Kathryn Dahne - Curse of the Nun

He blinked at her. “This is the rental house.”

“But… I was out…”

“What?”

“I was out, ” Anna repeated numbly.

“I don’t understand.”

Anna slammed a fist down on the side of the tub in a burst of frustrated rage.

“I was out!” She yelled. “I was out!”

Anna broke down, sobbing into the crook of one arm as the other continued to beat futilely against the side of the tub.

This wasn’t happening. They had gotten out. Donna had come back and opened the door. She sobbed harder. It had been three months. She remembered them, all of them.

KK rubbed at her back in a soothing manner, making a distressed noise in the back of his throat.

“Anna, calm down, you’re gonna make it worse.”

Anna tried to rein in her sobs, taking in great shuddering breaths as she fought for control.

“I was out, KK,” Anna said when she was certain she could speak without screaming. “It was a vision. It had been three months. I was in the new house and I saw her. Her body was falling apart.”

KK nodded eagerly. “She’s running out of energy.”

Anna stopped and considered this. She had lived three months. It was like a light bulb clicked on in her brain, and Anna shoved away her hysteria as she tried to think the implications though. How much energy would three months of an illusion cost Catherine? She remembered that last confused moment before the found herself back with KK. Catherine had been falling apart.

She tugged KK closer so she could whisper in his ear.

“I have an idea, but I can’t say anything. She listens to us. That’s where the visions come from. Follow my lead?”

She pulled away to fix KK with a pleading look. He nodded seriously at her. He would back her play. Anna took a deep breath in before speaking in a slightly too-loud tone.

“We need to get out!”

“How?” KK asked with equally exaggerated volume. “There is no way!”

Anna looked up at the ceiling, side-eyeing it as if she expected to see Sister Catherine poke her head down through it. For a ghost, she didn’t seem to do a lot of walking through walls, however.

“The attic,” Anna continued. “We’ll go out through the roof.”

“The fan! In the attic ! It’ll pop right out!”

Anna smiled as she heard KK emphasis the word attic as much as he could.

“Exactly!”

Anna held her hands up to KK, who carefully helped her into a standing position. He’d pulled out the silver crucifix and had rigged a crude pressure bandage around her torso to slow the bleeding from her wound.

“Help me get cleaned up,” Anna muttered to him.

She wanted to get the blood off her skin at the very least.

“Can you walk?”

Anna smiled grimly. “I’m gonna have to.”

They snuck quietly into the spare room. Anna pulled down the ladder with as much clatter as she could make. She gestured at KK to climb up into the attic.

KK goggled at her. “What?”

“Trust me,” Anna whispered.

“She’ll have me cornered,” KK hissed.

Anna pulled him back in close to whisper in his ear again. “Lure her upstairs and meet me in the kitchen.”

KK looked extremely unhappy. Anna made a shooing motion with her hands and gave him a pointed look. KK glowered, but began climbing up the ladder.

“I’m trusting you on this,” he muttered to himself.

Anna crept back out into the hallway. She peered both ways before easing out of the spare room. She kept her back against the wall in a defensive posture as she headed for the stairs. She wasn’t about to let something come up behind her this time. This plan had to work. She was running out of strength as fast as Sister Catherine was.

KK, meanwhile, had settled himself cross-legged in the center of the attic. He had the ouija board out in front of him, his headphones over his ears. The microphone was recording and the EMF meter next to him was displaying a steady 2mG. He wasn’t sure if this plan was going to actually work, but he wanted so badly to get Anna out safely if he could. Sister Catherine was putting her all into this and drawing on reserves that KK hadn’t realized she possessed. He didn’t honestly know how long it might take to burn her out anymore.

Please, let this plan work , he thought as he placed his hands on the planchette.

“June 17th. I am here with Anna Winter attempting to speak with Sister Catherine.”

It was a shame that if everything went wrong none of these recordings would be around for anyone to find.

Anna froze at the end of the hallway. Sister Catherine was standing at the bottom of the stairs, facing away. Guarding the front door, Anna realized. With Sister Catherine’s back to her, Anna couldn’t determine how fast she was deteriorating. With how fast her heart was racing, Anna was surprised that it hadn’t given way her hiding place already. She tried to breathe as shallowly as she could, as quietly as she could, ignoring the pain in her neck and abdomen that made her want to draw in longer, more ragged breaths. Everything depended on this chance. If Sister Catherine saw her, it would be game over.

Come on, KK , she thought. Now or never.

KK bit his lip, thinking of all the ways this could go so very badly, and pulled his hands off the planchette. He sat there, trembling. This was for Anna, she deserved the chance, he reminded himself firmly. He had to give her the chance.

“Sister Catherine,” he said with more bravery than he really felt. “We surrender.”

He swallowed hard. Moment of truth. KK closed his eyes and prayed. This had to work. He was out of ideas.

Anna watched as Sister Catherine’s head snapped up to stare at the ceiling above her, neck twisted at an unnatural angle. Anna shuffled back around the corner as quietly as she could manage. Sister Catherine came hurtling up the stairs, bypassing Anna’s hiding spot without a glance as she headed for the spare room.

Anna breathed out softly.

So far so good. She just hoped that KK didn’t lose his nerve. He had looked so frightened when she had explained her plan to him, but she had to trust that he was made of braver stuff than he looked. He had, after all, been the one who kept coming back to this place.

She could trust him to do his part.

Anna headed down the stairs, clutching at her stomach as every movement pulled at the barely bandaged wound. She thought of the sledge hammer still sitting in the garage. This was going to work. They were going to get out.

KK watched with trepidation as the planchette moved rapidly about the board without his touch. “STAY”, it spelled out aggressively.

“Yes, Sister, we’ll stay,” he said with a note of resignation in his voice.

He pulled off his headphones and stood up, leaving his gear where it lay. He quietly slid down the ladder and landed on the soft carpet of the spare room. He felt Catherine’s approach more than heard the accompanying footsteps. He dove behind a stack of empty moving boxes, crouching down. The door clicked open.

“Kenneth,” Sister Catherine said.

KK trembled all over, eyes wide. He bit down hard on his lips to keep back the terrified noise trying to escape. The door clicked shut behind her.

“I know it’s you,” Sister Catherine rasped.

KK heard her begin to climb up the ladder and went weak with relief. She hadn’t sensed where he was. He’d been so afraid that he’d given himself away without even trying.

“I heard you in here.”

KK peaked out from behind the boxes to watch the trailing end of her habit disappear into the attic. It had worked. He tiptoed over to the door and slowly turned the knob as silently as he was able. He looked over his shoulder as he pulled it open, to check that she had not come back down the ladder yet. All clear. He turned back to the doorway.