But the scene shifted the moment I slipped on a moss-covered rock, falling forward with my knees grazing the sharp spikes jutting out of the water.
Blood tainted the stream and darkened the reflection peering up at me. A red droplet rippled the water, twisting the grimace on my face into a wide, devilish smile.
Horns protruded from my nest of curls like blackened roots, dark eyes unblinking. It followed the movement of my hand, but where my fingers ended with shortened nails, the reflection wore monstrous claws.
You should wake up, Augustus.
I jolted awake, heart pounding. My treacherous brain would not grant me respite, even in sleep. The Devil followed me. I was his to torment.
It was cold, the absence of my brother’s warmth sending alarm bells ringing in my head. I rose to my feet and looked around the room, emptiness glaring back.
“Auden?” I called out as I stepped into the hallway.
Unease trickled down my spine. The House was too quiet, as though it had devoured every soul and was now sated.
I descended the staircase, hand on the wall to safely guide me through the darkness. Wood groaned beneath my feet, the sound reverberating along the walls, frames trembling.
Upon reaching the bottom, a faint sob echoed through the House. My feet guided me forward, heart thundering inside my chest.
The living room was void of all furniture—no couch, no coffee table, not even a rug to warm the cold wooden floor. In their absence, a white chalked star entrapped within a circle centred the room, each corner of the star home to a flickering candle, red flames illuminating the darkened room.
In the heart of the circle was Auden, seated with his knees drawn to his chest, rocking back and forth as tears streamed down his face.
His name left my lips in a gasp, my feet moving toward the circle before I could even process what was happening. Icrouched by his side and pulled him to my chest. He slumped against me, exhausted, skin glazed with sweat from the heat of the candles.
“Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here,” I tried to soothe him.
My mother stood beyond the circle in a long white gown, fringes soiled with ash and dust. A harsh breeze stirred the fabric, rippling like the wings of an angel. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, drawn to Auden’s shivering form.
“Ma?” I moved in front of my brother, shielding him from the eerie sight. “What’s going on? What are you doing?”
She raised a small, dark green bible, face flickering in and out of darkness as the flames cast shadows across the room. Incoherent muttering rolled off her tongue as she held a silver crucifix toward us, her voice rising as the wind grew in strength.
The flames closed in, heat bearing down on us without mercy. I reached for Auden’s hand and started toward the circle’s edge, determined to get him to safety before things could escalate.
“Halt, demon!”
And halt I did, gaze locking on Joe who emerged from the shadows to stand beside my mother, his body draped in a clean white suit with his hair slicked back neatly for the occasion. In his hands, a wooden crucifix hung like a blade between us, the mightiest weapon of one of God’s soldiers.
“Why are you doing this?” I shouted.
Words spilled from his lips—words from an ancient tongue that my mother repeated, their crucifixes glinting in the candlelight. Together, they chanted their foregone language, eyes aflame with the spirit of God.
A scream shredded through my body as Joe knocked over a candle, sending flames along the chalk circle all around us. I lifted Auden up over my shoulder, intending to carry him away from the searing heat.
A wall of flames forced me back. Smoke poisoned the air, burning down my throat into my gasping lungs. Auden coughed, sweat dampening his hair to his forehead.
I staggered backwards.
Confused.
Scared.
Struggling to breathe.
Falling to my knees, unable to bear Auden’s weight, I watched the flames crawl towards us, smoke smothering my lungs with the kiss of death. Auden whimpered beside me, oxygen evading him as much as it evaded me.
“Please, God,” I coughed, arms tightening around Auden’s trembling body, “save us.”
