The Keeper of the Crows

by Kyle Alexander Romines

  “Tell me about it,” Keith said. “My dad actually bought one of those things.”

  A flock of students passing from the next bus into the school failed to deter the two bullies. Rather than coming to Salem’s defense, many of the other students started to watch.

  “Let me go,” Salem said. He made an effort to run to his left. Keith stuck his foot out, causing Salem to trip. Rick offered his hand to Salem but withdrew it as soon as the boy attempted to grab it.

  “My friends and I have some fun plans for you, Scarecrow,” Rick whispered, glancing at Logan Randall, who was eagerly watching them from within the throng of students.

  “That’s enough!” shouted an angry voice. Jezebel Woods made her way through the crowd, helping Salem pick up his books.

  “Come on,” Rick said. “We’re just having a bit of fun. Tell her, Scarecrow.”

  Jezebel’s eyes flashed with rage. Before Rick could react, she jumped up and slapped him hard across the face.

  “How dare you,” she snapped. “Don’t you ever call him that again.”

  “Jeez, what’s your problem?” Keith said. “Why do you always have to be such a spoilsport?”

  “When you stop trying to beat kids up, I won’t have to be,” she said. The two stared at each other for a moment, their faces both lined with rage. Keith finally backed down, turning and walking away. Rather than joining him, Rick Pepper sought out Logan Randall and Gary Davis, who were standing nearby.

  “You should get to class before the bell rings,” Jezebel said once Salem was back on his feet. “Are you OK?”

  “Yeah,” Salem replied. He rubbed the back of his head. “Jezzie?” he asked as she started to leave.

  “Yes?”

  “Would you like to come to my house tonight? My Aunt Cornelia left me by myself, and I don’t want to be alone for Halloween. I’m a little scared,” he whispered, checking to make sure no one else could hear him.

  The image of the tall teenager cowering at the idea of Halloween would have sounded absurd to her if Salem had not said it himself, but Jezebel thought she could see fear in his eyes. She looked down. If she had stood up for him more strongly before now, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be everywhere at once. The fact was that what Keith Sanders and Rick Pepper had done was considerably less serious than some of the other bullies. Zack Davidson, for example, locked Salem in the gym locker room after class three months ago. Salem screamed for two periods before someone let him out. There was no shortage of people lining up to pick on Salem.

  Just as Jezebel looked at Salem’s expectant gaze, she saw her friends approaching. They were looking at the two of them with strange expressions.

  “I’m sorry,” Jezebel said, trying not to notice the look of betrayal on his face. “I have other plans tonight.”

  She wasn’t lying, she thought to herself as she left to join her friends. After all, Jezebel did indeed have plans. She barely slept last night because she couldn’t stop thinking about the bonfire.

  “Hi,” Jezebel said to her friends when she reached her locker.

  “‘Jezzie?’” asked Katy Johnson, a slender African-American sophomore. Katy was slightly older than Jezebel, but both had been good friends for a long time. They shared a passion for soccer and track, although their school lacked a girls’ soccer team.

  “Yeah,” Victoria Kelsey added. The tall redhead crossed her arms. “What was up with that?”

  “Salem and I were friends when we were kids,” Jezebel said. “He still calls me by my old nickname, that’s all.”

  “Is that why you stood up for him?” Victoria asked skeptically. Jezebel could see Salem slinking away in the distance.

  “You know how I feel about bullying,” she said.

  “Jezebel, it’s Salem Alistair. He’s practically the definition of the word ‘creepy.’”

  “He’s not that bad,” Jezebel protested. She felt guilty. She remembered how sad Salem sounded when they were walking through the field.

  Katy looked bored with the subject of conversation. “Are you still going to help me study for the American History test during lunch break?” she asked.

  Jezebel laughed at the quick change in topic. She loved her friends, who could so easily sense when she was uncomfortable.

  “I don’t see how you can even think about studying,” Victoria said. “Not when we have tonight to look forward to. Tell me you’re not excited.”

  A freshman cheerleader, Victoria was the one who had managed to get the trio invited to the bonfire. Although Jezebel hadn’t known Victoria for long, she already seemed firmly a part of their group.

  “It’s going to be awesome,” Jezebel said. “I can’t wait.”

  “Who knows?” Katy teased. “Maybe you’ll run into Aaron Benton.”

  Jezebel tried not to blush. Aaron was an attractive older student who held the locker above her. Once more thinking about the party, Jezebel quickly forgot about Salem Alistair.

  Tonight is going to be a great night, she thought, grinning.

  ***

  The demon inside the cave was starving. For hundreds of years, the darkness waited, trapped in the cave. The shred of the demon’s consciousness had faded over time, until the settlers came. Their sacrifices stirred the darkness from its sleep. The darkness blessed the harvest and in turn fed off the settlers’ growing depravity. With each drop of blood they spilled, the being within the cave grew stronger. Its powers over the forest returned.

  Then, almost without warning, the sacrifices ceased. Even the demon’s most loyal worshipers were killed or driven away. The pagan practices and rituals faded into lore. The demon became hungry again.

  The darkness waited for so long. Sustaining itself on the lives of animals lured too far into the forest, the demon used its crows to strip them of their flesh, but even that was hardly enough. Most creatures feared the cave, preferring not to go near it. For a time, the demon almost gave up hope.

  Then Salem Alistair was born. His arrival awakened the spirit in the cave once more. Over the millions of years the darkness had roamed the earth, it had encountered many humans blessed with special gifts, including some far stronger than Salem. The boy could serve its purpose nonetheless.

  The demon’s own spirit was fragmented, unable to leave the cave or take physical form. It could not possess Salem or even touch him as long as he was able to resist its influence. And resist he did. Despite Salem’s mental impairments, the boy could sense that the darkness desired his abilities.

  Even now, Salem’s resolve showed no signs of deteriorating. The entity was hungry, and it was impatient. It would wait no longer. It would have Salem’s strength, one way or another. The demon would harness Salem and in doing so unleash a second great darkness over the town. A darkness that would finally give the Keeper of the Crows the power it needed to leave the cave.

  The demon was ready. All it needed was the right opportunity. The entity possessed eyes everywhere and knew all the pawns were in play. It was time. When the night fell to the dark, so would Salem Alistair.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The scarlet moon peeked out from behind a wall of black clouds, creating an ominous backdrop for Halloween night. A cold chill descended over Gray Hollow. Tendrils of fog slithered over dry patches of grass trodden by exuberant trick-or-treaters.

  Outside the town, the last vestiges of sunlight faded as the darkness grew. A flashy red car zipped out of the fog on a country road, gathering speed. The blaring music surging from the speeding car shattered the tranquility of the surrounding forest. The five occupants of the car shouted loudly, telling jokes while consuming beer after beer.

  Suddenly, a torrent of flashing lights appeared from the hill behind the car. The siren of the police car drowned out the screeching tunes as it approached them. The five boys in the car all seemed to notice the cop at the same time, which prompted an equally shocked reaction in each of them.

  Gary Davis swore loudly. �
�Hide the cans!”

  Scrambling to gather the aluminum cans covering the floorboards, the boys packed in the backseat worked at a furious pace while Logan Randall pulled over to the side of the road. The smell of the crisp air drifted into the car from the farms with freshly cut hay.

  “Everyone shut up,” Logan ordered as the police officer approached his car. He turned on the compartment light and quickly retrieved his license and insurance card.

  “Is there a reason you were going so fast?” the officer asked. The man seemed perturbed.

  “Just late to a party, that’s all. How fast was I going?” Logan asked, belatedly adding the word “sir.”

  “Fifteen miles over the speed limit,” the officer replied. Logan handed his license to the policeman, who shined a flashlight into his eyes. Logan blinked and held his hands out in front of his face.

  “You boys haven’t been drinking, have you?”

  “No sir,” Logan said. “We’re underage.” He could see Rick Pepper rolling his eyes in the rearview mirror and wanted to strangle him.

  “All right. Here’s your ticket,” the man said after a few minutes. “You can pay it in the court clerk’s office. You all be safe tonight. We’ve already had reports of underage drinking. We’ll be on the streets all night. Don’t let me catch you speeding again.”

  “Of course,” Logan said politely. He waited until the policeman returned to his vehicle. The red car roared back to life when he put the vehicle in gear and stepped on the gas pedal.

  “That was close,” Jeffrey Daniels said from the back seat. He grabbed a full aluminum can from underneath the blanket at his feet.

  “I’ll say,” Gary Davis added. “It’s a good thing he didn’t shine that light back here. Rick’s already had way too much to drink.”

  “I still haven’t had enough to think your mother is good looking, Davis,” Rick slurred. That prompted a barrage of laughter.

  Gary ignored the comment. “Look at the big man in the front,” he said. “Way to handle the situation. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say the word ‘sir’ to anyone before.”

  “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Logan replied. He was glad the cop hadn’t noticed the odor on his breath. “At least you didn’t get a speeding ticket. Look at how fast he sped away. It must be great to be able to go as fast as you want.”

  “Relax, my friend,” said the older boy sitting in the passenger seat. “My dad can take care of that ticket for you.” Logan’s friend, who was twenty-two, had purchased the drinks for the boys in the car.

  The car plowed through the thickening fog, heading farther out into the country. All the while, the moonlit sky grew darker still. Eventually, Logan turned the car onto a long gravel road in the middle of nowhere.

  “Are you all ready for this?” the boy in the passenger seat asked as the others put on their costumes. “As soon as we get to the house, we’re going in just like we planned.”

  “He might not even be home,” Jeffrey Daniels interrupted, clearing his throat. The others couldn’t see it in the shadows, but his eyes were full of concern. “Are we sure we want to do this?”

  “What are you talking about?” Gary asked. “This was partly your idea, Jeff. Besides, that freak needs to be taught a lesson.” He shook his head and pulled the skeleton mask down over his face.

  “Too bad we can’t do the same thing to Jezebel Woods,” Rick muttered. “Why anyone would stand up for that scrawny creep is beyond me.”

  Logan checked to make sure all of his friends were in costume before shutting off the lights and easing the vehicle into the driveway. Jeffrey considered protesting again, but the sight of the massive house took his breath away. In the moonlight, the old house really was scary. He could see why all the locals thought it was haunted. Vines crept up the house’s weathered exterior, which had been left largely untended after the deaths of Salem Alistair’s parents.

  Jeffrey thought back to his conversation with Salem from the previous day. The boy wasn’t at all what he expected. Jeffrey was starting to realize that the new ‘friends’ he made when he moved from Thistlewood might not be his type of people after all. Unfortunately, the timing of that realization couldn’t be worse.

  Logan parked the car next to a metal gate near the barn. As the five boys left the car behind, Jeffrey could see a scarecrow in the field. The sight caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end.

  Those things are a lot scarier at night, he thought to himself. None of the others said it aloud, but their hurried glances at the cornfield spoke volumes in a way their voices never could. Although the wind had died down, the stalks seemed to sway to and fro with life. Jeffrey half-expected to see a pair of eyes appear at any moment.

  Logan and Rick removed a sixth costume from the trunk. Both were having a hard time fighting back laughter. Plenty of planning went into the prank, and the fear added to the thrill pulsing through their veins. This was going to be a night to remember.

  “I’ll go in first,” Logan whispered, advancing toward the house. “Wait here for my signal. If the door is locked, I’ll just knock and wait for him to answer.”

  Unseen by the boys, a black crow landed on the tree next to the barn. The bird watched them with dark, unblinking eyes.

  Jeffrey prayed Salem remembered his words of warning. Steadily, Logan Randall advanced on the dark house. Only a few lights were on inside, and Salem’s aunt’s car was nowhere in sight. Salem was alone.

  The door was locked. Logan knocked on the door, the other boys waiting tensely for Salem Alistair to appear. Footsteps pounded down the stairs on the other side of the door. After a few moments, a light near the door went on.

  “Hello?” Salem called, hesitating to open the door.

  Logan knocked again.

  “Who is it?” He clearly wasn’t expecting any visitors.

  Logan swore silently and shook the door handle. It was no use. Salem wasn’t going to let them inside. From the window, Jeffrey could see Salem head toward the stairs. Then he heard a soft sound behind him, like the rustling of wings. The lock clicked. As the door swung open, the lights in the house went off.

  ***

  Salem stood in horror, unsure if the creature standing in the doorway was another vision or something real. Before he could run, he found himself surrounded on all sides by masked figures all dressed as gruesome monsters.

  “Stop it,” he cried, trying to get away. “Leave me alone!”

  “Get him,” one of the costumed figures hollered. The pain exploded in Salem’s head, leaving him too weak to struggle. These creatures weren’t from the evil in the forest. They were real. They could hurt him.

  They dragged him kicking and screaming from the house. Aside from the light of the moon, it was completely dark.

  “Who are you?” Salem asked as they started binding his arms with ropes. “Why are you doing this?” The words stuck in his throat. He was too terrified to speak.

  “What’s the matter?” asked someone wearing a pumpkin mask. “Are you scared, Scarecrow? Well guess what? The fun is just getting started!”

  The others howled with laughter. Salem could see them drinking out of shimmering cans, shouting and growing more violent with each second.

  ***

  Jeffrey felt increasingly uneasy. The others started kicking Salem while some threw cans at him. He wanted to say something but was afraid of what his friends would think. So he watched as Logan Randall and Rick Pepper forced the costume over Salem Alistair’s clothes. They had driven three counties away to find the perfect costume, and it looked strangely appropriate on Salem’s rail-thin frame.

  ***

  Salem was stuttering now, unable to form coherent sentences. All he could feel was fear. The thing in the woods was there somewhere, watching him. Waiting. He felt himself being dragged backward again, this time over rough ground. Suddenly he realized they were taking him to the cornfield.

  Salem looked around, his eyes wide with fear. Above him loomed
the scarecrow he placed on the pole that very morning. In the light of night, it looked truly terrifying. Salem tried to call on his gift to make the scarecrow move. Behind the boys, the scarecrow’s arm started to rotate, then stopped.

  Someone behind him pulled a sheet of cloth over his face. Salem peered through two eyeholes. A rope tied his arms, and he was inside some kind of costume of ragged clothes.

  “Do you know what you’re dressed as?” one of his tormentors asked, smiling through a black hood. “A scarecrow.” Grabbing new drinks, the other boys laughed again. Salem was filled with terror. He could hardly breathe in the mask. The more terrified he became, the shallower his breathing became. His asthma was beginning to act up, and there was no way to get to his inhaler.

  “Stop,” he tried to say as a rag was stuffed into his mouth.

  ***

  “I think he’s crying!” Rick Pepper said with a laugh. Jeffrey started to shake, unsure of how much longer he could handle this. He could tell that Gary Davis was no longer amused either. The other three, filled with anger and drink, seemed fine continuing. From above, the crow stared down with cruel eyes.

  ***

  Salem felt himself sliding in and out of consciousness. The shadow seemed to be growing around him, waiting to strike. He wanted to burst free of the ropes, to rage against the costumed figures who were hurting him. He found himself too weak. Despite their masks, Salem recognized their voices. They were the same voices of the people who bullied him every day at school. For the first time in his life, the boy felt hate.

  The cool air calmed him enough to slow his breathing down, and his eyes started to open again. Then he saw the shovel. The pointed metal dug down into the brown soil, unearthing layers of dirt. They were digging a hole. A hole for him. As the hole started deepening, Salem lost all control. He started panicking, thrashing around as hard as he could.

  The rag in Salem’s mouth muffled his screams, but his shaking still earned him a kick in the side from Logan Randall. Gary Davis helped roll his body into the hole, and the figure in the pumpkin mask started piling dirt on top of him.