The Lights Over Jupiter Point: Book 1

by Nathan Jay

  "Shit. It looks like your day isn't over yet, right, Mr. Donavan?"

  The snake went straight for the pile of mush and bones at the base of the tree. It opened its mouth and slowly took Mr. Donovan's hand into its mouth. Diane grimaced as the snake swallowed its meal and began taking in one of Mr. Donovan's legs.

  "Gross!" whispered Diane.

  "Not nearly as gross as what happens next, dear," whispered a southern accented voice. Diane stood up and looked around in all directions trying to see who was there.

  "Don't fret, honey. Don't fret," the voice whispered. Diane looked at the pile of mush that had been Mr. Donovan and screamed out. The slimy mass of flesh, bones, and hair was slowly sliding across the ground towards her. Diane tried to turn and run, but she couldn't. Her legs wouldn’t move. Something was holding her.

  "You remind me of this girl I used to know in grade school," the voice continued. She was as cute as a button. Smart. A bunch of subtle qualities, you know? But there was just one thing. She didn't know when to quit."

  As the mass of flesh crawled closer to Diane, it started to shake as if it were boiling inside. Suddenly it stopped. Diane's eyes widened, and her mouth opened as if she wanted to scream, but nothing came out. Soon she realized that her mouth was no longer something she had control over like the rest of her body. She stood frozen, unable to move with her mouth agape. She watched in horror as Mr. Sullivan's spine crawled out of the pile of flesh and slithered like a snake to her foot. Unable to scream, only short small whimpers escaped Diane's throat. As the bloody spine inched onto her leg like a snake, her body began to shake uncontrollably.

  "Shhhh. It'll be all over soon. Hush, child," the voice whispered. The spine crawled up Diane's leg and then onto her chest. It paused as if it were looking at the woman. Suddenly, the spinal cord thrust itself into Diane's throat. As the monster forced its way into her body, the woman's head shook from side to side, shaking and shivering as if her body were a ventriloquist doll manipulated by an unseen force. Finally, Diane's lifeless body collapsed on the grass. A small red sphere floated up from her body and stayed floating in mid-air. Zagan walked out from behind a large tree, grabbed the globe of energy, and put it into his bag.

  "Four more to go," he said. He walked over to Diane's corpse and snapped his fingers.

  "Let's get going, Missy. We gotta corral those sisters of yours before it gets too warm around here."

  Diane's body suddenly sat up. Her eyes were black and leaking blood. She stood up and stumbled off into the forest behind Zagan.

  Chapter 35: The Souls of Tabitha and Trevor Pt.10

  "You see anything?" yelled Dorothy. The two women smacked at bushes as they pushed through the dark forest.

  "I don't see anything over here," replied Samantha.

  Dorothy became frustrated.

  "I don't see why we need to find the girl. She was there with us. If she goes to the police, it's her butt that's also on the line."

  Suddenly the two women paused. They could hear a voice yelling at them through the trees.

  "Hey! I found her! She's over here!" the voice yelled. Dorothy and Samantha were confused. The voice sounded like Diane’s, but it was – different. After a few moments, they heard the voice again.

  “She’s here!” the voice yelled through the trees.

  "Thank God!" replied Dorothy. "Just wait for us. We'll come to you!"

  The two girls took separate paths to reach the location they'd heard the voice. They both seemed confused as they converged on the same trail that led to the front of a giant oak tree.

  "Where are you, Diane?" asked Dorothy. Nervously, she walked to where she’d last heard Diane's voice. Just as Dorothy and Samantha turned to walk around the tree, Zagan stepped in their path.

  "That won't be necessary, ladies," he said as he pushed his hands through both their chests. Dorothy's and Sandra's legs went limp, and Zagan shook their bodies off his arms. Callously, he tossed both their hearts into the bushes and stood over them as two red globes rose from their limp bodies. He grabbed the two souls and put them in his bag.

  "Diane, sugar. You go get that other one they call Dusty," said Zagan. The corpse of Diane stumbled out from the bushes and smiled at Zagan. Seconds later, she took off through the forests in the direction she'd heard Sandra's voice.

  "Hey, Samantha! Where are you?" asked Dusty as she turned in circles. "Shit! I just heard your voice!" Suddenly, Diane stumbled out of the bushes.

  "There you are! I was getting scared," said Dusty. As she looked at Diane, she started to get nervous.

  "Diane, are you okay?" asked Dusty as she backed away. As soon as Diane's corpse heard Dusty speak, it let out a monstrous shriek and jumped on the woman. Dusty screamed as the corpse of Diane bit into her face and began eating her flesh. With one bite, the monster removed Dusty's nose and swallowed it whole. Dusty choked and gasped as the monster bit into her face. Diane's corpse hungrily bit into her throat. The monster ate chunks of Dusty's throat until there was nothing. Slowly, a small red globe raised from Dusty's body and stayed suspended just above it. Seconds later, Zagan walked over and grabbed it. He calmly opened his container and placed the globe inside. Diane's corpse stood beside Zagan. Seconds later, Dusty's body rose from the ground. With most of her face missing and the majority of her neck missing, the corpse looked at Zagan, awaiting his instruction.

  "Rest yourself, gals. I'll get the last one. Everybody pulls their weight on this ship, right? You all can wait for me right here."

  Zagan walked away into the forest.

  "Hey! I heard screams! You all are scaring me!" yelled Lorraine. After taking a few more steps, she stopped.

  "Fuck this."

  Lorraine turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. As she attempted to jump over a large log that lay in her path, she froze mid-air.

  "What's happening?" she asked as her body remained suspended.

  "Running is as natural to some people as a dog pissing on a leg. It doesn't matter, though. I'm here, and you're here. We are going to have a little face-to-face, darling."

  Zagan walked up to the suspended woman and grabbed a handful of her blonde hair.

  "Please excuse what I'm about to do. It ain't personal."

  Zagan gave one forceful yank and pulled out all the woman's hair.

  “AAAAAAAAH!” Lorraine screamed. All of her nerves were set ablaze, and her scalp began oozing blood.

  "Fuck you!" she yelled angrily. "That son of a bitch deserved it. I don't feel sorry one bit!"

  Zagan chuckled and pulled an apple from the pocket of his jacket. After cleaning it on his sleeve, he bit into it.

  "You know what? The first bite of the apple is always the best. Taste-wise, eating the rest of the apple is pretty bland after that."

  Lorraine started to cry.

  "Aw honey, it ain't all bad. I don't care that you gals chopped up ole Mr. Donavan back yonder. You're right. He was a piece of shit."

  "Then take me down and let me go!"

  "It's not that simple, sugar."

  "Let me go! We didn't do anything!"

  "Killing is a step beyond nothing, don't you think? If it were God’s decision, all of you gals would skate off on redemption. All you would have to say is that you're sorry, and that would be the end of it. Thank goodness I don't believe in that crock of shit. In so many ways, what you and those gals did was worse than ole Mr. Donavan."

  "He raped us!"

  "Yeah…yeah…yeah, and watermelons are ripest in September. We got five girls who became five big-time murderers."

  "Six."

  Zagan turned back towards the Lorraine.

  "What did you say?"

  "I said, let me go!"

  Zagan snapped his finger, and Lorraine screamed in agony as one of her ears fell off.

  "Diddly-dallying won't save you, girl. You tell me what I want to know, or they'll be finding pieces of you all over this forest. How many girls?"

  "Six!"

  Zaga
n lifted one of his hands and started counting.

  "Dusty, Samantha, Diane, Dorothy, Lorraine…"

  "Tabitha!"

  Zagan looked at Lorraine in confusion.

  "She took off before you showed up. Before the killing."

  Zagan smiled.

  "I knew something didn’t feel right. Tabitha. I know that girl. She was supposed to be here. How did she know to leave before I showed up?"

  Lorraine closed her eyes and moaned in agony. Zagan walked up to her and touched her forehead with the tip of his finger.

  “Did she get help from a strange man dressed in a trench coat?”

  “I didn’t see anyone else. Please! Let me go.”

  Zagan watched as the woman squirmed within his grasp. After watching her twist in agony, he spoke.

  "For your assistance, your passing will be peaceful."

  Zagan snapped his fingers, and Lorraine's head dropped down. A red globe rose from her body, and Zagan grabbed it. Seconds later, he stomped away into the forest.

  Chapter 36: The Souls of Tabitha and Trevor Pt. 11

  The Truth about Lovers

  Tabitha and Trevor sat silently in the car and watched their house.

  "Is that everything? Is there anything else I need to know?" asked Trevor as he looked in the rearview mirror.

  "Yes," replied Tabitha. Suddenly she burst into tears.

  "I'm so sorry. I just feel so ashamed."

  Trevor took in a deep breath and sighed.

  "Murder, Tabitha? Really?"

  "You have to believe me. I didn't know that's what those girls were doing."

  "So, some random woman tells you some weird story, and you get up in the middle of the night and go meet her?"

  "I know…I know."

  "I thought we trusted each other!"

  "I do trust you, baby. You've got to believe me!"

  "You trust me? Are you serious? Why didn't you tell me the first time that sick prick tried to put you in a vice?"

  "I didn't know what to do. You wouldn't understand. I panicked."

  "You panicked?! Yeah, I'd say that's the understatement of the year."

  "I'd never been in that situation before. I thought I was protecting us. Our future. I didn't know what to do."

  "So, you suck his dick and have unprotected sex with him?"

  Tabitha reached out to touch Trevor, and he pushed her hand away.

  "Don't fucking touch me!"

  Tabitha began sobbing.

  "Baby, please forgive me. I thought I was saving us…"

  "Just stop, Tabitha! You don't realize what you did, do you? By fucking him, you put my life in jeopardy! What if he had HIV or Herpes? What would be your excuse if I came down with any of that shit?"

  "You've got to believe me, Trevor. You are my life! Please don't leave me!"

  "Leaving is the least of our problems right now. We've got to go to the cops."

  Tabitha's eyes widened.

  "No, baby! We can't!"

  "Are you not hearing me? We don't have a choice! They killed a man. There's bound to be forensics tracing all of you to the scene of the crime. We've got to go to the cops. Maybe if you lock in your story first, they'll go easy on you. But we don't have a choice. They killed a man with serious juice. If you don't go, it's going to blow up all over us."

  Tabitha turned to Trevor.

  "You want me to go to jail?"

  "No. I mean, yes. But if we play things right, it'll only be temporary."

  Tabitha wiped the tears from her face and opened the car door.

  "They said they would kill me if I went to the police."

  Tabitha slammed the car door and walked into the house. Trevor remained sitting in the car for a few minutes and then walked in behind her.

  Chapter 37: The Souls of Tabitha and Trevor Pt.12

  The torrential rains started suddenly. An hour earlier, Tabitha and Trevor had been sitting in the car. Now the rain poured down so hard on the house that they could barely see out into the yard.

  "Have you ever seen anything like this?" asked Tabitha as she pulled back the living room curtains to look outside. Everything was almost black.

  "Let me turn on the radio," said Trevor as he flipped the switch on his radio. "Maybe we missed a tornado alert or something." Only the sound of static came from the radio speakers. Soon the lights in the house began to flicker off and on.

  "I think we're going to lose power," said Trevor. As soon as he finished his sentence, the house went black.

  "Let's go to the bedroom," whispered Tabitha. "We have a few candles and matches there." They both held hands and went into the bedroom.

  Once inside, Trevor found the matches and lit the two large candles on either side of the bed. As he blew out the fire, he breathed deeply.

  "I love these candles," he whispered. Tabitha walked over to Trevor and held his hand.

  "Do you remember where we got them?"

  "Who could forget that?"

  They stared into one another's eyes, and they burst into laughter.

  "I can't believe we stole these," said Tabitha as she tried to catch her breath. Soon they both were laughing hysterically.

  "It was your idea," laughed Trevor.

  "You dared me."

  "It was our first date. I had to impress you somehow."

  "By stealing? I'm sure my parents wouldn't have liked that if I told them it was your idea of a first date."

  The two lovers stopped laughing and moved closer. Trevor removed a curl of Tabitha's hair from her forehead and caressed her cheek.

  "I don't blame you. You know that, right?"

  Tabitha looked into her fiancé's eyes and melted. It felt so good to hear him say those words. Her eyes welled up, and tears began falling down her face. Gently, Trevor kissed Tabitha on the lips.

  "I would never abandon you. Ever."

  "I love you, Trevor."

  Tabitha smiled as he pulled her close. In the softness of candlelight, they were able to see one another again. They made love and fell asleep in one another's arms.

  When Trevor woke, the rain had stopped. A thin stream of smoke rose from both candles; they both had burned out. Placing his hands behind his head, Trevor stared up into the darkness. Soon Tabitha stirred beside him.

  "Baby? Is something wrong?"

  "The guy."

  "What?"

  "You said you ran into a man in the forest that helped you escape. Who was he?"

  Tabitha raised herself on one elbow.

  "I don't know. A homeless guy, maybe?"

  "Did he look like a homeless man to you?"

  "No. Well, I guess the man didn’t look like a homeless bum. But he did look homeless in the sense of roaming from place to place. You know what I mean?"

  Trevor turned to Tabitha.

  "Did he have green eyes?"

  Suddenly Tabitha sat up.

  "How did you know?"

  "There's something I didn't tell you. Ever since last week, I've been having these dreams."

  "About what?"

  "I don't know. I can't remember what happens in the dreams most of the time. But one thing has been constant – the man with the green eyes is always there."

  Tabitha pulled a new match out of the matchbox and lit one of the candles.

  "You believe in ghosts?" she asked.

  "Well, …yes. I do. But this guy isn't a ghost. I do know for a fact that he's never tried to hurt me in those dreams. It's like he's lost too. Helping me figure things out without getting involved."

  "There's also something I forgot to tell you. When I saw the man in the forest, he said someone was coming for me."

  "Who?"

  "I don't know. The man didn't say who."

  "Weird."

  "But the strangest part of all of this? As a condition of him helping me escape the forest, he made me close my eyes."

  "Close your eyes? For what?"

  "I don't know. All I know is that ten seconds after being lost in Jupiter
Point, I was standing in front of my car."

  "How did you get there?"

  "I don't know. It's like I was lost, and then just like that, I was standing outside the car."

  "Shit!"

  "Weird, right?"

  "You know what? Something similar happened to me. I fell asleep on the bed next to you. I remember that much. The next thing I know, I'm facing down on the pavement in the parking lot of Jupiter Point."

  A worried look came on Tabitha's face.

  "You don't know how you got there?"

  "No. My car wasn't there, and I don't remember walking there."

  "But Jupiter Point is so far away from here."

  "Exactly. So, how did I get there?"

  Tabitha and Trevor sat in bed, pondering things for a few moments. Suddenly, Trevor spoke.

  "Get up. Pack a bag. We're getting out of here."

  Tabitha seemed confused.

  "Not the police?"

  "Something's going on. With the way that guy showed up in our lives, I’d say the cops won’t be able to do a damned thing. Quick. Pack enough clothes for a couple of days. We need to get on the road. Now."

  Tabitha grabbed her gym bag from the closet and began tossing items into it. Trevor grabbed his bag and started doing the same.

  "What's going on, baby?" asked Tabitha. After throwing a few things into his bag, Trevor looked at her.

  "I don't know. But something tells me if we don't get out of here right now, we might die."

  This comment seemed to give fire to Tabitha. She whirled through the room, throwing things in her bag like she was possessed. Moments later, she stood at the bedroom door, ready to go.

  "Let's go," she said as she huffed and puffed. Trevor threw his cell phone charger into his bag and walked towards the door.

  "Let's go."

  As they walked into the dining room, they heard a noise in the kitchen. Tabitha and Trevor froze and looked at one another.

  "What was that?" asked Tabitha. Trevor signaled for Tabitha to be quiet. Slowly, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the front door.

  "Y'all might as well drop them bags and come on in here," said a man's voice in a heavy southern drawl. "Ain't nobody going nowhere in this wild weather."