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2024-10-29 19:42:56Matt’s dreamless slumber was interrupted. He groaned as he felt someone shaking him vigorously by the shoulder. He sleepily opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the tent he put up was already gone. Matt turned on his back to find Emmy kneeling beside him, urging him to wake up.
Has she been crying?
The expression written on Emmy’s face was enough. Matt got up, propping himself by his elbows and took a look around. He did not speak for fear of waking up Jean who slept beside him. Noting nothing of import, he turned his eyes back to Emmy. She was not looking at him. Her eyes were transfixed on the door.
It was open. He squinted to adapt his eyes but saw nothing. Matt realized he might need to talk his wife out of it but before that, he needed to satisfy her. He felt her hand shake while she looked. He decided to pretend he was paying attention as he got up to a sitting position.
The next few seconds yielded nothing. It was qu
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The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 21
He knew it would not last. He knew it would not stand. But Matt did not know what else to say. Sleepwalking was common enough that people apparently made jokes about it on videos on the internet but spontaneous sleepwalking? And both his children together?Compared to his wife, Matt thought he was doing a good job of reigning it in. He went around the room inspecting things, what he expected to find, he had no idea. He admitted to himself that nothing made sense and that scared him. He knew he had to do something, supposed to do something, but what? So, he paced.Finding that it did not help, not him or Emmy, he went to check on Gina and Jean. Emmy had already done it. He did it anyway. First to the older daughter’s bed. He checked if she was comfortable then put a blanket over her. He felt her forehead and was relieved that she wasn’t burning up.Next, he went to where Jean lay. She was already under the covers so Matt didn’t have much to do e
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Voices. It sounded like a gathering of a hundred people was outside and all decided to speak at the same time. The voices sounded like they came from all around the four corners of the house, their words indecipherable. Emmy strained to hear what it sounded like. Matt did the same. To him, it sounded like each voice was talking about something entirely different from the other and each voice carried over eerily to where they were.Emmy ran to where Jean was sleeping and carried her to Gina’s bed. She placed a blanket over her and watched her husband.He peered out the window, squinting. Matt’s eyes was taking time to adjust. On the areas where the house’s own lights was able to reach, there was nothing to see. Meanwhile, the volume of the voices increased, taking in both low and high tones. Soon, the glass panel on the window started to vibrate. It felt like it was coming from deep within the earth. Then, it started to sound like it was ascending.
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 23
Matt came back close to noon and set about preparing the materials he needed for what he planned to do. First, he hauled of a bunch of 2x2’s from the back of the pickup truck and laid it in front of the house. Next, he carried several bags with him and placed it near the lumber. He had several rolls of wires, boxes of screws and nails, boxes of lightbulbs, electrical tapes, and two cheap CCTV cameras.He did not purposely buy the cheap cameras. He asked for something easy enough to set up and was offered those. He could not understand the manual as it was all in Chinese but the man at the store showed him what to do and how to install the software. He showed him the different modes and told him about the limitations. The rep tried his hardest to upsell a better model to Matt but since most of them worked only with home Wi-fi networks and he didn’t have one set-up yet, Matt ended up with the cheapest. The rep was still okay, considering all the other purchases. He
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 24
Works for me, he thought as he sipped from a bottle.The braying of a singer, lamenting about a lost love and the comforts beer and his truck provided oozed from the speakers of the small restaurant. He chuckled and shook his head. His thoughts dwelt on the default sentiment of people over the years.Despite the downsides, he has followed, passively, the progress of society and often reflected on it. The apparent discontent, feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, and depression seemed to pace with the times. The further society developed, the more these feelings grew among the general populace.For him, this was a good thing. Where it took dozens upon dozens of unwilling victims a few decades ago, to maintain his state, now he only needed a few. Back then, it was truly lucky to happen upon even a small fraction of what people subjected themselves to nowadays. Now, that same effect could be replicated just by walking a busy street in a big city like New Yor
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 25
While Matt worked outside after she served him the snacks, Emmy noticed that her daughters started arguing. The TV programs from the broadcast channels had bored them. It was close to five in the afternoon and there were only dramas and reruns showing.Since no one was watching anymore, she turned the TV off and turned the radio on. Some music in the house would do them all some good, she reasoned. The reception from the stations were spotty, however, and Jean started pestering her to play her DVD instead. She relented. Gina fell asleep on the couch shortly after. Out of boredom, Emmy thought.Emmy only wanted to ensure they weren’t out of sight. As long as they were within range, she could act when needed. When Matt came in announcing he had gotten rid of the smell, she barely registered what he was saying. Absentmindedly, she proceeded to cook while her thoughts kept repeating her fears. Emmy dreaded nightfall.The only difference from the supper they ha
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He thought about getting coffee but decided there was no need for it. Caffeine would only elevate the beating of his already tired heart. His mind was a mess. As their house shook, he was ready to head out and confront the people outside, the people harassing him.Trying to cling to rational explanations, Matt paced the room. He had to find something, he knew. But as the minutes ticked by, not even their increasing confidence that it was already over help. Even Emmy began to check the room. Though they finally got the courage to move about, they kept to the second floor. The children didn’t wake up. Matt was at least thankful for that. Checking his watch for the time, he saw it was only two in the morning.Leaving the room for longer periods was not possible, so he paced instead. Every time he went out, Emmy begged him not to go and just be with them. Matt was split between going down and checking the feed or staying. Staying was the easier option.He felt
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 27
Then there was smoke. Or something like it. Matt let the feed play at normal speed so he could check it closely. Then he played it again at twice the speed. His brows knotted.It wasn’t smoke. It did not behave like smoke. It appeared in different places, captured in different angles but they did not move like smoke would. Even the cloud of smoke that appeared in one area moved in several different directions, splitting into thinner veins.Fog?He discarded the notion. It was not thick enough and this place was never foggy. It was also high enough that if it were a fog bank, it would have covered the ground and hidden the tree trunks. The feed buzzed out.Matt almost jumped out of his chair as the sudden, jarring change in the video changed from normal picture to white noise, then to black. It buzzed out several times, changing from black to white to gray then settled on white. He was not prepared for it. Matt played the video at twic
The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel Chapter 28
Just as he was about to go back to the chair near the door where the table with the laptop was, Matt heard shuffling from upstairs. Looking out the window, he noted the sun was already starting its ascent in earnest, the angle of its rays less steep than when he last peeked. Listening, he noted that it was the children who were moving about. He knew Emmy would not be able to go to sleep again, at least not soon, but noted the lack of her voice in the argument upstairs.At least they didn’t wake up when it was happening, he thought.That brought a smile to his face, albeit a short one. Reaching the chair, he noticed something strange on the monitor. It looked to him like the screen was glitching. He sat down and leaned forward to inspect what it was. It was not the screen. It was the video.Having dismissed the artefacts as dust and hardware limitation, Matt stood up where he sat relieved. The video was now playing the parts where the hazy appariti
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Chapter 85
He was getting impatient. It was the last leg and he had nothing better else to do. The onboard entertainment’s picks did not hold anything interesting. Then again, most things called entertainment nowadays didn’t hold his interest. He found them almost always superficial and a little on the pandering side.But this was the last leg and he was going to land soon. Unlike most countries, he visited this one regularly. He did not have a choice, he had to come back every time. This time however, he was early. There were so many things he needed to know. So many things he needed to ask. This time, he hoped he would get answers.There was not a need to ask before. If he was being honest, there wasn’t even such a question before. There was just him, his abilities, and the man who trained him. The man he called Tata, or uncle. The man who helped him get revenge all those decades ago. The man who, at times, almost seemed like his personal warden. The only one he knew who was more powerful than
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Chapter 84
“Here’s why I think that’s what happened. If, there was only one demon, or even a group of them with one purpose, just like we usually see, the chances are it would only possess one. Meaning, it-”“It would only harass one, and all the rest will be collateral.” The bishop finished.Father Anton nodded and paused to give the bishop time to connect things.“That means, there were at least two groups of demons there. My gut tells me the other one was a lone demon, and the on the other side, the one that possessed the children, were the other group.That explains why the parents needed to die, and Cain had to die. And his friend would have also died had he not run away, though, God bless his soul, I think it would have been better if he just died.”“I get most of it but not about the part where everyone, well, almost everyone needed to die.” The bishop admitted.“Let’s take the testimonies of those who knew them. Nobody will say that the father was capable of such abuse. But there was abu
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Chapter 83
It was not the waiting that he hated. Bob was the bishop after all. He had many things to attend to. It was the things going through his head as he sat outside the bishop’s office that he did not like. It was all too sudden and the person directly responsible for Cain, the situation wasn’t looking good.“Tony?” He heard the bishop call, peeking out his door.Father Anton Ramirez got up and walked towards the door of the bishop’s office. Finding that the bishop had already taken his place behind his desk, he closed the door behind him and locked it.“It’s a mess Tony, I was not expecting this.”“I’m sorry Your Excellency. I was… this is a first.”“Drop the formalities. I know it’s not your fault. Well, maybe a little bit. A little bit our faults. Why don’t you start from the beginning?”Father Anton sat first then opened the satchel he had with him and began taking out folders and placing them on the bishop’s desk.“Let’s deal with those later. Just tell me what you saw and what you th
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Chapter 82
Her exertions soon reached its peak and Emmy stopped and plopped onto her dead husband’s carcass. Her knuckles were covered in blood, his and hers. She laughed as she felt the last of his blood spurt out of his neck, grazing hers. Her screaming had made her voice hoarse but that did not matter anymore.She pushed herself up and regarded her handiwork. She burst out laughing hysterically. Her madness had taken over completely that she did not even dare question what that shadow was, that shadow that was tall and thick and wide that stood before her. A shadow that went against the light.“The children are ours! OURS!” The demons hissed.The shadow reached out a massive arm for her to grab on. She took it, still laughing. As she stood up, the shadow started to come into view. She was intrigued at how majestic and powerful it looked with its thick arms and legs that were muscled and huge as tree trunks. She laughed and laughed. A laughing that was interrupted by the demons declaring owner
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Chapter 81
Emmy felt a burst of anger fill her, a fury of such strength it made her forget pain. Her eyes smoldered with hate. Just moments ago, she felt like dirt but that didn’t matter now. She would have ignored what the demons were saying. It might have been true for her, or not. But, the expression on her husband’s face said it all.“Tell me I’m wrong Matt. TELL ME!” She demanded as she crawled on the debris, hands feeling, looking for something.Matt did not reply. He did not even look at her. She could see it in his eyes. How he struggled, how he could not hide it, how ashamed he was. It didn’t matter that his cheeks glistened with the torrent of tears streaming down his face. He was guilty. Her hands found something pointy. She got up as he screamed.“You… YOU FUCKED YOUR DAUGHTER?”She could tell. The demon’s words were not just insinuations. This was more unforgivable than coupling with an entity she could not even put a face to. Her mind raced, trying to give him the benefit of the do
- The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel
Chapter 80
His skin was a literal field of goosebumps. The creatures seemed to have already delivered and still wasn’t done yet. While he heard the otherworldly voices above everyone else’s, it wasn’t the demonic voices that drew his attention but the emotions that flooded the whole house.Confusion was the overwhelming feeling that he got but that was just the surface. Underneath was denial, disgust, and fear. It flared off in varying degrees on all the humans present. And he was harvesting it all.Despite the large number of anchors he had, the ring which glowed in many different colors, now felt cooler in his finger. He chuckled to himself, forgetting the real threat that the hulking creature, or the ones who sought his help, posed.True to their agreement, he let go of the young child. There was not much to her anyway. She was afraid, and disoriented, but not in levels that the adults were giving off.The one he labeled as a priest of some kind had been trying to get up but could only manage
- The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel
Chapter 79
It was not the voice, or how they came to him. It was not even how they knew to do something only one has been able to do until days ago. It was the request.“What… what do you mean?” He asked.It’s too strong. For me. For us. He’s too strong.He paced back and forth, not taking his eyes of the figures that stood before him, touching his anchors. The large creature did not need to touch his anchors to tell him to leave, then again, it was just standing there, like a ghost, among all the anchors.How the fuck do these things know about things I didn’t even know I had?“I don’t understand,” he finally spoke, “but what I understand is, that motherfucker is too strong. I don’t-” He paused, he sensed amusement when he said the last phrase. “You find that funny? At a time like this?”Yes. But still, help.“Like I was saying, that one is strong. And you’re obviously many and stronger than I am. If you can’t stop it, what the hell do you think I can do against it?”We know what you want. You
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Chapter 78
Matt was getting frustrated with everything. Every bone in his body ached, every uncovered part of his skin was either bruised or scratched, or both. While the words came out automatically in prayer, he found himself drifting. They were not getting anywhere. Cain was not getting anywhere. When the demons answered his wife, he was quite relieved.A start! An opening!Intending to hear more, Matt focused on the exchange not noticing that he had already dropped his prayers in exchange for the tidbits he was hearing.“I did not fail my Gina!” Emmy answered, defending against the insinuation.“OH! SHE DIDN’T, SHE SAYS.”Cain, being the closest to the possessed child, had to cover his ears in fear of rupturing his eardrums.“But you did. You allowed your child to be defiled! IN YOUR OWN HOME!”It could not have been clearer that the demons wanted to emphasize the last phrase. The many voices sounded like they were about to go berserk. More debris rose from the ground, this time mainly from
- The House By The River: A Paranormal Horror Novel
Chapter 77
“Holy fucking shit!” He remarked aloud as his anchors completely swarmed the entire first floor of the house.With Vein Sight, he clearly saw the full picture. There were other unseen figures moving about in the space. He counted a little over two dozen, the bulk of them standing by the child that everybody seemed to be facing.That unnerved him. One entity was powerful enough to have made him run away. Over two dozen was a disaster.This doesn’t make any fucking sense!The other demons who were mostly clustered around the child, whom he thought was the one who was possessed, were of a different build. While the one that had confronted him twice was tall, muscular, and impossibly wide, the other creatures were tall and wiry. Based on the power and hostility he was getting, he assumed that the creature who confronted him twice now, was the reason everything was as it was in that house.I’m out of my fucking depth here, he admitted to himself.He could not hear everything, but based on
