Damned for Eternity (7 page)

She retrieved her robe and put it back
on. After, she walked Phil to the door.

He arrived back at the mansion safely,
but once he turned on the showerhead, he imagined Kate lying there
dead. He cut it off and stopped the tub.

The Governor tapped on Phil’s
door.

“Son,” he says. “You have
visitors.”

Phillip walked downstairs and waiting
in the foyer were the three gypsies from the previous
night.

“Wait,” said the man. “Before you come
closer.”

He traced a pattern on each of their
foreheads.

“Now, feel free to proceed on
down.”

Phillip approached them
cautiously.

“I am Akil and these are my sisters,
the lovely Marcel and Esmeralda. We work with the carnival that’s
in town. And followed you here to offer our help.”

“Usually,” Marcel continued. “We simply
work as fortune tellers, but we also do spiritual counseling as
well.”

Akil gestured to Esmeralda. “Last night
she encountered one of those spirits and we have reason to believe
that you’re in grave danger.”

“Danger?” asked the governor from the
top of the stairs.

“Yes,” Akil said, nodding his head.
“It’d probably be best if you come down too.”

The governor started to make his
descent.

They all settled in the living
room.

“We believe you are bewitched,” said
Marcel.

“That’s nonsense,” the governor
said.

Akil ignored him. “Other than last
night. Have strange things been happening to you?”

Phillip nodded, more than
relieved.

He recounted all of the deaths and
attacks. His father listened with much unease.

“Most definitely,” said Esmeralda. “He
is bewitched with an evil spirit.”

“Phillip,” Marcel called, looking at
him. “These spirits come in many forms. The symbols we wear right
now on our face is a general way of warding them off. To learn more
about this particular curse. You must tell us all that you
remember.”

“Think back,” Esmeralda then urged him,
“what was written? What was said?”

Phillip picked up a pad and paper. He
closed his eyes and thought back.

Words began to escape his lips and his
hand scribbled across the page. Once it passed, he held it
up.

All of their mouths fell open in
shock.

“What is that?” the Governor asked, “
and what the hell was Phil just saying?”

“It is worse than I thought,” gasped
Marcel.

“What is it?” his dad repeated
again.

“The ultimate curse is what it is.
Calling an army of spirits to sentence you to death. That symbol
there is nothing but a stamp. Damning you for all
eternity.”

“You said you were here to help,” cried
Phil.

“And we shall try,” said Akil. “We must
get ready.”

“How?” asked Phil.

“To call up he that curses
you.”

A short while later, they were all
gathered around the kitchen table. Esmeralda walked around lighting
candles.

“What’s this? A séance?” asked
Phillip’s dad.

“Very much so,” Akil told him. “We
shall bring his enemy face to face. Hopefully we can reason with
it.”

“We’re set,” she said, taking a
seat.

“Marcel, please lead us,” Akil
instructed.

Marcel nodded. “Please bow your
heads.”

Everyone obliged and started chanting.
A chill started to run through the room. Sinister laughing was
heard among them.

The flames from the candles danced
higher.

“They’re here,” Marcel suddenly
exclaimed.

They all looked up, truly amazed.
Dancing in the midst of each low candle was the shadow of a demonic
figure.

“These are merely his minions,” Akil
told them.

“Where... where is the spirit?” Phil
asked.

“He’s here too.” Akil said.

Then something amazing
happened.

The flame from a large center candle
shot all the way up just like a blow torch. The tip of it almost
touched the ceiling and a horrific face appeared in it.

“It’s him,” Esmeralda let them
know.

“How do we kill it?” asked Governor
White.

“You can’t kill it,” Marcel told him.
“Your only bet is to reason with it.”

“Spirit,” Akil addressed the thing. “I
know you’re a being of many tongues. We wish to bargain to lift
this curse. What is it that you would have in return?”

It gave out a laugh that shook the
room.

“You truly wish to bargain
with I? You’re a fool you mortal gypsy.”

The heat caused everyone to sweat. The
perspiration was washing away their symbols.

The being took immediately
notice.

“Surely there’s something that we can
do.”

“Yes!”
it barked
. “You can die.”

Fire shot from all directions, setting
the three of them on fire. When the governor saw the flame rush
toward him, he leaped from his seat and tackled Phil.

Just as it started to engulf the
kitchen, the two escaped and ran out the door.

The demon let out a high pitched
shriek, forcing each window to explode.

“It killed ‘em!” cried Phil. “Like it’s
going to do to us.”

“No!” the governor cried to him. “We’ll
beat this son. I know we will.”

They heard the fire truck siren in the
distance.

“We’ve got a lot of explaining to
do.”

Phil dried his face and nodded his
head.

Two hours later the fire was out. They
both studied the shell of the house.

“Governor,” said the fire chief. “I’m
sorry but you’ve lost it all. The good news is it’s state property.
So it’s got the best insurance possible.”

“Insurance,” Phillip said to him. He
repeated the word. “Accident insurance! That must be
it!”

The governor glanced at him bewildered.
“What’s wrong son?”

“Dad come here.”

They walked into a neighboring
yard.

“We obviously can’t appease the spirit.
But maybe the folks who caused the curse. From what the fire chief
just said, I think the dad was innocent. I need to check out
something though.”

“What is that? I’ll go with
you.”

“No, I need you to flex your muscle.
Get that family back here soon. Find something. Anything. To make
all three of them return.”

“I got it son. I’ll get ‘em
here.”

“Cool then, I’ll be back
later.”

He hopped in the car without another
word.

Phillip rang Mrs. Crum’s doorbell. She
answered with a seductive grin.

“Back for more, I see,” she smiled. “I
did want more of that big black dick.”

“Naw, this ain’t no booty call. It’s
actually just a business call.”

“Business?” she said, raising a brow.
“My husband took care of all of that.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here. To talk
about your husband Bev.”

She stared at him curiously.

“Cut the shit. You killed him didn’t
you? He had tons of life insurance saved and you were eager to just
collect. When your weird ass neighbors bought that place, it seemed
like the perfect chance. You’d fix the body to look like they did
it. Then you’d get off scot free.”

“Who the hell are you? Sherlock
Holmes?”

“No, a guy being haunted by an evil
spirit. All of it’s because of you and your insistence that we kill
the guy.”

“Again with the spiritual shit. The
guilt has simply driven you crazy. I may have killed my husband
yes. But you helped kill another person.”

She smirked at him.

“At the end of our life. Do you really
think God will see a difference? Murder’s murder. Death penalty or
crime. The difference is I can live with mine.”

“I don’t know if you will much
longer.”

“What? Are you threatening
me?”

“I don’t have to. The spirit will
come.”

“Look, I think you better leave. You
and the spirits both get the fuck out.”

“Happily!” Phil shot back.

He slammed it hard on his way
out.

Phillip’s phone rang as he
left.

“Hello,” he said.

“Phil,” said the Governor. “Look, we
were able to catch up with the guys right before they were boarding
a boat. Hunt and Caruso are bringing them in. We’ll have them here
in an hour or so.”

“Alright,” he said. “And if they don’t
comply, I’ll research more about this curse.”

As she waited inside the abortion
clinic, Angie glanced at a newspaper. The headline at the top of it
read: GOVERNOR’S MANSION CAUGHT ON FIRE.

“Oh, my goodness,” she gasped and
grabbed her stomach.

“You alright?” the receptionist called
to her.

“Yeah,” she responded. “Where’s your
bathroom?”

“Down the hall to the left,” she said
as she pointed.

“Thanks a lot, I’ll be right
back.”

She smiled as she passed the
desk.

Angie sat on the toilet, her leg
tapping nervously. All of a sudden a pain ripped through her--an
extremely sharp bowel movement.

She could feel blood dripping as
something escaped her, a scream stuck inside of her throat. When
she felt she couldn’t bear anymore, the pain relaxed and something
dropped in.

Both curious and terrified, she rose
from the seat to give it a peek. A deformed fetus snarled at her,
equipped with a set of razor sharp teeth.

This time her scream did come out as
she fell against the wall of the stall.

The creature emerged from inside the
toilet, jumped in her lap and scurried her arm. When it arrived at
her shoulder, it raised its cord, wrapped her neck, and strangled
her.

The veins in her throat began to strain
and her eyes bulged out of their sockets. Her skin started to turn
light blue due to the lack of oxygen.

She writhed for just a few more
minutes, then finally her head fell back. Her body went limp and
slumped to the floor.

The fetus growled and died
too.

“Eugene!” Phil said in the
phone.

“Back so soon for that other
favor?”

“Yeah,” he said, getting straight to
the point.

“Alright, spill it.”

“A bit of research.”

The brothers sat quiet as Hunt and
Caruso drove the van. They eyed them through the rearview mirror, a
dark feeling passing through.

Hunt was actually scared inside but
he’d never voice those words out loud.

Caruso was more confused about it,
wondering what they needed them for.

The brothers drew patterns in each
other’s hands and smiled as a light drizzle began.

A chill ran through Beverly’s home; she
scanned the kitchen for open windows.

Certain that it was her imagination,
she went back to fixing herself a salad.

She took the tongs and started to toss,
then she swore she heard the sound of shoes.

She grinned to herself and resumed
tossing, only to find the salad had changed.

The lettuce was chunks of human skin
and the cherry tomatoes were white eyeballs.

She spilled the dressing, backing away.
Blood flowed freely from its bottle.

Once she was close to fridge, a hand
reached out and grabbed at her. She screamed as she tried to get
away, tearing her silk gown in the process.

She stumbled across the linoleum. The
blood had started to drip to the floor. She slipped in the puddle
and fell on her face. There was a sickening crack as her leg
broke.

Drawers of knives opened up and floated
towards the ceiling above.

Before she was able to even look up,
they all fell, impaling her.

“So,” Phil said to Eugene, as he leaned
toward the computer screen.

“It almost seems like you’re fucked.
Luckily, you might fix it though.”

“How?” he asked him eagerly.

“Well, I looked up remedies for a
curse. None that are as strong as this, but they offer some tips on
what to do.”

“Anything,” Phillip told the man. “Just
let me know. I’ll get it done.”

“If you kill the person that placed the
curse, it will then revert back to them, damning their soul instead
of yours.”

“I should have thought of that
before!”

By the time they reached Capitol
Street, the rain was falling extremely hard. Caruso who drove, was
more than glad that the long ass ride was almost over.