Eldritch Exorcist

Daniel didn't know what to do. His brother was acting more and more strangely. He walked around half-asleep, groaning and grunting throughout the day, and then screamed or sleepwalked at night.

And it was the sleepwalking that was becoming a problem. Each time he left his room, he would do something nasty. It had been three days since the first incident, when he had walked into the room of one of the girls and stood over her bed, breathing heavily. When she tried to push him away, he almost bit her.

To make matters worse, she said that his eyes were open. And each time, right after the incident, he would look horrified and apologetic. They started locking him in the room for the night. But Daniel couldn't sleep those nights. He could swear he heard his brother scream and cry later, even though others said the night was quiet.

When he suggested that Liam paint or draw, as it always relaxed him, the boy would simply sketch a cross inside a circle over and over again until it became uncomfortable to watch.

Daniel was considering calling for an evacuation, but the simple problem was that they didn't have insurance for such an event. If it wasn't an emergency, then they would need to pay for the evacuation out of their own pockets.

Thankfully, the water was coming down slowly, and they should be able to leave normally in around two days.

They were excited at first about being in the old house alone to have some fun. But now it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. The nights in the massive house were unnerving. The girls moved into one big room after Liam's incident. And the guys, although they pretended that they weren't scared, still moved into rooms next to each other to "party together easier."

And none of them would talk to Liam anymore.

Daniel turned in his bed. His thoughts about his younger brother kept him from sleeping. He still couldn't stop thinking about the Ouija board.

But that couldn't be it, right?

It was tiredness and fear. Liam would go back to normal once they returned. He was sure of it.

And then he heard it.

A creak outside his door. The house had started to do that two days ago. It was the weather, they told themselves. But the creaks sounded more and more like footsteps each night.

Daniel turned to the other side.

The creaking reached his bedroom door.

And to his dismay, it stopped.

"The wind," he said to himself.

It was still silent. Not a sound in the whole house.

Daniel slowly opened his eyes to look around the room.

Nothing.

"Hello?!" he shouted toward the door.

Only stillness.

It was the second night that this had happened.

The next morning, everyone was tired, even though no one had drunk any alcohol. They all looked around in the kitchen, trying to put together some sort of breakfast.

"How did you sleep?" Emma asked to break the silence.

"Fine," someone lied.

"Someone was going to the toilet the whole night. Get your bladders under control or get a fucking bucket. People are trying to sleep," barked Chett.

Everyone looked at one another, searching for the guilty party, but everyone looked just as confused.

"Your brother is sleepwalking again," Mateo said to Daniel.

"I locked his room for the night. So no."

"Maybe you didn't lock the door properly."

"What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying–"

"Will you two shut the fuck up?" barked one of the guys.

They turned to him, but immediately saw Liam walk into the kitchen.

The breakfast was awkward. They all ate in silence, with Liam sitting at the end of the table, separated from the others.

He looked awful. They all looked tired, but he had bags under his eyes and a permanent grimace on his face. He was also extremely pale to the point where he looked like a ghost.

"I think I will try to get us some transportation," said Chett.

"How? Your family has a helicopter?" asked Daniel.

"No, but I talked with my brother yesterday. He studies archaeology and has a buddy who is into exploring ruins and shit. He has a crazy car that could go over the flooded field."

Everyone perked up at the news.

"Then call him! Let's get the fuck out of here!"

"My brother said he should be back tomorrow from his trip. And he should be able to get us out."

Everyone nodded. Daniel felt a bit sour that the initially awesome trip ended up becoming… well, this. But he also felt better at the thought of going back home, especially with his brother.

"Hehehe," they heard a raspy laugh, and all looked towards Liam. "You think you're just going to leave me?" he said, looking blankly at the table. "It's your home now."

"Shut the fuck up," Mateo shouted.

"It's your home now. It's your home now. It's your home now." Liam started repeating.

"I think he's still asleep," someone commented, looking at the strange expression on Liam's face.

They were all weirded out.

After that, Daniel led him back into his room to rest as his brother still murmured under his breath.

One more night, he kept telling himself. One more night, and it would all be normal once again.

The night came quicker than they would have liked.

After this, his mother would hopefully sell the house to someone, and he would never see it again. The thought of possibly leaving tomorrow calmed him a bit. It allowed him to fall asleep.

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Until.

Daniel didn't know what woke him up. He wasn't startled awake. Nor was he shaken. The room was silent, so no sound broke his dream.

He sighed. Maybe he could get some proper sleep tomorrow. That would be nice. He turned in his bed.

And froze.

He felt the adrenaline rush through his body, removing any sleepiness as his muscles tensed. There was someone standing at the foot of his bed. The person was wearing a simple sheet with holes cut for eyes.

"What the f… Liam?" Daniel asked.

He remembered he had pranked his brother like that once when they were younger. To this day, he hasn't told him that he saw his sibling piss his bed.

"Not fucking funny, dude," Daniel barked. But the person didn't react. He was standing there, not moving an inch. The fear coursing through Daniel's veins pushed him to anger. "I'm not gonna piss myself like you, so cut it out."

Nothing. The person stood unmoving.

Keeping his eyes on the "ghost," Daniel got up from the bed, ready to teach his brother a lesson. He felt for the small bedside lamp that should be standing on the nightstand, eyes still glued to the silhouette.

But he didn't feel anything.

Someone had taken the lamp.

Daniel quickly turned to see if it had fallen to the ground.

And froze in horror.

He didn't see the lamp anywhere.

But he saw something through the window next to the nightstand.

He saw his younger brother.

He was standing outside, his mouth wide open as if frozen in a silent scream, pointing at the window.

Daniel's window.

Daniel slowly turned to the ghost, which now also turned its head to look toward him.

"G-Get t-the fuck out of here." Daniel's fight-or-flight response kicked in. He took a pillow and hurled it at the thing, ready to run.

But the moment the pillow hit the ghost, the sheet just fell to the ground as if there was nothing there.

Daniel didn't know what to do, so he simply screamed.

He screamed in fear.

It took less than a minute for everyone to get to his room.

"What is going on?" Chett shouted.

"Is everything all right?" the others asked.

They looked everywhere, but there was no one in the room. Daniel tried to explain, but his brother was also nowhere outside the window.

The room was empty.

After some time and a berating from his friends, they all calmed down slightly.

"Maybe we should get a drink and sit downstairs until morning? We'll be leaving tomorrow, you know? Unless anyone here can fall asleep?"

"You know what, I'll take that drink," Daniel said.

They all went to the living room.

But what they saw stopped them in their tracks.

It was Liam. Daniel was sure he had locked his brother's door, but there he was. Worse was what was next to him.

All their phones were in a pile.

Broken.

And Liam stood over them with a meat mallet in one hand and someone's phone in the other.

"We don't need any transportation," Liam said in a raspy, strange voice as he tapped on the device. "We are perfectly fine. Good party. No need to get us. AAAAnd send."

"Wait, that's my phone," Chett stammered. "Give that back!" he shouted and ran at Liam.

This time Daniel was not going to protect his brother. Something was happening. Something bad. And he needed to get out. Daniel closed his eyes, seeing Chett was about to swing.

But then the older boy froze.

"W-what?" Chett stammered. His own hand stopped in front of him, as if unable to move.

Liam smiled and swung the mallet, not at the phone but at Chett's hand instead.

They heard a nasty impact and then a scream of pain as Chett fell to the ground.

"Liam!" shouted Daniel, but his younger brother just started laughing in that strange voice.

They were about to rush forward, but then a violent sound assaulted them. They saw Liam open his mouth, and a wave of fear hit them, accompanied by an otherworldly scream.

Daniel fell to the ground.

The world was spinning. His breathing quickened as the strange fear still paralyzed him. He didn't know what was happening.

Everyone else was also on the ground, seemingly unable to move.

And then he saw it.

Liam was approaching him. The mallet was firmly in his hand.

The expression on Liam's face changed. His body moved weirdly, unnaturally, as if someone was moving his legs one muscle group at a time. But his face showed absolute terror. Tears streamed from his cheeks as he approached his lying brother.

"N-No. Please," he whispered, slowly moving closer.

Daniel tried to raise his hands to protect his face as his younger brother raised the mallet over his own head. But Daniel's limbs refused to listen.

"I-I-I," his brother stammered as his hand awkwardly rose in the air.

Daniel locked eyes with his brother.

Just as the hand was about to come down, Liam shouted, "I'll go with you!"

At that, his body fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

Daniel looked in disbelief.

"Liam!" he shouted.

He felt himself regain control. He crawled over to his brother's limp body. He was still breathing. He seemed to be asleep.

"I'll fucking kill him!" shouted Mateo.

"Wait!" shouted Daniel. "It wasn't him, he is… I think he's in a coma."

They were slowly getting up from the floor, looking at one another. Fear and confusion clouded their faces.

"What was that?" asked Emma.

No one answered. Daniel was looking over his brother's body, putting him in the recovery position in case he vomited, trying to talk and shake him to wake him up, but to no avail.

"We shouldn't have played with that board," said one of the girls.

"Don't be stupid," barked Mateo.

"Then how do you explain that? You felt it too. That fear?" asked Chett, cradling his hand.

"Please tell me one of the phones is still working," groaned someone.

They looked towards the pile of phones on the floor. It didn't look good.

"Mine might be. I had a foldable Samsung," she said, fishing out her phone from the pile. "He smashed the outside screen but didn't unfold it."

She opened her phone and the screen lit up.

"I don't care if it is Chett's brother's friend or the rescue team. We are getting the fuck out of here."

They all agreed.

Daniel looked to them, checking his brother's body. "I'll go with you." Those words were stuck in his head.

Could it be the Ouija board?

Could it actually be a ghost?

He remembered the strange fear, the way his brother spoke and moved.

Go with whom? That was another question. And where was he? If not in his body, then where was his brother?

Guilt flared up inside. He was the one who had talked him into coming. He was the one who wanted him to play with them, which inevitably led to the Ouija board séance.

"Wait," said Daniel. "I don't think we can leave like that."

"What?"

"What if the thing that possessed my brother is after us? What if it tries to kill us if we leave?" he asked. "Remember what it said. It's our home now."

"What, should we move in? Are you stupid? I'm not staying here any minute longer, even if I have to pay for a helicopter ride."

Everyone else nodded.

Daniel was scared. Scared that doctors could not help his brother. Scared that once they left, Liam would just wither in the hospital. He needed to stay. He needed to get his brother back from the ghost.

"Then how do you explain all of this?" he tried to argue. "Do you really want to risk it with something that could make us all collapse in fear with one scream?"

"If there is a ghost here, I'm not staying either," barked Chett.

Daniel looked towards him as an idea came to him.

"Wait. Your brother–"

"Yes, I'm about to call him."

"Your brother studied with some exorcist dude, right? He showed us that video from the exorcism."

Chett opened his eyes wider, realizing what Daniel was proposing.

"We can at least get someone to check if the ghost won't hurt us."

"Have you seen the video? The guy is a scammer. Come on."

"Then we'll get scammed," Daniel was grasping at straws right now. "Come on, or does anyone know some other exorcist or a priest who will come here?"

They stayed silent.

"We can at least try," said Emma.

Thankfully, Chett's brother picked up. After a few phone calls, they managed to get the exorcist's number. They had to go through the girl whose grandmother got the exorcism recorded, but after hours of calling different people, they managed to get the exorcist's contact info.

It was afternoon, with Liam still lying limply on the floor, when they called.

Someone picked up, and Daniel asked into the phone,

"Hello. Samuel? Samuel the exorcist?"