Page 16 of Shadow Running
“Did anything tragic ever happen here?”Penn asked.
Konstantine took a deep breath and let it whistle through his teeth.“Yeah, in fact somethinghorrendoushappened here.My grandfather and mother didn’t know when they bought it, they found out shortly after.This house belonged to a man named Christopher Longworld.He was a wolf shifter.”
Dante stiffened.“You’re not talking abouttheChristopher Longworld?”
Konstantine nodded.“Yes, I am.You know of him?”
“Who is he?”Carson asked.
Dante, pale as white on rice, said, “Longworld was a rogue wolf.He’d been exiled from his Pack, like me, but for good cause.He was harassing several of the women in his Pack, and the Alpha excommunicated him.And you say he livedhere?”
I didn’t like the energy that was spiraling around us.The air felt heavy and dense.
“Longworld bought this house,” Konstantine took up the story.“He bought it in 1958.During the next six years, he went on a killing spree.He raped, tortured, and murdered twelve women and young girls, and hid their remains in the basement.When he brought the thirteenth victim home—she was twelve years old—he didn’t know she was a witch.A prodigy, actually, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.Her name was Riana, and she was extraordinarily powerful.While she couldn’t save herself, with her dying breath she cursed him.”
I stared at my uncle in horror.“What happened?”
“Longworld had a heart attack while burying her in the basement.The cops were on his trail—he’d gotten sloppy—and they traced him to the house.They broke in and found him on the floor, dead.Riana’s corpse was next to him, near a hole in the basement floor.”
I let out a slow breath.“Holy fuck.”
“You can say that again.The cops dug up the entire basement and found twelve more victims.”Konstantine shook his head.“I didn’t know about it till later, not until I was ten years old and heard the neighbors talking about it.But as I said, the ghosts weren’t dangerous…not until my mother died.”
“I wonder what changed,” Carson mused.“Did anything else happen around the time of your mother’s death?”
He thought back.“Yes, actually.The furnace failed a few months before she died, and we had to have it replaced.At the same time, they noticed a couple cracked timbers down in the basement.I hired a contractor to come in and fix them.”
Carson frowned.“Often, repairs and remodels can stir up the psychic energy in a house.”
“I thought about that, actually,” Konstantine said.“I tried to calm down the ghosts, to placate them, but it didn’t work.Over the past few years, the hauntings have gotten worse, and now they’ve reached a level where I’m afraid.”
“What do you do?”I asked.“Work-wise, that is.”
Konstantine shrugged.“I’m a researcher.I’m fascinated with the paranormal, especially having grown up in a haunted house.I write books about famous hauntings.I’ve been thinking about writing a book about the Longworld killings, given I own the house the victims were killed.”
Immediately, my mind went to the idea that Konstantine might be handy in our investigations, but I pushed that thought aside until later.
“Have you ever had the ghosts exorcised?Or did the witch your mother hired just ward and protect the house?”Penn asked.
“The woman said that she could cast protection spells for us, but I remember her telling my mother that the ghosts were entrenched too strongly for her to remove them.She came every six months to renew the warding.”
I turned to Penn.“What do you think?Can the house be cleansed?”
She walked to the center of the room and stretched out her arms.After a moment, she shook her head.“I can’t do it.It’s going to take a more powerful witch than I am to tackle this chore.”As she paused, a flash of light surrounded her, and she shot backwards as though someone had punched her in the stomach.She barely had time to let out a scream before landing on her butt.A sizzle of ozone lingered in the air.
“What the fuck?”She rolled on her side, struggling to get up.Carson raced over and helped her to her feet.She gave him a grateful smile, rubbing her backside.
“Are you all right?”I asked, hurrying over to her side.
“I don’t think anything’s broken, but it felt like it was trying to short-circuit my magic.Oh man,” she said, “I’m going to be bruised for a few days.”
Dante began to prowl around, though I had no idea what he was looking for.He didn’t work with magic, so I wasn’t sure what he thought he might find.
Konstantine pulled out a chair for Penn as Carson helped her back to the table.“Sit down, please.Would you like some tea?”
She shook her head.“Has that happened before?”
“Not exactly, but I’ve had some similar encounters.The other day, something tried to push me down the stairs.I managed to catch myself, and that’s when I decided to call you,” he added.“I could have broken my dang neck.”
