Then the cool, comforting embrace of the shadows took him, and he marched backward into the Jangling Hole, home at last, free to be, belonging.
Drumming his heart out, the sticks dancing in his hands like old friends and lovers, the troops rallying around him.
Dad was mouthing insults that were drowned by the bulldozer. His last glimpse of daylight was the sheriff yanking Bobby away, and Vernon Ray wished he could say good-bye and tell him of a love lost, or maybe a love never known, but in the end Bobby belonged to that other world.
The last thing he saw was Bobby struggling against the sheriff’s grip, reaching toward Vernon Ray and the Hole.
Then the bulldozer blade smashed into the granite boulders framing the cave, a cruel cannonade into the gates of Kirk’s stronghold. Stones loosened, soil spilled down, the phantom soldiers let loose a desperate moan as they prepared to die all over again.
As the earth showered down around him, Vernon Ray played on.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Halloween had passed, but its shadow clung to the mountain where two boys walked the ridge.
Dex kicked in the dirt, looking for souvenirs. Dex would love to have a bone, a junky piece of rusted metal, maybe even Vernon Ray’s little Rebel cap, anything to prove he’d trespassed and defied yellow tape that blared “Police Line–Do Not Cross.”
Bobby wished Dex would find something, because they all wanted proof that the Battle of Mulatto Mountain had actually happened.
Well, not everybody. The sheriff seemed perfectly happy to make it all disappear, but the reporter made sure it didn’t get buried along with Vernon Ray. Her digital photographs had all been blurred and smoky, and Hardy Eggers, after making bail on a vandalism charge, had invoked his right to remain silent and was likely to keep it for the rest of his life.
Jeff Davis was the picture of the bereaved parent, so shaken that he’d cancelled the Stoneman’s Raid re-enactment, though he’d been spending most of his time locked away in the room that housed his Civil War memorabilia.
Bobby had gone over to the Davis trailer once, when his mom had sent him with a bean casserole, that staple of southern comfort in a time of sorrow. Bobby heard Jeff talking to himself behind the door but hustled out before things could get weird. Dad was acting like Dad again, so Bobby saw no need to go questioning lineage and patriarchy. He had enough on his mind.
Like the pile of rubble around them and whatever path Earley Eggers had walked as he made his way home.
“So what really happened, man?” Dex said.
“I done told you,” Bobby said. Dex was getting on his nerves. Life without a best friend was hard on a guy. Dex just didn’t understand the real stuff, and talking to him about emotions was like talking to a chicken about the price of eggs.
“Yeah, sure, a bunch of baloney about ghosts,” Dex said. “I know you’re just making it up to get in Karen Greene’s panties.”
In truth, he couldn’t meet Karen’s eyes in the hall between classes. Whenever he did, he thought of Vernon Ray trying to kiss him.
“I’d rather have V-Ray back,” he said, studying the mounds of heaped dirt, stumps, and rocks. The heavy equipment brought in to search for Vernon Ray–or his body–was still parked around the clearing, though it had been three weeks since the runaway bulldozer had closed the Jangling Hole for good.
“I got to admit, it’s kind of creepy that they didn’t find him,” Dex said. “I mean, you saw the Hole. It couldn’t have been more than 10 feet deep. Where could he have gone?”
Bobby had wondered the same thing, but he didn’t know how to explain that maybe some people just weren’t made for this world. They came into it fresh and whole and good, but the world wasn’t ready for them.
Or maybe Vernon Ray was right: if you were different, you didn’t belong.
Bobby gazed across the ridges that stretched in the distance like brown waves of a dirty sea. Autumn was giving way to winter, and soon even the brown would be a memory as all turned to gray.
“I guess he went everywhere,” Bobby said. And I hope you fit in there.
He picked up a rock and tossed it toward the closest gash in the soil. It bounced off an upturned tree root and settled on the black skin of Mulatto Mountain.
“You read too many comic books, dude.” Dex dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette pack. “Want a smoke?”
Bobby shook his head.
Dex lit his cigarette and looked at the sky, where a dark swell of clouds were bloodied by the sundown. “Thunder?”
Bobby nodded again, a stone in his throat. He knew the suffocated rattle of a snare drum when he heard it
The beat goes on . . . .
“We better get out of here before it rains,” Dex said.
“Yeah.” Bobby turned away from the disturbed rubble of the Hole and headed down the mountain.
Rain would be okay. It would come in silver with a liquid tatta tatta tat, beating its ancient pulse across the skin of the Earth. It would pound like a million drummer boys, so that Vernon Ray’s lonely rhythm could be lost among them. It would bathe the uncertain grave of the Jangling Hole. Rain would smooth the heaps of loose dirt, rain would sweep away the scent of decay, rain would wash the world clean.
Most of all, rain would veil his welling tears.
THE END
Table of Contents
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About the author:
I have written 12 novels, including Chronic Fear, Speed Dating with the Dead, Liquid Fear, As I Die Lying, and The Skull Ring. Other electronic works include Burial to Follow, Crime Beat, Transparent Lovers, and the story collections Ashes, The First, Zombie Bits, Gateway Drug, Curtains, Head Cases, and Flowers. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where I play guitar, raise an organic garden, and work as a freelance fiction editor.
Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, my blog, or my website. I love talking with readers!
Other Books By Scott Nicholson
Amazon links to Scott’s books
Return to Table of Contents
Try these other thrillers because they are good:
LIQUID FEAR
By Scott Nicholson
When Roland Doyle wakes up with a dead woman in his motel room, the only clue is a mysterious vial of pills bearing the label “Take one every 4 hrs or else.”
Ten years before, six people were involved in a secret pharmaceutical trial that left one of them murdered and five unable to remember what happened. Now the experiment is continuing, as Dr. Sebastian Briggs wants to finish his research into fear response and post-traumatic stress disorder. He’s backed by a major drug company and an ambitious U.S. Senator, but he also has a personal stake in the outcome.
Only by taking the mysterious pills can the survivors stave off the creeping phobias and madness that threaten to consume them. But the pills have an unexpected side effect—the survivors start remembering the terrible acts they perpetrated a decade ago. They are lured back to the Monkey House, the remote facility where the original trials took place, and Briggs has prepared it for their arrival.
Now they are trapped, they each have only one pill left, and cracks are forming in their civilized veneer.
After the pills are gone, there’s only one option. “Or else.”
Read about it at Haunted Computer or view it at Amazon US or Amazon UK
CHRONIC FEAR
By Scott Nicholson
Chronic Fear is the second installment of the chilling Fear series, which began with the harrowing Liquid Fear. The story picks up one year after the notorious Monkey House trials, from which the tiny handful of survivors have scattered in the wind. For while the unwitting human guinea pigs are still alive, the experimental drugs to which they were subjected continue to wreak havoc on their emotional stability. World-renowned neurobiologist Dr. Alexis Morgan knows first-hand the horrors of the sadistic experiment: her husband, Mark, was one its victims. As a result, he is plagued by unpredictable bouts of rage
and paranoia. Dr. Morgan’s research into the drug leads her to suspect presidential candidate and U. S. Senator Daniel Burchfield of plotting to gain control of the drug for his own purposes, a power play that is sure to result in countless casualties unless she and three Monkey House survivors can outwit the shadowy figures behind the conspiracy—if they don’t lose their own sanity first.
Read the first chapter at Haunted Computer or view it at Amazon US or Amazon UK
TRANSPARENT LOVERS
By Scott Nicholson
Private investigator Richard Steele must solve his most difficult case ever—his own murder—while caught between women on both sides of the grave. In a race against time as his spirit slips away, Richard confronts his many, many failings and trusts in a power beyond his understanding—love. His only weapon is faith, and he's running out of bullets. It's going to be a hell of a showdown.
Learn more about Transparent Lovers or view it at Amazon US or Amazon UK
CREATIVE SPIRIT
By Scott Nicholson
After parapsychologist Anna Galloway is diagnosed with metastatic cancer, she has a recurring dream in which she sees her own ghost. The setting of her dream is the historic Korban Manor, which is now an artist’s retreat in the remote Appalachian Mountains. Drawn both by the ghost stories surrounding the manor and her own sense of destiny, Anna signs up for the retreat.
Sculptor Mason Jackson has come to Korban Manor to make a final, all-or-nothing attempt at success before giving up his dreams. When he becomes obsessed with carving Ephram Korban’s form out of wood, he questions his motivation but is swept up in a creative frenzy unlike any he has ever known.
The manor itself has secrets, with fires that blaze constantly in the hearths, portraits of Korban in every room, and deceptive mirrors on the walls. A mysterious woman in white calls to Anna from the forest, while Mason is driven by the whispers of an unseen critic. With an October blue moon looming, both the living and the dead learn the true power of their dreams. The author’s preferred edition of the 2004 U.S. paperback The Manor.
Learn more about the paranormal thriller Creative Spirit or view it at Amazon US or Amazon UK
Do you like movies? View the screenplay adaptation at Amazon US or Amazon UK
DISINTEGRATION
By Scott Nicholson
Careful what you wish for.
When a mysterious fire destroys his home and kills his young daughter, Jacob Wells is pulled into a downward spiral that draws him ever closer to the past he thought was dead and buried.
Now his twin brother Joshua is back in town, seeking to settle old scores and claim his half of the Wells birthright. Jacob’s wife Renee is struggling with her own guilt, because the couple lost an infant daughter several years before.
As Jacob and Joshua return to the twisted roles they adopted at the hands of cruel, demanding parents, they wage a war of pride, wealth, and passion. They share the poisonous love of a woman who would gladly ruin them both: Carlita, a provocative and manipulative Hispanic whose immigrant family helped build the Wells fortune.
If only Jacob can figure out which of them to blame. But the lines of identity are blurred, because Joshua and Jacob share much more than blood. And the childhood games have become deadly serious.
Learn more about the psychological thriller Disintegration or view it at Amazon or Amazon UK
THE SKULL RING
By Scott Nicholson
Julia Stone will remember, even if it kills her.
With the help of a therapist, Julia is piecing together childhood memories of the night her father vanished. When Julia finds a silver ring that bears the name "Judas Stone," the past comes creeping back. Someone is leaving strange messages inside her house, even though the door is locked. The local handyman offers help, but he has his own shadowy past. And the cop who investigated her father's disappearance has followed her to the small mountain town of Elkwood.
Now Julia has a head full of memories, but she doesn't know which are real. Julia's therapist is playing games. The handyman is trying to save her, in more ways than one. And a sinister cult is closing in, claiming ownership of Julia's body and soul . . . .
Learn more about The Skull Ring and False Recovered Memory Syndrome or view it at Amazon or Amazon UK
Do you like movies? View the screenplay adaptation at Amazon US or Amazon UK
SPEED DATING WITH THE DEAD
By Scott Nicholson
A paranormal conference at the most haunted hotel in the Southern Appalachian mountains…a man’s promise to his late wife that he’d summon her spirit…a daughter whose imagination goes to dark places…and demonic evil lurking in the remote hotel’s basement, just waiting to be awoken.
When Digger Wilson brings his paranormal team to the White Horse Inn, he is sceptical that his dead wife will keep her half of the bargain. He doesn’t believe in ghosts. But when one of the conference guests channels a mysterious presence and an Ouija board spells out a pet phrase known only to Digger and his wife, his convictions are challenged. And when people start to disappear, Digger and his daughter Kendra must face the circle of demons that view the hotel as their personal playground. Because soon the inn will be closing for good, angels can’t be trusted, and demons don’t like to play alone….
Learn more about Speed Dating with the Dead and the 2008 paranormal conference and inn that inspired the novel or view it at Amazon or Amazon UK
AS I DIE LYING
By Scott Nicholson
Richard Coldiron’s first and last novel follows his metafictional journey through a troubled childhood, where he meets his invisible friend, his other invisible friend...and then some who aren’t so friendly.
There’s Mister Milktoast, the protective punster; Little Hitler, who leers from the shadows; Loverboy, the lusty bastard; and Bookworm, who is thoughtful, introspective, and determined to solve the riddle of Richard’s disintegration into either madness or genius, and of course only makes things worse.
Richard keeps his cool despite the voices in his head, but he’s about to get a new tenant: the Insider, a malevolent soul-hopping spirit that may or may not be born from Richard’s nightmares and demands a co-writing credit and a little bit of foot-kissing dark worship.
Now Richard doesn’t know which voice to trust. The book’s been rejected 117 times. The people he loves keep turning up dead. And here comes the woman of his dreams.
Learn more about As I Die Lying and the six people in Richard Coldiron’s head or view it at Amazon or Amazon UK
OCTOBER GIRLS
By Scott Nicholson
Five days until Halloween and all hell is about to break loose.
And it’s all Crystal’s fault.
Momma warned her not to consort with the dead and tried to teach her the magic spells that would close the portal to the afterlife. But Crystal doesn’t want to be a trailer-trash witch like Momma. Her best friend Bone is only too happy to escape the afterlife and help Crystal break the rules. Bone died too young, and she’ll do whatever it takes to remain among the living.
Then a young movie maker comes to Parson’s Ford, and he has a very special project in mind: a horror movie starring a real ghost. The movie is rolling, the creatures are stirring, and the brainwashed teenagers are ready to welcome a new star from the other side of the grave.
Crystal and Bone must overcome drama queens, coffin cuties, and mangled magic if they want to remain best friends forever—but at this rate, forever may not last much longer.
Learn more about the paranormal romance series October Girls or view it for Kindle at Amazon or Amazon UK
CURSED
By J.R. Rain and Scott Nicholson
Albert Shipway is an ordinary guy, an insurance negotiator who likes booze and women and never having to say he’s sorry.
And he thinks this is just another day, another lunch, another order of kung pao chicken. Little does he know that he’s about to meet a little old lady who knows his greatest fear. A little ol
d lady who knows what’s hiding in his heart.
In just a matter of minutes, Albert’s life turns upside down and he enters a world where magic and evil lurk beneath the fabric of Southern California. And all his choices have brewed a perfect storm of broken hearts, broken promises, shattered families, and a couple of tiny problems. Namely, killer mice and a baby.
Albert Shipway is finally getting a chance to right some wrongs. That is, if it's not too late.
Learn more about the urban fantasy Cursed or view it for Kindle at Amazon or Amazon UK
GHOST COLLEGE
By Scott Nicholson & J.R. Rain
First in a new series featuring paranormal investigators Ellen and Monty Drew. Ellen claims to possess a sixth sense but Monty, a former P.I., only believes what he can see. She views their work as a sacred mission while Monty just wants a happy wife and a paycheck.
Then the Drews are summoned to a Southern California bible college after workers report hearing mysterious voices at night. When they encounter the unhappy ghost of a young girl, Monty's skepticism is shaken, but he resolves to help his wife free the trapped spirit. Their search uncovers the Latin phrase "Non omnis moriar"—not all of me shall die—and they learn more about the site’s history as a Catholic school destroyed by an earthquake. But a mysterious presence has plans of its own for the young ghost, and Monty and Ellen must go head to head with a Dark Master that’s had more than a century of practice in demonic deeds.
Learn more about Ghost College at Haunted Computer or view it for Kindle at Amazon US or Amazon UK.
THE VAMPIRE CLUB #1: First Bite
By J.R. Rain & Scott Nicholson
Littlefield: Two Supernatural Thrillers Page 59