by Rose Pressey
I pulled away from the curb and headed away from town toward the woods out on highway two-ten and Forrester Road. Turning on the radio, I tried to take my mind off what was about to happen. I wondered what Brannon was doing. Had he found Alexandria? Had she confessed? See, my mind went right back to the murder. I couldn’t get away from the chaos. Whether it was haunted tours or a murder at the library, either way it was scary.
Rolling up to the stop sign, I waited for a car on the other side to go past. When it was my turn, I took my time driving through the intersection. I barely made it through when I spotted people right in front of the car. I slammed on my brakes. My eyes met with theirs right away. The three ghosts stood in the middle of the road. I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. My hands shock as I clutched the steering wheel.
What would they do if I drove around them? Would they just show back up again? What would happen if I drove right through them? They were already dead. It wasn’t like I could hurt them again, right? No, bad idea. I didn’t want to do that. Maybe it would be painful, I didn’t know. I’d never been a ghost.
As I steered the car around them, all of a sudden, they disappeared again. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw headlights headed toward me. I pushed the gas pedal and drove through the section where the ghosts had just been standing. Now I was so terrified that they would show up again.
Maybe they’d disappeared because that other car had been back there. Possibly so, but now I never knew when they might come back again. As soon as the tour was over tonight I had to tell Brannon about this new appearance of ghosts. He’d probably be shocked when I told him about how they’d stood in the road as if trying to block me.
The entire ride out of town I was on edge thinking that the ghosts would pop up right in front of me. So far that hadn’t happened. I had about another five miles to go. The lights of town had disappeared now and I was surrounded by nothing but darkness. This was completely terrifying. I wasn’t sure what I’d been thinking by agreeing to this. It was darker than I had imagined.
I just now realized that I’d always come to the haunted woods in the daytime. This was a completely different scenario in the dark. No telling what kind of critters we would run into. It wasn’t a dense wooded area, but nevertheless it was still creepy. A clearing at the side of the road with a pull-off was where we had agreed to meet. We could park our cars along the road and walk into the woods from there. My headlights flashed across a couple of parked cars. I’d reached the spot.
I slowed down and pulled behind one of the other vehicles. The headlights allowed me to see exactly how scary it really was. Thank goodness we had the flashlights. In front of the first car I spotted the group of people. It must be the group here for the tour. The two women and two men looked completely normal, meaning they didn’t have machetes or knives, nor were they wearing serial killer masks. I had charged double for this tour, so I really hoped it would be worth it. I had to show them a spooky time.
After inhaling I let out a deep breath, preparing myself for a mysterious romp through the canopy of trees. My hands still clutched the steering wheel. I supposed it was time to get started. The quicker I started the sooner the tour would be over. I needed to just calm down. I was just working this up in my head for no reason. Once it was all over I would look back on how silly I’d acted.
I grabbed the bag of flashlights and opened the car door. The group looked my way as I stepped out of the car and locked the door behind me. I tossed my hand up and waved, trying to act as if I had no fear. After all, I didn’t want them to panic. I had to pretend as if I had everything under control.
I walked past the cars, stepped up to the front, and said with a smile, “Sorry if I’m late.”
“Oh, you’re not late. We’re just a little early,” the dark-haired guy said.
“I suppose we are anxious to get started,” the other dark-haired guy said.
I certainly couldn’t say the same. Actually, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. I had my normal routine for the tour that started at the cemetery, but it seemed awkward saying it here since I really had no idea what I was doing.
I held out the bag of flashlights. “You will need these.”
One of the guys flicked on the flashlight, held it up under his chin so that it illuminated his face, and then said, “It’s about to get scary.”
Chapter 5
“I suppose I should formally introduce myself. My name is Ripley Van Raden. I run the haunted tour in Devil’s Moon. But you all already knew that.” I tried to steady my voice so that my worry wouldn’t come through.
“Nice to meet you,” they all said.
“I’m Patrick Ervin,” the muscular brown-haired guy said.
“Jonathan Pennington.” The tall, dark-haired man stuck out his hand to me.
I shook his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
“I’m Elizabeth Curtsinger,” a petite brunette said.
“Jenny McRae here.” The tall, willowy blonde tossed her hand up.
“And you guys are from Rough Creek?” I asked.
“Yeah, we all live there,” Jonathan said.
“Well, I’m glad you contacted me,” I said. “I hope you have fun tonight.”
I wasn’t so sure about saying that I was glad they contacted me, but it was the polite thing to say. Now that they all had their flashlights I figured it was time to get this started. No more putting it off.
When I flipped on my flashlight, the light illuminated the space, making it even creepier. There were no other sounds as they followed me. We walked to the edge of the woods.
“There’s a clear path right down the middle of the woods. We’ll just go through and if you see anything unusual make sure to let me know. I’ll tell you all about the haunted stories from here,” I said,
“I’m scared already,” Elizabeth said.
“It’s all right. There’s nothing to be scared of,” I said.
Though I couldn’t guarantee that something wouldn’t happen, I was sure hoping it was the truth. We stepped under the trees going into the woods. The group flashed their lights around the thick cloak of trees. The lights illuminated the small area in front of us. The smell of earth encircled us as the wind tossed the crowns of the soaring trees. Branches and leaves crunched under our feet.
“Are there a lot of animals in here?” Jenny asked.
“I don’t think the animals have their home here,” I said.
“But the ghosts do,” Patrick said in spooky voice.
Was that the answer she wanted? Probably not. I hoped we didn’t run into a snake. Though at this time of the year it might happen.
“There’s a nearby cemetery at the edge of this woods,” I said. “The ghosts move from there to these woods throughout the night. It’s their preferred time to haunt. During the hours when it’s the easiest to cross between this world and theirs. It’s when they’ll be seen by the living.”
The women behind me looked down at their shoes as if avoiding eye contact with me would keep the ghosts at bay.
“I’m rethinking coming out here,” Jenny said as she held on to Patrick.
“It’ll be all right,” he said, hugging her close. “They’re just the stories. Remember we wanted to have fun.”
“Well, I’m afraid they’re not just a few stories. It’s true the place is haunted.” I continued to move through the woods.
My business was at stake and I couldn’t have people think I was just making up fanciful stories. We were well into the space by now. It was too late to turn back and get out of there. Besides, it wasn’t so bad after all. Nothing too spooky had happened that would scare the tourgoers away and it was actually a nice walk. I wasn’t sure what I had been afraid of. It was just my overactive imagination. The thought of encountering a snake was much worse than dealing with a ghost.
Maybe I’d let my guard down too soon. We’d only taken a few more steps when a dark shadow darted out from behind one tree to another.
> From somewhere behind me one of the women screamed out, “Did you see that?”
“Yes, I saw it,” I said. “No need to panic.”
We all stopped on the spot. An owl hooted in the distance. I pointed my flashlight in the area, but nothing was there now. This certainly added validity to my claim that the place was indeed haunted. They had wanted to come to the haunted woods and now that was exactly what they were getting.
“It’s one of the ghosts. I’m sure they’re coming to make an appearance for us. Shall we continue?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ve seen enough,” Elizabeth said.
“Oh, come on. We need to at least finish and get all the way to the end,” Patrick said.
“Yes, but then we have to go back to the other side,” she said. “All the way through the woods to our cars.”
“Come on, don’t be a coward,” Patrick added. “You said there’s an old graveyard around here.”
“I’m no coward,” Elizabeth said.
“Oh, are you taking us over to the graveyard?” Jenny asked.
“Actually, I hadn’t planned on it,” I said.
“We really want the whole tour.” Jenny stared at me.
I suppose it made sense to go there, even though the area was scary. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t planned on taking them. Perhaps because the place had always given me a strange vibe, and that was during the day. I could only imagine it would be worse in the middle of the night.
“Sure, we can go there,” I said.
“We have to cut through that tree line right there. There’s a path.” I pointed at the pathway with my flashlight.
“That doesn’t look like much of a path me.” Jenny said.
“Well, it’s definitely a bit overgrown, but it’s there.” I said. “Just be careful and watch your step. I highlighted the path with my flashlight and gestured for the others to follow.
“This is so cool,” Jenny said.
“So are you all paranormal enthusiasts or are you just out to have a spooky evening?” I asked.
When my question was met with silence, I glanced back. The group exchanged a look with each other.
Finally, Patrick said, “Oh we’re a little bit of both, I suppose.”
All right, they weren’t apparently much for small talk, so I would continue with recounting my stories.
“There used to be a small village in this area,” I continued. “There were homes, a church, a saw mill and a small mercantile. Oh, and school house.”
“Kind of sounds like Little House on the Prairie.” Jenny laughed.
I chuckled. “Yes, I suppose it does but that wasn’t uncommon for the time.”
Soon we stepped out from under the arch of the leaves and into a clearing at the edge of the wooded area. If we went past the graveyard then we would come out onto Sanders’ farm. He probably wouldn’t appreciate if I brought people over onto his land though.
Nevertheless, the graveyard was close to his farm There was an easement for anyone to use. Everything was peaceful as we stepped up to the small graveyard. Statues of winged angels, praying children, and varying sizes of grave markers dotted the wrought iron enclosed space.
“What year does this date back to?” Elizabeth asked.
“The earliest date is from 1792,” I said.
“Are those tombs?” Jenny pointed.
“Actually, those are called chest tombs. They’re not actually bodies in there. They are under the ground. It’s just a form of grave marker. Mourners used the space to leave things like flowers or anything else they wanted to bring. It’s simply a style that’s not as common anymore.”
“I think they’re beautiful,” Jenny said.
“They are nice,” I said.
Elizabeth grabbed her arms. “This place is a bit spooky, isn’t it? I feel more scariness here than I did and in the dense trees, but it is a graveyard, I guess.”
A strange feeling filled the air, as if a fog covered the entire cemetery but the haze wasn’t visible to the naked eye. It was just a heaviness feeling. I knew that meant that there must be paranormal activity. Would spirits show up or remain hidden to the living?
“Do you feel that?” Elizabeth asked. “It’s like a thick fog is surrounding us, but it’s clear.” She obviously had some kind of paranormal connection to her. She seemed more sensitive.
“Yes, I do sense that. It probably means that there is a spirit around. But there’s nothing to worry about. After all that’s why you are paying, right?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s why we’re here,” Patrick said. “We can handle it.” “Are there any ghosts here?” Jenny called out.
“I wouldn’t provoke anything if I were you,” I said with a shake of my hand.
“And why is that?” she asked. “You can bring through things that you might not want to see,” I said.
No sooner had I spoken the words when the three ghosts appeared at the edge of the graveyard. They stared at us.
“Oh my gosh. Do you all see that?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes, they’re looking right at us,” Patrick said.
The group had wanted paranormal activity here and now they were getting it.
“What do we do?” Elizabeth asked.
“They’ll probably go away soon,” I said.
I knew my voice didn’t sound confident. Actually, I wasn’t sure what they would do after the incident on the street. I had no idea what to expect from a ghost. I thought the ghost would soon disappear but so far, they hadn’t moved.
“Oh, that’s ridiculous. Why are they staring at us like that?” Jenny yelled. “What do you want?”
“I told you not to talk to the ghosts like that,” I said.
“Oh, they’re not gonna do anything,” she said.
Now I was more worried about her actions than the ghosts
The ghosts suddenly ran forward. They floated above the ground and headed right for Jenny. I stumbled backwards a couple steps but managed to remain upright. Jenny screamed then turned and ran to the right. I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. The group should definitely stay together. But after being chased by ghosts I totally understood why she wanted to get away.
“What’s going on?” Jonathan yelled.
Suddenly the ghosts disappeared. Jenny looked over her shoulder, then she stopped. We ran over to her.
“Are they gone?” Jenny asked breathlessly.
“I think they’re gone now. I told you not to provoke them.” I said.
Jonathan motioned at Jenny. “Let’s get back to the tour.”
We continued our walk across the woods, but not nearly as fast now. I was a bit afraid of what we would find when we reached the area where the ghost had been. I’d witnessed ghosts before, even the three who had popped up in the middle of the street, but it never got any less scary.
“Where is Jonathan and Jenny?” Elizabeth asked.
Turning around, I shone my flashlight behind me. “Excuse me? What do you mean?”
“Jonathan and Jenny are missing,” Elizabeth said.
Now was not the time to play jokes on me. I counted heads. Sure enough, Jonathan and Jenny weren’t with us.
“Did you see them walk away?” I asked. “Maybe they went back to the car.”
“Maybe, but they didn’t say anything. They would’ve told me before doing that,” Elizabeth said.
“They’re around here somewhere,” Patrick said.
I shone the light around to the nearby trees to see if they were behind one of them. Perhaps they were hiding from us on purpose or were there for other reasons.
Pointing my flashlight to the left, I stepped over to one of the trees. I wouldn’t lie and say I wasn’t afraid of what I might see; but nevertheless, I had to find the couple so that we could continue. When I stepped behind one of the trees, I looked all around the area, but they were nowhere in sight. Stepping out from behind the tree, I spotted Jenny standing next to Elizabeth and Patrick. Jonathan hadn’t returned.<
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“What’s going on?” Jenny asked.
“Where were you?” I asked.
“I just stepped over to that side to see if I could spot the graveyard you mentioned.” She gestured over her shoulder.
“Where’s Jonathan?” I pressed.
“I have no idea. He was here with you all when I stepped away,” Jenny said. “What’s happening?”
I walked back to the group. They had concerned looks on their faces, but I wasn’t panicking just yet. Jonathan might have gotten too scared and went back to the car. Just because he was a big muscular guy didn’t mean he couldn’t be scared too. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had taken off prematurely. It was perfectly fine to admit being scared.
“He wasn’t there?” Jenny asked, pointing to the spot behind me.
“He’s not there. I’ll go over to the other side and see if I can find him,” I said.
Though if he was over there wouldn’t Jenny have seen him when she was over there?
Stepping across the way, I pointed the flashlight in front of me to make sure I didn’t take a wrong step or come in contact with anything else harmful. I moved the light all around, but there was no sign of Jonathan.
When I turned back around, I said, “He’s not there either.”
“I’m really panicking now,” Jenny said.
“Okay, we’ll go back to the cars and see if he’s waiting there. I’m sure he’ll be there,” I said.
They nodded but didn’t seem totally convinced. With the remaining group following me, we headed back to the cars. It seemed to take much longer to walk out of here, even though I had been scared at first. But now I was scared for a different reason. I knew I’d said that he was probably at the car, but what if he wasn’t? What could’ve possibly happened? And why would he just leave like that without saying a word?
Eerie silence settled between us. The only noise was the sound of our footsteps across the ground. I tried to keep my anxiety in check, but that was kind of like fighting a losing battle. Even with the flashlights it was hard to tell just how much farther we had to walk before the clearing came into view. The darkness made it hard to even see my hand in front of me.
