“You keep saying ‘it’. Is it male or female?” asked Marc.
“I-I don’t know,” she said shaking her head. “I honestly don’t know.”
They all stayed a safe distance from the crumbling castle until the police investigators arrived, as well as the coroner’s office. When the men took them to the mouth of the well, they all looked in and then backed away.
“What are you doing?” asked Rory. “Those bones need to be examined.”
“No,” said the investigator. “We disturb those bones and we’ll all be dead by morning.”
“You’re not being reasonable,” said Joseph. Chief and JT walked up staring at the group. “Where have you guys been?”
“We walked toward the cliffs. You guys need to see this. We’ve found something,” said Chief.
“So did we,” said Rory.
“Oh, yeah? Did it have a pit with thousands of human bones?” asked JT.
“Actually, yes,” said Joseph. They all stared at one another, the investigators now realizing that they would not be able to ignore this.
“Shit. Ours had a mix of recent deaths and old,” said Chief.
“We found the Broussard woman,” said Joseph, “but there are definitely older remains. And, Fitz pissed off the evil spirt. He got whacked on the side of the head.”
“Fucking hell,” muttered Chief. “Should we call for more help?”
“Are we talking help like Noah, Mama Irene, and the others? Or are we talking about help like a priest? Or are we talking about Dad, Tailor, and Team Big?” asked Joseph.
“Maybe all of the above,” smirked Chief. “Either way, we’re going to need someone who knows more about this shit than any of us.” Rory nodded at them.
“Let’s finish up here and meet Conor and Sean back at the castle. We’ve got a lot to get through on this one.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Conor and Sean listened intently, not the least bit skeptical of what the men were telling them. Fitz bore the bloodied bandage on the side of his head from his incident, while the others appeared pale and exhausted.
“We knew there was something strange happening,” said Conor, “but to think it’s an evil spirit causing all of this seems fantastical. How could a spirit drag a human body?”
“It’s been known to happen before,” said Julia. “Spirits, particularly evil spirits, have a lot of energy to send outward. They’re capable of moving objects, people, almost everything. The woman, Aurora, I was able to speak to her spirit before she was taken.
“She thanked all of us for finding her and getting her home. She said she remembered being in the car with her tour guide and then there was flash of light in the road and he veered off. She thinks she hit her head because the next thing she remembered was being in that well.
“I wrote down exactly what she said.She felt around in the darkness, the cold, wet stones beneath her hands seemedunfamiliar. Trying to stand, she stumbled at first then reached out, hoping to find a light switch or something that would give her a clue as to where she was.
“She called out ‘Hello!’ but she couldn’t hear her own voice. She called out again – ‘Hello’!”
“Then a male voice spoke to her. It’s no use. No one can hear you. No one can hear any of us.”
“Wh-who are you? Where am I?” she asked
“You’re with all of us. We’re in the well at Castle O’Shan.”
“Castle O’Shan? Yes. Yes, I was supposed to be touring the castle but I don’t remember the well,” she said. “Why are we in the well and who else is here?”
“All of us,” said the man again.
She took a few steps forward, hoping that being nearer to the voice would make the face appear to her. She saw an outline of a man, then another, and another. Suddenly, the clouds above parted and sun filtered into the well for just a moment.
Terrified, she backed up, tripping over the uneven stones. She fell to her bottom and cried out in pain, again her voice seemingly confined to her head.
