Another thing that worried her more than the possibility of their weekend retreat to be cancelled was that Paul’s search for help might be futile, and that he was only waiting in vain for the cops’ help or some other travelers. She hated the idea that she was now, more than ever, powerless, and that she had no control of any sort over this situation. She also did not like the idea that their fate was hanging on the balance of some uncertain events, such as the arrival of cops or the passing of another car. As a fact checker, she relished the idea that no matter what her boss threw in her way, she could go around and check herself if the news or stories were factual or not. She had always wanted certainty, and control, but right now, she had none of those two.
Meanwhile, Paul was having a hard time standing outside in the rain and in the darkness. He could not use his lighter and he did not have any flashlight that he could use to signal anybody that they needed help. The nearest lamppost was a mile away from where their car was stuck. He was debating within himself if he should head over there and increase the chances of finding help, or if he should just stay here in the darkness and make sure that Anna was also safe inside the station wagon. He was thinking about this when a pair of headlights appeared from a distance. He felt his spirits soar high, and he positioned himself by the side of the road to make sure that the driver or passengers could see him. It was approaching nearer and nearer, and Paul started to raise his hands up in the rain, and flail them to attract attention. His thoughts were on the idea that Anna and he could get out of here soon, and they might just still be able to enjoy their weekend together at New Jersey. He was still flailing his arms, as if he was drowning at sea. The car slowed down a bit, and Paul thought they were about to pull over, so he took a step back into the slippery pavement. The car window rolled down, and a woman’s face appeared. She gave him a look and her eyes widened in shock. She looked like she had seen a ghost or something. The car window rolled up, and the car accelerated once again, leaving Paul to his own fate.
Paul did not understand what happened at first. He was wondering how those people could ignore others who really needed help. If he had been in their shoes, he would have pulled over, and offered some assistance. He just hoped that they would have a heart, and dial 911 or call the local police to help them. He was still pretty upset over this, when a thought hit him. He remembered the woman’s eyes widening in fear, as if she had seen a ghost. “Oh god, please no. Not Henry. Not the axe-wielding spirit of Henry,” Paul silently wished. The words of the barman, Mateo, started to flood his mind, and he remembered his warning. He was starting to feel colder, and the rain was not helping at all. He couldn’t move a muscle, and turn back to their car. Paul could not walk back there, and inform Anna that he could not get help because a silly ghost story had spooked him out. He had to man up, and be a better boyfriend for Anna. “I will not fail you, Anna,” Paul whispered into the dark.
Out of nowhere, a bright light shone on his left. He did not notice any other car approaching, but he thought maybe that was because he was just scaring himself. He slowly approached the light. He called out for somebody, but nobody called back. He stepped closer to the light, but the slick pavement gave way, and he slid down into the mud. Then, he heard an unusual noise. It was like metal scraping itself against the concrete pavement. The story of the Mad Axe-man of the Curve flashed across his mind, and he imagined the spirit of Henry dragging his axe along the pavement, walking towards him to chop his head off like what he did with his wife. The metallic noise stopped, and Paul started to wonder if he was just imagining things. He pulled himself up, and wiped the mud away from his hands and face. He looked around, and felt silly that he was thinking of that ghost story again. He was just going back to the side of the road when he felt the first blows of the ax against his back. Paul was caught off-guard, and he fell back into the ground, only to be dragged across the muddy pavement and into the woods.
Anna was silently sitting in the dark, when she heard a distant shriek. She squirmed in her seat, and she thought of the story of the Mad Axe-man of the Curve. She should have told Paul about her nightmare. She reached for her phone once again, and checked for reception. She almost jumped out of her seat when she saw a bar that indicated that the phone had picked up a signal. The rain was almost a light drizzle by now, so maybe the reception was back again. She dialed for the local police station, but no one was answering the phone. She started dialing again when she heard a really loud thump from the outside followed by some strange gurgling sounds. She was feeling more uneasy, so she tried to ignore these sounds. Anna focused on contacting the cops, and after a few unsuccessful tries, she managed to talk to the desk officer. She informed him of their location, and to bring a tow truck as well.
When she hung up, she felt like everything was going to be fine. With nothing to do now, she started to hear those unusual sounds again. The thumping and gurgling sounds were now replaced by a regular bumping sound. It was as if something hanged was being blown by the wind, and was hitting something else. She suddenly remembered her nightmare, so she decided to stay in the car, and not go out and look for Paul. She tried to calm her mind bit by bit, and reassured herself that help was on the way. She started imagining what they would do after they got out of this mess. Paul would probably be sick with fever and colds. He would also need a new car in place of this old station wagon. She could probably offer to help him pay for it. Anna was trying hard to think about these things to drown out the constant bumping sounds from the outside.
Anna was growing more and more impatient with the arrival of the police officers. With every passing second, she also grew more and more worried about Paul. He was still standing outside, waiting for help. She wanted to go out and tell him that help was on the way, but she promised him that she would not go outside no matter what.
The rain had stopped finally, and everything was eerily quiet, aside from the regular bumping sounds. Also, she could not see anything from where she was sitting. It was so dark and unsettling. She started to remember that she was now in a cliché horror movie setting. A woman all alone in her car and was also silently waiting for someone to help her. Being stuck in a dark wooded area where no one else can hear you scream, and the sudden appearance of some homeless-looking guy or spirit at the side of your car are just some of those really overused horror movie stuff. It made her smile a little because she thought she was now being very silly. She reminded herself that she was not just some character in those horror movies, and that she was not really alone here at the Green Hollow’s Curve. She knew that just a few steps outside this old station wagon, her boyfriend, Paul, was watching and would come running whenever she let out just a single scream. She also knew that ghost stories were just some examples of folklore that were used to add character in otherwise old and dreary places, such as roads and ancient buildings. She would not also be as dumb as those female characters in those horror movies. Anna would never let someone else in inside the car other than Paul. She would not also step outside to look for help or to check up on her boyfriend. She would be a better lady than any of those characters, and she would remain calm and collected because she knew that all of these would soon be over.
Bump. Bump. Bump. Anna could still hear the steady and rhythmic sounds from outside. She didn’t have enough patience left. She could not sit still for much longer, and she longed to be out of the station wagon. She rubbed her hands together to keep them warm. The heater was off, and the night breeze was much colder after the rain. She looked around once over, scanning the area, and looking for some signs that the police had arrived. There was nothing out there, but darkness. She could not even see the trees clearly. Then, suddenly, she saw a glint out of the corner of her eye. She turned towards its direction. The glint of a light was steadily growing larger and larger, as if someone with a flashlight was approaching the car. Anna smiled from ear to ear. Help had finally arrived.
The light was almost too close to the car, but Anna could not see wh
o was behind that light. She rolled down her car window, and peered into the light. Out of nowhere, an official sounding voice surprised Anna, and the voice said, “Miss, could you step out of the car now.” Before stepping out, Anna kept wondering where Paul was. They should have seen him by the side of the road. She knew that she promised Paul she would not get out of the car unless it was Paul who called her. But this was a cop, and he would help them get out of Green Hollow’s Curve. As she stepped outside, and into the bright light, she asked, “Have you seen a man by the road. He’s a tall guy in a black turtleneck. That is my boyfriend Paul. I’m the one who called from the phone a while ago. Could you please lower your light? I can’t see you properly.”
The official sounding voice did not answer back. The only sound she could hear was the rustling of the leaves, and the constant bumping sounds. She adjusted her vision, and then she finally saw it.
When Anna saw the source of the steady bumping sounds, her eyes widened in shock and fear. Right outside the station wagon was Paul’s bloody body. He was hanging lopsided from a branch of the tree. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face and clothes were covered in thick mud, as if he had been dragged on his stomach. His mouth was wide open, as if he was screaming in agony. The most disturbing part of this scene was Paul’s throat. His head was almost decapitated from his body. It was just hanging by a bit of muscle and skin. His legs were bound together, and were dangling just beneath the tree branch. The wind coming from the east side of woods was strong enough to move Paul’s dead body, and his body was slowly swinging back and forth, like a grandfather clock’s pendulum. The bumping sounds were coming from Paul’s body hitting the trunk of the tree as if someone was intentionally swinging his body. Anna’s mind went blank, and she just stared at the swinging dead body of her boyfriend. Her nightmare flashed back, and she remembered Paul’s last words before leaving the station wagon. Tears slowly formed in her eyes, and when she could not hold them back, she sobbed uncontrollably. She was able to bring herself to approach Paul’s corpse. She just could not believe what was happening. It was many times worse than her nightmare.
The bright light was still there, a few feet away from her. Anna was rooted at the spot where she saw Paul’s dead body. Bump. Bump. Bump. The corpse kept swinging and hitting the tree trunk. Anna finally stopped crying. She stopped herself, and tried to recompose before going over the cops. She wondered why they were still there, and she was puzzled over why they were not reacting to the dead body, or even to her crying. The wooded area was eerily quiet once again. She was just walking towards the light when she sensed someone watching her from the trees. She looked around, and she saw a pair of ghostly eyes from a tree not far from her. Anna let out a scream, and she started to run towards the light. As she approached the light, she noticed that something was amiss. For one, there was no policeman or anybody behind the light. Also, the light was not coming from a flashlight or a lamp. It was a different sort of light upon closer inspection. The light was a bit misty and glowing so bright. She adjusted her eyes again to see more clearly, and what she saw made her insides turn cold.
The glowing light was being emitted by the axe-wielding spirit of Henry, the man who killed his own wife in jealous fit of rage. He was a big, bearded man who resembled a grizzly bear. His whole body was glowing with white light, and he looked wispy around the edges. He was staring at Anna intently. Then, he gave Anna a nasty and evil smile that made Anna feel her goose bumps. On his right hand was an axe dripping with blood and mud. In contrast to Henry’s ghostly form, the axe he was holding looked very real to Anna. She could see the axe’s sharp edges glowing and glinting against the light. The smile plastered on Henry’s ghostly face was still fixed towards Anna. She was frozen in fear when the axe-murderer’s spirit looked towards Paul’s dead body hanging on the tree and back to Anna. She then knew what happened to Paul, and she also knew what would happen next. She must get out of here now.
Anna took a step back, and the smiling, yet menacing spirit of Henry remained on his spot. She took another step back while keeping her eyes on the ghost. She did not know where to go. She could try and go back to the car, but there was no sense in hiding inside the car. She could not also think of a weapon to defend herself with, and Henry was several times bigger than her. She continued taking several steps back, when she bumped into the station wagon again. She nervously tried to get the door opened, but Henry’s ghost started to drift towards her spot. She was breathing heavily, and she wanted to scream at the ghost in hopes that it would drive him away. Henry’s ghost raised his axe slightly, and he slowly placed it on his ghostly shoulders. He leaned over to Anna, and said “Why did you have to do this, Anne? How could you fool around with some other man while I’m not around? You’ll pay for making me feel stupid and very angry. Anne, I really loved you, but you left me with no other choice.” Anna was just about to explain to his ghost that she was not Anne when Henry raised his axe above his head. From a distance, the police siren could be heard, but Anna knew that the cops were already too late. Just like that, with Paul’s face in her mind, everything else in Anna’s mind went dark and quiet.
THE END
Death at Green Hollow’s Curve: Scary Story to Tell in the Dark Page 2
