Kourriel's Lodge of Sins
By Metabad
“We’re coming to you live at the site of what was once a cottage owned by one Benjamin Kourriel.” A female news reporter said, looking at the camera in front of her. “Many have claimed that this cottage has been reconstructed, it has been the site of many disappearances since then, but no sooner do we come than we see that it’s just a smoldering wreck.”
The screen cut to a fat man in an orange shirt and jeans being interviewed. “I swear that cottage pops up every time it’s storming outside, and it always gives me the heebie jeebies!” He twiddled his fingers around and shivered. “There’s just something about it…”
It cut to another interview, this time a blonde girl twirling her hair. “It’s like, you want to both go inside it and not go anywhere near it, if that makes sense.” She took a pencil and fidgeted with it in her hands. “I mean, you know, you want to go inside to get to the bottom of it all, curiosity gets the best of you, but then you remember those stories, and...what if you’re like, next, you know?”
“I always wanted to go in there, but whenever I head there it’s just...rubble, a pile of wreckage.” A black haired young man lit up a cigarette while sitting on his porch. “People have called me crazy for thinking it’s still there, but I’ve heard it all, I heard so many stories about that place coming back. So many people have told me so themselves that that place is up and running...and that many people can’t be wrong, right?” He looked at the camera. “...right?”
Pictures of five separate teenagers came up on screen. “One year after this cottage was destroyed in a terrible lightning storm, three teenagers stopped by. Sid Chadwick, aged 17, William Norwood, age 16, and Zeke Mordecai, age 18, since then these three have disappeared without a trace, and a year later, two more teenagers have vanished as well, brothers Jack and Joel Robertson, aged 15 and 16.”
“Sid was a slacker, he was a pothead who dropped out of school early, and he never listened to me.” Sid’s father appeared on screen, a microphone being held up to his face. He was a tall, burly balding man with a thick black beard. “But I can’t say he deserved this. I was always hoping he’d straighten up and fly right.” He looked off to the side. “I’d like to think he would have if he were still here.”
“Ahh, Zeke.” A tall detective in a brown coat with smoothed back brown hair and long eyebrows recounted his time with his son. “He was a real go-getter, a straight-A student. He approached everything in life with a calm, level head and kept his cool even in the toughest situations. I even thought about giving him an internship at my agency, where we’d solve cases together. I was always proud to call him my son” He looked down and sighed. “If anyone got out of there, I’d have expected it to be him...with every new case I get, I keep expecting him to turn up, I keep trying to look for something, anything that’ll give me clues about my boy’s whereabouts...but in my line of work, I know to expect the worst...”
“Will.” A girl chuckled. “Yeah, I know him. Well, not personally, he was a friend of a friend. Still though, you didn’t have to talk to him to know that he was one of those quiet, meek nerdy guys, way too neurotic and nervous for his own good.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Still, he was a smart kid, very intelligent for his age. He repaired my sister’s computer on his own without a guide or anything. You just knew that there was something there with the guy despite his awkwardness.” She looked at the camera. “I always thought he’d be the next Bill Gates, but...well, you know.”
“Joining us for an interview is the brother of the man who owned the cottage, Royce Kourriel.” The camera zoomed out from the anchorwoman, with Royce next to her, she turned to face him. “Nice to have you here, Royce.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, stranger.” Royce ran his fingers along the brim of his fedora and tipped his hat to her.
“Now, is it true that you witnessed all of these young men entering the cottage?” The reporter asked before holding up the microphone to him.
“Yes, I did.” Royce confirmed. “Seemed like a buncha nice blokes, though that Sid fella was a little unhinged.”
“And do you know what happened to them?” The reporter asked.
“Can’t say that I do.” Royce shook his head. “A damn shame they disappeared like that, eh?”
“You have to admit, it is a little suspect that these young men disappeared after arriving at this wreckage and meeting you, all of them claiming that this cottage is still standing tall.”
“I visit the remains of my late brother’s cottage every year.” Royce nodded. “I see your point, but I have nothin’ to hide.” He opened his green jacket, revealing no weapons on him. “I’ve tried to repair the cottage a few times, but I’m a terrible craftsman.”
“I see. Then, can you tell me about your history with your brother?” The reporter asked. “Assuming I’m not stepping on your toes.”
“Certainly.” Royce grinned, stroking the stubble on his chin. “Benji was a good kid, kept to himself, bit of a loner that one, but he meant well. My folks adopted him when he was just a lil squirt, he never quite got along with ‘em, but him I were real close. Heck, aside from his pet snake Abigail I think I was the only one he really considered a friend. I’d visit him often and call whenever I could. I’d regularly keep in touch with him, helping him maintain the cottage until...that day...” He tilted his hat over his eyes.
“Losing a family member would be tragic for anyone.” The news reporter said.
“Indeed.” Royce tipped his hat up. “But I just gotta get by, one day at a time, that’s really all ya can do.”
A crew was seen hoisting something out of the rubble. Royce and the reporter looked over at it. The reporter motioned for the camera to follow them to get a closer look at the object they were pulling out of the remains of the cottage. It was a large, blue coffin. A cold chill filled the air for everyone around it. Murmurs were heard among the crowd.
“That’s...”
“My brother’s final resting place.” Royce muttered.
“This just in, we have recovered Benjamin Kourriel’s coffin out of the rubble.” The reporter stated.
“Probably for the best, considering the condition of this place.” Royce said. “You got any plans on where to take him?”
“We have received word that a volunteer intends to keep him at his ski lodge until burial arrangements can be made.” The reporter said.
“That would be me.” An old man stepped into the frame. The crew loaded the coffin into a hearse.
“And you are?” Royce extended his hand.
“Bernard Wentworth.” The old man shook his hand firmly. “I trust these accommodations are to your liking?”
“Wouldn’t have been my first choice, but as long as my brother’s at peace...” Royce shrugged. “Ah, in for a penny.”
“How do you intend to avoid attention?” The reporter asked.
“Rest assured, I will make sure of it.” Wentworth raised his head proudly. “As it is the middle of summer, my lodge will already be closed off. As soon as the body has been moved, precautions will be made to make sure his resting place is not disturbed.”
“Wrap it up with some caution tape, just to be sure.” Royce said.
“Certainly, and we shall keep any ne’er-do-wells out of there by any means necessary.” Wentworth smiled.
“And there you have it. This has been Channel 8 news. I’m your host, Estelle, signing off.” The Channel 8 news logo came up on screen.
“Turn that shit off.” A teenager with a shaved head, black vest and leather pants walked in and turned off the television.
“Sorry, man, it’s just...freaky what happened to Sid.” A teenager with scraggly brown hair was slouched over on the couch, he looked over his shoulder. “You were gonna deal some stuff to him at the party, weren’t you?”
“What of it?” The bald teen crossed his arms.
“Man, you were gonna scam that guy good, huh Elliot?” The brown haired teen laughed.
“Shut up, Jake.” The shaved headed teen punched him in the arm. “He was my friend, that’s why I don’t want to think about this shit.”
“Okay, sorry, man...” Jake rubbed his shoulder.
“GUYS!” A loud, frantic sounding voice called out through the hallway. “GUYSGUYSGUYS!”
“What is it now, Tom?” Elliot asked as their friend barged into the room. He had long black scraggly hair, a black t-shirt with a skull on it, and jeans. He wore thick black goggles. He was carrying a folder filled with paper.
“Did you guys see the news report?” Tom asked.
“I did.” Jake raised his hand.
“I don’t want to hear it.” Elliot put his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room.
Tom slammed his binder on the table, the contents of it sprawling out all over it. “I’m telling you it all connects! This is exactly what I’ve been saying this whole time!” He scrambled through his littered papers. “See? This is the Bermuda triangle.” He slammed down a crude drawing of a triangle. “What’s this? Oh, look at that, it’s 9/11” He placed down a crude picture of a plane. “And now, our fine friends who have disappeared in the ether.” He placed down a drawing of Sid, Will and Zeke.
“I don’t follow.” Jake shook his head.
“DON’T YOU SEE?!” He placed down another drawing of the cottage. “I’m telling you, this is the source of all of those disappearances, that Kourriel guy’s back and he’s ready for revenge!”
“Okay, the cottage and the Bermuda Triangle I kind of get, but you’re gonna have to explain 9/11 to me.” Jake reached for a beer.
“It’s because the pilots disappeared before crashing into the towers!” Tom yelled.
“What? No.” Jake shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Who would willingly kill themselves like that? No one! It’s obviously the spirit that took over those planes!” Tom rummaged through the splayed out papers. “See? Look, I have a drawing somewhere in here...ah, here we are!” He placed the picture down on top of all the others. “I’ve got one word, two syllables for you. Spi-rit.”
“Why does he have horns and a scaly lizard face?” Jake asked.
“He had a pet snake, obviously he’s a lizard person, they all are.” Tom frantically said.
Jake just rolled his eyes before taking a swig of his beer.
“Why did it take them so long to find Osama? Why were there a bunch of Saddam impersonators? You see? It all ties together, these lizard people are in cahoots and they’re working alongside each other, they have their backs, man!” Tom looked out into the hallway and called out. “Elliot, what do you think?”
“I think you’ve been cooped up in that room for too long!” Elliot yelled back.
“Oh, forget it! Forget you guys!” Tom haphazardly gathered up his papers and walked off. “I’m going to that lodge myself, I’ll get to the bottom of this, I’ll save Elliot’s friends, and then we’ll see who has the last laugh!”
“Dude, you’re out of your mind.” Jake scoffed.
---
Elliot was walking across the sidewalk, he wound up at a parking lot when he saw a red Ford driving by. It parked in between two parking spaces; the window was rolled down and Sid poked his head out.
“Hey, pal.” Elliot grinned when he walked up to Sid.
“Sup?” Sid extended his hand, the two high fived each other and then firmly shook hands. “You got the stuff?”
“Boy, do I?” Elliot chuckled, then reached inside his jacket, took some marijuana and gave it to him.
“Yo, that’s tight.” Sid slapped some dollar bills in his hand. “Keep the change.”
“Awesome, thanks, buddy.” Elliot counted his money, it totaled twenty dollars. “See you at the party tomorrow?”
“Absolutely, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Sid sniffed. “Nothin’s gonna get in my way, man.”
“Great, I’ve got some new stuff that’s gonna knock you off your ass. I saved it just for this occasion. It’s gonna be perfect.”
“God damn, then I gotta be there!” Sid rested his arm against the wheel. “Hey, uhh...” He motioned for him to come closer.
“Yeah?” Elliot leaned against his car, looking into the open window.
“I just want to let you know that, I appreciate all this, man...the discounts, the quality merch.” Sid looked out the window, staring off into space. “And, uhh...” He looked back at his dealer. “Thanks for being my friend.”
“Hey, man, no need to get all mushy.” Elliot brushed him off.
“Nah, look, it’s nothing like that, it’s just...” Sid sighed. “I don’t got much in my life, dude, I’m a dropout, still living with my folks...” He took out a cigarette and lit it. “This shit right here? It’s the only thing I have to look forward to anymore.”
“Well hey, I appreciate that.” Elliot lightly punched his shoulder. “Keep it real, Sid.”
“You too, man.” Sid flicked the ashes in his cigarette and pointed at it. “Your Mary Jane’s going in this next time.” He chortled. “And hey, uh, you mind if I bring some of my friends along?”
“Sure thing. Just...don’t tell them about my merch, whatever you do.” Elliot raised his hands.
“Ah yeah, Zeke’s poppy...I make no promises, man, you know how terrible I am at keeping secrets.”
“Well, I’d rather we not get busted for this.”
“True, true.” Sid nodded. “I’ll do my best to keep my mouth shut.” He snuffed out his cigarette. “Take care, man.”
“Peace out.” With that, Sid drove off. Elliot watching him disappearing off in the distance, this was the last time he met up with his longtime friend and client. Just then however, a thick fog poured into the streets. Elliot felt an overwhelming sense of dread when it seeped in, he felt the overwhelming urge to escape. He began to run as fast as he could, but then looked back. Despite everything inside him telling him not to, he stood his ground. He saw something emerge from the fog and went in for a closer look.
When he went in, what he saw horrified him to his core. It was Sid, completely skinned alive, his jaw and eyes agape, his feet making a disgusting sloshing noise with every step he took, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
“Sid?!” Elliot’s voice cracked.
Sid aggressively grabbed his shoulders. “Don’t go...near him...” He spoke in a raspy, whispered voice, then let out a feral scream right in his face, as if he was unleashing all of his suppressed pain right there.
---
Elliot woke up in a cold sweat; he sprung up from his bed, yelling in fear. The covers next to him rustled a bit and he could hear groaning.
“Elliot, what’s wrong?” A feminine voice mumbled next to him.
“I...I’m sorry, Claire.” Elliot panted, looking at his girlfriend. “It’s that same damn dream every night...it’s always that last time I saw Sid.” He rubbed his index finger and thumb against his greasy forehead. “Then a fog rolls in and I run like hell, I’m never sure why, but...this time I stayed put to see what it was.”
“It’s just a nightmare, don’t put too much stock into it.” Claire pulled up the blanket.
“No, you don’t understand, I went in that fog myself, only to find...”
“Find what?”
“Sid, he was completely skinned alive.” Elliot began to shiver. “That gruesome image...he looked like he was in so much pain, and that scream, God, why did I do that?”
“Shhh...it’s alright, don’t worry.”
“It’s like...he was trying to warn me...” He looked at the doorway of his room. “I think I need to go there...”
“What? No.”
“He told me to stay away, but...I need to figure this out, I need to get to the bottom of this all. I need to know what happened to Sid.”
“You know Tom’s going there for his own crazy reasons.”
“And someone’s gotta bail his ass out of there if he gets in trouble.” Elliot sighed. “Might as well be me.”
“Fine, fine.” Claire tossed the sheets off of her, revealing her long blonde hair. She was wearing pink pajamas. “But if you’re going there, then I’m coming with you. Someone needs to keep all of you boys in check after all.” She nudged his arm. “And I gotta make sure you don’t cheat on me, either.”
“You know I wouldn’t.” Elliot mumbled.
“Uh huh, and how about our talk about you dropping all this dealing stuff?” Claire asked.
“Well, I gotta make money somehow...”
“Elliot...” She tossed the covers off. “What am I gonna do with you?”
---
Late into the next night, the group snuck over to the lodge.
“Thanks for joining me, my friends.” Tom chuckled. “We’ll get to the bottom of all of this yet!”
“I’m not here for that conspiracy BS.” Elliot told him. “I just want to find out what happened to Sid.”
“Yeah, and I’m just keeping an eye on all of you so that things don’t get out of hand.” Claire said, holding Elliot’s hand tightly, her hair was now tied up in a ponytail. She wore a leather jacket and blue jeans.
“I just want to get to skiing early for the winter.” Jake chuckled. “Nothing like beating the lines, huh?”
They looked around the lodge, it was wide and spacious, equipment was stored away for the summer, so they essentially had the whole building to themselves. However, they had to be discreet about it, as Wentworth still maintained the place, returning to it frequently.
Suddenly, a teacup was flung toward Jake’s head, he jumped in place, abruptly shifting to the side, the cup shattering behind him. “The hell was that?!”
“Wasn’t me!” Tom raised his hand.
“Just keep it down, we don’t want to attract any unwanted attention.” Elliot told the others while searching for any clues on Sid’s whereabouts. That’s when they heard the wind picking up outside the window.
“Didn’t the report say it’d be sunny?” Claire crossed her arms, feeling a sudden chill. The wind outside seemed to howl and roar.
“Well, at least we’re inside...” Elliot motioned for the others to follow him. “Follow me, I’m getting nothing here.”
They heard high pitched chuckling from the other room.
“The hell is Tom doing?” Claire asked.
“I dunno, who knows what’s up with that guy?” Jake shrugged.
They went to the center of the lodge, and there, they saw the large blue coffin that contained Kourriel’s corpse. Everyone around it felt a cold chill running up their spines.
“I-I don’t know, guys, I really don’t think this was a good idea.” Claire started shivering.
“Y-yeah, maybe we should go...” Jake was beginning to get second thoughts.
Even Elliot was starting to reconsider this, recalling the gruesome nightmare he had, but he gulped, swallowing his pride. “If we just approach this calmly, we can get through this...and the sooner we get through this, the sooner we get to go home.”
“I hope you’re right about that, man.” Jake muttered. He jumped when he heard shrill screaming behind him and immediately turned around, only to see Tom had entered the room.
“I FOUND YOU AT LAST!” Tom laughed madly and ran over to the coffin, he dug his fingers into the lid and tore it open, only to see the grotesque, rotten body of Kourriel. His arms were crossed, bandages covered his head, only his right eye and mouth were visible. The rest of them nearly puked from the overwhelming stench that invaded the room.
“TOM! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” Elliot shouted.
“Putting an end to all of this, of course!” Tom took a knife from his holster and began stabbing the corpse. “DIE! DIE! DIEEEEE!”
“I think he’s already dead, buddy.” Jake raised an eyebrow, trying to keep a low-key sardonic tone, but clearly perturbed by this behavior.
“Man, that guy has issues.” Claire jumped and looked around. “Guys, I think I hear something!”
Sure enough, they heard footsteps in the distance. “Quick, hide!” Elliot yelled. He darted to the closet, Jake went down and slid underneath the sofa. Claire hid in a locker. The only one who didn’t bother to hide was Tom, who was still stabbing away at Kourriel’s corpse. “Tom! Stop it! You’ll get caught!” Claire peeked through the vent.
“I don’t care, I’m putting an end to all of this right now!” Tom yelled frantically.
“Tom!” Elliot yelled. “If you get caught, the ghost will get you!”
“GYAH! You’re right!” Tom ran off.
The entire place fell quiet when the footsteps got closer and closer. The door opened, revealing Wentworth. He was a tall, proud, old man. He had white hair that was combed back at the bottom, a blue blazer and slacks, he wore fancy black dress shoes. He walked into the room and saw Kourriel’s body, completely exposed.
“The hell?” He lifted the lid and closed the coffin.
“Shit, totally forgot...” Elliot muttered under his breath.
Wentworth raised his eyebrow and looked around. “If any ne’er-do-wells are here, you had better come out of hiding if you know what’s good for you.” He furrowed his narrow, thin eyebrows, he crossed one arm behind his back, the other using his cane to support himself as he paced around the room. “Come on now, I’m getting up there in my years, don’t keep an old codger like me waiting.” He grumbled, he began to tap his cane against the wall, inching closer and closer to Claire’s locker until he impacted it, making a loud metallic clanging noise, he placed his cane down near the couch and felt around with it. He inched closer to the closet, Elliot was sweating bullets. Wentworth sniffed the air and grumbled a bit, he had his hand on the knob and started to turn it when the sound of a door opening was heard.
“Bern, mate, I need to have a lil’ chat with ya.” A deep, raspy voice with an Australian accent was heard.
“Not now, Royce, someone tampered with your brother’s final resting place.” Wentworth responded.
“Hmm...” Royce ran his gloved finger along the lid of the coffin. “Well, whoever did it, they’ll be taken care of. In the meantime, I need to talk to ya, this can’t wait.”
“Hmph, very well...” Wentworth glared around the room and walked out with Royce. Elliot breathed a sigh of relief. Once the coast was clear, they all got out of their hiding spots, coming back together.
“This was a huge mistake, guys, let’s just get out of here before we get into anymore trouble.” Claire said as she caught her breath, she ran to the door and opened it, when she saw a pile of snow falling into the room. “WHAT THE HELL?!”
“What’s wrong?” Tom popped up from the other room.
“What’s wrong?! What’s wrong?! I’ll tell you what’s wrong!” Claire opened the door wide, nothing but snow could be seen. “We’re snowed in, in the middle of summer!”
“No fuckin’ way...” Elliot couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Alright, early skiing!” Jake yelled excitedly.
“How are we going to get out of here?!” Claire asked frantically.
“Oh, oh yeah...” Jake scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
“You don’t think...” Tom looked across the hallway into the other room, peering directly at the coffin.
“Whatever the case, we’ll rest here for the night.” Elliot sighed.
“Oh yeah, with an old guy and an Aussie after us, great plan.” Jake sardonically gave an A-OK handsign.
“I don’t like it either, but what other choice do we have?” Elliot looked at him.
“We’ll just have to make due with what we’ve got.” Claire sighed. They all rummaged around, eventually finding rooms to hide in and sleep.
“Can’t sleep without a good smoke...” Jake lit up a bunt of marijuana and started to smoke it. “Glad I snagged this off of Eliott’s stash...” He began to doze off, the cigarette hanging limply out of his mouth.
Jake looked around in his dream, and he found himself in another dimension. The colours continuously shifted from red to blue and back again as he flew through the void. He heard music in the background and started singing along with it. “Wild thing, you make my heart sing, you make everything groovy, wild thing...wild thing, I think I love you.” As he progressed further and further he saw various things, a gorilla shaking in a cage, a snowy backyard, a musky, dark basement. Suddenly, the gorilla began yelling. Jake had to cover his ears, the yells were getting more and more bloodcurdling and intense until they were outright overpowering, the sound echoing around him, practically bursting his eardrums. He soon saw a black specter forming in front of him; the ghost leered at him with his yellow eyes, which quickly glowed red.
“Having a bad trip?” The spirit spoke to him in a demonic, echoed voice. Jake didn’t know what was going on, he frantically nodded, then begin to shake. “Then come on...” The ghost vanished and reappeared behind him. “Let’s fly...” The undead being grabbed him from underneath his arms. Jake could feel him lifting him up in the air. “Come fly with me, fly!” The screaming seemed to mix in with the music around him, getting slower and more distorted. Jake could see a rift in the dimension he was traversing, and a multitude of colours invaded his vision. They squirmed and squiggled around. Jake laughed as he waved his hands through the colours, but he soon realized that something didn’t feel right. As if subconsciously realizing this, he snapped awake, only to see he was actually flying above the lodge, he looked at the chimney, then at his own body covered in soot.
“Wh-what the hell is happening?!” Jake frantically shouted, he looked up and saw the same spirit from his dreams lifting him up, the demonic specter seemed to mockingly wave at him, his fearsome claws moving so casually, he put on a twisted grin as he let go of the man, who yelled for his life as he went plummeting to the ground. He landed with a loud THUD, breaking every bone in his body, his lungs were ruptured and he was killed instantly. This noise reverberated throughout the lodge, everyone heard it, but no one could bring themselves to emerge from their hiding spot. Wentworth was woken up by this; he peered out the window only to see the dead teenager by his front porch. He opened the door, noticing that most of the snow had melted.
“What happened here?” Wentworth muttered underneath his breath.
“Don’t you be worryin’ about that, mate.” Royce stomped his large boot down on the ground. “I’ll be takin’ care o’ that if ya don’t moind.”
“Hmm...” Wentworth furrowed his brow as Royce hoisted the corpse above his shoulder.
“Just takin’ care o’ business, that’s all.” The green jacketed fedora wearing man grinned. “It seems like ya got some trespassers in your wake, not to worry, though, a certain someone’s got it all under control.” He winked at him.
“I do quite wish this ‘certain someone’ would be less noisy about this whole ordeal.” Wentworth scowled at him.
“Eh, it is what it is.” Royce shrugged. “Now, if you’ll excuse me...” He casually walked off, lugging the corpse with him. “It’s a long way, to Tipperary, it’s a long way, to go.” He began singing to himself. Wentworth just shook his head and went back inside.
Claire peered out the window, catching a glimpse of Royce carrying off the body. “No way...Jake’s dead...”
---
About a week had passed with little fanfare, the teenagers continuously hiding from Wentworth, Royce, and unbeknownst to them, the dreaded Kourriel. Most of them had brought rations, but they were starting to run out. Tom in particular was the first to run out, and he was starving, he clutched his stomach in pain whenever it growled. He looked around, frantically searching for something to eat, stumbling around the lodge. At this point, he didn’t care if he was caught; he just needed something to settle his stomach. And that was when he had spotted it, and had gotten an insane idea.
Kourriel’s coffin.
Would he? Would he dare do that?
Tom grinned, if anyone was crazy enough to do it, it was certainly him. He pulled at his goggles and snapped them against his face before prying the coffin open. He dragged the corpse out, bringing it to an indoor cafeteria, then slumped it over on a table.
“You thought you got us, didn’t you?” Tom chuckled while pointing at the corpse’s face. He wagged his finger. “Tut tut tut, I know it’s you...you killed Jake, you caused this snowstorm, I bet you lived in the Bermuda Triangle, made all those planes disappear, you caused 9/11, helped Saddam Hussein hide for as long as he did, and then you killed our old friends...what’s more, you got away with it, and thought you could do it all over again with no consequences.” Tom bit his lip as he took out a knife and began to carve it in Kourriel’s body. “But little did you know that they will never be the same again.” He took a good look at his face, noticing the rough texture and the rotten green skin. “I knew it...you do look like a lizard man.” tore the flesh from the corpse and began to eat. “Mmmm...he was right...it tastes like pork...but stronger...” He tore chunks of meat and flesh from it and violently, savagely continued eating away, his mouth getting dry as he did so, when suddenly, he saw Royce slamming his gloved hand against the table.
“Now just what the hell are ya’ doin’, mate?” Royce asked. Tom jumped and fell back, quickly scrambling to regain his balance.
“Y-you!” Tom frantically pointed at him. “I know what you’re trying to do, you’re in cahoots with your brother, you’re trying to pick us off one by one!”
“Oh, stranger, c’mon now...” Royce crossed his arms and shook his head, his shoulder-length dirty blonde hair flapping around. “Ya desecrate my brother’s resting place, then ya hurl random accusations my way?” He pointed at the side of his fedora. “You’re outta your gourd.”
“I know you’re involved with this, you saw all of my friends die! I saw the news report! Don’t think I didn’t!” Tom’s voice got more crazed by the second.
“I just don’t get why you risk gettin’ worms like that...” Royce pointed back. “Y’know, there’s an Outback Steakhouse just five miles down, it has $10.99 steak, ya can’t beat that!”
“You know as well as I do that this place is blocked off!” Tom took out his drawing of Kourriel. “Your brother made it snow, he can’t fool me!”
“Stranger, stranger...tsk tsk tsk.” Royce tilted his head. “My bro ain’t responsible for global warmin’. It’s always crazy schizophrenic weather out there...err, no offense...”
Tom clutched his stomach, starting to feel sick.
“Oh, lemme help ya out with that.” Royce drew a machete; he ran up to Tom and stabbed into his stomach. He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. “Mate, we ain’t got no room for you.” He whispered into his ear as he twisted the blade inside him before pulling it out. He then slashed across his neck, making him fall to his knees, bleeding to death until he fell face first in a pool of his own blood. Royce whistled as he tossed the machete up in the air and caught it by the handle a few times. “Looks like meat’s back on the menu.” He glanced at Ben’s corpse. “But first things first…” He hoisted the body over his shoulder. “Sorry that happened, bro. Don’t worry, I got your back.” He glanced back at Tom’s body. “As for ol’ Tommy boy ovah theah...his lil’ pals aren’t gonna know what hit ‘em.”
---
The next day, Elliot and Claire were making out by the window. They felt each other up, kissing one another passionately. Suddenly, a clawed hand sprung up from behind her, Claire felt this extra hand touching her backside, but she looked back and saw nothing there. She paused for a moment, and then went back to smooching her boyfriend.
Suddenly, Royce walked by them and cleared his throat, he motioned them over. “Over here, strangers.” He kept his voice to a low whisper.
“Wait...what?” Elliot looked off to the right.
“Wasn’t that the guy in the news report?” Claire asked. They saw him heading to the Cafeteria.
“Well, whatever the case, I am pretty hungry...” Elliot rubbed his stomach and got up, heading to the cafeteria. “Let’s hope they have something.”
Claire bit her lip, unsure if she should trust him, she opened the door and a pile of snow fell into the entrance way. “I guess I have no choice...” She sighed and hesitantly followed them.
In the Cafeteria, Royce was behind the counter, stirring up some meat in a pot.
“What do you have cooking?” Elliot sniffed the air.
“Some ol’ sloppy joes for ya, mates.” Royce grinned.
“Sweet, how much does it cost?” Elliot asked.
“Oh, it’s on the house. One guy to anothah.” Royce glanced at him, then at Claire. “Along with your ol’ Sheila there.” He winked at her. Claire winced at this.
“Awesome, can’t even begin to tell you how hungry I am.” Elliot rubbed his stomach.
“Got the munchies, stranger? No worries, it’s all ready for the both o’ ya.” Royce placed the meat in between two buns, and then slid two over to Elliot and Claire.
“Thanks, man!” Elliot took his burger and started eating. Claire looked at her burger, looking very concerned.
“Eat up, Sheila, it’s to die for.” Royce grinned at her.
“N-no, thank you...I’m not hungry.” She pushed the plate away.
“Suit yourself.” Royce took another burger and dug in.
“Hey, where’s Tom?” Elliot looked around.
“I have a feelin’ he’ll be comin’ in through another end about thirty minutes from now.” Royce chuckled.
“What do you mean by that?” Elliot asked.
“Oh, he’s around here somewhere, just gotta look around carefully.” Royce kicked his feet up on the table.
“I don’t follow...” Elliot paused.
“Well, lemme put it this way...perhaps the real Tommy boy was inside us all along.” Royce pat his stomach.
“...You’re weird.” Elliot shook his head.
“This meat smells funny.” Claire scrunched her nose.
“Don’t knock it till ya’ tried it.” Royce checked his watch. “Oh, would ya look at the time? I best be goin’.” Royce got up from his chair. “Gotta run.”
“Not getting far in this place.” Elliot said. “Still, thanks again for the meal, take care.”
“No problem at all, anytime you need one, just come to me.” Royce pointed at himself confidently. He took Claire’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Until then, I bid you adieu.”
Claire pulled her hand away with a disgusted look on her face.
“Ah, you’re no fun.” Royce muttered while walking off, he spit the meat out in a trashcan when no one was looking.
---
Claire was in her room, brushing her hair and getting ready for bed. She hadn’t seen Wentworth for a while, even still, she didn’t like the place at all. Although she was still hungry, she refused to eat the food. That Royce guy gave her the creeps. Suddenly, she felt something touched her back just like before, she spun around to see who it was, but saw no one there. She shuddered a bit, only to turn around and see a dark spectre floating behind her. She screamed as she dropped the brush.
“Wh-what the hell are you?!” She yelled.
“Do not be afraid, my dear...” The spirit stroked his claws across her hair. “I am Kourriel...Benjamin Kourriel. I see you met my brother, he’s a nice man, he has always been good to me, and he’ll be good to you. We won’t harm you.”
Although she didn’t see anything in the real world, she felt this thing touching her. “Stop it, go away, don’t touch me!”
“Oh, don’t be like that.” He started stroking her milky white skin. “It has been so long since I felt the soft, tender, gentle touch of a woman...” He rubbed her hand. Claire tried to pull away.
“I SAID DON’T TOUCH ME!” She shrieked.
Kourriel grinned as he wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. “It gets lonely in the afterlife...I have been so very alone...” He hugged her tightly.
“I’m already taken, you creep!” Claire yelled.
“Not for long...” Kourriel ran his claw down her shirt, beginning to tear it. “He will be taken care of.”
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Claire elbowed him and swung her fist at where his reflection was. She felt nothing, but when she looked in the mirror, he was gone. She breathed heavily, her hair unkempt, her shirt was torn. She sat down on the bed, then lay down and cried. She wanted nothing more than to get out of there.
---
Wentworth paced around in his office, Royce knocked on his door and opened it.
“Wentworth, we’ve got trouble.” Royce said.
“I know...” Wentworth grumbled. “Not only have these ne’er-do-wells broken into my lodge, but they have been stuck here for some time.” He groaned. “I can’t even call the cops on them. Considering...” He looked out the window at the snowstorm.
“S’alright, we’re takin’ care of ‘em.” Royce told him. “Caught one of them desecrating my brother’s corpse, fortunately he paid the price for that, got a bit of a taste of his own medicine.” He laughed a bit to himself. “Or rather, his pals got a taste of him, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.”
“It’s terrible that that happened, though I can’t say I agree with those methods.” Wentworth cupped his hands together.
“Don’t worry about it.” Royce patted his back. “We’ll keep one of ‘em around, at least.”
“Hrmph.” Wentworth got out a stack of paper, took out a white feather, dipped it in black ink and began writing. “Leave me be...”
“Whatever floats your boat, mate.” Royce grinned at him and walked out.
Wentworth took out a necklace with a cross at the end of it and put it around his neck. “Forgive me...”
---
Kourriel flew through the hallways, the air around him going to a cold chill, he glided into the main hall and found his corpse in his coffin.
“It’s finally time...” His voice said in a demonic rumble, he inched his claws closer to his body, and his hand phased through his chest. He seemed to sink into his corpse, his head going through his own abdomen until he completely went inside his old body. He opened his exposed, lacerated yellow eye, the other hidden behind the bandages wrapped around his head, cracking noises were heard as he turned his head, then stretched his arms, bits of his rotten flesh falling to the floor.
“It has been far, far too long...” Kourriel grinned as he raised his hand, a chainsaw appearing on the table across from him. “Now...” He raised it with his right hand. “Time to do some damage...”
---
Elliot was feeling sick, he was vomiting in the sink, practically puking his guts out. Claire patted him on the back. “Let it all out, Elliot, let it all out.”
“I-I think there was something in that meat...I...I don’t feel good at all.” He coughed loudly, practically gagging. “Damn it...I just wanted to find out what happened to Sid...what did I do to deserve all this?”
Claire didn’t get enough time to answer that when she heard the revving of a chainsaw, loud screeching noises were heard and they saw it bursting through the door before it was kicked apart. There, they saw Kourriel’s corpse, his arm wielding a chainsaw, his bandaged up head, his eye was leering at them, but his mouth was contorted in a twisted grin, his remaining rotten teeth showing.
“Hello there, beautiful...it seems your boyfriend is feeling under the weather, luckily I’m here to sweep you off your feet...” Kourriel licked his dry, rotten lips.
Claire backed up against the wall, her mouth agape, she was horrified at this sight, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her whole body shook as she turned to look at Elliot. “Run...” She mouthed to him.
Elliot groaned as he clutched his stomach, then grabbed Claire’s hand and began to run past Kourriel. “I’m not leaving without you!”
“YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!” Kourriel pursued them while revving up his chainsaw.
Elliot darted through the halls, dodging all sorts of objects that began to fly at him. Just then, Royce leapt out at them. “ROYCE IS BACK!”
The two stopped in their tracks. “Royce! You have to help us!” Claire yelled. “My boyfriend...he-he’s sick...”
“Mmmm...nah.” Royce shook his head.
“What?!” Claire shouted in disbelief.
“Y-you knew this would happen...” Elliot glared at him. “You set us all up...why?”
“When someone tells ya not to do somethin’, and ya do it anyway, ya kinda brought it all on yourself, stranger.” He slowly approached him, then drew his machete from inside his jacket. “But don’t worry, I’ll reunite you with your ol’ pal, just as ya wanted.”
Elliot had had enough, he grabbed onto Royce’s wrists and the two began pushing against each other. “What happened to him?! I know you know! What happened to Sid?”
“Stranger, why tell you when my brother can show you?” Royce asked. Elliot jumped, he looked back and saw that Kourriel had caught up with them, the living corpse grabbed the side of his head with his free hand, which began to glow black. From that, Elliot got to see everything that Sid went through in quick flashes, up until his death at Kourriel’s hands. He glared at the undead creature.
“YOU BASTARD!” Elliot yelled.
“Guilty as charged.” Kourriel spat before laughing, he swung his chainsaw at him, which Elliot quickly dodged.
“Go on without me, Elliot, I’ll be okay, run!” Claire shouted.
Elliot hesitated, then nodded and ran off. The two brothers were now after him. Claire darted the other way.
When Royce caught up with him, the Aussie pounced on top of Elliot, the two began wrestling. “I have...one question...” Elliot strained himself to say, while struggling against him. “How the hell did you survive?”
“Being Kourriel’s brother has its perks, stranger.” Royce whistled through his teeth while laughing, he brought the machete closer to Elliot’s face. “Now die...”
Elliot gripped his hand with both hands, Royce placed his hand over his and pushed against them, the machete getting closer to Eliott’s neck, then Eliott pushed back, inching it closer to Royce’s face, they grunted, their hands shaking as they kept pushing the machete closer to each other. Things seemed evenly matched for a while, until Elliot grabbed onto the part of Royce’s chest that originally got stabbed by Sid. Royce winced in pain, loosening his grip, allowing Elliot to get a good grip on his hands as he pushed the machete toward Royce’s face. It got closer and closer, his hand shaking, trying to hold it in place until he yelled in pain as he jerked back and covered his face, Elliot got up, and when Royce lurched forward to look at him, the machete was sticking right out of his cheek.
“Cheeky bastard...” Royce grabbed the machete and pulled it out in one swift movement. His coat opened a bit, revealing the bloody wound on his chest. Eliott wasn’t sure if that was there the entire time, or if that just appeared there now, but in any case he was thankful it helped him out. He continued to run out of there.
“Brother! Are you alright?” Kourriel walked alongside Royce.
“Yeh, I’m fine, all things considered. Don’t worry ‘bout me.” Royce touched the laceration on his face. “He’s made it personal now; nobody messes with my face and lives.” The Kourriel Brothers continued pursuing Elliot.
“Please be safe, Claire, please be safe.” Elliot looked back as Royce and Kourriel gained up on him. He tripped and fell over. Royce raised the machete over his head and swung it down at him. Elliot quickly rolled out of the way, then used his leg to trip him.
As Royce slowly got up, Elliot grabbed onto his face, sinking his fingers into his wound, and in one swift movement he tore his entire face off. Royce let out a bloodcurdling scream as muscles and tendon were exposed; he grabbed onto his red, bleeding face and continued howling in pain as he ran off.
“BROTHER!” Kourriel reached out to him as he ran and disappeared into the distance. He glared at Elliot. “You’ll pay for that...”
“And you’ll pay for killing my best friend!” Elliot yelled. “Your brother got off easy compared to him!”
Kourriel growled, his chainsaw made a loud roar, and he yelled as he leapt at him.
---
Wentworth was writing on some paper the old fashioned way, scraping the end of his inked feather against the paper. Suddenly, Claire burst through the door. Wentworth calmly looked up at her. She stopped to catch her breath.
“Please, sir...I...” Claire tried speaking, but was too winded.
Wentworth raised an eyebrow. “Young lady, you do realize of course that you are trespassing on private property.”
“I-I know, I’m sorry...most of my friends are dead...one of them didn’t have such good intentions when coming here, but my boyfriend and I did nothing wrong.” Claire brushed her blonde bangs out of her eyes. “I mean...he’s dealt drugs before, but he’s only done it to get by, honest...”
“Out with it.” Wentworth impatiently stated.
“Please, you have to help us.”
“And why should I?” Wentworth stood up from his chair, only to see that Claire was shaking, looking fearful for her life. He realized the poor girl must have been traumatized, and his demeanour certainly wasn’t helping. Claire was just weeping. Wentworth sighed and walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Come, I’ll get you a nice, warm drink.”
He led her to the sofa and the two sat down, he placed a blanket over her shoulders to help her calm her nerves. He got her hot cocoa with marshmallows and she nodded at him.
“Th-thank you...” She took small sips from her cup.
“Now, why don’t you explain to me what’s going on?”
“Well...” From there, she told him what brought them here, and everything that happened to them since coming here.
“I see...things certainly have been strange.” Wentworth cupped his hands together. “I thought I would just keep that coffin in here for a few days, but it’s been a week...no matter what graveyard I call, no one seems to want to take his body in, it seems they believe in all that superstition.”
“Considering everything I’ve been through, I fully believe it.” Claire’s hand holding the cocoa started shaking until Wentworth gripped it.
“Easy does it.” He took it from her and gently placed it on the table.
“Sorry, I-I just want to get out of here...I’ll never return here again, I promise.”
“Now what good would that be for my business?” Wentworth handed her two tickets to his ski lodge.
“Y-you...” Claire looked at it in surprise.
“Here, it’s yours, and if you wish to bring your boyfriend along during the winter, go right ahead.” Wentworth told her.
“If he even survives this...” Claire teared up.
“Come with me, I’ll do my best to get you both out of here.” Wentworth got up and walked to the doorway, he glanced at her. “Well, come along now, we don’t have all day.” Claire nodded, sniffled, then got up and followed him.
---
Kourriel stalked Elliot throughout the lodge, until he got to the lounge, he saw a few chairs blocking the entrance and a lit fireplace there. The zombie laughed maniacally as he revved his chainsaw and cut through these chairs, cutting them to shreds.
“Come out come out wherever you are!” Kourriel taunted and grinned. Elliot was hiding in the closet, he tried to keep his breathing quiet, but the closer Kourriel’s corpse got, the stronger the stench became, and the worse his stomach hurt, he nearly gagged at the overwhelming sensation of it all, and it only got stronger and stronger as he heard Kourriel’s footsteps get closer and closer. He couldn’t take it anymore, he burst out of the closet and ran past him, but Kourriel grabbed him by the neck before he could get any further.
“THERE YOU ARE!” Kourriel shouted.
---
Wentworth tried to dig them out of the avalanche with a shovel; he was digging through the snow burying the entrance. Suddenly, Claire heard yelling from across the hallway.
“That sounded like Elliot! I’ll go check it out!” Claire exclaimed as she ran through the hall, she continued running until she got to the lounge, she saw that Kourriel had Elliot by the neck, he was holding him hostage.
“C-Claire! Get out now, you have to leave me here!” Elliot reached out.
“No, Elliot! I can’t go on without you!” Claire reached back.
“Oh, Claire...such a lovely name...Claire...Claire...” Kourriel closed his visible eye.
“Let him go, you freak!” Claire shouted angrily.
“I don’t think I will, my lovely Claire...unless you agree to be with me...then perhaps I could arrange something.” Kourriel smirked.
“I never will! Even if you weren’t dead, you’d still be a creep!” Claire leered at him.
“Oh, that really hurts, just because I was socially awkward in life...” Kourriel’s face contorted into a decrepit scowl. “Very well, if that’s your choice.” He quickly let go of Elliot, he tried running back to his lover, but Kourriel let out a feral shout, his tongue hung out as he pounced at Elliot like a wild animal, he swung his chainsaw in a downward motion, everything seemed to go in slow motion as he violently bisected Elliot in half.
“NOOO!” Claire yelled and screamed in terror, she looked wide eyed at Kourriel. “You killed him, you bastard!”
“He served his purpose...I told him what happened to his dear old friend in my own way...and now, they’re reunited...you should be happy for him.” Kourriel pinned her down and licked her face, maggots falling on her body. “Now, we are alone...you have no choice but to be with me.”
“I’D RATHER DIE!” Claire kicked him in the abdomen, making Kourriel stumble back. Clare got up and tackled him, she just wailed on him, feeling his soft, brittle bones perish into dust underneath her fists. He kicked her off, then lunged at her, but she grabbed his shoulders and tossed him aside, he stumbled and fell into the fireplace, letting out a loud roar as his corpse began to burn. Smoke emitted from his burning body, the smoke soon turned black and formed Kourriel’s spirit in its place.
“Great...now what am I going to do?” Claire whispered frantically to herself as she looked at Elliot’s remains. “I’m sorry, Elliot...” She teared up as she turned around and ran for her life, the cursed spectre pursuing her.
---
Claire continued running up the stairs, tons of objects were thrown right at her, including a ski pole, which stabbed into her thigh. She yelled in pain, but continued running, she didn’t even know where she was going, nor did she care as long as it was away from him. She saw Kourriel appear on the upper floor, she turned around and ran back down. She ran to the entrance, but then a large hand formed from snow attempted to grab her, she yelled and turned around. She headed for Wentworth’s office, it seemed she was cornered; she had nowhere left to run.
“You’re all mine, beautiful...” Kourriel loomed through the room.
“Leave me alone...” Claire uttered, feeling defeated.
Kourriel clasped his clawed hand over her soft hand. “Come with me to hell!” He reached his other hand out and splayed his fingers outward, a hole opened up in the ground, it was glowing red and flame burst out of it, a stairway formed at the edge of the hole, and Kourriel began to lead her to it.
“No, no, please...no more...” Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
“Come with me, my lovely Claire...it’s time...to go...” He began to descend down the stairs with her, the fires behind him raging, the inferno glowing brighter and brighter.
“That’s quite enough.” Wentworth entered the room.
Kourriel cackled madly as the old man entered the room. “And just what are you going to do?” He then saw the light glistening off of the silver crucifix at the end of Wentworth’s necklace. “Wait...no...”
Wentworth raised the crucifix to him, Kourriel began to back away. “By the father, the son, and the holy ghost...”
Kourriel shielded his face. “You can’t do this to me!”
Wentworth gripped Claire’s hand and hoisted her out of there, once her feet touched the ground she ran and hid behind him. “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.” The snow outside began to disintegrate as Wentworth recited the Lord’s Prayer.
“In nomine penatris, et filie, et spiritu sanctus!” Wentworth took out some holy water and flicked it at Kourriel, who began screaming and reeling back, shielding his face with his black claws, the water paining him, the hole above him began to close.
“Father, hear my prayer.” Wentworth folded his hands together. “Lord, hear my prayer!” He closed his eyes. “Let us pray...the lord is my shepherd, I SHALL NOT WANT!”
Kourriel tried reaching over to the two.
“Our father, thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen...” Wentworth opened his eyes.
The hole swirled around, Kourriel continued to reach out, trying to grab either one of them, Claire ran over to the window and opened the blinds.
“LET THERE BE LIGHT!” She shouted, the sun shone down on him, Kourriel began screaming in pain as his ghostly body began disintegrating, he clutched onto the sides of his head, then desperately tried reaching out to her, but all that reached out was the long, black claw of his index finger. The hell hole closed over it, and the claw dissipated into black smoke, trapping Kourriel in hell for good. The threat was over.
“Kourriel is back where he belongs, for all the sins he has committed.” Wentworth sighed in relief. Claire hugged him and cried on his shoulder. Wentworth could only return the hug and pat her on the back to comfort her. “Shhh...It’s over, it’s finally over...”
---
Outside, the lodge was taped off with yellow tape, the coroner retrieved the dead bodies, zipped them up in body bags and wheeled them off. Sirens were blaring as police investigated the place. Royce could not be found. Claire and Wentworth were questioned a bit, and did their best to recount what had happened to them. They weren’t sure if Royce perished, vanished or got away. Claire was clearly shaken up, so Wentworth stepped outside with her, a blanket wrapped around her, holding a cup of fresh hot cocoa. They sat down by the curb, and she took slow, small sips of her drink.
“Will you be alright, Claire?” Wentworth asked, as if a father was concerned for his daughter.
“I don’t know...so much has changed in such a short time.” Claire was visibly shaken.
Wentworth sighed and patted her back. “It’s alright, it’s a lot to get over...just know that you did your best in this crazy situation, you’ve survived, and you’ve come out stronger for it.” He looked her in the eyes.
“But my friends, they’re all gone...my boyfriend...I told them I’d keep them in check...I bet you they’d hate me if they saw me now.”
“Nonsense. You did your best for them. I’m sure they’re just happy you’ve survived. You get to carry on, and live on in their memory.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Just remember, they’re never truly dead as long as you remember them. Keep your fond memories of them close to you, and they will never truly die.” He sighed as he touched his chest. “Yes, it is hard now...all you can do is take this one day at a time, it will hurt for a while, the pain in a sense never truly goes away...but over time, you will look back on the good moments with them, you will smile and laugh once more, and at last you will finally be able to move forward.” He patted her shoulder. “Never forget them, but do not dwell on their deaths for too long, there is nothing you could have done differently.”
“Alright, I-I...I’ll try...thank you.” Claire smiled at him.
Wentworth smiled back. “If you need anything, come and get me, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Okay, sir...and thank you once again, for everything.” Claire sipped her cocoa. “You’re not such a bad guy after all.”
“No, I suppose not, but I have my moments.” Wentworth used his cane to hoist himself up.
“Nah, you might appear like an old grump, but you do have some good inside you.” Claire chuckled.
“Perhaps I do.” Wentworth laughed a little as well, rubbing the silver crucifix in between his fingers. “I’ll be in my quarters if you need me.” Claire nodded, then got up and sat down in an open ambulance, continuing to sip her cocoa. Wentworth walked back into the lodge, heading for his office, and then pulled up his chair and sat down. He took out his quill and ink, and resumed writing.
“And thus, the old man vanquished the spirit, lifting his curse, and saving the lone survivor.” Wentworth spoke out loud as he wrote. “The end.” He grinned as he pocketed his quill. Over time, he got his story published, getting his creative spark back and finally getting over his writer’s block. On the back, the book was dedicated to the memories of Elliot, Tom, Jake and Benjamin.
The screen cut to a fat man in an orange shirt and jeans being interviewed. “I swear that cottage pops up every time it’s storming outside, and it always gives me the heebie jeebies!” He twiddled his fingers around and shivered. “There’s just something about it…”
It cut to another interview, this time a blonde girl twirling her hair. “It’s like, you want to both go inside it and not go anywhere near it, if that makes sense.” She took a pencil and fidgeted with it in her hands. “I mean, you know, you want to go inside to get to the bottom of it all, curiosity gets the best of you, but then you remember those stories, and...what if you’re like, next, you know?”
“I always wanted to go in there, but whenever I head there it’s just...rubble, a pile of wreckage.” A black haired young man lit up a cigarette while sitting on his porch. “People have called me crazy for thinking it’s still there, but I’ve heard it all, I heard so many stories about that place coming back. So many people have told me so themselves that that place is up and running...and that many people can’t be wrong, right?” He looked at the camera. “...right?”
Pictures of five separate teenagers came up on screen. “One year after this cottage was destroyed in a terrible lightning storm, three teenagers stopped by. Sid Chadwick, aged 17, William Norwood, age 16, and Zeke Mordecai, age 18, since then these three have disappeared without a trace, and a year later, two more teenagers have vanished as well, brothers Jack and Joel Robertson, aged 15 and 16.”
“Sid was a slacker, he was a pothead who dropped out of school early, and he never listened to me.” Sid’s father appeared on screen, a microphone being held up to his face. He was a tall, burly balding man with a thick black beard. “But I can’t say he deserved this. I was always hoping he’d straighten up and fly right.” He looked off to the side. “I’d like to think he would have if he were still here.”
“Ahh, Zeke.” A tall detective in a brown coat with smoothed back brown hair and long eyebrows recounted his time with his son. “He was a real go-getter, a straight-A student. He approached everything in life with a calm, level head and kept his cool even in the toughest situations. I even thought about giving him an internship at my agency, where we’d solve cases together. I was always proud to call him my son” He looked down and sighed. “If anyone got out of there, I’d have expected it to be him...with every new case I get, I keep expecting him to turn up, I keep trying to look for something, anything that’ll give me clues about my boy’s whereabouts...but in my line of work, I know to expect the worst...”
“Will.” A girl chuckled. “Yeah, I know him. Well, not personally, he was a friend of a friend. Still though, you didn’t have to talk to him to know that he was one of those quiet, meek nerdy guys, way too neurotic and nervous for his own good.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Still, he was a smart kid, very intelligent for his age. He repaired my sister’s computer on his own without a guide or anything. You just knew that there was something there with the guy despite his awkwardness.” She looked at the camera. “I always thought he’d be the next Bill Gates, but...well, you know.”
“Joining us for an interview is the brother of the man who owned the cottage, Royce Kourriel.” The camera zoomed out from the anchorwoman, with Royce next to her, she turned to face him. “Nice to have you here, Royce.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, stranger.” Royce ran his fingers along the brim of his fedora and tipped his hat to her.
“Now, is it true that you witnessed all of these young men entering the cottage?” The reporter asked before holding up the microphone to him.
“Yes, I did.” Royce confirmed. “Seemed like a buncha nice blokes, though that Sid fella was a little unhinged.”
“And do you know what happened to them?” The reporter asked.
“Can’t say that I do.” Royce shook his head. “A damn shame they disappeared like that, eh?”
“You have to admit, it is a little suspect that these young men disappeared after arriving at this wreckage and meeting you, all of them claiming that this cottage is still standing tall.”
“I visit the remains of my late brother’s cottage every year.” Royce nodded. “I see your point, but I have nothin’ to hide.” He opened his green jacket, revealing no weapons on him. “I’ve tried to repair the cottage a few times, but I’m a terrible craftsman.”
“I see. Then, can you tell me about your history with your brother?” The reporter asked. “Assuming I’m not stepping on your toes.”
“Certainly.” Royce grinned, stroking the stubble on his chin. “Benji was a good kid, kept to himself, bit of a loner that one, but he meant well. My folks adopted him when he was just a lil squirt, he never quite got along with ‘em, but him I were real close. Heck, aside from his pet snake Abigail I think I was the only one he really considered a friend. I’d visit him often and call whenever I could. I’d regularly keep in touch with him, helping him maintain the cottage until...that day...” He tilted his hat over his eyes.
“Losing a family member would be tragic for anyone.” The news reporter said.
“Indeed.” Royce tipped his hat up. “But I just gotta get by, one day at a time, that’s really all ya can do.”
A crew was seen hoisting something out of the rubble. Royce and the reporter looked over at it. The reporter motioned for the camera to follow them to get a closer look at the object they were pulling out of the remains of the cottage. It was a large, blue coffin. A cold chill filled the air for everyone around it. Murmurs were heard among the crowd.
“That’s...”
“My brother’s final resting place.” Royce muttered.
“This just in, we have recovered Benjamin Kourriel’s coffin out of the rubble.” The reporter stated.
“Probably for the best, considering the condition of this place.” Royce said. “You got any plans on where to take him?”
“We have received word that a volunteer intends to keep him at his ski lodge until burial arrangements can be made.” The reporter said.
“That would be me.” An old man stepped into the frame. The crew loaded the coffin into a hearse.
“And you are?” Royce extended his hand.
“Bernard Wentworth.” The old man shook his hand firmly. “I trust these accommodations are to your liking?”
“Wouldn’t have been my first choice, but as long as my brother’s at peace...” Royce shrugged. “Ah, in for a penny.”
“How do you intend to avoid attention?” The reporter asked.
“Rest assured, I will make sure of it.” Wentworth raised his head proudly. “As it is the middle of summer, my lodge will already be closed off. As soon as the body has been moved, precautions will be made to make sure his resting place is not disturbed.”
“Wrap it up with some caution tape, just to be sure.” Royce said.
“Certainly, and we shall keep any ne’er-do-wells out of there by any means necessary.” Wentworth smiled.
“And there you have it. This has been Channel 8 news. I’m your host, Estelle, signing off.” The Channel 8 news logo came up on screen.
“Turn that shit off.” A teenager with a shaved head, black vest and leather pants walked in and turned off the television.
“Sorry, man, it’s just...freaky what happened to Sid.” A teenager with scraggly brown hair was slouched over on the couch, he looked over his shoulder. “You were gonna deal some stuff to him at the party, weren’t you?”
“What of it?” The bald teen crossed his arms.
“Man, you were gonna scam that guy good, huh Elliot?” The brown haired teen laughed.
“Shut up, Jake.” The shaved headed teen punched him in the arm. “He was my friend, that’s why I don’t want to think about this shit.”
“Okay, sorry, man...” Jake rubbed his shoulder.
“GUYS!” A loud, frantic sounding voice called out through the hallway. “GUYSGUYSGUYS!”
“What is it now, Tom?” Elliot asked as their friend barged into the room. He had long black scraggly hair, a black t-shirt with a skull on it, and jeans. He wore thick black goggles. He was carrying a folder filled with paper.
“Did you guys see the news report?” Tom asked.
“I did.” Jake raised his hand.
“I don’t want to hear it.” Elliot put his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room.
Tom slammed his binder on the table, the contents of it sprawling out all over it. “I’m telling you it all connects! This is exactly what I’ve been saying this whole time!” He scrambled through his littered papers. “See? This is the Bermuda triangle.” He slammed down a crude drawing of a triangle. “What’s this? Oh, look at that, it’s 9/11” He placed down a crude picture of a plane. “And now, our fine friends who have disappeared in the ether.” He placed down a drawing of Sid, Will and Zeke.
“I don’t follow.” Jake shook his head.
“DON’T YOU SEE?!” He placed down another drawing of the cottage. “I’m telling you, this is the source of all of those disappearances, that Kourriel guy’s back and he’s ready for revenge!”
“Okay, the cottage and the Bermuda Triangle I kind of get, but you’re gonna have to explain 9/11 to me.” Jake reached for a beer.
“It’s because the pilots disappeared before crashing into the towers!” Tom yelled.
“What? No.” Jake shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Who would willingly kill themselves like that? No one! It’s obviously the spirit that took over those planes!” Tom rummaged through the splayed out papers. “See? Look, I have a drawing somewhere in here...ah, here we are!” He placed the picture down on top of all the others. “I’ve got one word, two syllables for you. Spi-rit.”
“Why does he have horns and a scaly lizard face?” Jake asked.
“He had a pet snake, obviously he’s a lizard person, they all are.” Tom frantically said.
Jake just rolled his eyes before taking a swig of his beer.
“Why did it take them so long to find Osama? Why were there a bunch of Saddam impersonators? You see? It all ties together, these lizard people are in cahoots and they’re working alongside each other, they have their backs, man!” Tom looked out into the hallway and called out. “Elliot, what do you think?”
“I think you’ve been cooped up in that room for too long!” Elliot yelled back.
“Oh, forget it! Forget you guys!” Tom haphazardly gathered up his papers and walked off. “I’m going to that lodge myself, I’ll get to the bottom of this, I’ll save Elliot’s friends, and then we’ll see who has the last laugh!”
“Dude, you’re out of your mind.” Jake scoffed.
---
Elliot was walking across the sidewalk, he wound up at a parking lot when he saw a red Ford driving by. It parked in between two parking spaces; the window was rolled down and Sid poked his head out.
“Hey, pal.” Elliot grinned when he walked up to Sid.
“Sup?” Sid extended his hand, the two high fived each other and then firmly shook hands. “You got the stuff?”
“Boy, do I?” Elliot chuckled, then reached inside his jacket, took some marijuana and gave it to him.
“Yo, that’s tight.” Sid slapped some dollar bills in his hand. “Keep the change.”
“Awesome, thanks, buddy.” Elliot counted his money, it totaled twenty dollars. “See you at the party tomorrow?”
“Absolutely, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Sid sniffed. “Nothin’s gonna get in my way, man.”
“Great, I’ve got some new stuff that’s gonna knock you off your ass. I saved it just for this occasion. It’s gonna be perfect.”
“God damn, then I gotta be there!” Sid rested his arm against the wheel. “Hey, uhh...” He motioned for him to come closer.
“Yeah?” Elliot leaned against his car, looking into the open window.
“I just want to let you know that, I appreciate all this, man...the discounts, the quality merch.” Sid looked out the window, staring off into space. “And, uhh...” He looked back at his dealer. “Thanks for being my friend.”
“Hey, man, no need to get all mushy.” Elliot brushed him off.
“Nah, look, it’s nothing like that, it’s just...” Sid sighed. “I don’t got much in my life, dude, I’m a dropout, still living with my folks...” He took out a cigarette and lit it. “This shit right here? It’s the only thing I have to look forward to anymore.”
“Well hey, I appreciate that.” Elliot lightly punched his shoulder. “Keep it real, Sid.”
“You too, man.” Sid flicked the ashes in his cigarette and pointed at it. “Your Mary Jane’s going in this next time.” He chortled. “And hey, uh, you mind if I bring some of my friends along?”
“Sure thing. Just...don’t tell them about my merch, whatever you do.” Elliot raised his hands.
“Ah yeah, Zeke’s poppy...I make no promises, man, you know how terrible I am at keeping secrets.”
“Well, I’d rather we not get busted for this.”
“True, true.” Sid nodded. “I’ll do my best to keep my mouth shut.” He snuffed out his cigarette. “Take care, man.”
“Peace out.” With that, Sid drove off. Elliot watching him disappearing off in the distance, this was the last time he met up with his longtime friend and client. Just then however, a thick fog poured into the streets. Elliot felt an overwhelming sense of dread when it seeped in, he felt the overwhelming urge to escape. He began to run as fast as he could, but then looked back. Despite everything inside him telling him not to, he stood his ground. He saw something emerge from the fog and went in for a closer look.
When he went in, what he saw horrified him to his core. It was Sid, completely skinned alive, his jaw and eyes agape, his feet making a disgusting sloshing noise with every step he took, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
“Sid?!” Elliot’s voice cracked.
Sid aggressively grabbed his shoulders. “Don’t go...near him...” He spoke in a raspy, whispered voice, then let out a feral scream right in his face, as if he was unleashing all of his suppressed pain right there.
---
Elliot woke up in a cold sweat; he sprung up from his bed, yelling in fear. The covers next to him rustled a bit and he could hear groaning.
“Elliot, what’s wrong?” A feminine voice mumbled next to him.
“I...I’m sorry, Claire.” Elliot panted, looking at his girlfriend. “It’s that same damn dream every night...it’s always that last time I saw Sid.” He rubbed his index finger and thumb against his greasy forehead. “Then a fog rolls in and I run like hell, I’m never sure why, but...this time I stayed put to see what it was.”
“It’s just a nightmare, don’t put too much stock into it.” Claire pulled up the blanket.
“No, you don’t understand, I went in that fog myself, only to find...”
“Find what?”
“Sid, he was completely skinned alive.” Elliot began to shiver. “That gruesome image...he looked like he was in so much pain, and that scream, God, why did I do that?”
“Shhh...it’s alright, don’t worry.”
“It’s like...he was trying to warn me...” He looked at the doorway of his room. “I think I need to go there...”
“What? No.”
“He told me to stay away, but...I need to figure this out, I need to get to the bottom of this all. I need to know what happened to Sid.”
“You know Tom’s going there for his own crazy reasons.”
“And someone’s gotta bail his ass out of there if he gets in trouble.” Elliot sighed. “Might as well be me.”
“Fine, fine.” Claire tossed the sheets off of her, revealing her long blonde hair. She was wearing pink pajamas. “But if you’re going there, then I’m coming with you. Someone needs to keep all of you boys in check after all.” She nudged his arm. “And I gotta make sure you don’t cheat on me, either.”
“You know I wouldn’t.” Elliot mumbled.
“Uh huh, and how about our talk about you dropping all this dealing stuff?” Claire asked.
“Well, I gotta make money somehow...”
“Elliot...” She tossed the covers off. “What am I gonna do with you?”
---
Late into the next night, the group snuck over to the lodge.
“Thanks for joining me, my friends.” Tom chuckled. “We’ll get to the bottom of all of this yet!”
“I’m not here for that conspiracy BS.” Elliot told him. “I just want to find out what happened to Sid.”
“Yeah, and I’m just keeping an eye on all of you so that things don’t get out of hand.” Claire said, holding Elliot’s hand tightly, her hair was now tied up in a ponytail. She wore a leather jacket and blue jeans.
“I just want to get to skiing early for the winter.” Jake chuckled. “Nothing like beating the lines, huh?”
They looked around the lodge, it was wide and spacious, equipment was stored away for the summer, so they essentially had the whole building to themselves. However, they had to be discreet about it, as Wentworth still maintained the place, returning to it frequently.
Suddenly, a teacup was flung toward Jake’s head, he jumped in place, abruptly shifting to the side, the cup shattering behind him. “The hell was that?!”
“Wasn’t me!” Tom raised his hand.
“Just keep it down, we don’t want to attract any unwanted attention.” Elliot told the others while searching for any clues on Sid’s whereabouts. That’s when they heard the wind picking up outside the window.
“Didn’t the report say it’d be sunny?” Claire crossed her arms, feeling a sudden chill. The wind outside seemed to howl and roar.
“Well, at least we’re inside...” Elliot motioned for the others to follow him. “Follow me, I’m getting nothing here.”
They heard high pitched chuckling from the other room.
“The hell is Tom doing?” Claire asked.
“I dunno, who knows what’s up with that guy?” Jake shrugged.
They went to the center of the lodge, and there, they saw the large blue coffin that contained Kourriel’s corpse. Everyone around it felt a cold chill running up their spines.
“I-I don’t know, guys, I really don’t think this was a good idea.” Claire started shivering.
“Y-yeah, maybe we should go...” Jake was beginning to get second thoughts.
Even Elliot was starting to reconsider this, recalling the gruesome nightmare he had, but he gulped, swallowing his pride. “If we just approach this calmly, we can get through this...and the sooner we get through this, the sooner we get to go home.”
“I hope you’re right about that, man.” Jake muttered. He jumped when he heard shrill screaming behind him and immediately turned around, only to see Tom had entered the room.
“I FOUND YOU AT LAST!” Tom laughed madly and ran over to the coffin, he dug his fingers into the lid and tore it open, only to see the grotesque, rotten body of Kourriel. His arms were crossed, bandages covered his head, only his right eye and mouth were visible. The rest of them nearly puked from the overwhelming stench that invaded the room.
“TOM! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” Elliot shouted.
“Putting an end to all of this, of course!” Tom took a knife from his holster and began stabbing the corpse. “DIE! DIE! DIEEEEE!”
“I think he’s already dead, buddy.” Jake raised an eyebrow, trying to keep a low-key sardonic tone, but clearly perturbed by this behavior.
“Man, that guy has issues.” Claire jumped and looked around. “Guys, I think I hear something!”
Sure enough, they heard footsteps in the distance. “Quick, hide!” Elliot yelled. He darted to the closet, Jake went down and slid underneath the sofa. Claire hid in a locker. The only one who didn’t bother to hide was Tom, who was still stabbing away at Kourriel’s corpse. “Tom! Stop it! You’ll get caught!” Claire peeked through the vent.
“I don’t care, I’m putting an end to all of this right now!” Tom yelled frantically.
“Tom!” Elliot yelled. “If you get caught, the ghost will get you!”
“GYAH! You’re right!” Tom ran off.
The entire place fell quiet when the footsteps got closer and closer. The door opened, revealing Wentworth. He was a tall, proud, old man. He had white hair that was combed back at the bottom, a blue blazer and slacks, he wore fancy black dress shoes. He walked into the room and saw Kourriel’s body, completely exposed.
“The hell?” He lifted the lid and closed the coffin.
“Shit, totally forgot...” Elliot muttered under his breath.
Wentworth raised his eyebrow and looked around. “If any ne’er-do-wells are here, you had better come out of hiding if you know what’s good for you.” He furrowed his narrow, thin eyebrows, he crossed one arm behind his back, the other using his cane to support himself as he paced around the room. “Come on now, I’m getting up there in my years, don’t keep an old codger like me waiting.” He grumbled, he began to tap his cane against the wall, inching closer and closer to Claire’s locker until he impacted it, making a loud metallic clanging noise, he placed his cane down near the couch and felt around with it. He inched closer to the closet, Elliot was sweating bullets. Wentworth sniffed the air and grumbled a bit, he had his hand on the knob and started to turn it when the sound of a door opening was heard.
“Bern, mate, I need to have a lil’ chat with ya.” A deep, raspy voice with an Australian accent was heard.
“Not now, Royce, someone tampered with your brother’s final resting place.” Wentworth responded.
“Hmm...” Royce ran his gloved finger along the lid of the coffin. “Well, whoever did it, they’ll be taken care of. In the meantime, I need to talk to ya, this can’t wait.”
“Hmph, very well...” Wentworth glared around the room and walked out with Royce. Elliot breathed a sigh of relief. Once the coast was clear, they all got out of their hiding spots, coming back together.
“This was a huge mistake, guys, let’s just get out of here before we get into anymore trouble.” Claire said as she caught her breath, she ran to the door and opened it, when she saw a pile of snow falling into the room. “WHAT THE HELL?!”
“What’s wrong?” Tom popped up from the other room.
“What’s wrong?! What’s wrong?! I’ll tell you what’s wrong!” Claire opened the door wide, nothing but snow could be seen. “We’re snowed in, in the middle of summer!”
“No fuckin’ way...” Elliot couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Alright, early skiing!” Jake yelled excitedly.
“How are we going to get out of here?!” Claire asked frantically.
“Oh, oh yeah...” Jake scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
“You don’t think...” Tom looked across the hallway into the other room, peering directly at the coffin.
“Whatever the case, we’ll rest here for the night.” Elliot sighed.
“Oh yeah, with an old guy and an Aussie after us, great plan.” Jake sardonically gave an A-OK handsign.
“I don’t like it either, but what other choice do we have?” Elliot looked at him.
“We’ll just have to make due with what we’ve got.” Claire sighed. They all rummaged around, eventually finding rooms to hide in and sleep.
“Can’t sleep without a good smoke...” Jake lit up a bunt of marijuana and started to smoke it. “Glad I snagged this off of Eliott’s stash...” He began to doze off, the cigarette hanging limply out of his mouth.
Jake looked around in his dream, and he found himself in another dimension. The colours continuously shifted from red to blue and back again as he flew through the void. He heard music in the background and started singing along with it. “Wild thing, you make my heart sing, you make everything groovy, wild thing...wild thing, I think I love you.” As he progressed further and further he saw various things, a gorilla shaking in a cage, a snowy backyard, a musky, dark basement. Suddenly, the gorilla began yelling. Jake had to cover his ears, the yells were getting more and more bloodcurdling and intense until they were outright overpowering, the sound echoing around him, practically bursting his eardrums. He soon saw a black specter forming in front of him; the ghost leered at him with his yellow eyes, which quickly glowed red.
“Having a bad trip?” The spirit spoke to him in a demonic, echoed voice. Jake didn’t know what was going on, he frantically nodded, then begin to shake. “Then come on...” The ghost vanished and reappeared behind him. “Let’s fly...” The undead being grabbed him from underneath his arms. Jake could feel him lifting him up in the air. “Come fly with me, fly!” The screaming seemed to mix in with the music around him, getting slower and more distorted. Jake could see a rift in the dimension he was traversing, and a multitude of colours invaded his vision. They squirmed and squiggled around. Jake laughed as he waved his hands through the colours, but he soon realized that something didn’t feel right. As if subconsciously realizing this, he snapped awake, only to see he was actually flying above the lodge, he looked at the chimney, then at his own body covered in soot.
“Wh-what the hell is happening?!” Jake frantically shouted, he looked up and saw the same spirit from his dreams lifting him up, the demonic specter seemed to mockingly wave at him, his fearsome claws moving so casually, he put on a twisted grin as he let go of the man, who yelled for his life as he went plummeting to the ground. He landed with a loud THUD, breaking every bone in his body, his lungs were ruptured and he was killed instantly. This noise reverberated throughout the lodge, everyone heard it, but no one could bring themselves to emerge from their hiding spot. Wentworth was woken up by this; he peered out the window only to see the dead teenager by his front porch. He opened the door, noticing that most of the snow had melted.
“What happened here?” Wentworth muttered underneath his breath.
“Don’t you be worryin’ about that, mate.” Royce stomped his large boot down on the ground. “I’ll be takin’ care o’ that if ya don’t moind.”
“Hmm...” Wentworth furrowed his brow as Royce hoisted the corpse above his shoulder.
“Just takin’ care o’ business, that’s all.” The green jacketed fedora wearing man grinned. “It seems like ya got some trespassers in your wake, not to worry, though, a certain someone’s got it all under control.” He winked at him.
“I do quite wish this ‘certain someone’ would be less noisy about this whole ordeal.” Wentworth scowled at him.
“Eh, it is what it is.” Royce shrugged. “Now, if you’ll excuse me...” He casually walked off, lugging the corpse with him. “It’s a long way, to Tipperary, it’s a long way, to go.” He began singing to himself. Wentworth just shook his head and went back inside.
Claire peered out the window, catching a glimpse of Royce carrying off the body. “No way...Jake’s dead...”
---
About a week had passed with little fanfare, the teenagers continuously hiding from Wentworth, Royce, and unbeknownst to them, the dreaded Kourriel. Most of them had brought rations, but they were starting to run out. Tom in particular was the first to run out, and he was starving, he clutched his stomach in pain whenever it growled. He looked around, frantically searching for something to eat, stumbling around the lodge. At this point, he didn’t care if he was caught; he just needed something to settle his stomach. And that was when he had spotted it, and had gotten an insane idea.
Kourriel’s coffin.
Would he? Would he dare do that?
Tom grinned, if anyone was crazy enough to do it, it was certainly him. He pulled at his goggles and snapped them against his face before prying the coffin open. He dragged the corpse out, bringing it to an indoor cafeteria, then slumped it over on a table.
“You thought you got us, didn’t you?” Tom chuckled while pointing at the corpse’s face. He wagged his finger. “Tut tut tut, I know it’s you...you killed Jake, you caused this snowstorm, I bet you lived in the Bermuda Triangle, made all those planes disappear, you caused 9/11, helped Saddam Hussein hide for as long as he did, and then you killed our old friends...what’s more, you got away with it, and thought you could do it all over again with no consequences.” Tom bit his lip as he took out a knife and began to carve it in Kourriel’s body. “But little did you know that they will never be the same again.” He took a good look at his face, noticing the rough texture and the rotten green skin. “I knew it...you do look like a lizard man.” tore the flesh from the corpse and began to eat. “Mmmm...he was right...it tastes like pork...but stronger...” He tore chunks of meat and flesh from it and violently, savagely continued eating away, his mouth getting dry as he did so, when suddenly, he saw Royce slamming his gloved hand against the table.
“Now just what the hell are ya’ doin’, mate?” Royce asked. Tom jumped and fell back, quickly scrambling to regain his balance.
“Y-you!” Tom frantically pointed at him. “I know what you’re trying to do, you’re in cahoots with your brother, you’re trying to pick us off one by one!”
“Oh, stranger, c’mon now...” Royce crossed his arms and shook his head, his shoulder-length dirty blonde hair flapping around. “Ya desecrate my brother’s resting place, then ya hurl random accusations my way?” He pointed at the side of his fedora. “You’re outta your gourd.”
“I know you’re involved with this, you saw all of my friends die! I saw the news report! Don’t think I didn’t!” Tom’s voice got more crazed by the second.
“I just don’t get why you risk gettin’ worms like that...” Royce pointed back. “Y’know, there’s an Outback Steakhouse just five miles down, it has $10.99 steak, ya can’t beat that!”
“You know as well as I do that this place is blocked off!” Tom took out his drawing of Kourriel. “Your brother made it snow, he can’t fool me!”
“Stranger, stranger...tsk tsk tsk.” Royce tilted his head. “My bro ain’t responsible for global warmin’. It’s always crazy schizophrenic weather out there...err, no offense...”
Tom clutched his stomach, starting to feel sick.
“Oh, lemme help ya out with that.” Royce drew a machete; he ran up to Tom and stabbed into his stomach. He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. “Mate, we ain’t got no room for you.” He whispered into his ear as he twisted the blade inside him before pulling it out. He then slashed across his neck, making him fall to his knees, bleeding to death until he fell face first in a pool of his own blood. Royce whistled as he tossed the machete up in the air and caught it by the handle a few times. “Looks like meat’s back on the menu.” He glanced at Ben’s corpse. “But first things first…” He hoisted the body over his shoulder. “Sorry that happened, bro. Don’t worry, I got your back.” He glanced back at Tom’s body. “As for ol’ Tommy boy ovah theah...his lil’ pals aren’t gonna know what hit ‘em.”
---
The next day, Elliot and Claire were making out by the window. They felt each other up, kissing one another passionately. Suddenly, a clawed hand sprung up from behind her, Claire felt this extra hand touching her backside, but she looked back and saw nothing there. She paused for a moment, and then went back to smooching her boyfriend.
Suddenly, Royce walked by them and cleared his throat, he motioned them over. “Over here, strangers.” He kept his voice to a low whisper.
“Wait...what?” Elliot looked off to the right.
“Wasn’t that the guy in the news report?” Claire asked. They saw him heading to the Cafeteria.
“Well, whatever the case, I am pretty hungry...” Elliot rubbed his stomach and got up, heading to the cafeteria. “Let’s hope they have something.”
Claire bit her lip, unsure if she should trust him, she opened the door and a pile of snow fell into the entrance way. “I guess I have no choice...” She sighed and hesitantly followed them.
In the Cafeteria, Royce was behind the counter, stirring up some meat in a pot.
“What do you have cooking?” Elliot sniffed the air.
“Some ol’ sloppy joes for ya, mates.” Royce grinned.
“Sweet, how much does it cost?” Elliot asked.
“Oh, it’s on the house. One guy to anothah.” Royce glanced at him, then at Claire. “Along with your ol’ Sheila there.” He winked at her. Claire winced at this.
“Awesome, can’t even begin to tell you how hungry I am.” Elliot rubbed his stomach.
“Got the munchies, stranger? No worries, it’s all ready for the both o’ ya.” Royce placed the meat in between two buns, and then slid two over to Elliot and Claire.
“Thanks, man!” Elliot took his burger and started eating. Claire looked at her burger, looking very concerned.
“Eat up, Sheila, it’s to die for.” Royce grinned at her.
“N-no, thank you...I’m not hungry.” She pushed the plate away.
“Suit yourself.” Royce took another burger and dug in.
“Hey, where’s Tom?” Elliot looked around.
“I have a feelin’ he’ll be comin’ in through another end about thirty minutes from now.” Royce chuckled.
“What do you mean by that?” Elliot asked.
“Oh, he’s around here somewhere, just gotta look around carefully.” Royce kicked his feet up on the table.
“I don’t follow...” Elliot paused.
“Well, lemme put it this way...perhaps the real Tommy boy was inside us all along.” Royce pat his stomach.
“...You’re weird.” Elliot shook his head.
“This meat smells funny.” Claire scrunched her nose.
“Don’t knock it till ya’ tried it.” Royce checked his watch. “Oh, would ya look at the time? I best be goin’.” Royce got up from his chair. “Gotta run.”
“Not getting far in this place.” Elliot said. “Still, thanks again for the meal, take care.”
“No problem at all, anytime you need one, just come to me.” Royce pointed at himself confidently. He took Claire’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Until then, I bid you adieu.”
Claire pulled her hand away with a disgusted look on her face.
“Ah, you’re no fun.” Royce muttered while walking off, he spit the meat out in a trashcan when no one was looking.
---
Claire was in her room, brushing her hair and getting ready for bed. She hadn’t seen Wentworth for a while, even still, she didn’t like the place at all. Although she was still hungry, she refused to eat the food. That Royce guy gave her the creeps. Suddenly, she felt something touched her back just like before, she spun around to see who it was, but saw no one there. She shuddered a bit, only to turn around and see a dark spectre floating behind her. She screamed as she dropped the brush.
“Wh-what the hell are you?!” She yelled.
“Do not be afraid, my dear...” The spirit stroked his claws across her hair. “I am Kourriel...Benjamin Kourriel. I see you met my brother, he’s a nice man, he has always been good to me, and he’ll be good to you. We won’t harm you.”
Although she didn’t see anything in the real world, she felt this thing touching her. “Stop it, go away, don’t touch me!”
“Oh, don’t be like that.” He started stroking her milky white skin. “It has been so long since I felt the soft, tender, gentle touch of a woman...” He rubbed her hand. Claire tried to pull away.
“I SAID DON’T TOUCH ME!” She shrieked.
Kourriel grinned as he wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. “It gets lonely in the afterlife...I have been so very alone...” He hugged her tightly.
“I’m already taken, you creep!” Claire yelled.
“Not for long...” Kourriel ran his claw down her shirt, beginning to tear it. “He will be taken care of.”
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Claire elbowed him and swung her fist at where his reflection was. She felt nothing, but when she looked in the mirror, he was gone. She breathed heavily, her hair unkempt, her shirt was torn. She sat down on the bed, then lay down and cried. She wanted nothing more than to get out of there.
---
Wentworth paced around in his office, Royce knocked on his door and opened it.
“Wentworth, we’ve got trouble.” Royce said.
“I know...” Wentworth grumbled. “Not only have these ne’er-do-wells broken into my lodge, but they have been stuck here for some time.” He groaned. “I can’t even call the cops on them. Considering...” He looked out the window at the snowstorm.
“S’alright, we’re takin’ care of ‘em.” Royce told him. “Caught one of them desecrating my brother’s corpse, fortunately he paid the price for that, got a bit of a taste of his own medicine.” He laughed a bit to himself. “Or rather, his pals got a taste of him, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.”
“It’s terrible that that happened, though I can’t say I agree with those methods.” Wentworth cupped his hands together.
“Don’t worry about it.” Royce patted his back. “We’ll keep one of ‘em around, at least.”
“Hrmph.” Wentworth got out a stack of paper, took out a white feather, dipped it in black ink and began writing. “Leave me be...”
“Whatever floats your boat, mate.” Royce grinned at him and walked out.
Wentworth took out a necklace with a cross at the end of it and put it around his neck. “Forgive me...”
---
Kourriel flew through the hallways, the air around him going to a cold chill, he glided into the main hall and found his corpse in his coffin.
“It’s finally time...” His voice said in a demonic rumble, he inched his claws closer to his body, and his hand phased through his chest. He seemed to sink into his corpse, his head going through his own abdomen until he completely went inside his old body. He opened his exposed, lacerated yellow eye, the other hidden behind the bandages wrapped around his head, cracking noises were heard as he turned his head, then stretched his arms, bits of his rotten flesh falling to the floor.
“It has been far, far too long...” Kourriel grinned as he raised his hand, a chainsaw appearing on the table across from him. “Now...” He raised it with his right hand. “Time to do some damage...”
---
Elliot was feeling sick, he was vomiting in the sink, practically puking his guts out. Claire patted him on the back. “Let it all out, Elliot, let it all out.”
“I-I think there was something in that meat...I...I don’t feel good at all.” He coughed loudly, practically gagging. “Damn it...I just wanted to find out what happened to Sid...what did I do to deserve all this?”
Claire didn’t get enough time to answer that when she heard the revving of a chainsaw, loud screeching noises were heard and they saw it bursting through the door before it was kicked apart. There, they saw Kourriel’s corpse, his arm wielding a chainsaw, his bandaged up head, his eye was leering at them, but his mouth was contorted in a twisted grin, his remaining rotten teeth showing.
“Hello there, beautiful...it seems your boyfriend is feeling under the weather, luckily I’m here to sweep you off your feet...” Kourriel licked his dry, rotten lips.
Claire backed up against the wall, her mouth agape, she was horrified at this sight, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her whole body shook as she turned to look at Elliot. “Run...” She mouthed to him.
Elliot groaned as he clutched his stomach, then grabbed Claire’s hand and began to run past Kourriel. “I’m not leaving without you!”
“YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!” Kourriel pursued them while revving up his chainsaw.
Elliot darted through the halls, dodging all sorts of objects that began to fly at him. Just then, Royce leapt out at them. “ROYCE IS BACK!”
The two stopped in their tracks. “Royce! You have to help us!” Claire yelled. “My boyfriend...he-he’s sick...”
“Mmmm...nah.” Royce shook his head.
“What?!” Claire shouted in disbelief.
“Y-you knew this would happen...” Elliot glared at him. “You set us all up...why?”
“When someone tells ya not to do somethin’, and ya do it anyway, ya kinda brought it all on yourself, stranger.” He slowly approached him, then drew his machete from inside his jacket. “But don’t worry, I’ll reunite you with your ol’ pal, just as ya wanted.”
Elliot had had enough, he grabbed onto Royce’s wrists and the two began pushing against each other. “What happened to him?! I know you know! What happened to Sid?”
“Stranger, why tell you when my brother can show you?” Royce asked. Elliot jumped, he looked back and saw that Kourriel had caught up with them, the living corpse grabbed the side of his head with his free hand, which began to glow black. From that, Elliot got to see everything that Sid went through in quick flashes, up until his death at Kourriel’s hands. He glared at the undead creature.
“YOU BASTARD!” Elliot yelled.
“Guilty as charged.” Kourriel spat before laughing, he swung his chainsaw at him, which Elliot quickly dodged.
“Go on without me, Elliot, I’ll be okay, run!” Claire shouted.
Elliot hesitated, then nodded and ran off. The two brothers were now after him. Claire darted the other way.
When Royce caught up with him, the Aussie pounced on top of Elliot, the two began wrestling. “I have...one question...” Elliot strained himself to say, while struggling against him. “How the hell did you survive?”
“Being Kourriel’s brother has its perks, stranger.” Royce whistled through his teeth while laughing, he brought the machete closer to Elliot’s face. “Now die...”
Elliot gripped his hand with both hands, Royce placed his hand over his and pushed against them, the machete getting closer to Eliott’s neck, then Eliott pushed back, inching it closer to Royce’s face, they grunted, their hands shaking as they kept pushing the machete closer to each other. Things seemed evenly matched for a while, until Elliot grabbed onto the part of Royce’s chest that originally got stabbed by Sid. Royce winced in pain, loosening his grip, allowing Elliot to get a good grip on his hands as he pushed the machete toward Royce’s face. It got closer and closer, his hand shaking, trying to hold it in place until he yelled in pain as he jerked back and covered his face, Elliot got up, and when Royce lurched forward to look at him, the machete was sticking right out of his cheek.
“Cheeky bastard...” Royce grabbed the machete and pulled it out in one swift movement. His coat opened a bit, revealing the bloody wound on his chest. Eliott wasn’t sure if that was there the entire time, or if that just appeared there now, but in any case he was thankful it helped him out. He continued to run out of there.
“Brother! Are you alright?” Kourriel walked alongside Royce.
“Yeh, I’m fine, all things considered. Don’t worry ‘bout me.” Royce touched the laceration on his face. “He’s made it personal now; nobody messes with my face and lives.” The Kourriel Brothers continued pursuing Elliot.
“Please be safe, Claire, please be safe.” Elliot looked back as Royce and Kourriel gained up on him. He tripped and fell over. Royce raised the machete over his head and swung it down at him. Elliot quickly rolled out of the way, then used his leg to trip him.
As Royce slowly got up, Elliot grabbed onto his face, sinking his fingers into his wound, and in one swift movement he tore his entire face off. Royce let out a bloodcurdling scream as muscles and tendon were exposed; he grabbed onto his red, bleeding face and continued howling in pain as he ran off.
“BROTHER!” Kourriel reached out to him as he ran and disappeared into the distance. He glared at Elliot. “You’ll pay for that...”
“And you’ll pay for killing my best friend!” Elliot yelled. “Your brother got off easy compared to him!”
Kourriel growled, his chainsaw made a loud roar, and he yelled as he leapt at him.
---
Wentworth was writing on some paper the old fashioned way, scraping the end of his inked feather against the paper. Suddenly, Claire burst through the door. Wentworth calmly looked up at her. She stopped to catch her breath.
“Please, sir...I...” Claire tried speaking, but was too winded.
Wentworth raised an eyebrow. “Young lady, you do realize of course that you are trespassing on private property.”
“I-I know, I’m sorry...most of my friends are dead...one of them didn’t have such good intentions when coming here, but my boyfriend and I did nothing wrong.” Claire brushed her blonde bangs out of her eyes. “I mean...he’s dealt drugs before, but he’s only done it to get by, honest...”
“Out with it.” Wentworth impatiently stated.
“Please, you have to help us.”
“And why should I?” Wentworth stood up from his chair, only to see that Claire was shaking, looking fearful for her life. He realized the poor girl must have been traumatized, and his demeanour certainly wasn’t helping. Claire was just weeping. Wentworth sighed and walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Come, I’ll get you a nice, warm drink.”
He led her to the sofa and the two sat down, he placed a blanket over her shoulders to help her calm her nerves. He got her hot cocoa with marshmallows and she nodded at him.
“Th-thank you...” She took small sips from her cup.
“Now, why don’t you explain to me what’s going on?”
“Well...” From there, she told him what brought them here, and everything that happened to them since coming here.
“I see...things certainly have been strange.” Wentworth cupped his hands together. “I thought I would just keep that coffin in here for a few days, but it’s been a week...no matter what graveyard I call, no one seems to want to take his body in, it seems they believe in all that superstition.”
“Considering everything I’ve been through, I fully believe it.” Claire’s hand holding the cocoa started shaking until Wentworth gripped it.
“Easy does it.” He took it from her and gently placed it on the table.
“Sorry, I-I just want to get out of here...I’ll never return here again, I promise.”
“Now what good would that be for my business?” Wentworth handed her two tickets to his ski lodge.
“Y-you...” Claire looked at it in surprise.
“Here, it’s yours, and if you wish to bring your boyfriend along during the winter, go right ahead.” Wentworth told her.
“If he even survives this...” Claire teared up.
“Come with me, I’ll do my best to get you both out of here.” Wentworth got up and walked to the doorway, he glanced at her. “Well, come along now, we don’t have all day.” Claire nodded, sniffled, then got up and followed him.
---
Kourriel stalked Elliot throughout the lodge, until he got to the lounge, he saw a few chairs blocking the entrance and a lit fireplace there. The zombie laughed maniacally as he revved his chainsaw and cut through these chairs, cutting them to shreds.
“Come out come out wherever you are!” Kourriel taunted and grinned. Elliot was hiding in the closet, he tried to keep his breathing quiet, but the closer Kourriel’s corpse got, the stronger the stench became, and the worse his stomach hurt, he nearly gagged at the overwhelming sensation of it all, and it only got stronger and stronger as he heard Kourriel’s footsteps get closer and closer. He couldn’t take it anymore, he burst out of the closet and ran past him, but Kourriel grabbed him by the neck before he could get any further.
“THERE YOU ARE!” Kourriel shouted.
---
Wentworth tried to dig them out of the avalanche with a shovel; he was digging through the snow burying the entrance. Suddenly, Claire heard yelling from across the hallway.
“That sounded like Elliot! I’ll go check it out!” Claire exclaimed as she ran through the hall, she continued running until she got to the lounge, she saw that Kourriel had Elliot by the neck, he was holding him hostage.
“C-Claire! Get out now, you have to leave me here!” Elliot reached out.
“No, Elliot! I can’t go on without you!” Claire reached back.
“Oh, Claire...such a lovely name...Claire...Claire...” Kourriel closed his visible eye.
“Let him go, you freak!” Claire shouted angrily.
“I don’t think I will, my lovely Claire...unless you agree to be with me...then perhaps I could arrange something.” Kourriel smirked.
“I never will! Even if you weren’t dead, you’d still be a creep!” Claire leered at him.
“Oh, that really hurts, just because I was socially awkward in life...” Kourriel’s face contorted into a decrepit scowl. “Very well, if that’s your choice.” He quickly let go of Elliot, he tried running back to his lover, but Kourriel let out a feral shout, his tongue hung out as he pounced at Elliot like a wild animal, he swung his chainsaw in a downward motion, everything seemed to go in slow motion as he violently bisected Elliot in half.
“NOOO!” Claire yelled and screamed in terror, she looked wide eyed at Kourriel. “You killed him, you bastard!”
“He served his purpose...I told him what happened to his dear old friend in my own way...and now, they’re reunited...you should be happy for him.” Kourriel pinned her down and licked her face, maggots falling on her body. “Now, we are alone...you have no choice but to be with me.”
“I’D RATHER DIE!” Claire kicked him in the abdomen, making Kourriel stumble back. Clare got up and tackled him, she just wailed on him, feeling his soft, brittle bones perish into dust underneath her fists. He kicked her off, then lunged at her, but she grabbed his shoulders and tossed him aside, he stumbled and fell into the fireplace, letting out a loud roar as his corpse began to burn. Smoke emitted from his burning body, the smoke soon turned black and formed Kourriel’s spirit in its place.
“Great...now what am I going to do?” Claire whispered frantically to herself as she looked at Elliot’s remains. “I’m sorry, Elliot...” She teared up as she turned around and ran for her life, the cursed spectre pursuing her.
---
Claire continued running up the stairs, tons of objects were thrown right at her, including a ski pole, which stabbed into her thigh. She yelled in pain, but continued running, she didn’t even know where she was going, nor did she care as long as it was away from him. She saw Kourriel appear on the upper floor, she turned around and ran back down. She ran to the entrance, but then a large hand formed from snow attempted to grab her, she yelled and turned around. She headed for Wentworth’s office, it seemed she was cornered; she had nowhere left to run.
“You’re all mine, beautiful...” Kourriel loomed through the room.
“Leave me alone...” Claire uttered, feeling defeated.
Kourriel clasped his clawed hand over her soft hand. “Come with me to hell!” He reached his other hand out and splayed his fingers outward, a hole opened up in the ground, it was glowing red and flame burst out of it, a stairway formed at the edge of the hole, and Kourriel began to lead her to it.
“No, no, please...no more...” Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
“Come with me, my lovely Claire...it’s time...to go...” He began to descend down the stairs with her, the fires behind him raging, the inferno glowing brighter and brighter.
“That’s quite enough.” Wentworth entered the room.
Kourriel cackled madly as the old man entered the room. “And just what are you going to do?” He then saw the light glistening off of the silver crucifix at the end of Wentworth’s necklace. “Wait...no...”
Wentworth raised the crucifix to him, Kourriel began to back away. “By the father, the son, and the holy ghost...”
Kourriel shielded his face. “You can’t do this to me!”
Wentworth gripped Claire’s hand and hoisted her out of there, once her feet touched the ground she ran and hid behind him. “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.” The snow outside began to disintegrate as Wentworth recited the Lord’s Prayer.
“In nomine penatris, et filie, et spiritu sanctus!” Wentworth took out some holy water and flicked it at Kourriel, who began screaming and reeling back, shielding his face with his black claws, the water paining him, the hole above him began to close.
“Father, hear my prayer.” Wentworth folded his hands together. “Lord, hear my prayer!” He closed his eyes. “Let us pray...the lord is my shepherd, I SHALL NOT WANT!”
Kourriel tried reaching over to the two.
“Our father, thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen...” Wentworth opened his eyes.
The hole swirled around, Kourriel continued to reach out, trying to grab either one of them, Claire ran over to the window and opened the blinds.
“LET THERE BE LIGHT!” She shouted, the sun shone down on him, Kourriel began screaming in pain as his ghostly body began disintegrating, he clutched onto the sides of his head, then desperately tried reaching out to her, but all that reached out was the long, black claw of his index finger. The hell hole closed over it, and the claw dissipated into black smoke, trapping Kourriel in hell for good. The threat was over.
“Kourriel is back where he belongs, for all the sins he has committed.” Wentworth sighed in relief. Claire hugged him and cried on his shoulder. Wentworth could only return the hug and pat her on the back to comfort her. “Shhh...It’s over, it’s finally over...”
---
Outside, the lodge was taped off with yellow tape, the coroner retrieved the dead bodies, zipped them up in body bags and wheeled them off. Sirens were blaring as police investigated the place. Royce could not be found. Claire and Wentworth were questioned a bit, and did their best to recount what had happened to them. They weren’t sure if Royce perished, vanished or got away. Claire was clearly shaken up, so Wentworth stepped outside with her, a blanket wrapped around her, holding a cup of fresh hot cocoa. They sat down by the curb, and she took slow, small sips of her drink.
“Will you be alright, Claire?” Wentworth asked, as if a father was concerned for his daughter.
“I don’t know...so much has changed in such a short time.” Claire was visibly shaken.
Wentworth sighed and patted her back. “It’s alright, it’s a lot to get over...just know that you did your best in this crazy situation, you’ve survived, and you’ve come out stronger for it.” He looked her in the eyes.
“But my friends, they’re all gone...my boyfriend...I told them I’d keep them in check...I bet you they’d hate me if they saw me now.”
“Nonsense. You did your best for them. I’m sure they’re just happy you’ve survived. You get to carry on, and live on in their memory.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Just remember, they’re never truly dead as long as you remember them. Keep your fond memories of them close to you, and they will never truly die.” He sighed as he touched his chest. “Yes, it is hard now...all you can do is take this one day at a time, it will hurt for a while, the pain in a sense never truly goes away...but over time, you will look back on the good moments with them, you will smile and laugh once more, and at last you will finally be able to move forward.” He patted her shoulder. “Never forget them, but do not dwell on their deaths for too long, there is nothing you could have done differently.”
“Alright, I-I...I’ll try...thank you.” Claire smiled at him.
Wentworth smiled back. “If you need anything, come and get me, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Okay, sir...and thank you once again, for everything.” Claire sipped her cocoa. “You’re not such a bad guy after all.”
“No, I suppose not, but I have my moments.” Wentworth used his cane to hoist himself up.
“Nah, you might appear like an old grump, but you do have some good inside you.” Claire chuckled.
“Perhaps I do.” Wentworth laughed a little as well, rubbing the silver crucifix in between his fingers. “I’ll be in my quarters if you need me.” Claire nodded, then got up and sat down in an open ambulance, continuing to sip her cocoa. Wentworth walked back into the lodge, heading for his office, and then pulled up his chair and sat down. He took out his quill and ink, and resumed writing.
“And thus, the old man vanquished the spirit, lifting his curse, and saving the lone survivor.” Wentworth spoke out loud as he wrote. “The end.” He grinned as he pocketed his quill. Over time, he got his story published, getting his creative spark back and finally getting over his writer’s block. On the back, the book was dedicated to the memories of Elliot, Tom, Jake and Benjamin.
The End