Free Crimson Falls (The Depravity Chronicles) by Joshua Grove

“Sheriff Blackwood gave the go ahead.”
    “Well you’ll
understand that I need to follow up with her,” Lionel said as he held out his
hand to stop them from entering the house.
    “That’s fine.”
They waited as Lionel disappeared into the house to verify their story.
    “I am still a
little unclear as to what you expect to find, Matthew,” Amy said.
    “I am not
looking for anything specific per se,” he said flatly. “But if it’s here, we’ll
find it.” Amy shook her head, smiling at Matthew’s cryptic nature.
    “Okay, you’re
cleared,” Lionel said as he walked out the screen door. It creaked as he opened
it and slammed shut behind him. “Here, put these on,” he said as he shoved
latex gloves at them. “Don’t touch anything. If you need to touch something,
come and talk to us.”
    “Sure thing,”
Matthew lied. “Come on, Amy. Let’s go.” They walked into the house, following
Lionel. When Matthew was confident that Lionel could not see them, he leaned
toward Amy. “Where is his altar room?”
    “Altar room?”
she asked, confused.
    “Where does he
take communion?”
    “Oh, in his
library.”
    “Show me,”
Matthew said.
    The original
part of the house was nearly 200 years old and over 4,000 square feet. Over the
years the family had added an additional 5,000 square feet. The library was in
the back corner of the original structure, close to the entrance to the woods. Although
a bit run down since Alan had taken over, the house still retained an old,
classic charm. Matthew wondered how Alan could have been comfortable living in
such a large space alone. Then again, he figured Alan wasn’t that comfortable anywhere.
Large spaces tend to make people feel small, and he felt a great deal of
sympathy for him.
    “This is quite a
house,” Matthew said.
    “You haven’t
been here before?” Amy asked.
    “Yes, but it’s
been at least a decade. Just before Alan’s father died. You know, he was Catholic.”
    Amy laughed. “We
can’t all be perfect.”
    She led Matthew
into the library. He gasped at its size. “It’s something, isn’t it?” she asked.
    “Wow.” The
library was two stories tall, almost like a movie. There were ladders on all
four walls, with shelves of books reaching the ceiling.
    “And I swear
he’s read every single one of them,” Amy insisted. “Twice.”
    “Well what else
would he have been doing all these years alone?” he laughed.
    “And here’s the
kicker,” she said as she pointed around the room. “They’re not only in
alphabetical order, but they’re also divided into sections.”
    “All I can say
is ‘wow,’” Matthew said, awestruck. “Who would have taken him for such an avid
reader?”
    “You can’t judge
a book by its cover, Matthew,” Amy said, waving her finger at him and smiling.
    She led him to
the far corner of the room by one of the large windows. “And I assume this is
what you’re looking for?” She pointed to a dusty label that read ‘Religion and
Spirituality.’
    “How far does
this go?” Matthew asked, daunted by the task of trying to find anything related
to demonology.
    “It’s this
entire section,” she said.
    Matthew’s heart
sank. The section comprised half of the wall and stretched to the second story
of the room.
    “I wonder if he
divided religion into sections,” he mused.
    “Good question,”
she said. “I’m not sure.”
    “Well, one way
to find out,” he said. He walked closer to the shelves and began browsing
through the books. Hope was renewed when he realized that they were in fact
divided into categories. “Holy shit!” Matthew cried. “They’re even labeled!”
    “Father
McMillan!” Amy teased. “Such language for a priest!”
    “Quickly! Help
me find anything related to evil, demons, the occult, stuff like that.”
    “Okay,” Amy said
slowly. But she did as he asked.
    After thumbing
through bindings for several minutes, Amy called him over to where she was
standing on the ladder.