The voices were calling out to Suzanne. She couldn’t be sure if they originated from the abyss or from the hooded figure hovering at the door. But there was nothing soothing about the voices. Every sound that they made sickened her, making her feel as if maggots were crawling over the top of her skull and into her ears. She shook her head furiously but the sensation refused to go away.Focus damnit….“Suzanne….” the voice called out again. It was the same voice that had called out to her from the garden. And the airport. And in her nightmares.The voices were awful. She couldn’t comprehend what they were saying save for the calling of her name but she was pretty sure they were some kind of distorted incantation. All of a sudden, she had an avalanche of dark and alien thoughts. She did not like them, not one bit.She looked over to Tom who stood slightly hunched over, ready to pounce on the figure if need be.

In a flash of blinding light, the bloodied circle from which Suzanne had pulled the dark figure into, exploded, sending a gigantic shock wave throughout the hill on which the mansion stood. It lifted everyone up in the air and for a moment, Tom felt as if he could fly. But he did not land gracefully. He landed on something hard and felt an agonizing pain shoot up his body. For all he knew, he could have broken his hip. Then everything faded to black.He had no idea how long he stayed unconscious but when he opened his eyes next, a smoky wind was blowing in his direction. The mansion was on fire. It had gone up in flames.With great difficulty, he sat up, only to fall back on his back. He looked down and to his horror, he saw that his stomach was bleeding. He had in fact been lying in his own pool of blood.“Stay still,” a female voice said. He looked up, it was the blonde woman. Her skin had miraculously healed. She pricked her finger and allowed her blood to dr