Part one: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/b7noe5/theres_a_cult_in_town_and_i_cant_die/
Part two: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/bdive0/theres_a_cult_in_town_and_i_cant_die_pt2/
Hey guys, I’m back!!! It’s been awhile hasn't it? I want to tell you what’s been going on, but first I want to clarify that Ronnie is short for Veronica, kinda made it sound like it was somebody else in the last post. Sorry if that was confusing. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get started.
I'm gonna start with something weird that happened while we were coming down. The moon hung high in the slightly overcast sky, I spent the ride, listening to the radio, (Some opinionated talk radio), scanning the lines on the road, and taking sips from my long cold coffee every once and awhile. I studied my little cone of vision on highway, it was empty for the most part (the highway that is). There was basically no traffic, I hadn't seen another car in the better half of an hour. When my engine suddenly started to sputter, we only made it another 80ft before it petered to a halt.
“Oh goddammit…” I said resting my head on the wheel. I started to punch the dash, (I was pissed alright) “Dammit, dammit, GOD-” The wheel suddenly exploded as the airbag deployed, (thanks dad for installing that).
If these things are designed to save people, why do they go off with enough force to snap someone's neck. (It didn’t but it hurt like hell). I woke up on the floor, clutching my nose, which was significantly fucked up.
“What happened?” Tracy asked as she climbed down from her cubby.
“We’re out of gas…” I said, not really knowing what else to say.
Sleep quickly faded from her eyes as she noticed the mess, “Did the airbag just go off?”
“Uhh… yeah, yeah it did.” my voice distorted by my broken nose.
"Are you alright?" She asked walking over to me.
“I... don’t know…” I muttered as she helped me off the floor.
“How did we run out of gas?” She seemed to just process my previous statement.
“Haven’t filled it since Wichita.” I slumped back in my seat, feeling the stupidity come over me.
Tracy’s eyes lit up with a fury that I had only seen a few times before. “YOU WHAT!!!” She then opened up on tirade of, calling me stupid, apologizing, lamenting about the state of her life, and to top it all off she yelled at the top of her lungs, “AND NOW MY LIFE IS BEING DICTATED BY A FREAKING CARTOON CHARACTER!!!” (Weird that even in her worst moments, she still refuses to cuss) After she was done, she took a moment to decompress, “What now?”
“I say we wait til’ morning, and go from th-” A faint glow from outside caught my attention.
A blue fluorescent light peeked through the blinds over the unfinished kitchen sink. The light slowly grew brighter and brighter, until the entire cabin was bathed in the unnatural light.
“Did a car just pull up?” she asked looking at the window.
“No… there are woods over there.”
I snuck up to the window and peeked through the blinds. My sight was greeted by a gas station. “What the hell?” I backed away from the window and walked to the door.
“What is it?” Tracy followed behind me.
“It’s... a gas station…” I opened the door, and stepped out.
She started saying something, but I wasn’t listening. I studied the station, scanning every inch. It was the same, exactly the same, every crack in the asphalt, the crappy paint job, and even the old cigarette advertisements. I walked up to the door, and pulled it open.
Bing, Bong Dion looked up from the counter, “oh, hey man…”
“Uh, Dion? What are you doing here?”
“Uh… I don’t know man, did you need something?” He said giving a shrug.
“Uh- we ran out of gas.” I continued to look around in disbelief.
Bing, Bong I turned to see Tracy walking in, “Did you turn around at some point?” she had an angry expression.
“No… we’re in Oklahoma, we crossed state lines a few hours ago.” I said turning on my heels.
“What the heck?” She said very confused.
“Yeah… tell me about it.”
Our line of questioning basically ended in the three of us shrugging it off, and I closed our interaction by buying fifty dollars worth of gas and a five gallon can. (And now I’m officially out of money.) Before we left, Dion stopped me.
“Hey man… you almost forgot this.” He turned to a sudden wall of guns that definitely was not there when we came in.
“Uhh, I’m not even gonna ask.” I said, shaking my head dumbfounded by the whole thing.
He opened a display, and pull out a box of 9mm ammo, “It’s part of a deal that's going on, a free box of ammo included with a purchase of ten or more gallons of gas!” (I still don’t understand why he of all people is okay with selling an unlicensed firearm and its peripherals to a minor, but I digress.)
He slid the box across the counter, I moved to take it from him, but his grip stayed.
“Is there a problem?” I asked, my reach receding from the prize.
“Nothing’s wrong man… but just so you know, you don’t have to use them to deal with all your problems.” His brow fell as he spoke.
“I’ll try to be conservative with them.” I said reassuringly.
This seemed to put his mind at ease, “Stay safe out there!” he said as I left the building, clutching my newly acquired ammo.
We filled the tank, I climbed inside the RV, and almost had a heart attack when I saw Ronda sitting in the dark. At first I usually didn’t notice her, she usually blends into the background, (I know that makes me sound like an asshole, but she literally hasn’t said a word since the cornfield!) At night for some reason she likes to cosplay as Samara from the ring, and she refuses to make any noise. It’s kinda annoying. Like when we first started driving, I drove first, around one in the morning, I assumed that the two of them were asleep. My eyes were feeling a little strain so I looked around, and almost swerved off the road when I saw a girl with jet black hair sitting in the passenger seat. (I mean, I realized it was her almost immediately, but I don’t like having a walking jumpscare accompanying us on our little journey. Where was I? Oh yeah!) So Ronda was hanging out in the dark, being kinda creepy, you know, as you do. And of course my reaction was to back peddle and trip over Tracy while shouting a string of expletives. Ronda was not impressed, she actually seemed annoyed by my little display (so did Tracy.) Then Tracy and I flipped a coin on who got to drive next. (And who got to fix the airbag). Five tosses later, Tracy conceded and sat behind the wheel.
Tracy fiddled around with the now deflated airbag for a few minutes. Then I tried, but couldn't hack it. Even Ronda had a go. She technically fixed it, (after she cut the bitch out, but whatever).
“So, how much longer?” Tracy asked slipping the key into the ignition.
“Let me check…” I pulled out Cheshire's map.
Gonna have a little aside here. This map astounds me. It works like a video game map, (or google maps) basically it shows our exact location, with a “you are here” tag, and depending on how close I look at it; It will show all the roads and paths in the area. It shows things like hiking trails, and deer paths, things that I feel shouldn’t be on a road map of the universe, if the original size of the map is to be believed. (He could’ve blown it up for dramatic effect, for all I know.) I hate using it though, it gives me a headache.
“Why do you want to go to this place anyway?” Tracy leaned back in her seat to relax a little.
(I knew she’d ask me that at some point)...
“I don’t know dude… cause’ I was told to.” I said watching her turn the key.
“I didn’t take you for someone who likes to take orders.” she said crossing her arms.
“I not taking orders… you know what happened last time I didn’t listen to Cheshire...” I said as she pulled out
“Yeah, where’d he come from anyways?”
“No clue… he just showed up after Elijah killed me.” I pull out my phone and turned it on.
It let off a faint red glow, (still haven’t found a way to clean blood out of the screen yet... I’ll keep ya posted.) I set the directions, to the farm, (Oh shit, I forgot to tell you that’s where we were headed, whoops…) well, it was like a farm from what we could tell. I mean it looked like they exported wheat, that counts right?
“So… you actually died back there, didn’t you?” She asked softly.
“Yep...”
“What was it like?” she leaned forward, a hopeful look rising in her eyes.
I let out a big sigh, “It was like everything stopped… No bright light, no raging inferno. Just black… not even black, it was... just... nothing.” Yeah, that was not what she wanted to hear.
She leaned back and her face grew sullen, "Its better than hell I guess..."
We rode the rest of the way in silence, just listening to a crappy talk show. (It was just this guy complaining about millennials). The next ten minutes went by smoothly. She seemed to come back together when we pulled into the farm. A man came out of a large house and waved us in. He then had us park by a small building.
The man greeted us as we stepped out of the vehicle, "I wasn't expecting y'all to show up until Sunday!"
"Uh-yeah, we just thought we should surprise ya… sorry if we're being trouble." It seemed like a good excuse.
"Oh no, no trouble at all. Actually my last hand just quit." He said with a grin.
"High turnover rate?"
"I guess you could say we have a-"
"TRAVIS!!! You need to get a goddamn exorcist!" A bearded man threw his hat in The man’s chest as he approached.
"-curse… you know what Bill, you could at least wait until I'm don-"
"THE WHOLE DAMNED CROP IS RUINED!!!" Bill's face was beet red at this point.
"Huh, I guess this is why he sent us here…" I whispered to Tracy.
Bill turned his gaze to us, "who are these three?"
"Three?" I turned to see Ronda staring straight through me, "Jesus! do you have to sneak up on me like that?"
"She's been here the whole time…" Tracy said jabbing me in the side.
"We need to put a bell on yo-"
"Ahem…" Bill grunted and crossed his arms.
"Oh yeah… sup?"
"Who are you?" He sounded out each syllable like I was a toddler.
"Oh… I'm Shaun, this is poly-color, and the selective mute." I said pointing at my companions.
Tracy took another jab at my side and said, "I'm Tracy, and she's Ronda."
"Nice to meet you, Tracy!" Bill said shaking her hand.
It looked like he was gonna shake mine, but when I extended my hand he just gave me snide look and walked past me to shake Ronda's.
"Uh… okay then. So, about those crops?" I said trying to cut through that awkward feeling.
Bill straightened up and said, "Why don't I show you."
"Maybe we should let them settle in, before hitting them with the weirdness." Travis interjected.
"What type of weirdness?" I asked, leaning on the balls of my feet.
"Follow me…" Bill grunted, and started walking back to the field.
I looked at Tracy, she just shrugged and said, "I don't care dude, you can do what you want."
Travis gave a weak smile, “You can go check it out, you’re gonna be working with it anyway.”
I followed Bill to a line of blue silos, with the big white letters spelling out 'B&G's' across it eastern face. I walked with Bill around the silos, and almost instantly saw what he was complaining about. A large portion of their field was wilted and dead.
"How did that even happen?" I crossed my arms and shot Bill a glance
He just grimaced and muttered, "that damned devil…"
After that, nothing else weird happened for the rest of the day though, (Kinda a let down.) I did get to meet the Brices (Travis' family) and the Gaithers (Bill's… obviously) and they were… varied.
Travis' family consists of his wife Angela, a rather thin woman with gaunt features. From the get-go she looked like you just caught her crying, and she seemed like she would burst into tears at any moment. Then I met their sons, Daniel and Noah. Daniel was the older brother around 15 or so he was the more social of the two, (he actually came across as a bit of a show off, but that's just me). His younger brother Noah however, seemed to be just as frail and timid as his mother.
Bill's family was much nicer than the man himself. There was his wife Brieanne a short chubby woman with blond hair and rosy cheeks, her personality was delightful. Their three daughters were equally as nice. Their oldest name was Emily, she was about 16, had dirty blonde hair, rosy cheeks, and had the demeanor of a girl who is waiting for a prince to sweep her off her feet. Her sister Juliana was basically the opposite, only around 14, she was very tomboyish. She had her hair cut short, and a pair of overalls. Then the youngest sister at 7 and a half, its… Millie! A seriously cute kid, she lost her two front teeth a few days ago, and she wants you to know all about it! She and Tracy became best friends within minutes of meeting each other. And I also can't forget Marty, a nice old man who sits in a rocking chair all day to give you some sage advice. (It seems niceness skipped a generation with Bill).
Something did stick out when Travis was going inside for the night. "Hey listen… If you hear any weird noises at night don't freak out, that's just Lilly saying hello…" and he closed the door.
I stayed up later than the others, there was no real reason for it. I was just awake, (I think I was trying to clean out my phone's screen.) I was sitting in the passenger seat with my feet on the dash, futilely wiping my screen. At this point the blood has long since dried and will never get out. I zoned out hours ago and was staring at my phone idly, when it suddenly buzzed.
I stared at the top of my screen for a few seconds, as I read, One new message from: Joshua
Joshua: Shaun are yall alright
Me: Uh yeah why?
Joshua: People showed up here earlier
Me: cult?
Joshua: No men in black
Me: What?
Joshua: They showed up after you left and won't let anyone leave
Me: What are they doing then?
Joshua: Watching the cult
Me: Just watching?
Joshua: Yeah they set up on our property
Me: Have they said anything?
Joshua: No they showed up and sectioned off the property the only time they contacted us was wgen they gave food and water
Me: It sounds like they're ready for the long haul. I bet they are just preparing to start a siege, this shit will blow over trust me.
Joshua: I'm gonna keep my eye on them
Me: Don't get in the way, but keep me posted.
Joshua: I'll do that
It was around that time my eyes started to droop
Me: Hey i know this is really important,but can talk about this tomorrow
Joshua: I'll give you a call when i find out more
Me: Cool.
I turned off the phone, then went to bed, (or passed out in the seat whatever.)
The next day started with Tracy shaking me awake, apparently Travis already had jobs for us to do. Tracy and Ronda got to help around the farm, like feeding the chickens, hanging clothes, and other menial tasks. And I had to help Travis and Bill deal with the wilting situation. (Feels like I got the short end of the stick.) After she was done telling me this, we went to get the day started. And this is when I first encountered one of Lilly's 'pranks'. I took one step out of the RV, and right into a bucket of water. One second I was up right, and the other I was hurtling straight into another slightly larger bucket of water. The fall really didn’t hurt, but i landed on my hand and in turn broke my pinky. Also getting submerged in water at 6am is annoying. (Gonna be real, I’m unsure how this didn’t kill me, or whatever happens to me when someone else would die.)
Travis let out little snicker as he walked up, “looks like Lilly is breaking you in fast.”
I rolled out of the bucket and made an effort to hide my pinky, “Where is this Lilly? I just want to talk, promise.”
Travis stiffened up a little, “I don’t think you’ll be able to talk with her...”
“Why not?” I asked raising myself off the ground.
His breathing labored for second, and he ultimately ignored my question. “Uh, why don’t we get some breakfast.”
“I think... I’m gonna change first.” I said wincing as I stuck my hand in my pocket.
It took me almost two minutes to realize all my clothes were left in Parish. It all kinda just hit me at that point. My chest felt heavy and I slumped onto the floor, I looked around the RV seeing my dads handy work. I wasn’t gonna see him again, I wasn’t gonna go home again, and I couldn’t change out of my soaking wet clothes, (out of all the things listed, the clothes ranked pretty low, but it still stung.)
While I was moping on the floor, I noticed a ticking noise. It was quite pervasive, starting out quiet then rising in volume as time went on. As foreign as it was, the sound was familiar like I’d heard it before. Well, it was starting to get a little stale on the floor, and the ticking basically made me snap out of my little depression. I followed the ticking to the bedroom and found three suitcases. Each had name tags on them that were tied to their handles with pieces of twine.
After a cursory glance I found the source of the ticking. On the suitcase in the middle sat a pocket watch, the pocket watch, the one Cheshire gave me. Last time I saw it, it was in Parish, (I thought I lost it when Elijah thrashed me).
Along with the watch was a piece of paper. On said paper was a note with weirdly fine writing on it.
“This is all I could save. See, I’m not so bad after all. ‒Cheshire”
He even drew a chibi version of himself on the bottom of the page. (I was gonna take a picture of it and show you guys, but I couldn't find it. It has been 4 months).
I looked down at the suitcase, it was my dad’s suitcase. I studied it for a moment. So many memories were had with this. I remembered a time when everything was nice, when my family went on a trip to Austin, we were visiting my grandparents for Christmas. Mom was in remission at the time, and as a celebration my grandparents bought them a two week cruise, and a new set of luggage. I remembered Mom and Dad found it funny that Mom got three large suitcases, and Dad got this small one. She never got to go on that trip. Dad ended up giving the tickets to mom’s friend. (I don’t think they went either.)
Uhh… sorry, I felt a little twinge as I noticed that the suitcase was burned on one side. It looked like it was pulled out just as it caught fire. I ran my finger across my father’s initials stamped into the leather, (L.B. by the way). I snapped the latches, and flipped the case open. I was met with a small selection of clothes. Like really small, like two shirts and a pair of pants. I grabbed the pants, a pair of blue jeans with the smell of cheap alcohol. Not the cleanest thing to change into but it was better than being wet. I grabbed my bongo cat shirt and changed into my simi-new clothes.
After I was done changing I noticed one more thing. An a small envelope, about the size of a DVD case. It had red writing on it, another message from Cheshire, I thought as I picked it up.
“Do Not Open This! Open it ONLY when I tell you too. ‒Cheshire”
At this point, I knew not to question it. Then threw it and the watch into the case, promptly forgetting about it.
I stepped into the kitchen, and saw Ronda sitting in the booth.
“Good morning.”
“Morning…” it was such a hushed whisper, that I almost didn’t register it.
“Whoa, did you just say something?” I asked as I turned on my heels.
She just looked at me in annoyance, still silent. I actually felt kinda silly questioning why a human being just talked.
“Uh, sorry... “ I said, as I awkwardly shuffled past her, too the door. I stopped a second turned to her, “hey uh, you got a bag in the bedroom.”
She squinted at me in what I believe was confusion, then looked at the room.
“Yeah, I think it's pretty weird too.” I said, walking out the door.
I took a hesitant step down from the RV, and was relieved when my foot touched ground. I made my way over to Travis’ house, nothing of note happened at breakfast, but I made sure that I informed Tracy about the suitcase with her name on it. Also Travis asked me about my hand, but I told him that I just knocked it and that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. I don’t think he cared enough to ask any further questions. A few minutes later, Travis, Daniel, and I were out the door.
We met with Bill by the silos. He and Travis started discussing the wilted crops situation. It was at this point I realized that I had no clue on what I was supposed to be doing here. I mean yeah Cheshire told me to go here, but I’ve never worked on a farm before. What could he gain from me coming here?
“Hey, Shaun… you there?” Daniel asked, breaking my train of thought.
I snapped to attention, “Hmm, yeah?”
“Did you hear me?” Travis asked.
“Uh… N-no sir…” I said feeling a little embarrassed.
“We gotta check on the irrigation system, and see if any of it is damaged.” He said sharply.
“That seems simple enough." I said crossing my arms.
“It never is.” Bill said with rather venomous tone. It wasn’t aimed at me I still, it was potent enough to hit everyone in the vicinity. (Hell it looked like it even hit Bill).
Travis looked down for a second. Then, gave an even more potent stare, “Lilly didn’t do this…”
“No, she didn’t... it's this devil pretending to be her!” Bill’s tone was confrontational, but his looked sad… pleading almost.
“She’s not a devil… she didn’t do it…” Travis’ voice was quivering. Then he just walked away silently.
“I guess we’re not getting his help… are you still helping Danny?” Bill’s tone took a polar shift, he chose to speak softly. Something I’ve never seen in the single day I’d known.
Daniel shook his head and said, “y-yeah… I’m coming.”
“Uhh... so, what’s the plan here?” I asked trying to bring a sense of reality to the conversation.
Bill outlined our task. Basically all we had to do look along the irrigation system for damage, while he goes to main water tank to see if there is anything wrong with it. He made a comment about how he was sure there was nothing wrong with the tank, but he still had to check on it. This left me to go with Daniel to the field. I’m gonna give you the lay out of the field, it was about the size of a football field, and it had a stationary Irrigation system, consisting of two pipes parallel to each other going down the length of the field. They led to a large water tank, it looked like it held around 8000 gallons. (How do I know that? I googled big ass water tank on farm, and found one that looked like it in images). There was also another much smaller tank connected to the system. Given the smell, I would have to guess it was filled with fertilizer. (That made me real cautious going near the system, when I got the gist of what was going on, but I’m getting ahead of myself).
We were walking along and Daniel was giving me the rundown of what to look out for, like, damaged or busted pipes, leaks, and “signs of Lilly.” That was the name drop to break the camel's back.
“Alright, stop!” I said throwing up that “T” hand signal that they do in sports.
“What?” He turned around looking a little confused.
“Who is Lilly?” I stood in a way that showed I wasn’t moving until I got an answer.
He looked a little apprehensive then took a second gather himself, “She was my little sister…” he looked down for a moment, “she passed away two years ago.”
“Ohh, sorry… but if that's the case. Why look for signs of her?” I tried being tentative in my words, but they felt way too intrusive.
“She didn’t really go away. She just stuck around, pulling pranks every once and awhile.” He looked at me obviously not wanting to talk anymore on the subject.
“Alright, we should get looking.” I said loosening up and taking a step forward.
We approached pipes and looked it over for the next hour. For some odd reason we couldn’t just start looking near the wilt, so we started at the furthest point of the field. We ended up talking about his day to day life. (It was around this point, I realized that at least nine kids haven’t shown up to my school for two weeks. And I just now realize I’ve quite a few points of realization… whatever, I'm not going back and changing it. fuck you). After a few minutes of me looking and him chatting up how popular he is in school. I stepped into a wet spot like really wet, it was like stepping into mud on the bank of a river. My foot just went in the sudden shift in the earth made me lose my balance, forcing me to my knees.
“Gah, what the fuck…” I said shaking mud off my hand.
“Oh... looks like we found the busted pipe.” he gave a smirk, like he was making up a story to tell the boys at school. Wait a minute.
“Why aren’t you in school?” I asked as a genuine question and a way to save face.
His smirk disappeared and he stammered out a quick excuse of how they “don’t go to school until after Easter” and left it at that. I wrote it off, because he obviously hated answering questions. I took a look at the pipe and wondered how didn’t notice it when we stepped on the field, or when I was right next to the fuckin’ thing. (I wasn’t really paying attention, but still).
“Alright, what do we do now?” I asked, as I wrenched my foot free. My foot didn’t go particularly deep, but it was really stuck in there.
He didn’t respond, he just stared at the pipe all pale.
“You alright?” I walked up beside him to see what held his attention.
I followed his gaze to a blue Easter egg, like one of the plastic ones that you put candy in. Just shoved into a spout on the side. I wondered how something so innocuous could bring him such discomfort. However out place the object was, it couldn’t possibly warrant such reaction... Could it?
In a somber tone, Daniel spoke, “It started out small. There would be a poorly crafted prank every once and awhile, like someone putting a water bottle on the top of a door… kinda like the bucket thing. We all thought it was somebody else. But dad was sure it her. Then it got worse, the pranks got more elaborate, and people got hurt sometimes.”
“And the egg?” I asked, reaching up to the nebulous item.
“They’re kinda like her calling card.” He said, almost whispering.
“Do they ever have anything inside them?” I plucked it up from its resting place. I made sure to take note of the damage to the pipe, it looked like somebody took an axe to it, a large section was missing, and it wasn’t anywhere nearby.
“Sometimes they have stuff inside them. It's usually water though…” He looked expectantly at the egg, just waiting for me to open it.
It looked like it had some type of liquid inside it, but it had something else in it too. I gave it a long look, and eventually decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek. I twisted and squeezed the egg until it popped open. The second it opened, I knew something was really wrong with it. Why? Well, a thick red liquid spilled on my hand, yep it was blood. I paused for a second, thinking if I should look any further. Then continued opening it, aaannd I wish I didn’t.
I pulled the top off quickly, kinda like a band-aid I guess. And was greeted by a pair of little black eyes, and bloody brown fur. I threw it away from me soon I saw it, but it didn’t spare me from the image, burning itself into my mind. Someone had taken a hamster and mutilated it. They tore off all of its legs, cut open its stomach, and shoved its legs into its mouth. Yeah, it was uh… pretty fucked up.
“OH GOD, FUCKING GOD!” I recoiled in absolute revulsion. Almost threw up honestly.
"What's in it?" I can’t describe what he was doing because I was too busy staring at my hands in horror.
“I-it was… a fucking hamster!” I said looking over at the egg, now covered in blood.
I guess Bill was already on his way over from the water tank and heard me yell out, because he was suddenly booking it to us asking us what was wrong. My answer to him was just another combination of shouting various expletives and the word hamster over and over again. (You would do the same thing, so shut up!)
I was basically inconsolable. So Daniel had to explain what happened for me. He got most of the details correct so I couldn’t really comment on it.
Until he said, “Her pranks are getting worse…”
“How the fuck does that constitute a prank!” I had mostly snapped out of my trance, and was just kinda angry now.
“That’s why it’s getting worse!” I guess he made a good point. (I didn’t care though).
“Did she have a habit of mutilating small animals?” I said, all respect out of the window.
“That thing isn’t his sister…” Bill spoke up with that venom from before seeping out with every syllable.
“Bill?” Daniel looked upset By Bill’s words, but it seemed he accepted the sentiment.
“I’m sorry Danny, but you know exactly what I’m talking about.” Bill’s voice carried understanding with it. An understanding that I didn’t have.
“Soo… What's actually going on?” my anger morphed to confusion, leaving me to wonder what Cheshire wanted me to do here.
Bill seemed to just shrug off my question and just looked up the pipe, he whispered something about a net loss. (I feel kinda bad about it. As they say shit be expensive yo). Bill took a few steps towards the egg, and let out a sigh. “How am I gonna tell the girls about their hamster?”
Meanwhile, all Tracy and Ronda had to do was feed some chickens, and hang out with kids. while I had to sit in the middle of weird family drama about the identity of the local spook. Apparently, Tracy got done with her work and tried to help Millie find her hamster. Which translated to her following the kid around the property to her favorite hiding spots. Because you know, the hamster has to know where you hide from your friends. (It would be cute if the hamster wasn’t a serial killer’s art project right now). Millie led her to a tree at the edge of the property, they’d previously been to the back of the barn, behind the chicken coup, and under the porch (Millie was the only one who down there). Millie was getting very upset, but Tracy was still being positive. Telling her that he’ll show up at some point, “he can’t hide forever.” She took note of how high the grass was over there. As she told me this later, she made a remark of how she wished I was there to check for snakes. She watched as Millie stopped at the base of the tree. Millie looked sad, not about her hamster but something else. Tracy walked up behind her to see what she was looking at. Millie had been staring at a bunch of carvings. Names and dates to be more specific.
LILLY & MILLIE ‒ January 2017
Best friends forever
Tracy asked her what was wrong as she saw her run finger across Lilly’s name. Millie turned back with with the sweetest smile Tracy had ever seen, “Nothing!” Then her face dropped, not in sadness, but like she was thinking really hard about something. “Everyone is mad at Lilly…”
“Why do you say that?” she asked leaning to meet her gaze, and at this point I don’t think she knew about the trickster ghost yet, but hey she was trying to help.
“Juliana told me.” Apparently said with a slight upturn in pitch. Tracy asked her why Juliana thought that to which Millie replied, “She keeps pranking people…” They both sat against the tree and Tracy asked her where Lilly was. “Mamma says she passed away…” Tracy felt a ball of Ice form in the pit of her stomach at that declaration. Millie spoke again, “I don’t think she’s doing i‒”
“MILLIE!” I could feel Bill’s voice vibrate through my body.
“Are you sure you want to tell her this now?” I said, uncovering my ears.
“It's better to break it to her now than later.” Bill said over his shoulder.
“She is Seven.”
He turned to me with a scowl and spoke softly, “don’t tell how to parent my child.”
“Got it.” I said backing up a little.
I then watched as the man ruined his daughter's day with the news that Henry was no longer with us. (oh yeah the hamster's name was Henry.) Millie cried for an hour and a half, then made everyone stop what they were doing so we could give the hamster a funeral. (Well it was more of a wake then anything). Daniel got a shoe box to put Henry in. Bill Made sure Millie wouldn’t look in the box and had her pick out a spot to bury him. She picked out a spot next to her tree, and Bill made me dig the hole. Yep, he made me, the guy he just met yesterday afternoon, bury the family pet. What did he do? Well he left, being a good dad and shit, taking his kids somewhere in his truck. It took me a while to notice that Marty pulled up a chair and was watching me dig. He gave me suggestions every once awhile. But he mostly just drank and looked out in the distance, sometimes he’d look back at the tree and drink a little bit more. He sat in silence for a while, letting the wind guide his thoughts. He looked so peaceful, I almost didn’t want to say anything to ruin it for the guy, but the silence was getting kinda awkward.
“Uh‒”
“I’d like to thank you for doing this, it’s been hard for us the last two years.” He took another swig of his beer.
“I didn’t really have a choice in the matter.” I said plunging the shovel deeper into the earth.
He let out a laugh, “of course you had a choice, you could have said no.”
“Doesn’t feel like I had a choice… haven’t felt that way for a while.” I said, putting more dirt on the pile.
“Well, why do you feel that way?” He glanced over his shoulder, the sunlight made his green eyes almost glow. They betrayed his old man persona, because they screamed with youth, not something common to people his age. Especially the ones I used to know.
“A lot of things happened.”
“Like what?” at this point he turned completely towards me.
“My home was destroyed…” I took a moment to clear my throat, “and my dad was killed… in a car accident.” I started digging faster.
His eyes took a knowing gaze, “Oh… when did that happen?”
“Two weeks ago. Same day.” I was only stabbing at the dirt at this point. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” I looked at the hole and thought, how a hamster was getting a proper burial before anyone in Parish.
“Is that why you’re here?”
“I don’t know why I’m here…” I slumped down against the tree, “I haven’t exactly gotten a briefing here…”
He let out a sigh, “I know what you mean... got dropped into a jungle with an m16, and orders to destroy communism. Heh, didn’t exactly as planned.” he grinned and took a swig of his beer.
“Yeah, I guess people worse than I do huh.”
“No… nobody really has it worse than anyone else. It's how you deal with it." He said scratching at his beard.
“Yeah, then what's the best way to deal with it then?” I asked incredulously.
His grin got a little wider, “I don’t know that yet.”
“Heh, then what the hell are we talking about?” I gotta tell ya, that man's smile is contagious.
We just sat there, trading life stories, he did the talking while I nodded along. I was diggin again, I asked him if he believed in all that ghost business, then he went on with a particularly creepy story from Vietnam.
(I was gonna put it here but Reddit has a character limit, and with that story, I overshot it. So, I’ll post in the comments below. I think it deserves its own post, but the comments will do fine for now).
Marty stopped talking after that story. I dug in silence until I got to a around foot deep in the dirt, he suddenly said that I was done, just loud enough to startle me.
"Dude, give a guy some warning." I said, dropping the shovel.
He gave a sly grin, "if I did it wouldn't be as funny. I'll finish up here, go see if Angie needs anything."
I just gave him a nod, and walked over to the Brice house. And nothing of note really happened. Angela didn’t need anything done, and Travis showed me around the house. It was just a general overview of the house, people’s rooms, where the bathroom was, stuff like that. we stopped at Lilly’s door at the end of the hall up stairs.
I crossed my arms, “So, is there a rule not to go in there?”
A smile cracked at the end of his lips, “that ain't really a rule…” he pushed the door open, “we just don’t have any reason to go in here.” He moved over to let me see the room was bare, it didn’t even have carpet. I was underwhelmed, he closed the door, and said that we should go down stairs.
Hours passed, and smash cut to me sitting in the RV's passenger seat with a gun in my mouth at around 3am. (I'm immortal I can do what want). I held the gun to the roof of my mouth, and stared at the clock. I wondered what time would I wake up if I pulled the trigger, if I woke up at all. Then it became a bit of a game, to see how long I could hold it there before I twitch and blow my head off. I sat there for around ten minutes, and my hand was getting shaky. I let out an excited “ooh” as the barrel clacked against my teeth.
“I’m not cleaning up If that thing goes off…”
I quickly jerked it out of my mouth, pulling out a lovely strand of drool with it. I spun around to see Ronda thumbing through a magazine.
“Jesus Christ, do realize what could’ve happened if I pulled the trigger!” I whisper screamed.
“Yeah, you could have painted the RV with your brain, also Tracy is sleeping above your head. So, you could have shot her in the process.” She didn’t even look up from her magazine as she scolded me.
You know when you do something stupid, and afterward you feel that burning sensation in your brain. Yeah, I felt that, then and now. “You know, I’m getting the feeling that you don’t like me very much.”
She was silent for a minute just reading her magazine, she took so long to respond that I started to put the gun back in my mouth. “It’s not that I don’t like you, it’s just... I wis‒” she was interrupted by a loud knock at the door.
Tracy groggily shouted, “Not it!” I looked over at Ronda to see her with her middle finger on her nose.
“Seriously? You suck…” I stood up, slipped the gun in my pocket, and sauntered to the door.
I opened the door, and looked in otter bewilderment at a burning paper bag. My confusion turned into an odd form of joy. For some reason I thought it was funny that a ghost would try The Burning Poo Bag Trick™ on someone. (I remember Dallas talked me into doing it once, we almost got peppered with bird-shot. Good times). Of course I didn’t fall for it, and promptly kicked it off the step. The little giggle I had built up got caught in my throat when the biggest fucking nail I’ve ever seen, tore its way out of the bag. My mirth, understandably, shifted to rage.
“OH YOU MOTHERFU‒” Snap! It was still there, watching me. I don't know why, but that made me angrier.
I looked over to where I heard the sound, and saw a dark shape charging into the field. Not knowing what else to do I chased after it, 30ft in and I could feel the now too familiar sharp pain, and rattling in my lungs. You know, I was ready to give up then and there, but I was keeping pace with them. We were fast approaching the Irrigation system, and I could almost grab them. But then they suddenly jumped, before I could see what it was they jumped over something grabbed my leg. Sending me to get impaled by a sharp object. It missed all my vital organs, only going into my shoulder. It still hurt though. I laid in the dirt for a minute, wincing every time I tried to pull myself off of it. I eventually said screw it and pushed up as hard as I could, it not only pulled me up, it pulled up the object too. I tried to silence a scream in the midst of doing the maneuver. After I was freed I looked at what pulled me down. Cutting into the flesh of my ankle was a snare made of a wire, then I looked to what impaled me. It was a section of pipe that had been cut to have a jagged point it was presumably from the irrigation system. I didn’t stick around to find out where it came from. Limped back to the RV, ignored Ronda’s protest of me getting blood on the floor, and passed out from blood loss.I woke up in the shower a few hours later, just laying in a puddle of my own blood with a single question on my mind.
Why did a ghost need to jump?
Submitted September 05, 2019 at 07:22AM by Slifer117 https://ift.tt/2MVdEoZ
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