“No,” Steve replied, swallowing hard. “Do you have news of Jennifer?” He examined the detective's face in the uneven glow from the streetlight. Hard, angular, with a five-o'clock shadow. He wore a white shirt under a dark severe suit, a fedora shading his eyes, looking as if he stepped straight out of the Blues Brothers.
“Unfortunately, we haven't found her yet. I came out here tonight because I understand your daughter Jennifer had a friend named Claire Barton, correct?”
“Yes. She and Jennifer are best friends. What about Claire? Did you find her?” A thrill of hope lit the dark recesses of Steve's heart. If they found Claire, they'd find Jennifer.
“My men discovered the knife used to murder Claire, Mr. Cravens, and I’m afraid the killer might still be in the area. I understand no one has found Jennifer yet?”
Steve nodded. The color in his cheeks faded. Worry lines creased his face. He started chewing on the skin around his thumbnail. So the police did find Claire dead, he thought. Jennifer lied to us when she called and said Claire accompanied her. If his daughter faced danger, or worse, dead, he wanted to know about it and at least prepare his wife for it.
“Mr. Cravens, if the killer can identify your daughter, he stands a good chance finding her. We want to stop this killer in his tracks. Now, I’m not trying to alarm you, but it’s a possibility he already has her, and I want you to be aware of what could happen. Can you think of another explanation for her disappearance? She had Claire's blood all over her when you found her, correct? And I’m aware she tried to kill herself. Is Jennifer a brutal type? Trust me Mr. Cravens it’s not uncommon. A little tiff between friends that turns ugly.”
Steve wiped the sheen of sweat from his forehead.
“Mr. Cravens, are you okay?” Detective Brown asked, supporting his elbow.
“Sorry about that, sir, I haven’t eaten much in a few days, and I’m a bit woozy. After Jennifer disappeared from the hospital, I haven’t had much of an appetite,” he explained, staggering to the hood of the car. “Jennifer’s a victim, Detective Brown, not a killer. You'll see you’re wrong when you discover the true murderer, and that's a promise.”
“We need to find her, Mr. Cravens. I'm sure you understand the seriousness of this. We're investigating several homicides, and she’s our only witness. I have to talk to her. If you're hiding her inside…”
Steve fisted his hands, not trusting his own voice. He wanted to punch that arrogant face. How could Tom Brown point the finger at his sick child? Jennifer didn't commit these murders. The Detective wasted his time on nonsense, when he needed to go out there, find her, and get the real killer or killers.
Someone else had to abduct those girls, and he or she must have had a partner to help kill them all in one night. “Excuse me, Detective. If I hid my daughter inside, would I be so distraught? Would I be afraid my wife’s having a nervous breakdown if our daughter were home where she belonged? I don't think so. Don't be throwing around accusations of which you have no proof.” Livid, Steve felt it in his reddening face.
“I apologize, Mr. Cravens. I'm just doing my job. I hope you understand.”
Steve didn't understand. Couldn’t he see how this affected his family?
“One more question and I promise I’ll leave you alone. Jennifer and her friends’ decided to hang out around Old Creek Cemetery on Halloween night. We found the murder weapon there and enough evidence to presume at least Claire's death. Did Jennifer mention going to the cemetery?”
Steve didn’t want to believe it. What made the girls decide to go there? Old Creek Cemetery of all places, and Steve knew why he felt the way he did about that place. Of course, he wouldn’t say anything about it—he couldn't, sworn to secrecy. But if he could, he'd tell the entire world the dangers it held. The thought of his own daughter caught in the horrific curse frightened him beyond reason.
“I didn't know anything about their plans for the cemetery. Teenaged girls don't tell their parents everything.” He hesitated. “So you think they're all dead, then? Jennifer…Jennifer, too?” Steve could barely speak the hated words.
“Mr. Cravens, we can't assume anything. The investigation’s just beginning, and we haven't found any evidence of anyone's death but Claire's. Her blood found at the scene precludes finding her alive. But I have to say I don't hold out much hope of finding any of them alive. I appreciate your time and I can see that you’re not feeling so well, so I’ll let you get back inside.” He tipped his hat and offered his hand.
Steve shook his hand and turned to walk away, but hesitated. “Detective… watch your back if you decide to go out to Old Creek Cemetery. It’s worse than any nightmare you’ve ever had.”
Brown got in his car and drove away, leaving Steve in the depths of emotional darkness. Shuffling back inside the house, Steve hung his head down, mourning Claire's death and possibly that of his own daughter if they waited too much longer to find her. Noticing Cindy dozing on the couch while the TV blared, Steve tried tiptoeing past her, but she sprung up before he had a chance to get to the other room.
“Don’t you think it’s a little late for visitors?” she said, slipping her feet into her house shoes.
“Tim stopped by wanting to know if I still had my circular saw for sale, but I told him I decided to keep it,” he explained, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Why don’t you lie back down?”
He didn’t know how much longer he could keep the secret from her without her learning the truth. Deep down he knew it wouldn’t take long for Cindy to figure out what happened, especially if Barbara had anything to do with it. She’d smear it in their face. She lived to sabotage people’s lives—her specialty. At any rate, Steve had to find a way to keep Barbara away from Cindy at all cost. Knowledge of what happened to their daughter would tear her apart, and he knew it could short-circuit their entire marriage. It already had.
His daughter’s disappearance exhausted him and then hiding the truth, adding more emotional stress. Unable to bear the thought of his daughter with that sicko, Steve stood up and stepped out back to release his anger without the presence of his wife. “I'm going out back for a smoke, dear. I won’t take long.”
He slid the door shut, walked out to the edge of the patio and lit a Marlboro. His emotions roller-coasted out of control. Worn out, he finally flopped into a vinyl-padded chair and tried to calm himself down. “Why? Why the girls,” he sobbed. “They're just babies. Have mercy on them dear Lord, and take care of my baby girl,” he cried, pounding his fist down on the arm of the chair.
Steve lurched from his seat and paced around on the darkened patio, unable to sit. He stumbled over the barbecue grill sitting close to the privacy fence and landed on his butt, his cigarette flying into the grass. With anger stirring through him, he kicked the offending appliance until it clattered across the patio, roaring, “I'll kill you Watsons! Wait and see….” He dissolved into dry heaves and slumped against the fence. Right then, Cindy barreled out the back door. With only moonlight outlining his form, Steve sat with his face in his hands.
“Honey, what are you doing out here? I heard the noise all the way in there and I had the television on,” she whispered. “What are you doing huddled against the fence?”
Steve stood up. He pulled a lawn chair off the patio and slumped into it. Cindy pulled a chair up next to him, and placed her hand on his back.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Steve looked her square in the eyes and retorted, “They are going to kill her, Cindy. The Watsons are going to kill our baby…I know they will.”
With tears dripping from his eyes, he fell into her chest, sobbing like a little child. The stress finally took a toll on him. How could he continue to function for the sake of his wife and daughter? He had to remain strong, regardless the situation. His body shook at the thought of a monstrous demon getting his hands on their baby for his own sick pleasure.
The disturbing thoughts crossed his mind. Steve choked back the tears and blurted, “I left H
ell once, but I’ll go back if I have to, to save my little girl.”
***
Jennifer squirmed in discomfort. She awoke with brutal grins staring down at her. The fiends’ expressions suggested they took much pleasure in torturing her. Jennifer sprawled across a rough dirt surface, the angle of her body hurting the lower part of her back. Blood flowed from slash wounds on her face and lips. Chunks of ripped flesh, gouged from her naked body, lay all over the dirt. Trickles of blood ran down her forehead. Her broken ribs caused her to gasp for air. Kari, Liz, Tina, and Lisa laughed while they watched her struggle to hang on.
Jennifer heard the evil screams tearing from their souls. Together, as they plotted the rest of her death, ragged clouds stained the midnight sky-high above them. The power emanating from their fingers drew the storm near and turned it black and whirling. The lightning struck only once, as it flared upward from the ground, charging through each pair of feet, out through the top of their heads, and bolted toward the sky.
“Are you awake yet, Sunshine?” Kari chuckled, tapping the side of her foot.
Blinking her eyes meant she understood, and yes, she laid awake, wide-awake—in fact, feeling every agonizing torture they inflicted on her.
“Didn’t think you would ever wake up, but then again, we did rough you up a little, didn’t we, Jennifer?”
Realizing the extent of her wounds, she felt a wetness roll down her cheeks to drench the hair at the nape of her neck. Wiping the side of her face, she raised her hand and saw fresh red blood. Too scared to try to escape, Jennifer strained to raise herself up off the hard ground, until she discovered her broken ribs. She placed her fingertip on the end of the bone as it protruded through her flesh. The agony of every movement sent shards of pain rocketing into her brain. She slumped back to the ground, exhausted. “It hurts… please—help me,” she moaned extending her arm upward. “Show some pity.”
Forgetting that these girls no longer existed in the real world or had human emotions at all, she couldn’t bring herself to believe they’d carry out a death sentence on her. They had to hold a little heart in their iceberg souls. Why else would she be alive, breathing, and able to see?
Jennifer gazed deep within the wicked shells and saw the spirits of her friends shining in there somewhere. Reaching out for one of them to take hold of her hand, she cried out. “I’m begging you to stop. Help me so I can help you.”
Lisa roared with laughter as she heard Jennifer’s plea. At this point, nothing in her soul suggested love, but only the depths of hatred raging through her heart. Jennifer cringed.
“Help you…now why would I want to do that? Because you think I should or perhaps because you think we're still friends? I intentionally did this to you, because you did this to me, Jennifer. 'Do unto others', as the saying goes. I want to do it to you before you get a chance to do it to me again. Did you forget the way you stomped my head in, or better yet, smashed my face in the dirt so hard that my nose collapsed? I heard it cracking across my face. One doesn’t forget a nightmare like that, my dear sweetness.”
Lisa's words brought it all back. The memories Jennifer hoped would never resurface had yet opened another door, but this time it came at her much worse. She gazed up at the others, hoping they’d show more compassion toward her. She didn't want to die slowly and painfully.
“Close your eyes, Jennifer, so I won’t have to look in them. It’s not that I feel any sorrow for you in the least, but I can't look into your eyes,” Tina whispered in her ear. “The love in them burns me. We'll rest here as we wait for Maddie Ann.”
The truth revealed itself; Tina held some purity in her heart. She recognized love. She remembered how Tina took Claire’s life outside the cemetery, allowing her freedom by ending it the way she did. Jennifer tried her luck, hoping she could charm Tina enough to help her escape.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Cravens? I told you to close your eyes,” she pressed.
Raising her finger and rubbing it across her scabby face, Jennifer whispered, “I want you to kill me, Tina, the same way you killed Claire. Outside.” Looking past her beastly eyes, wading deep down within her soul, she saw a frightened girl locked away unable to move.
As tears sprang to her red-rimmed eyes, Tina tried to say something, but Lisa interrupted.
“Get up; she doesn’t need someone holding her hand. She’s a big girl—she got herself in this mess, and now she’ll have to bear it,” she said, moving Tina out of the way.
With her injuries and loss of blood sapping every ounce of energy, Jennifer tried defending herself. “I don't deserve this. What did I do so wrong? I didn't know this place held evil before that night. We just wanted to scare you guys. I'm sorry, I swear on The Rock. Please, don't do this.”
None of them commented on her plea, not yet anyway, as Jennifer watched her once beloved friends bicker among themselves about how they intended on slaughtering her. As the sounds of their shrill voices subsided, Kari approached Jennifer, with evil intent gleaming from her eyes. Kari would be the one they chose to take over her soul, tossing it out without a care.
Kneeling down close enough to whisper into Jennifer's ear, she spoke with venom. “Look into my eyes, Jennifer, and remember every detail of my hideous countenance. You’ll receive this soon enough, as soon as our leader returns. But for now, the one punishment that’s harsher than pain is watching your own folly that brought you and Claire to the current state of affairs. I hope you enjoy reliving the misery, because it will haunt your spirit as long as you live,” Kari chuckled with satisfaction.
The true evilness of Old Creek Cemetery devoured her. It held a mirror up to her faults. As if watching a movie in the clouds, Jennifer relived it all as her deadly mistakes played out. She felt her own meanness when planning how best to frighten her friends.
She watched as the band of friends trudged across the cracked earth plains—no, she relived it, feeling the hunger and thirst. She insisted they split up to find help, only to watch them lose their lives one by one. She watched her own selfish actions over and over until she puked. She felt helpless to stop it or change history. If only she could. The agony of retrospect hurt worse than the pain of her injured body, and she screamed in futility.
The last scene showed how she stomped and ripped Lisa's helpless form to shreds. She closed her eyes, unable to swallow her own complicity, but heard the blunted image of every blow. She listened to Lisa's screams of panic, and knew sooner rather than later, she'd feel the deserved retribution.
“I hope you’re not waiting on Claire to rescue you, because it’s not gonna happen. She's deader than a doornail, banished from this place. I saw it happen. Tina killed her. There's no one to help you now—you belong to the dark side,” Kari said. “Miss Maddie Ann will eat your brain and make you her zombie slave.” She snickered, slapping her thighs.
Jennifer cried under her breath. She knew her fate all along. She tried rolling on her side to look away from what frightened her most—the deadly guilt that engulfed her spirit. She couldn’t bear to look at the beasts any longer. As she accepted what awaited her, Kari, Lisa, Liz and Tina made a second attempt to increase her feelings of guilt. They sought pure vengeance; making her final moments on earth, a living Hell.
“Turn around, Jennifer, and look at me before I rip your throat out,” Liz sniped, kicking dirt in her face. “I deserve the attention. After all, you did this to me, you worthless bitch, and at least you could have the common decency to pay attention while I’m speaking to you.”
The black souls may have enslaved Jennifer, but she found her healthy anger intact with the rest of her soul, raging through her like a loose cannon about to go off. “Leave me alone or do what you intended all along and get it over with. I will not lay here taking your abuse,” she said with great force.
Liz's laughter rang out loud and clear over the hillside. Reaching her arms high above her head toward the bellowing clouds, Liz chanted a chilling melody that brought forth hail
the size of baseballs. As it fell all around her, it surrounded Jennifer like a barricade, trapping her inside the frozen pile of snowballs like an igloo.
“Now grow a brain and don't try to escape or I'll see what other disastrous things I can do to you. It doesn’t bother me in the least, because I’m not the one who has to endure a freezing prison—only you,” Liz growled. “You deserve everything I can throw at you, short of death. Miss Maddie Ann wouldn't like it if I killed you. But she loves it when I hurt you.”
Drawing near and looming over her, Tina stood grinning, about to afflict more pain on her than she already received from Liz and the others. If the last conscious moments on earth involved mental abuse and maim, Jennifer wished them to be purposeful and not wasted by the black souls that stood before her. She braced herself for the blow.
“Remember the way you treated others, and you will know what to expect from us. I shouldn’t have to explain, you should already know what I mean,” Tina reminded her.
Kari nudged her way through the girls, elbowing them aside to finish saying what she started. “I don’t think you understand the gravity of the problem here. Miss Maddie Ann already has a place for you inside her special world where you will perform whatever duties she may need of you. You will not refuse to do anything her highness wishes nor question her immature decisions.”
Maddie Ann s Playground Page 27
