by Mark Deloy
“I agree,” Lisa chimed in. “But we’ll need your help to get in. They are in the secure wing of the home.”
“All right,” Jensen said. “We can go in the morning. I have too much going on here right now to go.”
“Do you need anything?” Lisa asked her cousin.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Would you tell me if you weren’t?” she asked.
“No, probably not, but I promise I’m okay. Can you tell me again what Talbot told you?”
“Yeah, can we go inside?” Lisa said, rubbing her arms. “I feel exposed out here.”
Jensen looked around, making me do the same.
“What is it, Lisa?” I asked, not seeing anyone. The street was deserted.
“I don’t know. Just got a chill is all.”
We went into Jensen’s office and we related everything Talbot had told us both yesterday and this morning again, adding a few more details.
“So what is he or it?” Jensen asked. “Where does he come from? What’s your best theory?”
I sat there for a minute, thinking. I seriously hadn’t thought about what Mr. Shift actually was.
“Think he’s some sort of being from another place.”
“What, like an alien?” Jensen asked, looking at the photo again.
“Maybe, but I seriously don’t think so,” I said. “I think he’s from another where and when. Another dimension, if you believe in that sort of thing. I read a book a few years ago that scared the shit out of me called the Mothman Prophecies about a being named Indred Cold who had some encounters with a reporter and supposedly tried to stop a bridge collapse. He apparently had total control over time and could see events in time, like knots on a rope. I think sometimes these vortices open up to other worlds and things come through. I think the Mothman was such a creature and I think Mr. Shift is, too. I think the house I found in my woods has some sort of doorway or wormhole inside of it.”
“Jesus, Hick. That’s some freaky Sci-Fi shit.”
“I know it is, but it’s all I’ve got. It’s my only theory and it’s probably total bullshit. I just can’t think of anything logical to throw at you right now. “
“Where did the house come from?” Lisa asked. “Who built it?”
“I don’t know. It looked,” I searched for the right word. “It looked normal.”
“We need to find that house,” Jensen repeated. “And destroy it.”
“I think you’re right,” I agreed. “We can go looking for it after we talk to the girls tomorrow. I found it once, and I know I can find it again.”
“I hope and pray to God you are right.”
We left the sheriff’s station around noon. Lisa said she needed to get back home to Connor.
“Do you think those kids can be fixed?” Lisa asked, as she pulled into my driveway.
“I honestly don’t know.”
“I have a theory,” she said, putting her car in park, but leaving the engine running. “Would you like to hear it?”
“I think we’re operating completely on theories right now, on feelings and instinct, so yes, I’d very much like to hear it.”
“I think the house is a gateway like you said. A…what did you call it?”
“A vortex.”
“Yeah, that. I think it opens up into somewhere else. When Mr. Shift took those kids, he took them to that other place. I think while they were there, he took something from them, or they lost something while they were there. Call it their humanity, or their soul. It was what made them human, and compassionate, and normal. If they lost it while they were there, maybe the only way to make them normal again is to takes them back there.”
I thought about it for a full minute before I responded.
“I think Jensen means to just destroy the house. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I doubt we’ll get a chance to test your theory.”
“What if we did? What if we could not only get the three kids he took from the revival, but the last two Mr. Shift took from the fair? What if we could give back what he took?”
“That’s a great idea, but how?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to run it by Jensen. Maybe we could handcuff them, or knock them out long enough to get them there. I know they are dangerous, but they’re still just kids. I’m not giving up on them. What if it was Connor? I wouldn’t give up on him.”
“You’re talking about kidnapping. I’m not sure the parents would go for that,” I said. “And they sure as hell aren’t going to let us take them back there willingly.”
“Jensen is going to have to take them into custody, anyway. I know he’s planning on it. What if we took them here instead and tried to fix them?” Lisa looked at me hopefully.
“Do you think you could convince Jensen?” I asked.
“No, but we could.”
I laughed.
“Okay, I’ll think about it.”
“Can you do something for me?”
“I can sure try,” I said.
“Kiss me. I want to feel normal again.”
I did, without thinking. I kissed her long and softly. It was the best kiss of my life.
“Wow,” she breathed. “That was nice.”
“To be continued?”
“Yes, please,” she said, smiling. “What time, tomorrow?”
“I’ll let you know. I need to call Jensen later.”
“Me, too. I’m going to tell him my theory.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Lisa. Tell Connor I said hi.”
“Goodnight. I will.”
She kissed me this time and it was just as wonderful. Then she smiled and pushed me.
“Gotta go, kid’s a waitin’.”
I went inside and was greeted by Girl. I let her out then made myself a sandwich and threw some chips on the plate for good measure. I ate it while looking out the back window, towards the forest. Did I really believe there was some house out in those woods that was a gateway to another dimension? Yes, I decided. As strange as it sounded, that’s exactly what I believed.
30
Later that afternoon, I talked myself out of going into the woods by myself six or seven times. I knew somehow if I did, I was going to find the house and perhaps Mr. Shift. But what then? Confront him? Ask him to make the children whole again? I ended up playing fetch with Girl in the yard while keeping a watchful eye on the forest. After Girl was worn out, I went in and made grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup for supper. I told myself it was better to wait for more facts, more information, and to have a law enforcement officer with training along. Not to mention, I thought Lisa was right about the children. We needed them with us, maybe not to get into the house, but surely to go through whatever doorway was inside.
After supper, I struggled with the television, trying to get a local signal out of Nashville. I ended up watching The Blacklist in ’fuzzy-vision’. At least the sound was clear. After the program ended, I put in a Blue-ray of American Sniper, but didn’t watch a lot of it because I was deep in thought. I tried to convince myself that everything that was happening was real and I wasn’t crazy. I tried to think of some logical explanation for what was going on. I took any supernatural possibilities out of it and made my mind think around the many corners. The only thing I could come up with, was I was drugged somehow into seeing the house and Mr. Shift, and then not seeing it. I guess it was just my way of grounding myself in reality. None of it worked, of course. If I was drugged, that meant everyone who had encountered Mr. Shift had been drugged as well. It meant we were all part of some mass hallucination.
I went out onto the front porch, stretched my back and leaned on the railing. The night was cool and still smelled like burnt church, even though much of it had been cleaned up and hauled away. I guess I could call the rental place tomorrow and have them come and get their tent. With Jim gone, there would be no more services. I decided it was time to make the call I’d been dreading.
The phone seemed to weigh a hundred pounds as I picked
it up and dialed Jim’s house number. Marjorie answered on the second ring.
“Marjorie, it’s Hickory. I met you the other night. I heard about Jim and I wanted to say how sorry I am.”
“Thank you, dear,” she replied shakily with tears in her voice. “I don’t know what happened. The sheriff just said he was killed by one of the children that were taken. How did that happen? Why?”
“I don’t know. There is something wrong with her, Anni, the girl who did it. Something happened to her while she was gone, I think.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Marjorie?”
“I’m here. I have something for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes. It’s Jim’s journal. He has kept it for years. It’s time this has to stop.”
“I don’t think I understand,” I responded, a little confused.
“Just come. Will you come?”
“Yes, of course.”
I loaded the Ruger, put on my shoes and left. I was at Jim’s house in fifteen minutes. The porch light was on and Marjorie came to the door before I reached the steps. She held out a leather-bound book.
“Take it and read it. This has to end,” she said tersely.
“I’m still not understanding. What’s in here?” I asked, thumbing through the pages.
“It was their secret. That house was. Him and your grandfather. Please don’t hate him. He was doing what he thought was best for the town.”
“I…I won’t,” I said, but I wasn’t so sure.
She shut the door and turned off the porch light. I walked back to my car, placed the journal on the front seat next to the Ruger and drove home. I wanted to read it while sitting right there, but it was too much, and I wanted to read it all in one sitting.
I got back home, switched on the light over the back deck and went out to sit and read. Girl followed me and sat down at the top of the steps as if she was keeping watch.
For the next two and a half hours, I read. The revelations inside made me sick to my stomach, and I knew half way into it I couldn’t keep my promise to Marjorie. I was going to hate Jim by the end of this. But, I also felt something else for Jim. I felt as if he wanted me to stop what he had started. He was the one who found the picture in my house. He wanted me to know about Mr. Shift.
31
Excerpts from the Journal of Jim Burnside:.
June 8th 1965
Hickory and I found something in his woods today while scouting out hunting areas. It’s a swirling mass of air that sits two feet off the ground and shimmers like heat off from asphalt. Neither of us knew what to make of it. Hickory said he was going to touch it, but I told him that wasn’t a good idea. After a few minutes of trying to decide what to do, it started changing colors and a man stepped out of it. Only he wasn’t like any man I have ever seen. He was nearly eight feet tall. He wore all black and his clothing was shiny and shimmered like the swirling mass. His face was featureless, and changed from white to gray, to black, then it changed again and he had a normal face, but I could tell it wasn’t his face. It seemed to be projected onto his featureless head like a movie on a movie screen. I wanted to run, but my feet seemed to be planted in the earth. Hickory didn’t seem to be able to move, either.
The creature told us he wouldn’t hurt us. His voice seemed to be everywhere, then I realized it wasn’t a voice, it was more of a thought inside my head. He told us he was going to take three innocents and then he would go away. He said he had done this many times before. I tried to open my mouth to ask why, and I realized my whole body was now paralyzed. He seemed to hear my thought, anyway, and said that was none of my concern. Then he instructed us to build him a house around the swirling mass. He said he wanted somewhere to dine while he was in this world. Somewhere to sit and take his meal. The open forest did not suit him. He also said he wasn’t able to roam as far as he wanted in this world because the doorway moved and he was afraid of being stuck here. He said he needed to “broaden the marker.” What that meant, I am not sure.
He told us if we did that, if we built him a house, he would leave the other children alone and just take three. If we didn’t build his house, he would find someone else who would, and then he would kill our families, and take all of the children in town. He only needed three, but he would take more if we resisted his wishes.
We agreed to his demands, God help us, we agreed.
June 18th 1965
Hickory and I had the materials delivered to start building. He paid for all of the materials. We argued about our decision, trying to find some way out of it. We couldn’t, so instead, we worked. I wrote my sermon for Sunday on Saturday nights. I usually spent the week doing so, and visited sick congregation members, but now my life was building the house. Marjorie asked me what I was doing all day and I told her Hickory and I were turkey hunting. Marjorie didn’t question it was out of season. Hick’s wife was working at the hospital all day and since he was retired, no one really missed him. We wondered how the tall man would hide the house when it was done. We both instantly got a thought in our heads that told us the house would move with the doorway.
July 1st 1965
That must be a new record for building a house. I’m not a professional builder, but Hickory was a contractor before he retired, and he showed me what to do. The house is nothing spectacular. There are no shutters or shingles on the roof, or any other decorative aspects. Hickory said, he wanted a house, that’s what he got. It won’t win any beauty prizes, but it’s a house.
We are both aware the Babcock fair is coming in a few days. Hickory has leased his land to Nelson Babcock for the fair. He paid Hickory one million dollars to use it for two weeks. I have a feeling this is not an accident. Can Babcock be in on this as well? Dear Lord, what have I done? I know the children will be taken during the fair. I just know it.
July 20th 1965
He took them. He took them, just like he said he would. Three children gone and it’s my fault. He took them while the fireworks show was going on and everyone was distracted. Three little girls. We are damned for this.
July 25th, 1965
Two of the children came back. I thought for sure they were gone forever, but they came back. The oldest is still missing, but at least the other two were returned. They haven’t spoken a word, but at least their families know they are safe.
July 27th 1965
The youngest girl, Beth tried to kill the family cat this morning. Her parents asked me to try and talk to her, but the girl in unresponsive. Her father told me the story of the three children in 1941 and what they did. He said he was not going to take the chance of his daughter doing the same thing. He planned on taking her to a psychologist tomorrow to be evaluated.
July 30th 1965
Both girls were admitted to Willow Bend this morning after being evaluated. Their families told me both of them expressed violent urges and said numerous times during their evaluations they wanted to do horrible things to their families and to themselves. I pray for their souls and for mine.
August 3rd 1965
The house has moved. Hickory said he went into the woods to ask the tall man where the third girl, Becky was and the house was gone. I didn’t believe the monster when he said the house would move, but I suppose he was telling the truth. I only pray that means the nightmare is now over.
July 1st 2015
The tall man came to me last night. He said he was coming again and he needed three more children. Three more or all of them. I was to bring them to him this time. I’ve heard Hickory’s grandson will be occupying the house now. Hickory Senior willed it to him. I somehow knew the tall man would come back someday. I have many times wished I was dead when he did, but now I see my wish has not come true.
July 5th 2015
Hickory Jr. has agreed to let us set up the revival on his land. There will be children and Shift will come to take them. I will let him because I know I cannot stop this. Then he will go away again and I
will surely be dead before he comes again, or at least I hope so. I know Hell awaits me. I was not strong enough to resist this evil. God forgive me.
I set the journal down. Jim knew the whole time, both what this monster was, how to find him and what he was doing. In fact, so did my grandfather. They were both guilty. Now Jim was dead. I wondered if Mr. Shift made Anni Baker kill him to keep him quiet. I read through the next few pages of the journal to see if Jim intended to tell me what was going on, but there was nothing, just more guilty whining and begging for forgiveness.
I knew what we had to do. Somehow we had to find that house again and make Mr. Shift give back what he had taken. My best guess was it was their souls, just as Lisa suggested. Then I thought about that for a minute. Jim wrote the creature needed somewhere to take his meals. Did that mean he had eaten the children’s souls? And if so, were they going to be violent little monsters forever? I was glad we were going to talk to Leslie and Beth tomorrow. Maybe they had some answers. And what about Becky, the third girl who had never come home? There were too many questions with no answers.
32
The day dawned cool and clear. The weatherman said things would heat up later, but it sure didn’t feel like it this morning.
I called Lisa and she said Jensen wanted us all to meet at the station and ride over to Willow Bend together. I didn’t tell her about the journal, yet. I only wanted to tell the story once and thought I’d wait until all three of us were together.
I left to go to the station around nine, after a long shower. Thankfully, there were no heads or anything else in my tub. When I pulled the shower curtain aside, I did so quickly, half expecting the rest of the animals to be in there, but it was empty. I forgot to pick up the soft scrub yesterday, so there was still a pink ring around the inside. I tried to ignore it while showering.
