by Rose Pressey
Finally, when I was just about to ask him to stop, he said, “I got it from Mr. Byrd. He was telling me about the place so I asked for a map.”
“So you have been back to the antique shop?” I asked. What was that all about? He had acted as if he couldn’t go in just a short time ago. “I thought you wouldn’t go back in?”
“I went in one time. I thought I could handle it and then it was bad after that.” He looked offended that I had even asked.
I didn’t care because I was getting strange vibes from him.
“Mr. Byrd was surprised to see me,” John said.
I would ask Mr. Byrd about his visit. What exactly had Mr. Byrd told him about this graveyard? I hadn’t even known Mr. Byrd knew about this place. I was so confused about what I’d just learned. I had a weird feeling and it only increased with every minute. I’d thought John’s explanation of how he’d gotten the map would make me feel better, but it hadn’t. I was still trying to piece together a logical explanation.
We traveled down the gravel road in silence. I wondered what John would say if I changed my mind and asked to go back to town. I supposed I was being overly paranoid. I needed to calm down and think things through logically.
John broke the silence. “So tell me about the book you found.”
“What do you want to know?” I asked hesitantly.
“Who did it belong to?”
Again I wasn’t sure I wanted to share the info. I felt protective of Sarah Tyler, as if John was there to hurt her. What made me think that? He couldn’t hurt her when she was already dead.
“Her name was Sarah Tyler. Her grave is at the back of the graveyard.”
“Fascinating. What made you decide to find her?” he asked.
“It was what she wrote about in the book that made me interested.”
“And what did she write about?” he asked.
“Well, that there was a man who came to her home, Jacob. I believe he killed her. Her diary entries stopped not long after that man entered her life.”
“Maybe it was a coincidence,” John said.
“I don’t think so, based on the way that he acted around her.”
“Then why did Sarah let him into her home?”
Had I mentioned Sarah’s name? I didn’t think I had.
“She thought he would be safe at first, but soon she learned differently. It was too late then,” I said.
“Maybe it was she who caused all the problems.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?” That was a crazy thought.
“Sarah could have lied in the diary or misconstrued his intentions. Girls do that, you know.” John continued driving.
“Girls do what?” I asked.
“Lie.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “I really hope you are making a joke. Last time I checked, everyone is capable of lying. It’s not gender-specific.”
“Did I offend you?” John asked.
“I’m not offended. I just realize that you made an ignorant comment. Seems like you might do that often.”
“It’s just that I’ve been lied to before.”
“Well, haven’t we all been lied to?” I asked.
He glanced at me. “Sometimes it hurts though.”
His ramblings made no sense to me. It was odd how he’d started talking this way as soon as I’d told him about the diary.
“I intend to find out what happened to her,” I said.
“I doubt you’ll be able to discover that,” John said.
“What makes you think that?”
“Some crimes are never solved.” John glanced at me.
“I think we’ll be able to solve Ashley’s murder.”
“That’s doubtful too,” he said.
Okay, I was going to assume that he was depressed and that was the reason for the things he’d said. Otherwise he was creeping me out.
“That’s the road right there.” I pointed.
I was glad that we’d finally made it. The faster we got there the faster we could leave. Then we reached the gravel road to turn off for the graveyard.
“Turn right there.” I pointed again.
“Wow, this really is secluded,” he said. “It’s got an eerie vibe.”
“Yeah, well, there’s lots of history with this place,” I said.
“That’s just what I’m looking for.” He parked the car.
Chapter 24
We got out and went over to the cemetery gate. Maybe there were animals watching from the nearby wooded area, but it felt as if we weren’t alone. The sense that someone watched us sent chills along my skin. Cedar, oak, and maple trees stood guard around the graveyard. Wind murmured through the rustling branches, as if laughing at us. A balmy breeze slid across my arms. The smell of the damp ground drifted with the wind. I loved how the moonlight highlighted the old weathered headstones, as if a spotlight shone on each one. The sound of crickets sliced through the silence of the night.
John opened the gate and said, “Ladies first.”
I stepped through the gate, but the chill made my skin crawl. There was an eerie feeling immediately. I told him a little bit about the history of the place. He was walking behind me. I would have preferred that he stay beside me. It was just weird having to keep glancing back. He was awfully close too. I was a little bit of a freak about personal space. I stopped in front of some of the headstones so I couldtell him another story.
“Did you see that shadow over there?” he asked.
“No, where was it?” I asked, looking around.
“There was a dark shadow that just stepped behind one of those trees.” He gestured toward the general direction.
“I’m not surprised,” I said. “I’ve seen them before.”
“What should we do now?” he asked.
“I think it’ll leave us alone, but we should probably finish up and get back to the car,” I said.
“Well, come back here a little bit further and tell me more,” he said with a wave of his hand.
I followed him through the cemetery, even though I couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling that this was a bad idea. We weaved around a large headstone, much taller than me. John walked ahead and I paused, looking over at the wooded area where I had been lost previously. I wondered if the ghostly woman would appear.
I weaved around the headstones, but I felt compelled to look to my left again, over to the wooded area. For a brief moment, I thought I saw red eyes peeking out at me from between the branches. That sent a shiver down my spine. Something was calling for me, not out loud, but in my thoughts. It wanted me to come over there. After what I saw, there was no way.
I moved quickly away, but stumbled. Thank heavens I managed to catch my fall by grabbing one of the headstones. The thing liked that it had me enclosed in this cemetery. I wouldn’t be trapped for long though because I was on my way out of there. There was no reason to stick around. Not when faced with this kind of evil.
Just then, movement on my right caught my attention. A dark shadow zoomed out from behind one of the trees. It moved quickly beyond the trees. Now it was in the graveyard with us. Moonlight was the only reason I could even see this thing. The dark mass was headed my way. Then it attacked me.
The thing wasn’t human, but it felt as if hands were wrapped around my neck. I gasped for air, clutching my throat, trying to get this thing to let go of its hold on me. As I struggled, my legs wobbled and then I fell to the ground. I wasn’t sure what was going on or why I was being attacked. How would I break free? The more I struggled the less the entity squeezed my throat.
With every ounce of energy I could muster, I kicked and fought. Somehow it worked—the entity released its hold. Then as fast as it came, the thing was gone.
I managed to get up, even though the ground was damp and I slipped several times. Now I had mud all over me. I scrambled to my feet and rushed toward the entrance of the cemetery. I just had to get to the car and get out of there. I called back to John, but he didn’t answer. It w
as hard to spot him as I moved. I wasn’t sure if he had been knocked down too, but I couldn’t stop running. I was so terrified that all I could think about was escaping.
Just a little more and I would be out of there. John needed to hurry since he had the keys. Though even if I had them I couldn’t leave him there. My foot slipped again, but I managed to remain upright. Thunder rumbled in the distance. It would rain soon. We had to get out of here before the storm hit, or more importantly before we were attacked again by the evil spirit. If John didn’t come soon I knew I’d have to go back after him.
I’d just reached the gate of the cemetery when something grabbed me from behind and knocked to me to the ground.
I hit face first on the ground, trying to get free from this thing. The smell of earth surrounded me. Pain seared through my body. My impact with the ground had knocked the wind out of me. For a moment I gasped for air, then finally sucked in a deep breath. I coughed a couple of times and pushed up from the ground. This night was getting worse by the second.
When I looked behind me, I spotted him. John had grabbed me. This was the last thing I had expected to happen.
“What are you doing?” I yelled.
“Shut up, Sarah.” His voice was full of hate.
Sarah? Why was he calling me that? I was trying to get free by wiggling my arms and pushing with all my strength, but he was holding on even tighter.
“Just shut up and don’t say a thing.”
I screamed out, but who would hear me way out here? I couldn’t believe he had tricked me into bringing him here just so that he could attack me. He was the killer after all.
“Why are you doing this?” I yelled.
“Just shut up like I told you,” he said, holding me down. He was trying to cover my mouth so that I couldn’t talk.
“You killed her, didn’t you?”
He just laughed as he continued to try to pin me down tighter. I managed to get my leg up. I was trying to position it so that I could knee him in his crotch. It was about the only hope I had of getting away from him right now. I screamed again and that was when he was able to put his hand over my mouth. He was still holdingme down with one hand though.
He was cutting off my air. I was slowly losing it, losing consciousness. Everything was becoming dark, but that was when I saw a shadow over the top of him. I couldn’t make out who it was or if this was even real. Maybe it was only my imagination as I slowly slipped away. Then someone hit him and he fell back off of me, but I was still too dazed to even move.
“Are you all right?” the voice asked. “Ripley?”
I heard the voice, but I still didn’t know if it was real or just a dream. Had someone really hit John?
Chapter 25
When I looked over my shoulder, I spotted Lee, the weird guy who had been stalking me. What was he doing here?
He jumped on John’s back and I used this opportunity to try to get away. Then John turned around and punched Lee, so I knew I probably wouldn’t get far. I tried to reach the graveyard’s gate, but John pulled me back. I landed on the ground again. Lee was still out. I couldn’t believe he had tried to help me. I’d thought that he was the killer all along.
Now I was still struggling with John and he had his hands around my neck. I was losing air quickly, gasping for breath, but I couldn’t catch it. He was choking me to death and I was going to be his next victim. I had to keep fighting as long as I could, but it was harder and harder to struggle the longer he had his hands wrapped around my neck.
That was when I heard my name called out again. Maybe Lee had woken up and was coming to help me, but I hoped he didn’t get knocked out again. That was my last hope for getting away.
But then I saw it wasn’t Lee. It was Brannon. He jumped on John’s back and they fell to the ground. Brannon was throwing punches at him, but John was getting in some good ones too. I had to help Brannon, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to fight John or break them up. There had to be something else I could do. I wouldn’t be able to get to Brannon’s gun, so I had to think of something else. I looked around to see if there was anything I could use as a weapon.
They were still fighting and I didn’t see much that I would be able to use. Lee was still out, although I wasn’t sure if he would be any help anyway. Though I supposed two against one would be better than this current situation.
As they continued to fight, I ran over to the tree line to see if maybe I could get a long branch and use that to hit John over the head. As I looked around, I saw the dark shadow. It floated from behind a tree and then came dangerously close before disappearing again.
Now I had to worry about being attacked by that too. I looked down and saw a branch. It would have to do. I wasn’t sure if it was heavy enough, but it was all I could use. I supposed that was better than a little twig. I ran over to John. He had Brannon on the ground and he was trying to do the same thing to him as he’d done to me. I pulled my arms back and shoved the long branch down, smacking John on the head. It did the trick because he tumbled off Brannon and onto the ground.
Brannon got to his feet quickly. “Good job, Ripley, you saved me. Thank you.”
“You saved me too,” I said.
“Okay, so we saved each other? Now we’ve got to get John into my car.” Brannon pulled out his handcuffs and secured the guy. John was coming to at this point and so was Lee. I ran over to Lee.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
Lee rubbed his head. “Yeah, I’m okay now. What happened?”
“Well, that’s what I’d like to ask you. How did you find me and why are you here?”
Brannon had taken John over to his car and shoved him into the backseat.
“Ashley was my girlfriend, but I had to kill her,” John said.
Our eyes met when he said this. Of course that sent a shiver down my spine. I didn’t even want to look at him. To think of how close I’d been to death at his hands. I should have suspected him from the beginning. A darkness and evil flashed in his eyes. I’d never forget the way he’d looked at me. I wished I could have stopped him that night before he’d killed Ashley. If I’d only known what he’d planned. There was no way I could have known though.
“Well, I’ve been following you as you know, so I just followed you guys here.” Lee tossed his hand up.
“Why have you been following me?” I asked.
“I was suspicious of what John was doing, but I didn’t have any way to prove it. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“But why? How did you know?” I asked.
“John murdered my sister. They were dating and so I was on to him and I just wanted to keep an eye on you too. I knew that you had the book.”
“How did you know I have the book?” I asked.
Brannon came over to us. “Is everything all right over here?” he asked.
“Yeah, Lee came to help me. He knew what was going on, so that’s why he was following me.”
Brannon eyed Lee up and down. “Well, you should have come to the police.”
“I tried to talk with the police, but I really didn’t get far. I guess because I didn’t have much proof.”
“So you followed me here. How did you know about the book?” I asked.
“That’s because my mother was the one who sent it to you. You chased her down at Home Depot.”
Brannon glanced at me.
“I’ll explain later,” I said.
I’d known there was some sort of connection between the two and now this made sense.
Just then sirens and blue lights flashed, casting a glow over the entire area, as the other police cars arrived. The cars pulled up next to John’s and the officers jumped out. They ran over to us. Brannon briefed them on the situation and they asked if I needed any medical assistance.
“I’m fine,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I don’t need treatment.”
I would be fine, although I thought I would have some bruises on my neck. I wanted to continue asking Lee wh
at he knew about the diary. As soon as the ambulance was finished with him, I moved back over to ask more questions.
“Are you all right now?” I asked.
Lee nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. What about you?”
“I think I’ll be okay. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over this though, but I suppose I have to be strong. Tell me more about the diary, and why your mother sent it to me.”
Lee ran his hand through his hair. “We found the book in the house, hidden under the floor.”
“So then what happened?” I asked.
“She started acting strange after a while. It was after reading the diary. It was almost as if she was transformed into Sarah Tyler.”
“I think that was happening to me too,” I said. I wasn’t the only one who had noticed it. “So then what happened?” I asked.
“My mother saw that you do the haunted tours. She figured you would know what to do. She thought that if she sent the book to you then maybe my sister would be better. See, the boyfriend had started to act strange too, and it was almost as if John was taking on the role of the bad guy in the diary.”
“They had no control over this?”
“That’s right. It was like they were possessed by the spirits.”
“To be honest, I really didn’t appreciate the gift,” I said. “It has caused a lot of problems at the library and it’s not very safe. I think your mother should have done something else with it.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that, but I guess she just thought you could handle it. That was the only thing she knew to do with it.”
“I can’t handle it,” I said.
But I supposed that was all over now—except for it really wasn’t over. The library was still haunted and I would have to deal with that.
“So why did this guy John come after me?”
“Because you were beginning to be like the woman in the diary. It was starting all over again.”
