Tenebris: Darkness Arising

 

 

"Oy' mate, this 'ere house is a great buy, beautiful view of the river and woods at the back, they say it's haunted, but I got a team of paranormal fighters to clean the place out, and they saw nothing." the realtor explained in his Irish accent. 

"Haunted? I don't do fantasy stories" I chuckled and collected the keys from him. "Ah! You're the man, if you need anything, put a call through" the realtor said and retreated hurriedly. 

"Hey mate, who's that wom-" but the realtor had sped off. "weird Irish people". I looked back at the next house across the lawn where a woman sat in a rocker, and thought to go introduce myself as the new neighbor, but when I looked up again, the chair was empty. I went into my new house feeling like a champ without a care in the world. I was expecting to find the home empty and dusty, but was shocked to find it furnished. I put a call through to the realtor. 

"Oy' Hullo" He answered. 

"Do I own the furniture too?" I asked. 

"That's right" He answered. 

"Oh! The cleaning guys did a great job" I added. 

"Cleaning guys? Perhaps the paranormal guys did something." He said. 

"Well, they did a good cleaning job." I added. "Oh! Okay! I'm sorry, but I need to get off the phone now, perhaps we could do beer at the pub sometime. Cheerios mate." He said and hung up. "Impatient little man" I muttered, and walked around the house checking all the rooms, attic, garage and the basement. As I looked around the basement, I found a cellar filled with vintage wine, and also found boxes filled with books. I took two bottles of wine and a box of books to the surface. I looked through the books and all of them were about some fantasy dark side and what I called "spiritual nonsense." I remembered the realtor saying something about the house being haunted and laughed out loud. It always beat me how learned people believed there was spiritual stuff, that was like believing that superman was real, and it made no sense at all. As much as I could, I avoided discussions with people about the existence of a spiritual dimension to things, because people that supported the spiritual claims never had proof or evidence to corroborate their claims, and I thought it really stupid of them. I was a different Nigerian, I was one of those that rebelled against my parents and everyone else that wanted to force me into a cult they called religion, in fact I was labeled the black sheep of the family, not by my folks, but by outsiders. My parents never stopped loving me though, but I knew my defiance was troubling them, so I couldn't wait to get out of their hair and face my life. I moved to the United States and joined the army, and then I was transferred to a special unit for covert operations. I watched my men get killed, I watched them die helplessly, I watched as the supposed spiritual being they prayed to fervently failed them at the point of death, I watched as able bodied soldiers became vegetables and cripples, many of them believing in one spiritual being or the other to save them, but all of them realizing albeit late that they believed in fairytales and fantasies. After seeing too many deaths to last a lifetime, I had to deal with the agonizing cries of wounded and dying men in my head, plus flashes of dead people etched on my memory. My superiors never quite understood why a young, smart, brave, strong, and experienced soldier would want to leave, but after 12 years of active service, I had seen it all and didn't want more, even if I knew you never really leave the army, they always find you for one nasty covert operation or another. There I was chilling in a new house, in a new area, prepared to start a new lifestyle as an angel and serial investor, and with no girlfriend, wife or children to be bothered about. I poured myself a glass of the wine I found in the basement, and took a sip "Damn! Good stuff!". I stepped out of the house to the backyard, and just as the realtor said, the view was beautiful. I walked to the bank of the river to get a closer look at the water, and as I enjoyed the sight, I looked up to find a young caucasian girl standing on the other side of the river. I waved at her, but she just stood there staring at me, and then slowly raised her hand to point at a spot behind me, I turned round to look at what she may have been pointing at, but found nothing. I turned again to ask what she was pointing at, but she was gone. I shrugged and went back to the house, going round to the front, I found a lady on my patio. 

"Hello" I greeted, and my greeting must have startled her, because she jumped back in fear. 

"Hey, hi, I Ermm didn't know you were there" She answered, seemingly flustered. "Sorry I think startled you." I added. 

"Oh yeah, no-no I just wasn't expecting you from there" She answered. 

"Alright then, so?" I asked. 

"I'm Hilda, my Mom called me about-about our new-new neighbor" She said, still flustered and looking around suspiciously. "Your Mom?" I asked. 

"Yeah, that's our house" She answered, pointing at the house where earlier I had seen the woman in the rocking chair. 

"Oh okay okay! I think I saw your Mom earlier." I said. 

"I don't think so, my Mom's away at work, she's a police officer" Hilda said. 

"Oh I think I remember your Mom, I saw her at the station earlier, but she didn't tell me I was her neighbor. Anyway, I saw someone rocking that chair earlier" I said. 

"That's weird, because it's just my Mom and I that live here" She added. 

"Maybe a passerby just took a rest there, 'cause I saw the person there briefly" I answered. 

"Passerby, hmm! Okay" She said in a tone that suggested she wasn't quite satisfied with the answer, as she looked from the rocking chair, to me, and then around. 

"Is there a problem?" I asked. 

"Yeah, I mean no, it's just...it's nothing though" She said. We talked a while, and then she brought up the stories about the house being haunted. I listened to her not because I was interested in anything she was saying, but because I found her expressions and gesticulations amusing. 

"So you're saying ghosts live here?" I asked, feigning concern. 

"It's way deeper than ghosts, it's Tenebris..." She was saying. 

"Wait, tene-who-what?" I asked amusedly. "It's Latin and has something to do with darkness. Wait a minute, you find this amusing?" She asked. 

"Oh yes." I answered. 

"Wow, so you didn't believe anything I said?" She asked 

"Nope , but it would have been rude if I had stopped you from talking" I answered. 

"Oh! Wow! Okay, I uhm need to go now" She said, looking around and retreating hurriedly. 

"Alright, thanks for stopping by Hilda" I called after her. She looked back at me and shook her head, like she felt I was pathetic. I went into town to pick up my car, get some groceries and supplies, lots of surveillance cameras, lights, motion detectors, alarms, and other necessities. With a property that big, it was easy for trespassers to gain unhindered access to the property, and I could not let that happen, so I had to make it as secure as possible. When I got back, I set to work setting up all the surveillance apparatus at strategic points in and around the property, even as far as the other side of the river. I looked at my house from the other side of the river and then remembered the little girl I had seen earlier, and wondered what she pointed at. I looked at the house again, and something caught my attention, I could see movement in one of the rooms. I took out my binoculars and checked, but saw nothing. A rustle in the bushes behind me made me made me turn around, but I saw nothing, so I continued looking at the house. 

"Strange house that one" A voice said behind me, I turned round and took the combat stance. He looked like a hunter with his rifle slung behind him. 

"Who are you?" I asked. "Oh, I'm Jack and that's my house over there." He answered, offering his hand for a handshake. "Pleased to meet you Jack. You hunt?" I asked. "Yeah, I hunt trespassers" He answered, looking at me with intent. "That's my property over there" I added. "Oh you're the new person just moved in?" He asked. "Yeah, I saw a little girl here earlier, you know who she is?" I asked, and Jack stepped several steps backwards. "Oh shit! You're accursed! Only accursed people can see her, and anyone who's seen her becomes the chosen one for something terrible." Jack said, and I was so amused that I laughed hard. "What is wrong with you people around here with all them dark fantasies and fairytales?" I asked, still holding my sides and laughing. "You think it's funny? only an accursed person would think it funny"Jack said and scampered off into the bushes. I stood there for a while wondering if I had not moved into the wrong area, because I could not fathom why and how it was beginning to look like they were so superstitious, even more than my folks back in Nigeria. It was getting dark, so I returned back to my house, and the first I did was go upstairs to the room where I thought I saw movement from the other side of the river. Interestingly, there was nothing, save a tiny part of the window that was broken. Apparently, drafts of air got through the opening and caused the curtains to move, plus light reflections cast some shadows, and created the effect of what I saw earlier. I looked out the window at the spot on the other side of the river where I stood earlier, and saw that little girl again, as before, she raised her hand slowly to point at me. I smiled, pointed back at her and waved back. I wondered why anybody would let a child be by herself at the bank of a river. The light bulb in the bedroom flickered, and within the few seconds of my turning to look at the bulb and out the window again, the little girl was not there again. "I've seen her twice, I must me cursed over times two" I joked and laughed at what Jack had said earlier. I made dinner, checked my security monitors, and ensured that all alarms were working properly. Satisfied with everything, I took out one of my bag of guns, disassembled my guns and arranged the parts neatly on the, and then took a deep breathe, turned my stopwatch on and began assembling them as quickly as possible. I could hear late Captain Reed yell "Focus, speed, precision, accuracy- fail in one die in all..." too bad, a bullet beat him to it, and put him in a vegetative state, one he never recovered from till he died. Disassembling and reassembling guns was one of my favorite pastimes, and it was a form of therapy for me, because it helped me blank my thoughts and strengthened my focus, especially when I blindfolded myself to perform the drill. When I was done trying to beat my record, I set to putting guns in strategic locations within the house, because one could never be so sure, considering that as special ops we had stepped on a lot of toes, and some angry people could be out to get us. I checked the security monitors again, and everything looked okay, I could see everywhere and everything with the special surveillance cameras I used, and for some reason I wondered if anything or anyone could see me through darkness. I laughed at the thought and went to my computer to respond to emails, and when I was done I picked out what looked like a journal from the box of books I found in the basement. I opened the last page and saw "Tenebris is here! wherever and whenever you see this journal, run faraway, there's a curse, and sadly I am becoming that curse. I wish I had listened to the warnings, I'm sorry for the people whose lives a part of me consumed; the force was too strong for me to fight. Tenebris feeds fat on the darkness within you and consumes you slowly till you become the darkness, with no solution...." I dozed off on the sofa, and had barely been asleep for long when the security alarms went off. I opened my eyes and jumped out of bed, and it was all quiet- wait! I remembered sleeping on the sofa while reading the journal, but could not fathom how I ended up in the bedroom and on my bed. I stepped out of the bedroom, the lights flickered as I went to check my security monitors. Everything looked okay, and there was no sign that the alarms went off at anytime. I looked at the time and realized I had been asleep for five hours "Okay, there has to be some logic here" I said, and walked into the living room, to the sofa where I had fallen asleep with the journal I was reading, but it wasn't there. "What the hell?!"- I checked the box of books and found the journal beneath other books, and my immediate thoughts were that an intruder had beat my alarm systems, gained access, and was playing pranks. I pulled out two Glocks and stealthily went round all the rooms to check for intruders, I checked the attic and basement too, but found no one. I went back to the security monitors and checked the recordings to minutes before I woke up, and interestingly, there was no point where the alarms went off. "Alright, I'll just go back to sleep, and when I wake it will all make sense." I placed my G-locks beneath my pillows and laid down facing the ceiling, and because I didn't want to think about what happened, I focused on one spot on the ceiling till I began to drift into that semi-conscious state between falling asleep and staying awake. I began to hear what sounded like a million whispers, coming from the walls, I pulled my G-locks, turned the lights on, and looked around, but saw nothing. I went to the wall and knocked on it, but it didn't sound like there was a hollow. "It must be that wine I took, oh yes! It all makes sense now", I heaved a sigh of relief, laughed at myself, turned off the lights, and went back to sleep. I was still awake when I heard the whispers again, but this time they didn't come from the walls, rather it felt like the whisperers were on either side of my head. "It's the wine" I told myself again, and just as suddenly as it began, the whispers stopped. I got off the bed and headed to the bathroom to wash my face and pop a sleeping pill. I stared at myself in the mirror again, one super power I had developed as a soldier was the ability to stare unflinchingly at a person with the sole intent to intimidate them, and the other soldiers had tagged me a descendant of Medusa. Being able to focus on a spot on a reflection of your face on the mirror for the troxler effect to happen was one thing, and being able to maintain the gaze without paying attention to the illusions of the face morphing into something else, was another thing- when some people tried it, they claimed to see their faces turn into monsters and ghouls, but in my case, all I saw was an older version of me with more wrinkles. Since the wine was making me hallucinate, I thought to pass time by trying out my mirror gazing skills. I was focusing on my reflection when I noticed something in the background, my heart skipped several beats when I saw that little girl from the river bank pointing like she was behind me. I turned round quickly, but saw no one, I looked in the mirror again and she wasn't there either "Ain't never touching that wine again". I began the mirror gazing process again, and after a while I could see the little girl pointing. "Okay! That's it, I don't care no more, these hallucinations can go to hell, I'm gonna lay in my bed and sleep the damn wine effects away" As I turned away from the bathroom mirror, right there was the little girl, looking pale, with water and mud dripping from her hair, and when her looked at her eyes, all I saw was black darkness. I turned again to look in the mirror, and she was there, I looked back and she was gone, leaving trails of water on the floor. I shut my eyes for a while, and when I opened them, the water and mud trails were still there-"bloody hell!" I stood there for a while trying to piece everything together, but the pieces just would not fit. I shut my eyes, and when I opened them again the muddy trails were still there. "Okay! This shit is for real!" I stepped out of the bathroom, and the lights flickered, I looked back at the bathroom floor, and the mud trails weren't there again. There was deathly silence everywhere, silence so thick that it was choking, and as I sat on the bed pondering what was going on, the whispers began again, a wolf howled in the distance, and suddenly there was a cacophony of animal noises for a few seconds. There was that sudden unsettling silence, and then I could hear the creak of a door downstairs, I picked my G-locks, steadied my breathing and expected the worst. The lights flickered again, and this time the one in the bedroom went off, leaving the flickering one in the bathroom on, and then I saw the little child standing right there in the bathroom and pointing at me. "Is this really the wine, or am I really seeing these?" there was that door creak again, and this time it came with slow footsteps climbing up the stairs and slowly making its way to my bedroom. I aimed my two guns at the door and waited, and then the whole lights off "Oh! shit!". The loud whispers began again, and then I heard a child whisper "Tenebris" repeatedly until it faded away, and for some strange reasons I could not move my feet. The lights came back on, and I saw my bedroom door ajar! From where I stood in my bedroom, I could see a ghostly figure move slowly down the stairs, again I tried to move but couldn't, and I also could not speak. "Tenebrissssss!" a cold voice whispered in my ears, and my hair stood on end, because I could perceive the stench of the dead around me.

 I had never felt so helpless in all my life, there was no fight or flight for me because every part of my body was held down by an unseen force, and breathing was becoming difficult. "You are my chosen" the voice said in a cold and evil tone that sent shivers down my spine. I felt something wet wrap around my neck tightly, and there was a burning sensation on my neck- I could perceive the smell of burning flesh, my flesh. I was flung to my bed from where I stood, and the force pinned me down to the bed. Struggling was futile because I couldn't move any part of my body no matter how hard I tried, and the room was filled with darkness so thick I was choking on it. Suddenly I was set free, the darkness disappeared, and everything felt normal again. I jumped out of the bed and looked around, but I was too frightened to take any step either to the bathroom or out of the bedroom. It felt like I had just woken from a nightmare, but I could feel the burns on my neck, so I summoned some courage and went into the bathroom to get a good look at my neck in the mirror. Alas! There were burn marks on my neck. "Is this some sort of dream in a dream?" I was both confused and scared, because I had no idea what I was experiencing, and it was too vivid to be a dream or the effects of the little wine I had earlier. Slowly, I walked back into the room, looking around like I was expecting something to happen again, and stopped when I perceived the odor of burning rubber and sulphur just at a spot in the bedroom. "that can't be good", but I was too exasperated to think straight, so I just sat there on the floor of the bedroom with my head in my hands, trying to wrap my mind around what I had just encountered. The room soon began to swirl, with the walls changing to bloodied tapestries, and lit candles arranged at the points of a pentagram. I was at the centre of the pentagram, bound hand and feet with chains of fire- I screamed as I burned! The shrill sound of my phone ringing seemed to bring me back to reality, and I was glad for the distraction from the horror I was experiencing. I crawled to the bedside drawer with the burning sensation on my neck, hands and feet, and looked at the caller ID before picking up- 'Mom' "Hey Mom!" I greeted. "Son! How are you? I had a vision about you some minutes ago" My mom said, and I was confused. "Vision?" I asked. "What's wrong with you dear? Why's your voice sounding like you're dying? Yes a vision, a bad one at that." She asked. "Wha-what was the vision about?" I asked, even more scared than before. "You have not answered my questions" She said. "I'm surviving, so what was the vision about?" I asked, looking around me and noticing something strange on the rug where I was moments ago. "Your voice doesn't sound convincing at all. Anyway, I know this vision wasn't ordinary. You were being dragged with chains into darkness, and you kept screaming one word- Ten-something." "Tenebris?" I asked. I was both shocked and relieved. Shocked because I couldn't fathom the logic behind my Mom getting a vision of what I was going through, and relieved because I could hear my Mom's comforting voice. "Yes that's it! Are you in trouble, is there something you want us to know about? I don't know what it is, but you need to be careful. If you can't or don't wanna talk to us about it, you can talk to God to help you out, he always hears." She said. "Mom, please pray for me" I said, as I crawled to the strange thing I saw on the rug, and realized it was the pentagram I had seen earlier in that other dimension where I was chained. As my mom said her prayers for me, I got into bed, and as I listened to her soothing voice, I dozed off. I have no idea if it was a dream or it was for real, but I found myself at the river bank, crouched and weeping, and then hands came out from the ground to pull me and drag me into the river. I struggled with the hands, but they were stronger than I, and I could also feel snakes slither around my body. The pitch darkness around me did not make things easy, and I barely had the strength to do anything, even as the snakes began to make their way through my mouth. With the last ounce of strength in me, I focused on my mind being able to say "Please God!", and like magic, the darkness faded, the hands and snakes disappeared, and I was back on my feet like nothing happened. I jumped from my sleep with a start and looked around me, and then laid back in bed trying to process all that had happened. The burn marks were still on my neck, hands and feet, and the pentagram symbol was still on the rug, so it wasn't a dream. I sat on the edge of the bed with my hands on my head, not able to understand what was going on, and clueless about what to do, considering that it was just 2am. I lay back in bed and realized I was thirsty, so I summoned courage to leave the bedroom. I had barely taken two steps out of the bedroom when the lights began to flicker again "Come on, not again", I heard my bedroom door slam shut, and other doors in different parts of the house getting opened and slammed. I rushed down the stairs with the intention to run out of the house, but at the landing, the whole lights went off, and everywhere was silent save the sound of water dripping from a faucet. I groped around in the dark trying to find my way, but it felt like I kept moving in circles, so I stopped walking and just stood there, and then I began to hear voices hum an unsettling dirge accompanied by the sound of some native drums. Almost immediately, the whole place lit up with burning torches, and I was at the center of a large burning pentagram surrounded by hooded people whose faces I couldn't see. Again, I was bound hand and foot with chains of fire, and screaming my lungs out from the pains. The hooded people began to whisper loudly and walk around the pentagram, and I could feel myself getting burned from inside out "God!" I screamed, and everything stopped, I opened my eyes to find myself on the floor of my living room, the smell of burning sulphur and flesh was strong in the air. A knock on the door had me on my feet and walking cautiously to find out who could be knocking at 2am. I saw it was Hilda and opened the door. "Oh my God! What happened to you? We heard the screams, and my mom said to come check while she looked around" She said, looking at me in bewilderment. "You-you were right about this place, wanna come in?" I asked faintly. "No way she's stepping in there" Hilda's mom said as she came up the porch, armed with a riffle and sidearm. "You don't have to stay in there, you could come stay at our place till daybreak" Hilda suggested. "I heard she tried to warn you, but you were too full of yourself to listen" Her mom added. "Mom, not now" Hilda answered. "Did you do those to yourself?" her mom asked, pointing at the burn marks. "No, it's a pretty long, confusing and painful story" I answered. "It doesn't look like you want to come with us. Your power is in your belief in God, make it count. Hilda, let's go." Hilda's mom said. "You sure you don't want to leave here?" Hilda asked. "It's a few hours to daybreak, I'll survive. Thanks, and if I die, please burn this place down." I answered with a weak smile. I had questions to ask; going with Hilda and her mom would have been a good avenue to get some answers, but I couldn't bear the guilt of bringing danger upon them, considering that I had no idea what I was dealing with. I watched as they went back to their house, and then I stepped back into mine. I stood with my back against the door, and looked around, as if expecting the torments to begin. "Your power is in your belief in God" resonated in my mind, plus what my mom said about asking God for help. As I knelt down at the spot I stood, the lights went off again "oh shit!", and then they came on again. I could hear my phone ring upstairs, I ran up the stairs and just as I reached the doorway, the lights went off, the door slammed shut in my face, a whip cracked near me and wrapped my neck tightly, pulling me backwards. Suddenly, all the air seemed to disappear, I was choking and gasping for air as I struggled with the whip around my neck. "Embrace your darkness! You have sent souls to me, now Tenebris wants yours." a voice said. "No-no. God please help me" I muttered, still struggling with the force pulling me. "Let him go!" Another voice said, this one was calm and cool, and all I could see was light. "This is your not place Angelus Custos!" the voice behind the whip said, sounding angry and tightening the whip around my neck. "You demon I said let him go!" the second voice said, and I could see two flaming swords appear, and immediately I was set free, the demon with the whip disappeared. "Who are you?" I managed to ask as I felt gentle hands lead me to my bed. "I'm Angelus Custos, your guardian angel" the light said. "I have a guardian angel?" I asked, surprised at the revelation. "Oh everyone does!" the gentle voice answered. "What took you so long?" I asked as I lay in bed, weak and sleepy. "You need to get some sleep. Have no worries, I'm not leaving your side, I never left anyway." my guardian angel said. In no time I was fast asleep, and dreamt I was taking a walk through a garden with someone that looked like a friendly bodyguard. "I bet you haven't had it this peaceful in a while" the friendly bodyguard said. "No, but who are you?" I asked. "Oh, it's me, Angelus Custos" He answered. "oh my guardian angel. Wait a minute! How is this even happening? What's really happening? I went through that torment and you didn't show up?" I asked. "Well! The spirit realm doesn't function logic, its operations cannot be explained from the human perspective. There are different dimensions, and it would do you good to stop trying to get answers with your human mind and just believe Deus at all times. I was assigned to you from birth, and my permissions reduced as you got older and began to differentiate right from wrong, and good from evil." He explained. "Oh! Okay, so why did you show up when you did?" I asked. "There is spiritual jurisdiction for spiritual matters, remember when you were forced to attend Sunday school, and the teacher talked about Daniel and how the Prince of Persia delayed the angel with the answers to his prayers for 21 days? Deus had to send an angel with a higher rank to go release the other angel. That's one type of spiritual jurisdiction. In my case, you limited my abilities and spiritual jurisdiction by not believing. I had to send word to Deus to reach out to your mom, her prayers have kept you from losing your mind and doing something irrational, as well as a partial activation of my abilities, we needed you to believe. Remember how you mentioned God twice and got saved? I got the activation I needed when the third time you asked God to help you." He explained. "Wow! You mentioned Deus? Who's that?" I asked. "That's the supreme being- God" he answered. "Oh! Hmm!" "Heads up, you don't send a demon away and it stays away, it's gonna come back with reinforcements, so you need to brace yourself up for attacks. I'm only as powerful as the faith you have in Deus to get me to fight for you. So, it's your call." the angel explained. The smell of burning rubber and sulphur was so strong it woke me up, I opened my eyes to find my room getting filled with thick black smoke. "Dear God, I know I've been a fool, we'll address that later, but right now please fight this battle, I can't", I shut my eyes, and the whole scene changed. I found myself in what looked like a battle field engulfed in darkness and evil, with flaming swords in my hands. I looked on either side of me and found my mom, dad, guardian angel, and Hilda with flaming swords. "You've got your army, time to use your samurai skills in the spirit realm. Remember, in this realm, anything your faith wills, will happen" my guardian angel said. It was an intense battle, more intense than all the battles I had fought in real life, we were battling demons, undeads, monsters, and strange beings. It felt like the battle had gone on for hours, until they were no more. We won! I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight pouring through the windows. I looked around me, not sure whether I was really awake or in another dimension. I picked my phone and saw so many missed calls from my mom. I called back. "Hello mom!" I greeted. "Ah! Thank God ooo, you're alive! You had me worried. Your dad and I spent hours praying for you, and God showed us a victorious battle. How are you?" she asked. "Mom, I'm coming to Nigeria tomorrow, we have so much to talk about" I answered smiling. I still had the burn marks, the pentagram symbol was still on the rug, but I wasn't bothered anymore. I heard sirens and looked out the window to find squad cars, an ambulance and fire truck outside. "what the hell?!" I ran down the stairs and opened the door just as Hilda and her mom were about to use the doorbell. "Oh my! You're alive?" Her mom said. "Alive and kicking" I said with a smile. "I told you mom, told you there was no need for all of those" Hilda said pointing at the vehicles behind. "Oh well, something had to be done." her mom answered. "I can't thank you enough for showing up when you did earlier." I answered. In one night, I learned a lot about life that invalidated almost everything I thought I knew about life, I also learned about the little girl I was seeing; she had been used as a sacrifice by her parents and other members of an occult group they belonged to a long time ago when the area was deep in the occult. One day a mysterious fire burned down the building where the cultists were gathered, and they all died in the fire- the case was never solved, and then some wealthy person bought the property off, and no one ever made it out alive, except me.