I waited with my heart in my mouth for the little old man to tell me what it was that he needed to tell me before my flight into the unknown...
"son...if you have to go then this you should take with you." He handed me a lump of coal tied to a piece of fishing line.
"wear it at all times...take it off for no reason. It will keep you safe from your demons." He took my hand in his and gentally squeezed.

The house was as I remembered from all those years ago and as I approached I could see myself as a child running in fear...but just like then as at this moment my heart pounded hard in my chest deafeningly...

It was hard to believe the old place still stood like a shrine to someone elses better times. It looked so normal but in my mind it was anything but normal. The ghosts of broken bones and yelling and terror filled my ears as I climbed the steps to the front door.

My hand shook uncontrolably when I turned handle and found it unlocked...I thought crossed my mind that the house was expecting me...waiting...watching...

I could hear the words the old man had told me..."You will need ever ounce of strength to take the journey into the past, but I see in you a strength that has yet been untapped.."

At this moment looking into the dining room of my mother's house I felt none of the untapped strength the old man had spoke of...it was all I could do to keep from falling to the floor and covering myself from the blows...a distant voice from all those years ago whispered to me...like then my child you will not give in or give up...it was a voice that I have never been able to identify...all I know is that it had comforted me then as it was now...and in my comfort I moved thru the house disspelling horror after horror...destroying demon after demon...

But then I came to the basement door and all the blood rushed from me leaving me cold and scared...I bit my lip as I touched the knob and it burned my fingers searing them in the heat...I found an old rag on the floor and used it to cover my hand...I pushed the door open and the stench made me gag...I looked down the stairs into what seemed an abyss of darkness in my mind I could see demons on the stairs beckoning to me...taunting me...daring me to come down...wanting to catch what they could not touch before...

A great rush of cold air caught me full force making me lean forward as I made my way down...

to be con't...I hope