HELLSPAWN
(Based on the characters from Friday the 13th the Series)
J. LoPresti Prologue:
"Lewis Vendredi made a deal with the devil, to sell cursed antiques. But he broke pact, and it cost him his soul. His niece Micki and her cousin Ryan have inherited the store, and with it, the curse. Now they must get everything back, and the real terror begins."
Lightening crashed outside the little antique shop on Druid Avenue. The wind rattled the windows and the lights flickered inside the already dimly light store. The owners of Curious Goods were working late. They barely noticed the storm instead their attention was focused on a package that had just arrived for Jack. A huge crate sat in the middle of the floor. Jack lifted the top and sifted through the packing material inside.
"Ah, the 18th century tapestry from Belfast. I got it for a fraction of its worth," Jack said as he pulled the contents from the box. He looked over at Ryan who was sitting on the desk reading a magazine.
Ryan looked up from his paper and said sarcastically, "Should cover the
rent for this month."
"Oh, it's got to be worth more than that," said Micki as she helped Jack
unfold the cloth.
"Selling this should help with our expenses," agreed Jack. "We've been
operating in the red for the past few months."
Micki walked over to Ryan and snatched the magazine from his hands.
"Hey!" yelled Ryan.
"It would help if you wouldn't waste money on this garbage." Micki
rolled her eyes as she read the magazine cover, " 'Body of Two-headed
Alien Found in Desert'. This is disgusting."
"Disgusting? Cutting-edge journalism," countered Ryan. He grabbed
the magazine back from Micki. "Extraordinary events are occurring in our
very own city. Look at this article, 'Hellspawn Attack Businessman in
Chicago Park'."
Jack looked over Ryan's shoulder at the paper, "There was a murder in
the park a few weeks ago. A terrible thing it was too. The man was torn up as if a wild animal had attacked him. The case has the local police
completely baffled. I thought it might be related to a cursed object but I
couldn't find a connection. What does your paper say?"
Ryan looked over the article, "A businessman, Charles Pembrook, left a
local bar late one night. A jogger found the body the next morning."
Jack pointed to a picture, "That's the same man."
"Look here Jack, there was a witness. Winifred Coombe witnessed the
murder. She said demons swooped down out of the sky and attacked the
man."
"Maybe we ought to pay Miss Coombe a visit tomorrow."
Micki looked at the two surprised, "You aren't taking that magazine article seriously are you?"
Jack shrugged his shoulders and replied, "It's all we have to go on."
Ryan leaned over towards Micki and smiled, "Waste of money huh?" *** "Jack turn here," Micki pointed towards a street of run down homes.
"Second house on the left."
Jack parked the old Mercedes. "The bar where the man was last seen is
only a few blocks from here," he said.
The three walked up to the home and rang the bell. After several minutes
Ryan began to get impatient and said, "I don't think anyone is home."
"Look," whispered Micki. The curtains of the front window had moved
slightly.
"Miss Coombe?" Jack called loudly. "Miss Coombe, I'm Jack Marshak.
I want to ask you about the murder."
A voice barely audible came from inside, "Go away."
Micki stepped towards the door. "Let me try," she said to Jack then in a
loud voice, "Miss Coombe? I'm Micki Foster. We just want to ask you a
few questions about what you saw the night of the murder. Please Miss
Coombe, we need your help."
The front door opened just enough to reveal two beady little eyes peering
from around the corner. "Are you reporters?" asked the mousy little
woman.
"No," replied Micki.
"I told the police everything I know. Don't you think I know what
people are saying about me? Now just leave me alone."
Ryan spoke up, "We believe your story. We want to stop these creatures
from hurting someone else. Please, let us help."
There was a long silence. Just when they thought that they had failed to
reach her, the door slowly opened. They stepped inside the musty old
home. Heavy curtains were drawn and an eerie gloom hung over the
house. The woman was not quite as old as she had seemed at first. Micki
guessed her age around forty but she acted like an old spinster.
The three sat down in her front room. Micki jumped when a cat brushed
past her leg. "Lovely home you have," said Micki.
Miss Coombe sat down. The cat jumped into her lap and she stroke it as
she spoke, "The reporters will not leave me alone. I just told the police
what I saw. They all think I am crazy but I'm not."
"Could you tell us what you saw?" asked Ryan.
The woman looked at them carefully as if she was deciding whether to
trust them. She began, "I was coming home from the store. It's a little
grocery shop just a few blocks away. I shop late at night because there's no one there. It's so busy during the day. I like to take a short cut through the
park. I've never had any problems until..." the woman sobbed a little and
Micki took her hand to reassure her. After a minute she regained her
composure and continued, "I got a little scared when I saw a man walking
through the park. I hid behind some bushes and he walked by without
noticing me. He had only gone a little ways when there was this noise."
"Can you describe the noise?" asked Jack as he leaned a little forward in
his chair concentrating on her words.
A puzzled look came across the woman's face as she tried to describe it,
"Swooshing, flapping noise, kind of like a bird but not really. I'm not
sure. The man noticed it too because he stopped walking and turned around
to see where the noise was coming from."
"Where was it coming from?" asked Ryan.
The woman pointed towards the ceiling, "Up." *** The front door swung open and the three entered the store. Ryan threw
the car keys down on the counter exasperated, "That was a waste of time.
Shadowy creatures swooping down from the sky. She didn't even get a
good look at them."
Micki began to think about all they had learned so far, "Jack, if there is a cursed object involved then someone had to send those creatures out to
attack that man. Do you think someone else was in the park with the old
woman and the victim?"
"Possibly," Jack replied. He paused and thought more about it. "At least
the murderer had to know Mr. Pembrook was at the bar that night. He may
have called up the creatures from another location. I looked at the manifest last night. I was looking for something that might be used to call up these flying demons but I couldn't find anything. However, there are a number of items that we just don't know what they'll do."
"Who would benefit from his death?" asked Ryan.
"That's something we will have to check," said Jack.
Micki was looking through the mail then opened up the newspaper. She
gasped, "There was another murder last night!" Jack and Ryan moved
closer to look at the paper as she read. "Jack Trevin was attacked and killed late last night. His body was mutilated, similar to Pembrook, but his body was found on the other side of town. Nowhere near the other murder."
Ryan pointed to the article, "But look, they both worked for Trevin
Industries."
"Ah, Trevin Industries," said Jack. "Maximillion Trevin founded Trevin
Industries back in the 50s. I would suspect that Jack is his son or
grandson."
Ryan broke in, "Sounds like someone is trying to move up the corporate
ladder the old fashion way, murder."
"Micki and Ryan, you find out more about Trevin Industries. I am going
talk to Rashid. Maybe with the information Miss Coombe gave us, we can
get a fix on what we are dealing with here." *** Inside the offices of Trevin Industries, it was business as usual despite
the tragic events of the previous night. Executives rushed around giving
orders while the workers frantically dashed here and there getting their jobs done. Micki and Ryan had spent half the day trying to get information. They had split up to cover more ground. Now Micki was anxious because
she had spent the last hour looking for Ryan and one of the executives was
getting suspicious of her. From across the room she saw Ryan pushing a
mail cart past a row of desks. She ran up to him saying, "Where have you
been?!"
"Shhh, geeze Micki keep it down," he said looking around to see if
anyone had noticed them. "Hey, what better excuse to get into people's
offices than to drop off mail? I've been able to learn a few things today.
What about you?"
"Not now," she said. "Let's get out of here."
A wiry looking man peered around a corner and watched them. He crept
closer in time to hear Ryan say, "Let's get back to the store and see what
Jack has found out." *** Ryan and Micki parked the Mercedes in front of the store and went
inside. Down the street, about a half block away, a dark sedan also pulled
over. After the driver watched the two enter the store, he drove off.
Jack was reading an old manuscript that he had gotten from Rashid when
Micki and Ryan entered the store.
"Jack, did you find anything?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, Rashid had this 17th century manuscript from a monastery in
Dublin. In it is an account of flying demons that attacked a village in a
remote part of Ireland. There is a reference to the amulet of the goddess
Morrigan, queen of the phantoms. Look here, there is a picture." The
amulet was long and pointed, decorated elaborately with ancient pagan
symbols of death and war. "I am not exactly sure how it works but the
possessor of the amulet is capable of calling up the gorgun."
"The gorgun?" asked Micki
"Yes, the gorgun are the spawn from hell. Believed to be condemn souls
taking the form of the flying demons, small leathery creatures with no face, only a mouth of razor sharp teeth."
Micki wrinkled up her nose in disgust, "How awful."
"Did you find out anything at Trevin Industries?" asked Jack.
"Yes," replied Ryan. "After Pembrook's murder, Trevin's grandson was
elected CEO. According to a secretary in the administration department, one of their v.p.'s, Mitchell Myers, was livid when he heard the news since he expected to be next in line. Well, guess who's the CEO now that Trevin is dead."
"Myers," Jack and Micki said in unison.
"Exactly."
"How did you manage to get all that information?" asked Micki
suspiciously.
Ryan, a little embarrassed answered, "Well I did have to ask the secretary
out on a date." He pulled out a small piece of paper with a number on it and threw it away.
Micki and Jack laughed.
"Anyway," Ryan said changing the subject. "What do we do now?"
Jack picked up the manifest and pointed to an entry, "I found a listing for
a 17th century amulet. Of course until now, I did not know how it related
to a curse. There was no name listed next to the entry but I think we know
who has it." *** Micki and Jack were sitting in the car watching the entrance to Marina
Tower Apartments. Myers, returning from work, had gone inside a few
hours before. Nothing had happened since then and they were getting a
little bored.
The car door opened and Ryan jumped into the backseat of the car with
an armful of hotdogs. "Anyone hungry?"
"How can you eat?" asked Micki. "It's almost midnight."
"More for us then, Jack?" Ryan said as he began eating.
Jack pointed towards the entrance, "Look there. Is that Myers?"
They waited for Myers to pull out of the parking garage then they began
to follow. After about a half hour it was apparent that Myers was slowly
making his way out of the city. He finally parked his car next to an old
large cemetery. He jumped out of the car and disappeared around a corner
of the fence. After investigating, they found an area of the fence that was pulled up enough for a person to crawl under.
On the other side, Ryan asked "Now what?"
Jack looked around and answered, "I don't think that it would be safe for
us to split up. Spread out a little but make sure that you do not loose sight of each other. He could be anywhere."
They made their way slowly into the graveyard watching and listening.
Their footfalls were drowned out by the sounds of the night, crickets chirped and other creatures hooted and howled. Except for the stars, the night was like a black void. Ryan was having difficulty seeing and nearly tripped on a small grave marker. Slowly he could begin to make out the outlines of the headstones and the trees. Was the sky getting lighter? he wondered. It was a gradual change. At first, he did not know if it was just his imagination but the graveyard seemed to be illuminated by a dim blue light. Ryan took Micki's arm and motioned for her to remain quiet. They walked over to Jack and spoke in whispers.
"Where is the blue light coming from?" Ryan asked Jack.
"There is a gathering of evil energy to this place. Myers must have
started the ceremony."
"What ceremony?" asked Micki.
"Demon calling. We'd better hurry," Jack said as they continued their
search.
They followed the light. It seemed to increase in intensity and they
headed further into the cemetery. After climbing over a grassy knoll, they
spotted the source. A mausoleum, ornately decorated in marble, stood with
its doors open. The cold blue light issued forth from this opening. The
sound of chanting could be heard. The voice was muffled and seemed to
come from below the earth. They went inside. *** Jack, Micki and Ryan entered an underground chamber. Across the
room Myers, wearing a tattered robe, stood in front of a stone alter. His
arms were stretched up towards the ceiling as he recited a dark prayer.
Suddenly he turned to face them.
"I have been expecting you. You are curious about my little pets? Take a
closer look." An evil smile spread across his face as he knelt down on the
dirt floor. He removed the amulet from around his neck. Using the pointed
end of the cursed instrument, he drew a circle on the floor then stepped
back.
Ryan lunged towards Myers but Jack held him back. "Look!" shouted
Jack. A hole was forming in the middle of the circle. Clumps of dirt began to break off and disappear into the void. "It's too late. Let's get out of here!"
The ground shook as they emerged from the mausoleum. They climbed
up the knoll and looked around. They were confused and not sure of what
to do next.
Ryan shouted, "Run towards the car. Distract them. I'm going to double
back and get that amulet from Myers."
Micki grabbed Ryan's arm and looked straight into his eyes, "Be
careful."
There was the sound of fluttering coming from above but it was not the
sound of a bird nor a bat nor any earthly creature. *** The three split up. Micki and Jack in one direction and Ryan in another. Jack was getting out of breath. He cursed for letting himself get so out of shape. "Micki, I don't think that I can make it to the car. You go on ahead"
There was a rustling in the trees. The creatures were landing. They
could see a dozen eyes staring down on them. They were no ordinary eyes,
just sockets that glowed with the same cold blue as the hellish chamber.
Micki spied another small mausoleum. "Quick Jack in here," she
whispered. She pulled Jack towards the gate. Immediately sensing Micki's
plan, Jack removed the lock picks from his coat pocket. By the time the
creatures jumped from the trees screeching, Micki and Jack were inside.
They stepped back from the entry way as the creature threw their bodies
against the bars of the gate. Realizing their prey was out of reach the
faceless creatures screeched louder and hissed then they began chewing on
the bars.
"I hope Ryan can get the amulet," Micki said as she noticed the only
barrier between them and the demons growing weaker and weaker. *** Ryan thought the plan had failed but as he ran further from Micki and
Jack the sounds of the creatures faded as well. He hoped that they could get to safety in time. He ran in a big circle and ended up at the doors of the mausoleum. He listened. Somewhere in the distance he heard the demons
howl. Oh God, he prayed, please keep Micki and Jack safe.
When he entered the subterranean chamber, he could hear anguished cries
and the clamoring of unearthly creatures. In the center of the room a large glowing pit had formed, a gateway to the underworld. Myers was kneeling down next to it, holding his arms out and reciting prayers to the dark gods below. Myers, being in a trancelike state, had not noticed Ryan until it was too late. The two men struggled. At their feet the rim of the pit crumbled inward, growing larger and larger.
Myers had tremedous strength. He threw Ryan to the floor, put his
hands around his neck, and squeezed. Ryan gasping could only think of
the amulet. He let go of Myers' hands, reached up and snatched the amulet
from his neck. Realising what had happened, Myers hestitated for a
moment in his attack. Ryan felt the grip around his neck loosen and
summoned up all his strength to fight back. He managed to get away from
his attacker's grasp. Ryan was on the ground with his back against the
wall.
Myers stood up and laugh. Towering over Ryan, he looked down at him
and spoke, "That will not do you much good unless you know how to use
it." He smiled and began walking towards Ryan. *** "Jack, they'll be through the door any minute," Micki's voice quavered
as she watched one bar on the gate then another fall to the floor. The
creatures tried to squeeze through the opening.
Jack picked up a large candle holder and tried to beat them away. When
he realised that it was having no effect, he dropped the stick to the floor. He walked over to Micki and put his arms around her. He watched the
creatures chew through the last bar then finally he lost hope. *** It changed. The glowing pit changed from blueish white to blood red.
The sounds from the pit changed as well. There was only one hellish voice
now. It sighed then laughed. Ryan covered his ears. He thought it would
drive him mad. "No!" he screamed.
Something reached out from the pit. Myers did not realise that the amulet
not only gave him power over the hellspawn but it protected him from their
wrath as well. A long tenticle curled around Myers' leg. He screamed as it slowly dragged him towards the pit. Ryan watched as Myers disappeared.
Paralyzed with fear, Ryan stared at the pit waiting for it to return for him.
Slowly the light from pit faded. There was a metallic clang of a great
door closing then complete silence. *** The creatures stopped and screamed. Micki and Jack watched as the
demons froze then crumbled into dust. They looked at each other and
laughed nervously with relief. Jack unlocked the gate. Blueish gray dust
swirled around their feet as they walked out to find their friend. *** The morning light filtered through the curtains of the shop. Micki and
Jack drank their coffee and waited for Ryan to wake up. He hadn't spoken
to them at all on the way home from the cemetery. They were worried
about their friend.
The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs made them look up. Micki
trying to sound cheerful said, "Good morning!"
Ryan just grunted. His hair was mussed and it was obvious that he was
not quite awake.
"How about some coffee?" offered Jack. Ryan took the cup from Jack's
hands and sat down with them.
Micki put her arm around his shoulder and in a more serious tone asked,
"Ryan are you alright?"
Ryan did not respond right away. He starred down into his cup. His
mind seemed miles away. He looked up and replied, "Last night, I heard
his voice. The same voice we heard below the taxidermy shop. This time it
was closer, much closer." Micki shivered at the mention of the coin. That
experience was particularly frightening to her. Ryan continued, "After I
took the amulet from Myers something reach out from the pit. I watched as
it dragged him in. I was certain that I was next. I was terrified."
Jack leaned over and placed his hand on Ryan's arm reassuringly, "You
were up against a powerful dark agent. Early this morning I called some of
my friends who are quite knowledgable in dealings of the occult. Myers
was an accomplished student of the black arts. He meet Lewis in Europe
and they continued to correspond over the years. Lewis found the amulet.
The amulet had a power of its own that neither Lewis nor Myers knew how
to use. For the past few years Myers has been searching for the key to
unlock its power. Obviously he found it. He used the evil forces of the
amulet for personal fortune and gain. But, he forgot one very important
rule: 'do not call up any that you can not put down... any that can in turn
call up something more powerful against you.' " The end.
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