Page 2 of Eldritch

She jerked her hand away.

“Yuck.” She whipped her hand on her nightgown, then wished she hadn’t.

Someone would see it. The horrible snot, or whatever it was. Ick.

“Help me!” The man’s voice. Agonized. Tortured. “Please, please, please! Help me!”

A tingling started along her arms, and her breath came quickly. She hurried. Eager to chase the sensation. It felt good. It felt…she didn’t know. Deep down it was awful and wonderful all at once.

Wonderful. Awful. Terrible. Beautiful.

She must see.

She’d heard female screams before, but this was different. It sounded so odd, and while the female screaming had terrified her, this sound just went…deeper. More horrific.

She didn’t touch the railing again but quickened her steps downward.

At the bottom of the staircase, she made a left. Slowly, she crept toward the door to the place where the sounds echoed. She reached for the doorknob and found it unlocked. She opened the door. There was light enough to see.

She descended. Down. Down. At the bottom of the steps, she saw it. Smelled it. The stench reminded her of a toilet. A bathroom. The screaming had stopped, and so had the begging. She wrinkled her nose.

She reached the bottom of the steps.

Then she saw it.

That the adults were the ones being quiet for once.

Emotions hit her all at once.

Terror.

Repulsion.

Fascination.

Then emotions she hadn’t expected.

Satisfaction.

Contentment.

Pleasure.

She wanted more.

Chapter One

“Wow, look at these woods,” Pauline Lau said as she drove the Alderan Comprehensive Cleaning van down the paved two-lane road. “I didn’t realize Colorado had any forests like this.”

“I didn’t either.” Letisha Baker rode shotgun next to Pauline. Letisha leaned forward to peer through the windshield. “Are you sure you didn’t take a wrong turn at Estes Park and now we’re in a Lord of The Rings movie?”

Pauline threw an exasperated look at Letisha. “If our illustrious boss would buy GPS for the car, we wouldn’t have this problem of maybe getting lost.”

Sitting in the back seat behind Pauline, Sybil Alderan said, “Are you talking about me? You must be talking about me.” Sybil smiled. “When we can afford a new van, then we can get one that has GPS. Until now, we have always been able to navigate our way with this.” Sybil held up her smart phone. She frowned as she looked at the screen. “That is, if this thing wasn’t acting up. The map app is freaking out.”

Letisha laughed. “She’s right. How did anyone find anything before GPS? We’re old school cool. Let me try my phone.”

Sybil shook her head, appreciating her best friend and business partner Letisha’s sense of humor. Sybil breathed in the cool October air flowing into the window she’d cracked open. Sybil perceived a nip in the air, signaling that soon all the beautiful fall colors would disappear, and winter would cover them in pallor.

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