1865

 

     Damon DeMonio comes home from battle to learn his wife Penelope has been quite promiscuous with a few of the men from around town. At first, Damon brushes it off as just vicious rumors. The people in this town like to talk. Penelope is a sweet, caring woman. He was sure something got misconstrued somewhere.

 

     That is until the end of July 1865 when Damon went out with a few friends for drinks at the pub across the street. Damon and company were having a great time until the town drunk Lester Montese gives comment…

“Is The Wife Still as Busy as Shes Been, DeMonio?” and sends Damon’s blood to a boil.

 

     As Damon is outside clearing his head, he notices the figure of a man leaving his back door. Damon flies into a rage, running over and confronting the figure. He notices Penny’s shade of lip color on the man’s cheek. Slamming the man into the wall, screaming into his face,

 

 “Why were in you in my house?”

 

     Hearing the thud against the house, Penelope looks out the kitchen window to see Damon dragging something into the woods. Penelope’s worst fears have been realized, Damon knows. It’s not that she thought Damon a bad man, he always provided for her, Eliza and Elijah, their twin teenagers, but Damon was always protective of his property and Penelope was his property the way Damon saw it.

 

     Damon finally returns to the house to confront his wife. Seeing her husband disheveled and covered in what appeared to be blood, Penelope gasps and shouts

 

“What have you done Damon!” Damon turns smacking Penelope, sending her crashing to the ground, knocking her unconscious.

 

     Waking up several hours later, Penelope finds herself along with her children tied up in the basement, there is no movement from her children, and she fears the worse.

 

“Why are you doing this Damon?”

 

“Hush woman, I think you know why, Maybe you should tell me about your tryst with the Dentist.”

 

 “Damon, it’s not what you think”

 

“Not what I think, Not What I think! Woman you have no idea what I think! I guess then you have no feelings for the man who I caught leaving here? The man I took into the woods and Killed”

 

Penelope screams, “Noooooooo, why Damon? Why!!!”

 

“These men you have laid down with, you have sealed their fate, you have signed their death warrant, I will make sure every single one of them pays with their lives and when I am done with them I will be back to finish you off!”

 

     Damon storms off into the night to exact his revenge. Damon Is snapped back into the moment when he hears a voice drunkenly call out to him.

 

“Hey Damon, How’s that fiery wife of yours”

 

    With that Damon sees Lester Montese stumbling up the street. Damon rushes Lester, wrapping his massive arm around his neck and snapping it. As Lester’s lifeless body slumps to the muck at Damon’s feet, Damon spits on the body,

 

“You poor drunken bastard, you just don’t know when to stop.” He says as he

continues on his way to the Home of Dr. Tolliver Krane.

 

     Arriving, Damon makes his way around the back of the Krane home surprised to catch the good dentist making his way into the house. Damon sneaks up behind him and hits him over the head with a brick, sending old Tolliver crashing through the door. As he is finished tying the dentist to his chair, Archibald VonCleeve stumbles upon the scene.

 

“What are you doing with my son-in-law!” he shouts at Damon.

 

     Damon spins and lunges for the old man snapping his brittle neck quick as lightning. Throwing the body to the floor and kicking it out of his way Damon makes his way up the stairs and into the master bedroom. The dentist’s wife lie soundly asleep as Damon places his hand over her mouth. Millie begins to struggle, and with his other hand he pulls his knife and holding it to her throat he says,

 

“If you value your children’s lives as much as your own, you’ll keep quiet.”

 

     He flips Millie over, ties her hands behind her back and gags her as well. Leaving her on the bed he then proceeds to the children’s room down the hall. Looking in the room he notices the moonlight hitting the children’s faces ever so softly. He stops and thinks of his own children for a moment. Hanging his head he whispers

 

“What have I become.”

 

     Walking into the room he places a pillow gently over young Milton’s face. After a few moments the young boy stops struggling and his body lies motionless. Turning toward the other boy, Damon is surprised to see him looking back at him.

 

“Please sir, don’t hurt me”

 

     Damon begins to strangle the boy, Watching the life slowly escape his eyes. Dropping the body Damon walks back to Millie grabs her by the hair, and drags her down the stairs. Damon places her in the chair opposite her husband and says

 

“You must bare witness to the punishment of your cheating husband.”

 

     Walking over to where the doctor keeps his instruments Damon finds what appears to be a large pair of pliers. He walks over to the dentist, puts his knee on his chest, forcing his mouth open, he places the pliers on his front tooth. Grasping down hard and yanking them forward snapping the tooth in half. In excruciating pain the dentist awakes as Damon’s laughter intertwines with the man’s screams.

 

     Tooth after tooth Damon repeats, “why did you lay with my wife, for that you have to pay with your life, your fate has been sealed.” As he jams the pliers into his neck with a smirk.

 

     Grabbing the dentist’s drill from the tray he slowly begins to drill into Millie’s skull and she begins to whimper behind her gag.  Bringing the drill around to her face he jams it into her eye socket. Writhing in pain she finally passes out. Damon next grabs the scalpel from the tray and slices it across her throat.

 

     Finished with his slaughter Damon returns home covered with blood and looking like a Wildman. With rage in his eyes he confronts Penelope again.

 

“This has got to stop Damon, you can’t kill all these people, please tell me you left Jeremiah alone.”

 

“Jeremiah, you mean to tell me you’ve been with the mortician as well you filthy harlot!”

 

     Realizing he hadn’t known this before Penelope closes her eyes and curses herself for being so dumb. Damon growls in anger and turns to leave making his way to the Thompson home.

 

     Arriving at the house Damon kicks in the door, looking around he sees the Thompson’s daughter asleep on the couch. Picking up the fireplace poker and using it to crush her skull, he then proceeds to stick it into her chest.

 

     Going back to the front door he yells, “Thompson, Make Haste there has been an emergency!”

 

     Hearing this, Anna shakes her husband. “Jeremiah, they need you, there has been an emergency!”

 

     Jeremiah jumps out of bed pulling on his trousers, running toward the stairs. As he is putting on his shirt he stumbles and falls down the stairs knocking him out.
 

     Damon approaches his body just as Anna calls out “Jeremiah are you okay?!”

Damon replies “no, he has fallen down the stairs and knocked himself unconscious.”

 

      Anna rushes to his side; Damon grips her by her neck and slams her against the wall. Damon pulls his knife out and guts her alive. Gabbing Jeremiah by the feet he proceeds to drag his body to the embalming room in the basement. Strapping the man to the table, he inserts the embalming pump into the man’s femoral artery. Damon then grabs the smelling salts he awakens the Doctor.

 

“Why are you doing this, Damon?”

 

“Penelope, Ring a bell”

 

“but, but, bu…”

 

“Be quiet, you don’t deserve to talk, its time for you to pay. You fate has been sealed.”

Damon says, as he begins to pump the blood out of Jeremiah’s body. Removing the top of the pump the blood flows freely. Damon grins as he watches the life drain out of Jeremiah.

 

“My will has been done here tonight but this just starts the years of suffering this town will endure.”

 

     As the sun rises Damon begins his journey home, not even worried about passing people in the street, he returns home to finish his homicidal rampage.

 

      Damon barricades himself in once inside, knowing what has to be done. He takes a jug of whiskey from his shelf, and heads to the basement. He grabs the stool from his workbench and placing it in front of his family, walking over to his children placing a hand on each of their shoulders he says,

 

“Forgive me; this man who stands before you is not your real father, but a monster created by your mother. I love you and I am truly sorry for what’s about to happen.”

 

     The children weep quietly, Damon pours some of the whiskey from his jug over them. Turning to his wife he says,

 

“Do you realize all of this blood is on your hands, thirteen people will have died because of you! Penelope, because of you all our fates have been sealed.”

 

     Damon takes a swig from his jug and pours it above his head. Leaving some of the liquid inside the jug, he tosses it at Penelope’s feet. Reaching over, Damon grabs the lantern from his worktable smashing it to the floor engulfing the room in flames.

 

    There was nothing that could be done, the home burned to the ground killing everyone inside. Afterword the following letter was found next to the body of Jeremiah:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1927

     

     The property once owned the Damon DeMonio was purchased by the Freemasons and there they constructed the lodge that is still in use today. During its construction there were several unexplained occurrences.

 

Today

 

     As we let you tour this lodge, perhaps you can bring forth the spirits of those poor souls whose lives were taken here so savagely and have never truly found peace.