Ria and the Revenant (Ria Miller and the Monsters) by Nigel Henry

Author:Nigel Henry [Henry, Nigel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-08-22T22:00:00+00:00

Five

Shit shit shit goddammit.

I creep down the steps and stifle a gasp as I reach the bottom. Chaos erupted while I was gone. Dad’s on the floor, splayed out and not moving. Derek is slumped over the couch. The salt circle’s completely gone, and Jacob’s nowhere to be found.

I run across the hallway to the living room and slide on the floor next to Dad. I want to shake him, to make sure he’s still alive, but I know I’m a sitting duck out here in the open and I don’t need to give the ghost any reason to think about me right now. So instead I place two fingers on Dad’s neck and check for a pulse. I relax a little when I find one. He’s alive, he’s just out cold.

I breathe a small sigh of relief and then check on Derek. He’s still breathing too. Looks like the revenant didn’t feel like killing anyone. She just wanted Jacob.

God, Jacob.

I’m nervous as I get up. This isn’t the first time that I’ve been on my own against a revenant, but that doesn’t mean I like it. I talk a big game, but usually, that’s because I’ve got my parents to back me up. And what I wouldn’t give to have Mom here now.

That’s enough, Ria. Focus. You’ve got a little boy depending on you.

I give myself three seconds of weakness, then I need to get moving. If the revenant’s got Jacob, it’s a good bet she’s taken him back down to the basement for her weird ghost-mother-and-son amusement park time.

Okay, so now I need a plan. I can’t just run back down there with salt. I’ve got to assume that Jacob won’t come with me willingly, and I’m guessing that Arlene’s going to dodge any salt-shots I send her way. I need to think of something new if I’m going to have a prayer of stopping her.

Wait… That’s it!

I bolt over to the duffel bag and remove the prayer book, thankful that Dad didn’t try using it before now. I flip open to the exorcism prayer and scan the incantation.

Now, unlike in TV and in movies, you can’t use an exorcism to banish any old ghost you want. I mean, sure, in theory, if you had a revenant walking around inside of you the chants could probably be used to get them out, but really all these do is rile them up. And that’s fine, I want Arlene angry. Angry means stupid. Stupid means mistakes.

I click on my flashlight to make sure it’s still working before I grab the entire duffel bag and make my way over to the basement stairwell. I don’t so much as breathe as I make my way down the steps, taking pains to test each step for creaks before I place my full weight down. No sense in alerting the revenant to my continued consciousness before necessary.

Once I reach the bottom of the basement I feel for a solid wall and get to work preparing for the incantation.

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