The Haunting of Hounds Hollow

by Jeffrey Salane

  Lucas winced at first, but then realized his mistake. “It was Silas, wasn’t it? Silas put you in here,” he whispered to Shadow. “You smell him on this whistle, don’t you? I bet he trapped you in this room because he couldn’t control you, could he?”

  From the other side of the room, Bess held a rock in her hand. “Down, Shadow!” she commanded.

  The dog’s back bristled at her voice, but he kept staring at the whistle around Lucas’s throat.

  “What are you doing, Bess?” Lens mumbled. “Leave the monster doggy alone.”

  Shadow turned to face him, and Lens winced at the dog’s soulless stare. “I mean, leave the good doggy alone, the good doggy who wants to run out of the room and join all of his awesome zombie doggy buds?”

  Shadow licked his chops again and Bess held her rock out like a sword, when a red ball bounced into the room. Everyone looked through the hole in the wall where Casper stood wagging his tail. With a single yip, Casper nodded to the ball, as if suggesting that Shadow play a game of catch. In a flash, Shadow jumped off Lucas, grabbed the ball in its mouth, and ran after the smaller dog.

  Lucas grabbed his chest, rolled over, and jumped up. “We need to follow them! Maybe they’ll lead us to Abel!”

  “And then what?” asked Bess.

  Her question grabbed Lucas like a lasso and held him in place. “I don’t know. I mean, reading Abel’s journal, it sounds like he wanted to be around other people. He hated being alone all the time. He just wanted to feel normal.”

  “That’s crazy,” said Bess. “Because the dogs don’t want anyone around. I mean, hasn’t the beast been keeping everyone away from this house?”

  “I love thinking this mystery through,” Lens interrupted, “but Shadow didn’t look like he wanted to cuddle. That crazy dog is on a mission and we just sprung him out of jail. We’ve got to keep them from getting outside the house!”

  “You’re right,” said Lucas as he started running down the hall again. “We’ve got to warn the town. If I’m right, then they’re in danger. The dogs are loose and so is Abel.”

  “Should be easy enough,” Lens hollered as they scrambled through the house. “Everyone in Hounds Hollow will be at the barbecue today.”

  “Oh no.” Bess pushed past Lucas and Lens to take the lead. “Everyone in Hounds Hollow … the barbecue! That must be where Abel is going!”

  Quickly, the kids wound through the maze of the house, following the fresh scratches from the dogs running on wood floors. When they got to the kitchen, the back door was wide open. Lucas was heading outside when he found a note from his mom.

  Gone to help set up the barbecue. Excited to mingle with the locals! Breakfast is on the table, but we’ll be back soon. Love, Mom

  A whimper came from the corner by the fireplace. It was Casper, Dakota, and Duke. They were alone, and Shadow was gone. The dogs trotted to the kids and nuzzled against them.

  Casper nodded silently and let out a high-pitched cry.

  “It’s not your fault,” said Lucas. “You were trying to save us from Shadow.”

  “Where is Shadow?” asked Bess.

  “More importantly, where’s Abel?” said Lens.

  A scream shattered the quiet of the morning. Lucas rushed out the back door to find Eartha lying on the ground. She was clutching her chest and gasping for air.

  “Are you okay?!” Lucas sat by her and cradled her head in his lap.

  Eartha’s eyes bulged out of her head as she strained to breathe. Her lips moved, but no words came out. Lucas leaned closer, but he could barely make out her strained whispers. “Ay-wheeze-bull.” Then Eartha touched her arm where a black mark was burned into her skin. “Ay-wheeze-bull … heeze … free.”

  Quickly, Lucas grabbed his inhaler and put it in Eartha’s mouth. With two quick clicks, the medicine misted into her lungs and the older woman let out a cough, followed by two deep breaths of air. Then she passed out.

  Bess and Lens raced to Lucas’s side.

  “What in the world?!” said Bess.

  “It’s Abel. He did this to Eartha. He’s outside the house.” Lucas felt Eartha’s deep breathing push through her unconscious body. The scar on her arm was starting to spread. “What if there’s still something wrong with Abel, and Silas knew it? What if Abel wants to wipe out all of Hounds Hollow?”

  “Then we need to stop him.” Bess was every bit as steely eyed and determined as she was on the first day Lucas had met her.

  “Great, so we just go stop Abel and his undead hound dog,” said Lens. “It’s so obvious, why didn’t I think of it. Oh yeah, that’s right, because we have no idea how to stop them!”

  Lucas laid Eartha’s head lightly on the ground. “We don’t, but I know who does. Right, Casper?”

  The tiny dog gave a sharp bark from behind them.

  “See, I think we’ve had something else wrong about the Hound Pound,” said Lucas. “What if … what if the dogs weren’t hunting people after all? What if they were stationed in the house to protect Hounds Hollow from Abel?”

  “Did you forget about those dogs attacking us in the house?” asked Bess. “Silas basically had them all trapped.”

  “No,” said Lucas. “You’re wrong. He loved those dogs. I’ve read his notebooks over and over again. Silas knew that Dakota loved the outdoors, so he built her a cabin. He knew that Duke loved to sit by the fire, so he built a fireplace for him. He also knew that Duke and Dakota never left each other’s side, so he kept them together. I think Casper and his friends—even the beast—are the only animals that can save Hounds Hollow. And I think I know how to call them.”

  Lucas held up his dog whistle and blew with his deepest breath. Even though he couldn’t hear the high-pitched sound, he felt the world shutter around him. Just as before in the basement of the house, a warm glow came from the edges of the forest as the rest of the pack entered from the trees. They moved in line next to Casper, Dakota, and Duke.

  Bess looked over the army. “Bad news. Scout’s not here.”

  “He won’t be,” said Lucas. “He’s not like the others. Scout was Silas’s dog. And if I know Silas, he trained Scout to do one thing: find Abel.”

  “Well, that’s what we’re going to do, too,” said Bess.

  “All right!” cheered Lens. “Let’s go kick some beast butt.”

  “You know, we’re basically on a foxhunt,” Lens hollered as his horse, Bolt, thundered through the forest.

  Lucas and Bess pedaled hard on their bikes, also following the pack’s lead. The dogs had caught a scent instantly and taken off as soon as Lucas had gathered them. At first he’d worried they were escaping, but every dog headed in the same direction. Lucas barely made it onto his bike before they disappeared into the woods.

  Now Lucas’s heart was beating wildly inside his chest. There was no plan; he was acting on complete instinct. He remembered the foxhunt paintings back in the house, how the riders stood victorious on horseback while the hounds surrounded the fox. But Lens was wrong. They weren’t hunting a fox. They were out to stop an ancient and deadly wrong that had come back to correct itself.

  “Turn!” Bess cried as she swerved left after the pack.

  Casper had taken the lead. The other dogs were right behind him, though they spread out into groups. It was a tactic Lucas had seen before in his Wolf Life game. But this wasn’t a game—this was real life. In the game, when the wolves reached their prey, they ate it. But what would happen at the end of this foxhunt, Lucas wondered?

  “Right!” Bess called, her voice steady as the trees whipped past.

  Lucas suddenly realized that he’d been here before, racing through the forest toward the Devil’s Drop. He looked to either side of him, and the dogs turned to shadowy blurs.

  “I know where we are!” Lucas said, but the others had raced ahead and couldn’t hear him.

  He pedaled faster. Bess and Lens had become one with the pack. It was as if they were hypnotized by the hunt. Lucas stood up on his bike and
pumped the handlebars from left to right as he sped up. With his legs burning, Lucas finally pulled in front of his friends and skidded to a halt. He waved his arms and screamed, “Guys, stop!”

  Lens eased up on Bolt while Bess slammed on her brakes, but the dogs disappeared into the woods.

  Behind Lucas, the entire town of Hounds Hollow was preparing the park for the barbecue. Grills were blazing, filled with hamburgers, hot dogs, corn, and brisket, while tables were full of chips, potato salad, and other sides. Everyone gazed at the kids.

  Gale walked over, angrily shaking a serving spoon with mashed potatoes on it. “I thought I made it one hundred percent clear that there would be no horses allowed at our event, Deshaun!”

  Quickly, Lucas threw his bike down, pulled off his helmet, and found his parents packing ice into coolers. “Thank goodness! Are you okay?”

  “Lucas, what’s going on?” asked Mom.

  “I’ll tell you what’s going on,” snapped Gale. “This town, this town has a tradition. Every year, we come together and we celebrate being neighbors. We share stories, we share food, and we share what makes Hounds Hollow so special. And as your neighbor, I asked politely for you to leave your filthy animal at home!”

  Lens nodded as he searched the faces in the crowd for Abel. “I know and I’m sorry, but …”

  “No buts—” Gale’s voice turned cold and thin as the air around the campground heated up. The older woman touched her throat gently and tried to speak again, but the words melted in her mouth. Gale’s eyes flickered around like birds trapped in a cage as she dropped to her knees and struggled to talk. A black mark bloomed on her neck. “Can’t … breathe.”

  Behind her, a gray boy had a hand on her back, rubbing it lightly like a mother trying to calm down her child. Gale looked up at the boy with a sense of terror as her throat closed tighter and tighter.

  “Hello. My name is Abel,” said the boy. “I’m looking for my dog. Have you seen him?”

  The old woman fainted backward into the dirt. Lucas, Bess, and Lens were frozen as Abel turned back to them. His face was soft around the corners, like a very old, blurry photograph. Only his white eyes and his twisted smile were visible. The rest of his face looked almost erased.

  “Hello. My name is Abel,” the boy repeated. “I’m looking for my dog. Have you seen him?”

  As soon as Gale hit the ground, the rest of Hounds Hollow jumped up and screamed. People ran in every direction, but the beast was waiting for them. Beyond Abel, Lucas watched as the dark creature that must have been Scout pounced from man to woman to child, picking them all off one by one. With one bite, the townsfolk fell under the beast’s spell: As quickly as they had erupted in a frenzy of panic and fear, they suddenly became calm and passive, like zombies.

  “Mom! Dad! Run!” screamed Lucas, but of course his parents weren’t the kind of people who ran from trouble. As the madness spread, picnic tables were tossed over. Uncooked meat and potato chips were scattered on the ground and trampled underfoot. Paper plates blew in the wind.

  And still, Lucas’s parents walked over to Abel.

  “Hello. My name is Abel,” the boy told Lucas’s mother. “I’m looking for my dog. Have you seen him?”

  “Hello, Abel. My name is Holly Trainer, and this is Kyle. Are you lost? Can we help you find your family?”

  Lucas lunged forward, trying to grab his parents, but was blocked by people running everywhere. Screams and snarls filled the morning.

  “Hello. My name is Abel,” the boy repeated in his little kid voice. “I’m looking for my dog. Have you seen him?”

  “Mom! Stay away from Abel!”

  His mother turned and gave Lucas a smile as if to say, Don’t worry, we’ll be okay; we’re just helping this innocent little boy. But then her face changed. Her smile opened into an agonizing gasp. Lucas’s father fell over, too, kicking in the dirt as he reached for his throat. Behind them both stood Abel. Suddenly Lucas wished he’d told his parents about the boy when Abel first appeared in the house, even if it meant going back to the hospital. Anything was better than watching his parents suffer like this.

  Other voices swallowed him in a swirl of horrible cries. One second Lucas was staring at Abel, and the next, the gray boy was gone. He ran to his parents and used his inhaler as he’d done with Eartha. His parents went limp as they fell into a deep sleep. “Stay here, Mom and Dad. I’ll make this right.”

  Lucas stood up and surveyed the grounds. The entire population of Hounds Hollow was coming unhinged. Half were drowning on the ground while the other half were mindlessly walking back toward Sweetwater Manor. He watched as the beast rushed into the woods and did not return. Screams echoed from far away, and Lucas knew that the beast was continuing its job: making more workers.

  Quickly, he grabbed the dog whistle and blew the silent alarm. The ghost dogs faded back into view, sitting at attention.

  The gray boy stepped out from behind a tree. His white hair and pale skin floated against the dark backdrop of the forest. He grinned and gave Lucas a small wave. “Hello. My name is Abel. I’m looking for my dog. Have you seen him?”

  “We already know your name is Abel!” It was Bess. She and Dakota were protecting a group of other kids hiding under a picnic table. “These dogs belong to your brother, Silas. They’re here to stop you!”

  “Have we met?” the gray boy asked. He shuffled closer, and Bess held up her stone.

  “Stay back!” she warned.

  But Abel didn’t listen. With a swift movement, the gray boy slid across the ground and snatched the rock from Bess. He turned it over in his gray hand. “Oh my. Where did you find this? I used to collect rocks. Did you know that? Yes, skipping stones! They float over the water if you know how to throw them just right. Do you know how to float?”

  Abel waved the rock in front of Bess and she lifted up from the ground. The tips of her shoes pointed down as she struggled to touch the forest floor. Instead she hung in midair, like a swimmer treading water.

  “What are you doing to her?!” shouted Lens, who ran forward with Duke.

  “Playing,” said Abel. Then he changed the subject. “I like your dogs. Are they nice? Do they hunt?”

  Lucas heard something in Abel’s voice.

  “They do,” Lucas confirmed.

  Abel put the rock in his pocket and clapped his hands at the dogs. None of them moved to him. “They don’t seem to obey.”

  “They obey their master,” challenged Bess.

  “And who might that be?” asked Abel. “Is it you, Bess Armstrong?”

  Lucas flinched hearing Abel use his friend’s name.

  The gray boy smiled. “No, it’s not you. Do any of you know what they call the leader of a foxhunt? The master of hounds. Are you the master of hounds, Lucas Trainer?”

  The pack dogs surrounded Lucas and growled like chain saws. “It’s over, Abel.”

  “Is it time to go home?” The gray boy turned in a circle, holding a hand to his ear and looking deep into the woods. “I didn’t hear your parents call you back. I didn’t hear my parents call me back, either.”

  While it was hard to make out his face, Lucas could swear that Abel was oblivious to the horror he had created around him. The remaining people of Hounds Hollow stayed hidden in the distance, too scared to run and too scared to stay.

  Abel disappeared, then reappeared next to a bearded man hiding behind a tree. “Peekaboo, I found you.”

  The man scurried backward, trying to get away from the gray boy.

  Abel’s smile turned down. “What’s wrong? Aren’t we playing a game? Why does everyone look so frightened?”

  He flash-walked again, appearing in one place and then another. Each time the crowd whimpered and squealed. Abel finally stopped and flashed back in front of Lucas. “I understand now. It’s a scare game! Oh, can I be the monster? I make a very good monster.”

  “You’re not a monster, Abel,” said Lucas.

  “Tell them that.” Abel motioned to
the people shivering around him.

  Lucas nodded and thought back to Abel’s journal. “Yes, well, they can be dumbbells sometimes. Especially with a, um, surprise like you.”

  There was a glint in Abel’s white eyes. “Dumbbells. My brother used to say that all the time. Where is Silas? I miss him.”

  “Abel, what do you remember?” asked Lucas.

  “Oh, I remember everything,” the gray boy replied. His voice was unsettlingly calm and casual. “I was sick and I died. I remember my parents and Silas crying over me while I was in my casket. They dressed me in these clothes. Then I remember people from town interrupting my funeral. Men and women said I couldn’t be buried with my family. They said I was evil and that my sickness was going to spread if they didn’t burn it away.”

  With Abel focused on Lucas, Lens slipped behind Bess and pulled her back to the ground. As she landed, Bess repeated the phrase, “Burn it away.”

  “The town,” Lucas said. “The town set fire to your house.”

  “They came at night,” said Abel as he kicked at the ground with his shoe. He was acting like a little boy getting restless. “They had torches. They burned it down. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Oh, but what they made was so … much … worse.”

  “Silas knew,” said Bess. “He survived and he knew when you came back that he had to keep you inside the house.”

  “Not just me, the doggies, too,” said Abel. “Except for Scout, his favorite pup. He could never control Scout. Anyway, I’m bored. Can we play another game?”

  “Inside the house, you led me to a trapdoor,” Lucas said as Lens and Bess carefully stepped beside him into the circle of dogs. “Was that a game?”

  “Of course,” said Abel with a smile. “Did you like it? I had no idea that your little mutt was playing, too. He caught you by the hair of your chinny-chin-chin.”

  Lucas looked at Casper. “You saved me that day?”

  The dog answered with a sharp bark.

  Abel rolled his washed-out eyes. “See, you have a dog. Silas has a dog. Where’s my dog?”

  “You mean Shadow?” asked Bess. “We found him, but he’s long gone by now. He ran away from the house faster than any dog I’ve ever seen, and you’ll never ever find him.”