The Devil's Home in the Swamp - an MPC series short story

The Devil’s Home in the Swamp

An MPC Short Story by Tanner Reiss  

 
“Hello, Mortchwood Paranormal Crew, Clairvoyant/Medium Kyra-Lee speaking, how can I help you?” Kyra answered stumbling as she rushed to answer the phone.
 
“Hello, Mortchwood Paranormal Crew, Kyra speaking, how can I help you?” She repeated after no one replied the first time.
           
“Hey Kyra, is Gavin there?” Keisha asked sounding out of breath and panic-stricken.
 
“He’s here but I don’t think he’s awake yet, what’s wrong?” Kyra asked shocked by how desperate her sister sounded.
           
“Can you wake him up for me please?” Keisha asked, although her tone made it sound closer to an order.
 
“Keisha what the hell is going on, I’ve never heard you like this?” Kyra pleaded as she began making her way toward the staircase.
           
“Please, just wake him up for me I need to tell him something!” Keisha said.
 
“Ok, here he is” Kyra said as she shook her husband awake and handed him the phone as she shrugged her shoulders to indicate that she didn’t know what the call was about.
 
           “Hel-hello…?” Gavin said sleepily.
 
“Hi Gavin, it’s Keisha…this is going to sound weird but I have to ask…Do you know anyone that lives in Colombia?” Keisha asked sternly.
           
“Not that I can recall why?” Gavin said sitting up and wiping the sleep out of his eyes.
 
“Do you have any kind of connection to the town of Marisma or the near-by area?” Keisha asked, still sounding stern.
 
“Wait, you said Marisma, Colombia? Yeah Mom and I lived there for about a year or so before Mom got pregnant with Gabriella, that’s…that’s where Gabby’s biological father lives.” Gavin replied, stunned at the realization that neither he nor his younger sister had ever known their biological fathers.
           
“Shit! Okay, I’m coming down to the office, I think Gabriella might be in danger; I’ll explain everything when I get there. We have a new case that could make or break us.” Keisha said as Gavin sat frozen in place by what his sister-in-law had just told him.
           
“Hon-honey what-what was that about?” Kyra asked timidly not sued to seeing Gavin so taken aback.
 
“Key-Keisha think Gabriella is in danger…she…she said we have a case in Colombia that could make or break us.” Gavin stuttered, slowly getting his wits back.
           
“Gabriella’s in danger? From who, she’s such a sweetheart?” Kyra asked shocked.
 
“I think it has to do with her father, Keisha mentioned the town in Colombia where we were living when Mom got pregnant with Gabby.” Gavin explained finally beginning to be able to move.
           
           Forty minutes later Gavin’s mother Irena, Gavin, and Kyra were all sitting in the office listening to Keisha recount a vison she had, had about a Colombian man who had made some kind of deal with the devil in return for eternal wealth.
           
“How-how does this involve my daughter?” Irena asked once Keisha had finished.
 
“I know this might be uncomfortable for you Irena, but I have to ask…who is Gabriella’s father, I’m really sorry.” Keisha asked her voice as sympathetic as she could make it.
           
“I’m not at all proud of this…but…things were getting really tight here, and I had an opportunity to work down in Marisma. The job description was amazingly well done and seemed like a sure-fire ticket out.” Irena explained close to tears.
 
“Go on.” Keisha pushed gently.
           
“The job was only going to be a year, working with locals and town officials to help preserve local and national historic monuments. They promised to provide living arrangements and schooling for children and the pay was awesome. A month or two in I met this guy who said he would love to take me and a couple other workers that I worked with on a tour of the town along the swamp. He seemed nice enough, and we had been working together for a little while at that point so I didn’t see any reason on to go. The others couldn’t make it so it was just me and Gavin, but the guy was a real gentleman and an awesome tour guide…one thing lead to another and before long I had gotten really close to the guy who took us on the tour, but the year was on its dying days so we decided to go our separate ways. It wasn’t until I got back to Mortchwood that I realized that I was pregnant with Gabriella.” Irena finished explaining.
 
“What was the father’s name, were you ever able to let him know?” Kyra asked, who was cuddled up beside Gavin.
 
“Yes, I still had his phone number and we kept in touch lots during the pregnancy, we were trying to find a way for us to live together. I didn’t want to have to raise two kids on my own, and he had always been so good with Gavin. I tried phoning him shortly after Gabriella was born so he could hear her voice, but when I called his number was disconnected. I found out later that he had gotten involved with one of the cartels and was in jail for a double murder so I cut off contact with him entirely. I got a new phone number, moved to a different address and changed Gabby’s last name from Vargas to Stone.” Irena explained somberly.
 
“How long was his sentence?” Kyra asked.
           
“He was four months into two consecutive life sentences.” Gavin answered because Irena was beginning to break down.
           
“I have to get to work now, I have a meeting that I can’t miss in half an hour.” Irena explained as she collected her purse and drank the last bit of her coffee before heading out.
 
           “Do you remember your sister’s father’s name?” Kyra asked her husband after a long, tension fueled silence.
 
“Eduardo Vargas” Gavin answered without hesitation. “I remember his name was some kind of big deal in Marisma, he wasn’t but he was like a blood-relative of some rich guy who turned out to be a serial killer or something back in the early 1900s.” Gavin continued as the three cleaned up the glasses and began researching.
           
“There’s a bunch of stuff on a Dantae Vargas…apparently it is said that he made some kind of pact with the Devil to ensure himself life-long wealth, and in return he allegedly killed people for blood sacrifices.” Kyra explained looking up from her laptop screen.
           
“La Casa Del Diablo, it means ‘The Devil’s House’ yeah that’s it, I remember Eduardo showing me and mom his mansion when he took us on that tour.” Gavin said as he looked over his wife’s shoulder.
           
“Geez, no wonder there’s murders linked to this guy from 1916 all the way up to as recently as 1984, thirty plus years after his death.” Kyra commented reading a translated page.
 
“Do you think Dantae is coming after Gabriella because Eduardo, his relative, is Gabby’s father?” Gavin asked, his protectiveness for his twelve-year-old sister beginning to show.
           
“No, Eduardo wasn’t the man I saw, and it wasn’t Dantae either, I would have been able to pick up on it if Irena thought it could have been.” Keisha admitted, looking Gavin in the eyes so he knew he had her respect, but that she was certain.
 
           Later that night Kyra and Gavin were awakened by the sound of door slamming shut and a filing cabinet being pushed over.
           
“What the he…” Kyra’s voice trailed off as she read the time on the digital clock on her bedside table.
 
“Honey that’s not someone breaking in and going through our stuff…the slams are coming in threes, and look at what time it is…it’s just after two in the morning, it’s the Witching Hour…we’re not dealing with an intruder, this is a demon mocking the Holy Trinity.” Kyra said urgently, unable to control her fear, but trying to calm herself down knowing the demonic entity would feed off of her fear.
 
“We have some equipment in the closet, grab a couple of digital voice recorders, an EMF detector, a thermal imaging camera and a night vision camera.” Gavin instructed as he hastily pulled on a pair of jeans and a tank top. After collecting the equipment from the closet across the hall; Kyra double checked the recorders to make sure that they didn’t have any other files on them and switched on the cameras before meeting Gavin at the top of the stairs.
 
           “You got our attention, good job now what are you doing here?” Kyra demanded, turning her fear into anger to fuel her adrenalin.
 
“Is that all you got? Come on make something else move because I don’t think you’re strong enough of a demon to be messing with us!” Gavin taunted, raising his voice and scanning the entire office left to right.
           
“Holy shhh…it’s freezing right here” Kyra said shocked by the sudden change in temperature.
 
“I think I just found you, is that you that is right in front of me? I demand you to show me how strong you are, push me, pull my hair, scratch me…give me a sign that you’re here because I can feel you!” Kyra demanded, also raising her voice.
 
“Drain the battery in our cameras you coward!” Gavin urged aggressively as he focused his thermal vison camera to where Kyra had felt the sudden cold spot.
           
“Say one of our…” Kyra began to say, but stopped short when Gavin told her to be quiet because he thought he heard whatever it was that had been making the noises some something.
 
“Was that you I just heard?” Gavin asked, his voice still slightly raised.
           
“Ouch! Gavin, I think I just got scratched or something!” Kyra said a second later.
 
“What do you…?” Gavin’s voice trailed off as he flipped on a small flashlight. “Oh my God, honey you’re bleeding!” Gavin gasped, his voice deepening with concern and worry as he saw yet a third scratch forming beside the other two, yet another sign that the presence was mocking the Holy Trinity.
           
“We need to get my sister here; she’ll know what to do…we’re in over our heads with something this strong.” Kyra said clutching her back.
           
“WHAT WAS THAT?” Gavin and Kyra said in unison as they both heard what sounded like something metallic being dragged up the stairs behind them.
 
“GABRIELLA” Gavin shouted a second later positive that he had just heard his sister scream, the terror in her voice making Gavin’s blood curdle.
           
“Honey wait, a demon will impersonate a child to draw you in, it’s a trap!” Kyra said breathlessly, her instincts as a silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling taking over as she effortlessly pined her husband down.
 
“I’m sorry honey, I know it’s hard, but remember what Irena said, Gabby isn’t even in town tonight, how could she be in our loft?” Kyra asked sympathetically, feeling Gavin’s body start to relax a little bit as she slowly began releasing her grip.
 
“We need to get you to the hospital; you’re going to need stitches.” Gavin said softly pressing his hand tightly against Kyra’s still bleeding wound.
 
           An hour later Gavin and Keisha were sitting in the waiting room at the Mortchwood hospital while Kyra was getting her stitches.
 
“I know damn well you would never hit my sister, so what the hell happened?” Keisha asked looking at Gavin with an inquisitive, yet reassuring look.
           
“Gavin, this whole thing…me seeing the vision of Gabriella, a dark spirit mocking the Trinity in our office, you hearing your sister’s voice, Kyra being scratched…it’s not just off coincidences, we are dealing with an extremely powerful demon, all three of us need to start being really careful.” Keisha warned, kneeling in front of Gavin, her eyes pleading with him to heed her warning.
 
“What do we do?” Gavin asked a few seconds later.
           
“You guys can stay with me until we can figure things out before things escalate, and yes things can get worse Gavin.” Keisha explained catching Gavin’s doubtful expression as Kyra came walking toward them.
 
           “Hey Sis, are you okay?” Keisha asked giving Kyra a gentle hug.
 
“Yeah, I might have a little trouble sleeping for the next six weeks, but I’ll be fine.” Kyra said before giving Gavin a hug and kiss.
           
“How many stitches did you have to get?” Gavin asked, keeping his wife held close.
 
“Three on the first scratch, five on the second, and six on the last one so fourteen altogether.”  
           
A few days later Gavin was out do a follow up interview with a local family that he and Keisha had helped the week before. Kyra was alone in the office when suddenly she felt as though all the breath in her lungs had been knocked out of her and she felt herself becoming light headed and begin to slip into an alternate reality. The quick, fleeting glimpses were disconnected, yet somehow still managed to make sense. The first scene Kyra saw of a small town in 1800’s Colombia as well as a young, wealthy, indigenous looking man, who Kyra thought could have been rather handsome if it wasn’t for the pitch-black holes where his eyes should have been. The second scene was of a young boy who looked like he was about to drown in a lake. The final scene was of a young girl, who looked like she had been very badly beaten. Just as Kyra was finishing seeing her last scene, Gavin walked into the small office.
 
           “Kyra…? What are you seeing?” Gavin asked when he saw his wife in the trace-like state.
“We need to get to Colombia right away…I can’t really explain it, but I think I know why Keisha said that Gabriella’s in danger!” Kyra replied, her frantic tone catching Gavin by surprise.
           
“So, what do you want to do?” Gavin asked feeling a chill run down his spine.
 
“I want to go for a walk to my old apartment building, I remember there was a painting at the other end of the hall from my apartment and I’m pretty sure it was of Colombia.” Kyra suggested sounding sure-hearted, but slightly nervous.
           
“You realize if you go back there’s nothing preventing Muerte from attacking you again, right?” Gavin responded shocked that his wife was even suggesting going back to the place that had terrified her so much a year ago and a half ago.
 
“I know it’s a risk, but I need some way to connect the dots, and seeing that picture again is the only way I can think of doing it. I’m sorry honey, I know you don’t want me going back there, and I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think it was absolutely necessary…but I know you would never want something to happen to Gabby either.” Kyra explained, her eyes pleading with Gavin’s as she stayed seated behind her desk.
 
           “Here goes nothing…” Kyra said as she and Gavin stood outside the cursed apartment building fifteen minutes later.
 
“Excuse me, do you know where this painting is of?” Gavin asked the middle-aged manager who was leaning against the doorway watching the two investigators. “
           
“I believe it’s of Marisma, which is a municipality in the department of Magdalena, Colombia. If I’m not mistaken it’s a portrait of one of the most haunted buildings in the Department of Magdalena.” The manager said sounding certain.
 
“What is it?” Kyra asked slowly wiping her hand gently over the canvas painting.
           
“I’m not sure what it’s called, sorry” the manager admitted as Kyra felt her equilibrium betray her and send her crumbling to the ground nearly dropping the painting.
           
“What-what’s wrong with her? Do-do I need to call for an ambulance?” The manager exclaimed at sight of the former Olympic silver medalist collapsing for no logical reason.
 
“No, seriously, I’m her husband, she’s got an amazing gift…it’s hard to explain but just let her come to on her own.” Gavin responded quickly, picking up the painting and reading the handwriting at the bottom of the painting. “La Casa Del Diablo” Gavin read out loud, racking his brain to translate the Spanish.
           
“It means ‘The Devil’s House’” the manager said in near perfect Spanish.
 
“This is going to sound weird, but you’re not by any chance related to one Dantae Vargas are you?” Gavin asked warily without a response as Kyra began to regain her consciousness and slowly make her way back to her feet.
           
“Thank you, Mr. Cruz, we’ve got what we needed, have a good day.” Kyra said politely, suddenly anxious to get as far away from the painting and the apartment as possible.
 
           “Kyra honey, you know I’ll never question your abilities as a Clairvoyant, but what did you see back there, I’ve never seen you this shaken after one of your visions. Please babe, you’re starting to scare me a little bit.” Gavin admitted as he gently pulled his wife into his arms after Kyra had pulled her hand away when Gavin tried to hold it.
           
“I’m sorry honey I-I just real…I saw Gabriella being killed…it…I think Dantae’s pissed off because Irena has something that belongs to him and he knows Gabriella is his only living blood relative.” Kyra tried to explain as she broke down crying.
 
           Gavin, Kyra and Keisha spent the next two days flying to the small tourist town of Santa Marta, Colombia, which was just a short drive to the middle of Marisma. The trio landed just before ten O’clock at night and checked into their hotel exhausted from the jet leg and eager to find their beds. The next morning, they took a taxi into Marisma so they could meet up with their tour guide who was a former co-worker of Irena’s. The man introduced himself as Rodrigo Salvador, who Gavin thought looked to be in his early thirty’s.
           
“Hola Señor Stone, how are you, it’s been too long since I last saw you.” Rodrigo greeted Gavin happily, pulling him into a tight hug.
 
“I’ve been doing really well, how have you been? This is my team: my wife Kyra-Lee and her sister Keisha-Marie.” Gavin replied equally as happy as he introduced his wife and sister-in-law.
 
“So, this place we’re looking into, is it close to where we are?” Gavin asked.
           
“The Devil’s House, yes, it’s just up the street, I will show you were it is, but I will not go near it, no one does.” Rodrigo replied his voice sounding slightly shaky as he led the three investigators down the street that had suddenly become eerily quiet.
 
 
“So, this Mr. Vargas moved to Marisma from wherever at the height of an economic boom, builds a mansion in the middle of the trade route and goes from rags to riches overnight and because of this people think he’s made some kind of deal with the Devil?” Keisha asked recounting the highlights of what Rodrigo said.
“Yes, but there’s more to it than that, in the 1961 the body of a teenage girl was found bludgeoned to death on his property. At the time they didn’t have the technology we have today so it was naturally assumed that it must have been Mr. Vargas. It was also a lot more common for people to make deals with the Devil for personal gain back then. Did you want to go inside and look around?” Rodrigo asked trying to hide the flirtatious tone in his voice.
           
“Rodrigo, you have no chance with me so you can stop trying to hit on me, and no not yet.” Keisha replied waving Rodrigo off with a brush of her hand.
 
           The next night the quartet returned to “The Devil’s House” carrying all their equipment and ready to take on whatever was beyond the front door.
           
“You’re not going to want to be here when we start investigating Rodrigo, thanks for all the help.” Gavin advised, giving the visibly nervous looking Rodrigo a reassuring fist bump.
           
“Are you ready for this sis?” Keisha asked her sister
 
“Yeah” Kyra replied not sounding as confident as she felt. “I love you honey” she said giving her husband a hug and a kiss.
           
“Let’s hope those tattoos of yours are good for something eh?” Gavin teased Keisha giving her a hug before the three held hands and said a quick prayer of protection.
 
           “This is the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew on location at the “Devil’s House” in Marisma, Magdalena, Colombia. The house we are about to enter is reported to be plagued by demonic activity, all stemming from its one and only owner Dantae Vargas, who reportedly made a pact with the Devil in return for eternal riches…This is possibly the biggest investigation of our careers you ready guys?” Keisha asked holding a hand-held video camera toward her, but focusing on Kyra and Gavin.
 
           The three started out by walking around into every room of the huge mansion keeping their equipment turned off and letting themselves get familiar with split level house. The walkthrough felt normal until they reached the room where Dantae Vargas slept on the second level.
           
“Hey guys, I just…something just hit me bad!” Kyra gasped frozen in place mid stride.
 
“Kyra, look at your arms…” Gavin said pointing to the goosebumps on his wife’s arms.
           
“Dantae Vargas, is that you that is trying to get my attention? Good job you’re doing well, you made my body react, give me another sign that you’re here with me.” Kyra asked in poor Spanish as she took a deep breath and let herself slip into an almost trance-like state, hoping to use her abilities as a medium and clairvoyant to be able to see whosever spirit she had felt, but was distracted by the loud metallic banging sound coming from the back of the house.
           
“WHAT WAS THAT?” Kyra screamed jumping slightly.
           
“That sounded like a damn gun going off or something!” Gavin said, the sudden adrenalin rush raising his voice as he spun around to face the direction of the loud bang.
           
“OH MY GOD” Kyra screamed as she turned a corner heading to the back of the house and came face-to-face with a battered and bloodied apparition of a young girl. Kyra however, despite the apparition’s grotesque appearance didn’t feel at all threatened by the presence.
 
“Dantae’s first victim, how old did Rodrigo say she was?” Kyra asked as Gavin and Keisha joined her in the hall.
 
“Thirteen” Gavin answered “why?”
           
“We need to go investigate the basement…I don’t think Dantae ever killed anyone, I’m not saying he didn’t make a pact with the Devil, but I don’t think he’s a murder either…I think that’s why he’s been going after Gabby, he knew he could use her as a doorway to get us out here to help prove his innocence.” Kyra explained as the trio made their way out of the decrepit mansion and toward the backyard cellar entrance.
 
           The three sat in a triangle on the floor of the cellar with three digital recorders spread out in front of them.
           
“Hey honey, I want to try a séance and completely open myself up psychically, can you translate my questions into Spanish?” Kyra asked reaching out her hands toward her sister and husband.
 
“Yeah sure.” Gavin agreed taking his wife’s and sister-in-law’s hands.
           
“Is the spirit of the girl I saw upstairs here with us now?” Kyra asked, followed immediately by her husband’s translation.
 
“I can see you honey; can you come and talk to me?’
…
“My name is Kyra-Lee, what’s your name?”
…
“Eldora, are you the one I saw in the hallway upstairs earlier?”
…
“How did you die, did someone hurt you?”
…
“Do you know who killed you?”
…
“What kind of job?”
…
“What is he supposed to find?
…
“What danger, who is going to hurt you?”
…
“Eldora, are you still with me?”
…
“She’s gone” Kyra said softly as she slowly began brining herself out of her trance.
 
“What did you see?” Keisha asked her younger sister inquisitively.
 
           “The teenager that was killed here, her name was Eldora, she was Dantae’s eldest child and only daughter; she was beaten and killed in the front yard like the legend says, but it wasn’t Dantae that killed her.” Kyra explained.
 
“Kyra-Lee you have to be one hundred percent sure of that, you’re talking about challenging a century old murder case, you cannot afford to have any doubt whatsoever about this.” Keisha challenged harshly.
           
“I know, I know, and I don’t, I promise…Eldora also told me that the body that was found tied to the fence wasn’t hers, I-I think Eldora was trying to tell me that we are supposed to find her remains…but honey, there’s a catch…she also told me it has to be you that finds them.” Kyra explained, her voice gentle but stern.
           
“What am I….?” Gavin’s voice fell silent as all three investigators heard what sounded like the doors to the cellar being ripped open and slammed shut again. Just then Keisha felt herself be violently tossed backwards and her consciousness betray her as a malevolent entity enveloped her entire body.
 
“In search of an opportunity to seize I found the perfect time
To come from a faraway place
                                               To make my name
But with your distain I was met
                                               With icy veins
Impervious I was to the devilish comments
                                               Though they caused me pain.
Happily I lived by
                                               My riches gained
A foreigner with a corner mansion
Is all you see
So to you a scapegoat I
Will always be!
 
Deaths and numbers
                                               Continue to climb
Each one
                                               A dollar a dime
While I’m alive or dead either way
                                               My name you chime
Surely it is I that committed
                                               Each hellish crime
But every time your accusations
                                               Are missing evidence prime
Now I am coming to
                                               Take what’s mine!
 
A scapegoat you have always
                                               Kept me deemed
Sometimes the truth isn’t as clear as
                                               It once seemed
Now the monster awakens hungry
                                               To be redeemed
Satanic whisperings are nightmares never
                                               To be dreamed
The vengeance random and not
                                               At all themed
Brought about upon those
                                               Unsuspecting and esteemed
By a scapegoat guiltily innocent
                                               Broken and enraged!”
 
 
After the dark and eerie poem Keisha felt her consciousness return and gave her sister and brother-in-law a reassuring thumbs up as she began gasping for air.
           
“What was that all about?” Kyra asked, still keeping her night vision hand held video camera trained on her older sister, but talking to her husband.
 
“I think it men….” Again, Gavin had his voice cut off mid-sentence as he watched one of the tri-pod mounted night vision cameras the team had set up being forcefully thrown against the wall beside Keisha. The blatant and violent poltergeist activity was immediately followed by what sounded like blasts from a shotgun being fired in the small cellar.
           
“HOLY SHIT I THINK SOMEONE IS SHOOTING AT US…RUN” Gavin screamed, making his body seem as big as he could hoping it would help shield the two sisters. When the trio made it outside and back around to the front of the tainted mansion Keisha felt her instincts kick in.
           
“WAIT, STOP RUNNING, BOTH OF YOU STOP RUNNING RIGHT NOW” Keisha instructed harshly.
“This is not how the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew conducts investigations, running away when things start happening. This is why we started the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew, to find answers and make a real difference for those who need it, because we don’t run away or back down ever! We are a family and no matter how hard any dark, malevolent demonic entity or poltergeist tries nothing is stronger than family. So, here’s what we’re going to do…we’re all going to take a couple deep breaths, then we are all going to go back in to nerve centre to switch out our batteries, and then we are all going to go back in and finish investigating.” Keisha explained.
 
           “So, what do you think we should do now?” Kyra asked her sister after the three had caught their breaths again.
 
“That poem I said what do you think the meaning of it was?” Keisha asked to the other two.
           
“Its kind of sounded like whoever it was, was trying to admit his innocence or something to me.” Gavin answered.
 
“Exactly, I’m not saying he didn’t make a deal with the Devil, but I don’t think he ever killed anyone, or at least that’s what he wants us to believe.” Keisha replied.
 
“I think we have to start looking for evidence that we can use to prove that Dantae was innocent…so we’re going to go do one last sweep of the mansion and then break down our stuff and pack up for the night. Gavin, I want you to be the only one with a camera this time, Kyra, you and me are going to walk through without any equipment and open ourselves up psychically and see what we can pick up.” Keisha instructed coolly before leading the trio back inside.
 
           “It’s weird how I’m not seeing anything anymore, it even feels more inviting in here now.” Kyra said as the three made their way back down to the cellar.
 
“Yeah, I’m not feeling anything either, guess that’s alright though, we only have about half an hour before we have to be out of here anyways, let’s go break down our gear.” Keisha agreed as her Kyra, and Gavin began heading inside the tainted mansion.
 
           The next afternoon the sisters decided to spend the day experiencing the sights and sounds of Northern Colombia while Gavin stayed back and reviewed the team’s video and audio recordings from the previous night.
           
“Hey honey, having any luck?” Kyra said when she arrived back at the hotel after a day shopping in Barranquilla.
           
“Lots of evidence, but nothing that would help prove Dantae’s innocence.” Gavin admitted rubbing his eyes and pulling his wife into a loving hug.
 
“I got something for you today.” She said as she placed an engraved Colombian flag necklace around her husband’s neck.
           
“It says ‘forever mine.’” Gavin read translating the Colombian Spanish.
 
“Keisha and I are heading down to a beach in a little while, you should come and show me off.” Kyra teased after breaking off from a long kiss.
           
“Yeah that sounds fun, think I’m pretty much done here anyways for today.” Gavin agreed unplugging one of the team’s digital voice recorders from his laptop and turning both off.
 
           A few hours later the three were relaxing on one of Santa Marta’s many picturesque beaches when Gavin noticed a travel brochure sticking out of Keisha’s backpack.
           
“Hey, what’s that about?” Gavin asked inquisitively.
 
“Information on Dantae Vargas I found at the hotel we’re staying at, not much in it but I thought it might help, maybe we could use it as a trigger object or something.” Keisha replied handing the brochure to Gavin who began translating the Spanish.
 
A short while later the three members of the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew were patiently waiting for their orders from a beach-side restaurant when Keisha broke the silence.
           
“Do either of you remember the name of the beach we’re at right now?” The youngest of the three-members asked.
 
“Bahía Concha” Kyra answered absentmindedly.
           
“Why?” Keisha probed slightly more interested.
           
“Well it says here that in 1984, five children drowned here while on a field trip from school even though they were only in waist high water.” Keisha explained reading from the brochure Keisha had given him.
 
“Does it say how it happened?” Kyra asked, her attention now drawn to the conversation.
           
“No, but guess who was blamed for it?” Gavin asked slightly sarcastically.
 
“Dantae Vargas” Kyra answered without much thought.
           
“Didn’t Rodrigo say that Dantae died in the 1950s? I mean that’s a solid thirty years after his death.” Keisha said.
           
“Yeah that’s the weird thing…all these deaths, whether they’re accidents or not they all seem to get blamed on Dantae.” Gavin agreed.
 
“Why though, there has to be some reason why everyone keeps blaming stuff on him even decades after he’s passed on, right?” Kyra asked as the three began making their way back to their belongings.
           
“That’s the other thing…it says here that five children drowned at once. I mean if it was one child, it might have been understandable…maybe they weren’t a good swimmer and got tired or maybe it was a medical issue or something…five though? I mean even if they were roughhousing, they wouldn’t have all drowned without someone noticing.” Gavin stated as the trio heard the Spanish word for their numbers being called for their food. As they walked back toward the water to eat a man who the three guessed was in his early to mid-fifties began walking toward them.
 
           “You three, you the ones investigating at The Devil’s House?” The man said in thickly accented English.
 
“Yes, that’s correct, have you had an experience there, or know something that might help us with our investigation?” Gavin answered politely.
           
“The kids that drowned here, one was my son, come eat with me and I tell you what happened.” The man said as the three investigators followed the middle-aged man to a desolate corner of the beach just inside the public swimming boundary.
           
“My son, Matías was on a school trip here. He was with three other classes…maybe around sixty kids total…he was playing in the water with friends. The water was calm that day and the kids were no deeper than their waists, so they were all easy to see.” The man who had identified himself as James, but pronounced it Hahm-ess recounted. “There was a scuffle between a few of the older aged children that some teachers and parents were trying to calm down. Naturally all the parents were watching the scuffle. That’s when my son’s best friend came running up to me and told me Matías was in trouble.” James continued, struggling as the memories of his son’s untimely death rushed to the surface again. “Matías was a very talented dancer, even in Colombia he was considered to be exceptional…I don’t believe he could have just drowned; he was too strong…too much strong lungs.” James finished unable to prevent the tears from falling any longer.
 
“I’m really sorry to ask this, but it could be very important to our investigation…do you believe that Dantae Vargas, the man who built The Devil’s House could have had something to do with your son’s death?” Gavin asked gently, avoiding the almost flaming eyes of is wife.
           
“Dantae Vargas is legend in Marisma, all of Colombia, but I don’t think he ever killed anyone. He was wealthy man that never come without bad deals but I think not he ever made deal with Devil. That comes from kids like you having fun to scare each other.” James answered smiling slightly.
 
“Do you think your son killed himself?” Gavin asked.
           
“GAVIN seriously?” Kyra snapped as she lightly slapped the back of her husband’s head utterly shocked at his indecency.
           
“It’s alright I don’t mind” James replied winking at the athletically built young woman across from him.
 
“I don’t believe my son was sacrifice…I never told anyone this before…his ankle was broken when I pulled him out of the water. I think he was dancing and broken his ankle then how you say…?” James began, pausing when he was unsure of the English phrase.
 
“Passed out from the pain…like he was in so much pain that he fell asleep?” Kyra asked.
 
“Yes, passed out that’s why he drowned, too much pain to swim.” James agreed.
 
“What about the other kids that died with your son, we found a brochure that said there were four other students that died the same day your son did?” Gavin asked.
           
“You good investigator, no afraid to ask hard question.” James said with a smile and giving Gavin a thumbs up before answering.
 
“Tayrona National Park, where we are has for long time had problem with Lionfish. I think it was Lionfish that killed other children, them not sacrifice, never a sacrifice, legend just scary story not real.” James said as he shifted to stand up.
           
“We should probably get back to our hotel, I don’t trust that road we came in on, on the best of days let alone at night.” Keisha spoke up for the first time.
 
           “What do you guys think?” Kyra asked as the trio made their way back to their jeep.
 
“What do we think about what?” Gavin asked.
           
“Do you think that guy was telling the truth? I mean everything he said seems realistic enough, but I don’t know…it almost felt like he was trying too hard or something.” Kyra explained as they reached their small jeep.
 
“He said his son was a dancer so he would have had really great cardio, but it’s different from the kind of cardio a swimmer would have. Unless you’re able to keep yourself calm, which takes a whole different kind of training, an injury like a broken ankle can make you panic, especially if he thought he wasn’t going to be able to dance again, the panic alone might have been enough to kill him. Also, if he wasn’t the first one to be killed, he would have been panicking already.” Keisha interjected.
 
“Is it just me or does it feel like we keep coming up with more and more quest…?” Gavin began but was stopped abruptly when he saw his wife suddenly freeze in place.
 
“Kyra, what the…what’s wrong?” Gavin asked slightly frightened by the look of terror that was painted across his wife’s face.
 
“It-it-it-its Gabriella, she-she-she’s trying to show me something.” Kyra stammered.
           
“What do you mean…what is she trying to show you?” Gavin said his voice growing louder with concern and worry.
 
“I can’t tell, she’s weak…come on Gabby, what are you trying to show me…?” Kyra urged.
 
“She’s alone and scared…OH GOD…Gavin, I’m so sorry…” Kyra began as she felt tears beginning to form.
           
“What-what do you mean she’s alone? What-what are you sorry for?” Gavin plead desperately for more information.
 
“Gabby, she-she’s in the hospital…it’s like she got the shit kicked out of her or something…it’s bad, really bad.” Kyra said as her tears began to fall.
           
“WHAT? What do you mean my sister got the shit kicked out of her…by whom? How-how bad is it? Wha-why is she alone, where’s my mother?” Gavin insisted, growing more and more enraged.
 
“I can’t…oh, wait…I’m just getting flash images, hang on…” Kyra said as she moved a few feet away from Gavin and Keisha, hoping the distance would help strengthen her psychic connection back to Canada.
 
“Your mother is in the hospital too…honey I’m sorry I’ve told you all I can, they’re both too weak to channel me fully.” Kyra said, as she turned back around to face the other two, her pale face and shaking hands begging for any thread of forgiveness.
           
“You can channel through them though; I’ve seen you do it…” Gavin pleaded desperately as he too began breaking down.
 
“Gavin, Kyra come on…we’re going to go back to the hotel and pack our things, then we’re going to catch the next flight back home…nothing is more important than family, screw this case.” Keisha instructed calmly, though she too was in tears.
 
“No! We’re staying here and going back to the Vargas house and find whatever it is we are supposed to find…we’re ending this shit tonight!” Gavin stated strongly as he felt fire flicker in his eyes.
           
“Gavin, I love your passion and dedication to this case, I really do, but Gabriella and Irena need you more than this case needs you.” Keisha argued softly.
           
“I want to go home Keisha, I really, really do, but unless we finish what we’ve started here, there’s nothing stopping this shit from happening again, and next time they may not make it to the Hospital, we need to close this case.” Gavin explained, his voice cracking with concern, worry, and determination.
 
           Two hours later Gavin and Kyra were standing with each other’s head between their hands as Keisha introduced the second night of investigating in the decrepit and tainted mansion.
           
“Here we go again, are you sure you’re up for this Gavin?” Keisha asked after the three had said a prayer for protection.
           
“The family is number one and if this is what I have to do to make sure they’re safe than so be it.” Gavin replied as the three gazed upon the morbid looking façade.
           
“It’s about knowing where you have to be.” Kyra said looking up into her husband’s eyes.
 
           The three quickly worked to set up their home base Nerve Centre that would hold all their equipment, tech supplies and laptops before starting their customary walk-thru of the mansion.
           
“It feels…” Keisha began but trialed off when she failed to find the right word.
 
“Peaceful” her sister added a second later.
           
“I don’t like it, it’s too inviting” Keisha warned, her trepidation ringing clear in her voice.
 
“They’re going to make themselves known when we least expect it, keep your guards up.” Kyra agreed, using a night vison video camera to scan a room that looked like it could have been one of Dantae’s children’s rooms. “Come on, where are you hiding Señor Vargas?” Keisha added.
           
“Eldora, it’s me Kyra, do you remember me? I would really love it if you came out and talked with me again sweetie.” Kyra said softly as the three cautiously made their way up decaying set of stares they hadn’t noticed the first time.
 
           “I don’t remember this being here the first time we investigated, where are we?” Gavin asked as he helped Keisha so she wouldn’t drop her camera.
 
“I don’t remem…WHAT THE FUUUHHH?” Kyra began but felt herself become instantly speechless as she flicked on a pocket-sized flashlight.
           
“WHAT DID WE JUST STEP INTO?” Gavin said as all three members of the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew stood frozen in place, dumbfounded at the sight of numerous Satanic worshiping symbols and pentagrams drawn in blood on the walls and floor.
 
“We shouldn’t be in here; we shouldn’t be in here…we need to leave…we need to...” Kyra said through a shaky voice.
 
           Just then the three investigators felt the hair on the back of their necks stand on-end as they heard a high-pitched, sinister disembodied voice laugh at them from somewhere to the left of the rancid smelling room.
           
“What was that?” Keisha asked as she quickly panned her camera in the direction the bone-chilling laugh had come from.
 
“Is it just me or does it feel like the atmosphere in here just got like insanely eerie?” Gavin asked also trying to find where the laugh came from.
          
“Yeah it di…where did Kyra go, I thought she was right there?” Keisha asked turning her head to assess her surroundings.
 
“What do you mean she’s right…?” Gavin started to reply but cut himself short when he realized his wife was no longer with them.
 
“Hang on I see her…how’d she get all the way over there?” Gavin said unsure how Kyra managed to make it to the far corner of the room without either himself or Keisha noticing.
 
“Kyra, honey wait, where are you going?” Gavin called after his wife who was slowly walking further away.
 
           Kyra led the other two investigators out of the bloodstain covered room and back down to the main level of the morbid mansion before disappearing around a corner.
           
“Where did she go, I can’t see her anymore.” Gavin said sounding slightly panicked as he realized he could no longer see the athletically built Olympic wrestler in his small LCD screen mounted on his camera.
 
“Kyra, call out we can’t see you; this isn’t funny anymore sis…seriously, where are you?” Keisha yelled out, cringing at the way her voice seemed to echo through the long since abandoned mansion.
 
“Hold on, hold on, did you heart that?” Gavin asked a few seconds later.
 
“Hear wha…” Keisha started to say but let her voice trail off as she and Gavin both heard Kyra faintly screaming for help.
 
“KYRA WHERE ARE YOU?” Gavin shouted back.
 
“HANG ON SIS, WE’RE COMING, JUST KEEP SCREAMING” Keisha added as the two broke the first rule of paranormal investigating and both started running.
           
“Ugh her voice is echoing too much; I can’t tell where it’s coming from.” Gavin said sounding scared and frustrated.
 
“Kyra, scream once if you can hear me!” Keisha ordered, relieved when she heard only a single faded scream reply back.
 
“Okay, I’m going to start asking you question about where you are, scream once for no, twice for yes, can you do that?” Keisha instructed nervously.
           
“Are you still in the house honey?” Gavin asked first, but was confused when he heard his wife reply with three distinct screams.
 
“What does that mean?” Gavin asked.
           
“She doesn’t know, the questions need to be more specific…. umm…are you still upstairs?” Keisha asked and was answered with a single scream.
 
“Are you back at Nerve Center?” Keisha asked, hoping her sister was somewhere easy, but was met with only a single scream.
           
“Kyra, are you in the cellar?” Gavin asked feeling his fear reach an all-time high as he heard two distinct screams answer him.
 
“She’s in the cellar come on!” Gavin said as he carefully began navigating the dangerously rotted steps before helping Keisha down.
           
“Oh God…Gavin c’mon…” Keisha begged, breaking into a full out sprint as she felt her body quickly being overcome with crippling pain.
 
           “Kyra, where are you?” Keisha called out again as she reached the cellar floor, relieved to find her younger sister sitting in the middle of a small room adjacent to where Kyra had made contact with the thirteen-year-old Eldora the night before.
 
“C’mon, let’s get you outside” Gavin added after seeing the ghost-like paleness in his wife’s face.
 
“Kyra honey…what happened to you down there?” Gavin asked when all three members of MPC were safely back outside, his concern heightened because he had never seen Kyra look so petrified before.
 
“I-I-I saw-saw Dantae Vargas.” Kyra stuttered still visibly horrified and shaking. The words hanging in the humid summer air as the three investigators laid sprawled out behind Northern Colombia’s most infamous haunted location trying to catch their breaths. It wasn’t until a minute or two later that Kyra finally broke the team’s silence.
 
           “Gav-Gavin, Gabriella’s channelling again…all she’s showing me is you…but-but we’re close, but it has to be you who uncovers the truth once and for all. She’s showing me that there is a hidden closet somewhere that you need to find.” Kyra explained as she commentated her vision.
 
“Gavin, there’s absolutely NO way you’re going back in there alone. Kyra and I will stay out of your way, but we do this our way, as a family and as a team.” Keisha instructed sternly.
 
           “So, how do you want to do this?” Kyra asked as the three slowly entered the Devil’s House for a second time that night.
 
“Slow and steady, room by room...let’s start in Dantae’s room and work our way back to Nerve Centre then upstairs.” Gavin explained before taking a couple deep breaths and opening the door to Dantae’s bedroom, swearing when he saw the battery of his flashlight flicker and die as he began blindly groping around in the pitch blackness.
 
“Ugh dammit ouch!” Gavin yelped as he felt his elbow collide painfully with something metallic.
 
“Hey, I think I found something here!” Gavin exclaimed as his hand found what he had hit.
“Kyra, where’s that picture of Eldora you made?” Gavin asked, shielding his eyes against the brightness of the sister’s flashlights.
 
“GOD DAMMIT” Gavin yelled as he realized the grotesque, putrid smelling body belonged to Dantae Vargas’ only daughter, Eldora.
 
“Well I guess we know the stories are true…” Kyra admitted solemnly as she unwillingly snapped off a series of photographs to show to the Marisma Police.
           
“Hang on a second…this-this girl she-she looks…she looks exactly like Gabby…” Gavin stammered, stunned at the unmistakable resemblance between his younger sister and the daughter of Dantae Vargas.
           
“That explains why this demon was going after Gab…hey what’s this?” Gavin began but switched her train of thought as she noticed something glittering further behind the suspended corpse.
 
           “Is…is that…no way…this is where he had his black masses…” Gavin said amazed as his gaze fell on a monument of an inverted cross with an expertly drawn pentagram made of blood below it.
 
“Dantae Vargas, is this where you liked to keep all the innocent people you killed so you could sacrifice them in return for money, you sadistic monster?” Gavin taunted angrily, his voice rising as he reached into a pocket and pressed record on his digital voice recorder.
 
“He’s here” Keisha stated quietly from somewhere behind Gavin.
           
“Come on Dantae, you coward, don’t hide out in the shadows, I know that you are the one that put my little sister and mother in the hospital! I know you’re the reason I’m in Colombia and not at home with my family come out and show yourself to me NOW!” Gavin coaxed, screaming his demand that the malicious entity makes its presence known.
           
“That’s it babe, you did it! This is what we were supposed to find, congratulations, I’m so proud of you honey.” Kyra said with a half-hearted smile, unable to ignore the satanic, depressing atmosphere the room seemed to be shrouded in.
 
           “So, what happens now…when we get back home, I mean, with MPC?” Kyra asked somewhat absent mindedly as the three sat on the sidewalk of the death-riddled, morbid mansion.
 
“Something tells me that has already been decided for us.” Gavin replied pointing with his chin toward a small group of Colombian news reporters.
           
“What do we tell them?” Kyra whispered shyly.
           
“I have an idea, come on” Keisha said smoothly as they all stood up and politely greeted the reporters in Spanish.
 
           “We are the ones who investigated this mansion in beautiful Marisma, Colombia. We would like to take this opportunity to send our truly deepest sympathies to the families who lost someone because of the actions of Mr. Vargas. We would also like to extend our greatest thanks to the Government of Marisma, as well as to the Colombian Government for allowing us to investigate this amazing house. Finally, I would like to share a poem we discovered while investigating last night, it is our belief that Mr. Vargas is the one who wrote it.
 
“Supplement anger for implements of pain
I walk alone like a Ranger amongst the pouring rain
That spreads like ashes to
complement the roaring darkness
That spreads like rashes upon skin.
In a world overthrown by severe violence
I am curled in fear by my own silence
For it is the seconds spent in isolation
That the truths of our creation beckons
And the descent of our nation is unveiled.
By the sleuths derailed and hailed as heroes
By the dollars and zeros in their accounts.
I am a brawler by nature
But there is no amount of luster I can muster
To re-nurture this society’s order
If I do not supplement boarders for implements of anxiety.
So I walk alone like a Ranger
amongst the pouring rain
That falls like ashes to compliment
the roaring darkness
That spreads like rashes upon my skin.”
 
After Keisha had finished reciting the poem, she turned on her heels to take one last look at the sprawling, malevolent mansion before starting to walk back to the team’s rental car.
 
“Come on, our work here is done, it’s time to go home.” Keisha said as she walked back towards the team’s rental car.
 
“It’s kind of weird how we’re just going to leave though isn’t it?” Gavin asked as he and the sister’s stood in line to begin their long journey home.         
 
“When I came up with the idea for the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew, I never wanted it to be like all the other paranormal shows you see on television, all about the glitz and glam, so overrun by the money that they forget why they actually lock themselves inside crazy haunted locations. I want MPC to stay like this small, tight-knit, all family, take the highs with the lows. Every time we do an investigation, I want us to be able to make a real difference when we leave, be able to give people some real answers, whatever they may be.” Keisha explained as the three family members boarded their first of many planes.
 

THE END