Nightcrawlers: Reign of Terror

by Ron L. Carter

  Chapter 1

  Jed and Chelsea had talked about where they wanted to go and decided they were going to the little town of Hickory, deep in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee. They were going to go back to the place where Jed's mom and dad were each born and raised. Jed knew that some of his mom and dad’s family were still living there and he was hoping some of them would be willing to take them in and let them stay for a while.

  The day they arrived in Hickory everything in the little town was quiet and peaceful. Chelsea loved the area and thought it was beautiful with all the hills, thick brush and tall green trees. “Why would your mom and dad ever want to leave a place like this? It's just so beautiful here; it's nothing like Red Mountain. That place is dry and hot and there aren't any trees.” Jed laughed and replied, "Yeah, I have to admit, this place is a lot prettier than where we just came from."

  He told Chelsea the reason his mom and dad left so many years ago was because of his grandpa. "My mom said he was pretty violent with my dad and when he got mad at him he used to beat him with his fists, even when he was just a young boy. She said my dad finally had gotten enough of the beatings as he got older and decided to leave. When he left, he took my mom with him. They were both pretty young at the time. I think my mom was only around fifteen or sixteen years old." Chelsea said, "That's just so sad, Jed. It must've been horrible for him if they were willing to leave their home and family."

  As they drove through Hickory, they stopped and asked one of the store clerks if they knew the Bailey family. Everyone in the little town knew each other and the store clerk said she knew the family well. He told the clerk he was their grandson and had just arrived from California. He soon found out from her that his grandfather had died a few years earlier from a heart attack and his Grandmother; Bessie, still lived in the same little house where Jed's dad grew up.

  One of the old timers, that was listening to Jed's conversation with the store clerk interrupted them and told Jed that Sherman's youngest brother, Curtis, was the only brother that never got married and moved away. He still lived with Bessie and ran the family Moonshine business that Jed's Grandfather had started years ago. He told Jed that Bessie and Curtis lived in the old home place and he gave him directions on how to get there.

  Once he had the directions, Jed and Chelsea made their way down the single lane dirt road to the secluded house at the end of the road. When they got there, Jed told Chelsea to stay in the truck until he saw what type of reception he received from the Grandma he'd never met. He wasn't sure if she would be happy or upset to see him so he wanted to make sure before he had her get out and join him.

  He walked up to the front door very slowly and knocked a few times. He waited for, what seemed like several minutes, until the door finally swung open. Standing in front of him was a wrinkled and gray haired, robust woman. At first she seemed a little bewildered that someone had knocked on her door. She wasn't used to getting company or anyone trying to sell something in that part of the woods. Usually, if it was family, they would just open up the door and walk right on in without knocking. She was in her mid-seventies and Jed could tell from the deep wrinkles around her eyes and face that she'd been through some hard times in her life. Jed figured, from the stories he'd heard, maybe it was because of his Grandpa, as mean and ornery as he was supposed to have been.

  Jed was nervous, as he stuck out his hand and slowly said, "Hi, my name is Jed Bailey, are you Bessie Bailey?" She squinted her eyes and looked at him as though she recognized him as one of her kin. “Yes, I am Bessie Bailey, but just who the heck are you, sonny? I don't think I've ever met you Jed Bailey, but you do look familiar. Are you one of Jason's kids?" Jed stuttered for a second as he tried to pour out the words. “No, I’m, I'm your Grandson Jed, my dad was Sherman.” Tears immediately filled her eyes as she looked at him and tried to compose herself. She believed she already knew the answer to the question she was about to ask, “Okay, so where in the heck is your dad, did he come with you?” Jed didn’t really know any other way to say it so he just blurted it out, "No, Dad died a few years back, but he used to talk about you and Grandpa a lot when I was growing up.”

  Bessie turned pale as a ghost and took a step back to catch her breath. She put her hand over her heart and headed for a place to sit. “Come in Jed, come in. I just have to sit down for a minute after you told me that bad news about Sherman. I kind of suspected it all along, but never really knew for sure.”

  Jed told her that he had his girlfriend, Chelsea in the car and she was just waiting for him to let her know it was okay to come in. When she heard that she said, “Well for crying sakes child, have the girl come in, don’t leave her in the car by herself.” Jed smiled, "Thank you Grandma, I'll go get her and have her come in." He stepped out on the porch and held the screen door open with one hand as he motioned with the other for Chelsea to come and join them.

  Chelsea immediately jumped out of the truck and went up to the front door. Jed had her walk in first as they went back into the house together. Chelsea went over to Bessie and stuck out her hand to shake Bessie's, “Hi, I’m Chelsea King, and I’m pleased to meet you." Bessie held out both hands to her and cupped her hands over Chelsea's hand as she introduced herself and told her she was happy to meet her too. She told them to take a seat on the couch while they talked about everything and caught up on Sherman’s life. “You have to tell me all about your mother and father, what they were like, where they lived, and how your mom and Sherman died.”

  Jed began to tell her all the things he could remember about his dad and mom, from the time he was little until they had passed away. He decided not to tell her that they had both died of drug overdoses. He wasn't sure how she would've been able to handle that kind of news. He made up a lie and told her that they had been killed a few years earlier in a car accident, both at the same time. He didn’t want Bessie to know what had really happened to either one of them.

  Bessie asked him if he had any brothers and sisters. He looked over at Chelsea and smiled as he lied again and just said no that he didn't. He didn’t want her to know anything about Justin and Joshua and have to try to explain to her why they had been killed. He figured it would be better if she didn’t know that she had two other grandsons that were killed breaking the law. He also didn’t want to go through the process of trying to explain everything about how they were brain damaged because of the drugs his mom had taken while she was pregnant with them.

  Bessie then looked over at Chelsea and asked her if her mom and dad were still alive and if she had any brothers and sisters. Chelsea told her about her how her mom passed away from cancer when she was just a little girl. She also told her about her two brothers and alcoholic dad.

  After a few hours of catching up on each other's lives, Jed told Bessie that Chelsea was pregnant and that they had left Red Mountain, California four days earlier and didn’t have any place to stay. He sheepishly asked his Grandma if he and Chelsea could stay there with her for a few days. She didn't even hesitate as she said, “Sure you can stay with us and you can stay as long as you want. You're my Grandson and I'm happy I have this opportunity to get to know you and Chelsea. I'm really glad you're both here with me so we can spend time and get to know each other." You can take your dad’s old room down at the end of the hall." Standing up she said, "Come on, I'll show you where it is," as she walked down the hallway to a closed bedroom door. They had walked by another door on the way there that was also closed. “That room there belongs to Curtis; it's off limits to everyone, even to me. He’s your dad’s youngest brother and he never got married. He lives here with me and he runs the moonshine business for us. He’s kind of cranky at times, but when he gets like that all you have to do is just stay out of his way and ignore him.” Chelsea smiled as she looked over at Jed and said, “We know how to do that, that’s not a problem for us. My dad was like that when he was drinking.” Jed just laughed an
d said, "Yeah, no kidding, we're used to that."

  Jed left Chelsea talking to Bessie as he went to the truck and got their things and took them into his dad's old bedroom. Soon Chelsea joined him and started putting things away. Jed walked around the room and looked at a few old pictures of his dad while she was doing that. When she was through she laid down on the bed next to Jed. He reached over and put his arm around her and kissed her. "Well, it looks like we can stay here for awhile if you want to." Chelsea replied, "Are you kidding, I love it here. Your grandma seems so nice and I can tell we'll get along just great." After a few minutes of talking alone, they went back to the living room and joined Bessie. They continued to talk for a few more hours.

  It was just getting dark when Curtis finally came through the back door and into the living room. He was a big man, six foot two inches tall and a little over weight. He had a belly on him that protruded out from eating a little more than he should and not enough exercise. He was wearing dirty overalls over his long sleeved shirt and pants. He had long curly hair that stuck out on both sides and the back of the baseball cap. When he first came in and saw Jed and Chelsea he said gruffly, “Who the hell are you?” Jed stood up, stuck out his hand to shake Curtis' hand, and said, I’m Sherman’s son, Jed, and this is my girlfriend Chelsea. Curtis seemed shocked, as he stood there for a minute, not knowing what to say. After what seemed like an uncomfortable amount of time to Jed and Chelsea, he shook Jed's hand and said, “Wow! We never knew Sherman even had any kids. In fact we didn't know anything about your mom and dad after they left Hickory." That’s when Jed began to tell him his version of what happened to his mom and dad. Curtis said, "Doesn't surprise me. I always thought maybe he'd died in some way, since he never came back.” Curtis wasn't very friendly because he really didn't like the idea of having uninvited guests intrude into his private space.

  On the other hand, Bessie was very happy and excited to have her new Grandson and his girlfriend, stay there with them. She told Curtis, “They’re going to be staying with us for a while. I gave them Sherman’s old bedroom and they can stay in it." Curtis wasn’t too pleased to hear that as he looked at Jed with an angry look, “So, how long are you planning on staying?” Jed didn't have a chance to say anything as Bessie chimed in with a rough voice, “They can stay as long as they want and I don’t want to hear you say anymore about it." Curtis wasn't happy, but he didn’t say anything else to her about how he really felt about them staying. He knew the house was still his mom’s house and he wasn’t going to start a fight with her over them staying there for just a little while. As he turned and headed to his bedroom he said, “Just let me know when it’s time to eat, okay, Ma.”

  Bessie smiled at them and said, “See I told you he was rough talking, but his bark is worse than his bite." She got up, "Come on Chelsea, you can help me fix us all some dinner.” Chelsea was more than happy to help out as she headed into the kitchen with her. Jed was happy his grandma had taken them in so eagerly so he followed behind and sat at the kitchen table.

  While talking with his Grandma in the kitchen, Jed told her that he needed to find a place to work until they could afford to get their own place. Bessie told him that if he wanted, she would talk to Curtis and tell him that he was going to work with him making and selling the moonshine. He was surprised, but happy that his grandma would be so eager and willing to let him work in the moonshine business. He looked over at Chelsea and asked her what she thought about that idea. She went over to Jed and put her arms around him as she kissed him and said, “I think that would be a wonderful idea Jed, don’t you?” Jed turned to Bessie, “Thank you Grandma, I'd love to work with Curtis, but I don't want to step on any toes. You need to ask him first and see if he doesn’t mind training me in the business.” Bessie smiled, "I have to tell you a little secret Jed, he's not really the boss of the business, I am. Don't worry, he’ll teach you everything you need to know. I'll make darn sure of it.”

  When they were all sitting down for dinner, they had just started to eat when Bessie told Curtis that Jed would be working with him and helping him make, sell and distribute the moonshine. Even though they had used a few people in the past, Curtis wasn’t happy about bringing Jed into the business. He voiced his opinion right in front of them, “Ma, no offense, but we don’t even know this kid. He may be a lazy worker or he may cause us a lot of problems. We don't know. Then what do we do with him? If he's family we may have trouble getting rid of him.” Jed spoke up, “I won’t cause you any problems Uncle Curtis, I promise. I’m a real hard worker and I learn fast.”

  Curtis just shook his head back and forth in disgust as Bessie sternly said, “It's done Curtis, he’s working with you and that’s the final word on the matter. He starts tomorrow and you’re going to teach him all the ropes." Jed and Chelsea felt a little uncomfortable that they had caused Curtis to get upset. Curtis didn't argue with his mom, even though he wasn't very happy about them staying at the house, or Jed working with him.

  The rest of the dinner was a little awkward for everyone, but nothing more was said about the job or them staying there. Curtis looked across the table at Jed, “Be out back at 6:00 am, and don't be late or I'll fire you.” Jed smiled, “Okay, Uncle Curtis, no problem, I’ll be there, bright and early.”

  Jed didn’t know if his Grandma really liked him all that much or if she was just feeling guilty for the way that Sherman had left so many years ago. He didn't really care at that point because they had to have a place to stay and everything seemed perfect for them. Chelsea and Bessie had also started to form an early bond with each other and he felt good about it.

  Jed soon found that, even though Curtis was a pain in the neck to work with, he soon taught him everything he needed to know about the business and it was easy for him to fit right in. They had soon settled into a regular routine. Bessie was spending all her waking moments with Chelsea and soon loved her like a granddaughter. Chelsea loved the attention she was getting from Bessie. She'd never had a chance to get that kind of attention from her mom. She and Bessie loved their time together.

  It didn’t take long and the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months. Jed and Chelsea were happy together living there with Bessie. Every day, when Jed got home from work, he and Chelsea would sit on the couch next to each other and cuddle, while watching television with Bessie. They were feeling like they had become part of a family.

  As Chelsea came closer to the time to give birth, her belly was getting larger and larger and Jed felt like she was going to pop. When he was home from work, he would tease her as he rubbed her belly. Bessie spent every day helping her prepare for the birth. Since Jed and Chelsea didn’t have insurance, she had arranged for a midwife to come to her home and deliver the baby for them. Jed didn't really think it was a big deal because he figured she was just delivering a baby. He thought everything would be just fine with the midwife since his Grandma had recommended her.

  When the day finally arrived and Chelsea went into labor the midwife came over and had everything prepared and ready for the delivery. Bessie was right by Chelsea's side the entire time and holding her hand while Jed was at work.

  Chelsea had already been in labor for several hours before Jed arrived home from work and soon took over from his Grandma. He held her hand the rest of the time she was in labor. Because it was her first child, she spent hours going in and out of the labor pains. Once the baby's head started to breach and she was ready to deliver the midwife told Jed to go wait in the other room while she delivered the baby. She told him she would come and get him once everything was fine with Chelsea and baby.

  When the baby arrived it was a healthy six pound boy. Soon after that, another baby's head showed up and it only took a few minutes and another boy was born. It was just about the same size as the first one. They put the babies in a crib that Bessie had bought especially for them. The midwife suddenly realized so
mething was terribly wrong. Chelsea had a condition called Placenta Praevia, which caused a hemorrhage and extensive bleeding. Not realizing what was happening the midwife started to get a little frantic when she wasn’t able to stop Chelsea's bleeding. If she’d been in a hospital they would’ve been able to give her immediate emergency treatment, but she wasn't, she was at home. Without that emergency care it wouldn't take long before Chelsea would bleed to death. The midwife tried everything she could but there was nothing she could do. They immediately called the ambulance service for help. Hearing there was a problem; Jed jumped up and rushed to Chelsea's side. He held her hand and told her he loved her over and over again while waiting for the Ambulance to arrive. When they finally got there it was too late, Chelsea had died while waiting for them.

  What was supposed to be an easy childbirth and a happy time for Jed and Chelsea was now another nightmare disaster for Jed. The woman he loved so deeply had given birth to two healthy identical twin boys and lost her life in the process. He was totally devastated by what had happened. He went into a state of shock and couldn't believe Chelsea had died just giving birth to their sons. As he sat there, he cried out in heart wrenching pain. She was still soaked in her own blood as he put his arms around her and pulled her up close to his chest. While he was holding her, he began to cry with deep sobbing emotion. The ambulance attendants just packed up their things and gave him as much time with her as he needed before they put her body in the ambulance and took her away.

  Bessie and the midwife cared for the babies while Jed was trying to make sense of what happened. He always felt like Chelsea was the voice of reason and the smart one between the two of them. She always kept him stabilized when things went wrong. Now, for the first time in his life, he really did feel all alone and lost without her. He cried out, "Now, what am I going to do Chelsea? I don't know if I can go on without you."

  Bessie had come to love Chelsea and had also felt like she had suffered a huge loss when she died. She took control of the boys and cared for them like they were her own. Jed was lucky that his Grandma immediately started taking care of their every need during that time when he couldn't. She fed them, changed their diapers and got up with them in the middle of the night. She did everything she could possibly do for them, just like Chelsea would've done.

  In the days after Chelsea’s funeral, Jed was totally distraught and unable to work. He didn't get out of bed for several days and began to sink into a deep depression. After about a month in total despair, Bessie finally went into Jed's room and sat on the edge of the bed and talked to him. She told him he had to now think of his two boys, pull himself together and get back to work. She told him that would be what Chelsea would've wanted if she were alive. She told him she knew Chelsea would want him to be a good father to the boys. She also told him the boys were his responsibility and he needed to give them each a name and start taking care of them when he wasn't working. She said she would help him as much as she could, but she wasn’t going to be around forever to take care of them.

  It took Jed a few more weeks to finally get a grip on himself. After getting out of bed, it took a couple more days until he was finally able to go back to work. After only a few days back at work he came home one evening and told Bessie he’d decided to name the boys. He told her that Chelsea wanted to name the baby Dalton if it was a boy so he was going to name one of the boys Dalton and the other one Cooper.

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