Page 45 of Unruly
Anthony, standing by a window, nods. “The room got wicked cold and the windows rattled. Then all the books fell off the shelves.”
“Since then,” Catherine continues, “it’s been almost nonstop activity. There are a few hours a day when it seems to go dormant, but it always comes back.”
“I see.” Farnsworth approaches the box. “What’s inside of it?”
“Just an antique pocket watch.”
“May I?”
Catherine nods. “Sure. Just be prepared. Opening the box sort of kicks things off.”
“Noted.” Farnsworth glances at me and gestures for me to join him.
I stand next to him, my nerves jangling with a mixture of fear and anticipation. Farnsworth opens the box to reveal a tarnished gold watch sitting on blue velvet. Nothing happens as he picks the watch up and flips it over.
“What is that?” I ask, noting the engraving.
“It’s a monogram. JHW.”
“Shit. John Henry Wolcott. Did this belong to him?”
“The house belonged to the Wolcott family,” Catherine says. “For about a hundred years until they sold it.”
Farnsworth closes his hand around the watch, which was apparently the wrong thing to do. He yelps, dropping the watch on the desk, and within seconds the room grows cold enough for us to see our own breath.
Books begin to rise slowly from the floor, and Anthony runs to his mother’s side. “Duck!”
We do, just as books and small objects fly through the space, slamming into walls and windows. The walls shake and the furniture shifts like it’s all on wheels.
I turn and look at Catherine and her son as they cower near the door. The fear on Catherine’s face tugs at me. I want to fix it, make this go away, but I don’t know how.
Farnsworth flicks his wrist and a book appears in midair. After a few pages flip, I recognize it as the handbook I read on the first day. Yesterday? Time is already blurry.
“Dammit,” Farnsworth mutters. “I should have known.”
“What?”
He points to the page in the book but answers out loud before I can read it.
“The Horror is scattered in many objects. That’s how it managed to resurrect. Somewhere, someone has an object that triggered the splintered bits of souls to awaken.” He turns to Catherine. “How did you discover this item?”
“Uh, um, we heard a weird rattling noise for several days before we investigated. When we went up to the attic, it was just sitting there on the floor.”
“That makes sense. We’ll need to take this.”
“What?” Anthony looks panicked. “No. That’s how we’re gonna reach my dad.”
Farnsworth crinkles his brow, and I don’t know how I know, but I think what he’s planning to say isn’t going to help the situation, so I jump in, operating on pure instinct.
“The instructions lied to you, Anthony.” Everyone looks at me. “The item is haunted by a bad dude who used your grief to get entry into this world. It isn’t going to let itself be useful to you. It has its own mission.”
Anthony nods, blinking rapidly. “You’re sure?”
“Look around you. This is not a friendly spirit.”
“Borja is right,” Farnsworth says. “We’re tracking this particular spirit and what we’re learning is that it splintered itself into several objects so that part of it stayed earthbound. I believe if we find and collect all the objects, we’ll be able to eradicate it.”
“That sounds easy,” I mumble.
