Possessed!! ( reserved)

[ERedBoyd]

Swift Manor
Jonesport, Maine
circa 1730ish

"Frederick!!! FREDERICK!!!!"" Gideon Swift yelled out as he crossed the massive open foyer of his multistory plantation!

A tall lean browbeat black slave, Frederick, who had been cleaning a table in the foyer leapt to his feet in his butler attire and spun to face his Master saying, "Yes sir? Sir? What can I do for you sir?" There were a half a dozen other black slaves about the large room as well, men and women, usually between 20 and 40 years of age. They all wore butler or maid outfits as they had been busy about their tasks of keeping Gideon's mansion in tip top condition.

"Were is Lily? She was supposed to meet me for breakfast on the back! I will NOT tolerate this kind of defiance from her!" Gideon growled as he closed his hand onto the lapel of Frederick's coat and yanked the slave towards him!

"I saw her sir! I saw her a little while ago.. she was going out to the garden sir!" Frederick said in terror. All of Gideon's slaves knew him as a terror. He had had no problem at all with whipping and beating and flat out killing slaves that didn't please him.

"Blast it!" He let the man go and turned towards the back of the foyer, heading through the dining room to the back porch! He looked down into the gardens themselves and found no one save a couple more of his slaves tending the plants and flowers. He said, "You boy!!!" He pointed to the younger of the two black slaves, "Where is my wife?!"

The short young black boy no more than 15 stood straight up, faced him and said, "She went that way Master!"

Gideon was at the point of running down into the garden. He knew what she could be up to and after their last fight last night, it wouldn't surprise him. He found his way to the tiered garden layout which was set up right on the edge of the cliff and his eyes immediately locked on his wife, the magnificent and beautiful Lilly Swift.

He said, "Lily! Where were you!?! I thought we would have break... fa.. why are you on the other side of the fence Lilly?"

Lily turned her eyes towards him and he knew instantly what she was about to do! If there was a sadness that was bone deep, she had it. She looked so broken and resigned inside. He should have realized how bad she felt. Yeah, he knew he was aggressive and angry. Yes, he took her body when he wanted her body. But he gave her so much more in return that it should have fixed it. What that not the role of a wife? He raised his hands up and said, "Now Lily, how about you come on over and we can talk about this more."

She shook her head. The last time he had promised to talk about things, he had locked her in a basement bedroom for a week. She said, "Never again Gideon! You will never again touch me!"

Gideon loved Lily to his core. He needed her in his life. He knew he was horrible with women but he needed her! If she fell off, his world would literally end!! He said, "Please... don't do this. Don't jump! Please..."

She looked at him with pity and said, "It's too late for me..." She released her grip on the fence railing and pushed off. Her eyes remained locked on him as she fell off the cliff over 200 feet into the treacherous waters below!

His heart ripped out of him as she leapt and he raced to try and grab her knowing he was way too far away to help and screamed out with all his soul, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

He reached the fence and looked down screaming just as she hit the water and was instantly dragged into the current, another victim to the ocean.

Gideon fell to his knees watching the water as his slaves raced down into the gardens screaming in pain! Never had he felt a pain such as this in his entire life! He pulled his musket pistol from his holster at his waist and pulled the hammer back, pressing the gun to his temple! One shot would end his life right then and there... but... deep down he couldn't do it. He was a coward in his heart and he knew it. His tear stained eyes stayed locked on the rocky shores... and would for the next 20 years before old age ended up taking him as well...

 

[Poprockz]

“Wow… it’s spookier than I thought it would be,” Simon whistled, surveying the large manor from across one of the fields.

“Good. We’ll get a lot of good footage that way.” Dalia handed him his briefcase from the car, a cross having been intricately painted on the black case. Her brother wore the black robes of a priest, a pair of polished black shoes upon his feet. Normally, he would be at the church fulfilling his normal duties, but he typically liked to go with her on outings such as this. He liked to say that it never hurt to have a priest along just in case, but she brought him along more for the ratings and the credibility.

She believed in ghosts, sure, but at worst they were like petulant children, slamming one’s fingers in doors or trying to trip one down the stairs. They didn’t really care about the living much, beyond being annoyed that people were in their house. As long as one didn’t stick around for too long or try to provoke them too much, it was generally harmless. Part of her wondered though if ghosts kept in mind that she meant business by bringing a priest along, and therefore left her alone more.

There had been a few times when he had come in handy, but it was more in the way of getting her out of a house rather than confronting spirits or throwing holy water on them. That sort of situation scared her a bit, but it was just a part of the job. It was like a coo having to deal with the occasional gunfight, though less dangerous in her case.

The slamming of a car door was heard before Grant came to join them, a large camera resting on his shoulder. “Holy shit… I bet this place has enough dust in it to drown a grown man,” he commented, seemingly feeling a bit reluctant to go inside. She couldn’t blame him though- he was just her dad’s friend who had volunteered to help when both her main cameraman and her backup fell through. It wasn’t as though she was on a time crunch per se, but the funding she was getting liked to see results.

The three of them walked across the field and to the door, Dalia with her backpack, Grant with his camera, and Simon with his briefcase. She thought she had seen the flutter of a curtain, but dismissed it for now. Most spooky things typically ended up being tricks in one way or another.

 

[ERedBoyd]

Had long at it been? a year? two? It felt like an eternity since something stirred inside this abandoned old manor.... It glanced through the narrow little window in the top floor of the manor, hidden in the darkness of the attic and watched people walking towards the with their recodevices and lights. The sounds of voices echoed across the otherwise barren and empty grounds.

As it stirred, it sensed the others in the manor. Those trapped by it... those that could never leave so long as it lived. It could feel the fear from these others. It could feel the eternal soul crushing sadness in others. Some of the others were nearly as old at it was while others only recently joined it's collection. The entity who called himself Azazel was the most powerful and strongest entity near. It glanced down out of the window watching as the air breathers reached the front door of it's home and stepped inside.

Something about one of these people had awoken it from it's slumber. It happened from time to time. Usually, it had been because one of the others reminded it of someone important from long ago. It couldn't recall who or when or why... just someone who had been important to it. Regardless, it was worth investigating a bit more. It didn't fully understand the modern tech of whenever this time was. It didn't grasp what these devices where that they held other than the mechanical looking torches that cast those narrow beams of light out... but the other things, he didn't know what they did.

It felt the other souls do what they did best... and hid. They hid in the shadows in the attic and through the manor. They knew better than to make a scene to draw unwanted attention towards this manor and the secrets from within it. It stepped through the window of the attic, invisible and intangible and completely silent and lowered to the grounds about 50 feet from the door in which the others entered a moment ago.

It's eyes shifted towards the outer gates of the manor and saw something that no one else could see... a barrier of energy that completely encompassed the manor and grounds like a massive dome. A barrier put in place that it had tried to get through for as long as it could remember. It only seemed to effect him and the others in it's control though. No matter how many attempts it had tried, he simply could not get past it and was trapped in this manor. It didn't seem to effect any of the living at all though which only frustrated him further.

"Did you hear something?" a male voice said and Azazel spun around to see one of the living poke his head out to look about the grounds. His eyes passed right over him and of course saw nothing. No one could see him unless he wished to be seen. Azazel moved closer to see what was going on when he spotted the man holding a device in his hand. A barrage of laser lights exploded out into the field from this device as he looked into the screen of it and slowly panned it across the field.

For the first time in his memory, Azazel held his breath, never seeing a device like this before and as the man passed it along, he froze and said, "Oh my god!" He panned the laser pointing device back at the space Azazel was standing and said, "I see something! I see a man there!" Panic filled Azazel's brain! The device had actually seen him!!!

The others darted back out and raced to the man holding the device and they all gasped in shock! It was impossible! No one could see him! Not unless he wanted to be seen! Another man said, "I see him too! It's huge!"

No! NO! NO! Azazel yelled and quickly flew up into the air and back into his attic so fast that the image on the screen the man had been looking into seemed to just vanish! Azazel stared out the window once more in panick! He had been seen! There is no way he could have been seen!

 

[Poprockz]

Dalia raised an eyebrow as she looked at the laser grid device. Where once there had been a huge silhouette, there was now nothing. “For all we know, it could have been a woman, and you just called her huge. Rude much?” She grinned at Simon, knowing that it was a dumb joke, but she liked to throw in a bit of comedy into her episodes nonetheless.

Whatever it was, it truly had been huge- larger than anything she had ever seen on the device. Something about it gave her a bit of apprehension, though she pushed that feeling to the side. This was her job, and a cowardly ghost-hunter simply wasn’t feasible in her industry.

Her brother rolled his eyes and looked around, responding at first in a sarcastic tone. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny. Anyway, ghosts are usually confined to the place of their death, so it has to be hiding around here somewhere.”

She cast her own gaze around the grounds entrance, thinking to herself that if she had her way, she’d just leave it be. Her duty and personal curiously demanded that she find it again though. Facing the camera, she shined her flashlight around the room. “Did you see that, folks? There is a huge entity in this home, and we’re going to find it. Is it the Lord of the plantation who brutally beat and killed his slaves on a whim? Is it the tragic wife who flung herself off the cliffs as a last attempt at freedom? Or is it something more recent, like the unfortunate soul of the ghost hunter who had an untimely accident on the stairs of this manor? Join us and find out. I got a special tip about this place from a distant family member, so this time it’s personal.”

 

[ERedBoyd]

Azazel floated along the attic space down through the floor into the third floor of this massive abandoned estate. He could hear movement downstairs from the air breathers who trespassed on his space. Hesitance and for the first time in it's existence, fear grew up in him. The older man had waved a device in his direction and he had seen a bunch of lights pass around him and through him, then the man had claimed he had seem Azazel. It was absolutely impossible for this to be! No one had ever been able to detect him as he moved through his own manor.

Something else was beginning to happen as well that Azazel could sense... a ripple of curiosity through all those who he held hostage. They could sense his own apprehensions and were responding accordingly to it. His eyes shifted up to the multiple black masses that clung to the walls in the corner of the attic, former victims he had murdered in real life... servants and slaves from long ago. Victims that were under his complete and absolute control tethered with spiritual tethers keeping them locked in this place.

Not all of his collection were completely under his control. Newer captives were still in a state of shock of being ... well, dead. In their conscious they still believed themselves alive and just trapped. Every captive eventually reaches the understanding they are dead and are not coming back to the living. It is when that reality sits in, that they begin to conform into the black formless masses like the others. So long as they resisted the fact that they were truly dead, they could still make independent decisions of their own.

"P...please... sir..." A woman's voice said softly from his right.

Azazel's eyes, if he actually had some, narrowed as he spun to see the woman kneeling on the ground. She wore nothing but her skin, a spiritual tether connecting her at the throat to floor of the attic. She held her hands up at him, knees spread wide and her eyes terrified. She had also been one of the air breathers that had woken him before. This one though had stood out like a lighthouse in the ocean night sky. One they would have called a psychic medium, who could open themselves up to allow the dead to talk through them, when the medium had been alive.

He moved towards her saying nothing and she trembled and said, "no... please sir! No!"

The most powerful creature grabbed the naked woman's tether and she began to scream out in pain and torment! He would break this one sooner or later... he had too! He watched her screaming out in pain and when he let go of the tether, the pain faded and her scream stopped. He leaned down to her and said, "Surrender... to me!"

The ghostly image of the woman shot a look of rage and anger and screamed, "NO!!!"

He slammed his hand into her energies and she screamed out once more in agony before fading out... to barely nothing. It was what he did in this place in this space. These entities were around because he needed their life force energies to get about. He would drain what he could from them without destroying them forever, then leave them be for a time while they recharged.

 

[Poprockz]

The group jumped, looking back at the manner, the lot of them having heard a distant but horrifying scream of agony. They all looked at each other, their faces pale. It had sounded like a woman’s scream, yet it was odd how while it sounded far away, they could all tell that it had come from within the manor. Dalia hesitantly walked up to the door, peeking into the foyer before feeling a rush of wind.

The door slammed shut in front of her and she could hear the click of a lock, though there had been no footsteps before or after. She stared in shock at the door, trying the handle a few times to find that it simply wouldn’t budge. Having had permission to be there, she slipped her backpack off her back and dug through a few of the pockets for the keys. This was fabulous footage, her heart beating quickly from the rush of adrenaline created by a mixture of fear, excitement, and curiously.

Unbeknownst to them, there was a spirit in the other side named Anthony. He had been the former cameraman of the medium, having been trapped with her here. To be quite honest, he was shaking in his incorporeal boots at having slammed and locked the door. He feared the thing that stalked the halls and kept his group from leaving, but stronger was the urge to keep others from meeting that same fate. He hoped they would take the hint and leave, but his heart sank as he heard the jingle of keys and the door being opened moments later. The ghost turned, fleeing in the direction of the gardens. He could have been mistaken, but he got the feeling that the thing disliked going there. Maybe he would get there in time, maybe not. All he knew was that the living were in for a bad time.

The red-haired woman took a few steps into the foyer, looking around with the laser scanner to see if the ghost has lingered. Unfortunately, nothing showed up so it must have left. No matter, they would find it eventually. Turning to the camera again, she gestured at the space around her. “It feels like something doesn’t want us here. Maybe that was a warning to leave, or maybe they’re just shy. I’m starting to think though that it’s the lady of the house who haunts these walls.”

 

[ERedBoyd]

Azazel felt an intense anger in him which caused those spirits he did have tethered to him tremble in fear. There were still other spirits out there that he didn't not in his own control. Those entities hid well from him and he knew where they went when they disobeyed him. He glanced out the back window of the home towards the dried up tiered garden at the edge of the cliff. Something about that place terrified him. He was not sure why. There were still others which hid themselves from him too... though he had one ability that helped him. When the others thought of him, spoke his name, or put him in their proverbial minds, he could see them like a lit beacon in the night.

I smiled to myself though as I glanced back out into the front and looked down at the carriages they had rode in on. He was still not too sure what those horseless carriages were all that much. There was nothing like that in his own time... whenever that had been. He slid out the window once more and moved silent as a ghost towards those vehicles. He found himself staring at on of them, a large maroon vehicle with it's storage compartment opened up in the back.

He looked in the back of the vehicle and spotted a number of black hard shelled cases sitting in the back. Some of those cases were opened and the items within them had been removed and already taken into his home. He glanced past the SUV towards the energy wall which was only about 20 feet past the vehicles and wondered how long it had been since he had been ... created.

"Okay Simon, I am back out at the truck. Which case were those spirit boxes in again?" the older man said as he walked through the space Azazel had been in. He for an instant felt the very spirit inside the one known as Grant and slid off to the side! Grant stopped a moment later, a few feet away from the vehicle and turned back to look down the path he had just walked. He rubbed his forearm nervously as his eyes panned across the dirt driveway and saw nothing.

A voice from the device at his head made some noise and it snapped Grant's attention back to the task at hand. He walked to the back of the SUV, pulling out a pair of black cases, opening each saying, "Oh yeah... here they are. I am going to bring in those static tripod and cameras too. Did you and your sister decide on a home base? Yeah, the Foyer seems as good a place as any... okay... I am on my way back."

The entity calling himself Azazel watched as Grant grabbed one of the two cases and 4 tripods from the back and slung them on his shoulder after tucking his phone in his pocket. Azazel needed more information on who these humans were in order to decide to either leave them alone or to remove them from the equation. The creature called Grant turned and began to walk back towards the house. There were plenty more things in teh back of the vehicle which meant more trips back here. He allowed Grant to go for now. He turned towards the two vehicles and began to look around inside them, studying them for a moment. If he was to get rid of them, he would need to stop these vehicles from leaving the grounds.

He studied the barrier once more and realized if he was going to be free of this place. Something or someone had woken him up. There had been others here for sure that hadn't woken him before... but this was different. He waited for the next trip back out to the vehicles...

 

[Poprockz]

When Grant got back with the spirit boxes, she handed one over to Simon and kept one for herself, allowing Grant to start setting up the main cameras in their base of operations. Sometimes ghost hunting could be a multiple day process, so if need be, she was prepared to book a nearby hotel. Her funding was pretty good for having just started out, mostly due to her looks, humor, and willingness to go places a lot of ghost-hunters avoided (sometimes for good reason). So, she had a good amount of spending money on her card.

“Alright…” she turned on one of the spirit boxes, the static of the radio crackling out as she moved slowly through the room. “The line is open,” she spoke loudly, hoping that the ghost was a talkative one. “I invite any spirit here who want to speak to me to do so. Anything you want to say…The line is open.” They waited, part of her hoping nothing would respond, while the other part waiting and hoping for any words or noises.

 

[ERedBoyd]

~~ Swift Manor circa 1983 ~~~

"RUN MISSY!!! RU!!!!!!!" Danny McKenzie screamed as he raced through the upstairs main hallway! He felt the blackness that had been chasing them catch up to him and consume him in absolute darkness and he fell silent...

His girlfriend Missy Davenport ran as hard as she could towards the main stairwell, fear taking complete control over her! She grabbed the banister of the platform at the top of the stairs and suddenly froze! She shot her head back down the hallway where they had first seen that massive black mass in the Master bedroom of this old cruddy estate and to her incredible relief, she saw Danny standing in the corridor perfectly still, his head twitching slightly, head down. She looked past him a moment and saw nothing behind him. The black mass must have stopped chasing them. She glanced about, having no weapons or supplies of any kind on her person and found a broken 2x4 with a few rusty nails in it about 3 foot long on the ground in the corner. She said, "D... Danny?" She glanced about and scrambled over to the 2x4, picking it up and then went back to the corridor where Danny had been. Panic filled her when no one was in the corridor. She had literally turned her eyes from the corridor less than 5 seconds.

Holding the 2x4 like a club, she glanced down the stairs to the only escape she had left and then back down the corridor and said, "D... Danny... please... Answer me Danny..."

A hand reached from behind her grabbing the weapon from her hand as she screamed and spun around! A moment later relief filled her as Danny stood there holding the club. Relief was momentary though as she looked into his eyes and found they were completely white. No iris, no retina... just white globes! She staggered backwards from him back down the corridor! Her boyfriend of a year looked at her with a dark dangerous smile! Her ankle caught a stone and she staggered and fell on her ass once more looking up at him saying, "Danny?! Please... Answer me Danny... your scaring me baby!"

Danny raised the club up and swung it hard into the side of her head sending her flailing unconscious onto the ground. His head twitched again as he said, "Lily..." He dropped the club to the floor, leaned down and scooped up Missy into his arms and carried her into the darkness... never to be seen alive again.

Two weeks later, a report showed up in the papers that two hikers had been found dead outside Smith Manor. Initial reports had shown that the man had beaten and raped the girl repeatedly before flinging her off the railing of the third floor to her death then leapt off the balcony himself committing suicide. The truth of Azazel never reached the paper...

~~ NOW ~~

“I invite any spirit here who want to speak to me to do so. Anything you want to say…The line is open."

The rolling static from the spirit box drew the spirits closer towards the living. A woman with a bloodied head, torn clothing, and looking beaten within an inch of her life staggered towards them living despite the silent protests of the crew. She didn't know how it would work, but she yelled out with all her might, "RUN! Get out!"

 

[Poprockz]

“Run! Get out!”

Once again, the crew found themselves jumping in fright, having not expected such a strong response right off the bat. There were indeed some ghosts who told them to get out- it certainly wasn’t uncommon. However, their tone was usually annoyed or dispassionate, while this one sounded desperate and terrified for them. It gave her a sick feeling of apprehension in her stomach. It was also a woman’s voice, making it a likely possibility that this was the lady who had screamed earlier.

“Get out? Why do you want us to get out? What is your name?” She paused, holding out the box while Grant turned on the laser device.

“She’s right in front of you…” he whispered in awe, eyes glued to the screen. He had agreed to all of this due to his background in photography, and as a favor to his friend’s daughter. He hadn’t really put much stock in ghosts or “ghost hunting” as she called it, but right then it was hard to deny what he was seeing and hearing.

Simon swallowed hard, looking around with a camera in case he needed to catch something moving.

 

[ERedBoyd]

'They could see her?!?' came through Missy's mind. Her head turned towards the one who had spoken the words and moved closer towards him.

'No...' Danny said softly towards Sally from the top of the stairs.

Her face turned and looked up at Danny... and terror filled her once again! She had not understood it had been Azazel that had taken Danny only before he killed her. She turned and raced away towards the back of the house. As she ran, she hit a door causing it to swing a little and squeak on it's hinges.

Danny wanted nothing more than to solve his unfinished business and make things right with his girlfriend. She was the reason he was still here... that and the barrier... He saw the man who had spoken spin towards the door that moved and he faded away. He would need to reach her somehow... someway...

Azazel felt the fear of the freed one racing away and watched the house from afar..

 

[Poprockz]

“She’s gone,” Grant softly commented aloud, though the rest of them had already gotten that impression from the movement of the door. There was silence for a moment, the only sound coming from the crackling of the static on the spirit box.

Dalia wasn’t going to give up yet though, continuing to walk around with the box. “Are there any other spirits who would like to make contact?” They waited once more, but it didn’t seem like the ghosts were biting. With great disappointment, she started to lower the box before there was a distinct change in the static. She lifted it once more, hearing Grant once again announce that there was someone in front of her.

Swift Manor 1995

“Yeah. Mhm. I’m checking it out now.” Norman Galpern talked on the phone for another minute before hanging up, closing the bottom of the huge phone. He sighed, looking around the place. It was a really nice manor in relatively good shape despite the neglect. If he played his cards right, he could get this place cleaned up and on the market in no time.

There had been several tragic deaths here, sure, but there were a lot of people who liked that kind of morbid thing. The bank hadn’t really been concerned about profit as long as someone purchased the place. In his opinion though, it was creepy, old-fashioned, and far too big to be convenient for anyone.

“Fucking dump…” he muttered to himself, leaning over the upstairs railing to look into the foyer. Before he knew it, something had lifted his legs and sent him careening down until he fell right on his neck.

Norman approached her, his neck at an odd angle as he mustered the courage to speak. “My name is… Norman. It’s dangerous here. Leave this place.”

What came through on the radio was only snippets though, but it was fortunately the meat of what he said, “Norman… dangerous… Leave.. place.”

Simon and Dalia traded a look of worry. She had done her research on this place, and Norman was a real estate agent who had died twenty-plus years ago when he broke his neck. He had died about two meters from the railing down below, making people scratch their heads. It would have been very difficult for him to jump that far and land right on his head, but there had been no one else there.

 

[ERedBoyd]

Azazel could feel more and more spirits who were approaching the living, trying to reach out to them. He couldn't have it. He needed more to tether and control as a few of his own tethered were nearly unusable any longer. He raised off the ground and moved back towards the manor...

Danny glanced about and could see the darkness approach as well as all the others that were starting to gather. As he drew near, he pointed to the other souls of the impending danger and they all scattered, leaving the living alone, much like prey fish scattered when a shark swam into range. That was the way it always was... when he drew close to any spot, the others fled leaving him alone. Too many of them knew about the souls he kept above on those tethers and were terrified of being next!

The devices that the living held would have detected a sudden lack of anything from his side. Perhaps it was time for a show... let them see the devil in the house. They had found a way to actually see him now. Using the energy he had drawn from his captives, he walked up to the cracked open front door... and slammed it shut! He put his hand on the doorknob and clamped down, refusing to let anyone or anything open it.

 

[Poprockz]

“What do you-“ she had started to ask a question when she heard the front door slam, her head whipping around to stare at it.

Grant spoke up shakily, “there were a few masses a second ago, but they all suddenly disappeared…” He was starting to get really spooked, the man looking around anxiously and lowering the laser device for a moment. “Should we just go?”

“We’re not going anywhere- I’m not running away just because of a few vague warnings and some door slamming,” Dalia responded firmly with furrowed brows before walking to the door. The Lock was on the inside and wasn’t turned so it should have opened easily, but when she put her hand on the knob and turned, it wouldn’t budge. The woman frowned and wrenched at it, trying with all her might to open the door, but it simply had no give. She didn’t spook easily, but this was starting to make her a bit nervous.

She let go of the door and wiped her palms on her shorts, her mind racing while she mulled over their options.

“This is a big manor,” Simon spoke up, clicking open his suitcase and clipping some holy water, a cross, and a large pouch of salt onto his belt. “There have to be several other doors to the outside. Let’s find one and take a break outside for a minute to clear our heads.

The older man nodded his head, relieved that they were going to at least step away for a bit.

Dalia reluctantly agreed, nodding her head and sighing. Sometimes it was tough doing this sort of thing with new people. “You try the front door first though, Grant. Maybe it got stuck. You might actually be strong enough to open it.”

The man gulped, not really wanting to do so, but not wanting to look like a coward either. He approached the front door while they looked on from a few feet behind him on either side, putting both hands on the doorknob and straining to open it. Even he was having a hard time, the doorknob stubbornly refusing to turn.

“It’s okay if you break it,” she mentioned, “ the bank said that they don’t care if there’s too much damage to the Gideon Swift estate as long as it’s still intact.”

 

[ERedBoyd]

That voice.... his fractured memory hesitated... it sounded like... What was it about that voice that registered in the deep black masses of his mind?

As the man reached again for the door, he used another dose of his energy and banged on the door as hard and fast as he could! 6 solid echoing bangs on the door which caused the older man to stumble back and scream out. This scream triggered others in the room to scream and the energy he could feel from them fed him every so slightly. He heard footsteps scrambling away from the door and he released the handle, not that he had much choice as his energies were running low.

He faded, turned his presence back upwards and returned to his attic hideout once again. Seeing the his naked medium kneeling on the ground, pulling the tether as far as it would go. She was still too weak from the drain he had pulled on her a short time ago and would not serve him. He turned his eyes towards the masses of unformed energies that had once been ghost... not only loosely formed masses. They sensed him approaching and tried desperately to scurry away like a mass of black cockroaches but could only go so far as the tethers. He reached into the tethers and clamped his form onto them and more energy began to draw into him! The pain and agony of the drain on the others meant nothing to him. He felt one of those black masses suddenly stop providing and he looked at at the mass to see it break apart into nothingness and float away. That mass had once been a soul that had been trapped here and he had drained on it so much it had lost it's ability to even keep a human shape. This had been the fourth one of these to fall apart on him. He was running out of batteries to draw on and was not sure what would happen should they all vanish on him.

With the small dose of energies, he made his way back out to the vehicles once more, looking at the mechanical horses that seemed to pull the things along. He pushed himself into the engines and felt a jolt of electricity charge into him! A sudden surge of power grew inside him as the battery inside it drained away! The energy was invigorating to him and he felt as if he could do ANYTHING he wanted now! Soon the lights on the back of the truck faded out as the last of the battery power drained into him. He then turned his eyes towards the second vehicle and did the exact same thing and, like before, he felt a massive charge of power surge into him! He laughed as the battery on this other vehicle drained and died, all it's power pulled into him.

He set his eyes back towards the house when he heard a panicked voice said, "The door is open!" He faded away and moved away from the vehicles as the voices drew closer... Oddly enough, the voice that churned something in his memory was not among them...

 

[Poprockz]

To say that the knocking scared them was an understatement. Had he not used the restroom before they arrived, Dalia was sure that Grant would have shit himself right then and there. She and Simon were no strangers to the paranormal, but the ferocity and aggressiveness of the knocks got their blood pumping for sure. Their screams seemed to echo in the “abandoned” manor, and when they were done they watched in shock as the door simply swung open ominously.

Grant mentioned the door and ran the fuck out of there, Simon following at a less panicked pace to try to talk him down. Meanwhile, Dalia put her hand to her forehead and sat down in one of the foldable chairs they had brought. Should she have them pack up? No… she needed this. Maybe she could just send Grant back and have Simon carry the camera? He wasn’t used to it, but she didn’t want to involve anyone who wasn’t fully prepared for what they did.

Near the cars, Simon was having similar thoughts, the man walking up to Grant and gently putting his hand on his shoulder. “You can go home if you want to. I know it can be really disturbing sometimes” he glanced toward the manor and back at him, getting a little closer. “Neither of us will judge you if you head out. I’ll talk to her, so don’t worry about it.”

Grant wasn’t sure what to say, opening his mouth and closing it while his eyes conveyed that he was truly considering it.

The younger man sympathetically patted his shoulder before turning and heading back toward the house.

Near the cars, Grant shifted on his feet before making a decision: it was time to leave.

 

[ERedBoyd]

~~~ Danny ~~~

The entity known as Danny watched from the corner as Azazel slammed on the door which scared them all. He could feel the raw powerful emotion of fear coursing through the fields and he felt a small surge of power back into his hollow empty form. He glanced towards the path that Missy had ran off and considered going to find her. He knew it would do no good as she was living in the horror of the death Azazel had put them both through.

He shifted his eyes towards the woman sitting in the chair in the foyer. He could see something about her... of the three, she showed the least fear. She had remained behind. Perhaps he could reach her and maybe she could help Missy. If he could just get her to understand...

Slowly, he shifted his energies towards the door that Missy had fled out of her and turned to face the woman with red hair. Reaching into his stores of energies, he forced himself to do the one thing Azazel had threatened everyone not to do... he became visible. He didn't want to scare the living woman so he just stood there and waited. When she would eventually see him, he would lead her back to where they had been killed outside by the balcony...

~~~ Grant ~~~

Grant watched Simon walk back to the house, leaving alone with the vehicles, unaware of the entity lingering just in the shadows. "They are both going to get themselves killed one day poking in areas they has no business poking in. I don't want to be another statistic for the history of this place. Something dark and evil is here..." Grant said as he put the key into the ignition, oblivious that none of the internal lights had even turned on.

Grant sat there a moment with a powerful conflict in his head. Simon was right, but did it override his dire need to live? He held his hand on the key and finally said, "Sorry. I can't do it..." He turned the key over.... nothing happened.

He muttered, "What the hell?" It came to him quickly the SUV was completely dead. Something had drained the battery! He got out of the SUV and walked over to the hood, popping it and looking inside. Nothing looked out of place...

The man turned his flashlight about the area and said, "S... simon?" His flashlight set on a black mass standing about 10 feet away from him. His stomach went into his throat as he staggered back trying to put distance between me and him!

The black mass suddenly charged at him, entering his body as he screamed out, "SIMON!!!"

~~~ Simon ~~~

Simon turned and walked back towards the house with his flash ahead of him. He could feel a terrible darkness in this place though he was only a minister. He couldn't believe how cowardly Grant was behaving. It was so not like him. He walked back to the main door leading into the foyer and said, "Dalia, I am sorry. I am here to support this and I am a man of my faith and ... my... Dalia?"

He shot his flashlight about the room and his eyes widened to find she was missing! "Dalia?!"

In the distance by the vehicles, Grant screamed out his name, "SIMON!!!"

~~~ Azazel ~~~

This body was absolutely perfect for his needs! It was strong. It was terrified. Taking control of it was child's play compared to most of them. Fear ran rampant in the one known as Grant. He began to pull on the memories of host and all those that were with them. He pulled on the knowledge of the times with him. That thing they had been using was an actual tool that could see ghosts. IT was... impressive.

He only been able to access the memories and deny use of the body by the original host. He was still trying to make the body work the way he wanted it to though but until then, he would stand there looking like he was in a trance to those passing by.

"Dalia..." Azazel whispered drawing on the memory of the woman who had churned him awake. He stood there whispering the name, "Dalia.... Dalia... Dalia..." as he worked out how to move the body...

 

[Poprockz]

Dalia had been crouching while fiddling with her gopro headband in preparation for Grant to leave. A ghost hunter was always prepared in case someone needed to leave whether it was from fear, sickness, or even boredom. In fact, when she started out, she would always wear one on her forehead when excavating spooky sites or ruins. It gave the show a more real feeling sometimes, especially when there were jump-scares.

Once it was firmly on her head, she flicked on the headlamp part of it and tested it by looking around. “Simon, I thought-“ she flinched, her eyes finally relaying to her that the male figure within her gaze wasn’t Simon, nor was it even Grant. It was… a real fucking ghost! Fear gripped her heart, but also… a morbid curiosity. She wanted to know what happened to him, why he was here, and most importantly, why he had approached her. Her heart soon gave way more to excitement with a splash of wonder, her eyes wide as she slowly stood up.

He had such sad eyes, eyes that almost seemed to wordlessly beseech her. There was no aggression there, just despair with a small spark of hope. He turned and walked away, his steps not making a sound as he went, though he looked behind himself as though checking to see if she was following. Dalia decided that it was worth checking out, her instincts telling her to follow him. She kept his pace, and soon they were by the balcony, the woman shivering as a supernatural breeze seemed to roll through for a moment.

Holding out the spirit box she asked, “who are you?”

 

[ERedBoyd]

~~~ Danny ~~~

"who are you?" The living woman said to him as he turned.

He felt so tired. How could a creature with no physical body feel so bone numbing tired? Was it possible? He turned and looked back at the living woman and opened his mouth to say his name, but nothing came out. His energies were so low. He would have to leave very soon... He tried again to speak but nothing came out of the device she held. Frustration grew in his mind as he tried a third time... and the faintest of words slipped out of the box... 'Danny'

He saw her eyes widen a moment and then realizing he only had seconds left before he had to go, lunged towards her. He pushed his spirit into her a moment... only a moment... but in that moment, filled her with the flashes of how he had been taken over by the darkness and how his body killed his girlfriend. The torture and rape of Missy... plunging her to her death in this exact spot followed by Azazel's release of him, his realization of what had happened and his own plunge to his death. As soon as he touched her head, he lost the remaining energies he had. He quickly vanished... hoping his information would help her...

~~~ Azazel ~~~

"Dalia.... Dalia.... Dalia..." Grant muttered to himself as the entity inside him grew stronger. His body rocked back and forth, his head twitched to the left and right in a most unnatural way.

"Hey... Grant... Hey, we got to get inside" Simon said as he looked back at the man standing by the vehicle. He stepped towards him a bit closer saying, "Grant, I heard you scream... Dalia is missing. We got to go back now! Are you okay?"

Grant felt Simon's hand come to rest on his shoulder and that caused him to spin to face Simon. His eyes were black, nearly completely solid black, drool hung from the right side of his face, and he muttered, "Dalia.... Dalia... Dalia..."

Simon staggered back saying, "What the..." He turned and scrambled back to the house once again.

Azazel would have chased the man had he had control over him. As it was, he was only just able to get the body to move one leg in front of the other and slowly turned the man back towards one of the side entrances of the building, slipping into the dark.

 

[Poprockz]

The amount of accumulated misery and sorrow hit her like a truck, all of it coming to her at once. She saw… or perhaps it was more accurate to say that she witnessed the atrocities Danny went through. She felt the disgusting feeling of being taken over, the man’s soul confined in chains while the demon did as he pleased with his new-found meat-suit. Flashes of the woman’s face appeared to her, the woman gasping, screaming, crawling away only to be yanked back and set upon by the possessed man.

Dalia had a strong stomach, but this was something else. It was as though all the feelings and visions rose up from the core of her being, into stomach, and out her mouth, the woman bending over and violently vomiting. When she stopped, she let out a shuddering breath and wiped her mouth, her eyes going to her hand. It was covered in black liquid, the stuff oozing down her skin even as it clung to her in trails.

It startled her, the woman backing up and slipping before falling on her ass. With a grunt. When she lifted her hand though, it was clean once more, save a small bit of saliva. Her wide, shocked eyes examined it, turning it this way and that.

“What…?” She uttered in disbelief. What was going on? With shaky legs, she stood up once more and looked around. She was a bit shaken up and confused, but what she did know was that they weren’t safe there. Quickly, she power-walked back the way she came, her intention being to warn the others.

 

[ERedBoyd]

~~~ Simon ~~~

Simon, upon hearing the mild wretching sounds from the back of the house raced out back looking for Dalia. He shined his light on her as she power walked back to the house and nearly ran him over. Their eyes met and he said, "We... have a problem. Something is wrong with Grant."

~~~ Grant ~~~

Azazel smiled in Grant's meat sack body at the two of the air breathers, Simon and Dalia. His eyes locked on her and memories began to come into his mind about her. There had been a moment in which he had been at her home and had needed to relieve himself and headed to the bathroom, only to find Dalia in the shower, back to him, washing herself. Rather than leave, he had leaned on the door a moment and examined Dalia in her naked glory. Another time he had recalled this meatsack known as Grant had watched her kissing on some boy when she was still a kid. He recalled the anger he had felt when he had spotted her affections being given to another. This air breather certainly had some strong feelings towards this red head. It had been no surprised he seemed a little too eager to join her expeditions into the paranormal.

He watched Simon and Dalia talking to each other and then head back into the manor. His eyes shifted to the other entity who was still there, Danny. Danny, after his touch of the air breather, had lost any energy he had stored up to pass the message along. He was still very much standing in front of those two air breathers, but without any energy, he was invisible, intangible and completely silent. After the two air breathers had left, Danny's eyes shifted up to see Grant looking out of the window on the second floor down at him. Danny's face grew fearful and he turned and fled down to the cliffs.

Grant turned his eyes back inside as he heard voice downstairs and then listened quietly...

 

[Poprockz]

Boy was she glad to see Simon- he was a comfort to her when things got a bit crazy. He seemed like the more calm and grounded of the two, though that could just be her own perspective. Perhaps it was his religious garb or conviction in his faith, but something about him made her feel a bit braver with him at her back.

When she heard about Grant though, she couldn’t help but feel suspicious. This could be like the visions she just saw, of possession, rape, and tragedy. Granted, he could also be having a stroke or something, but Simon was the type who could recognize the difference between medical emergencies and things that were truly out of the ordinary.

“Simon,” she said with a sense of urgency, putting a hand on each of his shoulders. “Did his eyes look funny? Was he moving weird? Did he say anything?”

 

[ERedBoyd]

~~~ Simon ~~~

Simon shook his head saying, "Umm. what? Uhh... yeah. His eyes looked dark. He was standing perfectly still, rocking back and forth saying something..." He hesitated to add more. This would freak her out... However, he wouldn't lie to her either and he said, "He was saying your name over and over. He turned to face me and I thought he was going to attack, but he just stood there saying your name. I don't know what is wrong with him but I think we need to get out of here sis..."

He studied her as she reacted to the news...

~~~ Azazel ~~~

The creature now known as Azazel smiled as he watched the two talk. He was gaining greater control over the host than he had before though it was costing him an intense amount of his own energy to do it. He wasn't sure how much longer he would last inside his host...

"GET OUT OF ME!!!" A voice, Grant's voice screamed out though it was only in his own thoughts! The shock of the host reacting the way he did threw him off a bit and was thrown out of the host!

~~~ Grant ~~~

"GET OUT OF ME!?!!!" Grant yelled out as he pushed whatever had taken him over out of the body! He fell to his knees in utter exhaustion as he glanced about the hall seeing nothing about him but the house and belongings!

He tried to pull himself to his feet only to stagger and fall back to his knees again. He glanced up and saw the stairs, heard Simon and Dalia's voices downstairs talking. He tried to yell help only to find it came out in a whisper, "Help...."

Grant pulled himself along the banister as he continued to whisper, "Help me!" He turned the corner of the banister to the top stair and saw his two companions still talking... and he yelled out with whatever reserves he had in him, "HELP!" It was barely over a whisper though as things went black and his body began to slide limply down the stairs.

 

[Poprockz]

So he was exhibiting the signs of possession… Dalia’s brow furrowed deeper and she concentrated for a moment to try to find the best solution. Rather than fear or panic, she had assumed the problem-solving mentality of a leader, focused only on their situation and how to resolve it.

More than likely his mouth was calling out her name either because he was scared and desperate for help, having still a little of control over himself, or it was the ghost inside him making it clear that it wanted to speak with her. Though she hadn’t yet experienced a possession in her party, it was always good to be cautious about these things.

The ghost she met had been polite enough to reveal itself before dunking her head into a well of memories. The fact that this entity felt the need to perform a very violating and non-consensual act didn’t bode well and did little to assure her of its good intentions. Sure, it could be misguided and desperate, but the safety of the living was her top priority. After her vision of the previous possession in this place, she had to assume that whatever was inside Grant was very malicious and dangerous.

Something in Grant’s body could do a lot of damage if it wanted to. He was older, but he was in very good shape and had enough muscle to overpower either of the siblings.

“Alright, Simon. You need to listen to me. He could be possessed right now, so I want you to maintain distance from him unless he becomes unconscious. Even then, I need you to be cautious and ready to jump away and run at the first sign of aggression. Pay close attention to his eyes- that’ll be the best indicator for whether he’s himself or not. We need to find a way to get Grant to the cars and leave. This is becoming too dangerous for us, so-“

She was jarred from her conversation by Grant’s call for help, the woman whipping around, her headlamp shining on the man. Though he seemed to have fainted, she couldn’t risk going to him however much she wanted to. Though she hadn’t ever thought of him in a romantic aspect her entire life, he was a good friend of her dad’s and therefor was almost like an uncle to her.

“Simon, we need to-“

“COFFEEEEEEEE~!” A jubilant voice called out in a sing-song voice. Dalia turned to see Tina coming in, the other woman cringing when the flashlight shown right in her face. “Jesus, I being you guys coffee and lunch and you try to blind me?! Ungrateful much?” Obviously she was teasing, but the current situation didn’t allow for much Levity as far as Dalia was concerned. At Tina’s side though, she saw Robert come in as well with a couple bags of food. He was still as… handsome as ever.

 

[ERedBoyd]

Swift Manor
Jonesport, Maine
circa 1863ish

Harper, Holly, and Hayden Hooper, 19 years of age, walked along the narrow pathways towards the old spooky looking Swift Manor carrying an empty picnic basket, picking flowers in their traditional hoop skirt dresses and bonnets of the day. The three of them were oddities since they had been born. Strange things happened around them all the time, such as things vanishing and reappearing in strange places, fires suddenly going out or even worse, turning on without warning. Most of this could have been explained away easy enough till the Jonesport Town Dance a couple years back where they had run into the dance screaming of monsters chasing them which sent the locals grabbing at their rifles and hunting for anything that might harm the young girls at that time. Finding nothing, they began to take less and less stock in their claims of seeing ghosts and shadowy figures as they grew into womanhood.

Harper glanced over to Holly, who her parents had told her was birthed second of the three which made her the middle sister and said, "So, what did Bobby say in his letter?"

Holly's face went scarlet as she touched the pocket on her dress where she had been keeping her fiance's letter saying, "Oh... nothing. He misses me and hopes the war to be over soon enough."

Hayden smiled and reached to her dress and snatched Holly's letter and said, "It is a long letter for so little a summary!" She giggled and held it away from her as they entered the Swift Estate. Holly screamed out, "Give it back! It's mine!"

The girls played with each other a bit more as they reached their garden where they had been secretly growing a batch of cucumbers and tomatoes! They never noticed the additional boot prints on the ground around the garden!

"Well... well... well..." A thick Scottish sounding voice said calling all three of the women to spin on their heels to see a vagabond in a faded union uniform with rips and tears in the fabric, holding his pistol towards the girls and said, "What have been got here?"

4 more men all jumped out from around the garden, all holding pistols aimed at the girls, all wearing raggity and faded clothes... Holly dropped her basket as all three girls closed in on each other terror filling their eyes! The Scottish sounding man said, "Who else knows about this place girl?" He aimed his gun at Harper!

"No one sir!" She said trying to stand in the path of the other sisters. 5 more men slipped out of the brushes holding out weapons and ready to use them. All 10 of these men, draft dodgers for the service and simply staying here to keep hidden.

Hayden said, "Please... let us go. We won't tell anyone!"

The scottish man, name as Rupaul simply pulled the hammer back on his pistol saying, "Oh, we know you won't be telling another living soul anything again... but us men, we could use a little entertainment..."

The other 9 men laughed as they drew their circle in even closer and one of them said, "Take them dresses off or we will take them off for you!!"

Two weeks later, a report appeared in the local paper of the union patrols locating and killing 10 draft dodgers who had been hiding out in Swift Manor. There had been no mention of the missing triplets...

RuPaul stood in the main room of the Manor watching the arrival of the two new people as well as the discussion over the other air breather who lay head down on the stairs...

Azazel glanced down to RuPaul who had also seen him and pointed to the young man entering the room. As Azazel faded away, RuPaul walked up to Robert and studied him. He screamed out in utter silence and lashed his fingers across the air breather's back sending the man stumbling into the woman holding the food and drink.

~~~ Azazel ~~~

Returning to the front, he was pleased to find a third vehicle in the lot now. He walked up towards it, put his arm into the battery and started draining the juice from the battery as well...