Rogue's Hollow

by Jan Tilley

  As she waved back at them, Travis knew that it wasn’t a hoax. He’d never seen a ghost before and sat dumbfounded, unable to move. He just kept repeating, “Holy shit, Holy shit,” over and over.

  Malachi nodded, glad that he’d taken time to visit with Maggie, and happy that he’d shown Travis it’s not all tricks and cryptics in Rogue’s Hollow. Firing Rosie up, he headed for home, as Travis sat next to him with his mouth hanging open, in shock.

  He pulled around back of the store and parked. As he exited the truck, Travis sat glued to the seat, unable to move. Malachi laughed, snapping him out of his trance-like state, and said, “Come on, son. We’ve got work to do!”

  Travis opened the door and helped grab the branches from the back of the truck. Finally, he brushed the hair from his face, looked at Malachi, and asked, “Did that seriously just happen?”

  Laughing, he nodded, grateful that Travis realized the magic this old hollow possessed. “Maggie means no harm. She’s just a little girl, misplaced.”

  They laid the wood in a pile by the bench and made their way indoors. With concern, Malachi scrutinized Travis’s face. “How you feeling, son?”

  He shrugged, trying to be tough. “Sore, but I’m okay.”

  Malachi grabbed the bottle from the cupboard and placed two more ibuprofen in Travis’s hand along with a cold can of Coke. The young man quickly downed the pills.

  With a heaping plate of chocolate chip cookies, Malachi sat down at the table. “Help yourself, Travis.”

  Grabbing a cookie, he said, “I’m gonna eat you out of house and home. That’s what my mom always says.”

  Trying to ease his concern, Malachi picked up a cookie, and said, “It’s all good. The more you eat the less I have to.” He winked as he took a big bite and then washed the cookie down with a gulp of milk

  Slowly, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, sat back and grinned. “Okay, now down to business. It’s payback time!”

  Eight

  The plans were set and the cryptics were in place. Malachi was busy feeding ash concoction to his Angel’s Trumpet bush when he received the phone call he’d been waiting for. It was Travis and he simply said, “Headed your way.” Malachi knew what he meant. He locked up the store and gathered his things. It was time to give Junior Barnett a taste of his own medicine.

  Anticipation grew as Malachi waited at the bridge. They’d worked for two weeks preparing for this night. He knew how important this was to Travis. If they could pull it off, Junior just might be a changed person, maybe a tad more humble. It was time that he showed Travis the respect he deserved.

  Malachi peered through his binoculars and watched closely as the gray Grand Prix pulled up to the bridge. He held his breath as the young men stepped out of the car. Travis had been successful and gotten Junior out of town, alone.

  Music blared from the open windows for the first five minutes. Finally, Travis told Junior to turn it down, he said that he’d heard something. It was almost dark, on a crisp September evening. Junior smoked his cigarette and remained calm as he turned the music off.

  Travis attempted to build up the hype. “You know it’s the anniversary of the crash and I’ve heard that the baby has been more active lately.”

  Junior laughed and swigged down the rest of his beer. “Travis, you’re a pussy.”

  Just then, they heard something and Travis jumped on it. “What the hell was that?”

  Junior grabbed a flashlight from the trunk of his car, and aimed it upstream where the sound came from. It was eerily quiet as the anticipation built. Finally, Junior turned to Travis and laughed. “See, told you that you’re nothin’ but a pussy.”

  As he tossed the flashlight back into his trunk, the unmistakable sound of a baby crying echoed towards them. Travis rushed to the side of the bridge. “Did you hear that, dick-wad?”

  Junior reached back in to retrieve the flashlight, and replied, “Fuck, yeah. I heard that. What the hell was it?”

  “Sounded like a baby crying to me.”

  Junior began to grin. “Holy shit. We just heard the damn ghost baby. That was awesome. Where’d it come from?”

  This was not the reaction that Travis had hoped for. Junior seemed intrigued, more than scared. Travis pointed upstream. “I think it came from that direction.”

  Junior pointed his flashlight toward the water. “Do you think it was a coyote or a dog, or something?”

  Shaking his shaggy brown hair with curls flopping everywhere, wide-eyed Travis replied, “That was no damn dog, Junior.”

  Travis stood on the passenger side of the car as Junior edged closer and closer to the side of the bridge. Shining his flashlight in the direction of the cries, he squinted, searching for a sign of the ghost baby.

  Another faint cry filtered through the warbling creek noises and once again was greeted by Junior with enthusiasm. He heard a rustling noise in the leaves upstream and whispered, “Shit, something’s out there.”

  It was at that moment that Malachi released a baby doll, splattered with red paint and tangled in branches and creek scum into the cold water. The baby bobbed and floated downstream straight in the direction of the parked car.

  Junior saw something up ahead. “What the fuck is that?”

  Travis shrugged with a look of terror on his face. He did his best acting job, trying to be believably scared. “Dude, I think we should go. Seriously, this is freaky.”

  Junior tried to be tough, but Travis could see him beginning to break. This was it… it was go time. Travis started to freak out. “Oh, shit man. Let’s get the hell outta here. Something’s really out there and I don’t wanna just sit here waiting for it to find us.”

  “Shh! What is that?” Junior edged closer, trying to get a good view of what it was in the creek. He was a bad-ass and wasn’t easily intimidated.

  The baby doll got hung up on a large branch about fifty yards away. Junior wasn’t giving up. Slowly, he made his way to the edge of the bridge and began creeping down the bank of the creek. Keeping his flashlight fixated on the baby, he gradually got closer and closer. Travis heard him say, “Shit man, that’s blood.”

  By the time Junior realized that it was a baby in the water, Travis was gone. He had sprinted down the road, getting into position for scare number two. Panting, he grabbed the rope and hid in the bushes.

  He snickered under his breath as he heard Junior yelling for him. “Travis, you pussy. Where the fuck are you?”

  Panic began to creep up on Junior as made his way back to the car. He scratched his head as he tried to process what was happening. Did Travis just run off, or did something get him? He looked under the car, in the backseat and even inside the trunk. Travis was nowhere to be found. Junior screamed out, “This isn’t funny!”

  Looking back over his shoulder, he saw that the baby had freed itself from the snarl of branches and was headed straight for him. In his mind, he tried to rationalize it. “This can’t be real.” But, the adrenaline rush was too much and he began to panic.

  As the baby came closer and closer, bobbing ominously in the cold water, he heard the cries again. Without hesitation, Junior fired up his car and peeled out, trying to get as far away from that baby as he could. There was no way he was just going to sit there, alone and wait for it to get to him. What if it was real, then he’d be screwed. His heart raced as the adrenaline surged through his body.

  As he rounded Witch’s Bend, Travis released a life-sized woman dummy from a tree branch that hung out over the road. He held onto the rope and dropped her down until she stood directly in Junior’s path. Her long hair hung hauntingly around her ashen face, as the long white nightgown splattered with red paint dragged on the ground.

  Junior came racing around the corner incredibly fast. When he saw the body, he freaked out, whipping the wheel hard. He fishtailed back and forth across the gravel road several times. He had no control over the vehicle when he crashed head on into a large sycamore tree. The sound of crushing metal and breaking glass
was horrendous. It looked like the car exploded into a million pieces. It all happened so fast.

  Travis dropped the rope and grabbed his mouth in horror of what he’d just witnessed. He stood motionless for a few seconds, then rushed up the road to the car. Smoke billowed into the night sky as a tree dissected the entire front end of Junior’s car. Travis felt the crunch of a million pieces of shattered glass under feet as he frantically searched for Junior. There was no one in the car.

  Travis began to hear moaning that drew his attention five or six yards into the woods. It was a horrible sound. He walked methodically through the thicket in the direction of the guttural droning noise. Finally, he came upon him, lying in a bloody heap. Junior had been thrown through the windshield and now lay on the forest floor in a tangled mess.

  Travis rushed to his side and called his name. Junior was completely out of it. His face was slashed and bloody. It took him a minute to focus. He looked up at Travis and mumbled, “What the fuck happened, man?”

  Travis had never seen anything so horrific before. Junior’s limbs were twisted in directions they shouldn’t be going and the gashes on his face and arms were so deep. Too deep. There was a bone sticking out of his left leg and so much blood. Inside stuff was outside of his body. Stuff that should never be outside of the body. Travis felt overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do.

  Confused, Travis knelt down and tried to figure out how he could help him. “I’m so sorry. It was just a stupid joke. You weren’t supposed to run into the tree.”

  Junior’s head bobbed back and forth as he tried to focus on Travis’s face. “What? What? You did this?” He tried to sit up, but fell back to the ground, screaming in excruciating pain. As he did, hundreds of small pieces of glass fell off his clothes onto the leaves. Moonlight caught them and they shimmered like diamonds. He slammed his fist into the ground and began ranting. Junior never had an emotion that didn’t involve a rant of some sort. The initial shock from the accident began to wear off and Junior went ballistic. “You dumb mother-fucker. You broke my leg and you ruined my fucking car. I’m gonna kill you.” Junior started to crawl closer to Travis.

  Travis tried to calm him down. “Don’t get up, Junior. I’ll get you some help. I didn’t mean it. You’re hurt pretty bad.”

  He made another attempt to sit up, but the pain was too much and it threw him down onto his back. He looked at Travis with blood dripping down his face. He smiled a sick twisted smile and began picking small pieces of glass out of his face. He threw the chunks of glass at Travis’s face, and said, “You’re the one who’s gonna need help. You’re worthless. Why were you even born?”

  Travis took a deep breath, almost in agreement with Junior’s words. “I said I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry. You think that makes it okay? You really are an ignorant son-of-a-bitch. You should have been the one to die, not your sister.”

  “Shut the fuck up, man.”

  Junior spat a mouthful of blood at Travis’s face and glared at him. “I’m gonna kick your ass. Then I’m gonna beat the shit outta your mama when I’m done with you, just for raising such a dumb, mother-fucker like you.”

  His jaw tightened and anger began to fester in Travis. After years of torture and abuse from this kid, he’d had enough. Something deep within him snapped.

  He stood up and clenched his fists. Rage boiled in his blood. Without even thinking, he picked up a nearby log and began to wail on Junior. He started beating him upside the head. Hitting him over and over again. Blood splattered across his face as the log crushed into his flesh. His mouth was split open and teeth flew into the leaves. Travis had lost all control as he vented years of pent-up anger. It felt like he was outside his body watching the scene unfold. There was a strange detachment as his mind went completely numb. Fury took over as he grunted and groaned with each powerful blow.

  Malachi rushed to the scene and immediately grabbed Travis from behind, knocking him to the ground. “Stop! What are you doing?”

  He pinned Travis down on the ground as he squirmed and fought to continue the battle. It took every ounce of energy that Malachi had to restrain him until the anger subsided. Travis kept fighting the earth as the battle raged inside him. Finally, exhausted he lay still, gasping for air.

  Malachi rolled over and sat up, looking at Junior’s twisted, bloody body lying in a heap. There was no movement.

  Travis remained, face down on the ground, panting, trying to control his breathing. When he sat up, he looked over at Junior and cried out, “Oh shit, man. What have I done?”

  Malachi crawled through the leaves on his hands and knees over to Junior and checked for a pulse. He turned to Travis and slowly shook his head.

  Travis held his head in his hands and began to cry. “What the fuck did I do? Oh, God, did I kill him? Did I do that? I’m gonna go to prison for sure.” He laid on his side in a fetal position, crying into his hands.

  Malachi tried to focus and sort it all out quickly in his head. There wasn’t much time to think. He pulled Travis’s hands away from his face, and sternly said, “You need to come with me. Now!”

  Travis could barely stand. His legs felt weak and he fought back the strong urge to puke.

  Picking up the bloody log, Malachi led Travis back to the truck. He threw the log into a trash bag in the back and said, “Get in.” Malachi rushed back, grabbed the dummy which was still lying in the middle of the road and threw that into the truck as well. He fired up the truck and quickly drove back to the mill.

  Opening the passenger side door, he looked Travis in the eye and said, “Listen to me very carefully. You go inside right now and lock yourself in the bathroom. Place all of your clothes in this trash bag and take a shower.”

  Travis looked at him with confusion. “What?”

  Malachi snapped at him, “Do as I say, quickly. Don’t come out and don’t speak to anyone! Do you understand me, Travis? Speak to no one!”

  He nodded, confused but obedient.

  Malachi grabbed the dummy and the bag from the back of the truck. He hid them under some tarps in the shed and then he went inside and called 9-1-1.

  When he arrived back at the crash site, he found Baxter there. As he got closer to the body, he could see Baxter licking the blood off Junior’s face. Malachi ran up to him, “No, Baxter. This is not the place for you. Shoo!” The beagle whimpered and ran off into the woods.

  Malachi was waiting with Junior when the ambulance arrived. Paramedics began to work on Junior. There was no pulse. A graying cop who introduced himself as Officer Fischer began questioning him. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that Malachi could tell him. “I’ve seen the kid around before. He’d come into my store occasionally and shoplift. Saturdays were his night to drink and cause problems here in the hollow.”

  Roberta stood nearby and was quick to chime in. “Damn kids, make quite a mess for us to clean up. Lucky he only hurt himself and didn’t hit someone else on this blind curve.” No sooner had the words come out of her mouth, she turned to Malachi with a look of regret on her face. “I’m sorry. That was horribly insensitive of me.”

  He nodded and put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. That was a long time ago.” Even though it had been more than thirty years, the pain felt like it was only yesterday. But, Malachi kept it private and well-hidden.

  Continuously clicking his ink pen, the officer appeared sympathetic to Malachi and everything that the neighbors had to deal with. “Did you ever turn the kid in for shoplifting?”

  Malachi shook his head. “Nah, I knew that if I did he’d have it in for me. I felt that my sanity was worth a few candy bars.”

  Fischer gently stroked his black mustache as he nodded in agreement. It was obvious from the striking black color of the mustache that Fischer had some help touching it up. There was not a speck of gray to be seen.

  He clicked his pen as Malachi told him how he’d heard the crash from the mill and rushed down. He found the kid off in the woods and moved him around
a bit, trying to see if he was still alive. When there was no response or pulse, he went straight back to his store and called for help. He then returned to the crash scene and waited with the boy for the ambulance to arrive. Malachi shook his head. “Poor kid, never did wake up. He’s quite a mess.”

  Officer Fischer nodded. “Yeah, slamming through a windshield at a high rate of speed, with a six-pack in your system, does a real number to a teenager’s face.” He sympathetically tried to comfort Malachi, “I’m sorry that you had to see that. We appreciate you trying to help him.”

  Malachi brushed straggling, gray hairs from his face, and nodded. “Just doing my civic duty, officer. I would hope that someone would do the same for me.”

  Fischer placed his notebook in his pocket and tucked in his loose shirt tail. “Unfortunately, in today’s world, I’m not too sure about that. It’s a pretty sad place out there.” Shaking Malachi’s hand, he said, “This is a pretty open and shut case here. From the look of all the beer cans in the backseat, I’d say he was pretty wasted. We’ll see what the toxicology report says. I appreciate your time folks. Sorry for the trouble.”

  “No trouble at all, Officer. I do feel bad for the kid.” Malachi stuck his hands into his jeans pockets and continued trying to sweet-talk to the man. “I bet it’s quite difficult to do your job. I give you a lot of credit and admire your dedication, sir.”

  Fischer smiled. “Why, thank you. It’s nice to be appreciated every now and then. It is a pretty thankless job, if I do say so myself. Been at it twenty-five years now. Retirement’s on the horizon and I can hardly wait. I’ve paid my dues.”

  Malachi grinned and nodded in agreement. Just then, the officer was called on to help a rookie cop. “Officer Fischer, can I see you for a moment.”

  He nodded. “Take care folks, and thanks for your time.”

  Malachi shook his hand again. “No problem, officer. Be careful out there.”