Chapter 14 – The Final Confrontation

The night was too silent and motionless, like a held breath. Outside, thunder rumbled low across the horizon as a storm rumbled in the distance. The home anticipated what would happen.

With his Bible firmly grasped to his chest, Pastor John stood at the front entrance. Exhaustion was evident in every line of his pale, drawn face, but his eyes remained bright as if he had nothing left to lose.

Thomas nodded grimly and opened the door. "This is it."

John entered the home and looked around cautiously. Tonight, the air was different—heavier, thicker, as though the walls were clinging to something. He was aware that this would be their last try. Eva and the whole family would be lost if they failed now.

John opened his Bible and muttered, "We have to move fast." It's more powerful than before. We are running out of time.

The children were already waiting in the living room, pale, quiet, and terrified, and Thomas escorted him there. Simon crouched beside Lily, holding her hand, while Ethan sat still, his teeth gritted. David appeared to be torn between two worlds as he stood apart from them, his face unreadable.

Eva lay on the couch, breathing shallowly and erratically, her skin as pale as death. Her soul was in a distant place, but her body was here. The beast inside her was waiting, and they could all sense it.

After placing the Bible on the coffee table, Pastor John inhaled deeply. "This is our final opportunity. We can put an end to this if we stand together and have mutual trust.

He turned his attention to each of them. "However, fear will destroy us if we allow it to separate us."

With his heart heaving under the weight of what lay ahead, Thomas nodded. "We'll take any necessary action."

On the floor of the living room, Thomas, Pastor John, and the four kids sat in a close circle, with Eva lying in the middle, her body motionless and delicate.

As if to warn them to halt before it was too late, the storm outside roared louder. But now there was no going back.

Ethan, Simon, Lily, David, and Thomas all joined fingers as John extended his hands. The air became frigid the instant they finished the circle, so cold that it seemed as if the planet had lost all of its warmth.

John said, "Don't let go no matter what."

"We give you the order to vacate this house in the name of God. This soul is returned to us, and you are hurled into the emptiness from which you came".

The floor underneath them shook as the lights flashed furiously. Like something massive shifting in the darkness, a deep moaning sound reverberated through the walls.

The initial assault was unexpected. Eva's back arched off the ground as her body jerked violently, as though something invisible was attempting to rip her to pieces. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

A thousand voices stacked on top of one another, pouring toxic lies into their ears, the whispering started, low and sneaky.

"She has already left."

"She will never be saved by you."

Thomas, you are to blame. You allowed her to get away.

Eva's eyes suddenly popped open, vacant and black. With unnatural speed, she stumbled off the ground and grabbed Simon by the arm, her fingers piercing into his flesh. Simon's tiny body was filled with fear as he screamed.

"Give him up!" With a yell, Thomas drew Eva away. But she was incredibly strong. He hit the wall with a terrible thud when she hurled him across the room as though he weighed nothing.

The lights flickered once more before exploding, sending jagged shards of glass tumbling from the ceiling. Doors slammed and furniture crashed against the walls as the wind howled through the house.

"Avoid breaking the circle!" John yelled above the commotion.

The children's cheeks were white with fear as they held on to one another. However, David... David's face stayed uncannily composed.

David stood up while keeping Ethan's hand in his as the storm blasted through the home. The atmosphere surrounding him appeared to change as if the spirit had moved in closer, enveloping him like a second skin.

With empty eyes, David muttered, "I know what you want." "You desire me."

With difficulty, Thomas sprang up and yelled, "David, no!"

However, David grinned as he turned to face his mother, or whatever was inside her. "Instead, take me. I'll accompany you. Simply release her.

There was a moment of silence. The ghost seemed to be pondering his offer as the wind subsided and the shadows ceased to move.

Eva's head lolled to one side, her body slumped, and her respiration was regular but shallow.

"Don't, David," Ethan said in a crackly whisper. "Please refrain from doing this."

However, David simply grinned, his features taking on an odd calm. "I must. He is a friend of mine.

With his little hand extending for his mother's, he stepped toward her, letting the spirit in.

Thomas knew what he had to do at that very moment.

He was not thinking. He didn't think twice. He took action.

Thomas broke the circle and hurled himself between David and Eva, encircling his son with his arms and yanking him away with a frantic roar. The ghost rushed forward in rage, but Thomas refused to back down.

"You're looking for someone?" He snarled while gazing into the dark emptiness of the spirit's presence. "Take me. Leave them alone."

After a brief moment of hesitation, the ghost lunged.

The room was filled with darkness that swept into Thomas like a raging torrent, encircling his soul and pulling him below into the abyss. The world swayed. His mind was being clawed by frigid fingers, yet he persisted—he persisted for Eva and his kids.

With a last trembling gulp, the ghost departed Eva's body and entered his.

There was silence in the room.

Eva fell to the ground, her body free but limp. The curse was lifted.

However, Thomas was no longer there.

Chapter 15 – Aftermath

When Eva opened her eyes, the first sensation she experienced was the chill of chilly air on her skin. Her limbs hurt, as if she had been pulled through a nightmare and emerged from it damaged. Shallow, laborious breaths rose and fell in her chest, and her throat burned, raw and parched.

Bewildered, she blinked. It swam into view, the chains, the bloodstains, the stone walls of the basement ceiling. It was quiet and cold. Too silent.

Memories of the children, the ritual, the chains in her hands, the spirit governing her, and consuming her remorse gradually resurfaced in waves. She recalled escorting her kids into the cellar. She recalled how Thomas had come, pleading with her to stop, his voice breaking.

Then there was darkness.

With a start, Eva sat up, her heart racing. Her voice was scratchy as she asked, "Thomas?"

She looked around the room. The kids were sitting in a corner, huddled together, their faces white and teary. Ethan was standing close by, his arms encircling them both in a protective embrace, while Simon held Lily, who was staring at her doll indifferently. With a blank expression on his face, David sat aside from them.

At last, Eva's eyes fell on the still body resting on the chilly cellar floor.

Thomas.

Every muscle in her body screamed in protest as she crawled toward him. She held his dead head in her lap and whispered, "Tom..." His face was motionless, too motionless, his eyes closed.

"No, no, no..." Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her voice broke. She begged him to wake up by shaking him softly at first, then more forcefully. But she already knew in her heart.

Thomas had left.

He had sacrificed his life to rescue hers, surrendering to the spirit.

Eva's body trembled with weeping as she buried her face in his chest. He hadn't abandoned her, as he had promised. Now, however, she was the one abandoned, wallowing in sorrow.

The following day, the Collins family departed Greystone House. Like the remains of a nightmare, the walls that had previously reverberated with whispering were now chilly and silent. However, the house, the town, and everyone else were all marked by the curse.

In the days that followed, Eva hardly talked. A continual reminder of what had transpired, guilt tore at her spirit. She made an effort to be present for her kids, but she felt hollow and aloof because of the weight of her loss.

Ethan ended up becoming the family's pillar of support. He filled Thomas's place, giving false assurances to Simon and Lily when the nights became too silent.

Ethan assured them that everything would be alright.

Simon was still unwilling to sleep by himself. Every time the wind howled outside, he imagined he could hear his mother's voice from that awful night in the cellar, and every crack in the walls plunged him into a panic.

Lily was silent, too silent. Even while she still carried her doll with her everywhere she went, her once-bright, innocent innocence had faded and been replaced by something much more serious.

Then there was David.

As the Collins family packed their belongings into the car, Pastor John watched from the side of the driveway. Although he was aware that the curse had finally been lifted, his heart was heavy. The ghost has vanished.

But at what price?

He had let another family down, this time by losing a man who had given his all to keep his loved ones safe. Thomas had passed away. Eva wouldn't be the same either.

John fiddled with the strap of his old leather purse. He felt the weight of failure, even though he had done everything he could. It would always do.

John was aware that certain wounds would never completely heal, but the Collins family was moving on. Even though the curse had been lifted, the memories will always be present in their hearts.

John turned and strode off as the Collins' car roared down the street, his shoulders hunched. He would no longer be residing in this place. Too many ghosts, too many reminders of what he had lost, were around.

He said a silent prayer for the family, but he knew it would never be sufficient.

The Collins children recovered for a few weeks. Though painfully and slowly, life went on. They made an effort to resume their normal lives, but some things remained.

Simon clung to Ethan every night, refusing to sleep alone. Silently observing the world as though anticipating a change, Lily seldom spoke.

The whispers were still audible to David.

They were weak whispers, hardly audible, and at first, he assumed they were part of his fantasies. But the whispers became clearer and louder as the days went on. At night, in the silent pauses between breaths, he heard them chanting his name.

"David... David... We remain here.

His hands would occasionally tingle as though someone else had touched them, and he would occasionally wake up in a cold sweat. And occasionally, when the wind was blowing just right, he believed he could sense his "friend" waiting in the shadows once more.

However, he kept it a secret. Could he? The spirit was meant to be broken, and the house was gone, but for some reason, it hadn't truly gone.

David was wise enough not to respond to the rumors.

However, he paid attention.

He listened all the time.

The sun rose behind heavy gray clouds the morning they finally departed Greystone House. As they packed the rest of their possessions into the car, the house stood motionless and empty, its windows acting as hollow eyes.

For a long time, Eva stood by the front entrance, her heart heavy with remorse and sorrow. The scar left by Thomas's absence will never go away. But she was aware that they had to go, if not for her own sake, then at least for the benefit of the kids.

"Mom?" She was startled out of her reverie by Ethan's voice from the automobile. "Time to leave."

Eva looked at the home one more time, as though she thought Thomas would be there for her. However, there was nothing but the chilly air and the empty doorway.

After getting into the driver's seat and turning on the engine, she started to drive away from the house. The automobile slid slowly down the driveway, its tires crunching on gravel. As the house vanished behind them, the kids sat quietly in the back, pressing their faces against the windows.

Lily whispered as they came to the end of the street.

"Mom, I believe someone is observing."

Eva caught a glimpse of a shadow moving behind one of the upstairs windows as she looked in the rearview mirror. Two bright eyes, full of want and hate, glinted through the glass for a time.

The shadow then disappeared.

Eva's heart became constricted. The curse was lifted.

The house wasn't finished, though.

Not quite yet.

They continued driving, partially leaving Greystone House behind.