The Devil's Grip: The Curse of Stone Falls

by Steven Swaks

  She waited for the parents to leave Jessica and caught up with her. She would have shaken her hand under any other circumstances, but not that night. She hugged her without even mentioning Todd’s name.

  “You know that you can always stop by the diner if you want to talk,” she said with an attempt at a smile.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Walker. You have been so nice to me.”

  “It’s normal, sweetie. You take care of my child with the Cubbies, and I take care of you.”

  Jessica pursed her lips without saying another word. She could not even talk about him. The very thought of him wrenched her heart.

  “I’ll let you be with the kids. See you in a couple of hours.”

  Jessica nodded silently. She watched Amanda walk away and dabbed her eyes with a tissue. She took a deep breath. She could handle her responsibilities and take care of the children without sinking into a useless sorrow. She took another deep breath. She would be ok.

  “There you are,” said a smiling Jeff Simons with a gray suit without a tie.

  Startled, Jessica turned around and faced him.

  “I’ve dropped off Mathieu.”

  Jessica glanced at his young son running away to play with his friends on the other side of the carpeted room.

  “What a pleasant surprise,” his words were thick and slow like flowing honey. “I didn’t expect to see you tonight, after that terrible incident on the freeway. He was a friend of yours, I believe. Such a shame.” He shook his head, “Such a young life cut short. I can hardly bear the thought.” His voice was as cold as a winter wind. “Now, who is going to take care of you? A beautiful girl like you can’t stay single very long.”

  Jessica didn’t know what to say. She didn’t even know how to feel. All her emotions were mixed in a cocktail of sadness and repulsion. How could he? How could this man behave like this? She wanted to punch him. She wanted to see him suffer. She glared at him in a rise of anger and frustration. She clenched a shaky fist. This man had no morals, no respect. How could he even pretend to come to a church?

  “I will let you attend to your duties, Jessica. I will come back later on to pick up my son.” He looked at her in the eyes, like an old caring friend. “Please, Jessica, remember that I am your friend. You can call me anytime you please.” He handed her a white business card.

  She took it mostly by reflex.

  He caressed her on the shoulder and walked out.

  The two hours went by. She was not scared, not apprehensive, nor even concerned. She was in a daze after losing Todd. What happened next didn’t matter. She attended to the children. She taught the Word and played games. She smiled when they giggled, but she couldn’t even pretend to be happy.

  Simons came back to pick up his son. He took a lazy look at her while she was busy talking to the other parents. She disregarded it.

  He left the church, not before a long and slow smile.

  She wasn’t a victim anymore. She was stronger than that. Jessica almost felt sorry for him. In a way, Jeffrey Simons couldn’t control himself.

  Night Guard

  Management and the day office workers had left headquarters a few hours ago. Alex and Ben were in dispatch with Jennifer. It used to be very seldom, but it was becoming more common lately. Not that they didn’t used to like spending quality time with her, but because it was against company policy to stay in dispatch for anything other than strict company business. Ideally, management would have liked to suppress any physical contact between dispatchers and paramedics, but reality created some exceptions unsuitable for a hard rule. Why such a strictness? Because idling paramedics could have the high potential to distract the dispatchers. More realistically, the young and single medics had a tendency to seduce, and therefore create drama once the seduction died down, with the young damsels behind the microphones.

  This situation didn’t happen when Jennifer was on. Not that she was completely unattractive, but because rumors pertaining to the same sex affinity floated around her. Whether it was true or not, Alex and Ben didn’t care as they were both happily hooked to their respective ladies.

  Ever since the beginning of the activities in the station, Jennifer had not minded bending a few rules to feel reassured in the presence of her own little bodyguards, not all night long, but at least for a couple of hours in the evening.

  Feet on one of the consoles and back firmly planted on an office armchair, Ben was watching a late-night talk show next to her. They smiled at an occasional joke without looking at each other.

  Alex was behind them, his gaze lost on the same book page for the last few minutes. He couldn’t focus. There were too many deaths; too many strange accidents and assaults. This wasn’t the Stone Falls he was used to. His job was starting to take a toll on him. He had seen tough calls before, a woman ejected from her car, a drowned toddler, or a fatal roll over on the freeway, but they were spread over time. He would constantly think about the call for two or three days, and the memory would fade away. This time, the frequency of traumas was unprecedented in his eight years as a medic.

  The clock indicated 12:15 AM. That was unusual. Alex commonly went down by 10:30. Ben didn’t last much longer, but late nights were becoming a regular occurrence, since, well, since all the weirdness had started. Not only the gory calls, but also all the flickering lights and the unexplained knocks on the walls. Alex’s personal favorite was the vacuum cleaner turning on by itself. They made a habit to wrap the cord around it with a nice knot, but the extra effort did not help. The appliance came on without anybody touching it. Perhaps they should set up a video camera. That would be a guaranteed YouTube sensation.

  Nothing happened in daytime. Whoever, or whatever, had decided to bother them (the term haunting was taboo) did not deem necessary to do anything in daytime, at least for now. In the meantime, they huddled in dispatch against company policy. If management ever complained, Alex would invite them to spend the night in their bedroom. That would be worth a thousand horror movies.

  The trio didn’t talk about the events. After the initial wave of weirdness, they had decided to avoid the topic. Even the other medics pretended that everything was fine. Somehow, denial made it less real. Anything was worth talking about as long as it was not paranormal.

  “Did you guys hear anything new about the second kid in the car?” Jennifer asked.

  “The one on the highway?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah, the accident with the fatality.”

  “They got a pulse back for a while, but he crashed again during the helicopter ride to Hoover Memorial. They knew he wouldn’t make it, but they kept him alive to save the organs,” Ben said. “Some people are going to be happy.”

  “That’s cold,” Jennifer said.

  “That’s cold, but it’s true. At least a few people are going to live thanks to him.”

  “Are you going to hit the sack soon, Ben?” Alex asked to change the grim topic.

  “I’ll wait a while. It’s still early.”

  Alex didn’t argue. Were they scared to retreat to their quarters? You bet they were. Anybody saying they weren’t was either a liar or a complete idiot in denial in the face of what was obvious.

  The jokes continued on the television. The alarm tone didn’t ring from the fire station, and nothing flew across the room. The clock sustained its monotonous course until it indicated 01:18 AM.

  “I’m beat. I’m going to the room,” Alex said after standing.

  Ben handed the television remote control to Jennifer. “I guess we should get some rest.”

  Jennifer used to like being by herself, until recently. Now, it was a chore. Nothing had happened to her when she was alone, but she could feel the discomfort floating in the air. She had seen interviews of people describing houses or old asylums with a dark presence. In those days she was thinking it was all a show. Now she knew better. The air was so thick you could cut it with a knife was not a cutesy expression anymore. It was real.

  “You two have a good nig
ht.”

  “Don’t play with the vacuum,” Ben said to relax the atmosphere.

  “Shut up, Ben,” Alex glared at him.

  Ben didn’t add anything and opened the door into the corridor. The automatic lights came on.

  Jennifer followed them on the cameras all the way to their bedroom. She wasn’t nosy, at least she thought she wasn’t. It was only a habit. The nights could be awfully long and dull sometimes. At least that was until it all started. Now, she longed for the peace and calm, but she still liked to watch people go by on her screens, like an old woman at the window of her small apartment.

  A thought did cross her mind. What would she do (besides scream) if she saw something unnatural on her monitors? She couldn’t run away. She would quit the next day. That one was a given, but she didn’t know what else she would do. Two weeks prior (roughly since the fun had started) the very thought of something supernatural (aside from a good-looking guy coming to visit her as she was straight, contrary to what everybody thought) on her screens would have been ludicrous. Now, it was becoming a growing possibility. The two paramedics entered their room and disappeared from the monitor. Jennifer was alone.

  They lay in bed, both of them dressed with a navy blue t-shirt. Alex kept his pants on to save time if they received a call. Ben didn’t. Ben pushed the switch between the beds and turned the lights off. The red number on the digital clock indicated 01:29 AM.

  “HELP!” A feminine voice yelled in the pitch black room.

  Alex and Ben yelled in surprise. Alex rolled opposite from the voice and hit the wall.

  “Shit!” Ben screamed. He palpated the wall in the dark to find the light switch. He only felt cold skin, not his, nor Alex’s. He jumped back, screaming in horror.

  “Help!” the voice repeated. It was right there between them, clear as can be. A young voice, a female was right there.

  Alex cursed.

  Ben went back in the blind to find the switch. He caught something else in midair. Fingers. Somebody’d touched him.

  “No!” Ben screamed.

  The cold hand retreated.

  Ben threw himself on the wall at the head of his bed and arced his arm to find the bloody light switch. He did and immediately wished he had not.

  Gina Hawkins was standing between them.

  Ghost House

  Young Gina Hawkins–dead Gina Hawkins–was between the beds, standing barefoot in a pink nightgown. She was pale, her eyes wild and distressed. “You have to help me. Take me to the hospital. Take me! Please help me. Now!”

  Alex and Ben stayed back on their beds, unable to move.

  Alex finally opened his mouth. “But… but… you are… dead… it can’t be…”

  She slowly turned to him. “Would I be here if I was dead?”

  Would the vacuum cleaner start by itself? Alex thought. He quickly looked at Ben without saying a word.

  “Did you see me dead?” She added, asking for compassion. “Did you see my body at the end of a rope?” She looked sad, almost pleading.

  “No, but an army of cops did.” A deep frown wrinkled Alex’s forehead.

  “Can’t you see? They’re against me. You have to believe me.” She made a step toward Alex.

  “STOP! You stop right there.”

  She did.

  “Do you believe what they told you, or what’s right in front of you?” She had the eyes of a lost kitten.

  “Step back!” Alex blustered, his hand straight up.

  She did.

  “Step all the way back to the corner.” Alex pointed at the side opposite the door.

  She did.

  Alex got up and walked along Ben’s bed all the way to the door. “You come with me, buddy. We need to have a li’l chat.”

  Ben followed him outside the room.

  ~

  Jennifer saw the two paramedics walking backward out of their bedroom.

  “What the heck are they doing?” She muttered looking closer at the screen. She was about to click to zoom in on the split screen divided into nine sections, but she decided otherwise.

  ~

  “We need to call the cops,” Alex whispered.

  “What are you going to tell them? That you have a dead girl talking to you in your bedroom?”

  “She’s not dead. She’s right there!” Alex said with a muffled exclamation. “Ben, the girl is a murderer. She killed her mother.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “Please, I hate her was engraved on the wall. What else do you need?”

  Ben didn’t answer.

  “Look, you stay here. I’m going to dispatch to call the cops.”

  “Why don’t you call right here with your cell phone?” Ben asked.

  Alex’s head bobbed a few times, “Because my phone is in there,” he said pointing at the bedroom door.

  “Mine, too.”

  “Then we both go to dispatch,” Alex said.

  “And leave her alone? No! I go to dispatch. You stay here.”

  “Fine, hurry up, Ben.”

  Ben trotted down the corridor.

  Jennifer buzzed the door before he had a chance to knock. “What are you guys doing?”

  “Call the cops,” Ben said.

  “Call the cops? Why? What’s going on?”

  “Gina Hawkins is in our room.”

  “Gina Hawkins?” Jennifer’s face contorted. “Gina Hawkins? Isn’t she the–”

  “Don’t ask.” Ben paid close attention to her, “and don’t freak out.”

  She smiled. “You guys officially lost it. You’re telling me that you have a dead girl hanging out in your room?” She chuckled. “Come on, there’re weird things going on in here. I agree with that one, but it’s another story to tell me that you just had a friendly chat with a ghost.”

  Ben looked straight at her without a word, his face worthy of a funeral procession.

  Her expression morphed into dread. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “And you left Alex alone with… her?”

  “I had no choice.” He went to Jennifer. “Did you even see her coming in?”

  “No.”

  “How could she have entered?” Ben asked.

  “I don’t know…”

  “Call the cops. I need to go back there.”

  “And leave me alone in dispatch? Don’t even think about it.”

  “Then I go get her with Alex, and we all come back here.”

  “No! Don’t bring a dead girl in here!”

  “She’s not dead.”

  “That’s not what PD was saying.”

  “I don’t know, Jennifer. Please, call them, and we’ll see from there.”

  “Ben, don’t leave me alone. Please.”

  “Then go with me.”

  “I can’t leave dispatch unattended.”

  Ben looked at her straight in the eyes, “Jen, you’re a strong girl. You’ll be fine. I got to go.” Ben strode to the entrance.

  “Ben, please, no.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” Ben opened the door and disappeared into the corridor.

  Jennifer sunk in her office chair. She swiveled to look behind her. There was nothing but a purring computer.

  ~

  “Is she going to call?” Alex asked.

  “Yes.”

  “How is the… uh… Gina?” Ben asked looking at the slightly opened bedroom door.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t go in there to keep her company.”

  “Did you hear something?”

  “Nothing. Ben, we need to go back in.” Alex made one step toward the door.

  Ben grabbed his arm. “Why? What are we going to tell her?”

  “I don’t know. You’re the smooth one with girls.”

  “I’m smooth with the live ones.”

  “She’s as live as it gets, Ben.” Alex walked to the door and slowly pushed it open. “Gina–” His jaw dropped.

  Nobody was in the bedroom.


  Ben walked in. “Oh God…” His interrogative gaze turned to Alex.

  “I… uh… I stayed there… right outside. I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t even look away.”

  Ben pointed beneath the bed.

  Alex felt like a fool. In a room with a single door and without a window, she could only be there. He went down on his knees and looked under the right bed: nothing. He quickly turned to the left and faced a red bed skirt.

  “It’s your bed, Ben. You should do it.”

  “You’re already there. Finish up what you started.”

  Alex moved away from the bed. He looked at Ben, then the skirt.

  Ben waved his hand toward the bed and uttered a silent plea. Anybody would have understood what he was saying, she can only be there, hiding behind the bed skirt!

  Alex stayed away.

  “Jeez! I’m sick of this!” Ben said out loud and leaned to pull the skirt all the way up. He stepped back in shock, fear gripping his throat like claws. There was nothing. His alarm-filled eyes turned to Alex. “Where is she? She was in the room. You saw her. She was here!”

  Alex nodded.

  “Alex, we’re not going crazy. She was here. We saw her. We talked to her. I touched her. I felt her for crying out loud!”

  A scream of terror rose from the end of the corridor.

  Alex and Ben looked at each other and ran to dispatch without saying a word. They turned around the corner. Jennifer stood outside dispatch, her eyes wild and lost.

  “Jennifer! What happened?” Alex asked with concern.

  Jennifer looked at him and started sobbing.

  “Talk to us, Jen. What happened?”

  “I can’t go back in there. I can’t.” She shook her head, “I can’t.”

  “Jennifer, take a deep breath. What happened?” Alex asked.

  She looked at him with an empty stare, “I felt something in the room. I looked behind me. There was nothing, but I could still feel it. I could feel a presence behind me. I looked back again, and I saw the girl. She was staring at me.”