“Oh, thank God, they fell down and bumped their heads,” Cindy said.
“Tell me how you really feel?” Freddy kissed her. “I apologize, I’ll make it up to you.” He kissed her again.
There was a scratch on the tent.
Cindy’s eyes bulged. Freddy looked as angry as ever. “It’s just them, ignore them they’ll go back to drinking,” he whispered.
The scratch came again.
“Piss off!” Freddy yelled.
They waited a while and there was no sound.
Freddy still looked ready to fight, but Cindy pulled him back.
“They got bored, let’s go back to the kissing.”
Freddy didn’t budge until Cindy tugged him.
“Please?”
SATURDAY
Morning came complete with bad breath, sore backs and a crisp chill that the bright sun failed to mention. Cindy barely recognized their camp by the river. Everything seemed slightly misplaced. Her memory failed her even though she’d skipped the adult beverages.
Freddy attempted to stir up the fire again, but it was reduced to ash and while a few coals turned orange when he blew on them there wasn’t enough heat to catch leaves on fire. So he started from scratch again with the corn chips.
Cindy assumed the others had slept in after drinking most the night, but as she hoped they all had hangovers she realized it was barely 7 A.M. She should still be asleep herself!
“I cannot believe I am up this early.”
“That’s the pleasure of sleeping on the ground. It provides you with an early start.”
Cindy faked a laugh. “I’ll have to remember that come exams.” Then her smile became real as she humored a devious thought. “Hey,” she whispered. “Do we have a bucket?”
“I don’t think so what are you? Oh….”
“Maybe back down in the car. I have an empty gas can in the trunk. The river is going to be ice cold.”
“Think we can make it to the car and back before the wake up.”
Freddy nodded.
They both sprung towards the wood line then once they found the path they began to jog up and down the rolling hills until they reached the steep incline, which led down to where they had parked the car, about a mile up a gravel road off the main road.
They had initially stopped so that they wouldn’t trip on the root infested, steep incline, but upon doing so noticed something else: the car was no where to be seen.
“Oh dear,” Cindy gasped and looked towards her worried boyfriend’s face. She was terrified how he would react, knowing how she would react if her car had been stolen. “Maybe this was the wrong trail and you parked at a different one.”
Freddy looked annoyed, his head shaking and his lips tight.
“You think you got towed because we didn’t stop at the ranger station?”
Freddy didn’t respond. He ran down the steep incline and all the way out to the gravel road. He looked both ways and then spun around.
“I’m sure that’s probably it. We can hike down to the ranger station and just ask them for it back. And if they didn’t, our cell phones should work down there and I can call my parents and…”
Freddy didn’t say it, but his eyes told Cindy to shut up.
They didn’t say a word all the way back to the campsite. Cindy didn’t know how to comfort Freddy. He wasn’t speaking, but she could feel the anger radiating off his body. His eyes were almost bloodshot, and his jaw bulged at the sides.
“Better wake them up.” Freddy kicked at the tent that Ben and Earl spent the night in. “Wake up, assholes. Got some bad news!”
Cindy took it upon herself to wake up the girls a little more cordially. She unzipped the tent and said, “Hey girls, you might want to wake up there’s a problem.”
The girls moaned and sighed and muttered.
“Wake up!” Freddy yelled, hitting Ben and Earl’s tent more violently. Enraged he unzipped the tent. “They not here,” he said.
“What?” Cindy turned around and could clear see into the tent, the sleeping bags were flat on the ground. Her eyes darted around. “Did they go swimming?”
Freddy gave her suggestion a chance and looked out into the river, but it was calm and vacant. He shook his head as if she couldn’t have suggested something dumber.
Cindy searched the camp for a moment and spotted the sun shining on a beer can. Her eyes connected the dots, from beer can to beer can to beer can. And then she forced a laugh so that Freddy would notice.
“Do you have your car keys?”
Freddy hadn’t checked. Not even when they had hiked down to get the gas can—but then again, he never locked it. He quickly realized they weren’t on him and went for the cooler where he had put them. They were gone.
“They went to get more beer.” Cindy said, proudly standing up.
“Assholes should’ve told me.”
“That’s not in their nature.” Cindy eased up close to her boyfriend. Freddy pulled her in and hugged her.
“Sorry I got so mad, I really thought someone had stolen my car. I didn’t know how we were going to get home, or explain to your parents. They’d never trust me again with you.”
“I’m sorry you felt that way, but I’m happy that you want them to trust you.”
They kissed.
“Early morning kayakers,” Freddy said looking up the river. Cindy turned and saw a group of six kayaks paddling down the river. The leader waved at them and they waved back. The rest of his group just kind of stared.
“I guess we’re not really out in the middle of nowhere,” Cindy said.
“Yeah it’s pretty popular. Well shoot, maybe tomorrow we can do your prank.”
“It might not work, they haven’t budged at all.” She said point at Marla and Tina’s tent.
“They need their beauty rest,” Freddy joked. “For their souls.”
Freddy returned to the fire and after he got it started he fried up bacon and eggs, which weren’t the greasiest thing Cindy ever ate, but also one of the most delicious. They seemed to wipe away the brief tension of the missing car, and block out the drunken comments from the night before. For a moment she felt like they were back to staring at the sun on the horizon, a perfect moment. The way it should be.
It would be the last moment Cindy felt that way on this trip.
Marla and Tina finally dug their way out of their tents after 10 o’clock. By then the hot sun had warmed the air around them and given Marla and Tina the excuse to don the same skimpy attire from the day before.
Cindy watched Freddy do his best to avoid making eye contact with their breasts, but she couldn’t fault him. It was like they were staring at you.
“Come on, why don’t you take me for a hike along the river like you promised?” Cindy could tell Freddy was irritated that his friends took his car without asking.
“Sure,” Freddy stood up and gave one more look down the trail back to the where he had parked his car.
“Where are you all going?” Marla asked as if it were a problem.
“Short hike, be right back.”
“They’re going to go do it in the woods,” Marla told Tina who cracked with glee.
Cindy rolled her eyes, but whispered in Freddy’s ear, “I’ll leave that option open to you.”
He still seemed bummed out about his car.
“There is a story about this park,” Cindy said. “But then again most parks have stories. And so do most apartment buildings, neighborhoods, cities.”
Freddy didn’t adjust his tune. He remained mum.
“Maybe we can get them back by making them believe that it’s happening?”
“I don’t know the story. I doubt they do.”
“It starts off with a couple of canoes heading down the river. They were loaded up to camp somewhere special along the river…”
“This river? You know it’s barely deep enough to kayak down, most canoes aren’t going to make it.”
“Okay, we’ll tell them it
was kayakers,” Cindy said. “I don’t know the difference. But they were campers. And they pulled off to the side of the river and saw a neat clearing where previous campers had stacked stones, like the Celts did, all one on top of each other. They set up camp, ate, told ghost stories, and then went to bed. In the morning there was a new stack of stones outside one of their tents. They didn’t know which one of them had done it, but it wasn’t a scary prank or even really all that funny. So the argument progressed into nothing but an agreement to hike into the woods.”
“Then they meet the stone stacker and are killed?” Freddy asked.
“No. They found a beautiful rock cliff and on their way up, one of them slipped and fell. It wasn’t that far of a fall. Most people would’ve just broken a leg or an arm. But the person who fell landed on a tree that a beaver had cut into a spike. Now, the campers didn’t pick this up right away, but it was the same person who woke to find the stack of rocks just outside their tent. And,” Cindy said, grabbing Freddy’s arm. “As they pulled their friend off the spike, thinking they could somehow save him. They noticed a stack of stones. This time next to the camper who wasn’t helping, the one standing off to the side crying in shock.”
“So then that camper has a horrible accident and dies.”
“Yes. Once they realize their friend is dead, they know they have to get the body out of the woods before bears and coyotes find it. It’s getting dark and as they go back to their kayaks they are attacked by a bear. That’s when that camper dies. They leave their other friend’s body and most make it back to their camp and get in their kayaks, leaving everything behind. They didn’t notice that every tent of theirs now had a stack of stones in it. That’s what the police found afterwards. Their bodies floated on shore and were discovered days later. Two of their kayaks were found at the bottom of the river. Filled with stones.”
“Canoes. You story had canoes,” Freddy said.
“You said it wasn’t possible for canoes, so I changed it.”
“Well, this time of year. I’m sure in the fall or early spring the water level is high enough.”
“I’m only telling you so that we can prank them. It’s probably not even true. Have you seen a stack of stones anywhere…” It was as if she had willed it, as if their eyes only found it because she had mentioned it.
A stack of three stones sat by the river.
“Your stacks were bigger right?”
“Yes,” Cindy said. “I don’t know. Stories get exaggerated. I mean that’s normal. That happens in nature.”
“It’s a busy park. I’m sure somebody sitting by the river just got bored. Pretty creepy otherwise.”
“Did it work then?”
“Did what work?” Freddy asked.
“My story, it got in your head and now you’re spooked.”
Freddy finally smiled. “Let’s get those bastards.”
Ben and Earl never showed up back at camp. Neither did Freddy’s car. At first, that didn’t cause any trouble. Freddy and Cindy went about planting seeds about stacked stone. Tina and Marla didn’t have any trouble buying in, they swore they’d heard that story before and new all the details. Like one of the guys was their cousin’s best friend—swear to God.
It was 4 P.M. when Freddy couldn’t take it anymore.
“Where are those stupid bastards?”
“They’re probably just—”
Freddy glared at Cindy. “What? What are they up to?”
“Maybe they got lost,” Marla said. “Happens to me all the time.”
“The map is in my car. So is the GPS. So are their phones.”
“Well have you tried to call them?” Cindy asked
“Do you have reception up here? I don’t.”
Tina said, “I do.”
“What?”
“Oh yeah. It’s a smartphone, so it like knows how to find the satellites.”
“Then call them and see what they are up to. They better not have wrecked my car.”
“I bet they did. And they’re like totally dead in a ditch somewhere,” Marla said. “They were up all night drinking, I bet they never stopped. Got hungry and took off in your car.”
“Oh yeah. I totally could not sleep with all the noise they were making. Trying to scare us,” Tina said.
“Are you calling them or what?” Freddy asked.
“Mr. Impatient. Sheesh. I sent him a text. He’ll respond like as soon as he sees it.”
“Call him. Call him now. I want to hear his voice and know where the hell my car is.”
“Whoa, major buzz kill,” Tina said. She called and the rest stood around staring at her. She couldn’t take it. She shrugged and bulged her eyes out, kind of looked like a duck when she did. “Uh, he’s not answering.”
“For real, who calls anymore?” Marla asked.
“Normal people,” Cindy said.
“Babe, you aren’t normal. You’re like a polar bear person or something,” Marla said.
“A living ghost,” Tina said.
Cindy burst into tears. She tucked her face away from everybody and clenched her fists. She waited for Freddy’s arm to swoop in around her but it never did.
“Call the cops,” Freddy said.
“No way. What if they’re scoring us weed, you narc?”
“I want my car back. Text them that. Tell them it’s an emergency. That one of us is hurt and needs to go to a hospital.”
“That’s like a lie,” Tina said.
“Maybe. I mean look at her. She’s so pale maybe she’s sick. So it’s just a white lie, get it?”
“Text them now.”
“Done.”
“Keep texting them until the respond.”
“Uh, texts don’t grow on trees,” Marla said.
Freddy stormed off. Cindy felt inclined to follow, but he hadn’t comforted her. He hadn’t done anything at all. Still, she didn’t want to stick around Tina and Marla anymore.
“Where are you going?” Cindy asked.
Freddy didn’t look back, didn’t stop. “Back down to the road, I’m just going to keep walking until I see them.”
“Freddy, they could be anywhere. They could be hours away.”
“Why? What good reason do they have to go off and leave us here? Was it because they weren’t going to get laid last night? Something is wrong. That’s why they’re not answering their phone.”
“Hey!” Tina yelled. “They said ‘b.r.b.’ that means they’ll be right back!”
Marla added, “No. It doesn’t it means bring your own beer.”
“Why would they say that?”
“See,” Cindy said.
“I’m going down there and I’m going to let them have it when they get here.”
“Can I come,” Cindy asked.
Freddy stopped himself. “I’d like that,” he said. “But when they get here, just forget the stuff that comes out of my mouth. They earned it and I’m sure you’ve never heard nothing like it before.”
Cindy nodded. Then Freddy swooped over and planted a kiss on her forehead.
They were almost to where they could make out the gravel road through the trees. There was a pungent breeze, as if it was blowing on something rotten. Freddy’s mind went to work. He was red with anger, and the closest thing Cindy could figure was that Ben and Earl had hit a deer or something.
Tina or Marla screamed… then the other. They didn’t stop. Their hysterics shrieked all the way from the campsite, some 300 yards away.
“Should we?”
Freddy held up his finger and listened. “They must’ve snuck back up there and scared them.”
The screams were broken up, as if they needed to catch their breath to scream louder each time.
“What if it’s something else?” Cindy asked.
“It’s not. My car better be down there.” Freddy trudged on.
“I think I should go back and make sure they’re okay?”
“Fine. I’ll be right back,” Freddy said.
Cindy watched him. She couldn’t stand to see him like this. What could she do if Marla and Tina were in real danger? Wouldn’t she be better off with Freddy? She didn’t even like those girls.
But the screams didn’t cease.
Cindy jogged back to the campsite.
The screams stopped as she broke through the wood line.
No one was at the campsite.
Now she knew it to be a prank. She stopped in her tracks and surveyed the scene. Tina and Marla’s tent leaned to one side, as if something lay on the other. Now, Cindy’s heart began to race. Something bad was always possible. That was the way of the world. That was inevitability.
She moved forward. She had to know, had to end the questioning. The rocks that made up their fire ring had been disturbed. Ash and a charred log were a few feet away. Something had run through it.
She came up on the tent, worked her way to the side of it. Her mind had imagined it before she saw it. Only it was far worse than her imagination could’ve predicted.
Ben, she identified by his swimming trunks, was faceless. His chest was cut open, skin cutaway. His quads both featured identical cuts, the skin removed as well. There was no blood. Then she noticed his ears were gone and so were each of his fingers.
It couldn’t be faked. It couldn’t be a practical joke.
She swirled around in panic. Was she alone? No time to consider that an advantage. She ran for Freddy. Nothing stopped her.
She reached the gravel road—and the car.
Freddy’s car was unharmed. It sat in the same spot she swore they’d parked it when they arrived Friday night. The only difference, the only alarming thing of note, was the driver’s side door was wide open.
“F-F-Freddy?” She called his name softer each time. Each time she was more disappointed by the lack of his voice. She reached the car door. She checked beneath the car, then in the back seat. Nothing awaited her.
The keys dangled from the ignition.
Cindy grabbed them. Blood squirmed between her fingers, then ran down her palm and wrist. She took the keys anyway. She wanted a way out. She just couldn’t leave Freddy. Then again, she knew it could be too late. She slid into the car. Shut the door. Locked it. Locked all the doors. She tried her cellphone. Just like Freddy’s it had no signal, and its battery had drained down to one bar as it continued to search for service.
9 Tales Told in the Dark 12 Page 4
