I knew something was wrong before I even opened my eyes. There was this feeling in the room I couldn’t place, and it wasn’t the cold. I opened my eyes slowly. They felt heavy and weak, but so did the rest of my body. It was a feeling I had gotten used to. The first thing I saw was the blinds. From the light outside, I could tell it was the early hours of the morning. I shouldn’t be awake at this time, so why was I? I rolled onto my back, and saw the idle ceiling fan. It was dusty, and the hole in the roof was still there, albeit blocked with tape to prevent rainwater from coming in. That was normal. I then looked at the door to our room. It was slightly cracked, as per usual, the yellow of the hallway light peeking in through the gap. We couldn’t fall asleep otherwise. Everything seemed fine. So why was I awake? I rolled onto my other side, and I realized what the feeling was: the feeling of being watched.

Even through the layer of blankets which covered his body, I could tell Andrew was looking at me. The blankets were taught, and the light from the hallway just barely illuminated the edges of his face: the nose, the chin, the jaw, etc. It startled me, his face being only inches from my own, despite the layer of fabric between us. My first thought was that he’d woken me up just to scare me. That seemed like something he’d do. I’d yell, we’d have a good laugh, and then we’d talk until the sun came up before heading off to school. But, he didn’t laugh. Didn’t shout. He didn’t even speak. Andrew was staring directly at me with no words to speak of..

“That’s not funny, Andrew.” I heard my voice come out as a squeak. My brother was always so loud and rambunctious. It wasn’t like him to stay silent like this, especially for a joke. Some part of me still believed this was all part of the joke, and I decided to try and get him to break character. I stretched a hand out to poke him, my finger touching the cloth before reaching his face. For some reason, he was rigid and stiff. I remember that was the first time I felt uncomfortable with my brother. “Stop doing that.” I didn’t understand. Why wasn’t he speaking? But, as I looked at him, another horrible thought crossed my mind.

Why wasn’t he breathing?

Alarm bells rang out inside my skull. That wasn’t normal. I poked him again, and again, but he wouldn’t stop holding his breath. “Andrew, stop it!” As a last resort, I started to shake him, but it only made the dread worse, his head rolling from side to side under the sheet, limp. I had never been in this situation before, and I felt my breathing grow faster and faster. What came next seemed to span an eternity, as I made a decision that I’d later regret. One that I’d be reminded of for years to come. I reached out one more time, and gripped the sheet covering my brother’s face, and began to peel it back.

I never finished pulling the veil away. What I saw was enough. I finally screamed. I didn’t know what to do. I sat up on the dirty mattress, staring at Andrew’s body, and I just kept screaming. “Mom!” I tripped as I climbed onto the floor, sending me into a small pile of trash next to the mattress. Scrambling to my feet, I ran out of the room. Our house wasn’t very big, she was only in the next room over. I found her sleeping on the couch, the TV tuned to static, the only source of noise in the room. “Mom! Please!” She wouldn’t respond. She grumbled something in her sleep and turned away from me. “Mom!”

“Tommy.” A voice spoke up from somewhere in the house. Hearing it felt like somebody had doused me with ice water. It wasn’t my mother’s voice, she was still unresponsive on the couch. I began searching frantically for the source, but deep down I think I knew whose it was.

“Who’s there?” I cried.

“Tommy.”I turned to the door to our room. It was wide open now, the light of the living room spilling in just enough to illuminate the edge of the mattress on the floor. My eyes had to adjust, but when they did, I saw him. Andrew was sitting up now, and I could see the vague shape of his form on the bed, just at the edge of the light. Even as a child, I knew that wasn’t possible. In the dark of that room, he was just a black mass in the shape of a child, but I could see the glint of his eyes. His glassy, dead eyes, and they were as wide as ever. They were the only thing I saw when I lifted that sheet, his gaze boring into me from inches away, and they were all I needed to see. Up until that point in my life, I had never looked at my brother and felt genuine fear. At that moment, I did.

“Tommy.”

“Tommy!” I woke up. I was thrashing around, unsure where I really was. I couldn’t think straight, my whole body coated in a layer of cold sweat. I only started to calm down when I saw Sam. He was looking down at me, and from my point of view, upside down. “Are you okay?”

I took in my surroundings. I was still inside the priest’s home. The curtains were drawn, and the room was lit fully. I strained to see, holding up a hand to block the sunlight in my eyes. At some point in the night I had fallen asleep, that much was apparent. The nightmares had gotten worse. I wasn’t even on the bed anymore, instead I was slumped over beside it, my back to the box spring and my front facing the door. Sam was positioned on my bed, leaning over me and looking down. “Ugh, what time is it?”

“I don’t know. Daddy says we need to be ready soon.”

“Wait, ready for what?”

“We have church service!”

“Oh. Great.” I sounded groggy, and my head was throbbing. The last thing I needed was to be around people right now. I placed a hand to my forehead to wipe away the sweat, only to feel cold metal instead. Immediately, I dropped the knife I’d been holding and it clanged to the hardwood floor beside me. Seeing it brought back all the memories from the previous night. The door. I was still in that house with the door. My hand ached. I must’ve gripped it for dear life in my sleep. “Hey, Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Tobias would ever hurt us?”

“Why would he do that?”

“Nevermind. Forget I asked.”

Apparently, I had woken up somewhat late. Sam urged me to get ready, jumping up and down on his bed. I got dressed into some clothes that weren’t stained and passed by the bathroom in the hall while on my way downstairs. Overall, I wasn’t as bad as I thought I was. Still bad, though. My black eye was still there, albeit less noticeable than before. My hair looked matted, and my eyes were a little red. I washed my face in the sink and felt a bit better about myself.

Walking down the stairs I realized just how bizarre the situation in the house had become. Not even twenty four hours ago I was waiting with bated breath, frozen on these exact stairs, hoping the priest wouldn’t catch me. With all the shadows removed, the house was strangely calm in the daylight. The priest was hiding something from us, that much I knew. Nobody has a secret door hidden locked with a thousand chains for no reason. I had to know why. I just had to find a way to get inside. It had to wait though. This was going to be a long morning.

I walked into the kitchen and was met with the intense smell of bacon. Father Tobias was hard at work over the stove. There was a plate of eggs on the counter next to a radio. I heard the voice of President Reagan crackle through the speakers.  “Hello! Glad you’re awake. Sam told me you were still asleep, so I waited a little longer to start breakfast.” He was moving rapidly between the fridge and the stove. It was almost comical watching him try to balance three tasks at once. “Unfortunately, we appear to be running later than I thought we would, so hurry and eat before we head to church.”

I sat down at the kitchen island, still wary of last night’s events. The man seemed so relaxed now, the polar opposite of what I’d seen through the crack of a dark armoire. It was hard to imagine they were even the same person. Thoughts of poison crossed my mind, the idea that maybe this was some kind of trick. At the same time, if he really wanted to poison us, he could’ve done it already. Why wait until the morning? I think Father Tobias caught on to my suspicion.

“Something wrong, Thomas? Are you feeling alright?” His face looked genuine, but now I wasn’t sure. Was he playing with me? Did he know I was watching him last night? How much of this was a mask, and how much of it was the man underneath?

“No, I’m feeling great, actually.” To sell it, I grabbed a fork and took a bite of the pancake sitting on the plate in front of me. It was a risk of course, but it would definitely throw him off my trail. He smiled and he went back to his cooking. It was then I realized just how careful I’d have to be. It was just the three of us in that house, and nothing but wilderness for miles around. If this man really did have bad intentions, then I’d need to tread lightly.

The car ride back to town, in a way, felt like the drive up the previous day, the only difference being all my fears were confirmed. Every turn the priest made, I had to reference what little I remembered from the drive up to the house. I was scared he’d pull off onto some shady backroad and do… whatever to us. It didn’t help that I could’ve sworn he was watching me. Every now and then, I’d see him glance into the rear view mirror. I kept looking at my feet, unable to make eye contact with him. I looked into the seat next to mine and Sam seemed just as happy as ever, completely unaware of any of this. I didn’t know how to tell him any of what I’d seen, he was only six. At the time, I was terrified he’d freak out, and there was no hiding that from the priest. I couldn’t get Sam involved. I was on my own for now. Maybe I could get help at the church.

The Wakefield Lutheran Congregation for Christ was a building that was hard to miss. I knew it well, its tall white steeple overlooking town square right across from city hall. I had never seen the inside, having only been in town for a month. Still, like clockwork, every Sunday morning people would pile in through the large oak doors at the top of the steps to hear Tobias’s sermons. Sam and I stood in front of the church at the foot of the stairs. Before we left, Father Tobias had made us change into much more formal clothing. “It’s a Sunday, you should wear your Sunday best,” he told us. The suit I was provided was a size too big, probably bought from a thrift shop, and was itchy. I’d never had to wear a suit before, and I didn’t like it, but if it was the price I had to pay to get inside and tell people about what I’d seen, then so be it.

“Here we are, feel free to find a seat wherever you like.” The priest pushed open the doors and we stepped inside. The first thing I saw was just how large the room was. Stained glass windows lined the walls, with three rows of long wooden benches facing the altar. Then, I noticed all the people sitting on those benches. The moment the doors to the church opened, just about everybody in the room turned their heads to look at us. I felt like a zoo animal, so many eyes on me. The church was practically full, and even if the faces weren’t actively hostile, it was still a lot. Sam tugged on my hand. I looked down, and he pointed toward the front. Behind the altar was a larger window, one that nearly reached the ceiling. The glass depicted a large, glowing red cross that appeared to be stabbing into a snake at the bottom of the window.

“Is that blood?” he asked.

“Don’t think about it too much, Sam.”

“Go on, now,” the priest told us, “I have a sermon to give.” We were gently pushed forward, and I took Sam’s hand, walking us to a bench. I wanted to find one that was toward the back, but those were all taken. Scanning the crowd, I saw a few faces I recognized, mostly just kids from the group home. I even saw Alan, who proceeded to stare daggers in my direction, but I couldn’t care less. I had bigger problems at the moment. Eventually, I spotted an open spot next to somebody I hadn’t quite made an enemy out of: Mrs. Nielsen. She saw us and smiled, patting the seat beside her. This was my chance, I thought.

“How are you doing, Thomas?” Mrs. Nielsen whispered as I sat down between her and Sam. I’ll admit I was surprised by her tone. From the last we’d talked, I assumed she’d still be disappointed in me, but no. She sounded chipper, a far cry from the robot I’d spoken to while clutching a bloody nose two days earlier. I looked to see who was beside her, only to see a tall man in a police officer’s uniform. He was bald and muscular, with a wide brimmed hat sitting in his lap.

“Is that your husband?”

“Oh yes, this is Nick. He’s just the best.” I saw Nick turn his head and give a small wave, but he didn’t smile. This was the perfect opportunity. A social worker and a cop right next to each other. There was no way I could screw this up.

“Mrs. Nielsen, something bad is going o-”

“Oh it’s starting!” I was interrupted by the sound of organ music, and I heard all conversation die in the room as Father Tobias walked towards the altar, Bible in hand. He started to scan the crowd, presumably trying to spot us. Sam tried to wave, but I caught his arm before he could raise it high enough to give us away. The priest began to address the congregation.

“Hello everyone, I hope you’ve all had a fine morning.”

I didn’t listen. Instead, I kept pushing.

“Please, something bad is going on in that house. He has a secret door.” I kept my voice to a low whisper, but even then I saw a few heads turn in front of us. Nielsen seemed embarrassed, 

“A secret door? What do you mean?”

“It’s this big metal door with chains and locks and stuff. I think it goes to the attic? It’s really creepy and I don’t know what he’s hiding.”

“Well, that’s hardly something to alert the authorities over. It could just be sealed off, or storage or something.”

“But all the locks!” I raised my voice just slightly, and an old man turned around in the seat in front of me, frowning.

“Would you pipe down?” he told me.

I could see Mrs. Nielsen went red with embarrassment, “I apologize Mr. Jones.” She then turned back to me, a finger to her lips, whispering, “Mr. Cartwright, there is nothing I can do about a door you don’t like in an innocent man’s home. You’ve hardly been with the man more than two days. I understand this isn’t what you wanted, but as of now I see no cause for alarm. Now please, let us have our service in peace.”

I was speechless. On one hand, she didn’t believe me, and I don’t think she would have believed me even if I had evidence. On the other, she had a point. I had no evidence. It was just a door at the end of the day, and theoretically there was a perfectly logical reason to keep it shut like that. Still, why would he use so many chains? And the pages? The crosses? No, none of this was normal, and apparently the one person I thought could help wasn’t going to listen, not until I had more information. I clenched my fist again, frustrated that I couldn’t do anything. So, I sat in silence, thinking of what to do, and as my mind started to drift I idly listened to the sermon.

“I want to read a passage for you all. Ephesians 6:12 states, ‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness.’ In this day and age, this quote rings true, as it has always rung true. We are teetering on the edge of chaos. Evil in America is more prevalent now than it has ever been. Its  in our movies, our music, our culture, and our homes.” 

As Father Tobias went on, I realized that the mask was slipping again. His tone was foreboding, angry even. I began looking into the crowd, but the others seemed transfixed, waiting on his every word. The priest kept going, pacing back and forth across the stage, gesturing as he talked. He was fired up now, his southern accent coming out in full force.

“As the leader of this congregation, I would never lie to you. The Devil is all around us, and his corruption knows no boundary. He will attempt to infiltrate your friends, your families. The sad fact of this world is that nobody is truly safe, and those closest to us can be taken at any time. Temptation is a cruel thing, and only our faith in The Lord can repel such evils. ” I was beginning to lose interest again. Every radio station in the country had a spiel like this. But, he started going in a different direction.

“The children, I believe, are the key to this national crisis. They are our future, the very soul of this nation, and as such will be targeted by the Devil’s forces more than any of us. Many of us have lost people we love. Even my beloved Judith.” The room fell quiet after that, and the priest looked pained, but quickly regained his composure.

 “Today’s youth is more rebellious. They give into those temptations, the drugs, sex, and debauchery. It’s an epidemic. Matthew 26:41 tells us ‘Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ I believe that all children are born good. Any parent would know this, but it’s these evils that cause their stray from God. The forces” My eyelids dropped. The events of the night before had left me a tired wreck the whole morning, and just as I began to drift off, “-and there’s no evidence of this greater than my new foster child, Thomas.”

My eyes shot open. I couldn’t have heard that right, but when I looked up, Father Tobias was pointing right at me, a wide smile on his face. I looked into the crowd, and regretted it. Hundreds of eyes, all of them staring at me. It was even worse than before. At least then, I wasn’t the main subject of attention. Now, I was being called out by name. Out of pressure, I stood up, stepping past Sam and into the aisle. There were whispers. Most of the group home kids recognized me. They didn’t say nice things. I couldn’t blame them.

I walked up to the stage in slow motion. I’ve never liked the idea of being watched, and the feeling got worse as I got closer. I could feel their glassy, cold eyes on the back of my head and I wanted to disappear. Tobias held his arms out, as though he wanted a hug, but I couldn’t give him that. I just looked up at him. Somewhere behind the mask he wore, I think he understood how embarrassed I was, but either he didn’t care or believed his point was more important. “Don’t be nervous, son. Just turn around, and it’ll be fine,” he said to me in a hush tone. I felt like spitting, but I couldn’t do that. Instead, I did as I was told, and slowly turned around to view the audience.

I could feel my face become red. I tried to ignore all the eyes by looking at Sam instead. He wasn’t paying any attention to the situation. Instead, I could see him talking to a kid on another bench across the aisle from ours. They were playing rock paper scissors. It looked like Sam was winning. I began to keep score in my head to keep myself together. The priest started talking again. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.

“This young man has been in our quiet little town for about a month. A few of you in the audience may already know him, and for now he and his brother remain in my care.” I felt the priest put his hands onto my shoulders. Rock, paper scissors, shoot.

“Some of you may have certain opinions of Thomas. His behavior in the past may have been frightening to some of you, or so I’ve heard. Like many of our youth, he’s been tempted, as have we all.” Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.

“However, within him I know lies the soul of a Christian. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, how he takes care of his brother. No soul is beyond redemption, we must remember that. We must also remember that the demons that walk the Earth among us take many forms. Your children will be tempted, as has Thomas here, but if they believe than their faith will persevere, and they will be saved.” Rock, paper scissors, shoot.

“Do you have anything to say, Thomas?” I felt his hands dig into my shoulders, and I cringed. He was going against everything I thought he was. He told us the previous day that he didn’t adopt us to be pawns, and yet here he was, hauling me onto a stage to parade me around like his trophy. My heart was beating so fast. What he told us in the car yesterday, was that also the mask? Did he know I had seen the door? There was no point in hiding it then, was it? I did something stupid, then. Something really, really stupid. I just couldn’t keep quiet anymore. So, I shouted..

“Father Tobias is hiding something in his attic!” I moved forward, shaking off the priest’s grip. There were plenty of shocked gasps and murmurings. I saw Mrs. Nielsen bury her face in her hands, and her husband’s looked like it could shatter glass. “He has this crazy door with crosses and chains and it’s made of metal! He’s hiding something! Something bad!”

I don’t know what I expected. There was this agonizing silence from the audience that followed. Not a single word. I stood breathless in front of a crowd that had nothing to say. I thought somebody, any one of them, would do something. Question the priest, ask for an explanation, something. Instead, I was meet with crickets.

“Oh Thomas,” I heard from behind, “I think this one must’ve found where I keep my Christmas decorations!” I sat dumbstruck as the priest passed me, walking forward as he told his joke. There was an uproar of laughter from the entire church. It was funny to them. I couldn’t believe it. The priest turned back towards me, and he was still smiling. “We can discuss this later, Thomas. Go sit down.” 

His voice was devoid of malice, but I saw something in his eyes that I didn’t like. Shaking, I quickly walked back to my seat. The eyes on me wouldn’t leave until Father Tobias began speaking again, and even then the sensation wouldn’t leave me be. I sat with my elbows on my knees, facing the floor while my hands were buried in my hair. The sermon didn’t last much longer, I know that, but it may as well have been an eternity. Sam patted me on the back, but it didn’t help much. I was lost in my thoughts. I messed up, and I messed up badly, and I didn’t know what fate the priest had in store for me once we went back to that house.

The sermon ended, and the crowd started to disperse. Mrs. Nielsen wished me well, and she left with her husband. I stood up too. Father Tobias was talking with a family by the altar, buying me a few minutes to think. As I was contemplating if I could get away with hiding myself under a bench, I felt a tug on my sleeve. I thought it was Sam, but when I looked down, I noticed it was the kid Sam was playing with earlier. I could get a better look at him now, he looked around Sam’s age. He was on the shorter side, wearing a striped shirt with a fiery orange head of hair. His mouth hung open as he stared up at me. I asked him, “what do you want?”

The kid talked with a lisp, but I could still understand him. “Hi, I’m Gabriel, did you see the ghost?”

The question took me by surprise. “Ghost? What do you mean, what ghost?”

“The ghost in the attic. Did you see it?”

“Ghosts aren’t real.” I wanted to laugh then, but I didn’t want to be too mean to this kid. I saw him get defensive, huffing as though to prove how tough he was

“No, it is real! My friend’s older brother saw it!”

“Is the brother here?”

“No…” Gabriel looked at his feet, sheepishly. Clearly, he’d just heard a rumor and wanted to freak me out with it, that or he’d just been lied to by an older kid and really believed it. At the same time, part of me wondered.

“Okay, so what did they see?”

He brightened a little bit. “Well, he said that he drove there with his friends at night. It was super dark, but when they shined a light at the attic, there was this super scary face in the window! And then they ran away. It was so scary! Did you see it?” For emphasis, Gabriel held up his hands and made clawing gestures.

“Uh no, I haven’t seen anything yet. Do they say what the face looked like?”

“I think they said it was a girl’s face?”

Suddenly, a thought came to me. It was the picture sitting on the wall of Father Tobias’s stairwell. The picture of a girl named Judith, aged ten. I immediately rejected it. That was absurd, ghosts weren’t real, and if they were real then a priest wouldn’t be keeping one in their attic. But every time I ran over the idea in my mind, that door kept coming back to me. I began to wonder just what the priest was doing in there that would require that kind of security, and I had a separate, more chilling idea: what if the door wasn’t meant to keep people out, but to keep something in?

“How are we doing over here?” I snapped to attention when Father Tobias appeared beside us. I didn’t even see him approach. He still had that same smile plastered on his face, looking from Gabriel to me, and I didn’t like when he looked at me. His eyes still had that hint of malevolence in them.

“Gabriel, they said yes!” Sam pushed past the priest, and the two started jumping up and down, yelling their excitement.

“Wait, what’s happening?” I didn’t even know Sam had wandered off.

“I spoke to Gabriel’s parents,” Tobias spoke up, “and I agreed to let him and Sam have a playdate for the afternoon.” I noticed the family he’d talked to earlier making their way out of the church, waving towards us as they did. “As for you, Thomas,” I felt a sudden tension in the air, “we’ll discuss what to do with you when we return to the house.”

The car trip after was as uncomfortable as it could be. Sam and Gabriel talked endlessly in the backseat while Tobias and I sat wordless in the front while he drove. The silence was worse than if he’d just come out and said something, just letting it fester in the air was slowly killing me. I didn’t know what he had in store, and I was trapped with him now. Once we’d finally reached the house again, Sam and Gabriel ran inside. Father Tobias let me go in first, and he only talked again once we reached the foyer.

“I want you to go to your room and stay there until I say so, Thomas.”

I was a little confused. Was he really just going to send me to my room like a toddler? “What? No, I told the truth, I’m not doing that.”

“I’m not asking, son.”

“No wh-hey!” Quickly, the man lashed out and grabbed my wrist, already moving me toward the stairs. For a man his age, he was far stronger than I thought he’d be.

“Hey! Let go of me!” I struggled, but I felt powerless in the priest’s grip. He didn’t even look at me, calmly making his way up the stairs and I was forced to follow behind. I tried hitting, kicking, but I was kept at arm’s length the whole way, and nothing I did made a dent in the man’s composure. “Stop it!” 

I was practically thrown into my room, stumbling over until I was able to turn around. Tobias stood in the doorway, his smile gone, holding onto the doorknob. In hid other hand was a large ring of keys. The mask was gone now, and I saw a glimpse of the man I’d seen the previous night. “You will remain here for the time being. Stay. put.”

“What’s behind the door?” I shouted.

“You’re not ready.” He told me, before slamming the door. Before I could reach it, I heard the jingling of metal and a loud mechanical sound from the doorknob. I latched onto it and tried it over and over, but it wouldn’t turn. He must’ve locked it from the other side somehow. I started banging on the door with my fists, but it wouldn’t budge. I was stuck. 

“No!” I kicked the door one more time, frustrated. I was trapped in this room and Sam was locked outside the door with the priest. The man’s slow, heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. He wouldn’t hurt Sam, would he? He had no reason to, Sam was innocent in all of this, and there was a second kid in the house. Would Tobias drag Gabriel into this, too? I had no idea what the priest was capable of, and I didn’t want to find out. I needed to find a way out of the room, and fast.

That task proved harder than I thought it’d be. I don’t know how long I was in there, but I quickly ran through most of my options. My first thought was to use the knife I’d retrieved last night to try and pick the lock on the door. That didn’t go anywhere, the only thing that could unlock it would be the priest’s keyring. I tried looking for a vent in the room, and though there was one, it was only about as big as a shoebox. Far too small for me. I even thought about trying to carve out the lock somehow, but that was just stupid, and would take too much time. I was getting frustrated. I had wasted too much time already, and couldn’t think of another option. Eventually, I cried out, and I ended up tossing the knife, which cracked against the window of the room with a loud thunk. I then stared at the glass. How hadn’t I thought of it before?

Tearing out the nails holding the window shut was made easier with the knife, and when I was finished the glass slid up with a loud scrape. The wind came blowing in, causing the curtains to jump up and ride the breeze. I slowly peeked my head out and looked down. The grasses below were far away, a drop that could easily break my legs if I decided to jump. That wasn’t an option. There weren’t enough sheets in the room to construct a rope either. I then looked closer to the wall, and noticed something promising. 

There was a series of bricks sticking out of the side of the house, leading in either direction. They were equally spaced in a pattern, and even though they couldn’t have stuck out more than an inch or two, it might have been enough to get me to another window. Whether or not those windows were sealed, I didn’t know. The second thoughts fought with me. This was reckless, even for me, and I knew that. Then, I remembered Sam, and all hesitation disappeared.

Slowly, I began to ease myself out of the window, holding onto the frame’s edge with one hand. The wind had picked up, and I braced against the cold breeze threatening to knock me from my perch on the windowsill. My foot made contact with the brick and I tested it. It seemed solid enough. I tried to place the other foot on top of the first, but my fingers were slipping. The sliver of brick I had to stand on was so thin, and the wind roared in my ears, and in my desperation I made the mistake of looking down. Vertigo set in instantly, the ground seemed to fall away from me and I leapt to the next brick before I was ready. There was no window to hold onto this time, and I hugged the wall for dear life, rough brick pressing against my cheek and chest. I saw the next ledge, and tried moving to it just as fast.

I slipped, the brick breaking away under my foot. Terror struck and I leapt back to the safe ledge, watching the stone fall and shatter onto the grass below. Part of me screamed to turn back, regretting all of this, but I couldn’t give up now. I steeled myself and eyed the next closest brick, this one right before the corner I’d have to move around before reaching the hallway windows.I counted to three in my head, and moving against the wind, I made the leap of faith. My feet connected with the brick, and I grabbed onto the edge of the house to balance myself, craning my head to look around the corner. Thankfully, there was another series of bricks I could use. I maneuvered myself around the corner and, once I made it to the next brick, I was met with glass. 

It was the window at the very end of the hallway, and  I could see the door to our room from the outside now. Way down the hall was the priest’s bedroom door. Quickly, I tried the window, wanting to get off the ledge as fast as possible, but it wouldn’t budge. I swore. If every window on this floor was locked, I was out of luck. I leapt to the next window, trying that one too, and it was also locked. “Come on,” I said, rattling the frame. I eyed the next brick, making the jump faster now. I was getting closer to Tobias’s door, and dread crept over me when I looked through the new window and  realized that it was open. Brick by brick, I came closer to the priest’s door, the windows refusing to open each step of the way. Eventually, I came to the one directly in front of it. 

Upon looking through, I jolted my head back, pressing myself against the outside wall again. Father Tobias was right there, in the doorway. What he was doing, I couldn’t tell.  I waited with bated breath, wondering if he’d seen me. I counted to three again, and peeked through the glass to see him moving around the room. If I entered now, I’d be caught immediately, so instead I watched him, curious. My view was obscured by the hallway wall, but I could see him move from one side of the room to the other. In his arms, I saw a flash of the golden bowl again, as well as a book. What book I couldn’t tell, I don’t think it was a bible, it could’ve been anything really. He stopped at his desk near the back of the room, seemingly frustrated with something. Just as I thought I’d be able to sneak inside, he abruptly turned around. 

I ducked around the corner again, holding my breath, not that it would help. Through the window, I could faintly hear the creak of a floorboard close to me. I imagined the priest standing there at the glass,  right at the window, watching me, waiting for me to notice he was there. But, he wasn’t there, and I sighed with relief as I heard the creaking move away from the window and down the hall. It was now or never, I thought. Slowly, I got as low as I could and lifted, and to my shock and relief it slid up. By pure, dumb luck I had made it. I climbed in and fell onto the floor of the hall, gasping for breath. Carpet never felt so good.

“Tommy?” Before I could even get up, I heard a voice from behind, and nearly jumped out of my skin. It was Sam, looking very confused, “Why are you on the floor?”

“Sam!” I climbed to my feet immediately. “Are you okay?” He seemed unharmed, but I had to make sure.

He told me to shush, holding a finger to his lips, “I’m playing hide and seek with Gabriel. I’m the hider! I need to hide quick!” Two things struck me from what he said. First, Tobias didn’t hurt Sam when he had the chance, which I was beyond thankful for. The second was that, if he didn’t want to hurt us, what DID he want with us? Why the smokescreen? What was I not ready for? “Hey, Sam, I need you to do another favor for me.”

“Aww, but I wanted to play hide and seek!” I had to shush him back since he’d started yelling.

“I know, I know, but this is important. I need you to distract Father Tobias. I can pay you back with ice cream.”

I said the magic word, and Sam was on my side, “can Gabriel help?”

“Sure, just make sure he doesn’t come back here for a little while. I need to do something important and he can’t be here.”

“I’ll try my best!” Sam did a mock salute before running down the hallway, and racing down the stairs, “Gabriel! We’re playing a new game!”

Once Sam was gone, I went right inside the priest’s bedroom. I didn’t know how long the distraction would work, but knowing Sam he’d come up with something clever. The room was different from the last time I’d seen it. For one, the tall bookshelf was already moved, leaving the hidden door to the attic stairs exposed. That felt odd to me, but I quickly shifted focus to what I saw on the bed. Laid out on a piece of brown cloth was a series of different items: a large cross, a series of candles, some beads, and a small leather bag. I poked at it, and it tipped over, spilling out white grains all over the cloth.

“Salt?” I didn’t understand what I was looking at. What was all of this for? I could feel the clock ticking down in the back of my head. I was here for the keyring, but there were so many options. In my head, I’d assumed it’d be sitting in the open somewhere, maybe on a nightstand or out on his desk. Where else do adults keep their keys? I spent precious minutes searching, rummaging through drawers and shelves. Simultaneously, I had to waste more time making sure everything was back in its place. The last thing I wanted was to get caught.

The bookshelves intrigued me the most. Bookshelves filled with dusty books, all in conditions ranging from brand new to falling apart, and they smelled of mildew. For a priest, the guy seemed to have a lot of books on demons. A shocking amount, actually. Row after row of books with titles like “Hostage to the Devil” and “Demonology: A Guide,” their covers depicting imagery of cloaked figures, horned monsters, and hellfire. One in particular, sitting on Tobias’s nightstand, was titled “Michelle Remembers.” It wasn’t what I came for though. After searching for a little longer, I came to a sad conclusion.

“It’s not here.” I felt so stupid, leaning against a wall, scanning the room in case I missed anything. My eyes landed on the secret door to the stairs behind the bookshelf. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was slightly ajar. Now I was curious. The door wasn’t really a door in the typical sense. It had a keyhole, but otherwise, if it were closed, it’d blend into the wall seamlessly. I moved the door back and was hit with a blast of dry, hot air. The fake wall squealed on its hidden hinges. Cobwebs stretched and fell away as it opened fully, revealing rickety wooden stairs that looked as though they’d collapse any minute. My eyes gazed up to the top of the stairs where the real door was, the one that refused to leave my thoughts.

 Ominous didn’t do it justice. The chains spiderwebbed across the rusted metal, connecting ten separate padlocks. The wooden crosses looked bolted on with large screws, and the pages sat stagnant against the cold steel of the door. It may as well have been the gate to Hell itself. I wasn’t leaving just yet. I had to get something out of this to make it all worth it, otherwise all of this would’ve been for nothing. So I took a deep breath, and made up my mind. Carefully, I began to make my way up the steps. 

As soon as I entered, I gagged. The smell in that corridor was an awful mix of mold, copper, and sage of all things, like a fresh flower bed in the middle of a condemned hospital. I didn’t let that dissuade me, but it took everything I had not to imagine the rickety stairs giving way beneath me, sending me into the abyss. Instead, I focused on the one singular light bulb hanging from the ceiling above the door. Aside from the creaking steps, the faint buzz it emmitted was the only sound in that corridor. That, and my own labored breathing as the dread took hold.

I tried not to let Gabriel’s words get to me, but try as I might, I heard them echo inside my head. The idea of a ghost in the attic wouldn’t leave me. I’d never been a superstitious person, but even the thought of it, in that corridor, with that evil looking door staring me down, it gave me goosebumps. 

The climb up the stairs was quick, despite how it felt in the moment. Before I knew it, I was face to face with the metal door. I was so close now I could see the print on the pages pasted onto its surface. They were bible pages. I counted around ten in total, but I couldn’t read them on account of all of them being written in latin. In my mind, I thought seeing the pages up close might have given me a clue, but I didn’t even get that.

“This was a waste of time,” I said to myself, and I turned to move down the steps again. Then, I heard something else in the corridor. It was hard to describe, being so faint, but it sounded like rattling metal on metal. I stopped where I was, listening, and to my horror the sound was coming from behind me. The sound came from behind the door. That couldn’t be, though. Despite my better judgement, I pressed myself against the door. Despite the warmth in that cramped room, the metal felt colder than I thought it’d be. The sound from inside the room was faint, so faint I began to wonder if I’d heard it at all. Eventually it seemed to dissipate entirely, leaving the hall uncomfortably silent. So, I called out.

“Hello?” A long silence followed

“H-help me.”

I nearly screamed, cupping a hand over my mouth as I backed away from the door. That wasn’t a ghost. Oh God, I thought, that was a woman’s voice. A real woman’s voice. Someone was trapped behind that door. The voice was a rasp, breaking halfway through the hoarse words. I didn’t understand what was going on, and I didn’t have time to understand. There was only so much room on the landing for me to back up to. When it ran out, my feet met air.

Being in fights, crashing bicycles, at that point in my life I thought I was used to scrapes and bruises. Nothing could’ve prepared me for falling headfirst down a flight of old wooden stairs. The crash was loud, very loud, and I felt every step along the way. I hit the bottom and rolled onto my back, and despite my best efforts, I cried out. Every muscle screamed as I writhed in pain. I felt splinters in my skin. I looked down at my leg, which was particularly bad, stinging every time I put pressure on it. I was lucky to be alive, let alone conscious.

“What’s going on up there?” I heard a yell from outside the room. It was the priest, and he was approaching fast. I only had seconds until he came barreling through the door to catch me. The armoire was too far this time, so in a panic I quickly dragged myself under the bed, just barely managing to swing my foot underneath when he burst through the door. His cool demeanor had shattered, his face red with anger, more anger than I’d seen in the man before. He was stomping around the room, searching. 

I had to bite down hard on a sheet to prevent myself from yelling. The pain in my leg came in waves, each one more intense than the last. Father Tobias was still searching the room, searching behind furniture and opening doors. I was petrified when he finally stopped in front of the bed, his heavy boots inches from my face. I thought for sure I was a dead man then, but instead, I heard him doing something on the bed above me. I bit down harder on the sheet, tears streaming down my face from fear. The priest stepped back for a moment, having gathered the items laid out on the cloth, stuffing them under an arm. When he did, I noticed the jingling keyring sitting on his belt. He had it on him the whole time.

Tobias didn’t speak another word, but he did turn towards the still wide open door to the staircase. As he did, the keyring came towards me. This was my chance, I thought. Against all sense, I tried, really tried, to reach out and take it. I angled my arm out from under the bed and aimed my hand towards his belt. I was so close, I began thinking of what I’d do if I took it. The priest would go searching for it, I’d be able to unlock the metal door, and I could leave this place with whoever he had locked up in that godawful room.

Then he moved out of reach.

Tobias stepped away from the bed and towards the fake wall. My arm became limp, and I retracted it before the priest could notice. Silently, I cried to myself. I’d failed. Tobias began to move up the stairs and towards the metal door, and I heard him begin to undo the various locks to get inside. I didn’t leave the safety of the space under the bed, not until I heard the metal hinges of the door open and close behind him. It took me a minute to work up the courage to crawl back out. I’d concocted this scenario in my head that he opened and closed the door just to lure me out, and that he’d come flying down the steps to get me. But nothing happened. I was alone again.

I wasn’t spending another minute in that house. I crawled out from my hiding place and tried to stand. My leg looked red and swollen, but I could still limp. I limped out of the bedroom and down the hall, using the wall as a means to steady myself. I yelled out for Sam once I reached the top of the stairs. Immediately, he and Gabriel came running into the foyer, staring up at me as I awkwardly descended the stairs on my one good leg.  They saw me and Sam asked, “We heard a big noise, and then he left. Are you hurt?” I didn’t know what to tell them, so I kept it simple.

“I’ll be fine,” I told them when I reached the bottom of the steps. “Hey, we’re going to go get that ice cream now, okay?” I put on a fake smile and grabbed them both by the wrist, walking them into the kitchen.

“But isn’t the front door that way?” I heard Gabriel say, confused.

“Front door is locked, we’re taking the window.” I was glad I kept that knife on me.

Leading the two kids through the grassy field outside, I never felt more exposed. Removed from context, it should’ve been a peaceful scene. The sun was beaming down, the soft grass was whipping at our legs, and the wind was perfect. Instead, I kept looking back over my shoulder, right at the attic window. The glass was too dark from that angle, but I just felt this glare on the back of my head. To this day, I don’t know if the feeling was real or not. I hobbled as fast as I could. The kids could’ve outran me at any moment, but I wasn’t going to let them out of my sight, not until we were off the dirt road and out of view of that house. I kept going, faster and faster, the pain in my leg exasperated by Sam’s constant questioning.

“Does dad want ice cream?” He asked.

“No, he told me he needs some time to work, so we’re going without him.”

“Should we bring some back for him?”

“No, Sam.”

“How long do we have to walk for?”

“I don’t know, okay? We’re going to keep going down this road, and I’ll tell you when we can stop!” I snapped at him, and then I looked to see his face, and slowed a bit. Over the years, I’d almost never raised my voice at him, and I thought he’d react differently. I thought he’d feel hurt, or lash out at me, but no. Sam looked worried, really worried, but I could tell this wasn’t about the walk, No, he was worried for me. It was hard to explain, but I just understood it.

“You’re scaring me.” He asked, fear evident in his voice, and I began to question how much he really knew. I’d tried to hide everything from him. I told myself  it was to protect him, so he wouldn’t be afraid, or sad. I’d hidden a lot from him over the years. Bruises, drama, my own emotions. At the end of the day, I just wanted him to have a happier childhood than I had. But, looking at him now, he was smarter than that. Clearly, he’d noticed something was up. It was stupid of me to think he wouldn’t catch on. He’s a kid, but he’s not stupid. I am. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah. Something is very wrong.” I told him everything on that road. I told him about Father Tobias, his door, and his captive, whoever they were. I didn’t stop there, though. As the sun moved further into the west, I told him a lot of different things. Gabriel listened too, passively. I think he was more confused than anything. Sam, though, he really listened. Eventually, I started telling him about the other things that had been weighing on me. I told him about my fear once I turned eighteen, I told him about our mom. I even told him about Andrew, about the dreams. He’d heard me talk about them before, but I had always sugar coated it. He was only six, so I couldn’t tell him every detail, but he heard enough to understand, or at least try to.

It must’ve been half an hour before I finally stopped talking, and when I did there was only a moment of silence before I felt Sam hug me from the side. It stopped me dead in my tracks, like he was trying his hardest to squeeze the life out of me. I hugged him back. He didn’t need to say anything, but when he was finally done, he looked up with his watery eyes and asked me, “can we still get ice cream when this is done?”

I let out a strained laugh, the moment felt bittersweet. “Yeah, I’ll get you some ice cream when this is all over.”

The road stretched on, and the sun moved further towards the horizon. I was well aware at this point that, given how far Tobias’s house was from town, we’d likely have to keep walking a few more hours before we hit another house. My leg still ached, and I could see the kids were getting tired. I was too, but I knew we had to keep moving. Any minute now, Tobias could notice we were gone and come driving down the road to find us again. Just when I was beginning to think we’d be walking that road forever, Gabriel spoke up.

“Look! It’s a car!” I looked up from the trail to see a black shape moving closer in the distance. To my elation, it was a car. Even better, it was a police car. We started waving our arms in the air, trying to get their attention, yelling. Once they finally reached us, the vehicle stopped a few feet ahead of us. I was elated. Maybe we’d finally get some help after all this time. Then, the man stepped out of the vehicle, and I saw who it was.

“What are you boys doing out here?” Officer Nielsen, who I knew as Nick, was staring us down from his cruiser in the same uniform I’d seen him wearing that morning. I suddenly felt that sense of dread come creeping back.

I spoke first, “Father Tobias is keeping somebody in his attic, he’s not right in the head. We were trying to get help.” I saw Nick look me over, his expression unreadable. He was smacking around chewing tobacco in his mouth while he did.

“Aren’t you his new foster kid? The one that kept going on about a big scary door?” Out of all the things he could’ve asked, why that? I didn’t know what to say, so I just told him yes. “Why are you out here with these two kiddos?”

I didn’t know what I could say at this point, but I was starting to get angry. I held up Sam’s hand, “This one’s my brother, the other is his friend. It’s not safe in that house. I was getting them to safety.” Instead of doing anything helpful, the cop just stood there, chewing his tobacco noisily.

“Kid, settle down, I think I see what’s going on here. You’re scared, it’s a new housing situation, so you ran away. We see this all the time with you youngins. I gotta tell you though, in all the years I’ve known Tobias, he’s a wonderful man. He knows his way around the good book. He’s not scary.” I couldn’t believe it. He was just like the others. Even the cops were under that man’s spell. “Just come with me, we’ll get this whole thing sorted, okay?”

“We’re not going back!” Sam shouted, and I felt a bit of pride at that. Gabriel remained quiet through the whole encounter.

“Well I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice, kid,” Nick walked around the front of the car, sizing us up the whole way, “We can’t exactly let three runaways go. So, if you don’t mind, get in the car.” He opened the side door to the cruiser, and motioned for us to get in. 

I looked down at Sam, who seemed just as scared as me, so I tried to reassure him “No matter what happens, we’ll be okay.”

“You promise?” He held out his pinky finger to me.

“I promise.” I locked mine with his.

We all climbed into the back of the cruiser, and Nick began driving us right back to where we came from. We rode in silence, and Sam clutched my hand the whole time. I didn’t have a plan, but I’d have to make one, and I was running against the clock. The sun was beginning to set, the sky turning orange once again. The forest surrounding us became darkened by shadows, the car windows showing various shades of black. It wasn’t long before we saw that house looming in the distance again.

“Here we are,” said Nick from the front seat. He parked far from the house, but it wasn’t far enough for me to miss the man standing on the porch. The front of the house was silhouette, the priest’s features obscured by darkness. The sunset gave the impression that the house was burning. I told myself that, no matter what, we were getting out of that house. I just hoped we’d make it out in one piece.

END OF PART 2.