The Haunting of Roan Mountain

by S A Jacobs

  8

  Over the next several hours, I had three different meditation sessions. Each session began with a unique set of instructions. In the first session, I was instructed to clear my head and focus only on my own breath. That was the most difficult, as my thoughts always drifted. In the beginning, it was frustrating. As time went on, I was able to clear my head to a certain degree. When finished, I was actually more relaxed than I had been in a long time.

  Following the first session, I went to the kitchen to discover that the special diet I was on consisted of raw vegetables. Linda refrained from speaking with me. I could only believe that she was trying not to distract me from whatever I was supposed to achieve there. With a few carrots in my stomach and some water, Selestino informed me that it was time to begin my next session.

  As we began the second session, I was instructed to simply not interfere with my own thoughts. I was supposed to let my thoughts flow naturally in and out of my mind. Instead of directing them, I was asked to monitor them as if I was watching them in a movie. My mind of course went straight to Melanie. Then, while I sat there, I watched it shift from thoughts of romance to all of the apprehensions I had when it came to her. It was disappointing. I also began to question if any of my previous trepidations were truly appeased or if I had merely been ignoring them. When the session ended, I began to fear what else was in store for me.

  The final session shifted gears. This time, Selestino asked me to simply focus on his voice. As we began, he softly spoke the word ‘Cloudland’. He repeated that single word with regular cadence for the duration of the session. My mind traveled through the various cases involving the hotel. Then, I drifted back in time. My obsession with Cloudland had been a part of me for as long as I could remember. It wasn’t Cloudland the place as much as it was the Sovereign Lords and the KGC treasure. My mind drifted back to times in high school when Melanie and I would go hiking, seeking signs of that hidden treasure.

  At the conclusion of the third session, I was allowed to graze on some more vegetables before I returned to my hammock for the night. There, it felt like another meditation session. I hadn’t done anything all day but sit and think. Now, I was wide awake and couldn’t do anything but think even more.

  The only nice part about being there was that I had no prompts or assignments. My mind was free to travel anywhere. I began to think about the last meditation session and my lifelong obsession with the KGC treasure. I had always considered it a simple fairy tale I chose to believe. I wanted more than anything to leave home and travel the world, which required more money than I could foresee having. It made the quick fix of finding treasure alluring. It was really hard for me to believe that there was anything more to it than that.

  Linda, on the other hand, always looked for a meaning behind everything. In her mind, things just didn’t happen. Logic was used only to explain away the questions we couldn’t answer. I had logical reasons for my obsession with the KGC, but she would never listen to that reasoning. She believed there was a purpose and a connection for everything in our lives. While that often ended up being the truth in cases we worked on, it was different to look at my own life that way. I fought hard to believe that I alone controlled my path.

  These thoughts left me feeling unsettled. I was fighting so hard against the idea that there was a deeper connection that I tired myself out. As I neared sleep, I felt lonely. I wanted someone there to confide in. I wanted a friend. I wanted Melanie. Being with her the last few days had made me realize how much I enjoyed and needed someone by my side. I’d led a pretty solitary existence in my adult life. I accepted it, but I never chose it. Now, having Melanie in my life, I realized I didn’t want that solitary existence.

  The loneliness intensified. I was there in an empty room. Worse, I wasn’t allowed to even speak. I was just as alone as I normally was, but now I had nothing to distract me. There was no TV to watch, no case to research. It was just me and my thoughts. I became restless. Needing to stop the thoughts of loneliness, I got up and walked to the dark ceremony room. There, I found a futon and laid down. Under the skylights, I could see the stars. That was far more comfortable. Watching the night sky, I was able to finally drift off to sleep.

  I awoke the next morning to a bright sunlit ceremony room. Selestino was in the center tending to a cauldron.

  “I see you opted to sleep here rather than in your bedroom,” he said.

  “I just felt better being able to see the stars. I’m not used to everything being so quiet.”

  He stopped stirring the cauldron and looked at me. His face was serious but his dark brown eyes were warm.

  “David, this journey can be trying. I understand, but you must stay focused. We are here to help you see things inside yourself…to bring a greater understanding of who you are. For that to happen, you must let go. We will continue our meditations throughout the day. Tonight, your focus and effort will be rewarded with knowledge and understanding.”

  I knew better than to respond.

  “Please get some food and water. We will begin our preparations shortly.”

  I spent the day in various meditation sessions. At first, we repeated the same techniques from the day before. In the final session, I was instructed to visualize a large clock face. With every breath I took, I was to visualize the hands of the clock moving backwards.

  The session lasted for hours. At the start of it, I was just seeing the clock. However, as the session moved forward, my mind transitioned into slowly walking back in time. Each image, each memory, went further back in my life than the last. I walked back through my recent years. The session kept going, and my mind kept going further back. I saw my parents and the home where I grew up. It was like I was standing there watching myself as a child.

  While I witnessed an immense number of scenes from my life, nothing stood out to give me insight. It was all a history I knew. I was not taking a different perspective or learning anything. When the session ended, I was frustrated. I felt like the intention was for me to see something from my past in order to open the door and help me realize who I was, and I wasn’t seeing anything like that.

  Following that session, Linda joined me in the kitchen breaking the protocol of silence.

  “I must say I’m impressed with the fact that you have been following along without giving Selestino any lip,” she said.

  “You asked me to trust you. That is exactly what I’ve done, but I have to say I’m not learning shit. You know me, I learn things by doing them, by experiencing them. This is...well it seems stupid.”

  “There is my David,” she smiled. “This is only the preparation. Tonight, everything will come together.”

  “Fine. However, if it doesn’t, then will you just tell me what you see? In real words?”

  “I won’t have to,” she replied.

  As the sun fell, I was invited back into the ceremony room. The room was only lit by candlelight. In the center was Selestino. He invited me to sit with him.

  “As we begin, I must stress one thing. You must relinquish all control, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Here, you are safe here at all times. Linda will be here to coach you through the journey, but you must be willing to let everything take its course, whatever that may be.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  Selestino then handed me a wooden cup and asked me to drink. As I brought the cup to my lips, the smell was overpowering. I took a deep breath and drank it. It was disgusting. I could feel the liquid slowly make its way to my stomach, creating a wave of discomfort wherever it traveled.

  “Please, lie down and let it guide you,” he said.

  I made my way over to the futon where Linda waited. I laid down and Linda covered my body with a white sheet.

  “Just relax,” she said, putting her hand on my forehead. “There’s nothing more for you to do but let go.”

  I lay there watching the sky above in a near sleep state. I was at peace for a long while. A numbness began to take over my b
ody. My limbs felt like they were restrained. Sweat poured from my body. When I closed my eyes, I felt like I was lying on a raft rocking in the surf. The rocking feeling made me nauseous. With every breath, the feeling intensified. I wanted to get up. I wanted to walk to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face, but I couldn’t conjure the strength to move. Sweat continued to run down my forehead while my body shivered. Then, with an instantaneous burst, I vomited. I was able to roll to my side, but barely. With each heave, I felt myself slipping deeper into darkness.

  Linda was there. She helped me. She cleaned me. She put a wet towel on my forehead. I could barely even acknowledge her help. The nausea subsided but the discomfort escalated as my mind traveled deep into darkness. The candles projected lines of light everywhere. They started to move in patterns which slowly turned into a vortex. The vortex swirled faster and faster. I tried to hold onto the moment. I tried to focus on my surroundings. The harder I fought, the more powerfully the vortex pulled against me. With a deep breath, I let go. The vortex consumed me and pulled me into pure nothingness. My senses were completely devoid of input. I couldn’t feel, hear, see, or even smell anything. The world went black.

  I floated in complete emptiness. After a while, a pinprick of light appeared in the distance. I was drawn to it but unable to move. The light was coming to me. Gradually, it became larger and brighter. The light exploded. Shards of light shot through the air like broken glass until they completely overtook me.

  In the wake of the explosion, I found myself in my home as a child. I couldn’t move or change my perspective. I could only observe. I saw my younger self sitting at the dining room table doing homework. My dad was in the kitchen talking on the phone. He was dressed in his work uniform that matched the long curly green phone cord perfectly. He looked agitated. He was pacing back and forth, his boots clomping on the kitchen floor with every step.

  “I don’t know what the big deal is,” he said. “We’ve rerouted the trail probably fifteen times since I’ve been here. No, there hasn’t been a wash out. But look at the damn reports. I have five people hospitalized and one missing, all from the same stretch of trail, and you’re going to tell me we shouldn’t re-route?”

  I looked over at myself. I appeared to be completely oblivious to the conversation my dad was having. I was focused on my homework.

  “Listen, it is my call, and I say we are going forward with it!” My dad slammed the phone down.

  As I heard the clang of the phone, my view shifted. The scene before me blurred and faded out. Once I was back in nothingness, a light appeared and the process repeated itself. This time the scene was outside. I immediately recognized it. It was the last time I went hiking with my dad. We were on an abandoned stretch of the Appalachian Trail, resting at a dilapidated shelter.

  “Why is this closed down?” I asked, setting my backpack down. “It seems pretty safe to me, just overgrown.”

  “It’s safe because I’m here,” my dad said.

  “Why is it safe with you and no one else?”

  My dad reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin.

  “Here, take this,” he said, handing me the coin. “Carry it with you anytime you walk into this area of the forest. This will keep you safe. Never lose it and never come here without it. You must promise me that.”

  “I promise.” I squeezed the coin tightly in my hand.

  The scene faded. Then everything changed. In the emptiness, instead of a prick of light, I saw a snake. Its body slowly slithered toward me. The closer it got to me, the bigger it became. Soon, I could feel the cool, rough coils wrap around me. The scales covered my face. They squeezed tighter and tighter. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to move, but I was still completely immobile. I panicked, struggling to breathe, struggling to survive. Just when I was about to give up, the tightness around me disappeared. The snake was gone and in its place was another scene.

  While the previous scenes were interesting, this one I didn’t want to see. It was the day Melanie told me she was getting married. I remembered it well. I tried to shut my eyes but couldn’t. I used every ounce of energy I had to force against it like the snake. Then it was gone. Everything was gone.

  I was back in the ceremony room. Linda was by my side, looking at me. I was out of breath and my head ached. I saw rays of sunlight coming through the skylights above.

  “Welcome back, David,” Linda said.

  “What the fuck was that?”

  “Don’t worry. You are done. It’s a lot to take in. We must not speak of what you experienced yet. You need time to process it.”

  I cleaned myself up and tried to reacclimate to the real world. The only thing I could see in my mind was that coin my dad gave me. I knew exactly what it looked like, but now I needed to see it again.

  Linda told me I was finished at the center and returned my phone. I changed back into my normal clothes and thanked Selestino for everything. I was in a hurry to leave. Linda didn’t want to talk until I was able to process everything, which was fine by me. I jumped in my truck and drove home. There was only one thing on my mind: getting that coin and seeing it firsthand.

  I walked into my house and went straight to my closet. There was an old shoe box on the floor. I picked it up and started rummaging through it. That box contained everything I had saved from my dad. His badge, some photos, even his old wallet. Then, I found it. I picked up the dirty old gold coin and looked at it. It was exactly as I’d remembered... exactly as I feared.

  On the coin was an image of an 8-point star. The star gave way to a larger cross. Around the edge of the coin were the words “GREAT SEAL OF THE K’S OF THE G C.”

  At that moment, I knew that my belief that my dad had found this coin in the woods was wrong. I knew it had been given to him. Someone gave it to him with a purpose the same way he gave it to me.

  Part II

  9

  July 12, 1920 - Cherokee National Forest

  It was a beautiful summer morning, and the sun shone brightly. Robert shielded his eyes to get a better look at the house as he approached it. The new modest house was embedded into the forest. Its freshly whitewashed walls stood out from the dense foliage around it. Robert climbed the steps to the front door and walked in.

  “Just a minute,” a voice said.

  Robert stepped over to the grandfather clock in the sitting room. He instinctively pulled out his pocket watch to see if the clock was set properly. The sound of hurried footsteps broke Robert’s focus. He turned to see a young man. The man was out of breath as he entered the room. He was wearing a freshly pressed olive peacoat and a tan, wide-brimmed Stetson-style hat.

  “Robert,” he said. “What a great surprise to see you. I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

  Robert turned from the clock and extended his hand. The young man eagerly shook it as Robert examined him.

  “Please, have a seat,” Robert said, gesturing to the chairs. “We have a few matters to discuss.”

  “But of course.” he cautiously sat down.

  “First, I want to thank you for your patience and allegiance. I know when I asked you to help me, this must have all sounded like a dream. Now, as you stand here in your new home, in your new uniform, with a new job and a secure future, I hope you can see I am a man of my word.”

  “Absolutely!”

  “Good, then I will be direct with you. As you know, I pursued the creation of this portion of the National Forest in order to protect the land you have been watching for me. This of course gave me the ability to also recommend you for your new position. Do not make the mistake of thinking that your allegiances are to the National Forest. You are accountable to me and me alone.”

  “I understand, but I thought the purpose of all of this was to protect the land. That is what the National Forest will do. What more needs to happen?”

  “Johan, it is protected from being purchased. It is protected from being disturbed to a degree. You are correct. But, it is not safe. I need you
to take special care to ensure my interests remain secure. Do you understand?”

  “Of course.”

  “Good, then there is something else I need to share with you. You are already well aware of the evil that lurks in that part of the forest.”

  Johan nodded in response.

  “Which is why I came here today,” Robert continued. “In order for you to truly protect that portion of the land, you also need to be protected from the evil which lurks there.”

  Robert reached into his breast pocket and retrieved a small gold coin. He looked at it with a grin as he rolled it over his knuckles. He then handed it to Johan.

  “This coin will protect you. It is a charm of sorts. Whoever carries it will be safe from the evil in the forest.”.

  Johan eyed the coin suspiciously. “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “You don’t need to understand. Just as you don’t need to know exactly what it is you are keeping secure in the forest. That was never part of our agreement. You keep that area secure, and I compensate you generously. While you may not understand how or why this coin will protect you, you need to trust me when I say it will. Keep it with you at all times. That is of the utmost importance.”

  “You have my word.”

  “Remember when I first gave you this task?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then you will also remember that I made it clear that there is no expiration date on this task. The forest needs to be secured long after I am gone. Long after you are gone. With that, it is your responsibility to ensure that this allegiance is passed on. This coin must also be passed to whoever replaces you. That coin is the only way one can safely travel in that area of the forest.”

  10