“Sure, but you have to answer one question for me first.”
“Anything,” Cameron said sincerely.
“How did you know that I needed you?”
“Honestly?”
“Yes,” Sammy said and nodded her head emphatically.
“I didn’t know you needed me. I came here because I needed you. I left the church, Sammy. I left my church because something evil had a hold on me as long as I was there. The second I made up my mind to walk away, the darkness was lifted. But I still felt lost. “
“You felt lost, so you came to me?” Sammy whispered.
“Yeah, but you said you had a meeting with the police. So let’s talk about me later.”
The meeting was uneventful. Sammy told Detective Larkin everything she knew about Zach Pitcher, but it wasn’t much. She didn’t have any answers for the police, and the police had nothing either. They had their suspicions about how Zach died, but they wouldn’t know anything until there was a full autopsy and toxicology report.
“How long will that take?” Sammy asked as Detective Larkin walked her to the door.
“There’s a backlog of cases. It could be weeks.”
“So, what happens?” Sammy asked.
“Honestly? Probably nothing,” Detective Larkin said. “Not many murders ever actually get solved. We’ll do our best, but we’re stretched pretty thin.”
“So that’s it?”
“Unless you have something else?” Detective Larkin opened the door for Sam.
“I don’t, but I’ll call you if I do.”
Cameron waited outside on the sidewalk for her. “I want to see it,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“Sammy, take me to the summer camp. I’d like to see it. Your work is done at the inn for the day, right?”
“It is, but shouldn’t I be there?”
“I don’t think it will hurt for you to take a couple of hours off. We’ll go back right after. I promise.”
“Well, I think some fresh air would do me good.” Sammy said.
They arrived at the camp, and immediately the clouds began to roll in. “I don’t think that’s good,” Sammy said. “There’s something here. It feels stronger today. I think it’s because we’re both here.”
“I think that’s our lives now, Sammy. I could go away if you want. That might help.”
“No. Let’s not talk about that.” The threat of losing the comfort that Cameron had brought was more than she wanted to contemplate. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
They walked down the path toward the camp. A cold breeze kicked up, and Sammy wished she had a jacket.
As they approached the entrance to the camp, a dark form stepped into the path ahead. Cameron and Sammy stopped in their tracks.
The figure raised its arm as if to wave and then vanished.
“Did you see that?” Sammy whispered.
“I did. It was real,” Cameron answered
“What was it?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Cameron said. “If you want, we can turn back.”
“Meh, I’ve seen worse. Besides, it seemed friendly enough.”
They wandered around the abandoned cabins for an hour or so, but besides a heavy feeling of being watched, nothing else paranormal happened.
“It’s beautiful here,” Sammy said. “I can’t put my finger on it, but something about this place speaks to me. I feel at home here.”
“Don’t you think that’s odd?” Cameron asked. They stopped walking and turned to face each other. “The most significant thing about this place is death.”
“I thought you had a handle on all of this,” Sammy said as she brushed a lock of hair from her face. “I was hoping you had the answers about what’s wrong with me.”
“Sammy, there’s nothing wrong with you. Being different isn’t wrong, but unfortunately, I don’t have the answers. I’m afraid I probably only have more questions.”
“I think that you’re probably the answer for me,” Sammy said.
“What do you mean?” Cameron cocked his head to the side a bit.
She leaned in and tried to kiss him. Her body pressed against him as his hands came up and grasped her shoulders firmly. When their lips were a hair’s breath from each other, Cameron pushed her back.
“Sammy, no,” Cameron whispered.
Chapter Seven
By dinner time, the only member of The Boo Crew left at the inn was Rachel. Everyone else had left early, but Rachel insisted on staying.
Sammy wanted to ask why they’d decided to depart early, but she realized it wasn’t any of her business. They weren’t friends or family staying with her for a long holiday weekend. She was running a business, and Sammy would have to learn to not get too attached to guests.
“What did Jim say when you decided to stay?” Sammy asked Rachel. She filled a large pot with water while Rachel grated parmesan cheese.
“He wasn’t pleased, but that doesn’t matter. Jim is the past, and that’s where he needs to stay. A little time apart will help him process that,” Rachel answered.
“So, you’re not getting back together?” Sammy was genuinely curious.
“Never. Like, Taylor Swift song never ever getting back together,” Rachel said. “What about you and this Cameron. You guys seemed awfully cozy considering your fiancé just left you at the altar.”
“That was mean,” Sammy said.
“It was. I’m sorry. I’m just worried that you’ll do something you’ll regret. Grieving people don’t always think straight.”
“It’s okay. I understood, but don’t worry about Cameron. We were friends before. I’m glad he’s back. Really, it’s good for me. When he left school... I don’t know. I shouldn’t have just let him walk out of my life.” Sammy turned the burner on and fetched a box of pasta from the pantry.
“So, why did you?”
“Because John was there. I can say with almost certainty that if John hadn’t been in my life when Cameron left, I probably would have gone after him. He’ll probably leave too,” Sammy said with a sigh.
“Why do you say that?” Rachel asked. “He seems to really care for you.”
While they finished cooking dinner, Sammy filled Rachel in on the details of the afternoon. She’d tried to kiss Cameron, and he’d pushed her away. He’d told her that it was too soon.
“He said he wanted to kiss me, but he needed to be sure that it’s what I really wanted. He said that he didn’t want it to be because I was rebounding.”
“That seems reasonable,” Rachel said. “Where is he, anyway?”
“He’s upstairs on the other side of the house. You guys went over there, right? There are a lot of rooms that I haven’t converted to use for the bed-and-breakfast yet. Anyway, he had to do a video conference with the elders from his old church.”
“His old church?” Rachel cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah. It’s a long story. Cameron and I met in a religious philosophy class I took as a humanities elective. He ended up leaving school to work in the church. When I say church, you have to understand that is a serious understatement. It’s one of those megachurches that is more like a stadium.”
“Seriously?” Rachel suddenly sounded disgusted. “You run a haunted bed-and-breakfast, and your new bestie is one of those guys.”
“He left the church for some reason. Rachel, I never expected him to go back to Texas and preach. He was so different and then he wasn’t anymore. Either way, he’s back now, and he’s the old Cameron I remember.”
“Are you sure that you’re not just projecting because that’s what you need him to be?”
“Let’s just have dinner together, and you can see for yourself,” Sammy said.
The topic was dropped after that, but Sammy could tell that Rachel wasn’t satisfied. Cameron emerged from the den he’d used for the conference call and offered to help them set the table.
“How did your call go?” Sammy asked.
“It was al
right. I really only went along with it because I figured it was the only way I’d get to speak to my mother. I want her to leave the church, but she’s too caught up in it. Honestly, she’s too addicted to the lifestyle,” Cameron said and then shook his head as if trying to rid himself of a thought. “Anyway, they want me to come back. I was a big draw, and until they get me back or replace me, the coffers are bleeding. Attendance is down.”
“So they don’t actually care about people’s souls? It’s about the money,” Rachel said with disgust.
“Yeah,” Cameron said, but he didn’t elaborate.
It was obvious that this angered Rachel. Sammy wondered why she was so upset by Cameron’s observations. It seemed wrong to bring it up in front of Cameron, though. A lot of people had religious hang-ups. If she wanted to talk about it, she would.
“Then why did you go back?” Rachel’s voice was edged with accusation. “Did you think you could stomach the lies to make money? What happened? Couldn’t take it after all?”
Cameron took a deep breath. “I had my reasons to start believing again. Those reasons left me. I did keep the money I made, but I have to have something to live on. When I’ve found a way to make a living, I’ll probably donate what I’ve got to people who really need it.”
“How much?” Rachel barked.
“Rachel, come on,” Sammy pleaded. “Let’s not do this.”
“It’s okay, Sammy. I’m not going to hide it. I’ve got a couple million dollars in my personal accounts. It could be more. The church is offering me a ten-million dollar bonus to come back, plus a raise.”
Sammy choked a little on her pasta. After clearing her throat, she was able to speak. “You made that much over the last couple of years?”
“I only took what was already in my personal bank accounts. I had access to a great deal more. I never had to use my salary for anything. All of my expenses and wants were taken care of by church accounts. I got paid based on how much I brought in. It was kind of like being a professional athlete. I filled seats. Only the people sitting in those seats weren’t just buying a ticket, guys. They were all paying at least ten percent of their income to the church for the privilege of being there. It was a requirement of being a member of the church. Plus, there were the extra donations and what people paid to be healed,” Cameron said.
“That’s disgusting,” Rachel said as she shot up out of her chair.
“Rachel, wait,” Sammy said as Rachel stormed out of the room.
“Sammy, let her go. It’s okay. Most people would feel that way about what I did. I feel that way about what I did,” Cameron said. “I was serious. Once I find a legitimate way to make a living, I’m going to use the money to help people. I mean really help people. If I returned it to the people of my old church, they’d just put it right back in the church coffers. I have enough that I can make a difference somehow.”
Cameron helped Sammy clean up after dinner, and they watched a movie. At bedtime, neither of them even questioned the decision. They walked upstairs together and went to bed. Again, nothing happened, but the pair was stuck together for the time being. Both of them was afraid of drifting away, and they’d found an anchor in each other.
Sammy drifted to sleep easily. The anxiety of her life for the past year had been completely wiped away by Cameron’s arrival. Even if she didn’t have all the answers about his departure from the church or what had happened to the entity she’d believed had afflicted him, Cameron brought her comfort.
As easy as it had been to fall asleep, staying that way was a different story. Sammy’s eyes fluttered open at some point during the night. She could hear Cameron’s heavy breathing in the bed next to her, but for some reason she couldn’t turn her head to look at him. He seemed to be just outside of her peripheral vision too.
What wasn’t outside of her peripheral vision was the bedroom door. It slowly opened, and the darkness from the hallway seemed to spill into the room. That seemed impossible, though.
Rachel slipped into the room. Sammy tried to say something, but her voice caught in her throat. She couldn’t move, speak, or even close her eyes.
Rachel turned to look at Sammy. Despite her inability to move, Sammy’s heart was able to thunder in her chest. It pounded and pushed against her sternum as Sammy’s anxiety exploded. She could hear her pulse thump in her head.
Rachel’s face was a mask of gleeful malevolence. Her smile spread just a little too far across her face, baring teeth that looked grayed and filthy. The light from the window caught Rachel’s hair, but it looked greasy.
She moved toward Sammy with an unnatural, jerky gait. When she reached the side of the bed, Rachel leapt onto the nightstand and squatted over Sammy.
Samantha could feel her eyes fill with tears as Rachel hovered over her. She just sat there staring. Occasionally, her lips would pull back a little more until Rachel appeared to be snarling. After what seemed like hours, Rachel reached out and covered Sammy’s mouth with a foul-smelling hand tipped with ragged fingernails.
Chapter Eight
Sammy woke with a start. She had to count backwards from ten in her head to slow her breathing. Her side of the bed was soaked with sweat.
She looked at the clock because sunlight had already made its way into the window. Sammy had slept through her alarm, and if she’d had more than one guest, she’d have missed making breakfast on time.
“Are you alright?” Cameron asked sleepily.
“Yeah. I had a bad nightmare. I’ve sweated through the bedclothes. I need to change the sheets, or you need to make sure you don’t roll over to my side.” Sammy’s cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“It’s okay. I’ll get up with you,” he said and threw his feet over the side of the bed.
While they stripped the bed and remade it, Sammy told Cameron about her dream. “Do you think it’s a demon?” she asked candidly.
“Perhaps, but maybe it’s just that you don’t trust Rachel. Maybe your subconscious mind was trying to tell you something.”
“It could be,” Sammy said, but she wasn’t sure if it was just her subconscious. “I’m going to go fix some breakfast.”
“I’ll help,” Cameron said.
While they cooked, Cameron prodded Sammy as to what she knew about the man who died. She wasn’t sure why he was curious about it, but it didn’t matter because she didn’t know much.
“He was the only guest staying that night that wasn’t a part of The Boo Crew. I think he said he was a historian or something. He wanted to write a book. He ate dinner, went to bed, and then he was dead.”
“Do you think anything was up with him and the boo men?” Cameron asked.
“The Boo Crew,” Sam corrected with a laugh. “I hadn’t thought about it. I guess I never had any reason to. What makes you think of that?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps something that came to me in my sleep. Can you find a picture of him?” Cameron asked.
“I’ll see if I can find anything after breakfast. I’ll look it up,” Sammy said. “I’ll just run upstairs and see if Rachel wants to have breakfast.”
Sammy went upstairs and knocked on Rachel’s door, but there was no answer. She knocked again and after no answer, she went in. The room was empty, but Rachel’s things were still there.
After grabbing her laptop from her room, Sammy went back downstairs and opened it up at the kitchen table. Cameron joined her with two hot cups of coffee.
It only took her a few minutes to find Zach Pitcher on the internet, and she had to wonder if The Boo Crew had counted on her never looking for him. Of course, they’d most likely counted on him not dying.
“He’s a producer for the company that is optioning their new show,” Sammy said. “I wish Rachel was here. I’ll ask her about it when she gets back. In the meantime, why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do? Are you sure you want to know?” Cameron asked.
“Well, I am supposed to be a n
ewlywed and I’ve been waiting a long time for my honeymoon. So unless you want to go upstairs and scratch an itch that is driving me insane, yeah, I’d like to know,” Sammy said with an impish grin.
Cameron burst out in hearty laughter. It took him a few minutes to calm himself down. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at the idea of having relations with you, Sammy. You just caught me off guard. Okay, I’ll tell you the story. I was standing in front of my mirror a few days ago, getting ready to go out and preach, and I saw it. A soft light emerged from behind me, and it somehow separated the thing controlling me from me. At least, I could see us as separate for the first time since I left school. I felt so much shame, Sammy. I’d known all along it was there, but it was as if I couldn’t focus my thoughts on it. Anytime I would start to contemplate the fact that so many of my thoughts were no longer my own, something would distract me. It wasn’t until then that I was able to fully grasp what I’d let happen, and I knew in that moment that I had a choice to make. Something had given me a chance. I think it was like the angel that saved us that night. Not a bible angel, but still. I know you understand. I stood up, and walked away while the light held the demon in the mirror. I packed a bag and left. I drove straight here to you.”
“The thing that was in you, was it the same?”
“No. I think the entity we dealt with just weakened me or marked me somehow. The fiend I left behind in Texas was a demon of religion. Like the ones we talked about when we met.”
“So we’re both probably going to have to deal with these things for the rest of our lives,” Sammy said with a heavy sigh.
“Yeah, it’s our cross to bear.”
“Oh, you’re hilarious,” Sammy said and smacked his arm playfully. She tried to keep her eyes from drifting back to the corner of the room where the shape of a twisted wretch clung to the ceiling.
Chapter Nine
A short while later, Rachel came back. Sammy and Cameron sat in the living room, waiting for her like parents waiting for teenager who’d missed curfew.
Dark Ends: A Horror Collection Page 37