Joseph hit the brakes of the ATV and brought the vehicle to a stop, a burning tree lay across the path fifty yards ahead.
“Hold on,” Joseph shouted as he spun the vehicle down an incline and into the depths of the forest. He stopped and hung a medallion, similar to the one Abby had found, from the roll bar of the machine.
“This will provide a small bit of protection,” he said.
Abby held the swinging medallion as Joseph raced the ATV deeper into the forest.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
After a few pained steps, Terry sat down and pulled off his boot. His ankle was swollen and flexing his foot caused a searing pain to radiate up his leg.
“Help,” he yelled. His calls went unheard, muted by the dense woods.
He fashioned a makeshift walking stick and managed to get on his feet. Lost, with neither sun nor stars to guide him, he limped along for several hours until he found a cabin. Warm light emanated from the windows and smoke rose from a stone chimney. A young Indian woman sat on the porch and stared silently at Terry.
“Hello,” he said hobbling towards the porch. “I’m sorry to trouble you. I’ve had an accident and need help.”
The young woman stood and silently gestured towards the open door of the cabin.
“Thank you. My name is Terry James. I live nearby.”
Terry limped past the woman and into the cabin. She gestured for him to sit at a small wooden table near a fireplace.
The young woman ladled a bowl of hot broth from a cast iron pot and placed it in front of him. He ate the warm broth, as the young woman gently picked sticks and leaves out of his hair. Suddenly his spoon turned cold and the broth putrefied in the bowl. He saw the hideous creature behind him in the oily reflection of the gruel.
He tried to get to his feet only to be slammed backwards in the wooden chair. The misshapen corpse of an old woman spiked its nails into his shirt and began to twist. He pulled a poker from the fire and plunged it into the creature’s neck. The cabin filled with the smell of burning flesh. The creature grabbed his injured foot and twisted it backwards, the bone snapped and shattered through the skin. It then swung him through a glass window, where he landed face down in the dirt.
He fought for breath as his windpipe began to close. Struggling to breathe, he crawled across the ground until he reached the edge of a lake. The creature glided towards him with the poker dangling from its neck. Desperate, Terry plunged into the frigid water of the lake and was suddenly able to breathe again. He followed the shoreline out of site of the creature and found his canoe caught in a bramble of waterlogged tree roots. The canoe was half filled with water but he managed to right the canoe and escape into the safety of the lake.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Joseph turned the ATV onto an abandoned dirt road, and drove to the shore of a lake.
“Abby, unfasten your seat belt,” Joseph said. “This thing floats pretty well, but you don’t want to be attached to it if something goes wrong. The water is deeper than you can imagine.”
Abby complied, undoing her seat belt, and grabbed on to the roll bar for good measure. She nodded for Joseph to proceed and he drove into the water creating a wake that shimmered away from the vehicle.
“Abby you will see some disturbing things out here,” Joseph said. “You must remain calm. I had hoped we would not need to cross these waters, but the woods will not allow us to pass.”
“What if the water will not allow us to pass?” Abby asked.
“The water is different, neutral ground, a conduit for travel where powers are diluted.”
Unseen things moved in the shadows as they drifted further into the lake. The vague outlines of submerged buildings hovered below them. Joseph turned the vehicle abruptly, avoiding a brick chimney jutting out of the water. A series of small islands came into view. On the first was a huddled mass of starving figures standing along the shoreline clutching tin pans. Elaborate tables filled with food lined the shore, but their sunken faces told Abby and Joseph the food was too late. Abby gasped and grabbed Joseph’s arm.
“Easy Abby,” he said. “We have a long way to go and it is best not to look.”
The shadow of the next island fell over them as they passed and Abby stared into clenched hands.
“Abby,” a mournful voice called out.
Her body stiffened.
“Ignore it,” Joseph said.
“Abby,” she heard again.
The voice coming from the island was sad and weak, but hauntingly familiar.
“Abby, help me,” it said again.
Abby listened in shock to the voice of her sister Addie.
Ignoring Joseph’s instructions, she looked at the island. Her sister stood in a white dress next to an overturned car. She recognized the dress; it was the one Addie was buried in.
“Stop,” Abby yelled at Joseph. “That’s my sister.”
“Ignore it,” Joseph replied staring straight ahead.
“We have to help her,” she shrieked.
“She is beyond help.”
Abby reached out and grabbed one of the control sticks causing the vehicle to pitch sideways. He pushed her back and steadied the craft.
“Abby,” he yelled.
“Stop,” she screamed.
Joseph brought the vehicle to a stop and it rolled from side to side in the water. The voice from the island continued to repeat its plea. Joseph reached into the back seat of the vehicle and pulled out a flashlight.
“Watch this,” he said as he aimed the light at the figure on the island.
The figure moved in a repeating pattern, first with hands over its head, then hands outstretched, then arms wrapped around its torso.
“See the way the movements repeat?” Joseph asked.
Abby was sobbing with her knees pulled to her chest and didn’t answer. Joseph continued sweeping the light across the figure whose pallid face was a black-and-white copy of Abby’s. Each sweep of the light passed through the figure and the overturned vehicle near it.
“It’s not real,” he said softly. “It’s not your sister.”
Joseph navigated the vehicle away from the island and deeper into the lake.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Donald dialed his phone and waited for an answer.
“Hello.”
“Brenda?” Donald asked.
“Yes, who is this please?”
“This is Donald Jensen, Terry’s friend.”
“Oh, Donald.” Brenda sounded relieved. “I am so glad you called, I didn’t have your number. Have you heard from Terry or Abby?”
“No,” Donald answered. “I have been trying for days and haven’t been able to reach them.”
“I am driving up from Louisiana,” she said. “I expect to get there late this evening.”
“I am flying in tomorrow morning,” Donald replied. “I should get up to Silverton by late afternoon. Should we contact someone else?”
“I don’t know anyone else to contact other than the police,” Brenda answered.
“I will call them right now,” Donald said. “I’ll let you know what I find out. Have a safe drive and don’t worry, I am sure they are fine.”
“Thanks Donald,” Brenda said hanging up the phone.
“Sheriff’s office,” the voice on the phone line twanged.
“Hello my name is Donald Jensen. I am a friend of Terry and Abby James. They live up in the lodge outside of Silverton.”
“I know who they are,” Rita Haeckel said. “How can I help you?”
“I am afraid I have not been able to reach them for a several days. I am visiting tomorrow and cannot get in contact with them,” Donald said. “I was wondering if you could send someone up to check on them.”
“Surely,” Rita answered. “If you want to try back in a couple of hours, we can let you know what we found out.”
“Okay, thank you,” Donald said.
“Bye,” Rita chirped, gum clicking between her teeth.
Rita wal
ked to the back of the office and found Ima pouring a cup of coffee.
“Deputy Rogers, we just received a call about the folks up at the James Lodge. Someone’s looking for them and has not been able to reach them by phone.”
“I will head up there right now,” Ima responded.
Ima grabbed her jacket off the coat rack. On the wall next to it was a tarnished brass plate that read, safety is everyone’s most important duty. Ima walked out the front door and surveyed the sky, rain was coming. She stepped off the curb and was startled by a crow flying overhead, its dark shadow barely visible in the gray sky.
Ima approached her truck and dropped her keys. She bent down to pick them up, and when she rose the crow was on the roof of her truck. She shooed the bird away and climbed into her truck.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Terry heard the sounds of an engine and tried to sit up.
“Help, please help,” Terry called out.
A horn sounded and he called out again, pounding his fist against the hull of the boat. He fell back, stared into the dull sky and lost consciousness.
Joseph and Abby heard Terry’s cries. They were close to the shoreline and the compass in the vehicle spun wildly.
“Help.” They heard the voice again, it was distant and weak.
Joseph did not need the voice or the compass. He was tracking his own way and had picked up the trail a few minutes earlier. The trail was getting stronger and he was confidant it was Terry’s. Joseph adjusted course until they saw the shadow in the distance.
“Abby, I think we have found him,” Joseph said.
“Thank goodness.”
Joseph pulled alongside the canoe and grabbed the side of the craft. Terry lay in a pool of bloody water and the sight of his twisted leg made Joseph’s stomach turn. Abby stood up and yelled to him.
“Abby!” Joseph said. “I need you to stay still and help hold the canoe.”
“We need to get him out of there,” she screamed.
“We cannot,” Joseph answered. “If we try to move him we’ll swamp us both, we need to tow him to one of the islands.”
She complied as tears streamed down her face. Joseph tied the canoe to the back of the ATV and moved forward with the canoe in tow.
“Look,” Abby said pointing towards a dark figure on the lakeshore. “Maybe it is someone who can help us.”
“No,” he said weakly. “That is not the way.”
It was the Raven Mocker and he sensed its hunger.
He shuddered and said, “We need to go now.”
Pulling the swamped canoe slowed them considerably and the best they could manage was a slow crawl. Joseph feared they would be trapped on the water after dark, but Terry needed to stabilized and brought into their vehicle.
An island came into view, and on the shore was a burning building with people jumping from its windows.
“We are not going there are we?” Abby asked.
“We must,” Joseph answered. “I will land as far away as I can.”
Joseph landed in a thicket fifty yards from the building and then drove onto the shore scraping the canoe over the rocky beach. He climbed out and arranged a circle of stones around them.
“This will provide protection, but we must be fast. There is too much pain in this place and we cannot remain for long,” Joseph said.
He opened a trunk in the rear of the ATV and retrieved a first aid kit and a blanket. He placed the items on the front seat and said, “Help me lift him.”
“Please be careful,” Abby said through tear-filled eyes. “His leg…”
When they lifted him into the backseat, he came to and thrashed wildly, his injured leg a twisted mess of blood and bone.
“Abby, please hold him still,” Joseph said.
Abby pressed down on Terry’s shoulders. Joseph found a sedative in the first aid kit and injected him. He quieted which allowed Joseph to fashion a splint on Terry’s damaged leg.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ima arrived at the lodge shortly before sunset. She walked to the front door and rang the doorbell, but no one answered. A Jeep sat parked in the driveway, she felt the hood of the truck but it was as cold as the air around it. She walked around the back of the lodge to an outbuilding. Both doors were open and tire tracks led out of the building. She followed the tracks across a stone bridge and reached the edge of the forest. There, the tracks abruptly disappeared.
“Sheriff?” Ima called into the trucks radio.
“Hey Ima,” Sheriff Turner answered.
“I’m up at the James Lodge. There’s something strange going on here,” she said.
“What’s up, Ima?”
“We received a call that the folks up here couldn’t be contacted. I’ve searched the grounds and there’s something you should see.”
“Any signs of foul play?” Sheriff Turner asked.
“No,” Ima answered.
“Okay, then we need to pick it up in the a.m.,” he said.
“But Sheriff,” Ima started to say.
“In the a.m. You hear me deputy?”
“Yes sir,” Ima answered. “Over and out.”
She knew him well enough to predict his response. The sheriff’s office patrol area ended way short of these parts after hours.
Ima opened the door of her truck and prepared to leave when she heard the sound of a car approaching. Moments later a silver Honda turned up the drive, the car’s radio shattered the quiet. The car pulled to a stop and a slim, dark-haired woman emerged.
“Any sign of them?” Brenda called out.
“And you are? “ Ima replied.
“My name is Brenda Collins. My friend Donald called your office.”
“Sorry Miss Collins, we have not located them yet. Did you just arrive in Silverton?”
“Yes, I drove up from Louisiana.”
“A loud radio helps keep me awake on a long trip as well,” Ima said.
“Oh, yes. Yes it does,” Brenda said.
Falling asleep was not the problem. The radio helped her mute the distractions, the sounds had been deafening since she drove into the mountains.
“I know you’re probably tired from your drive, but if you have a few minutes, I would like to ask you some questions,” Ima said.
“Certainly,” said Brenda.
The two women walked to the front of the lodge. Ima grabbed the carved wooden handle of the door and pushed it open. She braced herself when she stepped inside. The claustrophobic feeling was there again, but she was able to keep it under control this time. When Brenda walked in, all of the distractions that filled her mind were stripped away.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Abby and Joseph climbed into the ATV, the shoreline was a dim strip obscured by shadows. Bright orange flames engulfed the spectral building and burning people continued to jump. One of them jumped, hit the ground, and disappeared into the flames. The circle of fire surrounding the building opened and shot towards them. The jumper emerged from the flames and crawled towards the ATV. Joseph started the engine and backed the vehicle into the water. The creature was upon them, stopped only by the line of stones. Joseph piloted them away from the shore and into the safety of the lake. Steam rose from the creature’s blackened flesh when it tried to follow them into the water.
The beam of the headlights disappeared into the fog hovering over the surface of the lake. Travelling in silence, the rumble of the engine was their only connection to the outside world.
Joseph finally spoke. “We needed those stones. I have nothing left to protect us.”
“Can we make it back without them?” Abby asked. “Terry needs a doctor now.”
“No. We would never make it back through those woods after dark.”
He turned off the vehicle’s engine and lights.
“I am afraid we will need to drift out here tonight,” he said. “We cannot take our chances on land.”
Joseph looked back at Terry.
“He is in shock, so we will need to keep
him warm and calm. You should climb in the back with him and get some sleep.”
Abby stepped over the seat and crawled under a blanket with Terry. He was cold and shivering, she wrapped her arms around his neck to warm him.
Joseph stared into the lake. It was quiet, yet he sensed a low hum like the sound of an electrical generator. When he was a boy, his people had used the lake and were not afraid. But things had changed, and the boundaries between the living and the dead had shifted. It began with a series of drownings. People swimming in calm waters were sucked under the surface and never seen again. The tribes in the area quickly abandoned these lands for safer places.
Joseph was one of the few who decided to stay and learned to co-exist here. Modern technology was unwelcome, clocks stopped, power went out, and batteries drained. Joseph became accustomed to these strange occurrences and, anyway, did not have much use for such conveniences. He passed his hand through the cold water and stirred away the mist. Dim lights appeared to glow below the surface. Legend had it that these waters connected to others areas, other worlds, but only the ones lost could really know.
Morning came and the lake was shrouded with a gray mist. Abby shook a sleeping Joseph. Terry was crying in terrible pain beside her.
“Joseph,” she said. “Terry needs more medication.”
“Of course,” Joseph answered, still groggy.
He reached into his jacket pocket and handed a bottle of pain killers to Abby. She put two of the pills into Terry’s mouth. His eyes were open slightly and his head rolled from side to side. Joseph looked towards the sky and decided on a direction then touched the medallion and started the motor.
“Joseph, do you know the way back?” Abby asked.
Four Corners Dark: Horror Stories Page 6
