Chapter 5 - From a Mirror Darkly
Jennifer slept until nearly noon the next day after her second Lady Godiva ride through the town. She had bought enough groceries to last her several days so she would not have to return to the garden perform the obscene ritual with the horse / statue. The thought of having been seen by the boys last night preyed on her mind. The story of her riding was probably the hot topic of conversation in Palmerville and how could she ever show her face there again? Even worse she knew that she would soon have to make another midnight ride through the town where anyone might see her.
With these despairing thoughts running through her mind, it took all the will power she had left to get out of bed to face yet another day in this demented house. She feared that if she stayed here much longer, she would soon sink to the sick level of the creatures that infested it. After eating, Jennifer summoned her courage to take another look at Samantha Lee's diary. The entries in the book might hold the key to her freedom, but they also terrorized her with the vague warnings of what was to happen to her next. Perhaps it was better not to know, Jennifer thought, but she found she could not resist opening the diary to see if there were any new entries to read.
Hello Jennifer, I imagine you met Hlar and Hlox last night. I must admit that they were the most gentle lovers that I have met in the house so far. During the day, like the other demons, they can not manifest themselves completely, but you will still feel their presence every time you bath or use that modern contrivance you call a shower. It is quite pleasurable and oh so seductive but do not give in to the temptation of their company to much, for they steal a bit of your soul and will with every visit.
The house is restless today. I think they sense that I am trying to warn you with this diary and I must be careful what I right even though the words are hidden from them. There are many demons in this house, some of the most powerful are fearsome indeed and you have not met them yet. The only warning I can give you today is to beware of yourself. Today you will be your own worst enemy."
Jennifer closed the diary and a shudder ran through her. What did Samantha mean with her cryptic remark? Surely there must be some way to escape the demons and this house, something that they had overlooked! As she pondered, an idea came to Jennifer and she wondered why she had not thought of it before. Trying to remain calm, Jennifer went to the garden door and it let her outside. She was sure the smug statue had left the door open so that she might visit it, but Jennifer thought she had a way to use that smugness to escape. The horse had jumped the fence to go into town, now that she was outside, why could she not just climb over that same fence and leave? If she did not perform the ritual, there would be no returning spell and she would be free of this place. She didn't care if she had to leave everything she owned here as long as she never saw this horrid place again.
The fence around the garden was an old rickety picket fence about four feet high. Glancing around fearfully, Jennifer quickly crossed to it and awkwardly climbed over it to freedom or so she thought. The moment her foot touched the ground on the other side, however, all hell broke loose. The landscape around her changed from the high grass and weeds she had seen to scorching hot desert scene of sand dunes stretching away as far as the eye could see while two white hot suns beat down on her. Looking around Jennifer could see no sign of the fence she had just climbed or of her weed infested garden. Slowly, Jennifer began to walk across the sand, hoping that this was some kind of illusion that would fade in a moment and reveal itself as a last trick to try and prevent her escape. The heat and the sand stayed very real, however, and she stopped, wondering if she should go on. What exactly was this place? It reminded her uncomfortably of the scene from Beetlejuice when the sand worms had erupted to terrorize them. Jennifer looked about nervously but saw no sign of anything hostile. She laughed aloud nervously. That had been only a movie not reality and there was nothing here to fear.
Jennifer was still telling herself that when the sand around her erupted in a flurry and something grabbed her legs and pulled her down. Jennifer screamed and struggled but something had coiled around her waist and was pulling her under the sand. I will suffocate she thought in rising panic, but suddenly she felt herself being lifted up and when she got a good look at why, Jennifer thought that maybe suffocating had not been such a bad fate after all. Dangling several feet above the ground, Jennifer found herself eye to eye with some type of tentacled beast. One of its tentacles was what held her while a dozen more writhed in the air. The thing was sort of a putrid green in color, the flesh semi-transparent to reveal pulsing liquids and organs. It also had a very impressive looking set of teeth in a mouth that looked big enough to just bite her in two, which is what she thought was going to happen to her. Jennifer opened her mouth determined to get in one last scream in the grand tradition of the helpless B movie heroine when a very amused voice stopped her.
"My, my what kind of a sweet little thing have I found?" Startled, Jennifer realized that the voice was coming from the tentacled monster who was holding her.
"Please don't eat me," she begged the creature. "I would probably not taste very good and I am just trying to escape from the demons who have taken over my house. There was this fence around the garden you see, or rather you can't see it now, but it was there and I climbed over it and tried to run away."
