Chapter 3

Jimmy froze from fear as he saw the color draining from Kree's face, "Kree!" he yelled out, but it wasn't making James stop.
Jimmy didn't know what to do. James was a stronger spirit than he was. He looked around the room.
He noticed the pages in one of the book was flipping. He went to see what page it landed on. It looked like a spell. Without really knowing what the spell did, he started reading the strange language on the page out loud:

Xi Mi Queato Moi
Dung Tao Soy
Femo Kantasa Roi
Ango Juy Foy

All of a sudden, Jimmy heard a scream, and he looked up. A blue flame was flaring all around the mist. THe mist slowly disappeared, and its place was the person, James Wilbur. Burnt flesh was falling to the floor, and he had blisters all over his body. His skin was melting. His eyes seemed to be popping out of his skull as he kept screaming. Finally, he disappeared, leaving the smell of decaying flesh behind him.
Kree slowly stood up as she started breathing heavily. Color was slowly returning to her skin, but she still looked pale. Jimmy ran over to her, "Kree, are you okay?"
Kree slowly nodded her head as she ran her hands up and down her arms, trying to gain back some feeling.
"How about we don't piss off anymore ghosts?" Jimmy said looking around the room.

"A bunch of books-"
"Devil books!" James growled.
"Well, yeah, but it doesn't quite tell the whole story." Kree was no longer scared. In fact, she was getting irritated with this illiterate freak.
James looked off into the distance, "It happened so long ago, I can barely remember..."
"Well, you had over a hundred years to think about it, so try."
"Kree...I wouldn't piss him off if I were you." Jimmy's voice was small, and Kree held up her hand to silence him.
"I remember that it happened on a Sunday. I was on my way to church. I was riding in a buggy when I suddenly had stop my horse. Something in the middle of the road had caught my eye. I ran over to it, and found out that it was a book. However, when I read the cover, I was about to run to my buggy and never look back. But I hesitated. Stopping for one minute had ruined the rest of my life."
"Then what happened?" Kree asked, almost sounding sympathetic, but not quite.
"It called my name," he said. Even though it had already happened, his voice still held the awe from when he first saw the book, "It said that I was chosen."
"Good for you. You were chosen to stay in an insane asylum for a hundred years. Sounds like fun." Kree said sarcastically.
James' eyes grew a bright red, and the mist flew over Kree. KRee felt icy cold fingers all over her skin, like needles touching every part of her body. She struggled to breathe as she stared into the eyes of a sadistic killer. Was this what it was like to die?

Jimmy went up and tried to go through the trapdoor, "It's not working." he called down to her.
"Try harder!" Kree said as sweat was forming on her brow. She looked around. The light had considerably dimmed, and in the darkened room, she could see...two bright eyes!
Kree screamed and backed up, hitting her head on the wall. She felt something warm and sticky running down the back of her head, and she felt lightheaded.
A figure was emerging out of the darkness, "Who dares to disturb my slumber?"
Kree's heart was pounding, and she looked at the mist with red eyes. It was panting like an animal, and it almost didn't seem human.
Kree slowly stood up. Her head was pounding-like a jackhammer was being used to tear apart her skull, but she ignored the pain as best as she could. She flinched and looked at the figure in the eyes, "Mr. James Wilbur?"
The mist slowly backed up in surprise, "No one has said my name in a hundred years."
"A hundred years?" Kree turned to look at Jimmy, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Yep, in 1913, died of a heart attack, I did-or at least that what all them church folk thought." he laughed, and it turned into a nasty cough.
"So what really happened?" Kree asked, too curious to be afraid anymore.
James looked at her, "Are you stupid? Do you not see what you are surrounded by?"

Kree looked around, "I don't think he did."
"What do you mean? I've almost lived here for a hundred years and never saw the guy."
"Yeah, but how often did you come down here?"
Jimmy snapped his mouth shut and thought for a minute, "You have a point..."
"Not only that, but this dude seems pretty close to Satan. He could have been watching you the whole time, and you would have never known. In fact, he could be watching us right now." Kree looked around once again.
Jimmy had an uncontrollable shudder, "Will you stop? I think I'm scared enough, thank you very much."
"What? Just telling the truth," Kree shrugged her shoulders, "Besides, if you are so scared, then why don't you go upstairs and hide behind mommy's skirts?"
Jimmy looked offended and then held his head high, "I am just fine. Besides, I need to take care of you."
Kree looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Don't take this personally, but I don't think you have a chance."
Suddenly, they heard something on top of the staircase. They both ran to see what was going on.
They saw the mist at the opening of the trapdoor. It may have been only a mist, but Kree could have sworn she saw a smile right before it closed the trapdoor.
"What do we do now?" Jimmy's voice squeaked.
"Well, you can go through doors, can't you?" Kree was starting to breathe heavily. She was claustrophobic, and being around the smell of the musty scent of the books was not helping.

Kree flipped through several Satanist books, "I don't understand."
"What don't you understand?" Jimmy asked, following her a little bit too closely for Kree's liking.
She moved away, further away from Jimmy and said, "The reason why your father came here in the first place was because he was overtaken by a demon."
"So..."
"So, he was already overcome by a demon, why would all these books be here? Wouldn't this library be in his own house?"
Jimmy was confused, "My dad only owned one book."
Kree's brow furrowed, "Then whose books are these?"
"I don't know? Can we please get out of here? This place gives me the creeps."
"No. This is where we are won going to be getting some answers, so just chill." Kree said as she cleared a chair of books and dust and sat down.
Jimmy looked around slowly, gulped, and sat down.
Kree looked in the front of one of the books, "This book belong to James Wilbur."
Jimmy's head snapped up, "James Wilbur?"
"Yeah...who is he?"
"He was the deacon at our church. At least he was for two years."
'What happened?"
"I don't really know...I mean, he suddenly won a lot of money after a twenty year losing streak and bolted for about two years. Then he came back and became a security guard for this insane asylum. In fact, he died here of a heart attack. I have never seen him here, though. He must have moved on."

Year: 1922
Date                      Name              In               Out
01/02/1922        Chris Tangle       1:30 pm     3:00 pm
The list continued in that manner in the data book. Kree flipped to the very last entry in the book:

Date                     Name                          In               Out
10/31/1922         Margaret Winters         1:00 pm
10/31/1922         Jimmy Winters             1:00 pm
10/31/1922         Sarah Winters              1:00 pm
10/31/1922         Molly Winters              1:00 pm
Kree, of course, recognized the family's name, but she also noticed that there was no "out" time.
She looked at Jimmy with a raised eyebrow, "You showed up at an insane asylum on Halloween?"
Jimmy looked a bit sheepish, "We thought nothing of it, because we didn't celebrate Halloween. We were really religious."
"Your religion certainly got you out of this mess, didn't it?" Kree rolled her eyes as she continued to look around.
Then she had a thought and looked up, "Wait, didn't he say that someone in the family survived? Who else was there?"
"My older brother," Jimmy sighed, "He refused to come, despite how much mom begged him to. He was angry at my dad." Jimmy sounded bitter.
"Well, it happened to be his saving grace," Kree murmured, "Perhaps even yours."

Kree slowly walked. Jimmy followed her at a distance, but left her alone. Kree needed to think. Her heart was pounding from adrenaline, and she was looking for anything that could be used as a weapon.
She turned around and looked at Jimmy, "Are there any rooms that I don't know about?"
Jimmy thought for a minute, "There's the library."
Kree raised an eyebrow, "Why does an insane asylum need a library?"
Jimmy shrugged his shoulders, "It probably wasn't needed for the insane asylum. That's probably why it's hidden."
"A hidden library? Take me to it." Kree demanded.
Jimmy led her though a small closet-like room that was by the waiting room. He picked up a couple files, and Kree could see an opening where a staircase was. She looked at Jimmy, and then slowly descended the staircase.
Jimmy followed like a lost puppy. She didn't know why. It wasn't like he was going to help her or be able to help her if there was anything scary downstairs.
Kree reached the bottom and searched along the wall for a light switch. Finally finding one, she turned it on. The light was a dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Kree looked around. There were book everywhere-lining bookcases, on desks, covering the floor...
Kree went over to a random book that was the closest to her. She blew some of the dust off of it, "All About Satanism?"
Kree looked at a few more book before coming to the realization that all of them were either about Satanism, witches, magicv, or demons/Satan. Almost all of them.
Kree went to the desk and noticed that there were some data books.

"It progressively grew worse," the mother cut in, "He started hitting us. If his day ended terribly, he would blame us. His anger issues soon led him to lose his job. He blamed me the most."

"Don't forget about the drinking, mamma." the little girl tugged on her mother's dress.

"Of course, Sarah," the woman smiled lovingly at her daughter, and then frowned, "He drank...a lot."

Kree didn't know how an abusive drunk was now an evil mist floating about an insane asylum, "Okay..."

The baby started crying again, and the woman rocked it back and forth, "Sh...Molly."

Jimmy sighed in exasperation, "Don't you get it?! This man was a loving father and husband, and then all of a sudden, he changed. He turned into what we just described. This spirit...he took him over."

Kree gulped, "Well, it was nice knowing you. See you in the afterlife." she walked away.

Jimmy walked in front of her, "You're locked in, remember? You're in this with us, whether you like it or not." there was triumph in his voice, but the sadness was still in his eyes.

Kree sighed, "I can't do this. I can't be be some kind of hero."

"You have no choice," Jimmy said quietly, "He wants a challenge. Obviously, you are strong enough for that challenge."

"Why? Because I'm alive?"

"Not only that. You are  related to us. You are stronger than you realize."

Kree looked around the dim building, and she looked at her family. Her heart sank. She didn't want to die, but she wouldn't have that choice, unless she fought.

That outburst took Kree by surprise, but she looked at Jimmy angrily, "You knew that we were related, didn't you?"
Jimmy lowered his eyes in shame, and Kree continued, "So this whole, 'I don't know why you are here, but you're here for a reason' was all bullshit!" Kree yelled. She didn't normally curse, but she figured with the way things were turning out here, it was a good time to start.
Jimmy flinched, "I'm sorry-"
"And what did he mean that a spirit took over him?" Kree folded her arms and looked at him expectantly.
Jimmy sighed, "My dad used to be normal...and greedy like everyone else at the time. That's when it started..."
Kree found a chair and sat down, "How did it start?" she folded her legs.
"He found a book...the book of Satan. It had man curses, and one of the them was a get-rich scheme."
"He sold his soul to the devil?" Kree gasped.
Jimmy nodded, and the family looked down in shame, "Sure enough, he got unexplainable riches. We were living like a royal family, but it came at a great cost," Jimmy coughed and then continued, "We all became very paranoid. We secluded ourselves, because we had believed that our friends were out to get us for our money. We rarely left the hosue, unless we needed food. Even then, we would usually have one servant do it all for us."
Kree nodded, "Then what happened?"
"He went crazy. We didn't really notice at first, because it started small-he would forget where he put his glasses. He started mumbling to himself. Things like that."

Jonathan laughed, "Learn to shut your mouth, woman."
Kree stepped forward, "Leave them alone!"
The mist seemed to do 180 to look at her, "A brave, but very stupid soul to challenge me?"
"Um...well..." Kree said nervously, but then stood up straighter, "Yes."
Jonathan laughed again, "You don't know who I am, do you, my sweet?"
"No, I mean, no offense, but how old are you-like 1000?" Kree folded her arms.
Jonathan took her by surprise when he started laughing again, "Close enough. I'm the spirit who rested in your great grandfather."
"Great grandfather?" Kree stopped to think for a minute, "But that means-"
"That one of the family escaped." the mist growled.
Kree slowly backed away, "No, this is just too weird."
Jimmy looked at her, "Please, you need to help us. We are your family."
Kree looked at all of them. Jonathan laughed, "You don't stand a chance against me. You will spend the rest of your earthly and eternal life with me." he laughed as he disappeared.
The woman was finally fully recovered and caught her breath. Kree was almost as pale as her ghost family. She didn't say anything at first.
Kree finally sighed, "We are all doomed."
Jimmy looked at her angrily, "No! Don't say that! Only you can make the decision for us all to be doomed!"

"So I'm dead?" Kree's voice squeaked.
"No," the woman cracked a smile for the first time, "But it means that someone brought you in, and if it wasn't us..."
"It was me." a voice said from behind Kree.
The hair on the back of Kree's neck stood on end as she slowly turned around, but there was no one there. However, there was a huge mist, "What the hell?"
There was an ominous laugh that felt like an extremely cold wind surrounding the room. The whole room was tense with fear and the feeling of defeat. The mist moved closer, and Kree moved back with the ghost family.
"I am not only Jonathan Winters, I'm his very essence."
"Jonathan Winters..." Kree said slowly. It felt like she knew him or heard of him, but she couldn't remember for the life of her.
"You are not my Jonathan at all. You're nothing but evil." the wife stepped forward. The mist moved past Kree and over the wife. The air seemed to be sucked out of her, and she seemed to be suffocating, even though she was already a ghost.
For some reason, the torture did not seem to affect the bundle too much. However, the baby soon started crying, having being bothered awake by the torture.
Kree's original question of how ghosts could be tortured was happening right in front of her eyes The mist pushed the woman back, and she fell to the ground, struggling to breathe for another minute. Each minute that passed, she grew paler and paler, until she was almost invisible. The mist took a few steps back, and the woman started to appear slowly, before her eyes.

Chapter 2

The way was dark, but Jimmy seemed to light the way somehow, and that helped.
It was way too quiet, but pretty soon, Kree could hear some whispering. She gasped and took a step back. There were more...ghosts. They didn't look angry-just tired and abused. Kree wondered briefly how ghosts could be tortured before she took a step forward.
It was obvious that the woman was Jimmy's mom. Jimmy looked so much like her. She looked fragile, like she would break if Kree touched her.
There was a little mousy looking girl. She had long brown and tangled hair and brown eyes. She hid behind her mommy fearfully.
Lastly, Kree noticed that the woman was holding a small bundle to her chest protectively, "Jimmy," she said in a soft voice as she looked Kree over, "What have you done?"
"She can help, ma-"
"You have put us in danger! Take her away from here." she said angrily.
"But, mom-"
"Do not argue. This is no one's war but our own."
Jimmy stood there for a minute and finally, he said, "I wasn't the one to bring her here."
That piqued the woman's interest, and she looked at Kree once again, "Who brought you here, dear?"
"Um...no one." Kree said, confused.
"No one...that's impossible." the woman said.
"How...is that impossible?" Kree asked, looking at Jimmy.
"This place was destroyed fifty years ago. It's invisible to those who are alive." Jimmy answered.