by Adam Dark
“You really think that’s what it was?”
“Maybe,” he said.
“Whatever is causing it is not a person,” I said.
He scoffed.
“Not human? Now I really know you hit your head too hard. You’re right, let’s go. We need to get you medical help before you go insane,” he said.
“I’m not crazy!” I shouted.
My voice echoed through the trees. His eyes glanced up. If my voice were able to reverberate through the trees, then the screams I had heard from earlier should have been heard by Nico too.
He seemed to come to the same conclusion. The fence shook violently, followed by a groan.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Nico said.
He shoved past me. Me, oh the ever stupid one, remained locked in place, watching as the fence moved and the menace on the other side reared its ugly head.
When I saw the hand stretch through the hole, I bolted after Nico. I didn’t bother looking back. The hairs on my neck stood erect. My heart pounded in my chest and my breath came in heavy gasps.
My legs ached and weakened the faster I ran. I caught up to Nico and sprinted by.
“He’s coming!” I shouted.
I had no idea if we were being followed and I wasn’t about to stop to see. I made it to the cliff’s edge thirty seconds later. I already had my legs thrown over the edge when Nico came sprinting out of the woods.
His face was pale and covered in sweat. A loud noise echoed through the trees from the way we had come. Birds shot off into the sky, squawking, as whoever it was approached.
“Hurry!” I said.
There wasn’t enough room for Nico and I to climb down the slope without risking falling.
“Go!” Nico said.
He stood at the parapet of the cliff, back to the woods. I descended as quickly as I could. Loose rock fell away from the cliff. I slipped and almost fell too but managed to snag a crack in the stone. I cleaved to the rock face to steady myself.
“Why are you stopping? He’s coming!” Nico shouted from overhead.
“I’m going as fast as I can,” I said.
“Well, go faster!”
The noise was getting closer. It sounded like someone yelling through a thin piece of glass. The shriek pierced right through my heart like a knife.
I continued down the cliff and hopped the last ten feet. My left ankle caught a stone and buckled. I cried out in pain and tumbled forward. I looked up at the top of the cliff through tears. There was no sign of Nico.
I clamored to my feet.
“Nico!” I shouted.
There was movement above, but I couldn’t see Nico. The shrieking had stopped. My heart sunk in my chest. I stared at the cliff, pleading for Nico to materialize. Suddenly, his body came flying through the air.
I thought he had jumped and was falling until his body snapped toward the slope. He smashed into it with a loud crack. It was then I saw the rope.
He climbed down as quickly as he could and fell the last few feet. He landed on his back, panting, his eyes white.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He was shaking uncontrollably. I went to help him to his feet. His skin was ice cold.
“Nico…Nico!”
I slapped him on the face. He looked to me but the look of terror hadn’t left. His face was pale.
“I saw him,” he muttered.
“Saw whom?” I asked.
His eyes shifted to the cliff. His body went rigid and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. I could feel eyes on me. The tingling sensation was tenfold as though someone had poured electrically charged ice water onto my body.
I swiveled my head around. All I saw was a black shadow shift away from the cliff. It was enough to get me moving. I grabbed Nico by the arms and heaved him to his feet. His body was convulsing. He was too heavy for me to carry so I had to drag him.
I heard a shriek come from the cliff and a wave of rocks fall down. I didn’t look to see if the thing was climbing down. I knew he was. I didn’t wait to find out. I yanked Nico by the arms and ran as quickly as my tiring legs would allow.
11
My mother and sister were still sitting on the blanket when I broke through the trees. My legs buckled the moment my feet hit the heavy sand. My body went somersaulting forward like a rolling log. Nico’s head smacked the soft sand with a thud.
I lay prostrate in the sand, gasping for air. My chest was on fire. Sand covered my lips and face like a mask of grit. I tried to stand but collapsed. My body was too weak.
I lifted my head and tried to call for my mother. Only a mumbled cry came out. I passed out then.
When I woke up next, I had blue sky looking down at me. My stomach felt lopsided and on the verge of vomiting. I groaned as I sat up. The world started spinning the moment my head got above my heart.
My mother rushed over and laid me down.
“Rest,” she said.
She placed a wet rag along my forehead.
“What happened?” I asked.
“You’re dehydrated,” she said.
She held up a plastic bottle to my lips.
“Drink,” she said.
The cold water dribbled along my cracked lips. It felt good as it slid down my throat. I drank three more gulps before she pulled it away.
She placed the back of her hand against my forehead and neck.
“You’re burning up,” she said.
“Where’s Nico?” I mumbled through chattering teeth.
“Get me some ice,” my mother said to my sister.
Abigail yanked open the cooler and scooped some ice into a plastic baggy. She tossed it to my mother who then proceeded to place it under my neck.
“This should help cool your body down,” she said.
From the aching in my body and the shivering, the last thing I needed was more cold. I needed a blanket. My mother removed the ice every thirty seconds or so. She said it wasn’t good for the body temperature to drop too quickly.
The word she used was heat stroke. Abigail was at the cockpit steering the boat while my mother tended to me and Nico. He was sitting on the starboard side of the ship, his gaze distant on the horizon.
The sound of waves lapping against the side of the boat filled my ears. I could feel the thrum of the engine and the rocking of the boat as it bit through the water.
I’m not sure how long it was before I began to feel better. My mother handed me a jug of water and sat next to me until I had nursed the entire thing down, then she gave me more.
Satisfied she’d given me enough, she took over for my sister. I rolled over to my side. My head throbbed and felt like someone had smashed it between a meat grinder, but my body no longer shook as though I were standing in a raging blizzard.
The sun still shown overhead but was losing its touch on the world. Already it began to fall toward the horizon. I went over and sat next to Nico. His eyes were distant as he stared off into the wake of the pontoon.
The waterproof cushion shifted as my weight sank into it. I joined Nico in the direction that he was looking.
“He’s watching us, you now,” Nico said.
“Who was he?” I asked.
The seat shook slightly as Nico readjusted his position.
“I think he lives up there,” Nico said.
“Are you sure? No one has lived up there for years. The place is haunted,” I said.
Even as I spoke I knew my words weren’t true. The rumors were that the house was haunted and abandoned. I never believed any of it other than its being an empty house in an overgrown section of the neighborhood that for some reason could not be demolished due to some historian having purchased the place to preserve it as a historical landmark.
It was also why it sat on over one hundred and fifty acres of untouched, untamed land. The builders for Oakwood Valley had to build around it. While you couldn’t see it from the front of the neighborhood, those living in the back shared the winding road that
lead up to the mansion on the hill.
For us kids, it was a constant source of adventure and terror. Over the years, kids would take turns ding-dong-ditching the place. There was never any real reason to fear, but somehow the place held this dread that overwhelmed even the bravest—or dumbest, however one looked at it.
I used to think Nico was the latter. But now I wasn’t so sure.
“Thank you,” I said.
He looked over at me with questioning in his eyes.
“For what?”
“For letting me go first,” I said.
Still confusion.
“If we had both tried to go down the cliff at the same time, we might have both fallen. But you allowed for me to go first even though that thing was after us,” I said.
Nico gave a short nod, then returned his gaze out over the water, back to the shoreline.
“It’s what best friends do,” he said.
I draped my arm over his shoulder.
“I owe you,” I said.
A grin spread along his face.
“What?” I asked.
He glanced back toward my mother and sister then leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear.
“We’re going back—tonight,” he said.
I sat erect.
“Are you joking? We almost died today, and you already want to go back? Are you insane?” I asked.
“Think about it…” he said. “Why do you think he let us escape?”
“He didn’t. We ran away,” I said.
Nico frowned.
“Don’t be naive. You and I both know had he wanted to grab us, he could have. Instead, he let us go. Why do you think that is?” Nico asked.
“Maybe because he just doesn’t like kids trespassing on his property,” I said.
Nico smiled.
“I need to go back,” he said.
“We can’t. My mother will make sure I’m up in my bed resting after what happened today,” I said.
“We’ll sneak out. I’ll get the other guys and we’ll meet at the river and go up together,” Nico said.
“I didn’t say I was going,” I said.
“You owe me, remember…” he grinned.
“Usually debts aren’t called upon until much later and definitely not so soon after a near-death experience,” I said.
“I saw him, you know,” Nico said. “He wasn’t as scary as the stories make him out to be.”
“Then why did you run?” I asked.
I regretted it the moment the word left my lips. Instead, Nico shrugged.
“I was scared,” he said.
This shocked me even more. He would never admit that he was scared. Nico was the fearless one who would go into any battle until the death.
“What did he look like?” I asked.
“Like an old man. A sad old man,” Nico said.
“But he tried to grab you,” I said.
Nico shook his head slowly.
“Nah, he wanted me to come with him. Right after you started to descend the cliff, I had lost my footing and was about to fall over when he grabbed me and pulled me back.”
“He grabbed you? How did you get away?”
“He let me go.”
“Did he say anything?”
He shook his head slowly again.
“He handed me the rope, turned, and walked away,” Nico said.
“He just let you go, just like that?” I asked.
“Yes. Just like that,” Nico said.
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he let you go if he’s a murdering psychopath?”
Nico shrugged.
“Maybe he’s not. Maybe the rumors are all lies and he’s just an ordinary man in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Nico said.
We sat in silence until the shoreline disappeared in the dimming light. As I looked out, I thought I could see a dark figure standing near the beach, looking out toward us as the water licked up against his ankles.
I knew without knowing for sure that it was him. It had to be. It was the man who had lived in the mansion all those years ago. Apparently, he still lived there and the place wasn’t abandoned as people thought.
And now Nico wanted to go back. Why? What could we possibly gain from going back there? We had cheated death twice already, I didn’t want to test our chances a third time.
But I could tell there was no convincing Nico. He’d go alone if none of us would. He got like this sometimes. When he made up his mind about something, nothing and no one could alter it. That left me with a decision to make. Go with him and ensure he didn’t do anything more stupid than going back up to an abandoned—well, not anymore—mansion in the darkest, scariest, and most secluded area in Oakwood Valley, or not.
And for what? What would be gained by going back up there? I had no desire to see the man who lived there face-to-face. Sure, he might have allowed us to leave—though that was a stretch for even me to believe. Chances were that he just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of dragging two boys back.
Or maybe that was his plan all along. He had seen us the night before. Knew that we were rummaging around on his property. Maybe he had been watching us from the peephole in the shed all along. Maybe the reason Nico hadn’t seen anyone inside the house is because no one was there at the time.
My blood chilled. I had felt eyes on me that night. Like a weight pressing down on me from all sides. Even when Nico had jumped out, the presence still lingered. Had it been the strange man hiding in the shed? Or something else?
The hopeful side of me wanted to believe Nico. That all of this was just a misunderstanding. That this man was a nice, old man who just wanted to be left alone and who had been unfortunate to have these labels placed on him.
I wanted to believe it with all of my heart. But I couldn’t shake the feeling I had the night before nor the feeling I had when the black cat’s yellow eyes stared up at me. Something was off about it. I couldn’t place it then, but I could now.
The place was not safe. I didn’t care what Nico or anyone said. We couldn’t go back. If we did, I didn’t know what would happen. But I knew it wouldn’t be good. Nothing good ever came to looking for trouble.
I left Nico to his thoughts and went to the bow where Abigail was lying down. I sat next to her, the warm breeze going chilly as the sun fell and night took over.
“Mom was worried about you,” Abigail said.
“I’m okay,” I said.
“I was worried about you,” she said.
I cracked a smile.
“Sure you were. You were probably hoping I’d croak so you could have all of the bacon for breakfast,” I said.
I joked, but inside I was really hurting. Today had been close. Too close. I felt arms around my shoulders. Abigail pulled me close and embraced me against her chest.
“I love you, little brother. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Abigail said.
“Are you sure you don’t have heatstroke?” I asked.
She punched me in the arm. Ouch! She let out a gentle giggle to hide the worry.
“I’m glad you’re okay. You may annoy the crap out of me sometimes and not have a clue about personal privacy, but you’re still my brother.”
“Thanks,” I said, not knowing what else to say. We hadn’t talked, like really talk, for a few years now. Not ever since she hit puberty and her whole body started changing. To say she had become the devil was an understatement. But in this moment, she reminded me of the sister I once knew.
The one who would stay up all night playing Monopoly just so I could win. The one who would let me eat ice cream when she babysat me and keep it as our little secret. The one who would run around outside, play hide n’ seek, or build forts in the living room with the couch cushions and bedsheets.
I had so many fond memories of my sister—of those days when we were younger. And in this moment, pressed up against her chest, we were back to a time when things were less confusing and simpler. When our parents were still get
ting along, and we had family meals—all of us—at the table every night.
I missed those days. I wondered if we’d ever get back to them. I didn’t know what the future held, but I liked where we were right now.
12
The good feeling on the boat, lying in my sister’s arms, like she was my protector all over again, had faded just as quickly as it had come.
The moment the pontoon docked and John secured the lines to the cleats, things were already back to normal. Abigail jumped out and walked down the dock to the car, leaving my mother, Nico, and I to carry the supplies.
I felt better than I had earlier, but my body was still weak. It’s like when someone had the stomach bug. For those first twenty-four hours, you feel like death, but after you expunge everything from your body from every possible orifice, your body just throbs.
That’s how I felt right now. John, the man who owned the boat shop, offered to help us carry our things to the van.
“You’re the last ones in. I thought I was going to have to come find you,” John said with a smile.
“Sorry we’re late,” my mother said.
John waved her off.
“No worries. How was it?”
He was asking me and Nico more than my mother. Nico shrugged and brushed by. I said, “It was fun.”
John didn’t ask any more questions after that. He scooped up the cooler and carried it to the parking lot. He helped us load the van and was talking to my mother off to the side.
I thought I saw my mother smile at one point before they shook hands. Abigail was in the front seat, her eyes already closed. Nico and I were in the back. When my mother put the van in drive and turned up the radio, Nico leaned over and whispered, “I’ll come get you at eleven.”
“I’m not going,” I said.
Nico elbowed me in the gut. A wave of nausea crept back into my stomach.
“You’re not chickening out on me already, are you?” he asked.
“It’s not about that. What’s the point of going back? You’ve already broken the record and now we know someone lives there,” I said.
“Exactly. He lives there,” Nico said.
“Then why do you want to go back so bad?” I asked.
“Aren’t you the least bit curious as to where he’s been all of these years? You know the stories,” Nico said.
