The Devil's Grip: The Curse of Stone Falls

by Steven Swaks

  “She thinks she saw her. There has been some strange activities, I give you that, but let’s try to cool off. It’s one thing to say that strange things are happening. It’s another to call a priest. Sometimes I wonder if we are all losing it. We’ve been stressed out with all the calls, and we are pumping ourselves up. You know, some sort of mass hysteria, some guy sees something, all of a sudden, everybody is seeing ghosts all over town.”

  “A ghost.”

  “Whatever. A ghost, how does that sound to you?”

  “What about all the deaths? Are you denying that too?”

  “I’m not denying it. There’re some weird… activities going on, I give you that. But calling a priest and saying that Gina came back from the dead to mess with the town is ridiculous.”

  “What if it was true?”

  Ben remained pensive for a while. “Fine, what if it was true, what would you suggest?”

  “I did some research online.”

  “And?”

  “They said we first need to rule out logical explanations, which we did.”

  “Did we?”

  “Ben, I’m not going to see the cops to ask them if the girl is really dead.”

  “No, but you are willing to see a priest for an exorcism.”

  Alex took a deep breath. “Second, we need to rule out mental or physical illness.”

  “That’s a fail, right there. The more I think about it, the more I think we’re a bunch of loony bins.”

  “If I was alone to see these… phenomena, I would check myself into the local psych ward, but I’m not.”

  “No, the whole city is losing it.”

  “They said that the church might want a release from a shrink, but with so many witnesses, we might be able to get away without it.”

  “Man, you really thought this through,” Ben said.

  “I haven’t been able to sleep at night lately. It gives me plenty of time to think. Anyway, once we have all of that, we should be able to have a trained priest come over to the station.”

  “Trained?”

  “Yeah, only a few priests do it.”

  “I wonder why…”

  “We can ask for a minor blessing of a building. Then, if it doesn’t work, we can crank it up a notch and jump into the exorcism.”

  “You are missing something.”

  “What?”

  “Say, we manage to exorcise the station. All the activities are gone, bye, bye… what about the rest of the town? The cops and the fire guys? What about all the accidents and deaths? They happened all over town.”

  Alex didn’t answer for a moment. He looked at pedestrians walking by. They were innocent and nonchalant. They enjoyed the window shopping in the old downtown. He missed those days, the days before Gina, before this craziness. “I don’t know what to tell you. We need to do something. We can’t stay like this. These days, I’m almost dreading going back to the station.”

  “Why don’t you dread that after a burger and fries? My treat?”

  “That’s your answer to every problem? Burger and fries?”

  “Sure, why not? Maybe we should also treat not-so-dead Gina?”

  Alex smiled and relaxed “DD’s?”

  “Sure.”

  ~

  Tracy and Brad had been sitting at a booth near the front window at Dina’s Diner. She was playing with the melting ice cream of her apple pie a la mode without uttering a word.

  “A penny for your thoughts?” Brad said.

  “Talk about a cheesy outdated expression. Soon this place is going to be swell.”

  “You don’t have to be such a–”

  “A what?” She glared at him. “Why don’t you say it?”

  “Never mind.” He looked out the window, a raised F350 diesel pickup truck drove by with a rugged engine sound.

  “Not everybody can be like my sister.”

  “What about her?”

  “She was a saint. I’m the loser.”

  “If you say so.”

  She stared at him and shoved her plate forward in frustration.

  “It’s your choice, Trace. You decide who you want to be. Don’t let other people look down on you. They can only do it if you allow them.”

  She didn’t comment for a while.

  The glass door swung open. Two paramedics walked in.

  Amanda Walker hardly waved at them. “You can sit wherever you want, boys,” she said without conviction.

  They nodded and found a seat at a booth near the window.

  “You don’t understand…”

  “What is it, then?”

  “She was such an amazing person. I’m the bad one.”

  “You’re not, Tracy.”

  “I am. You know it. I smoke anything I can find, I drink, and we sleep together. It’s like Jessica and me, we were the yin and the yang thing. She was an angel, and I’m the tramp–”

  “Trace–”

  “Don’t cut me off. You know it’s true.”

  Brad didn’t answer.

  “It… it was supposed to be me.”

  His eyebrows crushed together. “What do you mean?”

  “You know exactly what I mean. It was supposed to be me. I was the one who should have died. I deserved to die. That’s why I don’t believe in this Christian baloney. The good girl gets raped in the woods, and the messed-up one gets to sit at a burger joint to eat pie. How messed up is that for you? Talk about a God, huh? I don’t get it. How can anybody believe after things like that?” she said with a cold stare.

  “I’m with you on that one.”

  ~

  “Is baby feeling better?” Ben asked Alex, watching him swallow a large chunk of his cheeseburger.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t beat burger, fries, and onion rings for comfort food.”

  “Fried Twinkies?”

  “That’s a dessert,” Alex said.

  “Amanda has it.”

  “You’re going to kill me. You’re a medic. You should know better. You’re a walking heart attack.”

  Ben bit off a large chunk of his cheeseburger, “You got to die of something,” he said with a hearty laugh. His mirth died mid-flight. Unable to draw air in, Ben clutched his throat, his eyes bulging in obvious distress.

  “Cool, now you’re choking in front of me.”

  Ben didn’t answer.

  “Man, you’re good at this dying act.”

  Ben turned red.

  “Not bad, but you should slump over to make it more realistic.”

  Ben’s left hand went into a spasm.

  Alex whitened, a what-if scenario writhing his face. “Dude, are you ok? You’re kidding, right? Ben? Are you kidding? Don’t do this!”

  Amanda Walker looked up from the counter, suddenly aware of the distress. She hurried around the corner, wiping her hands on a dishrag. “Is he all right?” she asked Alex as she approached the table, concern spreading across her face.

  A large smile travelled across Ben’s face, “I’m sorry, Amanda. I didn’t mean to startle you. I was messing with Alex.”

  “Yeah, you got me going on that one. You’re…” Alex shook his head, “You’re such a… man, that was good. I have to say. I bought it for a while.” Alex turned to DD’s owner, “Please forgive him, Amanda. He’s still a kid.”

  She politely smiled without mirth. “That’s ok, let me know if you need something else,” she said as if they were complete strangers.

  Ben’s joyful expression turned serious. “We’ll be fine, Amanda, thanks.”

  She nodded without another word and walked away.

  “Is she all right?” Ben asked Alex in a quiet voice.

  “I think she’s having a hard time with that murder in the woods.”

  “The girl?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Didn’t we see her a few times?” Ben asked.

  “I think we did. She came here often.”

  “Must be tough on her.”

  The two didn’t say a word for a minut
e.

  “Are you ready to head back to the station?” Ben asked.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Come on, how bad can it get?”

  ~

  Amanda Walker was alone in the back room. She found the toolbox on a shelf. She picked it up and let it down on the concrete floor before unlatching it. She found a hammer, a short silver nail, and closed the box.

  She returned to the dining room. Usually, she celebrated the customer of the month in a big ceremony with a free slice of pie for the selected customer.

  There was nothing to rejoice for this time, and no pie to give away. She felt she had to be alone after hours in a darkened diner. Amanda hugged the frame for an instant. The picture was beautiful, Jessica and Todd next to each other, smiling.

  She picked up the cold nail and hammered it onto the wall in a few short jabs. She hooked the picture on it and stood back to make sure it was straight. Amanda Walker turned the lights off and walked out into the night. She was done for the day.

  Sweet Dreams

  Jennifer couldn’t quit. What would she do otherwise? Living alone in a two-bedroom rental apartment, she could only rely on herself to pay the bills. Besides, dispatching was all she knew. She could apply with Stone Falls PD or fire, but she had heard the same stories happening in their departments. She could leave town. She had thought about that one, but where would she go? She had grown up in Stone Falls, and the prospect of leaving town was as daunting as facing dead Gina.

  What about dayshift? It would mean dealing with management all day long. No, thank you. A creepy sight once in a while–once actually–was better than management continuously breathing down her neck.

  She was hoping that things would improve. She didn’t think the situation could last much longer. Something would have to give. What? She had no idea, but the city couldn’t stay like that. Haunted EMS, police, fire, and dying residents, Stone Falls welcomes you. With their luck, the town would boom with lunatics in quest of a cheap thrill.

  Jennifer had managed to talk some of the crew into staying with her at night, as long as they weren’t on a call. Sometimes, she even wondered if they were doing it for her or for themselves, under the cover of their chivalrous move.

  Alex and Ben’s modular ambulance appeared on the surveillance cameras. They went to the door. She buzzed them in before they even had time to push the call switch.

  ~

  “Jennifer can’t wait to have us in,” Ben said before opening the metal door.

  “I don’t blame her. She was alone in there while we were eating.”

  “I know. I feel so bad about it.”

  “No, you don’t,” Alex tapped him a couple of times on the back.

  “No, I don’t. Come on, she hasn’t seen anything in dispatch since the first episode.”

  “You would figure that one weird episode is enough to freak you out for some time,” Alex said while walking through the hangar.

  “Maybe, but I’m done spending the night in an office chair so miss can feel better.”

  “You’re not going to stay in dispatch tonight?”

  “No, I’m done with this. I’m not going to let that so-called dead girl rule my life. Why? Are you going to stay with her?”

  “That’s the right thing to do.”

  “Well, good for you, Alex. I guess I’m a selfish jerk, but I think that we’re giving that Gina way too much credit.”

  “That’s until she comes to say hi…”

  “We’ve seen her once. That’s all.”

  “How many times do you need to see her? And don’t forget all the other creepy things that have been going on, the vacuum cleaner, the flickering lights, the flying remote, and all the bad calls we have been having.”

  Jennifer buzzed them into dispatch.

  “Hi, sweetheart,” Ben told her upon entering.

  “Knock it off, Ben,” Jennifer said with cold eyes.

  “You see, Alex, I like ‘em feisty.”

  “Well, you found your dream woman, right here.”

  “I bet. All right, people, that’s all fun and games, but I’m gonna go crash. See ya,” Ben said before walking out of the brightly lit room.

  Jennifer waited an instant for the spring-loaded door to close behind him. She hardly looked at Alex. “Are you going to stay here for a while?”

  “Uh-huh. I’m going to read.”

  “You don’t have to stay for me. No pressure, you do whatever you want.”

  “I know.”

  She sighed and stared at the large GPS map in front of her. All the ambulances were back at the respective stations. She turned to the right screen available for internet use. She didn’t care about social media, especially Facebook. What was the point about posting fake pictures of their fake lives? People pretended to be happy. Look at me, look at my new car, new kitchen, or whatever new toys they had bought. Look, I went on a trip, wish you were here! LOL, XOXOXO. What was the point? Social Media was for losers without a life. No way she would get caught on FB. She might as well unplug her brain right now.

  ~

  Ben lay on his bed. The corridor light would stay on all night. After the episode with Gina in the middle of the dark room, they thought it was wiser to keep some dim light filtering under the door. Too bad if management didn’t approve of the extra expense.

  He turned on his side toward the center of the small bedroom. He took a long deep breath and closed his eyes, his thoughts roaming from recent calls to Alex and Gina. He opened them again into the dark room. His eyelids went back down. Good, he was tired. He would fall asleep soon.

  Todd was dead. That one was difficult to swallow. The kid was too young to die, too innocent. Ben almost felt guilty. Why? He had no idea, because he couldn’t have done anything different.

  He remembered the first time they’d met him in the street. Life was not fair sometimes. The kiddo was trying to better himself. He worked hard and went to school. For what? To finish in a body bag. Ben was having a hard time getting over that one.

  Was that a light shuffling in the bedroom? Ben opened his eyes: nothing. He closed them again. Sleep was hard to find. His mind was wandering from topic to topic, as if he was unwilling to settle down and find peace.

  ~

  Alex woke up on the office chair, feet on a vacant dispatch console.

  “Go to sleep, Alex. It’s late,” Jennifer said, even if she wanted him to stay.

  “I’m fine, I can stay.”

  “You’re exhausted. You need to rest. You’re going to be out of it if you have a call.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I appreciate your help, but I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine.”

  Alex examined her face to assess her sincerity, but the veil of fatigue was weighing upon his judgment.

  “Thanks. I’ll be in my room.” He looked at her intently, “But you come get me if you don’t feel comfortable alone in here, ok?”

  “I will, promise.”

  ~

  Ben couldn’t find sleep. Perhaps he should count sheep, or swim-suit models, that one would be more entertaining. They would leapfrog on the beach, not a bad thought to fall asleep to.

  One model, two models, three models…

  He opened his eyes. How many had he counted so far? Fifty-four models? He couldn’t sleep. He knew he shouldn’t have had that Coke for dinner. Funny, sometimes it had no effect on him. Well, tonight, caffeine was running through his veins like high octane.

  Eyes closed.

  Was that footsteps? Ben smiled. Alex was going to the dark side–literally–and had given up the discomfort of dispatch to find his nice bed. He opened his eyes.

  Gina Hawkins was right in front of his face, diabolic eyes staring at him, her mouth wide opened in a silent scream.

  Ben yelled and jolted back against the wall behind him. His head smashed onto the sheetrock before he fell back on the bed like a dead weight. He looked around him in the dark room. There was nobody.


  The door flew open. “What was that?” Alex asked. “What happened to you?”

  Ben rubbed his sore neck, “The girl’s dead. That’s for sure. She looked dead, pale like a hospital sheet. Man, one second she was there, the next, gone, bam,” he snapped his fingers.

  “You saw her?”

  “I saw her like I’m seeing you.”

  Alex’s eyes opened wide. “Jennifer!”

  ~

  The dispatcher was by herself in front of her console browsing online. She opened the Yahoo page and scrolled through the news. Lindsey Lohan back in rehab, there was nothing new. How to survive an audit by the IRS… with what she had in the bank, the IRS would only be able to buy a coffee at McDonalds. A car advertisement popped on the screen. With the money Medics Ambulance made, they couldn’t even buy a decent pop-up blocker. The new Prius looked nice, but she didn’t want to have a car payment. That was bad personal finances. She clicked on the x icon and closed the window. Hollywood's Mamas-to-be Show Off Their Baby Bumps, another great news article. Did she want to see some starlet’s stomach? Not really.

  Another window appeared on the screen, a young woman with a white background. She was definitely not a model. She wore a long and straight gray dress.

  Jennifer’s breath stifled in shock. She had seen that woman before, because her face was plastered all over the town newspapers.

  Gina Hawkins was on her screen in a sad profile pose as if she was in a fashion photo shoot, her hand under her chin. Her head turned to Jennifer. She slowly waved and cocked her head with a malicious smile. She walked in a model stride and vanished at the edge of the computer screen.

  Red Light

  “Guess who the lucky winner is, Officer Gonzales?” Delano asked in the middle of the police headquarters’ corridor, coffee mug in hand.

  “Officer Jameson?” Gonzales answered.

  “Nice try.”

  “What am I volunteered to do?”

  “I have seized video footage from the Aragon Theater, three and a half hours of it through sixteen angles.”