Chapter 2
“Voices in the Gloom”
John awoke, surprised that he had fallen asleep. Gray light was pouring in and all was quiet other than the restful breathing of the two girls. It was morning. John looked at his watch: It was 8:30 AM. Grace and Annie were still soundly sleeping, as if there was no danger in the world at all. John played with their hair.
When the girls awoke, they blinked up at him. “Good morning,” he smiled. He gestured for them to be quiet then peeked over the counter. The town outside was enshrouded in thick, oppressive fog. John sighed, “You can’t win.”
Mr. Elderberry held his crowbar ready and led the girls out into the fog. John was startled when he heard something nearby clatter. Grace tugged on his sleeve and pointed in that direction, her eyes wide with fright. John nodded down to her and led the girls in the opposite direction.
They eventually came to the deserted hotel Mr. Elderberry had explored earlier. Going inside, they found bread, crackers, chips, drinks, canned foods, etc. John used his crowbar and pried open vending machines. They found an open room upstairs (apparently, it was being cleaned when whatever happened to this town happened) and claimed it as their own. John checked the closet and under the beds (just in case) and peeked outside the window. “We have food, drinks and a place to stay, for now.”
Grace wondered, “For how long?”
“For now.”
Annie enquired, “When are we going to leave?”
“When we can. You two just make yourselves at home and whatever you do, be quiet. Talk and walk softly. Stay away from the window.”
Annie thought aloud, “My mom’s probably worried.”
John blurted a laugh. “Sorry.” He coughed then told the girls, “Everything’s going to be all right.” He hoped so, anyway. “You girls lock this door when I leave and don’t answer it! I know you’re here. I won’t knock. I’ll tell you it’s me if it’s me.”
“Dad...,” Grace was worried.
“I’ll be back.” He feigned a smile. “Just remember what I told you: Don’t answer the door. If someone knocks or you hear something, just be quiet and pretend you’re not here.”
Grace whined, “Dad...”
“You two help each other and barricade this door.”
“Dad, don’t go!”
“I have to find a way out of this town. It’s too dangerous for you to come with me. I’ll be back.” The girls pouted, obviously still worried. “Nobody knows you’re here but me.” He squeezed the girls to himself, patted their backs, kissed them and tousled their hair. “I’ll be back. I promise.” As he left the room, he reminded, “Lock the door and barricade it. Do not answer it.” With that, he left.
John walked the foggy streets of the silent town of Eldritchville. Every car, truck and building seemed deserted. John passed the monument twice when he thought, “Am I going in circles again?” He moved on.
Eventually he heard the faint, distant cry of, “Help me! Help me! Please, help me!” then a scream! The shriek was overwhelmed by laughter... then silence.
John listened, trying to hear over his own pounding heartbeat and heavy breath. Other than his own terror, there was only the eerie stillness. Had someone truly cried out for help? Should he investigate? What if it was a trick? What if it was too late? What if there was nothing he could do to help? What would happen to the girls if he died trying to be a hero for someone else? Why ponder the unknown? Whether out of foolish compassion or suicidal curiosity, John did not know, but regardless, he went to investigate.
As he ventured through the fog, his crowbar held ready, John was perturbed to hear... whispers. He hid, looked and listened. The faint chatter was all around him! Did they already know he was here? He resisted his panicked urge to run and instead, stealthily backtracked. When he no longer heard the phantom whispering, he stopped, looked and listened. Whether the cry for help had been a trick or genuine, John did not know. Regardless: there was nothing he should or could do about it. He explored elsewhere.
John was crossing the grounds of a gasoline station when he glimpsed movement. He hid and readied his crowbar. He heard an indistinct whisper... and a giggle! Whoever was out there, they seemed to know where he was. John ran to the cover of parked vehicles. A shotgun blast shattered a car window! Maniacal laughter followed. John peeked under the car. Another shot boomed. Pellets ricocheted under the car and pelted John’s face! Cruel mirth followed. John was startled, but all right. He darted away from the vehicles and around a corner. He ran and ran. Eventually, he hid... and waited. John heard chuckles, giggles and footfalls– all around him! He sighed, “Oh, no.”
John ducked into a restaurant and out the other side. He ran into a man wielding a pistol! He knocked the stranger aside and beat him down with the crowbar! John was shocked to realize that the stranger was a uniformed policeman! The officer aimed at him. John was faster.
Mr. Elderberry left the scene armed with a pistol and wearing a policeman’s belt. He darted from cover to cover when he heard someone running after him. John fired into the fog. A man’s voice taunted, “You missed me! You missed me! Come on over and kiss me!” John then heard the smacking noise of an exaggerated kiss. The shrill laughter of men and women followed... then silence.
“I hate these people.” John’s blood ran cold when he was suddenly surrounded by laughter! A storm of gunfire and hurled objects rained around him, shattering windows and sparking off of walls, the street and sidewalk. John darted into the depths of a shop and out the other side. He ran, zigzagged and jumped and scaled over walls and fences. He ran and ran!
John eventually hid... and waited. If anyone was nearby, they were being quiet. He moved on. Hearing a distant scream, then laughter, he backtracked. John eventually hid in a secluded spot behind a church. He listened, but only heard his own breath and heartbeat.
John hoped the girls were all right. He looked at his pistol, the one he had acquired from the policeman. Was the officer actually arriving at the scene to help? Whether he was or not, John could tell by the look in the policeman’s eyes that he had a deadly intention when he aimed at him. Then again, John did pummel him with a crowbar. Maybe the officer believed he was defending himself. Maybe not. John closed his eyes and leaned against the church wall. He needed rest, not the trouble of pondering unanswerable questions. Right or wrong, good or bad, what happened, happened.
John opened his eyes. The white fog was now gray; he had fallen asleep and it was now late in the day. Grace and Annie were obviously fearful, wondering why he had not returned. John headed out into the thick fog to return to the hotel hiding place. Unfortunately, he was lost!
John happened upon the monument again. For once, the inescapable thing was welcome: He now knew where he was. Continuing on, he felt his blood cool and his skin crawl. Something evil was nearby. He hid, watched and waited. Eventually, “it” came into view.
The bosomy thing’s plump body was garbed in skimpy rags, its complexion sickly and ashen. Though its form was that of a woman, the grotesque face under the head of long, straight, pure white hair was barely human. Its eyes were so pale as to look almost wholly white (save for the black dots that were pupils). Its countenance seemed inherently a sneer and whenever its bluish-gray lips parted, there was a hint of yellow fangs!
The thing outstretched its hand and mumbled. It then looked straight at John and grinned! The man ran and ran. Whatever the hideous creature was or wanted, John did not know, but he could feel its sickening malevolence! John darted into a shop and looked for its back door. Suddenly he heard the front door behind him open and close. John hid in the shadows of the backroom, aimed his gun at nothing... and waited. Where was the back door? Finding it, John slipped out.
Later: John could see the hotel where Grace and Annie were hidden. He could also feel himself being stared at from behind. Was he bei
ng followed? John passed the hotel and continued on. He ran. He could hear soft footfalls sounding behind him! When he swung around aiming his pistol, he was tossed into bushes! His attacker cackled as she pulled him up and slammed him against a wall. John held the stout, busty hag’s yellow fangs at bay as she snapped at his throat! She rasped, “Where is she, John?” She pressed him to the ground.
John tried to aim his pistol at her. He pulled the trigger. The weapon clicked: it was empty! The hag cackled, “No bullets, John?!”
The man rolled the hag over. Her arms and legs tightened around him in a lewd embrace. She tried to bite his face and neck! John drew his knife. The hag screamed at feeling something pierce and tear her belly!
Later, at the hotel: “Grace, it’s me, dad!” John could hear the girls clearing the barricade then unlock the door. As soon as Mr. Elderberry was inside, he locked the door.
“Dad?” Grace noticed blood on her father’s clothes.
“Not right now,” John said as he rebuilt the barricade.
“Dad, what happened?” Grace pointed at the bloodstains.
“I killed what might’ve been a woman.”
“What?!”
“Never mind. I’m not thinking straight, right now. Was everything all right while I was gone?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
“Dad?”
“What?”
“What happened?”
Annie hoped, “Did you find a way out of here?”
“Not yet.” John checked the barricade. “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
The three froze upon hearing a bloodcurdling shriek. After a while of tense silence, Annie asked, “Should we peek out the window?”
“No!” John answered. The goose-bumps returned upon hearing a shrill cackle. He whispered, “Never peek out the window.”
That night: Grace and Annie slept together in the same bed while Mr. Elderberry sat next to the window. He dared to peek outside. The moonlight was bright and the fog had thinned, allowing John to see shadowy forms move among buildings or cross the street. “I wish this town was deserted.”
The telephone rang, waking Grace up. Her dad sat next to the window, looking out but seemingly unnoticing the loud ringing! “Dad?” He ignored her. Annie was still soundly asleep. Was Grace the only one hearing that incessant ringing?! She got up out of bed. “Dad, didn’t you say the phones are dead?” He did not respond. “Dad?” Was he ignoring the ring and her? Grace considered answering the telephone, but hesitated. It rang and rang. Grace answered it, “Hello?”
A girl’s voice asked, “Grace?”
“Who’s asking?”
“A friend.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Come outside and maybe you’ll recognize me.”
“No way.”
“Look out the window.”
Grace’s father had fallen asleep. She went to the window and looked outside. She barely saw a girl (her own age) through the darkness and fog. The person seemed to be holding a cellular telephone. Grace heard the girl’s voice say through the receiver in the hotel room, “Come outside!”
Grace was surprised to see that the barricade against the door had been cleared. She picked up the telephone and asked, “Have you been in here?”
“No. Come outside. Please. I can’t stay out here long. It’s too dangerous.”
Grace went out into the corridor and closed the door. She heard the lock click! She tried to open the door. It was indeed locked.
Grace went downstairs and outside. The girl was already there to greet her. “Hello, Grace.”
“Who are you? How do you know my name?”
The girl smiled. “You tell me who I am. You tell me my name.”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Prudence?” Grace guessed. The girl nodded. Grace insisted, “I only called you ‘Prudence’ because you look like a ‘Prudence.’ I don’t really remember you.”
“They’re looking for you.”
“Who?”
“The Teacher and his hags and priestesses. The Purifier, his enemy, also seeks you, but to destroy you.”
“Destroy me?!”
“Yes. You are the Mother to be.”
The girl and Grace became tense when they heard a giggle. Suddenly they were surrounded by maniacal laughter! The ominous mirth grew louder and louder! “Grace!” The girl pleaded, “Wake up!”
“What about you?!”
“Wake up before it’s too late!”
Grace awoke next to the still sleeping face of Annie. “Grace?” she heard her father address her.
“I’m all right, dad.”
“Were you having a nightmare?”
“I’m not sure.” Her father chuckled. “What?” Grace asked him.
“I know what you mean.”
John was back on the streets of Eldritchville. The fog was gone but the morning was dark with overcast. “Never a sunny day in this town.” Mr. Elderberry thought about the dream his daughter told him about. “Was it really only a dream?”
John sought the corpulent, ashen-complexioned body of the white-haired “woman” he had killed yesterday. Not sure it would stay down, he was greatly relieved to find it still lying where he had left it. “You looked dead before I killed you.” John stared at the yellow fangs that were in its gaped mouth. “Thank you for staying dead.”
John moved on, hoping to somehow find a way out of this cursed town. Hearing a slight noise, he hid, watched and waited! He saw another one, another bosomy, sickly looking hag. This one wielded a punching dagger that had a red crystal set between the blade and her knuckles! The monster’s pale, ghostly eyes looked around, as if searching. The hag soon disappeared in another direction.
Later: John was in a pawnshop looking for weapons and or anything else useful-- when he heard a murmur in the back! He readied his pistol and waited. He could hear whispering then all was quiet. John thought, “I know you’re there, so you might as well show yourself so I can shoot you.” Whoever or whatever it was, John was ready. Well, he hoped he was ready. He peeked outside to make sure the building was not being surrounded by a hungry mob of freaks.
John heard a child’s voice say, “Maybe he’s gone.”
A woman’s voice urged, “Shhh.”
John’s skin did not crawl like usual whenever he was in the presence of lunatics or hags. “Hello!” he risked. “My name is John Elderberry. I am neither a hag nor a cannibal.” No answer. “I’m coming over, but not to hurt you.” John walked to the back. A gunshot sent him diving behind cover!
“Leave us alone!” a woman sobbed.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” John believed he had glimpsed a woman armed with a pistol guarding children and an old woman.
“Yeah, right. When my husband gets back, he’ll blow your head off!”
These people were not freaks. They were terrified, normal people. In their fear, though, they were just as dangerous. John assured, “I’m not one of the lunatics. I’m just a normal guy trying to get out of this crazy town.” The woman laughed mirthlessly. “My name’s John Elderberry. What’s your name? You can tell me your name, can’t you?”
“Leave! My husband won’t care who you are if he finds you here!”
“Yeah,” John sighed, “maybe not.” He made his way to the front and out the door. “Even the normal people are crazy.”
The hotel: The girls were together on their bed playing cards when Annie commented, “I wish your dad wouldn’t leave.”
“He has to.”
“I know... but I wish he wouldn’t.”
Grace giggled, “I’ll protect you.”
Annie rolled her eyes, “Thanks.”
The two girls resumed their game. Annie eventually worried, “What if he doesn’t come back?”
“Don’t even think about something like that.�
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“Don’t worry, I don’t want to!”
Grace hoped, “He’ll be back.”
The girls heard someone walking down the corridor. Annie whispered and hoped, “Your dad?”
Grace gestured for her to be quiet. The girls felt cold and ill. The presence was not who they hoped it was! They could feel the sickening evil stop just outside of the door. Did it know they were here? The girls nearly screamed when they heard the door being tried! They knew who was there. They did not know his name or face, but they knew it was him. Had he been looking for them all this time? In her heart, Grace knew that she was the one he wanted. He hated her. He would tear Annie apart, just for being Grace’s friend!
John was shaken by a sudden, growling thunder. The deathly stillness that followed was not reassuring. John ran back towards the hotel.
The hotel: “Did he leave?” Annie hoped.
“No.” Grace could still feel the sickening chill of his presence.
“What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why is he waiting?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he figures we’re not going anywhere.”
“I hope your dad hurries back.”
Grace gasped. Was the evil waiting for her father?!
John hid as two hags passed him. Each of the portly things held a punching dagger with a red crystal set behind the blade. John wondered, “Are you the ones responsible for all this?” He was startled when the two stopped... as if they could hear his very thoughts! They brandished their weapons and looked around, then moved on. When they were gone, John continued on... until other people crossed his path.
A group of men and women, some of them armed, ran by, glancing over their shoulders and whispering as they did so. Were they lunatics? Whether they were or not, they seemed uneasy. When a hag appeared behind them, the group darted out of sight, obviously fearful. “Hags and lunatics aren’t friends?” Regardless of whether there was animosity between them or not, the hag seemed disinterested in them. She seemed to be looking for something... or someone else. “Grace.”
John slipped away then continued on. He hid when he spotted them: A slender woman with long, dark hair led a dozen of the fleshy, sickly gray, white-haired hags. The brunette, obviously the leader, looked beautiful, despite her severe countenance. Then again, her present company awarded her a favorable comparison. Fortunately, these people, whoever they were, were walking away from the hotel. “Hags and priestesses,” John remembered his daughter telling him. Who was the “Teacher?” How many hags and priestesses did he have?! “Obviously a cult of some strange, depraved sort.” He moved on.
John was coming out of an alley... when he happened upon the group of men and women he had seen earlier. At first they were startled... then they grinned. John blasted a man in the face and another square in the chest! He darted back into the alley, shotguns booming and pistols and rifles cracking after him. John fired behind himself as he fled for the other end of the alley. He then ran into a residential area... and hid. Silence followed.
John continued on... when he happened upon two hags! He darted away from them. Suddenly he felt heavy... and sluggish. John struggled to run, especially upon hearing the two menacing cackles. A voice rasped, “Run, John.”
“Yes,” another rasp agreed. “Run away… if you can.”
The two laughed.
John struggled over a fence. He lumbered onward. It was an effort just to walk! The cackling was coming nearer. He had to get away!
“We know where you are, John.”
“We know who you are.”
“Yes. Do you know what we are going to do to you?”
John continued on... when he again happened upon the two hags! His pistol clicked– obviously empty. The hags rushed him! John drew his knife and tore open the belly of one of them. The victim groaned and wretched as her entrails poured out of her. The other hag stepped back and rasped, “Better her than me!” She pointed her punching dagger at John and mumbled. The red crystal behind the blade flashed. John tackled her and sunk his own blade into her soft, thick body. She winced, “Damn you.” She rolled on top of him, her fangs chomping at him and her deathly white eyes wide with frenzy!
“No!” John held her snapping maw at bay. He rolled on top of the hag and punched her in her hideous face. She tried to bite his hand! John hit her again. “Ugly bitch!”
“I’m going to eat you, John!”
“You’re not my type.”
The crazed hag grabbed John’s throat and shrieked a murderous laugh. She grunted; punched in the belly. John pummeled her with a flurry of desperate punches. He broke free of her! The hag lunged at him. John snatched her in a headlock and the two fell to the ground. The hag thrashed and flailed, but the man held on.
“Ugly bitch!” John tried to choke her, tried to force her face past her own shoulder. One way or another, he was going to kill her! He heard a crack, but the hag still fought. John tightened his hold on her. Still, she was not dying! He reached for his dropped knife. The hag broke free of him! John ignored his weapon and tackled the wretched enemy.
“No, John!”
The man grabbed the hag’s throat and squeezed with all of his might! “Die, bitch.” She writhed, kicked and pulled, but the man held on. Her sickly white eyes bulged, her black pupils contracted and her yellow fangs showed as she gagged. John squeezed and squeezed. “Die!” The hag’s eyes rolled back as she weakened... then went limp. “Die.”
John held on, long after it was obvious that the hideous creature was indeed dead. The man felt warmer, calmer and even healthier with the hag’s passing. Her life was poison and he had cleansed the world of it. “Be careful,” John warned himself. “Don’t think like that. You’ll become one of the freaks.”
Later: Grace and Annie heard someone walking down the corridor. “Grace,” Mr. Elderberry’s voice said through the door. “Let me in.”
“Dad?”
“What?” Grace could still feel the cold, unsettling presence. “What is it, Grace?”
“Did you see anything suspicious when you came to the door?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Grace, what’s wrong?”
“Somebody tried to get in while you were gone.” There was a long, tense silence. “Dad?” No answer. “Dad?” Still no answer. “Dad?!” Grace sobbed. Annie whimpered. There was still no answer.
Eldritchville Page 2