Shirdley Hill: Part Seven ~ What horrors unravel in this mysterious town?

When they reached a street it was dead. The fog had lifted a little but you still couldn’t see further than two yards. What George could see of it was a small country town that was a bit rustic, just the kind of town with enough history that it probably had witch burnings two centuries before. When they stepped onto the street George noticed something off in the distance. He walked toward it but not far enough to get lost in the fog. Then he saw it, big streaks of blood. George forgot about not getting lost and went over to see it closer. He knelt down beside it, it was fresh. He saw another streak of blood. He started following the streaks of blood until he found himself in an alley staring at a door. Should I go in? No, I should wait for the others. Well, just a quick peek, I can always follow the blood back to them. George took a deep breath and grabbed the knob. “Oy!” a voice came from behind him, George screamed. He turned around to see the others laughing at him and George breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared the hell out of me John.” “Serves you right for trying to ditch us.” John responded. “I wasn’t…” George tried to defend himself but he was cut off, “We know what you were trying to do. You were going to go find a place to hide. What’s the matter? Is little Georgie afraid of the big bad monsters?” Paul mocked. “Shut up! You didn’t even want to come on this little trip, remember?” Paul was going to protest but he was cut off. “Hey!” Everyone looked at Ringo, “Where do you suppose all this blood came from?” “That’s what I was going to find out before John decided to play his little joke on me.” “But George,” Paul replied, “remember safety in numbers.” Paul made a face, George made one back. “He’s right, let’s keep together. Now let’s find out what’s behind that door.” John stepped forward and opened the door. Darkness. Ringo was the first to go in since he had the shotgun and John followed with the torch. “An apartment building?” John said in disgust. “Yeah,” Paul replied, “I saw the ‘To Let’ sign outside.” “‘To Let’? This place looks like it hasn’t been touched for years.” George looked around and spotted a map. This might be helpful. George picked it up, what good luck, a map of this apartment building. “Hey! You leaving us again George?” John shouted. George just held up the map. “Great!” John came toward George and grabbed the map but George was used to that now. “Ok,” John said with authority, “George and Ringo, you explore the first floor, Paul and I will explore the second. Let’s go.” “Wait, how are we supposed to find our way around in the dark?” Ringo demanded. “Feel your way around in the dark; you’ve got a shotgun, we’ve got nothing.” George picked up a board and gave it to Paul, “There, now you have a board with a nail through it.” “Thanks George.” John smiled then went up the stairs followed by Paul. George opened his mouth to speak but Ringo stopped him, “They’re attracted to the light anyway.” He knows and he’s not telling, George immediately thought. “Ok, tell me everything Ringo. I need to know what kind of danger I’m in and I know you know so stop pretending.” “Demons from Hell. I know of at least two kinds but I’m sure there’s more. There’s one that’s covered in blood, crawls around, and lashes at you with its tongue which hurts a lot. Then there’s the other kind, it’s much more dangerous. It stands upright and a black tar substance leaks out of it. It throws these pentacles which are extremely sharp. Not to mention but it can run like bloody hell too.” For a minute George thought Ringo was playing with him but he could see on his face that he was dead serious. “Don’t worry though; the only ones you see above ground are the Lashers.” Ringo smiled, “Uh, Lashers, that’s what I call the ones with the tongues.” “What do you call the ones with the pentacles?” George was curious now. “Tars” Ringo smiled again and despite of himself so did George. Now that I have most of my answers my first priority is to help Ringo and if those demons are real she probably is alive. I guess I’ll find out soon enough, George thought as they walked into the darkness.

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