by Tara Ellis
Rushing forward, Sam dodges around the surprised man when he reaches for her, leaping for the gate. Her hand finds purchase with the latch and she’s beginning to think she might get away, when a vice-like grip pulls her arm back. Crying out in frustration more than pain, Sam starts to yell for help, but is cut off abruptly by a large hand clamped over her mouth!
Spinning her around at the same time, Gregory now has her right arm twisted up behind her, forcing her to face her terrified friends.
“You are all going to do exactly what I tell you!”
Shoving Sam forward for emphasis, she cries out in response, her scream muffled behind his fingers.
“No one has to get hurt,” he continues, perhaps realizing he might be taking things too far. “You’re going to take me to the wreckage. I’m going to get what I need, and then you all can go back and play haunted house like nothing ever happened. Understand?”
Ally and Cassy look at each other, desperate to agree with whatever it takes to make him let go of Sam.
“Sure,” Ally croaks, her voice breaking under the stress. “We’ll show you where it is, just leave her alone!”
The sound of crunching gravel announces Ryan’s return with the car. Kicking the gate open, Gregory looks behind him to make sure the way is clear.
“Not a sound, understand?” he says menacingly, close to Sam’s face.
Nodding deliberately, Sam then hungrily gulps in fresh air when he removes his hand. Propelled forward by the powerful grip on her arm, she stumbles up to the open passenger door of the slick, black car. Sam can see other vehicles passing by, down on the main road, but the alley is empty. There’s no one to help them.
****
The irony of her choice of costume as they enter the trail to the pirate cove isn’t lost on Sam. Tugging again at her eye patch, she looks back at the parking lot, empty except for their car. It isn’t a well-known trail system, and this late in the season, it’s not surprising that they’re the only ones here.
Gregory is leading the way, eager to reach their final destination. Cassy, Ally, and Sam are clustered close together, with Ryan lagging behind. He appears distracted by the woods. Although it’s not even four yet, the sun is low on the horizon and shadows are already beginning to gather in the forest.
Looking down at the black eyepatch now clutched in her hand, and then back at Ryan, Sam nonchalantly tosses it to the side of the path as they pass the trailhead sign. Holding her breath until Ryan steps over it without noticing, she then closes her eyes and sends a silent prayer. Lisa will be wondering where they are by now, and she can imagine all the missed calls that have been going straight to voicemail. They’ll be out looking for them soon, but she needs to slow things down.
Ten minutes later, they come up to the large rock that marks where they should veer off. As Cassy starts to call out, Sam quickly takes her hand and squeezes, silencing her. Ally doesn’t need any encouraging and goes along with the deceit. After another fifteen minutes, Sam pretends to notice for the first time that they’ve gone too far.
Backtracking, Gregory eyes the girls suspiciously. “Make sure you don’t have any more ‘mistakes’ or else your phones will end up in pieces, like the ghosts.”
Cassy looks back at him sharply, her white face paint now drying and beginning to crack, causing her skin to itch. The phone might have been old, but it’s one of the few things she still had from her grandmother, so the loss is personal.
The forest floor is spongy, covered in thick moss and large ferns that are growing at the base of fir and cedar trees. Even less light is filtered through here, creating an eerie landscape of deep greens speckled with iridescent rays of sunlight.
“I hope you at least brought a flashlight,” Ryan says, breaking the cathedral-like silence. “‘Cause you know it’s going to be dark soon, right?” Looking panicked the younger man bats at a cedar branch hanging close to his head.
“Shut up,” Kingsman orders, clearly not in the mood to deal with his whining. “How much farther?” he continues, looking at Sam suspiciously.
Deciding that she better not push her luck, Sam looks dejectedly at Ally before answering. “It’s right up here,” she mutters, stepping over a small log.
A few minutes later, the group of five emerges into the clearing, but the scene is so much different than before, that Sam is momentarily confused. The cove is covered in a thin layer of murky water, with the remnants of the boat barely visible on the far side.
“The tide must be extra high!” Cassy gasps, jumping back.
“Go!” Gregory shouts, not caring if they get wet and muddy.
The water is less than six inches deep through most of the cove, but is nearly a foot by the time they reach the ‘pirate ship’. Cassy is holding her robe up, so that only her feet are wet, but the rest of them are submerged up to their knees.
“This is what all the fuss is about?” Ryan asks. Looking at the boards, he’s clearly unimpressed.
“This ‘fuss’ could cost me millions,” the older man explains, dropping a garbage bag from his shoulder that he took from the trunk of his car. From it, he pulls out a small crowbar and long handled screwdriver, items he rummaged from the vehicles’ emergency kit that he thought might be useful. “That translates into a whole lot of money for you, too, kid … so stop complaining and get to work!”
The three girls stand back, watching as the two men pry the old, flexible boards away from what’s left of that section of the hull. Once he has a length removed, Gregory steps on one end of the four foot long plank and then pulls up on the other until it snaps in two with a loud pop. Dropping the two pieces into the bag, he then works on loosening the next one.
This continues for what has to be a half hour, and Sam, shivering from the combination of cold ocean water around her legs and the lowering sun, begins scanning the tree line. It’s got to be almost five by now. What if no one figures out where they are? She doesn’t trust that Mr. Kingsman is really going to just let them go back unscathed.
“There!” Ryan shouts, another pop echoing through the trees. “That’s the last one. Can we get out of here now? I don’t want to be here in the dark, man.”
The clash of rapidly changing temperatures between the air, water, and humidity is causing a thin layer of ground fog to form. Sinuous tendrils of mist reach up from it, wrapping around their legs. In the fading light, Sam’s anxiety grows to new levels, and the creep factor of her friends’ Halloween costumes is not helping.
A flash of movement catches Sam’s attention. On the other side of the cove, someone, or something is moving in between the trees. On the verge of screaming in fear, she starts to reach for Ally and Cassy, but then recognizes the reflective number seven. John.
The two older men are gathering their things and preparing to turn back in that direction. Frantic to distract them, Sam sloshes through the water, the fog exploding around her as she moves.
“What now?” she demands, trying to force much more strength into her voice than she actually feels. “You aren’t really going to take us back to the haunted house. Are you.” It isn’t a question, and Sam’s stomach clenches painfully.
When Kingsman only stares at her smugly, Ryan looks back and forth between them fretfully.
“Hey, man, I know this is important, but I ain’t into hurting little girls.”
“Relax, Ryan,” the smooth talker croons. “I already told you that no one has to get hurt. But you’re right, Sam,” he continues, turning back to her and hefting the wet bag full of planks onto his shoulder. “We aren’t going back to the school. You see, Ryan and I stopped by my office at the afterschool program this evening, and encountered some juvenile delinquents that broke into the place. Turns out you three have gotten quite close to that old quack, Mrs. Potts, and she’s filled your head with a bunch of lies.
“They’re a couple of con artists, you know, Grace and Benjamin.” Chuckling now at his own cunning, Gregory Kingsman leans down slightly so that his
face is level with Sam’s. “Not only did they fake his death to get out from under losing everything and collecting on his life insurance, but they’re low enough to brainwash some kids to do their bidding. Yup … convinced you three to sneak into my office and set fire to the building, in order to destroy the evidence that they’ve been continuing to steal money from their own charity! Of course, Samantha is already known for getting into trouble, but maybe the judge will go easy on you, given your age.”
“You can’t!” Ally gasps, her pale hand flying to cover her red-painted mouth.
“You won’t get away with it!” Cassy counters, leaning forward and dropping her robe into the water. “We won’t let you!”
“Oh, but I think I will,” Gregory says with more malice. Throwing the bag at Ryan, he then turns back to Sam in one smooth motion and takes ahold of both of her wrists. “Unless you all want to have an unfortunate accident here.”
The mist has taken on an otherworldly glow in the twilight, so that when John suddenly explodes out of the woods to their right, his face painted up like a zombie, Gregory looks at him in horror before John slams into him. The collision is brutal, throwing all three of them into the water.
Hunter is close behind, and although smaller than John, the effect on the already spooked younger man is extreme. Screaming, Ryan turns and tries unsuccessfully to run through the knee-deep water. After only three steps, he plunges forward, disappearing briefly under the fog before coming up sputtering.
Ally and Cassy rush to pull Sam up from the frigid seawater, where she fell after being thrown free by the tackle. While John’s football gear protected him from the brunt of the assault, Gregory isn’t so fortunate. John stands over the older man, his face an odd mixture of undead makeup and anger, his shoulders heaving from his ragged breaths. Sam realizes that the boys must have run all the way there.
Still in the water, Kingsman is writhing in pain, holding his bruised ribs and trying to catch his breath. Just as he tries to push himself to his feet, the cove erupts with shouts and light as several police officers run towards them, flashlights dancing across the chaotic scene.
“You’re finished,” John shouts at his adversary, before stepping back.
Sam, holding tight to Ally and Cassy, realizes with relief that he’s right. It’s over. Looking at the garbage bag, its top barely visible above the mist, she smiles for the first time that night.
15
A HALLOWEEN TO REMEMBER
“When none of you were answering your phones, I called Lisa, and she said that you were going to the school program to take pictures,” John explains.
The kids are all gathered in the front office of the middle school along with their parents, Lisa, and two police officers. Gregory and Ryan are on their way to the police station.
“When we found Cassy’s broken phone,” Hunter adds, continuing the story. “We figured something had to be wrong.”
“I got ahold of your parents and we all began looking,” Lisa says, hugging Cassy close.
“If it weren’t for the text message Ally sent me, about having to go to the pirate cove,” John urges, “Hunter and I would have never guessed to check there. When I saw your eye patch, Sam, I knew you must have dropped it on purpose, so we called the police.”
“So does anyone want to explain why one of Ocean Sides’ most successful businessmen, and up-and-coming politicians would force three young girls into the woods against their will?”
Nathan Wolf turns towards a new arrival, the town sheriff, now standing in the doorway. “That’s a really good question,” he replies, looking back at Sam. “I’d also like to know how my daughter managed to get into trouble this time.”
Trying to shrink back into the hard plastic chair, Sam pulls the blanket that one of the officers gave her a little tighter under her chin. Glancing at her mom, she realizes with dread that this is going to be a tough one to explain.
“Don’t blame Sam.”
Sam jumps up from the chair at the unexpected arrival of Grace Potts, the blanket falling to the ground. Beside her, Ally gasps at the sight of Benjamin standing behind her!
The sheriff, very familiar with Grace Potts, turns to warmly greet the older woman, but takes a staggering step back when he sees Benjamin. “Ben!” he hollers, the color draining from his face, thinking he’s looking at a ghost.
“It’s okay, Sheriff Tucker,” Ben says calmly, holding his hands up weakly. “Go ahead and sit down, though. I’m afraid that this is all somewhat convoluted.”
During the moment of stunned silence, the sounds of laughter and people milling about can be heard floating down the hallway from the gym. With everyone safe and accounted for, the rest of the kids decided to go ahead with the fundraiser and it’s drawing quite a crowd. Sam can’t help but think how the people in this room are actually getting the bigger show.
It takes nearly an hour for the Potts to explain their story in detail, stopping periodically to emphasize how Sam and her friends only meant to help. When Grace concludes her side with the revelation of the bank statements from the day before, she turns the storytelling over to the preteens.
“We went to the afterschool program to take pictures, just like we said we would,” Cassy confirms. “But after we went into the playground area, we were there talking about the pirate cove, and that’s when Mr. Kingsman - ”
“The what?” Sheriff Tucker interrupts.
“That’s what the kids call the spot in the woods where the boat is,” Ally’s Dad answers, familiar with the location that his son had played at years before. He and Elizabeth Parker have been very quiet so far, having arrived at the school just before the sheriff.
“Gregory Kingsman heard us talking about how the ruins can prove that he’s a liar!” Sam exclaims, searching out Benjamin Potts with the revelation. He meets her gaze, and she can see him puzzling over it, trying to figure out what she means. “Your trademark,” she insists, while getting up to go to the bag that she begged the police to bring inside with them.
Sam tugs at the strings, causing the thick black plastic to fall away, revealing what looks to be a jumbled mess of weird planks. Looking through them, she selects one and then carries it over to the older man. Holding it out to him, he takes it from her without a word.
Slowly and methodically, Benjamin Potts examines the remains of his life’s work, running his fingers over it until they slide across the raised mark at one end. Looking up at Sam, he begins to nod. Sighing, he slumps in the chair as if he were a hiker that finally reached the end of a very long journey.
Placing her hands ever so slowly over her heart, Grace’s eyes well with tears as she smiles. “This is the proof we need,” she says to the sheriff. “With it, we should be able to take back our company, and put Gregory Kingsman where he belongs. Thank you Sam,” she continues, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “All of you. It means so much.”
“It’s going to take some time to work out the legalities of all of this,” Sheriff Tucker counters, taking the ‘evidence’ from Mr. Potts. “But what I know right now, is that I have enough to hold Kingsman for kidnapping, and not a darn reason to take either one of you kind folks to jail. Instead, why don’t I give you a lift to the hospital, Ben? I think you might be in need of some medical care.”
Mr. Potts is happy to oblige, but not before hugging each of the girls first. As Sam leans in, she catches a whiff of a familiar scent, one that will forever remind her of the ghost of Eagle Creek Middle School.
THE END
Thank you for reading, ‘The Haunting of Eagle Creek Middle School’! I hope that you enjoyed it, and will take the time to write a simple review on Amazon!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author Tara Ellis
lives in a small town in beautiful Washington State, in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys the quiet lifestyle with her husband, two teenage kids, and several dogs. Tara was a firefighter/EMT, and worked in the medical field for many years. She now teaches CPR, and concentrates on family, photography, and writing middle grade and young adult novels.
Visit her author page on Amazon to find all of her books!
http://www.amazon.com/author/taraellis