Page 77 of Purrfectly Haunted

“You know why we’re here,” James says to her. “This needs to end, Agnes. We understand your revenge, and we’re not blaming you for it. But he’s getting stronger, and you can’t keep him a prisoner for much longer. You need to let us exorcise him.”

She let’s out a gurgling scream, then she throws her phantom body at the salt barrier. As expected, she won’t be easy to reason with.

As if sensing that things are taking a turn, the monster in the basement awakens. The ground shakes under our feet, the the mould releases more spores into the air.

“Shit...” Shirley whispers behind me.

Agnes circles around us, blood-shot eyes glowing.

“Let’s us work, Agnes!” James shouts in warning.

The cats are yowling in the dark.

James looks at me and nods. I drop the suitcase on the ground and open it. The ghost hisses and floats away as she realises what’s in it. Then she bashes her incorporeal body against the barrier once again.

“I’m sorry,” Lana says to the ghost. “I hope you’ll find peace in the beyond.”

She douses the remains in accelerant. We all take a step back as she strikes a match and drops it in on the suitcase. The fire catches immediately. Agnes screams loud enough to hurt my eardrums.

Then to our horror, another ghost appears, screeching. A very old woman in a soiled nightdress.

“What—”

“Oh my god,” Lana says over their screams. “I think it’s Meredith.”

Earl Lynch’s mother. By setting her remains on fire alongside Agnes’, we must have summoned her from her resting place. She probably was one of the ghosts who chased us from the mausoleum.

“The spell!” James roars.

I try to focus and remember the words. It was decided that I'd be the one to recite the spell of banishment, hoping that my status as a "medium"—for a lack of a better word—would pack it with a punch. It’s actually a prayer to Hecate, in Greek. I had to practice my pronunciation for an hour to be sure not to butcher the words. Shirley assured me my intent is the most important part of the spell, and it's okay if it's not perfect as long as I feel it.

I stumble over the words, panic rising, but James holds my hand and squeezes. God, I’m so happy he’s here with me...

I only make it through the second verse before I’m interrupted by a violent quake. The ground breaks beneath our feet and James pushes me out of the way. I fall backwards, out of the salt circle, just as a crevice opens right where we stood seconds ago.

The crevice widens into a dark chasm, and James and I share a look across it. The salt circle is broken.

The ghosts of the two women rush at us, angry and desperate.

Shirley, who carries more salt and the concoctions we prepared to face the spirits, whips her vials out and start fighting back. Meredith wails as her translucent shape wavers under the onslaught.

But Agnes is smarter, and she disappears in the dark and reappears behind Shirley. She dives through our friend, almost like a possession, and when she comes back out, Shirley vomits blood on the floor.

“No!” Lana screams.

She has the presence of mind to empty her fire accelerant bottle over the remains, and the flames burn brighter. The two ghosts blink out of existence, like dying light bulbs. Two cats hiss and jump at them, their claws appearing to cause damage to the entities.

I get to my feet and James does the same on the other side of the chasm, wanting to help our friends, when a black, shiny hand appears out of the chasm and grips the edge.

I stare, horror-stricken, as a creature made of darkness climbs out of the earth. The thing is long-limbed and reed-thin, starved-looking, and it has no face. The clouds of toxic spores gather around it.

Earl Lynch, I realise. The evil ghost is already free. He was about to break out of his prison, and Agnes was the only reason why he was still contained.

This is what we wanted. Now we can face him. And yet, I regret all of it as the monster looks down at me—he’s at least seven feet tall.

“Ooooooh...” he says to me, voice distorted. “What... are... you..?”

His appearance and voice are jarring. Then I remember what our goal is, and I begin reciting the prayer of banishment again. With some luck, it’ll work on the three spirits.