by Steven Evans
Power was addictive! If I was to plan another assault, a head-on attack, then I would need its influence. It had allowed me to hide within it and become a monster. I needed to feel that power again, but I had to pick the right moment. The source of evil it provided had its limits. The energy I gained from hacking three people into pieces had only lasted a small amount of time. How could I make it last longer, to make it stay charged long enough to face Willow? These were the missing parts of my plan, the parts I had to clear up, or I’d just end up right back in her dark clutches, being forcibly bent to her will.
***
I had to find James!
***
The voices talked to me. I heard them constantly calling from the darkness. They never gave me peace! Sometimes they asked “Why?” Sometimes they condemned me for my behavior. Sometimes they whispered her name, and sometimes I swear I heard her respond lovingly to their cries for mercy. But how could she know what they said? They were in my soul now. They’re mine! She can’t take them from me! I won’t let her!
I found myself arguing with imaginary objects and giving them humanlike attributes. The doors opened and closed by their own bidding, the windows allowed air to move at their own whim, and the lights flickered as I entered or left a room. The sickness, though still weak and held at bay, was knocking on my soul and begging for an invitation to enter. Would I be strong enough to resist?
***
I must find James!
***
The remaining glimmer of clarity that was driving me to look for James was fading quickly. This was my last hope! James! I needed to find James. That little son-of-a-bitch had been the key to this from the very beginning! He knew the answers. I knew that I must find him. I must find the answers. He would tell me what I needed to know. I would savor the sweet taste of power once again!
The town was quiet. It was so quiet. I could hear the dust whimper as the stagnant breeze brushed alongside it. It was uncommonly serene tonight. No one was walking the streets. The shops were all boarded up. No street lights were on. An eerie chill filled the town as I proceeded through its middle. Where were the people? Why were the shops closed already? It was dark out, so the lights should be on. Why weren’t they on?
Steadily scanning the town for any sign of life, I felt eyes watching me. I turned slowly, peering down every direction trying to catch whoever was spying on me. The shadows wouldn’t give up their secret. I walked further down, and I noticed a brief shimmer in a window. Maybe it was a candle! The power was on. What was the reason for the blackout?
Suddenly I heard a voice. It was a familiar voice.
“Mister! Hey, Mister! It’s me! It’s James.”
“Back to playing in the shadows, I see. James, what happened when Willow took you?”
“There’s no time to worry about that now. Listen, they’re gunning for your hide tonight. They didn’t like what you did. Now they demand your blood in return! I can’t talk any sense into them anymore.”
“You really think I care what these people think? Boy, you think I wouldn’t snap your neck if it stopped her from living?”
“Mister, I don’t matter now! Nothing matters now! There’s no time! You must leave now!”
“James, I’m done running and hiding from Willow and from these fucking mind-fucked vegetables of hers. I will not run!”
His cheeks were soaked by the never-ending stream of tears that were saturating them thoroughly, and I could see that his heart was torn between doing what Willow demanded and doing what he knew I needed to stop her. He was nervous and fidgeting and his knees wouldn’t stop clanking together. He crumbled down to the ground.
“Mister, I tried for years to accept my fate. I tried to rationalize everything that was happening to me and to the people of this town. I watched as she waded through here, reveling in the world she had created. I know we deserve our punishment. Hell, you deserve yours as well, though you may not know why yet.”
“James, that’s what I need to know!”
He shot me a stern look and blustered, “Then shut up and let me say what I need to say before she makes me stop! The people in this town-- every single damn one of us-- betrayed her. First, when we accused her of being a witch, and again, when we stood idly by while she was tortured and brutally murdered as punishment.”
Overcome by the memory of the gruesome atrocities he had taken part in, James fell to his knees. He seemed to be trying to pray, but he knew that his words wouldn’t be carried by the wind. He took a moment to compose himself and began again.
“Willow endured the last of the trials performed in this town. She was my sister. I stood by and watched as they whipped her and abused her and amused themselves with her suffering. I was too scared to say a word. I was too weak to stop it. I was a coward! That’s why she gives me a little more leeway than the others.”
“Wait… she’s your… Willow is your sister?”
“Yes! That’s the only reason she shows any favor towards me at all. But I turned my back on her and allowed her to die alone. To punish me, she’s allowing me to be her last victim. The others in this town showed her no mercy. They even taunted her and cheered Mr. Harte and his henchmen on. She has no love for them! She wants to make them suffer as she did. She wants them to know her pain. She wants them to feel her anguish. She wants them to become intimate with their own betrayals. So, she slowly feeds on them. The brilliance of her creation is that no one can remember anything that happens from one day to the next, from one night to the next, or from one storm season to the next. She just keeps feeding on them like a vampire until their soul is drained, and when she’s finished, they simply cease to exist.”
“James, you still haven’t told me how I’m mixed up in this nightmare. What do I have to do with any of it? I didn’t know anything about this until she searched me out. She said my sorrow tempted her. That doesn’t give me any clue as to how I’m the Alpha and Omega or how to stop her.”
“You just don’t listen! I’ve told you everything you need to know. Think about what all that I’ve said. The knowledge is present; all you have to do is find it. The mark is the key. One way or another, you must cleanse your soul of her mark!”
My mood changed from anger to frustration, to confusion, and back to anger as I listened to him talk. James was her brother? No wonder he did the things he did. I saw now how he was connected and why she hated this town with a passion, but it still didn’t explain my role in it.
“James, I’m trying to keep an open mind, but I don’t give a damn about this town. As much as I want to help you, I just don’t see an escape for you. What is my part in this?”
James had begun dancing slowly away from me. He was now looking frightened and his childish demeanor was failing. He was nervously staring into the night and gazing longingly at the church.
I snatched his collar firmly and said, “James, I don’t wanna hurt you, but you will answer my questions!”
His eyes bore a worn-out embrace as he timidly started to speak, “Mister, what’s your name? Go on, let’s hear it! What’s your name?”
Rage ensued, and fire shot from my tongue, “Wha… wait, I can’t… why? Why can’t I remember my name? What the Hell is going on, James?”
He smirked, “Ok, how about your wife? What was her name?”
“Did she block my memory too?”
“Nope!” he snickered, “She doesn’t have need to use that control device on you, at least, not yet. So, let’s try one more. How about your daughter? What is the name of Daddy’s Angel? Surely, with all the love you have for her, all the times she saved you from the evil standing before your face, and all the times you called on her to come save your life…surely you can tell me her name!”
“No! This isn’t happening! My angel… and that bitch! She stole my life from me!”
James was enjoying this moment. He was getting some sick pleasure from my misery. As I stood there with my heart ripped open for the world to see, not knowing wha
t was real anymore, my tears washed down my face. I realized that what I had thought was happening all along had been a game the entire time.
James, still smiling and pleased with my reaction, said, “If it helps, Foster, I know where everyone is.”
Spitting salty tears from my lips, I said, “Foster? Who is Foster?”
“Doesn’t matter now.” He grinned. “But soon you’ll come face to face with him. Now, you don’t have much time. They’re all assembled in the church, trying to decide what course of action to take against you.”
“James, don’t these silly ass people know they can’t harm me? Willow put me under her protection, remember?”
“They no longer concern themselves with her threats. They’ve decided that it’s better to get rid of the source of their pain, and take their chances on Willow’s retribution than it is to idly stand by and watch as you destroy the only life they’ve come to know and love.”
“So, they’re all just gathered there waiting? What are they waiting on?”
He shot me a look of amazement as he said, “You’ve been in one of their meetings before, and you should know that they must wait until everyone in the community is present. That’s why I need to be on my way before they suspect something is up.”
He was making sense, so I released my grip on his collar.
I said, “James, you just make sure no one leaves the building before I show up, alright?”
“Anything you say, Foster.”
That name burned me up inside for reasons I couldn’t explain, but I didn’t have the chance to question him about it any further because the darkness, in the blink of an eye, transported him to the church.
I stood there in the shadows, as I’d seen James do so many nights, and I watched as people shuffled in the door of the church. One by one, they entered and took their seats. I knew they were plotting my bonfire, but on this night, the match would be in the other hand.
Patiently waiting and watching, my excitement grew with each passing minute. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat happy that I was finally doing something to take my fate in my own hands. Now if only my conscience would let me follow through.
Just the thought of what I was about to do caused my blood to boil in anticipation. I could feel the power beginning to surge in my fist as I raised it high above my head. The heat simmering in the pit of my stomach was now turning to a hate-filled head of steam, and I couldn’t wait to feast my eyes on the ashes.
James quickly poked his head out the door and motioned to me, letting me know that they were all present now. That boy was about as subtle as jock itch. My time was now! The moment had arrived! Willow had met her match-- literally!
I could see the church looming ever so large through the darkness. The candles were burning, flickering like a séance in progress, and dancing to the rhythm of the lonely breathing taking place within the cold walls of their sanctuary. I dwelled in the shadows as I made my approach. Sneaking around to each window, I made sure they were all latched with no possible way of coming loose. One step at a time, I walked the perimeter of the uninviting tomb that lay before me.
I knew what they were planning. I knew they were about to revolt against Willow’s doctrine, but they had no clue what was in store for them. Their primitive minds couldn’t imagine the horrors they would face on this night, and the thought just made me tingle all over.
Around three quarters of the perimeter I went, slowly securing any escape routes I found. Their worship center that had once provided a peace of mind and solidarity would now become a mass grave.
Arrogantly, I strutted up to the door. I saw the Sheriff and Adder and all the people of this godforsaken town sitting contently, waiting for the Elder to speak. As Adder hobbled up to the podium and fumbled around with his cane, waving it in the air like it was a gavel, I jumped inside the door and made my presence known. The people were startled, and as they pushed their eyes back into the sockets, I started to whistle.
I said, “Glad to see all my neighbors in one place.” The delight was shining in my eyes as I put my finger to my mouth and said, “Shhh… no need to be impolite and talk over each other.”
Adder’s tremors still weren’t under control after shaking his cane, but he was trying his best to calm the crowd.
I spoke up, “Y’all need to settle down before your Elder keels over on you. Hahaha! It’s my turn to talk. Don’t worry; I don’t have much to say, so this won’t take up a lot of your precious time. Oh, speaking of time, you really don’t have any left. So, I’d say my goodbyes if I were y’all.”
The crowd was in an uproar, but didn’t know what to do. I laughingly looked them over and said, “Ok, here’s what needs to happen. Everyone in the back half of the church, form a single line and walk to the front. Don’t stop walking until you’re slow dancing with your friend’s ass cheeks. Go on! Do it!”
They complied without much urging on my part. I knew they didn’t have the will to fight. As the last ones pushed their way closer around the podium by Adder, I said a small prayer for them, knowing damn well it was past the point it could ever help.
Adder wet his withered lips and said, “Well, now what, son? You got us bunched up like sheep waiting to be sheared, what’s next?”
I gave him a sly little wink and said, “I tried to be nice. I tried to be good. I tried. But you people only understand violence and hatred and rage. So now that’s all I have left.”
I dug around in my pocket, searching for the lucky Zippo my daughter had given me the Christmas before the accident. I stepped back, careful to keep an eye on the Sheriff, since I was quite certain that he was the only one dense enough to try something. I fumbled around on the outside of the door, trying to find the make-shift torch I had stashed before entering. Once it was securely in my grasp, I held it up for the congregation to see.
Sneering through gritted teeth, I yelled, “You all remember what these are used for! You created this monster! You gave birth to the evil before you! Now I take a stand-- a stand against the parents of the darkness and the procreators of the sickness! Your atrocities end here and now! With the same spark that ignited this nightmare, I cleanse your souls by fire!”
My words were meant more for Willow than these people, but they needed to hear them as well. I believed she would show up to intervene-- to try and stop me-- but she didn’t.
The pleas for forgiveness were ringing out like a once meaningful hymn.
“I have no mercy for you! There is no forgiveness here! The flock shall perish in a glorious sacrifice! Bet you wish now that you had been a little more kind to the outsider, huh? Why don’t you sing your favorite hymn? You know the one. You sang it, proudly and gloriously, the night you condemned an innocent woman to death!”
I touched the flame of the Zippo to the kerosene soaked torch, and in the brilliant sparks, I witnessed the fear and shame plastered on their faces.
With the delicious taste of power now devouring my compassion, I stated, “The hatred and fear you once used to justify your violent cold-blooded desires for death will be the last morsels of humanity that you choke on as the smoke engulfs you! You mocked and taunted Katherine as she was tied to a post and set on fire. Now you experience her death!”
Gently touching the torch to the curtains and dried out carpets easily brought their heat and fire to life. The blaze was seeking fuel and searching for energy. I watched as it seemed to hunt for its food, as it stared at its sacrifice, and the flames were pleased by my offering. I stepped outside, and as I picked up the solid oak beam, I scanned the room and their faces for any remorse, but none was to be found. I gingerly laid the beam across the locks and backed away.
This whole time I was fully expecting Willow to make a grand entrance and softly extinguish the fire, but she never came. As I walked backwards down the sidewalk and out into the middle of the street, the screams became almost deafening. I could hear flesh sizzling under the heat, and the odor of melted hair carried in the wind.
I knew I should feel some sympathy for them, but my soul was consumed by the sickness. Power had corrupted my compassion, and mercy was no longer acceptable. So, while I knew that this was wrong, I also delighted in the screams, and their suffering was a succulent entrée.
I calmly stood there, listening and watching until only silence remained. At last, these poor souls were set free, and Willow had lost her power source.
As I looked up into the sky, hoping to see a rainbow, I swear I saw her face flickering within the grayish black stacks of smoke billowing up to the heavens. I thought there would be anger lingering in her eyes, or at least a small amount of contempt, but I only saw a sparkle. She seemed happy by my actions. Losing her sheep, her stored up souls, didn’t seem to bother her in the least.
I turned and began the journey back to my cabin, satisfied that I had ended her reign of terror. I hoped that I would never see her again. I questioned how long their blood would feed my vengeance. Would their food for my soul inevitably end up just giving me eternal heartburn?
The End
Weeping Willow book 3 HOMECOMING will be the third and final chapter in the series. All answers will be given and the mystery solved.