I heard shouting coming from the front door. It took me a moment in my drugged state to make it out.
“What is going on in here!” an old man said as he burst through the door.
“Grandfather, how nice of you to join us,” Arnold said. He nodded to Miss Gee, and she resumed her chanting.
“This circle is not for you. Not yet. I haven’t prepared for the transfer. Where is Gadus!”
“A sacrifice must be made,” Miss Gee said.
August Atwater looked at the woman aghast. “What is she doing here?”
“Grandfather, we know you killed the workmen. What’s one more?”
“I didn’t kill them, but I stopped anyone from finding their bodies because no one should ever know our secret.”
“What secret?” Arnold asked. “Do you mean that you intend to kill me and take my place? August Atwater lives forever by selling his family’s souls to the devil?”
“A deal was made, and like it or not, Gadus is bound to us forever. I get eternal life, power over men, and riches beyond belief.”
“At what cost?” Arnold asked.
“Every Atwater who dies, by natural or other means, their soul is given to Gadus. Gadus sells them to the devil. As long as my line is prosperous and Gadus has many souls to sell, I will continue to rise above the robber barons. In time, I will be able to take over this country and then the world.”
“Why have you brought me here, Grandfather? Why not leave me to have many children so I can supply you with more souls?” Arnold asked.
“People are beginning to talk. I have lived beyond my years.”
At this point, Miss Gee stopped chanting. I looked at the men and saw two Arnolds. One in the rich finery of August Atwater, the other in the plainer fare of his grandson.
“I can’t hold this glamour forever. I will simply become you,” August said.
“What happens to me?” Arnold asked.
“Gadus!” August cried. “Time to clean house.”
The ground shook, and the light was stolen from the room. I tried to leave, but strong hands from the cloaked men held me down. I saw the wicks of the black candles being relit, not by match but by magic. The two Atwaters had discarded their clothes and stood facing each other. I could not tell one from the other. The only exception was that one had an evil-looking blade.
Miss Gee said something in a strange language and then repeated it in English for the benefit of the Atwaters. “There can only be one.”
The one with the blade circled the other. It wasn’t a fair fight. I suppose, when evil is about, the fight is never fair. The unarmed man fell to the floor.
“Quick before his life leaves his body,” Miss Gee said. “Bring me the Irishman.”
I was lifted out of my chair and dragged to the circle. The woman’s eyes glowed with an unnatural light. “Perhaps a kiss goodbye?” she said.
I turned my head, but the men behind me forced it back. The woman sealed her mouth over mine and sucked the air out of my body. I fought to live, but the suction was unending. Just before I lost consciousness, I rose above my body. I stared down upon the tableau on the ground. There I was, suspended between two black-robed acolytes. Miss Gee stepped backwards. And as her lips left mine, she jammed her fingers into my mouth and pulled. Later, I would happen upon a medical journal and would recognize what she took from me. She ripped my lungs from my body.
My body was dropped on the floor. The woman chanted, and my organs shrunk into a biological mass no bigger than the boxes we carved. I remember thinking, “Jon and I carved our own coffins.”
Miss Gee, Arnold and the two acolytes left the room. I tried to follow, but I could not move beyond the summoning ring. All I could do was watch the body of the duelist below me. The blood seeped out and seemed to rest in the grain of the cherry wood. It still breathed, but his breaths became shallower.
It seemed like an eternity, but it must have been only minutes. Miss Gee and Atwater returned without the two cloaked men. Atwater’s body was splattered with blood.
“We are in time. Watch,” Miss Gee said.
The man on the floor gasped his last breath. His spirit rose, but he was trapped like I was in the summoning ring.
“Since you’re family, I will give you a choice,” Atwater said. “You can live on by feasting on the dead. Or Gadus can take you straight to Hell. If you feast upon the dead, you will condemn yourself to an undead existence. You will have power to survive but must return here to feed. I have made sure that all who die in this house, their souls cannot leave. I will visit you from time to time so you will not be alone.”
The spirit looked at me.
“Go ahead. We made the first one easy for you. You have a choice,” Atwater said.
Atwater looked at me, and I moved as quickly as I was able, but he caught me in the end. He drained my soul, and I fell to the floor next to my mutilated body. The ghoul who feasted on me turned black as night.
“He is transforming,” Miss Gee said. Her eyes and face lit with glee. “See, he is losing form.”
The spirit fell and landed on the floorboards, and his body lost shape. He was nothing more than thickened tar.
“Go and feed,” Miss Gee commanded.
The tar moved out of the circle into the shadows. I remember hearing a steady thump,
