Weirder Than Weird

by Francis Burger

  “‘Well now, Paul, Paul Wilson. My name is Carlos and it‘s my pleasure to meet you. What brings you here to lovely Diablo Tower, Senor Wilson?’

  “I relayed my story to him in full detail and he listened patiently.

  “‘Yes,’ he finally said. ‘Your story is one that is very common, Senor, but you should not despair, for I think that being an American carries great weight and the likelihood of your release is much enhanced because of it.’

  “For some reason, his words didn’t comfort me, but I was eager to learn of his own story.

  “‘So tell me, Carlos,’ I said, ‘what is it that brought you here? Trespassing? Words of sedition maybe?’

  “‘No, Senor, murder.’

  “I was caught off guard. He said the word with such ease, as if to think it a mere indiscretion. I started to feel a bit uneasy and I think he sensed it.

  “‘You see, Senor, Wilson, I had always worked for a particular well–to-do family in San Pueblo. This family owned a great deal of land and was considered very powerful in our community. My own family lived in a small shack on the outskirts of one of their plantations and every day I would work the fields in exchange for our living quarters as well as a small allowance of food. I came home from the fields early one day carrying my pitch fork and from a distance I heard my wife screaming. My heart nearly leapt from my chest as I ran to the door. I kicked it open and saw the man I worked for tearing at my poor wife’s clothing. It was all over quickly. They tell me that I was in such a fit of rage that I thrust the pitchfork all the way through the man’s neck and he expired right there on our dirt floor. I’m sure that I probably did such a thing, but the truth is, I don’t remember any part of killing him.’

  “His tale chilled my very bones and I really didn’t know how to respond. I felt awkward and thought that I should change the subject, so I asked how long he had been incarcerated within the tower. There was much hesitation before he answered.

  “‘I couldn’t say, Senor. All I know is that I’ve been chained up against this wall for ages.’ He seemed to give much consideration to what he said next. ‘Time… time seems to no longer have any hold on me. I know this will sound strange to your ears, but sometimes I seem to drift away from my cell. I really can’t account for where I’ve been, or for that matter, how long I‘ve been there.’

  “I thought his response, although sad, was perfectly within the bounds of what one might expect from someone who has suffered the kind of trauma he had. Only what he said next made me wonder about his sanity.

  “‘Perhaps, word will get back to your illustrious president and he will use his considerable influence to deliver you, Senor. I hear that Mr. Lincoln is a very great and compassionate man in your country. Is that not so?’

  “I was taken aback. How was I to react to those words? Yes, it is a great distance from the U.S. to Bolivia and news does travel slowly, but he was speaking of a President who had not been alive for over 65 years!

  “ I could only respond by agreeing with Carlos. I walked over to the window, shaking my head. The moon was waxing full that night and even in spite of the obstruction from the metal bars, I could see the whole panorama of what lay outside the tower. As I looked out, I felt a brief moment of vertigo, for the tower itself was dangerously teetering on the edge of a sheer precipice. Directly below were jagged rock walls on either side that transitioned quickly into a deep chasm, gradually disappearing into hazy darkness. Although I could see the occasional small shrub or plant sprouting here and there I was amazed when, to my right, I saw an enormous tree not thirty yards away. It was oddly beautiful and seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. It looked to be growing right out of the rock itself and I cursed myself for not having my camera with me. The tree was undoubtedly very ancient; its long grey roots groped their way all along the face of the rock wall, crossing over each other like snakes in a basket. Just then, something curious caught my eye. In the top portion of the tree there appeared to be some kind of nest--yet, not a normal nest. Huge limbs were bowed over and covered with a thick casing of some type of silver-looking filament. I thought this, looked more like a cocoon than anything else. On one end of it was an opening or entrance, which could simply be described as a large black hole. I suddenly turned away from the window because a strange and creepy feeling came over me, as though I were being watched from somewhere within the blackness of that very opening. Tomorrow would be here quick enough, and I knew I could get a better look at the thing in the light of day, so I retired to my bed.

  “I heard no more from Carlos that night, in spite of my wanting to talk more. I was about to drift off when I was jolted awake after hearing a number of screams coming from somewhere in the lower recesses of the tower. They were agonizing screams, as if someone was having the skin pulled away from their very bones. The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end as I listened to the terrifying ejaculations of those tortured souls. I held my hands tightly against my ears, trying to block out the horror that tried to seep its way into my brain. The noise went on for hours and I thought I was on the verge of losing my mind when, all of a sudden, it stopped. I was both relieved and exhausted. I took in a deep breath and settled back down into my bed of hay but my nerves were on edge. Needless to say, I slept very uneasy the rest of that night.

  * * * *

  “The next morning, I awoke to a sore head, but to my pleasant surprise, the gloom that pervaded my cell the night before appeared to have lessened. This, I suppose, had to do with the warm sunlight that filtered its wholesome rays through my window. The room was actually brightened to an almost cheeriness and I could hear Carlos singing quietly to himself.

  “‘Good morning, Carlos!’ I yelled out.

  “‘Good morning, Senor Wilson,’ came his reply. ‘I hope your first night’s stay in Diablo’s Tower wasn’t too uncomfortable.’

  “‘Oh, it was a delight,’ I said sarcastically. ‘Just like a stay in any four star hotel.’

  “He laughed.

  “I was eager to ask him about the screams I heard during the night, and I did so.

  “‘Oh, those.’ he said, nonchalantly. ‘You will soon come to accept them, Senor; they are part of the tower itself. You see, these walls have a very dark memory hidden within them. Diablo’s Tower has been used over the centuries by many bad men. Evil men. Much torture and abuse has been conducted here and that pain and anger still lingers, much like a nightmare that one can never rid himself of.’

  “‘Just what I needed,’ I thought to myself. ‘On top of everything else, I had to be held captive in a haunted tower.’

  “I suddenly felt hungry for the first time in a long while. I reached down and picked up the small back- pack the men had left behind. There was jug of water inside as well as a number of brown tortillas wrapped in green palm leaves. I started munching on one, then thought of Carlos. I offered to share my meager rations with him, but to my surprise, he declined. He told me that it would be virtually impossible for him to receive the nourishment since he was chained ever so tightly against the wall, and besides, he no longer felt the pangs of hunger that haunted him for so long in the beginning.

  “At hearing this, I was in fear for my new friend’s life. Losing one’s desire to eat is a sure sign of giving up. All that day, I did my best to raise his spirits and I assured him that upon my release, I would do everything in my power to secure his also. He thanked me in a voice choked with emotion and, for whatever reason, I didn’t hear from him again until the next day.

  * * * *

  “Since I could do nothing else, a large portion of my day was spent staring out my window. I became obsessed with watching the old tree, for I was convinced that there was an unholy quality to it. Now, in the light of day, I could see more clearly and I noticed a number of white objects strewn just below the tree, scattered and lodged behind jutting rocks and boulders. I squinted but was unable to discern exactly their true nature. The whole of the day passed slowly by, and once agai
n I found myself facing another night of nerve wracking screams from the tower’s ghosts. I did, however, fare a little better this night, knowing what I was up against, but after the racket had ended I was again drawn to the window because of a different sound coming from outside.

  “The moon was shining in its full radiance once again and I could see very clearly. When I looked toward the tree, much to my horror, I saw a thing backing its way out of the nest. I looked on with utter dread and fascination as the creature turned and flung what appeared to be a body over the side. I could see, for only a brief few moments, the arms and legs of whatever it was flailing lifelessly in the air as it dropped from the tree and landed with a thud on a large boulder far down below. My eyes turned back to the creature and got a very good look at what I can only describe as some type of demon. I have seen its form before, but it took a few moments to register in my mind. Finally I understood. It was a Praying Mantis! Yes! That’s it, a Praying Mantis! But the thing, in a disgusting way, was also part human. I could see that its upper body, torso, and arms were like a powerfully built man but the rest of its body was bug-like. Its head and face resembled a man but with one exception… it contained two bulbous yellow eyes, which seemed to phosphoresce in the moonlight giving it a most diabolical appearance.

  “In my fright, I must have exhaled or gasped too loudly because the thing suddenly turned its attention toward the window. A shiver ran through me as I took a few steps back, hoping that I remained undiscovered, but as I did I could hear a buzzing sound. A few seconds later the thing was clinging to the outer wall of the tower and staring in at me!

  “I stared back in abject horror. A strange clicking sound emanated from the creature’s throat and it reached its powerful arms between the bars, attempting to grab me. I backed up against the far wall in a kind of shock. It stared at me with its vile pus-like eyes, then smiled. Its teeth were pointy and thin and seemed to crisscross in every direction like pick-up sticks tossed to the floor.

  “As if my horror couldn’t be heightened any further, the creature said in a loud and inhuman voice, ‘FEED! FEED!’ I could feel the blood run cold in my veins. The strength of the creature was astounding, for it proceeded to pull one of the bars from the window, but to my relief, the others held firm. The thing was not going to be deterred, however, as it began scraping away the mortar surrounding the bars with one of its sharp claws. For some inexplicable reason, for I’m not courageous in the least, I made a quick movement toward the window, hoping to shoo the thing away, but it lunged at me through the bars with an angry hiss that sent me trembling back against the wall once again. I watched helplessly for more than an hour while the creature made progress at scraping away the mortar. Suddenly, it turned its head and looked back over its shoulder. A second later I could hear the buzz of its wings as it flew back to the safety of its nest. I stepped up cautiously to the window and looked out. I could just see its tail end passing through the nest. I noticed something else that was very telling… the sun was rising.

  * * * *

  “I awoke a few hours later by the sound of Carlos calling my name. I opened my eyes to a depressing sight. I was hoping that it had all just been a bad dream but I looked to the window and my heart sank. Only three bars remained. I walked over and immediately saw that the mortar had been thoroughly gouged out in deep pockets around the remaining bars. I told Carlos my tale but he only laughed and dismissed it as a nightmare. It was useless to argue the point, so I settled in for another long day of chatting with Carlos, napping and staring out my window.

  “That night, my nightmare, as Carlos called it, continued. I was lying quietly on my bed when I heard that same disturbing flutter of wings that sent my heart pounding. The creature alighted once again outside my window and continued with its abhorrent scraping and the incessant ‘FEED! FEED!’ intoned under its breath. I felt as though I were going mad since there was nothing I could do to better my situation. Another bar broke free from the window and the thing let out an evil laugh at his accomplishment. Hour after hour, it continued on with its scraping until once again the sun began to rise. It looked back and let out a loud cry of exasperation and with one mighty tug, another of the bars broke free with a resounding metallic snap! I could see the delight on its face as it turned and flew back to its nest. I was relieved to see it gone but I was deadly certain that, the following night, the creature would enter my cell.

  * * * *

  “As you can well understand, I was completely exhausted and at my wits end. I contemplated my situation all that morning and concluded that I didn’t much care for being eaten alive. But I had no real options left to me. I had no weapons to defend myself against the inevitable attack that would come this very night and I had no chance against the creatures overwhelming strength. No, I could only do one thing. I reached down and picked up the twine from the hay bale and twisted it into a kind of rope. I walked over to the bars on the cell.

  “I heard a door open from below. The sound was followed by a set of feet shuffling their way up the long winding staircase. The wooden door flung open and my captors stepped through with large grins on their faces. ‘You are free to go, Senior. Your company has paid well for you and we will now keep our word.’ With that, his partner undid the padlock and the door swung open. I stepped out of the cell with tears running down my cheeks. ‘What about my friend Carlos?’ I said. ‘Hasn’t the poor man suffered enough?’

  “The two men looked at each other as though I was quite insane and I stepped to the front of Carlos’ cell.

  “‘Carlos, I’m free,’ I yelled out, ‘and I’m going to see to it that…’

  “My face went white and I was reduced to utter silence, because before me, in the back of the cell, chained to the wall, was my friend Carlos. A mere skeleton!

  * * * *

  “You might think that my tale would end there, but you would be wrong. I ask you to please be patient, for there is a little more to my story and I think you will be quite surprised by how it all ends.

  “I returned to Mancora and submitted my bizarre account to the magazine. A few days later I received a reply from my editor. He didn’t chastise me at all for my costing them thousands of dollars in ransom money; in fact, for whatever reason, he never even brought it up. His only concern was with the story I sent him. ‘They’ll never buy it!’ he wrote. ‘Try again, and this time, make it more believable!’ I laughed for hours after reading that telegram. This, from the same magazine that had an exclusive interview with the Yeti Snowman in this month’s edition! I could have submitted a revision but I was adamant. My tale really happened the way

  I wrote it and I would not budge an inch on changing any of its details.

  “In the end, I sent them something entirely different that seemed to appease them, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get the Devil’s Tower out of my mind. It haunted my waking hours and my night time dreams and, as a result, I soon became a frazzled shell of a man. I was extremely depressed, not able to sleep or eat, and there was, of course, the enormous amount of tequila that I was consuming on a daily basis just to dull the anxiety. I woke up one day after riding a three-day bender and I knew something just had to change. I needed to get this behind me, pure and simple, otherwise I would go mad. That meant nothing less than exacting my revenge upon the creature.

  “The next morning I was on the first train headed back to Palo; only this time, I took along with me a very capable friend. Its name… Smith & Wesson.

  * * * *

  “Upon arrival at Palo, I immediately rented a horse and set out for Devil’s Tower. I didn’t linger in town this time, for I was a man possessed with one mission in life: To kill the creature that insisted upon haunting my very soul.

  Hours later, I arrived at the tower and my heart was pounding so hard that I was

  certain I would pass out at any moment. I pulled a camera from my backpack and took a few photos of the tower. I decided earlier that I might write a book on my experiences,
provided of course, I got back alive. I grabbed a long coil of rope from one of the saddle bags and proceeded on foot to the rear of the tower. As I rounded the building, I stopped and stared in wonder at the old tree growing out of the rock wall. I never had seen it this close before and it looked quite magnificent in the daylight.

  “Wasting no time, I tied off one end of the rope around a large boulder and tossed the rest of the coil over the side. I shimmied my way down the rope until I came to a thick limb that grew close to the rock wall. I hopped easily onto the limb, tied off my rope and started to climb toward the nest. As I glanced down, my eyes happened to fall upon patches of sun-bleached bones strewn across the rock wall. At that moment, it occurred to me that the white objects I wasn’t able to discern from the darkened tower were actually human bones! I shuddered at the thought, but continued my climb.

  “My ascent was easy enough because of the many limbs so closely grouped together, only, my heart was beating so loud in my own ears that I thought the noise would be enough to give me away. I finally reached the opening of the nest. I knew this because I could smell a foul stench emanating directly above. I pulled myself up slowly and cautiously, just far enough where I could get a momentary peek into the entrance. I suddenly felt unnerved. It may sound foolish, but because of my obsession and my hasty desire to kill the beast, I really didn’t have a well thought out plan as to how I would actually accomplish the task once I got there. Would I just shoot into the darkness of the nest hoping that one of my six bullets would find their mark? And if they didn’t, what then?