Dirt fell like sand from the tops of the skeletal heads as they rose further. Jason could now see their mouths and jaws, which were rapidly opening, and closing like sets of chattering teeth, but there was nothing comical about those mouths. They had seemed to be hungry for something or someone and Jason was certain he was the subject of their cannibalistic desires.
Worms crawled from the hollow eye sockets and at one point Jason saw a long slithering snake try to work its way past the snapping jaws. Razor sharp teeth severed the snake's head and a sickening green goop poured from its decapitated body, which fell back inside the skeleton's mouth. Then Jason saw the two heads once again slowly begin to sink back down into the earth and felt an even stronger tugging on his ankles.
He looked at his feet and saw they were beginning to follow the sinking skulls down into the soft earth. He realized he was being pulled into the ground by the impossibly reanimated undead remains of Dwight and Marie Livingston. Soon he would be joining them deep in the cold earth where he would spend eternity among the rotting corpses.
The sledgehammer came down with a crash easily shattering the gravestones into several smaller pieces. Jason stopped for a moment looking around and then down at his feet certain something bad was about to happen. He could not recall the waking nightmare he had just experienced, but by the cold sensation he felt flowing throughout his body and the way the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, he knew something must be wrong. Jason looked all around him as if anticipating something to happen but nothing did. The sun continued to shine, the air was still and he could hear birds chirping in the nearby trees. So, he reluctantly and with a degree of caution continued with his work.
He repeated the smashing process for the remainder of the stones, including those of the two boys. Then he leaned both Dwight and Marie's tombstones on the accumulated pile of broken markers and proceeded to break them up beyond recognition as well. When they were all shattered to bits, he shoveled the broken pieces into the large hole he had dug. The he covered them with soil, refilling the hole.
As he stepped back to check out his work, he couldn't help but notice how the mound of dirt looked uncomfortably like a freshly dug grave. Fortunately, he had planned ahead, and had kept the upper layer of topsoil, which he had removed in clumps that were held together by weeds and plants. He tamped down the mound with the back of the shovel then replaced the clumps of weedy soil on top. Jason was pleased with his work. Even from his close proximity, he found it difficult to see where he had buried the stones. He suspected, by the time he and his family moved onto the property, more weeds and grass would spring up making it completely indiscernible from the rest of the ground. Maybe if he did a good enough job, he wouldn't be able to find the spot himself, although he somehow suspected he might never be fortunate enough to forget its location.
With his work finished, he wiped the sweat from his brow, brushed the dust from his jeans and prepared to clean and return all the equipment to the barn. Then he planned to go into the house, shower and change into office clothes, in preparation for his return trip home. First, he would complete the planned circle of the property just to make certain there were no more stones anywhere.
He realized he would have some time to kill so he decided taking a trip to see H. Mason Armstrong might be in order. It was time he and the lawyer set some ground rules about the property. Just thinking about the man, made Jason's anger begin to rise once more. He hoped he could control his temper when he spoke to the lawyer face to face.
As he placed the last tool in the cart and was getting ready to start the tractor, his cell phone rang. He looked down at the caller ID and saw it was Stephanie. He took a moment to compose himself and to be ready for any questions she might have regarding his supposed business trip. Then he pressed the answer button.
"Hey, Steph," Jason said. "What's up?"
She replied with a troubled tone in her voice. "Oh, Jason. I'm so sorry to bother you at work, but I had to call you."
"Is everything alright, you sound worried?" Jason asked.
"Yes...well no...not exactly," Stephanie replied. Then she hesitated for a moment and noted, "Jason, it sounds like you are outside."
Thinking quickly, Jason said, surprising himself with how easily he could come up with a lie, "Um...well, yes...I am. I was walking through the shop when I felt my phone vibrate. It was much too noisy in there, so I walked outside so I could hear you better. Plus I suspect the cell reception is much better out here than inside. Anyway, that's not important. What's the matter?"
She said without preamble, "I had an upsetting call this morning...from Mason Armstrong's office."
Jason thought silently, "Oh, great. That damned lawyer called to rat me out already, before I even had a chance to talk to him." Then with a tone of frustration Jason asked, "Well...what did he want? I thought everything we had to do with him was taken care of." Jason thought about how less than an hour earlier he had seen the man standing staring at him from the spot where he found the Livingston's headstones. He was trying to prepare himself for whatever was to come next. He suspected, depending upon what Armstrong had told her, he might have to come clean about where he actually was and perhaps even what he was doing.
"It wasn't Mason that called Jason." Stephanie explained, "It was his secretary, a woman named Mrs. Flannery."
"Mrs. Flannery? His secretary? What? I don't understand." He as a bit confused as he was unaware the lawyer had a secretary. "What...what did she want?" he questioned.
Stephanie hesitated for a moment then exclaimed, her voice breaking, "He's dead, Jason. Mason's dead."
Struck with shock and disbelief, Jason asked, "Dead? What do you mean he's dead? I just...." He stopped himself just short of blurting out how he just saw the lawyer that very morning, but luckily, he managed to catch himself. "I...just...can't believe it...I mean when, how...what happened?"
"Mrs. Flannery said he must have been working late on Sunday evening, and he apparently had a massive heart attack. She found him in his office dead in his chair, when she reported for work Monday morning. It must have been horrible. His computer was still turned on. She could hardly talk about it," Stephanie explained.
Jason stood shocked unable to reply at first. He would have sworn under oath in a court of law that he had seen the lawyer standing in his field, but now he knew it was impossible. Who had it been? Who had been standing out there staring at him? He was certain it was Armstrong. But then again, he had been certain he had walked through a strange gelatinous transparent barrier earlier when approaching the graveyard. But then he later found it had not actually been there. And now that he thought about it, hadn’t he been feeling a bit strange and perhaps out of sorts all morning? Maybe he was coming down with some sort of spring flu or something. The more the thought, the more he was beginning to believe it must be so.
“Jason? Honey, are you still there?” Stephanie asked from the cell phone. Jason realized he had been standing for a few moments and had not said a word.
“Um…yes…I’m…I'm...h...h...here..." he stammered. "I'm sorry, Steph... This just all caught me...you know...by surprise, is all. "
She replied, "I know exactly what you mean. I probably wouldn't have even bothered you and would have waited until you got home but...well, I guess I needed to hear your voice and know everything was ok...you know what I mean? I guess it’s just all so disturbing for me."
He understood completely. She was fifty miles away and alone with the baby trying to deal with all of the latest life changing events. Then to have her stress compounded with the news of the lawyer's death. He knew what she needed. She needed her husband. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was almost 1:00 pm. He said, "Look, Steph. I'm almost finished here. I'm going to wrap things up and head right home a little early. Whatever is left can wait until another day. I should be home by two thirty or so."
"Oh, Jason, you are so sweet. But I really didn't mean to mess up your work schedule today
. Look, why don't you just finish your day, and I will see you around five. I'll be ok, I'm sure."
He replied, "I'm sure you would be fine, but I think I really want to come home to be with you. Also, to be honest, I have not been feeling like myself all morning. I feel like I might be coming down with some sort of flu or bug or something. My head is feeling really heavy and strange, you know, like right before you get sick. I may just be tired or stressed and need to rest. There has been an awful lot going on in the past week. Anyway, I'm going to head home shortly and if I still feel this bad tomorrow we'll cancel our shopping plans and just take it easy for a day."
"Ok, I suppose. Just please be careful driving home, especially if you're not feeling well," she encouraged.
"Don't worry, Steph. I promise I will and I'll tell you what. I'll give you a few calls along the way so you'll know I'm fine. Deal?"
"Deal," she said reluctantly. "Love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart. And I'll see you shortly," Jason replied.
Jason quickly completed his circle of the property but didn't find any more graveyards or tombstones. Then he put his yard equipment away in the barn and walked back to the house where he informed the security company workers he had to leave on a family emergency. The owner had stopped back to check on their progress and was still there when Jason returned to the house. He said they were on schedule and would have the system completed by the end of the day.
They agreed they would stop back on Saturday afternoon to show Jason and Stephanie how the system functioned and give them a brief training session. Jason had already planned on telling Stephanie he had contacted the firm and gave them access to the house, but he would not say that he had been present. Then he thought of something else.
"And Bob?" Jason asked the owner of the security company. "Could you or whichever of your workers comes back on Saturday for the training not mention I was here today? I wanted this to be a surprise and if I told my wife I was up here today without her, surprise or not, she would have a fit. She is dying to come up here to see the house again. So unless you want me be spending more time in the doghouse than in this house, I would appreciate you not saying anything."
"Not a problem, Mr. Wright," Bob said. "In fact, I will be sending someone up on Saturday who isn't even here today, so he won't have any prior knowledge of today's events whatsoever. We have a gentleman who specializes in customer training. In fact, he is out doing several training sessions today. "
"That will be perfect," Jason said with satisfaction. "Thank you so much for everything, for getting here so quickly and for doing such an excellent job."
Bob replied, "It was our pleasure. And thank you for your business. If you don't mind, I would like to leave you a few brochures with information about all the security based services we offer."
"Absolutely," Jason said, "And for now, just leave the security system inactive. We will activate it on Saturday when your man arrives for the training." Although Jason still wanted the house protected by the system at some point soon, he felt now that Armstrong was out of the picture that was one less problem he had to contend with. The lawyer would likely be too busy knocking on the pearly gates to have time to prowl around their property any longer.
Jason got in his car, which he had left parked in the driveway in front of one of the garage bays and looped around the fountain to head down the driveway and home. As he passed the front of the house, he thought he saw someone at the end of the field near the woods, but when he stopped the car and looked in that direction again, no one was there. The chill returned to creep with icy claws once again down Jason's back and his stomach began to knot. He could see plainly that no one was there, but for a moment, just for the briefest of moments, he thought he had impossibly seen the dead lawyer standing and watching him from the place where he had buried the broken gravestones. The man seemed to have been staring vacantly with lost and mournful eyes.
Chapter 22
On a bright sunny morning near the end of June, Stephanie woke up feeling especially contented. The sun was streaming in though the wall of windows in the master bedroom and the day had showed potential of being a good one. The recently redecorated room was bright and pleasant in direct contrast to the dark conditions, which had originally defined the space. Likewise, gone were the gloomy antique furnishings, replaced with a brand new bedroom ensemble.
She looked over at the clock on her nightstand. Since moving to the new house, she had replaced her former alarm clock with its overly bright eerie blue glow and had purchased one with a more subdued crimson display. She couldn't recall what it was about the blue lighting that bothered her so much, but she knew she had to get rid of it.
Looking at the display, she saw it was still quite early, only 7:30. Jason had already left for work but by the lack of sound in the house, she could tell the kids were still sleeping. Jeremy and Sammy’s rooms were windowless, as any windows would have only looked out into the atrium. She and Jason were considering a modification to add such windows at some point in the future. She looked at the clock again and sighed, knowing it wouldn't be long until Sammy began to stir and then the other kids would surely follow.
After lying in bed and basking in the glorious silence for a few heavenly moments longer, Stephanie decided to get up and shower so she would be ready when it came time to corral the kids and get them ready to go. She wanted to make a trip into Ashton to the grocery store. They had made a family shopping trip about two weeks earlier, but it was way past time to make another, as the cupboards were getting bare. Jason had kept them in staples by making quick stops periodically on his way home from work. His plant was only about a quarter of a mile from the local supermarket.
And although she did appreciate him stopping and getting whatever they required, he had been working long hours and many weekends trying to get up to speed in his new job and Stephanie hated to ask him. Plus, she really wanted to get out and explore the area at a slower and more relaxed pace. Although there was not much in the line of shopping in town, there were a few scattered stores and restaurants, which she had never taken the opportunity to investigate. She knew Jeremy might complain a bit at first but once she told them they would be going out for breakfast at Maggie's Restaurant before heading down to the supermarket; she assumed he would come around.
Jeremy had eaten there once on a father and son outing with Jason shortly after they moved into the house and had come home praising the pancakes, sausage and hash browns he enjoyed for breakfast. Since that time they had never found the opportunity to return, so it looked like today might be as good a time as any. Neither she nor Cindy had ever had the pleasure of dining at Maggie's and although she was not normally a big breakfast eater, she looked forward to checking out the place.
Then she planned to drive around town for a bit to get a feel for the local color before heading to the grocery store located at the lower end of town. She decided to make it her last stop so she wouldn't have to worry about the perishable items spoiling before getting them into her refrigerator. She figured she could get everything done and be home by lunch. The day looked like a promising one weather-wise, so she and the kids would likely want to spend the afternoon in the pool.
She had finally started working on her children's book again, but lately found it difficult to find the time. She did what she could when she was able, but with Jason’s schedule, it was often difficult to be alone long enough to do so. The important thing was she was making progress.
An hour or so later the kids were all awake, dressed and loaded into the van, and they were heading to Ashton for breakfast. As they approached the town, Stephanie realized something she knew Jason had once told her but she hadn't paid much attention to previously, which was that Ashton had something of an unusual appearance.
The town itself was situated along the side of a continuously climbing hill. The main street in town was known as Centre Street and ran from it eastern end at the bottom of the hill to its far western e
nd at the top for a distance of about a mile or so. At the western side, located at the crest of the hill was Maggie’s Restaurant, which occupied a corner building formed from what were once two wood-framed row houses. The town was made up of hundreds of similar two and three story structures ranging from eleven to twenty feet wide; left over remnants from the turn of the twentieth century days when coal companies built the original structures to accommodate their employees, most of whom were European immigrants. Stephanie learned they had once been called “company houses” for that very reason.
As they stood in front of the restaurant, Stephanie noticed for the first time a sign at the intersection of Centre Street and another perpendicular road reading “Cantrania 3”. She had heard of that town before. In fact it had made national news because of a mine fire which had been burning beneath it since the nineteen sixties. She had forgotten it was so close to Ashton. As she recalled, the entire town had to be demolished because of the unsafe conditions the fire had caused. Stephanie had read one article about a boy who fell into a sinkhole in his back yard and would have died had he not been able to grab onto some tree roots and pull himself free. This was the first time the fire made the news in a big way and put the town in to the national spotlight. She believed she had read that later, other homes became uninhabitable due to lethal mine gas. She decided if they had time today, maybe she and the kids would take a trip to Cantrania to see what the place looked like now.
On the large front window of the building where they stood was a sign whose letters were worn but still legible, spelling out “MAGGIE’S RESTAURANT”. Inside the restaurant, a group of apparently regular patrons sat eating breakfast while engaging in boisterous conversations. In Ashton, it was typical for conversations not only to take place among people at adjacent tables, but apparently shouting across the entire restaurant was acceptable as well. This was a tightly knit community of people, who had known each other for many years. Stephanie could feel the closeness of familiarity in the air.
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