The Ghosts of Miller's Crossing

by David Clark

  Edward yelled up the stairs, “Hey Jacob, let me eat something and I will be up.”

  “You will just die a lot.”

  Edward conceded, “That’s fine.” Inside though he had other plans.

  He placed his bag on the dining room table, along with the book and cross, and made his way to the kitchen. Sarah had a plate on the table in his spot covered with foil. He was impressed. She cleaned up afterwards too.

  Edward looked at the balled-up apron in his hand. His mother wore this apron every time they cooked cookies together. Briefly he held it to his nose with the hope of detecting a familiar smell. To his surprise, even after all the years, a hint of it still existed. Edward un-balled the apron and straightened it out. Feeling like the seven-year-old he was the last time he opened the pantry door, he neatly hung it back on its nail.

  The front door slammed. Edward sat down to enjoy his dinner. A smile and warm feeling came over him. Despite everything that had happened to him and his family, moments like that one made him realize: life was good.

  28

  “H… ello?” Edward said. He was not sure if he was awake or dreaming. His body had acted on instinct, reaching for his phone when he heard it ring, like Pavlov’s dog. There was no answer coming from the phone, so Edward said, “Hello, Father?” The entire room was still and silent. There was no vibration from the old boiler fan. The wind blowing outside when he went to bed was now calm.

  “Hi, Edward,” the creature responded, not from the phone, but from the foot of his bed. Edward sat up in bed confronted by the same red steam he saw in Kevin Kirklands’ bedroom. The steam slowly morphed into a form that was both human and not human. There were arms and legs and a head, but the proportions were off. Its legs were too long, and its arms were too short. They ended with hands made up of fingers that appeared to be three times too long. Its head was round, with two dark orbs where eyes should be, and no mouth.

  “I like what you have done with this place.”

  Edward glanced quickly at his night table, but remembered the cross and book were sitting on the dining room table downstairs.

  “They are not there. It is just us. Let’s have a talk.”

  “What is your name?”

  “You have been watching too many movies. Oh no. I tell you my name and disappear. Like the wicked witch when Dorothy threw water on her.” The creature appeared to grow larger on its perch as the dark soulless eyes showed a hint of flames. “It doesn’t work that way. Father Murray should have told you that. There is much he should tell you.”

  “What do you want?” Edward asked.

  The creature leaned back, appearing almost relaxed. “I want to be your friend. I am not the enemy here. Not by a long shot.”

  “I have read about your type. You make promises to convert people.”

  “More propaganda from a guy that walks around wearing a robe and a white hat. I know, I am supposed to promise you love, success, knowledge of the future, money… all that jazz. Or, you could listen to your favorite song backwards and hear my best hits. Let me ask you this question.”

  Edward tried to get out of bed, but his covers pulled against and restrained him. “Sit still. We will be done soon. I have no promises to make you. No fortunes to throw your way. What I can offer you is the truth.”

  “I don’t want your version of the truth,” Edward yelled at the creature.

  “Now, now. There is no reason to raise your voice at me. I know that they have brainwashed you, and I will not battle that. I offer you a more personal type of truth. One that Father Murray is hiding from you. One you need to know.”

  The creature, glowing with a reddish hue, got up and strolled toward the bedroom door. “You should ask Father Murray to tell you the truth about him, about you, and about me. We go way back.” As it faded into nothing, Edward heard the haunting voice come from above his bed: “He is still on the phone for you…”

  29

  “Are you there?” Father Murray’s voice screamed through Edward‘s cell phone. The creature that was there a moment ago was nowhere to be seen. His covers released him. A stiff breeze blew at his window and the heater vent chattered as air passed through it.

  Edward answered, his voice shaking. “Yes, Father. What is it?”

  “I am on the way to get you. We must hurry.” Father Murray, irritated, mumbled, “Lewis should have come straight away to get you and not wait for me in this case. There is no time to waste. No matter…” His voice trailed off as he hung up. Edward believed the last bit was a rant Father Murray was making out loud, and not meant for him to hear.

  Edward got out of bed and looked around the room for any sign of his visitor before moving about. There was nothing. The bed covers didn’t even show signs of anyone sitting on them.

  He threw on some clothes and, recalling how cool it was outside earlier, he grabbed his coat before heading into the hall. A quick check on both Sarah and Jacob, who were both sound asleep, put his mind at ease before he headed downstairs.

  He stepped off the stairs as the lights of Father Murray’s car flashed through the windows. Edward fetched his wallet and keys, expecting the cross and book to be right there. He placed them together on the table earlier. A quick search located them on the other side of the table, by his books. A fleeting thought of the creature moving them ran through his head as he hurried out to Father Murray’s car.

  Father Murray was on the phone when Edward got in. He sped off, steering with one hand when Edward closed the door. Without a seatbelt on yet to secure him, Edward was tossed around as they speed down the dirt and rock driveway.

  Father Murray yelled, “No Lewis! Don’t go in yet. We will be there in five minutes at the most.” He hung up the phone, dropping it to the seat beside him. It bounced to the floorboard.

  “We are heading to the Reynold’s farm on the other side of town. This is bad.”

  “You told the Sheriff we would be there in five minutes at the most.”

  “I lied. Sue me. I had to keep him from going in,” Father Murray said, annoyed.

  He drove his oversized car with reckless abandon down the deserted country roads. His speed was only matched by the fire engine and two ambulances that passed them just before the edge of town. Edward noticed red lights flashing on top of the light poles as they darted through town. The original thought was these were to alert aircraft to the poles. The realization that no aircraft would be that low caused him to search for another purpose.

  “Father, what are those flashing red lights?”

  “What lights?”

  Edward pointed one out as they sped by. Father Murray uttered, “Oh my god” and rolled down the windows on both the driver and passenger doors. The nerve shattering sound of a klaxon horn flooded into the car with the cold evening air.

  Edward had heard that sound in the movies and asked, “Is that what I think it is? A tornado warning?”

  “In most towns, yes. Here it’s for something different. Those sirens have only sounded a few times since you were born.” Father Murray reached around blindly on the seat beside him.

  “It bounced into the floorboard.”

  The level of annoyance in Father Murray’s face increased. “Agh… we will be there soon enough.”

  He was right. In just a few minutes they pulled into a scene more chaotic than the other night. It appeared every police car in town was there blocking the roads. Lights from the fire trucks and ambulances created blinding flashes. The doors of the ambulances were open. Several people sat on their tailgates, being tended to by the paramedics.

  John Sawyer ran up to the Caddy as it slid to a stop. “Father, you need to come quick. Lewis took the boys in back.”

  “Damn it. I told him to wait,” Father Murray exclaimed as he got out.

  “A couple of the boys have come back. They are being tended to. Nothing serious.”

  “I heard the sirens coming through town. Is it what I think it is?”

  Edward joined Father M
urray on the driver’s side of the car and saw the fear in John Sawyer’s eyes as he said, “Yes. It is the worst I have ever seen.”

  Father Murray turned to Edward. “Did you read anything from the book tonight?”

  “No. Not since we were together earlier,” Edward replied.

  “Are you absolutely sure? Not even just to yourself.”

  Edward confirmed. “Yes. I am sure.”

  Father Murray’s stared sternly at Edward and then asked, “John, which way did they head?”

  “Back around the house.”

  Father Murray took off running into the darkness and summoned Edward to follow.

  They rounded the house and entered a dark empty field. The lights and sound of the hectic scene were replaced by the sounds of crickets and frogs and their own movements through tall grass. As they walked further into the darkness, an eerie silence replaced the crickets and frogs. A silence that was only pierced by men yelling and something howling and screeching.

  Three forms, backlit by the creatures they were trying to hold at bey, came into view. Father Murray chastised the Sheriff. “Lewis, I told you to wait.”

  “Sorry, no can-do, Father. People were getting hurt.”

  “You’re not equipped to handle this. Where is it?”

  The Sheriff looked confused at the question. There were any number of spectral beings right in front of them, but at his request, he gave him a situation report, “Three out over there to the right. They have been quiet. Another four or five over to the left over here. They are the troublesome group. I think the one that bit the girl is in that group.”

  “No. Where is it?” Father Murray demanded while peering into the darkness.

  “That depends on which IT you mean. I haven’t seen your old friend, but I suspect he is out here. If you are talking about the other, you are right. There is one open. Follow me. I will get you as close as we can get.”

  The sheriff moved deliberately through the tall grass, watching every step.

  “Edward, get up there with the sheriff and hold out the cross. That should keep the path clear.”

  Edward moved up next to the sheriff and held the cross out at the end of his stiff right arm. He took timid steps in the darkness, unsure where they were heading and what was out there.

  Sheriff Tillingsly asked him, “You don’t believe that piece of wood will protect us, do you?”

  Edward answered without hesitation, “Yes.”

  “Good, I wouldn’t want you out here unless you believed it. Too dangerous for all of us if you don’t.”

  “Lewis wasn’t much of a believer when he was…” Father Murray struggled with a memory of yesteryear. “How old were you the first time you went out with Carl?”

  “Twenty-two.”

  “That is right… still wet behind the ears. Ronald was tending to a crash out on Maple Crook Road, I think. You responded to what they called in as a trespassing.”

  “Yeah, the old days where we used code words over the radio to avoid scaring anyone listening in.”

  “When Carl and I got there, Keith Lloyd told us you wouldn’t wait and headed on back. We got back there, and you were frozen stiff…”

  “Is this the best time for a story?” Sheriff Tillingsly said, sounding both annoyed and embarrassed.

  “I don’t know what he was trying to do. She was just a lost little girl. Carl took out the cross and Lewis kind of scoffed at it. I think he said something like, ‘what is a piece of wood going to do?’ He saw what it did. The girl settled down and let Carl kneel next to her. I still remember your eyes when you watched him whisper the prayer into her ear and she disappeared.”

  Still sounding embarrassed, “It’s not much farther.”

  Edward felt the familiar chill and tingles, then the repressive weight settled in. His ears filled with a vibration that resembled static. It grew louder with each step, disorienting at first, and then painful.

  “Brace yourself,” Father Murray said from behind.

  Then it came into view. A spinning black void, darker than the night sky. The cyclonic motion created a ring of distortion around the edge.

  Edward asked, “What the hell is that?”

  “You used a proper word there. It is a portal.”

  “To where?”

  Father Murray took a few steps closer to the void. “Now that is the good question. They say to hell, but we don’t know for sure. What I know is nothing good has ever come through one of those things.”

  “Now Father, that is not nice,” echoed a voice Edward was all too familiar with. All three men tensed up and become alert. Each searched the darkness for the creature. Edward spun around, pointing the Cross in all directions.

  Father Murray demanded, “Show yourself, vile creature.”

  “Is that anyway to speak to an old friend? Hi, Edward. I see you have your little cross now.”

  “Face us,” Father Murray demanded again.

  “I wasn’t born yesterday,” replied the creature. Its voice boomed among the static and vibrations, everywhere and nowhere all at once.

  “Behind you,” said Sheriff Tillingsly. Father Murray turned around in time to avoid a demonic creature charging at him. It caught his long peacoat in its jaw as it ran by, ripping it off.

  Father Murray pulled a vial of holy water from a chain that hung around his neck. He prepared for another charge, but the creature just stood there.

  Sheriff Tillingsly let out a painful shriek. Edward spun in his direction and saw a ghastly arm extending through the front of Lewis’s chest. Agony on his face as he struggled to breathe. Instinctually, Edward pulled the book out of his pocket and searched through the pages. A sudden silence appeared in his head. There was no static, no vibration, just emptiness. Or so he thought. He sensed there was someone there in the silence with him. A presence he felt and could almost sense its thoughts. Not wanting to wait, Edward seized control.

  “I know you are there. You can’t hide from me,” Edward yelled.

  “You are right. I can’t hide from you, but then again, why would I want to?”

  “You’re scared of me. You know…”

  A maniacal laughter echoed in Edward’s head. “Scared of you? I am here to help you. You keep placing your trust in the wrong people.”

  “You are pure evil,” Edward retorted.

  “Am I? I am truth. Face it. I am the only one who will tell you the truth. Father Murray is lying to you. The honorable Lewis Tillingsly is lying to you. You don’t want to accept that.”

  “What truth are you talking about?”

  “Oh Edward, Edward, Edward. It is right in front of you. You were handed a piece of wood and an old book and told to go save the world. They sent you out into the world ill-prepared, and to be honest, dangerous.”

  “I am not dangerous. I am not the one out here hurting people. That would be you.”

  “Are you so sure? Do you know what page to flip open to make me go away? I think not. You have no idea how dangerous it is for you to pretend you know what you are doing. You are messing with a power you can’t understand, and you aren’t the first, and won’t be the last. You need to stop before someone else gets hurt.”

  "You are just trying to trick me into stopping,” Edward challenged.

  “Stop yes, but not by tricking you. I am trying to help you realize you are not prepared for this. One mistake can have horrible results. It happened tonight, and it happened about forty years ago.”

  Edward asked, “What happened tonight?”

  “Oh, come now. The portal was opened. Something I cannot do. Only someone reading the wrong page from the book. Maybe a child experimenting with friends, as they might with a Ouija board.”

  A hazy image of a kitchen, his kitchen, replaced the darkness. Edward was floating in the air above the scene, as a small boy walked in and screamed. Edward looked at what the child saw, and there was his mother lying in a pool of her own blood. Multiple stab wounds covered her body. Each appeared to hav
e come from the inside. His father’s body was on the other side of the island lying in a similar pool. His head separated from his body.

  “Wait…” Edward exclaimed as a realization hit him like lightning. “You said a something about a child experimenting. I didn’t read from the book. I didn’t even know about the book. You are wrong there.”

  “I said a child was behind tonight. Look closer,” the voice said. Edward didn’t want to be in this scene anymore, but he had no choice. This scene was in his mind. It now rotated below him as a young Lewis Tillingsly burst through the door and quickly scooped Edward up. It paused for just a second and zoomed in on his face. Before he left with Edward, Lewis stopped and glared at something or someone that was outside of Edward’s view. Edward tried to turn to see more, but the scene did not respond to his movement. The creature controlled the scene. Now it rotated below him, bringing in to view a figure dressed in black, weeping on his knees, with a familiar cross and book on the floor in front of him. Edward’s mind couldn’t believe what it was seeing. He whispered, “Father Murray.”

  “Yes. Your trusted family priest.”

  Edward didn’t remember him being there that night, but he also didn’t remember looking anywhere but at his parents. Edward asked, “What is he doing there?”

  “Search for the truth, and be careful who you trust,” the voice said, now sounding distant.

  The scene faded, and the vibration returned to Edward’s ears. The chill he felt from panic was replaced by the coolness of the evening air. His eyes cleared and a new scene appeared before him. Sheriff Tillingsly was lying face down on the ground. Father Murray was on his side in the grass. The dark void was closing, and in the distance behind it Edward saw a dozen or more figures disappear into the darkness of the night. As the final glimpse of the void disappeared Edward heard the familiar voice: “Be careful who you trust.”

  30

  Father Murray rolled up to his knees. Edward rushed over and helped him to his feet. Without saying a word, they both ran to Sheriff Tillingsly’s side. He was unresponsive, and Edward could only find a weak pulse. The two men picked him up and carried him back in the direction of the house, screaming for help the whole way. It took several minutes before anyone heard them, and a few more before two paramedics and another deputy reached them.