by Jillian Rose
At some point I had drifted off to sleep, and I dreamed of the black car chasing us down the road, of Theron Mobley’s hawkish face looming over me, of people fucking and killing each other to shitty stoner doom rock. When I came out of it, I turned and saw Jesse was no longer in bed next to me. I could hear the shower running a few feet to my right. I peeked out the window and saw the purple pre dawn light bleeding in from the east. I felt groggy, hungover, and really not in the mood to do this shit. But we had bills to pay, and this was our job now.
This was my idea after all.
Chapter 7.
We hit the road a quarter past six, it was a twenty minute drive from the hotel to the town limit of Dupo, so we got there right around seven due to the fact, as Jesse pointed out, the farmers were out and about, and we had to slow down several times as we got stuck behind huge tractors and combines that took the county highways a few miles to get to their next acre of crops. Despite my lack of sleep I was wired by the time we got to the four way stop, my eyes trying to take in everything at once, looking for the black sedan. To my surprise though we turned left instead of going straight, the gravel road swinging past me.
“Uhm, where are you going?” I asked as I saw with a clench of my stomach he was pulling into the gas station. “Do you need to use the bathroom or something?” I asked, perplexed as we had already stopped at a Texaco for coffee and breakfast burritos before hitting the interstate.
“No… I just wanna get a quick word in with the locals.” He said, tucking his smart phone into the breast pocket of his shirt, the camera facing outward. “You know, get some found footage style testimony for the front matter of the video, make sure people know it’s legit.” He said.
“You sure that’s a good idea? Broadcasting our presence? What if they call the cops?” I asked.
“For what, asking around about the guy who founded this town? That’s not illegal is it?” He asked. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I got out of the car with him. Two heavily tattooed colored hair people just strolling into a gas station to stir the shit pot. I’m sure this would go well.
We entered the gas station, one of those small mom and pop joints that had chips and candy for food, a small soda fountain from the 1980’s and a beer selection that took up most of one wall. Off in one corner was a small dining area where a heavy set middle aged man in a sweat stained John Deer shirt sat, drinking coffee and reading what appeared to be the county paper. He eyed us the way a chef eye’s a discolored piece of meat in his freezer. The wiry old man behind the country shot us a look that conveyed us as aliens from another planet.
“Can I help you folks with somethin’?” He asked. His hand went underneath the counter and I froze next to the glass case of cigarettes and assorted dip products. There was a general wariness in his voice, and the poor old fart probably thought we were going to rob the place.
“Uh… Yeah sorry to bother you guys, but we’re from out of town. Uh, working on a class project. See, my girlfriend here is an anthropologist with Washington University.” Jesse said, and I shot him a look that, if I had super powers, would of made his balls implode. He went on regardless of the daggers I stared into him. “We heard about the guy who founded this town…Theron Mobley. I was just wondering if—”
“Nope. I aint talking about that asshole. Look, that twisted sick sumbitch might of founded this town, but Dupo is a good Christian farming community now. We aint got nothin to do with them heathens that first came into here. The state sold all their houses for dirt cheap and begged the agricultural people to come in and make it like the rest of Iowa, a peaceful little community that helps put buttered corn on your plate. We succeeded and we’re gonna damn well keep it that way. If you folk drove all the way out here just for that then I’m afraid to inform you you’ve wasted your time.” He said, the edge in his voice growing the more he talked. I grabbed Jesse’s arms.
“Thank you for your time sir, sorry to bother you, truly. We—” But Jesse cut me off.
“So, you’re saying none of the original sector 5 members have remained behind? It’s just all farmers now, is that—”
“I’m done discussing this with you son. If y’all aint gonna buy nothin I’m gonna ask you kindly to leave. I’ll only ask kindly once.” He said, staring straight into Jesse’s eyes as he said this, his hand still underneath the counter, no doubt the leathery old fingers were wrapped around the stock of what my mind’s saw was a dusty old sawed off shotgun. Jesse finally got the message, and went to move towards the door.
“Sorry again to bother you!” I said as cheerfully as I could on my way out the door. I caught a glimpse of the big man getting up as we walked out. As soon as we were in the car, I turned to Jesse. “What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought the whole point of leaving early in the morning was to stay low key?!” I said, trying my hardest not to scream. He put his hands up in placation, and then brought out his phone with a grin on his face.
“Look, chill out, okay? I got what I needed, and that old bastard probably thought he put the fear of god into us and we’re gonna be running with our tails between our legs.” He said, and I could hear the grainy audio from the phone speaker as he played the video. “This will be the perfect opener. It’ll be like a little found footage horror film right up until the fucking. God babe, we’re gonna be rich off this.” He said, and I knew he was flying high with adrenaline and ambition. His cock was probably already half stiff in his pants, aroused by his own drive to profit. It was something that both repulsed and aroused me about him. I was about to open my mouth to speak when I saw a beefy hand come in behind Jesse and I almost screamed. But all the beefy hand did was knock politely on the glass, the way a police officer might.
Jesse nearly jumped out of his own skin, and turned to look up. The man’s body took up the whole side window. I could see the faded green and yellow John Deer logo and the sweat stain that surrounded it. Jesse swallowed, and rolled down his window halfway, and only half way.
“Heard Yall were wanting to check out ol’ Mobley’s place huh?” He said, his tone was friendly, conversational, if not a little breathy.
“Honestly sir, we didn’t mean to mettle, we’ll be leaving right now.” I said before Jesse could dig us in an even deeper hole. The image of a hot, humid county jail with a cramped drunk tank and a sheriff’s deputy with curious fingers was burning into my mind, I was in preservation mode at that point. Which is why what he said next sent a cold chill through me. He leaned down, his red face right next to Jesse’s. He had a few weeks of beard stubble glistening in the morning sun, his hazel eyes regarded us with dead seriousness.
“That’s good. That’s real good. Cause let me tell you kids something.” He said, and leaned heavily on the vehicle. I could hear the suspension groan as he settled his weight against Jesse’s door.
“I aint been here but six years, moved up from a place called Sikeston cause some fellas on the phone said they had some pristine farmland for sale for reallll cheap. Didn’t tell me why it was goin so cheap, but I figured it out once I saw the news. Put two and two together. But that’s no matter. It’s quiet up here. At least it mostly is. I don’t know exactly what the hell was going on up here, I know that Mobley fella was doin some occult witch craft hogwash, like that Charles Manson fella I guess. All I know is I got a house only a mile or two up the road, my farmland borders the property. I’ve heard noises coming from that cellar a his at night. I know no one goes down there, but I hear things. The ground, I swear on my mother’s grave it whispers to me at night. So I don’t like to go out there at night. But you know what happened?” He asked. I thought he was asking a rhetorical question, but he waited for us to answer, an imposing silence making the stuffy atmosphere of the car down right suffocating.
“Wha…What happened?” Jesse asked. He had scooted all the way out of his seat now, was only inches away from me. It was the most fear I’d ever seen him show.
“About three months ago a group of kids came out her
e, sniffin around, wanting to check out that damn underground bunker of his. You see, there’s a big ol hole in there where the stainless steel door used to be. The feds blew it off with some C4 and never bothered to cover it up. They went in Waco style during the raid I hear. Well, them kids marched in there at night, I could see their head lights from my farm house coming down the road. Thought at first it was just some addicts firing up some ice, unfortunately it’s a problem around these parts. Anyway, I saw em shut their head lights off, and for awhile I was gonna leave em be. Wasn’t no business of mine if they wanted to get high on the county road. But then I saw the flash lights.” He said.
He paused for a second, reaching into his pocket to pull out a can of mint Skol dip. He clapped his finger against the lid, then removed it, taking out a fat pinch and stuffing it into one corner of his bottom lip. For awhile I could see him tongue the tobacco, and he looked off towards the cornfields, as if contemplating what he was about to tell us. Then he sighed, spit a brown jet into the parking lot, and looked back at us.
“I was in the war, you know, Vietnam. Same as that Theron fella. Seen some things, hell all of us did. I aint gonna waste your day expounding upon the horrors of that particular conflict, but I will say there is a particular kind of haunted look I’ve seen in men’s eyes after they came back from the great green beast. When they’ve seen what the insides of their friends look like and what an m16 can do to someone’s skull when fired at close range. By the time I finally went out there to confront them folks, I decided to sneak up on em, you see, catch them in the act so I could call sheriff Brower out there…Well, by the time I made it out there I only seen one flash light. I heard one hell of a commotion as I was walking out there. Felt like the earth was shaking for a minute. Heard something that sounded like the leopard’s we encountered in the bush. Then I came upon a boy who was a lil bit younger then you all. He was covered in blood. He was babbling like a loon. His hair was shocked white.” He said. He let that sink in for a moment, taking the opportunity to spit out another streamer. My mind raced back to the video of the ghost hunters. The way the video ended with someone running up from the bunker. I almost wanted to scream, this was all to much.
“We handled it quietly. Brower took the kid off, got him processed while a few of the old dog deputies who could be trusted to keep their mouth shut inspected the bunker. We could only talk two of them into going in, and that was with reverend Daniels blessing. Couldn’t find a trace of anyone else, just a lot of blood. At least that’s what they told me. They took samples, notified the state police, put out a BOLO for the kids who’s blood they ran. We got Daniels to bless the grounds around the hole, and did our best to fill it up with dirt, as an awful sulpher smell came wafting up from that hole. Smelled like hell. And them kids? They’re still labelled as missing people so far as I know. We don’t advertise it though, you know, cause we’re trying to keep things quiet around here. We finally washed that damn stain off this place, we aren’t to keen to get the reporters and hoopla all back here. You get me?” He said, leaning his face in to look at us. I could smell man sweat and wheat chaff on the man. “You all get what I’m saying?” He said, his eyes looking not at Jesse but directly at me.
“Ye…yeah, we get you, loud and clear boss.” Jesse said, and cleared his throat nervously. “We’re just gonna, you know, get out of here.” Jesse said. The man nodded, spit again.
“I’d say that’s your wisest course of action. I’ve seen enough blood and haunted looks in my life time. I don’t wanna see it again.” He said. “I steer clear of that place. The crops don’t grow around it and I don’t question why. A man doesn’t have to see evil to know evil.” He said, and hefted himself off the car with a great squeal from the suspension. “Yall have yourself a nice day and a happy Halloween.” He added as an after thought before disappearing around the corner of the gas station. Jesse quickly rolled up his window.
“Holy fucking SHIT.” He said, and stifled a laugh. “That fucking guy. Christ, that was an Emmy winning performance. Something straight out of fucking Deliverance!” He said, holding the sides of his head to keep them from exploding. “Fuck I wish I could of gotten that on film. That was gold.” He said, shaking his head.
“Really? So, you don’t believe a word of it?” I asked, keeping my hands tucked into my sides to hide the fact I was trembling, thrumming with fear. The site of the big man’s eyes staring holes into my soul still left me shook, and Jesse’s utter lack of conviction on the matter disturbed me.
“Oh come on Liz… I mean, I’m not gonna lie, he was pretty convincing right up until the end, then I knew this was some kind of schtick to scare us off.” He said, and then lowered his voice to the rumbly country baritone of the farmer’s. “A man doesn’t have to see evil to know evil. Get the fuck out of here.” He said, and laughed. I swallowed, and thought for a minute. Maybe Jesse was right. The guy did lay it on a little heavy at the end. Maybe they thought we were just some dumbass city slickers who’d believe anything. Then I remembered that our rent was due in two weeks, and that I needed to refill my birth control script, and Jesse needed that new part for the Taurus. This is your job now honey, remember? You cant afford to be spooked. I sighed, and did my best to tamp down any and all fear that was bubbling up from my stomach.
“Alright… So what’s the plan now?” I said, looking around, and felt my heart give a shuddering kick when I saw the black sedan. Only a trace of it, though, as it was flying out of sight past a row of prefabricated homes. I almost wanted to blurt out to Jesse that I’d seen it, but realized it could have been any black car. It’s not like they were uncommon. He’d obviously dismiss it, say that I was spooked, which probably wasn’t wrong. Then I realized he was talking, and I snapped back into it. “Huh? Sorry, I uh… I thought I saw something.” I said, trying to get back to baseline. He sighed.
“I said, that you should get on your phone and see if we can find another way to the property. You got gps on there right?” He said. I nodded, pulled out my smart phone. He was pulling out of the gas station and turned right, back down the road heading away from the four way. I zoomed out on my screen and saw a couple of gravel county roads off to our right that looked like they meandered in or around the property after a few miles.
“Turn here.” I said, pointing to a green sign that read CR450.
Chapter 8.
We were taken through a patch of dense woods, and after a mile or two we passed the burned out remains of four trailers. I recognized it from the website as one of the living quarters of the cult members. The lot surrounding it was filled with patchy overgrown weeds, with a large wooden cross sticking up, towering as high as the trees that surrounded us. A plaque was nailed into the center of the cross with blue painted words on it.
John 3:8- Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Underneath this, written in huge declarative letters, was the phrase THIS IS GOD’S COUNTRY NOW, SEEK YOUR FALSE PROPHET ELSEWHERE.
“Man, these farmers don’t fuck around with their Jesus.” Jesse said, and laughed nervously. We kept driving, and eventually I instructed him to turn and make a right. We came to an even rougher section of road, the car bouncing and jolting, and I had to hold on to the shitty watery gas station coffee before it spilled all over the car. Finally, we came to another saw horse, the road was so narrow only one was needed to block it off.
THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY. TRESPASSERS WILL BE FINED. Underneath the manufactured warning was a hand painted message. It was the same one we saw when we entered town.
THERE AINT NOTHIN HERE WORTH DYIN FOR. I pulled up the phone GPS and looked. Judging by our position as a blue arrow, we were only a mile from the property.
“I think this is as close as we’re gonna get babe. We’ll just have to hoof it from here.” I said. Jesse nodded. He backed up for a few feet, where a small strip of gr
avel had been laid out as a turn around spot. He parked as far into the patch as he could to keep the car off the road and out of site. We got out, the smell of fertilizer and greenery wafting up to my nose.
“Mmmm mmm, smell that cow shit!” Jesse said, rubbing his tummy sarcastically as he walked around to the back of the car. I was grateful for his light heartedness in this situation. It was helping dispel some of the abject terror the two older men had put into my soul. We loaded our backpacks up, Jesse carrying the heavier of the two filled with film and sound equipment, while I brought the accessories such as extra lighting, the sex lube, a small bag of weed and rolling papers to get us in the mood, a half pint of vodka, as well as food and water just in case. I wouldn’t mind the walk, the car had taken on a claustrophobic atmosphere, and I was happy we wouldn’t be back in it for awhile.
Just as we were about to head down the road, I heard the low crunching approach of a car on gravel.
“Oh shit, someone’s coming!” I said. Jesse grabbed my arm and we both walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle, the woods to our backs, and ducked down. I couldn’t hear the vehicle’s approach now over the dull roar of blood in my ears as my heart pounded, and I struggled to maintain my breathing. My eyes were peeled towards the road behind us where we came in. A second later a blurred dark shape came shooting past, leaving a trail of gravel dust in their wake. I didn’t move even after it was gone, because I was almost positive it was the black sedan.
“Babe… I’m pretty sure that was the car from last night.” I said, no longer able to hide my paranoia. He turned around to look at me with amused incredulity.
“What? No it wasn’t. That was like a dark blue truck or something. You’re just spooked babe. Come on, let’s hit the road before someone else comes.” He said, and started walking briskly. I paused for a moment, considering everything at stake. I felt hopeless for a second as all the financial responsibilities came crashing down on me, while the haunting words from the farmer came up from my subconscious and the two synergized into a force powerful enough to almost induce a panic attack. Jesse turned to look at me. “…Babe, you coming?” He asked, jumping nimbly over the saw horse. No going back now, I thought, took a deep breath, and followed him.