Free The Mansion by Peter Buckley Page A

through the window, the dark
shadowy figures quickly began to swarm around him, their dark
energy swallowing him up.

8

    Tony sat motionless in his seat, his mind
full of questions. Even in a state of terror, he could still find
himself questioning everything.
    ‘You want to know about your friend on the
table? He wanted to be desired and have women enjoy his body,’ the
man said, laughing.
    Tony managed to force out a question, his
voice broken by fear.
    ‘Why are you doing this?’
    The man sat back down in his chair and lifted
his glass of wine.
    ‘Tonight is a special night. The moon is
full, and the house is alive with energy. A celestial alignment has
allowed us to roam free,’ he said.
    Tony sat shaking his head, his eyes fixed on
the twisting sculpture. Each time the two entwined bodies of his
investigating friends appeared, his eyes widened.
    ‘We’ve been waiting for you for a long time,’
the man at the head of the table said.
    Tony looked at him with confusion.
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘The world beyond the one you live in is full
of opportunity. There is no such thing as distance or time. You can
travel and hear everyone and everything. We heard your prayers of
wanting to visit here. Our living relatives allowed you to be here
on this night,’ the man said with a grin.
    Tony shook his head harder and faster.
    ‘I don’t believe you. You’re just trying to
get into my head,’ Tony shouted.
    The man began laughing. He placed his wine
glass on the table and stood once more. He then began speaking out
aloud in Latin.
    Tony could do nothing but sit in the chair.
He told himself over and over again to move, but his body refused.
The man’s voice grew louder, Tony could feel the air in the room
become thicker, and then it began to crackle with energy. Little
sparks exploded all around the room.
    An ice-cold wind began to circle the room,
picking up the sparks as they exploded and joining them together
until a ring of blue light throbbed above the heads of the guests
sat at the table. The children moved closer to the guests who sat
in front of them. Tony watched as the young girls and boys faces
began to darken. Their flesh began to disappear until all that was
left was burnt and charred skulls. They brought their hands around
to the front of the guests, each child holding a rusty knife. The
guests lifted their heads back as if offering their throats to the
blades that hung a few inches from their skin.
    Tony looked back down at the man who had his
arms raised, his hands disappearing into the pulsing blue cloud of
energy. The blue ring became more and more intense as he his voice
grew louder. The sculpture in the center of the table spun faster
and faster until it became almost tornado-like.
    The man at the head of the table suddenly
stopped his chanting and removed his hands from the ring of energy.
When he opened his eyes, they were a shiny black color.
    Tony watched as the children drew their rusty
blades across the throats of the men and women sitting at the
table. No blood escaped the open wounds, only a dark haze that
flowed like smoke up into the ring of energy. Once the last of the
black smoke of their spirit had escaped the bodies of the guests,
they fell forward, their faces smashing into the plates and food
that lay in front of them.
    Tony could feel his heart pounding against
his chest. The anxiety and fear that had welled up inside of him as
he sat and watched the spectral deaths of the guests blocked any
rational thought. He could feel his spirit fighting against
whatever force was keeping him in the seat. Suddenly he was free.
The sudden release caused him to shoot to his feet. The children
all looked at him and began to shriek, their high-pitched wails
forcing him to cover his ears as he bolted to the door.
    ‘There is no escape my friend,’ the man at
the head of the table shouted just before he faded away.
    As Tony reached the door, he had an urge to
turn and look back. The sight of