The Pit in the Woods: A Mercy Falls Mythos

by Nathaniel Reed

  He could see why Myron related to this movie so much, but particularly with the character played by Anthony Michael Hall. Though Jeremy thought the character might be wimpier than Myron.

  Then again, he could be wrong.

  Jeremy liked the movie too, although it sort of depressed him. Myron had the opposite reaction. He was rejuvenated. It made him feel better about himself. Right now Jeremy felt nervous. Tony was on his right, and Staci was on his left. Her arm rubbed up against his, sending shivers through his body. She felt him shake briefly during the movie.

  “You cold?” she said.

  “Um, nope. Just got a shiver.”

  She nodded and turned back toward the movie.

  “So, you going to ask her out?” Tony whispered in his ear.

  “What, her and three other guys? Remember the rule?”

  “You can always double date with Johnny.”

  Jeremy sort of laughed that off, but it turned out to be not such a bad idea.

  18

  Jeremy called Johnny later on.

  “Listen, I want to ask Staci out, but we can’t go out by ourselves.”

  “Well all right!” Johnny said, “It’s about time.”

  “Yeah, so I was thinking…”

  “You want to double date?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Excellent idea. I sure could use a break from watching out for those assholes. Am I the only one who’s not scared of the Dragons?”

  Jeremy thought it over. “Yeah, probably.”

  Johnny chuckled. “Oh well. Chances are we’re probably not going to run into them anyway until after winter break is over; when we all go back to school.”

  “Hope not. Except I hope we don’t ever run into them again.” He shook his head. “So, you have anyone in mind?”

  “Yeah, sort of. I was thinking maybe that Julia chick. She’s a

  hottie, and she kicks ass. And I already have her number.” Jeremy could almost see him winking through the phone.

  “She’s definitely your type.”

  “Hells yeah! I’ll call and let you know. We’ll shoot for the 30th, all right?”

  “Sounds good,” Jeremy said. He paused. “Thank you.”

  “No problem man. Anything to get you in the saddle. And myself of course. Now what can we do about Myron?”

  19

  It was a guy’s day out, cruising. So they excluded Staci. Jeremy, Johnny, Tony, and Myron managed to get Pete Whiteman to come along. They all packed into Tony’s car and drove along the coastline. There were several stops at 7-11 and a smattering of no name gas stop convenience stores. They travelled all the way down to the Connecticut State line before they decided they should probably head back.

  Jeremy called Staci that night, trying to sound as casual as possible, but she knew.

  “Hi Staci. Listen, Johnny wants to take out Julia, and you know, ’cause of the rules and all he can’t go out with her by himself. So I thought maybe you and me could tag along.”

  “Like a double-date?” Staci asked.

  “Yeah… I guess so.”

  “Are you asking me out on a date Jeremy?” He could hear the mirth in her voice.

  Jeremy gulped. “I suppose I am.”

  There was a full second that seemed an eternity before she responded.

  “Yeah, sure. I’d like that.”

  “Great! Tomorrow night?”

  “That’s fine. What time are you coming by?”

  Aw crap, he didn’t know. He wasn’t even sure if Johnny had

  secured the date with Julia, not that he thought it would be a problem.

  “Um, seven-thirty all right?” he guessed.

  “Yeah, okay. What are we going to do?”

  “Um, catch a movie, I guess. I’m not sure.”

  “We’re not going to see The Breakfast Club again are we?”

  Jeremy laughed, “No, we’re definitely not going to see The Breakfast Club again.”

  “All right Jeremy. See you then.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  “Bye sweetie.”

  Sweetie? It was a good thing she couldn’t see his face over the phone. It had turned a decidedly deep shade of red.

  20

  Of course Julia had said yes. It was Johnny. She only knew about him from what she’d heard. She’d joined the Dragons after he’d left. But she liked what she saw.

  “I’ll see what time Jeremy’s picking up Staci, and I’ll call you back,” he told her. He knew the deal. This was Jeremy’s date, and Johnny was hooking him up, sort of.

  “I’m borrowing Tony’s car,” Johnny told Jeremy. “I thought it’d be kind of cheesy to walk them to the movie theatre, even if they are close enough.”

  “Good,” Jeremy said. “I was wondering. I was going to walk Staci to your house. So I told her 7:30. Is that okay?”

  “Yeah, let me tell Julia. I’ll pick you up around quarter after, tomorrow. Then we’ll go pick up the girls.”

  “Okay.”

  “Later Jeremy. Good luck with Stace.”

  II

  1

  Mercy Falls was a quiet town during school breaks. This December 30th was also bitterly cold and with the new morning came a soft snowfall, that to many made the cold worth it, especially since there had been no white Christmas.

  The snow formed a thin blanket of white over the black asphalt streets. There were hardly any cars around, and the kids fortunate enough to be up at this hour quickly donned snowshoes and delighted themselves making footprints up and down the roads.

  The relative quiet would be interrupted this afternoon by the roaring sound of motorcycles. No one knew what Max and his gang were looking for, but come New Year’s Day they would be gone.

  When Jeremy came to Staci’s door that night there was still a light snowfall, which had accumulated half an inch of ground cover. Staci came to the door in a tan (what looked to be suede) long coat with white fur lining. She hadn’t buttoned it yet and was holding it closed with one hand.

  “Well hello,” she said, “It figures you’d pick a snow day.” Her smile was radiant and infectious.

  “I’m sorry,” Jeremy said.

  “Relax, I’m kidding.”

  Jeremy stood there, grinning like a buffoon.

  “Well, are you going to walk me to the car or just stand there looking goofy?” Staci said.

  “Oh yeah, right. Sorry.”

  Staci waved. Johnny was with Julia in the front seat.

  “Hey Stace!” Johnny waved back.

  Jeremy opened the door for Staci.

  “Thanks.”

  “All right,” Johnny said. “Everyone settled in?”

  “Yep,” Jeremy said.

  “Yep,” Staci said.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  2

  Days later he couldn’t remember for the life of him what had played that night in the movie theatre. By the time the movie was over his butterflies turned into a full blown case of the squirts. They waited for Jeremy in the lobby, watching the white flakes fall outside the windows.

  “You know what, I gotta go too,” Julia said.

  “Sure,” Johnny said. “Do you have to go too by any chance?” he asked Staci.

  “Nope, I’m good.”

  “So, do you like Jeremy?” he asked.

  She seemed surprised by the question. “He’s nice.”

  “He’s crazy about you, you know?”

  “Is that so? He’s so quiet it’s hard to tell, but I figured he must have liked me to ask me out.”

  “Yeah, how you figure?”

  She looked at him strangely, and saw that he was joking.

  “I mean, I really don’t see what the big deal is,” Johnny said.

  Staci laughed and punched him on the shoulder, “Jerk.”

  “Yeah, well,” Johnny shrugged.

  She looked off, only to realize a moment later that Johnny was staring at her.

  “What?” she asked nervously.

  �
��If you don’t mind me noticing you look kind of distracted.”

  “Yeah, it’s the snow. It reminds me of my dad. My real one, that is. Not my a-hole stepfather.”

  “Oh, you’ve got one of those too, huh?”

  Staci nodded.

  “Mine is an abusive son of a bitch. Got fed up with him,” Johnny said.

  She understood a little more about why Johnny was the way

  he was.

  “He hit you?”

  “Yeah, what’d yours do?”

  “Mine is a pervert. He tried to molest me.”

  “Jackass! And your mom’s still with him?”

  “No,” Staci said, “I kicked him out of the house.”

  “No shit,” Johnny said, “I kicked mine out too.” He high-fived her. “And here I thought we had nothing in common.”

  Yes, they did have that in common, Staci thought. But where Johnny had become meaner and more rebellious, she’d become kinder and more accepting. Not of her stepfather, of course, but of others. She was always with the in-crowd. She would have never thought of hanging out with notoriously rotten Johnny, introverted Jeremy, or unattractive Myron; which made her sad that she had ever thought that way. People weren’t nearly as bad as you saw them once you didn’t look at them solely from the outside.

  Julia came back. She looked around. “Is Jeremy not back yet?”

  John shook his head, “Nope.”

  Eventually he did. Johnny flashed him his trademark all-knowing grin, the one he used for special occasions.

  “What’d you fall in?” he said.

  Jeremy managed to smile back. “Just about.”

  They got up to leave.

  “You all right?” Staci said.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Jeremy said.

  Poor dear.

  “What?” Jeremy said.

  “I didn’t say anything,” she replied.

  Yes you did. In my…head?

  “Are you sure you’re all right? You look pale,” she said.

  “Anybody want to go for some more coffee?” Johnny said.

  Staci glared at him.

  “I think I’ll pass,” Jeremy said. He was swaying from side to

  side. He felt dizzy, but didn’t want to say anything. He didn’t want to

  ruin this date.

  “We’ll go to the coffeehouse anyway,” she said, “I think he needs to sit.”

  “He’s been sitting for half an…” Johnny started.

  Really? Staci flashed him a look.

  She ordered him a ginger ale. It helped a little. She’d thought maybe an Italian Soda but it was too much sugar. And coffee would have probably killed him. Staci was into sports nutrition, and she knew Jeremy had a bad case of the runs, though he’d be ashamed to admit it, especially since she, unintentionally, had been the cause of it.

  “Feeling better man?” Johnny said.

  “Some,” Jeremy said.

  After coffee and ginger ale they stepped out once again into the cold. As Staci buttoned her coat a snowflake landed on the tip of her nose. She looked up and she beamed, and Jeremy thought later, that it was that precise moment that he fell in love with her.

  “What are you grinning at?” Staci said.

  You, he wanted to say, but instead said, “Nothing.”

  He walked Staci to her door.

  “I had a great time,” Staci said.

  “Me too,” Jeremy agreed.

  He wasn’t sure what he was expecting but he stood there, waiting.

  She opened her arms. “All right. Give me a hug.”

  He did. “Thank you,” she said into his ear.

  “Sure,” Jeremy said.

  She backed into her doorway. “Have a good night.”

  “Yeah,” he waved, “You too.”

  Back in the car Johnny was putting his move on. That’s what he would have called it.

  “So,” John said, “In case I don’t get to wish you a proper goodnight later…” He moved in and kissed Julia. She kissed him. His hand was on her back, under her shirt.

  “You know,” Johnny said, “If you’d like to take this further,

  and go somewhere we could, after I drop off Jere.”

  “Um, no,” she said, retreating. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that…”

  “Yeah?” He didn’t understand.

  “It’s just that Farris…”

  “Jack? What does he have to do with…?”

  “He raped me.”

  “He what?!” Johnny was furious.

  “Yeah, that’s why I was so vicious on him back in the woods. Well, Staci saw, anyway. I think you had your own problems at the time. She knows about it too.”

  “Motherfucker! I’m gonna kill that guy!”

  “Johnny no! It’s my problem. His time will come.”

  She didn’t know how right she was.

  Julia Stevens looked up, past Johnny. “Um, Jeremy’s coming back.”

  “Right.”

  Jeremy got in, and Johnny leaned back and whispered to him in the back seat, “So did you get the smoochie smoochies?”

  Jeremy shook his head. He wasn’t expecting to, but he wanted more than anything to kiss her.

  “Sorry man,” John said. He dropped him off. Right before he dropped her off, when they said their goodbyes to Jeremy, Julia looked him in the eyes.

  “What?” Johnny said.

  “Thank you for your concern Johnny. That was sweet.”

  She kissed him this time.

  He winked. “Hey girl, no problemo. Still, if you want me to take care of him… I mean, I won’t kill him, but I’ll mess him up pretty bad.”

  “No thanks. Besides, I think you’ve got enough problems with them already. Goodnight Johnny.” She stepped out of the car.

  “Yeah, goodnight.”

  She raised a hand to her ear to mimic a phone, “Call me.”

  “I will.”

  3

  “So, how’d it go?” Tony asked him when he called the next afternoon.

  “Great,” Jeremy said, “But I didn’t kiss her.”

  "Oh-Kay,” Tony said.

  “Well, I figured that was going to be your next question, so I thought I’d tell you before you asked.”

  “Yeah, I guess it was. What time are you going to work?”

  “Two-thirty.”

  “Damn, I thought we could do something before we went to the club tonight.”

  “You know sometimes you sound like Tony Danza.”

  “Hey, up yours.”

  Jeremy laughed. “Sorry. Still picking me up at eleven though right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hey, maybe you should call Myron. He’s probably not doing anything.”

  “True,” Tony said. “All right, catch you later then.”

  Tony did call Myron, and it seemed he was already meeting up with Johnny at five, and they were all going to meet at nine, at the Rock Spot New Year’s Eve party; except for Jeremy. Tony decided he’d just meet up with Myron now, so they stopped at a diner for a late lunch before meeting up with Johnny, and Tony regretted this decision almost immediately. It turned out Myron was quite the chatterbox, at least when you talked to him one on one. And since most of what Myron talked about was so-called intelligent conversation about books and movies, Tony found himself simply nodding through most of it. He was on the verge of getting a headache.

  “So I see you got the splints off your nose,” he said, changing the topic.

  “Yesterday. I am glad; I really did not want to go to the club

  with that thing on.”

  “Expecting some action?” Tony said.

  Myron sighed, and bowed his head. “Not really.” Then he launched into another conversation about a movie this topic reminded him of. Tony wanted to throw his hands up, but settled for gritting his teeth. He was relieved when they went to meet Johnny. Winter would just call him a dork, and that would get Myron to shut up. Tony couldn’t be that mean, even if he was jo
king.

  “Hey,” Johnny said, “You brought the car and a Tony!”

  “Yeah, I decided to tag along,” Tony said. “Hope you don’t mind.”

  Johnny shrugged. Don’t care.

  “Where were you going?” Tony said.

  “Girl hunting. Figured we’d walk around the college campus. Look for some tail,” John said. Tony rolled his eyes. Poor Myron. He was fourteen. He couldn’t even get high school girls, let alone college women.

  Johnny, on the other hand, he just might.

  “Aren’t you dating Julia?”

  “One date does not constitute dating. We’ll see how that goes, but in the meantime…”

  “You are incorrigible,” Myron said.

  “What’d you call me?” Johnny asked.

  “Never mind. I cannot get college girls. I cannot even get high school girls,” Myron said, echoing Tony’s thoughts.

  “So, you’ll just watch…and learn.”

  “Come on,” Tony said, “We’ve got my car. We can do something else.”

  “Fine,” Johnny said, frustrated. “Where would you like to go?” he asked in a girlie voice.

  “I want to get some ice cream,” Myron said.

  Tony looked back at him as he took the wheel, and Johnny rode shotgun. “You still hungry?”

  “No,” Myron said, “I just feel like ice cream.”

  “All right,” Tony said. “I kinda want to check out the CD shop.”

  “Whatever,” Johnny said. “Let’s just go somewhere.”

  They were only a few blocks away from Johnny’s house when they noticed someone running on the sidewalk a few blocks up.

  “Hey!” Johnny pointed, “Is that Carl?”

  “Yeah,” Tony said, “I think it is.”

  4

  “You finally decided to show your face again,” Max said. “So which is it? Are you with us or against us?”

  Carl regarded Max with fear in his eyes, but also with a steely determination. The others watched intently. Jack Farris, the Iceman, and the brothers Mussen were with him; the worst of the bunch. Carl Napier had come back to the old warehouse, their go to meeting place, hoping to appease Max, make him understand. He knew now he’d made a huge mistake.

  “Listen Max,” he said.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I don’t want to make any enemies here. I just want out Max.”