The Collected Horrors of Tim Wellman

by Tim Wellman

  "Gotta see somethin' in the woods, momma!" Katie yelled. The two girls disappeared into the undergrowth.

  "God damn it, I'm gonna wear her out!"

  "They's snakes out this time a year," Katie said. They both stopped for a moment, and then started again at a slower, more careful pace.

  "I been through here a couple times already and ain't been bit," Tammy said. "It ain't much further, anyhow."

  "Girls!" a voice called out to them from a little further ahead. Katie recognized it as the voice of the old man who had given her the ring.

  "This just don't feel right ta me," she said. But they both kept walking and stepped over and through a few grape vines and came out of the undergrowth and into a small clearing where a large tree had once stood. And in the indentation in the ground, there was a large metal box, half-buried with loose dirt around it, big enough to have been a coffin. It was rusty, painted green at one time, but seemed to have had a few repairs and touch-ups, and the door, though locked, had one hinge replaced with bailing wire. But on the door, there was a painted design that exactly matched the design of the ring. The old man was standing beside it, apparently proud of the object.

  "You!" He pointed at Katie.

  "What you want, old man?" she said. "You want your cheap old ring back, you got it. But you didn't ought to bring Tammy into it. She ain't too smart and you're takin' advantage of her stupidity."

  "Hey!" Tammy said. "She turned to the old man. "Where's my reward?"

  "It's in this box," he said. He bent down gingerly, his old bones snapping and popping, and undid the lock. "It's right in here, look!"

  Tammy walked closer. "Let me see! Let me see!"

  He opened the door and stood up as she got closer, and as she peered in he pushed her and she tripped and fell into the box and he quickly closed the lid.

  "Hey!" Katie said. "What have you done to her?!"

  He smiled and pointed a bony finger at her. "She was told to bring you and the box," he said. He pointed at the big box. "Worthless children rot in hell." He looked back at her and smiled and it was only then that she noticed the old man's teeth were coal black. Not rotten, but they were as black as night. "You should have placed the ring in the box!"

  "It's not the right one!" Katie yelled. "Your ring is just cheap junk!" And with that, she took off running through the woods. She could hear him following, slowly, but following and keeping up since she was too small to step over most of the obstacles. But she made it to the edge of the woods and stomped across the backroad and into her yard just as the old man burst through the edge of the woods. But he suddenly stopped. "The box, lass! I need the box!"

  "My daddy gave me that before he went away," she said. "You'll never get if from me!"

  "Stupid little bitch!" he yelled. And as his words reverberated, he disappeared.

  "Katie!" her mother yelled. "Get your ass in here, now!" She stood on the back porch and motioned frantically. "Come on, quick, in the house!" Katie followed her and as the screen door slammed behind them, she quickly plopped down in a kitchen chair and leaned over onto the table for support.

  "Ya okay, momma," Katie said. She was starting to cry, but was trying to hide it with a smile. But she didn't have a clue about what was going on or who the old man was or what had happened to Tammy. The entire evening was starting to feel like a weird dream.

  "I knowed this was a gonna happen some day," she said. "I just knowed it."

  "What mamma, what is all a this about?"

  "Your daddy," she said. She looked up and then motioned Katie to come closer and she hugged her. "Ya seen the old box?"

  "In the woods?" Katie said. "I seen it, but the old man pushed Tammy in it and locked it up."

  "Your daddy buried that out there," her mother said. "The day you was born, he was out there burying the damned thang."

  "But..."

  "That box has powers," she continued. "Same as the small box he gave you."

  "Why does the old man want my little box, then, if he has the big one?" She ran a cold glass of water and sat it down in front of her mother. "You better tell me momma, 'cause I think if I don't know everything, I'm gonna be in bad trouble."

  Her mother took a drink and nodded. "If he has both, and the ring, they will all fit together and allow him to travel back to where he came from. He's trapped here right now and weak. Your daddy did it. By mistake, but he trapped that devil here just the same. I didn't recognize 'im earlier, guess I just tried my best not ta remember."

  There was a knock on the front door and Katie jumped. She looked around the edge of the door facing and down the hall and saw the shadow outside. It was him, the old man, just as he had first approached earlier. "It's him," she whispered. "Why don't he just break in and take my box and the ring back?"

  "He cain't get in," her mother said. "Your daddy sealed this house. Only way he can get it is if you give it to 'im."

  "We're safe, then?" Katie said.

  Her mother nodded. "For now."

  Katie jumped out into the hallway and pointed toward the door and yelled. "Fuck you old man!"

  "Katie!" her mother said.

  "We's fightin' a demon and you're callin' me on my language?"

  The old man pounded on the door. "Open the door! I have a proposition for you!"

  "I'm too young to propose to!" Her mother was standing behind her now and Katie looked back with a worried smile. "I don't know what to do, momma. I'm just a little girl."

  Her mother patted her on the head. "I know, sweetie, I know. Give me the ring." She stepped around her daughter and walked closer to the door. "She didn't fall for your trick. That why you're so pissed off? Cause you failed again? She's got her father's good blood." She threw the ring at the door and it disappeared before it got there. "Cheap shit!"

  "I reckon he gave me that thinkin' I'd put it in my box," Katie said. "I just could tell it weren't right. But I'm wonderin' about Tammy." She cocked her head. "Gotta go to my room," she said and grabbed her mother's hand and ran up the stairs.

  "What are ya doin'?"

  Katie opened the drawer and reached under the panties and socks and pulled out the box. "It's connected, right? To the big box?" She opened the lid and looked inside. She had expected to see a small version of Tammy inside, but it was empty. "Well shit!"

  "Can ya hear me?!" a voice said from the box. It was Tammy.

  "That you?" Katie said.

  "It's me!" Tammy said. "I'm in a weird place, kinda scary." Katie could here her sniff away her tears. "I don't know if'n I should walk down this tunnel or just sit still."

  "Sit still, Tammy!" Katie's mom yelled. "Don't walk down the tunnel!"

  There was a pause. "Okay, Mrs. Crabtree, I'll just sit down here."

  "Good girl," her mother said. "Just sit and close your eyes. There ain't nothin' real where you's at, but it's gonna scare ya bad if you don't close your eyes. But it's all fake, jus' ta scare ya."

  "Yes ma'am."

  "Tammy, I'll get ya outa there, just give me some time," Katie said. "I'll talk back at you in a little bit."

  "Hurry!"

  Katie closed the lid on the box. "Momma, how do you know all this?"

  Her mother sat down on the edge of the bed and patted beside her for Katie to sit as well. "Right before you was borned there was a bad string a little kids disappearin'. No one was figurin' out who was doin' it, but it was effectin' all of us, 'specially me with you on the way. But your daddy was out with a bunch a boys searchin' the woods one night when they found what they all knowed was somethin' evil. There was an old rusty box and when they managed ta open it up, inside was that there smaller wooden box. Them boys dragged it outa the woods and the devil caught up with them. A couple of the boys was killed outright but somehow your daddy knew to take the small box outa the big box. When he did the devil turned inta that old man and though he was still strong, the rest of 'em managed ta fight 'im off and they brought the big box out yonder in the woods and buried it. And after go
in' to the Huntington library fer a month straight, he found some old book that looked like what told about what was goin' on. He learned from that book about old gods and protection spells and stuff, how to protect this house and he managed ta get two a them kids outa the big box. I reckon he thought it were all over then and gave you the little box thankin' your pure mind would confuse the old man even more 'bout it."

  "I don't think I'm gonna understand most a that till I'm older," Katie said. "But, the house protects the box and us from the old man?"

  "Yep," her mother said. "I reckon the old man finally found the big box and digged it up. He musta tricked Tammy inta lurin' you out there after he gave ya the ring. He musta thought ya'd put it in the box and have it with ya."

  "But the old man ain't all-powerful, then, like a god?" Katie said. "He can be beat."

  "I think he can maybe even be killed," her mother said. "Accordin' to the book, your daddy said, but it needed some big sacrifice that he couldn't figure out. But he shouldn't a been able ta even get to the front door, so maybe the protection is wearin' off."

  "I need ta see that book," she said.

  Her mother nodded and stood. She didn't speak, but motioned for the child to follow her as she walked out of her room and into her own bedroom. She pulled open the louvered slat doors of the closet and reached on her tip-toes to the top shelf and pulled down something wrapped in old newspapers. "It ain't been opened since your daddy put it there when you was little. Reckon there's a hell of a fine on it from the library." She started to hand it to Katie, but then pulled it back. "This ain't no ord'nary book, now."

  "I know," she said. "Ain't no ord'nary situation." Her mother handed her the book and Katie unwrapped it. It was musty and molded, old black bound leather like a good bible, but tattered and practically falling apart. "Demonicony."

  "Your daddy never could pronounce that," her mother said and smiled. "I ain't never looked in there. Too scared, I reckon."

  Katie opened the book and quickly found a page with the corner turned down. "It's all in simple English," she said, "'ceptin' the spells which is in some foreign language." She looked up. "I reckon they needs ta be read just like they is." She ran her finger down the page, almost afraid to touch some of the grotesque drawings and arcane symbols. "Here, protection spell is circled."

  "So your daddy had ta have used that one ta protect the house and us."

  Katie turned the page and again ran her finger slowly down, trying to pick up on important words in paragraphs. She moved to the next page. "These is all protection spells fer people, animals, and such." She turned another page. "Spells Of Binding." She looked across the book and nodded at her mother. "That's what we need, ain't it? To bind the old devil up. Then if he can be killed, we'll kill 'im up."

  Her mother nodded and smiled but immediately lost the expression.

  There was a loud banging on the wall of the house. "I'm in the yard, now, bitches!"

  They both ran to the window and looked down. He had broken through the spell, at least partially, but even worse, he was holding a child over his head. He had a firm grip on the little girl's throat and her eyes were rolled back in her head. She was nearly dead and would die in the next few seconds as Katie and her mom watched.

  But Katie did something. She wasn't sure what had happened, but the old book's pages started turning, and then it suddenly stopped. But even without looking down, she began speaking. She didn't understand the words, but the old man instantly dropped the child and grabbed his arm and cried out in pain. The girl almost immediately regained her senses and took off running, crying at the top of her lungs.

  The old man looked up at the window and pointed. "Damned you to hell! Witch!" And they watched as the old man walked away and back into the woods.

  "What did I do?" Katie said. She dropped the book and grabbed her mother. "What happened?!"

  "Ya did good, I think," her mother said. "I think ya got the callin' fer castin' spells. Ya saved that little girl."

  "I wasn't even thinkin'," she said. "But I hurt him, didn't I?"

  Her mother nodded. "Sure as hell did," she said. "I thank his arm is so withered he cain't catch anymore kids for a while."

  "But he'll get better," she whispered. "I gotta finish him off for good." She pulled away from her mother and rubbed her cheeks. "I don't know if I gotta read the spells or if they'll just use me when the time comes." She picked the book up again and allowed it to fall open to a random page.

  "I cain't help ya with that, honey," her mother said. "But I promise I'll be with ya whatever ya choose ta do."

  "I kinda wish daddy was here," Katie said.

  "That's the wish ya want more than anything else, ain't it?"

  "I reckon so," she said. "I cain't think a nothin' else I want more." She suddenly looked up at her mother with tears pouring down her cheeks. "I reckon that's the sacrifice, ain't it. Givin' up that wish."

  "I reckon ya done gave it, baby," her mother said. She pointed down at the book in Katie's hands which was beginning to glow. It then rose up in the air, paused in front of Katie's face, then dropped suddenly back into her hands.

  The young girl looked down at the pages and realized she could turn them just using her mind. "I can understand the foreign words," she said. "I know what spells ta use to finish the demon off fer good." She looked up at her mother and smiled. "Ya gotta stay here, momma; right her in your room, okay?"

  "But..."

  "This room will protect ya no matter what; daddy fixed it like that," she said. "He told me that just now."

  "He told ya?" her mother said. "Katie..."

  "I ain't crazy momma; he's dead and ain't never comin' back; but sure as I got ears, I heared 'im just now tellin' me you need to stay here and let me do this on my own." She tossed the book on the bed and started out the bedroom door.

  "Katie, don't ya need ta take that?"

  "No need, I know what every page says," she said. She stopped and turned around. "Ya know what the last page says?"

  Her mother shook her head.

  "We win," Katie said and then walked out and down the steps, directly through the kitchen, and out into the back yard. "Hey, fuckhead! We got some business ta finish!"

  ****

  There was a cool breeze blowing from across the river and the day had been wasted, but what else were cool autumn days for? The old woman sat on her front porch watching the neighbor's kids playing in the park area down the street, built right after the main road had been paved to give the kids a place to play instead of the road. She almost felt like joining them. She laughed out loud and pointed at the younger girl, running as fast as her little legs would take her, but still not able to catch up with the older kids. "Ya'll be growin' up soon 'nough," she said. "Ya keep a tryin', young'un!"

  She saw the car, a big red four door, gleaming in the sun. It was her. The old woman stood up and walked down the steps and made it to the driveway just as the car pulled in. "Whatcha think, momma?!"

  "She sure is pretty," the old woman said. "You best be sure ya can make them payments, Katie," she said. "I know that husband a your'un is rakin' it in down at the plant, but..."

  "Don't be worryin' 'bout me, momma," Katie said. She turned off the car and opened the door. "I brought ya some stuff for a fish fry... breaded shrimp and some fries and tilapia." She grabbed the bag and climbed out of the car. "Ya got plenty a lard, don't ya?"

  "Law, Katie, ain't no body usin' lard anymore, you know that," her mother said. "I got a whole gallon a oil fer the deep fryer. Bring that on in b'fore it thaws too much. Ya know the breadin' starts fallin' of if'n it thaws too much."

  They both walked through the front door, down the hall, and into the kitchen. "That side pork I smell?"

  Her mother nodded. "Had some fer lunch," she said. "I saved ya a piece."

  Katie lifted the skillet lid and took a look. "Extra fatty!" She grabbed a plate from the cabinet over the stove. "I saw Tammy Cooper down at the store. She's gettin' as fat a
s a butter-bean."

  "I saw 'er down at her mom's house a couple days ago," her mother said. She fished through the silverware drawer and got a knife and fork for Katie. "She still waves if'n she sees me."

  "I thank she spends so much time at bingo she ain't got no time fer nothin' else anymore," Katie said with her mouth full. "Just like Aunt Bernie. Ain't never winnin' shit but keep playin' like it were a religion." She smiled and licked her lips. "Damn, I love the fatty parts!"

  Tomb Robbers

  There was no way to explain the consuming feeling, the devouring desire to get through the solid stone wall at any cost and as quickly as possible. Doctor Alysse Summers, fresh from grad school and ready to make her mark on the world was tempted to take up a pick-ax herself. She was certain of her findings, and the idea of instant stardom in the archaeology world from her first expedition possessed her like an evil spirit. But she restrained her emotions, instead redirecting them into sterns words. "Get this mother fucker open!" They were a hundred feet into an old coal mine, twenty miles across the Wayne County, West Virginia border and knee deep in trouble. The mine had already caved in twice, injuring several, and every man left with any sense at all had already walked away, fearing for his life.

  The men working for her now, bums who lived under the Seventeenth Street bridge, poor, smelly cutthroats who would do, and had done, anything for money, were just putting up with her because she paid more than they could make collecting cans and scrap metal. The job was temporary, they knew that, but they could put up with her attitude for a few weeks, the time she said it would take to get through the cave wall and enter what she was calling the tomb. She had an old map and several books the men couldn't read, and even though they didn't trust her judgment they were inclined to trust she had enough money in the bank to pay for their labor.

  "Hey, that last whack sounded different," one of the workers said.

  "What?!" she said and knelt down quickly to look at the hole that was starting to form. But, it was a little too quickly and the man using the pick, Larry, wasn't paying as much attention as he could have been and nailed the entire twelve inches of steel right through the back of the professor's head.