Charlene grabbed her phone out of the car, better to have it once she reached the ranch house just in case she had a signal. She turned off the flashlight and let her eyes adjust as much as possible to the night, better save the battery as much as possible. She was not sure exactly how much farther it was up to the house, perhaps three miles or so, but she knew that she had to get moving.
As she walked on she felt as though the night was closing in around her, as though she could not cover enough ground to make any distance before the darkness just swallowed her right up. Her steps quickened and her heart raced until she was running at a full sprint.
No matter how much distance she covered, it still felt like she was not making nearly enough progress, as if the entire road was moving along some massive treadmill and she was just simply running in place. Charlene did her best to keep up her vigorous pace, at three different times she was forced by her burning muscles and heaving lungs to rest for only as long as her body physically required, then she would be off again.
At each break she thought she heard things around her, out in the fields of long grass and sage brush beyond the fenced borders of the seemingly endless dirt road. At first she told herself it was just small little critters scurrying about on various nocturnal missions, but by the third time she stopped to catch her breath she could have sworn that she was hearing faint little voices calling out from the darkness. Not that she was able to make out any specific words, just whispers. She stood on the dark road and strained to make out the odd noises. She was doing her best to convince herself that the sounds were caused by a night breeze rustling through the brush, and that after tonight's events her mind was just playing very convincing tricks on her.
Then she heard the laughter.
It was quick and short, an ever so gentle giggle that came and went so quickly that seconds later she was almost sure she had not actually heard it at all but had simply imagined it in her panicked state. But then another cackle broke out from the opposite side of the road, out from the fields past the fence line. It was not only louder than the previous chuckle, it was different, like it had more of a mocking, even slightly menacing, quality to the laughter. It sent a horrifying shudder through Charlene.
"Who...who's out there?" She called out, answered only by silence. She knew she had heard it this time, there was no way that she could convince herself that it was just in her head or even the damn wind. No, someone had to be out there.
Either that or she was losing her mind.
A strangle voice called her name, "Charlene!"
The voice that spoke her name was not familiar to her, it was thick and gravely sounding, raspy but wet at the same time, like something calling out from the grave. The voice called out from somewhere in the darkness, she could not pinpoint from where.
She felt paralyzed with an intensely cold fear. She wanted to call out again, demand that whoever it is stop screwing around, but instead she stood there shaking, like an elk calf who finds itself suddenly separated from its herd and surrounded by wolves, she was terrified to answer this spectral voice, as though acknowledging it would sound the alarm for whoever, or whatever, was out there to attack. The faint whispers were becoming louder, yet they were still unintelligible, as though some grand conversation was roaring around her from every direction but was just not quite clear enough to make out the topic. Although something deep inside of Charlene told her that she knew the whispering voices were talking about her.
Then something broke her spell of terror induced paralysis, the same deep, raspy voice that called out her name spoke again, only this time its tone was much colder, more malevolent and sadistic, as though it hissed each syllable at her through strained lips, "Come…come and save us!"
Charlene screamed into the night sky and bolted off, back at full sprint up the road. She was still screaming as she ran, though her screams of fear soon gave way to shouts of rage until her breath required her to either stop screaming or stop running, she did not have the lungs for both.
She knew that regardless of whether the voices were caused by something human or by something supernatural, something was back there. Something that knew what Bradley had said on the voice mail and knew exactly how much it had affected her. She also knew that her fears had been confirmed, her children were in need of help and she was damn sure going to keep running until she came to the ranch and held them both in her arms.
She kept running even though her lungs burned and her heart felt like it would explode. Driven by equal parts parental instinct and self-preservation. She knew that she would be of little use to Alyssa and Bradley if she let herself be taken down by whatever person or thing was stalking her on the road. Her body was revolting against her, she was sure her legs would give out at any moment and that she would be overcome by her pursuer. Tears were streaming down her face and sweat was pouring down her neck and back. She let out a desperate savage cry and pushed on further. Just when she was near collapse and even the adrenaline of a mother fighting for the lives of her children could not keep her going and further, she finally came to the wooden crest of the gate to the entrance of Bear Creek Ranch.
For the first time since the terrifying voice called out to her, mocking the words of her precious child, she slowed to a brisk walk. For a minute she felt like she was never going to catch her breath again. She made her way through the gate and up towards the ranch house, past the turn off that led down to Clarence's little house down the hill.
She remembered how she used to feel when crossing this threshold in the past. The Bear Creek Ranch was one of the few pleasant memories she had of her time with Charlie. This was a place where she could simply enjoy gorgeous landscape and let go of the troubles that plagued their marriage while partaking in the joyous company of the Henderson family. Charlotte and Carla were always warm and welcoming, they even seemed to sympathize with Charlene since they also knew just how difficult Charlie could be.
Then there was Clarence, perhaps the sweetest old man she had ever known in her life. He was always smiling and, most importantly, the kids absolutely adored him.
Those memories might as well have been from a past life or an alternate universe. There was nothing uplifting or relaxing about how she now felt as she walked up to the massive ranch house that perched atop the hill. Every step Charlene took toward the front porch filled every fiber of her being with pure dread. All she could do to keep it together and make her way to the front door was to keep repeating in her head that her children would be safe asleep in their beds on the second floor and the adults would probably be passed out drunk, except Dennis, he was far too kind hearted and concerned for others to not be sitting inside waiting for her to walk in. After all, he was the one who had pleaded for her to come and he would figure it to be rude not to wait up for her.
She walked up the driveway and saw that both Dennis' Porsche Cayenne and Charlie's black BMW were parked there. She recalled how when had she first made the decision to drive out here, she was hoping that her bothersome ex-husband would be long gone. Now she was feeling actual relief at site of his car, after the surreal and terrifying night she was having she thought that dealing with an obnoxiously inebriated Charlie Henderson sounded much more bearable than whatever nightmare had seemed to take a grip on the place.
I'm going to walk in the house and Charlie will be there making a scene, she thought, probably going to yell and curse at me until he's red in that stupid looking face of his but at least I'll know that I'm still in the real world and everything's just been in my head. She found little comfort in this thought, for some reason she just did not sound very convincing to herself.
She stood there before the steps of the front porch and looked up at the house. It was completely dark inside, either everyone was fast asleep or nobody was home. She was overcome with an intense feeling of apprehension. The thought of walking up those steps and into the darkened house created a fear in her that was likened to that of a child afraid to go near the ho
use of an old neighborhood hermit of whom the neighborhood kids told rumors of horrific deeds and hauntings.
She did not even take notice of the fact that she had been slowly stepping back away from the front steps until a light suddenly came on in the far upper left window on the third floor, causing her flinch a little and nearly trip backwards over her own feet. She saw a silhouette pass in front the window, she was not able to make who it was but it seemed to her to be the size of one of the children as it darted across the window, behind the curtains. Whoever it was, this meant that someone was at least in there and was still awake.
Charlene ascended the steps up to the front door and almost screamed when she saw that the front door had been completely broken in. As panic flooded through her she hoped to all hell that this was Charlie's work and not some sort of home invasion scenario. It would not be the first door to be kicked in by a drunken Charlie Henderson, but he would have to have been in a serious fit of rage in order to actually break the door to pieces instead of just busting the latch.
A terrifying thought bore though her head, what if someone had broken in and taken the family hostage? What if when Dennis had called her earlier he actually had a gun to his head and was forced to make the call? Perhaps the invaders had heard her concerned message and figured best to lure her to the house before she alerted the authorities?
What if they were up there right now, tormenting her precious children?
But then what of the voices on the road? What about the insane events with the crows, elk, moths, and that crazy fucking goat?
Charlene swallowed back her fear and stepped though the broken doorway.
"Hello?" Her voice seemed to echo through the silent house, "Dennis? Charlotte?"
When she received no answer she walked slowly down the hallway toward the kitchen, her footsteps reverberating off the hardwood floors as she walked. The kitchen was dark, however, she noticed a breeze blowing gently from the window over the kitchen sink. When flicked on the light she realized that the window was not just left open, it was shattered, and shards of broken glass littered the tile floor. A fresh wave of panic rushed through Charlene, she decided to quit wasting time poking around and headed quickly up the stairs to the upper floors. Alyssa and Bradley would be sleeping in the guest rooms on the second floor, the light she saw from outside came from the third floor. She raced up the stairs to the second floor and threw open the first guest bedroom door.
"Bradley?! Alyssa?!” She yelled out before the door was even swung all the way open. The room was empty, as was the next.
Charlene raced up to the third floor, she could see a light coming from the crack under the door to the room that Charlie and she had usually stayed in when they would visit in years past. This had to be the room from which she had seen the light in the window. She flung open the door only to find another empty room. Whoever she had seen moving behind the curtain from the front yard was no longer in this room.
"Kids?! Carla?! IS ANYONE FUCKING HERE?!"
Music began playing from one of the upstairs rooms on the third floor. Charlene thought that the tune sounded familiar but she was not quite able to make it out from where she was. She walked slowly up the remaining stairs to the third floor hallway with a nervous apprehension akin to a teenager sneaking back into the house after partying until the wee hours of the night. When she reached the third floor she recognized the song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy", and it was playing out from behind the door to the master bathroom.
"Hell...hello?" She said much more timidly and softly than she had meant to, "Is someone in there?"
The door was open just a crack, and she was well aware that just because no one answered her, that did not mean that nobody was in there. She was alarmed to see how bad her hand was trembling when she reach for the knob and slowly pushed the door open. If not for the fact that this ordeal concerned her children, there was absolutely no way in hell she would be looking to see what was on the other side of this door. Matter of fact, she would not even be in this house, she would be long gone in whatever vehicle she could find the keys for.
The door swung open, the only thing out of the ordinary was the cell phone plugged into the wall charger on the bathroom counter, playing that catchy old tune. Charlene almost wanted to laugh at the fact that of all the songs in the world, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was playing right now. She saw the caller ID flashing, the screen read "Dennis".
"Oh thank God!" She said as she quickly grabbed the phone up, only to have it stop ringing at the very same instant she was about to hit "answer".
"Fuck!"
She fumbled with the unfamiliar screen for a second trying to find the "call" button so she could dial Dennis right back. Just when she was about to hit the button to return the call, the phone began blasting out the ring tone song again. This time the caller ID read "Charlie".
"Shit." She said, wondering if she would ever form another sentence that consisted of more than just a single-syllable cuss word. She took in a deep breath and hit the "answer" button on the touch screen.
"Charlie, this is..." Those three words were rushed from her mouth before she really had the receiver fully up to her ear, when she did, she froze.
There was horrible screaming coming from the phone. She could barely recognize Charlie's voice, and even then could not tell for certain if it was just one person screaming. This was a scream of pure terror and unimaginable pain. She could tell words were attempted but all he could manage was a series of, "Oh. God, please help me...no! No, no, no please don't...naaahhh!!!"
There was a sickening ripping sound that made his screams reach a terrible, squealing pitch. There were disgusting, wet sounds, like somebody dropping handfuls of wet mud onto pavement.
Charlene held the phone out in front of her, just staring at it as she heard the abhorrent sounds of Charlie crying and pleading, gurgling between screams of pain as though he was spitting up blood or vomit as he cried.
She screamed and threw the phone as hard as she could against the wall, shattering it to pieces.
She pulled out her own phone and dialed 911 as soon as the phone screen came up. There was no ringing. She looked at her phone as saw, as she should have known being where she was, that she had zero bars of service. She put the phone back in her pocket and noticed the open window above the large Jacuzzi bath tub. The window was not what really grabbed her attention, however, it the faint trail of residue streaked up the glass. It could have simply been soap scum or some sort of hard water stains, but it looked like something else, sort of like slug or snail slime.
Then something outside of the window got her attention. Far past the yard and the orchard, down the hill over there at Clarence Wilkerson's little house, the front parch was illuminated by the soft glow of the porch light. She could see people down there, at least she thought she did, hard to tell from this angle and distance. It looked like a small, shadowy figure was scurrying around just on the very border of the lighted area, just out of view. Then the porch light suddenly began flashing, as if someone knew that she watching and was trying to signal her. It flashed in short bursts of two, just like someone would flash their headlights at an oncoming car to let them know that their lights were not turned on. The pattern repeated itself six times before going dark for good.
Charlene knew there was no question that she had to go down there. After hearing Charlie's appalling screams on the phone she was brutally aware of two realities. The first thought was that whoever was torturing Charlie could very well be doing the same thing, or even worse, to her children. The second thought was that if they had gotten to her children, and if she was too late to save them, she would not want to live anyway so she might as well just charge ahead. Best case scenario, she finds them down at Clarence's safely waiting for her to save them. Worst case...no, she refused to even let herself think about that.
Her phone began vibrating in her pocket, she had an incoming phone call. She pulled the phone from her pocket, the caller ID read
"Charlie".
“Fuck that,” Charlene said as she hit the "decline call" button and checked once more for service. She had none.
She returned the phone to her pocket and quickly exited the bathroom, running for the stairs.
She practically jumped down the first light of stairs, miraculously not breaking her ankle each time she stepped down and propelled off about every third step. She took the rest of the stairs only a tiny bit more carefully, the thought of having to lay here in this house alone and injured scared the living shit out of her. When she reached the ground floor she grabbed the end of the rail and swung around into the hallway and bolted for the front door.
Just before she reached splintered remains of the front door she realized that she had not tried the land line to call for help, and after listening to Charlie's screams over the phone her conscious told her that it would not be an overreaction to scream and plead for the police to send help as quickly as possible. She had not been in this house for at least a two years and she could not recall where Charlotte had the land line phone plugged in. She fumbled around blindly until she found the light switch on the wall next to the entry way and turned it on.
She made her way carefully down the hallway, sure that every corner or coat closet door concealed some waiting assailant ready to pounce on her as soon as she crossed their way. The kitchen was partially illuminated now from the light that was bleeding in from the hallway. She could see the phone sitting on the kitchen counter near the shattered window. When she had looked in the kitchen earlier in her panic she had not bothered with the lights, now she had a much clearer view. It looked as though some sort of struggle had taken place. Not only was the broken glass scattered across the room, which meant that it broke from the outside when something came in, but one of the chairs around the table was knocked over and the table itself must have been shoved because it was flipped upside-down and was perched against the kitchen counter.
Becoming the Gateway Page 14
