Thunder rumbled in the darkened sky. Lightening clashed in the distance. He smiled as he smoked a cigar.
Soon, soon five more souls will belong to me.
Drawing the shades, he sat down in front of a crackling fire in the living room. Power and superiority surged through his veins. From the large windows of this old mansion, he could see every street, building, and angle of Whispers. Since first arriving three hundred years ago, he knew the town would be his.
The villagers were so stupid, so trusting.
Of course, it wasn�t their stupidity that attracted his presence. It was their fear. Ah, fear. Fear was the most enticing of all emotions. He ate it, drank it, slept it, and breathed it. Fear opened the doorway to vulnerability. Whispers belonged to him.
They�d never guessed what an empowered, evil entity I am.
My human appearance easily fooled those fools.
If only they knew. An entity can transform into a human, dog, cat, piano, pizza, or whatever it pleased. Evil is a tricky opponent to fight.
He sipped a glass of white wine, prepared to see his four Lost Souls drag in those pathetic trespassers who�d wandered into his territory.
It�s strange, really, how they came here. When I took over the town 300 years ago, I used my magic so that we would not be heard of or seen by the rest of the world. Whispers is more than a cursed town. It�s its own universe.
Maybe that�s why the guys never heard of Whispers before. Maybe that�s why Whispers wasn�t located on any maps.
Regardless of their souls, he could NOT allow them to escape and inform others about Whispers. No one ever accidentally wandered into Whispers, then returned to tell the tale.
The doorbell rang. Dorothy answered the caller. She entered the living room.
"Three of the Lost Souls are here to see you, master."
Dorothy�s skin was covered in ugly red welts. He smiled. When he possessed Whispers, he�d also punished the villagers for their resistance. Each person was now crippled, deformed, or mauled in some way.
Beauty shrivels and fades in my presence.
"Bring them to me."
3 beasts shuffled into the room and kneeled at his feet.
"We�are�here�master."
"Did you get those five guys?"
"Not�quite, but�we�are�close."
He rose in fury.
"CLOSE?"
"Isabella�was�killed�today�master. Forgive�us."
He frowned.
"Who had the wit and guts to kill Isabella?"
"Well�after�she�murdered�Gregory�she�frightened�the�blond�one�out�into the�street. We�attacked. Isabella�might�ve�gotten�the�blond one�but�the�one named�Joey�served�as�a�diversion. The�blond one�stabbed�Isabella."
He paced in front of the fire. He had not expected a problem like this to surface.
"Well, I want you to find the others and put them in the chamber. Meanwhile, bring the blond one to me. His name is Lance Bass. He�s the guy who refused to fill out my Fear List."
He grinned. To the Lost Souls, it resembled a dangerous cat stalking a fragile mouse.
"I�ve got something very special in store for him."