as I tried to calm her down. Leah was becoming uneasy to so I tried to calm both of them down. Surely they weren't expecting to just find demons running around or suspicious looking people going in and out of the castle. Leah looked at Carrie and held her hands, “He’s right Carrie, we planned for this”. She finally calmed down. We had some snacks and continue with the books. In the other journals, there was no clue as good as the castle and no other journal that we took mentioned it, so it had to be some important building that only specific people or the leader alone knew about. We waited a few more hours and just as it was getting late again, we saw someone approach the gate.

“Look Look it's that same person” Carrie pointed and we got a closer look this time. It was a man, mid thirties. He had a cap on and a coat so he clearly wanted to avoid public eye. He went in through the same hole, this time we were determined to wait until he came out. At exactly 8:45 PM We saw two people come out. “They're two now! How is that possible? One went in and Two came out.” I shouted then controlled myself. I tried to get a clearer look of the second person but it was too dark to see anything. They disappeared into the night and after sitting in silence for several minutes we decided to go home too.

We pulled into the driveway and my Mom rushed out immediately. She had already called several times, our phones were on silent so we wouldn't blow our cover or get distracted. “Where did you put your phones? I called you multiple times! The three of you” She was almost red with anger. “We're sorry Mom, we went to check out the castle we found in the journal.” I tried to explain to her as we went in the house. “Oh, how did that go? Did you find anything? You should still have sent a message or something, I was worried sick” She did seem a lot calmer after we explained. We told her about everything we found out, including the two men that came out of the house in the night. “That's strange, one went in and two came out. You guys be careful, this whole finding out the truth is starting to get too dangerous. I don't like it one bit”. “I know I know, we'll be careful I promise. We don't exactly have a choice though” I explained. I was too tired to eat anything so I just went straight to bed.

*****

Two days later, when we were sure we were ready we decided to go into the castle. We knew the timeframe the guy with the coat went in and the time he came out. We agreed to go in by noon, people would be too busy to pay any attention. We got there minutes before noon and parked across the building, but a few houses back this time. “Are you guys ready? Did you bring the flashlights with you?” I asked both of them as I grabbed my camera. We got down and crossed over to the castle.

We stood in front of the castle, the hole by the gate looked a lot bigger this time. I guess looking at it from across the street, it was expected it would be bigger up close. We entered through the hole and the place looked bigger than it did from the outside. Two cars looked about a hundred years old. They had moss and rust all over. We climbed the steps to the main house silently, I tried the door but it was locked. “It's locked, what do we do?” Carrie asked. It would be amateur to just walk in through the front door now that I think about it, considering what they were involved in. “Let's check around, there should be a window or something we can get in through”. We walked carefully around the house. Getting to the other side of the house, there were cans of drinks and snack wrappers that looked fresh. They didn't look as old as the house did, or the cars. They were scattered around the side, someone has definitely been here recently. After walking a bit more, I noticed an open window. “Here, we can get in through this window” I stuck my head in through the window and peeped first before climbing in. I looked around, the room was pretty dim which wasn't a surprise seeing as the windows were. I held the window up and told them to come in, “Okay you guys, you can climb in now”. I helped them in and Leah brought out the flashlights. We put it on and looked around. We entered the next room and came out to the foot of the stairs. It was very weird, the type you only saw in fairytale movies. It led all the way up, “We should split up and check around, then meet up here” I suggested. I was about to climb the stairs when Carrie dragged me by my arm. “Split up!? In a place we don't know? We don't know how many rooms are here. We don't even know what's in the house”. “I say we stick together, check out whatever we want to check out together. What do you say Leah?” Carrie asked. “I agree, we don't know what's waiting for us. I'll rather us check together than get lost separately” Leah agreed with her so I gave in. “Okay, where should we check out first?” I asked both of them. We agreed to check up first, then work our way down. We climbed up the stairs, they creaked as we went up. We got to the top and there were three rooms on each side. We went to the left wing first, and opened the first room. It looked like a normal room, just a bed, a table, a night lamp and a mirror. We entered and searched the room, nothing. We went to the second room, it was the same. “Do we even need to check the last one?” Carrie asked as we walked over to the last room on that wing. “Can't say, we might find something different”.

I opened the door and there was a book on the table beside the bed. We moved closer and the book had a star on it. The same star that some books had in the second storage room. I picked it up and opened it, it was empty. “Should we take it? It seems a bit weird how organized the rooms are” Carrie asked. She was right, these rooms have been way too organized so far. If people were actually using them wouldn't they notice the books were missing. “Let's check the other wing first” I dropped the book and we went to the other wing. Two out of three rooms on that wing were completely empty and dusty. We opened the last room, and I felt a rush of wind on my face. The room was dark, I turned on my flashlight and looked around. There was only a bed frame in the room and a large wardrobe. no bed or light lamp. I looked around for a light switch, and I found it minutes later. I pressed the light switch but the light didn't come on, “light’s out. We have to use our flashlights. Just check for anything out of the ordinary, anything weird.” I said to Carrie and Leah as we checked the entire room. There was nothing, no books or anything at all, which was weird because this room was the most suspicious of all the rooms we've checked so far. I checked the large wardrobe, I opened all the drawers. There was nothing in them, so I started checking for hollow spaces in them by knocking on the walls and the wardrobe. After repeating it three times I felt a faint breeze on my hand as I tapped on the walls of the wardrobe. I pointed my flashlight at that part and noticed a black hole in the wall, I looked at it closely and I saw it wasn't a hole. It was a small button, I pushed it and nothing happened. I looked at Carrie. All of a sudden, I heard the wardrobe creak, it made me jump a little. I moved back as the wardrobe slid to the side and a doorway opened. We all started at each other in shock for a moment, I went towards the doorway. Now I know where the air was coming from. It was a secret room that led all the way down. Carrie and Leah were still in the room in shock, I turned and looked at them. “What are you guys doing over there? Let's go check it out”. They both jumped like they just regained consciousness, we descended down the stairs slowly.

We came out to a whole other room when we reached the foot of the stairs. It was a small room compared to the other rooms in the house. In the middle of the room, there was a big stone slab with a star carved on it and some writings. “What does it say?” I asked them. “I don't know, we don't speak whatever language that is” Carrie snapped. I brought out my camera and took pictures of the stone slab before continuing to check out other things in the room. There were a few books and lots of glass containers filled with liquids. In one corner of the room, there was a large iron table with several tools. There were inscriptions on the table too. Chainsaws, normal saws, hammers, nails and a whole bunch of stuff. “What's that for?” Leah asked and I shrugged. “Let's just move on” I said as I took pictures of the table. In a corner of the room, there was a big concrete box. I walked to it and took pictures. It has inscriptions on it, “looks like everything here has some sort of inscription on it and they are all the same” Leah said. I try to pry it open, but it was sealed shut. I looked around for something I can use to open it. I checked the tools on the table and found a wrench, I pried open the stone box. After a few unsuccessful tries, Carrie came to assist me. We both pushed hard and it finally opened. A strong gust of wind blew me away from the box. I hit my back on something really hard like a rock. I heard someone shouting my name, “Barry! Wake up!”. It was Leah, she was slapping and tapping me. I got up and tried to find my feet. “Where’s Carrie?” I asked her and she pointed to her. She was still standing there, she hadn't moved. I walked to her and looked at her, her eyes were wide open. “Carrie?” I shook her, but she didn't move. I looked at the box, there was a skeleton inside with a book by its head. It looked ancient and as I picked up the book the pages were very hard. The book had a funny smell too, it had a woody and a bit of vanilla smell, which made it smell nice.

I put the book in my bag and shook Carrie hard, she finally jolted back to life. “Are you okay? What happened?” I asked her, worriedly. She looked at me for a while without saying anything, then after a while, she put her hand on my face, “Barry?”. “Yes Yes it's me. I'm here, are you okay?” I asked as I helped her sit down. She looked confused, “Yeah I'm good, are you okay?”. “What happened?” She asked as she saw how worried I was. “Nothing, I was just worried about you”. I'm done with this, I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to either of them. “We're leaving now, Leah please get Carrie’s bag. Carrie can you walk?” I asked her as I put her arm around me. “Yeah I'm fine, I can walk. It's fine” She stood on her own and pushed me away. I stood behind her as we walked back downstairs. I helped her outside through the window, next, I collected the bags from Leah as she climbed back outside. I climbed back outside with the bags. We crawled outside the hole and crossed back to the car. I dumped the bags on the passenger seat and took a huge sigh of relief. I turned to look at Carrie and Leah at the back, “are you guys okay?” I asked. “We’re fine, let's get out of here” Leah said as she looked back. I pulled out of the driveway and headed back home.

*********

CARRIE’S POV

I and Barry drove back home in high spirits, we talked long about different things. We haven't had time to talk about Jenny so I asked him about her. “How is Jenny? Have you talked to her recently?” I asked him as we pulled into the street. “I haven't texted her today, but we talk every day. I already told her I’ll be busy over the next few days” He replied. We pulled into the driveway and my Mom was already home by the time we got home. We explained what we found to my Mom and she told us to be careful after listening to everything. “Well Dinner is ready, you two go freshen up and come eat” she got out the plates and set the table. That's my Mom, she always made sure we are no matter what. I went upstairs to my room to change my clothes. I texted Leah as I got in, to check on her. I didn't spend much time in my room because I was very hungry. I ran back downstairs, and only my Mom was in the kitchen. “Barry hasn't come down yet?” I asked as I pulled a chair for myself. “Not yet”. I helped her set the plates and everything else needed. I was about to sit down to eat when Barry came back downstairs. I remembered I hadn't asked about the storage we were going to tomorrow. “Hey Barry, what time are we going to be to check out the storage tomorrow?” I asked as he entered the kitchen. “Um I'm not sure, I haven't decided yet. Maybe 11:00 AM, what do you think?” He sat down and thanked my Mom for the food. That would work, as long as we had breakfast first. “11:00 AM is okay, we'll have breakfast before we go” I said as we started eating.

We finished eating and immediately I felt sleepy. I guess my body was just waiting for food. “I think I'll go to bed now, I'm extremely sleepy right now” I hugged my Mom and Barry as I turned to go upstairs.

I woke up early the next morning. Must be because I went to bed early, I smiled and turned to the side. I got up to check my phone, Carrie had texted. I opened it, she said she would be over at 8:30 AM. I looked at the clock, 8:20. I jumped up and got in the shower. I was on my way downstairs when I heard the doorbell ring, I opened the door and it was Carrie. “Hey!!” I hugged her, squeezed her.

She laughed as she hugged me back, “Hey, one would think you haven't seen me in a month. You still saw me yesterday”. “Doesn't matter, I missed you regardless” I smiled. I felt happy today, like a butterfly some would say. Maybe it was because I slept well.

“Should we have breakfast now?” I asked Leah as I dragged her into the kitchen. “Fine Fine, let's have breakfast now. Hang on a minute jeez” She laughed as I pushed her into a chair. “What do you want to eat madame, anything you want. Let me know” I tried mimicking a French chef accent. “I want the chef’s special” Leah played along. I unwrapped some bacon and put them to the side as I got some eggs from the fridge. I fried some eggs and bacon, toasted three slices of bread on the pan and made a strong coffee. I also brought out orange juice just in case we needed that also. She laughed as I served it to her, “I guess you weren't playing when you said you had the chef’s special. Thank you” I put the plate down and served mine also.

“What time do we leave for the storage room? Did you guys decide on a time?” She asked as we were eating. “Yeah we agreed to leave by 11 but Barry is still asleep. He probably stayed up after going upstairs to his room. He should be up soon” I explained to her.

We decided to watch a movie after eating breakfast. We talked about the storage rooms and the findings we made the last few days, “I won't lie. I've been extremely terrified all through” Leah laughed. “I know, so have I. We're allowed to, they've been creepy as hell”.

We were still talking when I heard Barry’s door open. “He's finally awake, I'm so going to tease him” I laughed. He was barely halfway down the stairs when I shouted, “Look who is finally awake. Morning sunshine” He hated me calling him sunshine, which is why I enjoyed calling him that. He was cut when angry or frustrated. I could feel his anger as he entered the living room, his face was so funny and cute, I burst out laughing. “You're up early today” He frowned at me as he entered the living room. “I sure am, unlike a specific someone. That someone is you by the way” I teased him some more. He ignored me and turned to Leah, “Hey Leah, how're you doing?” He asked her. That just made me tease him more, as I laughed. She confirmed from him when we were leaving and he said after breakfast. I burst out laughing again. “What now? Why are you laughing, what’s so funny” He frowned and arched his brow. “We had breakfast hours ago, so I have no idea what you're talking about” I answered him. He scoffed and rolled his eyes as he entered the kitchen to eat his breakfast. “What will you eat?” I entered the kitchen after him. He sighed, “I'll have some cereal Carrie, and we'll leave after”. He was eating his cereal like a mad man. I couldn't figure out if he was hungry or he was just rushing so we could leave early. "Woah hey, slow down champ. Food isn't going anywhere, relax” I put my hand around his neck. He brushed me off, “I'm just trying to eat my meal Carrie, please,” he said with a mouthful of cereal.

We went over the plan after he asked us to and left the house shortly after he finished eating. “So what's up, what's the number and how far is the place?” I asked as we were in the car. “66B and it's 40 minutes away.” He didn't take his eyes off the road.

We got to the company and there weren't many cars there. It looked completely different compared to the first one, it was different on the inside too. I grabbed the bag and we went inside. We passed two security guards as we went in, they didn't look bothered at all. It as pretty easy to find the room this time. We got to number 66B and we were shocked. There were two locks this time instead of one.