The Back Roads

The back roads

Michael J T Zak

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1 The tap of Jeremy’s new Nike shoes made a melancholy patter as he walked home from school. Holding his D English paper he took a different route home than usual, because he knew that Kent and Timmy would be waiting at the end of the road to call him a low life idiot. He turned left into the North Beach woods where the sounds of birds hummed in Jeremy’s ear. Hopefully Cody would be down here collecting rocks for his collection. He and Cody had been friends ever since the third grade. They did everything together. They even, a year ago, had gathered up enough courage to walk into Mr. Tatum’s old farmhouse. The old farmhouse was supposed to be haunted, says some folks of Newcastle, Pennsylvania, but Jeremy and Cody knew that it was just some dumb 2

old wives tale. They had spent four hours in that rickety old house and not heard one darn noise. Of course Mr. Tatum’s cat May Belle had given them a spook. But besides that, it was an old wives tale. Jeremy crossed the old wooden bridge and then climbed down a series of rocks stacked on top of one another. If you weren’t too careful a rock could easily slide out from underneath you and before you knew it you would be tumbling to your death. As he made his descent he carefully put his right hand on every rock he passed, just to give him support. When he finally jumped down from the last rock he landed hard on the ground. He looked around taking in the cool October air. The trees of the forest provided tremendous shade to the grounds below and the leaves that barricaded the sunlight made shadows of all different figures on the ground below. A small pond ran right beside the stack of rocks and into the hill far away into a small cave. On the other side was another hill that also was made of stones but no one used them because it was much easier to just climb up the grassy part and hold on to the trees. Jeremy swayed where he stood and looked at his D English paper. He had not really even studied for the stupid thing but when Miss Mary Ellen called out his name he knew that he was in trouble. He had been sitting in class minding his own business and of course everyone else had gotten their paper back, except Jeremy. He thought that it was just a coincidence; that the teacher had forgotten all about him, but he was wrong. As class was about to come to an end Miss Mary Ellen had called out Jeremy’s name and made him stand in front of the class. She pulled a piece of paper off her desk, grabbed a piece of tape, and then stuck the piece of paper right on Jeremy’s forehead. Within seconds the whole eighth grade class burst into laughter. “Now class,” Miss Mary Ellen had shouted, “I hope that this poor young man knows what he did wrong, and I hope that this young man sets an example for all of you. Of course a bad example I mean. Tut, tut Jeremy Chance, thirteen years old and still slacker. You will be a slacker all you life!” “I forgot my book at school!” Jeremy pleaded, as though he were pleading for his life. “A likely excuse,” She howled with wicked laughter, “Now sit down Jeremy, and read over that paper, you will be retaking it on Monday. Six A.M.!” Jeremy walked over to the pond and sat down on a log. He glanced at his reflection in the water. He was a small boy, about five foot, and had dirty blonde hair that was not too short but long enough that it crept over half of his ears and the front touched his eyebrows. He face was clear except for about thirty freckles around his eyes and nose. He was strong and built, and maybe could be a basketball player, but definitely not a boxer. His arms were short but his legs were long and lanky. Whenever he spoke a slight rasp came out, both rough and scratchy, like his fathers, who had been dead for a year now. The rasp was not too noticeable but people could tell it was him whenever they played ‘Who has the pumpkin?’

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To his despair Cody was not there collecting his rocks like usual. He looked around the woods and wished that he didn’t have to go home. His auntie would probably give his a run for his money when he showed her that D. He thought that his mom would never have hit him but just simply said to him that he did his best and that he would have to try extra hard the next time. But Jeremy’s mom had disappeared last year, a couple months after his dad’s death, without a trace, and so now the only living relative he had in New Castle was his aunt who, to his perspective, was the devil himself. If he ever put one toe out of line his aunt would whip him like there was no tomorrow. He would even get it if he would spill his soda, which was usually Chester’s fault, not his. Chester was Jeremy’s aunt’s dog, and if there ever was a closer pair than Jesus and his disciples then this was it. Chester was like a miniature version of his aunt and whenever Jeremy was alone in the house Chester would come along and terrorize the heck out of Jeremy. Jeremy would have to lock to the door to his own room just so Chester would leave him alone. The sun was now beginning to lower deeper into the trees and the shadows on the ground were become fainter and fainter. Jeremy found himself slapping at his neck and arms because of the pestilent mosquitoes. Quickly he got up from the log and crossed the forest ground. He made his way up the grassy hill holding onto the trees as he made his ascent. When he reached the top Kent and Timmy where leaning on a small oak and cracking their knuckles and flashing Jeremy a wicked grin. “Hey.” Jeremy laughed waving his hand at them. “What’s up idiot?” Timmy laughed, walking over to Jeremy and laying a hand on his shoulder. “Can I take a look at that test you aced?” “Why?” Jeremy asked, beginning to shake because he knew that trouble was about to arise. “You already know what I got.” “Ha, true, true,” Laughed Kent, “But we wanna admire it. Maybe even frame it in town hall!” “No!” Shouted Jeremy, trying to wriggle free of Timmy’s grip, but even with just a hand on his shoulder Jeremy still couldn’t manage to wriggle free. “No listen here you little twerp!” Shouted Kent, “When Timmy here says to give him you’re paper, you better give it to him or we’ll kill you and then we’ll kill your aunt and her little pussy dog Chester! Now give it to him NOW!” “HEY! Leave him alone!” A boy, taller than Jeremy, had now joined the scene and was prying Timmy’s hand off of Jeremy’s shoulder. “What did you say to me, you little asthmatic freak?” Shouted Kent, “Come on, I wanna hear what you said to me!” Cody stood frozen where he was. “You heard me you jerk!” He shouted, “Leave him alone!” “Ha, and I suppose you two little girls are gonna stop us are ya?” Timmy laughed.

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“Maybe,” said Cody, shaking slightly, “And when we do stop you two, you’ll be sorry you ever messed with us!” “Haha, you two are definitely off your rocker!” laughed Kent. “Now I’m gonna ask you two fags one more time. May I please have your English paper Jeremy?” Jeremy stood there, breathing heavily, his eyes wide as golf balls. He looked down at his hand where the paper was folded in two. Awe, what the heck, thought Jeremy, I don’t want my aunt to see it. I’ll just give it to them. “Here.” He said. Cody looked at him like he had just signed up for a death pledge, “Take it.” He shoved the piece of paper into Kent’s face. Kent looked as if he had just won the Civil War. “Yeah, that’s right!” Kent screamed. “Yeah!” He jumped up and down and motioned for Timmy to follow him up the road. Timmy gave Cody a gently push (gently to Timmy) and Cody fell on the ground; almost down the hill. “Jerks.” Cody whispered as he stood up from the ground wiping a bit of blood from his lower lip. “Why can’t they pick on someone their own size?” “Cody,” Jeremy smiled, “They are you’re size.” “Not yours” Cody laughed. “Way to rub it in!” Jeremy smiled. The sun was very low in the sky now and down below in the small gulley was probably as dark as night itself. The buzz of mosquitoes were everywhere you went now, even in the town, where Jeremy and Cody stopped by the ice cream store to get a soft serve. The unusual thing was that Mr. Brown, the usual ice cream man was not in the small booth. Instead it was his son, Barney Brown, who was a blown up version of Mr. Brown. The people of New Castle say that Barney probably takes after him mom who can’t squeeze her whole body between her front door. That’s why, according to the folks, that no one has seen her in over a year. “Hey Barney!” Cody said, as he walked up to the front of the cart. “Hey boys, what are you two up to today?” Barney was a man of wisdom. He carried himself in a very fashionable way, and always kept his head held high; which looked like a tennis ball stuck to his massive body. In a few years time the neck would have probably covered up most of the tennis ball head, so that he would resemble The Headless Horseman. So now Barney’s nickname, as you can guess, was now Tennis ball. “Awe, you know the usual stuff.” Replied Jeremy, tilting his head to get a good look inside the ice cream cart to see if Mr. Brown was hiding in there somewhere. “Where’s Mr. Brown?” “You know what boys, when I see him I’ll ask him.” Replied Barney, fixing his nametag. “I haven’t seen hide or hair of him in a day.” “Well, where was he last?” Asked Cody. Barney huffed in a big breathe of air and then replied, “Well he told me and my mother that he was just goin’ out for a walk in the woods. I tried to stop 5

him, considering his bad leg and all, but he told me that he was fine and a bit of fresh air would do him good. You see, he’s been sick for about two weeks now.” “That’s horrible!” Jeremy cried, “Have you told the police?” “Well of course I have. What kind of son you think I am. I told Sheriff Whitman what happened and they’ve been searching the area all night long. They haven’t found a trace of my father in those woods or even in Erie. Nowhere to be seen. I’m scared boys, I really am. He’s only forty – seven, and I can’t take care of mom by myself. I just got out of college and I wanna make a living. I can’t be stuck at home all day. Oh, what am I gonna do?” Barney rubbed his stomach and looked at the two boys with worried eyes. “Hey,” started Cody, “We could help you.” Jeremy looked at Cody like he had just not heard what he had said. “Sure,” Cody smiled, “Yeah, we’ll help you. We can even get Benny and Will. Maybe even Jessie.” “Jessie!” Cried Jeremy, “What good is Jessie. She’s afraid to leave the perimeter of her own house. I know she’s not gonna go in any woods, that’s for sure.” “Awe, don’t listen to him Barney, he’s just upset because Miss Mary Ellen gave him a D on his English paper!” Barney gave a small chuckle, but when he looked at Jeremy’s scowl, he looked back at Cody. “Look we’ll start tomorrow. We’ll search the entire woods and we won’t stop until we find your father.” “Gee, thanks boys, that really means a lot to me. Do you boys want some ice cream?” Jeremy and Cody had forgotten all about the real reason they had even went to the ice cream stand and that was to get some ice cream. When Jeremy told Barney that they would like two twist ice cream (A twist is a soft serve ice cream where chocolate and vanilla are mixed), and when Jeremy was about to hand Barney the three dollars they owed, Barney said that it was on the house for offering to help find his father. “Are you sure Barney?” Asked Cody, still holding the three dollars in his hand trying to offer it to Barney. Geez, thought Jeremy, He’s acting like my aunt! “Course I’m sure. It’s the least I can do. So since tomorrow’s a Friday, let’s say you can come over to the house at around five o’ clock. We’ll all split up and then if we find him we’ll call out to one another. Okay?” Barney flashed the two boys a smile and then said, “Well golly, look at the time. I better close up. See you boys tomorrow!” “Ok, see you Barney!” Shouted Cody. Barney slid the black window that said ‘CLOSED’ over the little square opening where Barney had stood. The big fluorescent light that said ‘ICE CREAM’ was also shut off, and without that shining, it looked like a regular old trailer. The two boys trailed off down the path toward their homes. The sun was now beginning to set and a reddish glow lit the ground on the way home for the two of them. Lightning Bugs were dancing in the fields and the birds were singing their sweet song to call their children back into the nest.

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…… Sheriff Whitman had just finished reading an article on juvenile delinquents and how to teach them a lesson when Lieutenant Wahburgh walked him sweating and a wild look in his eyes. “Dale, Dale, Dale, oh Dale!” cried Lieutenant Wahburgh. “What?” Shouted Sheriff Whitman. He folded the piece of newspaper and laid it gently on his desk. “There’s been another one! Someone else has gone missing!” “Who?” “Gale Hatchet!” The Sheriff stood from his chair and gazed into Lieutenant Wahburgh’s eyes. “When did this happen?” He asked. “I have no idea.” Replied Wahburgh, “It could have been within the last three hours. According to her son, Kent, she had to go out of town on business. She didn’t want to go through town because she heard that there was a bunch of traffic, so she took the back roads, through the woods. When she didn’t come back this evening Kent saw me on the road and told me what happened.” “The back roads,” started the Sheriff, “Who lives in the back roads. Why, there’s nothing but woods back there. Nothing except Tatum’s house, but no one’s lived in there for five yeas since the old man disappeared.” The Sheriff looked up at the Lieutenant. Wahburgh got the Sheriff’s hint and then backed away. “You don’t think it has anything to do with her do you? Dale, she’s dead, we killed her. Jonathan handled it all.” Wahburgh backed away a little. “I understand that Trent, but still, it could be the old man. Maybe he’s back and he…no, it’s impossible. Look dispatch some of the boys and tell them to search around the area of the back roads. She could still be out there. Maybe she crashed and she’s trapped under her car.” “But sir…” began Trent. “Just do it Lieutenant. Please!” shouted the sheriff, sitting back down in his chair as to indicate that the conversation was over. Lieutenant Wahburgh nodded and turned with a jerk. As he slammed the door behind him Sheriff Whitman stood up from his chair and walked into the back room where there was a small sink. He turned the handle and the water came gushing out. He cupped his hands until they were filled with water and then splashed the water onto his face. He grabbed the white towel and dried his face off. The sheriff stood in the confines of the small space he was in and took a deep breathe and then threw the towel on the sink and walked out of the room. As he came out of the bathroom he turned right leading off into a long hallway. He stopped in front of a black door. He put his left hand on the door and rested his head next to his hand. The sheriff started to sweat and started

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shaking very badly. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out an orange pill container, but to his horror it was empty. He put his right hand over his eyes and nose to try to calm himself down and it worked a little. He pulled his head off the door and gazed at it with hatred and detest. He kicked the door and screamed, “You did this to me! You, you, you, you!” He put his head back up against the door and started to cry. This is where it all happened. He thought. This is where it all happened.

2 When Jeremy arrived home that evening he was greeted with a smack on the head and Chester biting at the bottom of his pant leg. Once he had eaten a dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, he smiled at his aunt, who didn’t return the smile, and rose from his chair and marched off upstairs and into his room. His room was the smallest room in the whole house and it wasn’t that grand either. It had an old nineteen sixties T.V. with bunny ears on it, a bedside table, a chest of drawers, and a bed. Jeremy threw off his clothes that he had been wearing and put on a pair of gym shorts to wear to bed. After he brushed his teeth he climbed into bed and pulled the sheet up to his shoulders length. Jeremy stared at the ceiling of his room. The paint was a puke green color and it really needed to be repainted because the pain was chipping off and sometimes he would awake when a small flake would drop on his face and wake him up. His mother would have let him and his father paint it up and they would’ve had a great time doing it, but sadly, both of his parents were dead. Mrs. Chance’s whereabouts are still unknown, but Mr. Chance’s whereabouts are certain. Any time Jeremy wanted to visit his father all he had to do was walk five miles north of his house and walk through the gates of Blackwood Cemetery, Section five, row six, and block five. Jeremy had memorized the exact location of the gravestone. A year ago they had found Jeremy’s dad’s body in the woods with his arms and legs tied behind his body and a symbol carved on his chest that no one knew the meaning of.

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When Jeremy had seen his dad’s body lying on the ground with his head twisted backwards he could not fall asleep for six months. The image of his father’s mangled body haunted him in his dreams and sometimes the lifeless body would come alive and speak to him telling Jeremy that it was his fault that he was dead. Jeremy’s mother could not take it either. After the incident she kept to herself, only talking to Jeremy, and remained in the house. The day she disappeared she told Jeremy that she loved him, and told him to lock the doors and to not answer the telephone, which he knew not to do. His mother had turned into a control freak. When she didn’t return that evening Jeremy began to worry. He waited up for her for hours until he finally made up his mind and ran to the sheriff’s office and told him what happened. The sheriff dispatched thirty men to look for Carol Chance and after three weeks of searching they gave up and put an unfilled grave right next to Jeremy’s father. They have been there ever since. And every day of the week Jeremy visits them and says a silent prayer.

“Now class, does everyone have their signed papers?” Miss Mary Ellen’s voice rang throughout the whole classroom. Classes across the hall could probably hear every word that she said and maybe could hear some of the insults and report her to the headmaster and then she would get fired. But, the class’s dream’s had not come true yet and they were certain that it was not going to happen. Miss Mary Ellen scanned the classroom, her beady black eyes checking each desk. “Mr. Chance, do you have your signed paper?” “Huh?” Jeremy answered, looking up from his English book where he was just finishing off a daydream about a starship fighting off evil forces in the sky a hundred light years away. “Do you have your English paper Jeremy?” She gave him the same wicked smile she had given him the day before when she handed him the dreadful paper. “The one that you were supposed to study for so you could take it on Monday. Remember?” “Oh, yea, why don’t you ask Kent, he’ll tell you where it is?” Jeremy smiled up at Miss Mary Ellen who turned her gaze over to Kent. Kent face went to stone. His eyes were wide, looking disbelievingly at Jeremy, and his mouth was hanging open. “Mr. Hatchet is that true?” Kent expression stayed where it was. “I’M TALKING TO YOU KENT!” Miss Mary Ellen screamed. “Did you take Jeremy’s test?” “Do you have any idea what my family is going through at the moment?” He stared up at Miss Mary Ellen with a sad look of grief. “Yea, ok, I took it. I

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mean look at him. He’s smart right, and then he thinks that he can become one of the cool kids by slacking.” Kent returned his glance toward Jeremy who turned around. “What the heck are you talking about?” he screamed at Kent. “Shut up Jeremy!” Yelled Miss Mary Ellen. “Kent, why would you take his paper? He obviously already has friends. I don’t see why he would want a slimy little punk like you!” She put her hands to her mouth and then stepped away from his desk. She started to breathe very heavily and then she whimpered out, “I’m sorry Kent…I didn’t…” But Kent had heard enough. He flipped over his desk and stormed out past Miss Mary Elle and ran out of the room. “Stay here class!” She said the class. When she left the room the whole class turned to one another and started to converse in whispers so she would not return and yell at all of them. Jeremy turned around to Cody, who sat behind him. Cody had his inhaler out and was puffing away. Cody was taller than Jeremy and had black hair that was combed backward across his head. He had a small nose and a pointed chin and his face was completely clear. “Do you think he’ll come back?” Jeremy asked Cody. “Today, probably not.” Replied Cody. “Are you still coming to help Barney find his dad tonight at five?” “Sure, I’ve got noting better to do.” Said Jeremy, putting his head down on the back of his chair. “I don’t really see why you even bother though, I mean what are the odds of us finding him… and if we do find him…” Jeremy looked up into Cody’s face. “No!” Shouted Cody, and everyone in the class turned to look at him. “He’s not gonna turn up like…like your dad.” Jeremy looked down into his lap. “Sorry.” Said Cody, “but you gotta have a little faith. I mean when the police was still searching for your father you still had hope didn’t you?” Jeremy nodded, “So maybe we should have a little hope for Mr. Brown. I mean what if he’s just out there, waiting for us to find him.” “I guess you’re right, what time do you think we’ll be out till?” “Why do you care”, laughed Cody, “It’s a weekend. Jeremy?” asked Cody. “Yeah?” “Do you still wonder if you’re mothers still alive?” “I don’t think, I know she is. Maybe it’s like what you said Cody, maybe she’s out there waiting for me to find her. So I guess I can’t give up hope either.” He looked up at Cody who smiled back at him. The door opened and Miss Mary Ellen walked back in alone. The whole class looked up at her with worrisome eyes and they all wanted to know where Kent was. “All right class, let’s review our lesson.” She began to talk about intransitive verbs and how to spot them in a sentence. The rest of the class soon

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became bored and were eager to learn where Kent was. As Jeremy sat in his seat he also wanted to know what Kent had meant about what he was going through. When the bell rang to change classes the whole class moved out of Miss Mary Ellen’s room to see if Kent was sitting near the office waiting for his mother to come pick him up. But Kent was nowhere to be seen, and the day moved on.

Lieutenant Wahburgh shifted from tree to tree holding out his hand to block twigs from hitting him in the face. The forest here was very dense and everywhere you moved trees closed you in. If you did not mark your spot on the trees you could possible get easily lost. Trent Wahburgh was looking for the thing that made Kent jump off his track at school. He was looking for Kent’s mother Gale Hatchet. So far he was having a pretty tough time. He had been searching for an hour and still not found anything. If anything was possible, he was hoping that he wasn’t about to find a dead body. He was hoping to find a body that was just dehydrated or hungry and was too weak to walk. He did not want to find someone who’s limbs were all torn. He lifted his head and stared into the blue sky. He swiped his arm over his face to wipe of the sweat. When he looked straight in front of him he saw an old man in ragged clothing holing a hoe above his head. The man was at least ten yard away from him, but he looked as if he was right there. Trent blinked. When he opened his eyes again the figure of the farmer was gone. Trent began to turn in a circle and his breathing increased with every turn. His heart was pounding harder than it ever had pounded and his eyes were focusing and UN -focusing. He quickly grabbed the rifle he had laid on the grass and picked it up and fired a shot into the air. He just wanted to make sure that he was alone in the woods. A couple of birds scooted out of the trees and a rabbit and a squirrel dashed in front of him and scurried away into their dens. Besides that he was alone in the woods. Just calm down Trent, he thought to himself, it was just a mirage. Yea, only a mirage. But at this point he didn’t even trust his own thoughts. The woods were beginning to grow dark, and he didn’t like the idea of seeing another mirage in the dark. It would only double the effect of freaking him out. With his rifle in one hand he made his way out of the North Beach woods, looking for the marks he made to find his way out. As he was halfway there he heard something behind him like a voice saying for him to turn around. When he turned around there was nothing there but a small brown and black cat. Trent laughed at himself and put his right hand forward to pet the cat but the cat hissed and swiped a paw at the Lieutenant’s hand. When it connected it made three deep cuts into his hand. Blood started to trickle down his hand and Trent put the hand in his mouth to try to suck the blood away.

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He looked at the cat with worrisome eyes as the cat started to advance on Trent. He quickly turned around and started to run in a direction he was not sure of. He wasn’t looking where he was going, and for that matter all he wanted to do was to get rid of the cat, that was chasing after him, hissing and growling like a dog. He could now see an opening in the trees and he could also see blue and red lights flashing. Thank God, he thought, the sheriff. He ran, ran, ran, and when he was five feet from the clearing he made an almighty dive into the grass and out of the woods. He was breathing heavier than ever as he picked himself up and was relieved to see a cop car sitting in front of him. No other cars were zooming past because really no one took the back roads. “Gee, am I glad to see you,” began Trent, “I just seen…well nothing…but there was this cat. This goddamn cat clawed the hell out of my hand and then chased me through the whole entire woods.” The officer, saw Trent, was not the sheriff, who he had been hoping to run into, but looked like a very old man. The man was bent over and all Trent could see was his back. He was apparently looking for something in the backseat area because his whole body was turned that way. “Would you like a ride, young man?” The old officer asked Trent, still facing the backseat. “Ummm, were you going?” Asked Trent, who really was thinking of a ride to the sheriff’s office where he could tell the sheriff what he had just seen. “To hell.” Shouted the old man, and when he turned around, Trent saw that he wasn’t any police officer, he wasn’t even the sheriff. He was the old farmed Trent had seen in the woods earlier. The old man was wearing an old farmer get up but his face was badly cut up, like someone had taken a plow and scratched his whole entire face. The man gave an evil laugh and then started the engine in the car. “You wanna ride don’t ya? We’re gonna have a helluva good time! HAHA!” Shouted the farmer and he put his foot on the gas and drove off down the road and out of sight. Trent stood where he was and watched the car drive out of sight. A strange feeling, like soft cotton, came to his legs and when he looked down the cat was purring and circling his leg. Trent grabbed his walkie talkie and phoned in the sheriff. Strange things were going on in New Castle, and he was going to get the bottom of it all.

“Jeremy! Come on, were gonna be late.” Jeremy was taking his grand old time packing up a flashlight, and his very own pistol that his father had given him. “All right, all right, I’ll be right down!” He shouted out of his window at Cody. Cody was standing on his front porch leaning against one of the posts. The

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only reason Cody was even on the porch was because Jeremy’s aunt was out playing Bingo at the senior citizens club. If Jeremy’s aunt had been there, Cody would have been forced to wait for Jeremy in the bushes by the house because Jeremy’s aunt didn’t approve of Cody’s asthma problem. She thinks that with the way Jeremy is, he should be making cooler friends; friends that are fun to hang around with. But that’s what Jeremy couldn’t stand about his aunt because Cody was really fun to hang around with. So was Benny and Will and maybe Jessie, but Jeremy’s mother couldn’t see that at all. When Jeremy was finally ready, he ran down his front porch to join Cody. “So, are Benny and Will coming?” asked Cody. “Benny isn’t, but Will said he could come.” Replied Jeremy. “Why, where’s Benny? And did you even ask Jessie?” “Why would I? “Ugh, Jeremy, you can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?” Cody stopped walking and looked at Jeremy. He pointed his index finger in Jeremy’s chest. “Just because you don’t like doesn’t mean I have to hate her too!” “Hey, hey, hey, I don’t hate her at all. And I like her, but like I said, for the past year, ever since what happened with my father, she’s been afraid to leave her house.” Jeremy pushed Cody’s finger away. “Well what would you expect, I mean she was the one who found him just lying there.” Cody looked over at Jeremy who put his head down. “Sorry, but it’s the truth. I mean…well…it’s been a year now Jeremy, shouldn’t you be moving on.” “Just shut up.” Said Jeremy bitterly. Cody looked at him, frowned, but continued on walking like it had not mattered. “Come on, we gotta hurry up and get Will.” The two boys ran the rest of the way to Will’s house. Will’s house was a cozy one story red brick house. It was set in a little row of houses, all the same, on Dwight St., just outside of town. Jeremy walked up to the front door and knocked and a boy, about the size of Jeremy, maybe an inch taller, came out of the front door. He had dirty blonde hair and wore a crooked smile on his face. “Hey guys!” He said. His voice was high and unchanged. There was an awkward silence between the three boys. “Well are we just gonna stand around and admire each other’s pretty looks or are we gonna go?” Jeremy and Cody laughed and Will and then they all walked down the porch steps and headed to Barney Brown’s house.

“SHERIFF!” “WHAT!” The sheriff had been woken up by the sound of Trent Wahburgh’s voice outside the door. He picked his head up from his desk, grunted, then got up and walked to the door. He stood there for a moment in

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consideration, wondering if he should open it or not because he really didn’t feel like listening to his Lieutenants bull crap, but he opened it and Lieutenant Wahburgh busted into his office. “Sir, sir, sir, you gotta hear this! You won’t believe it!” Shouted Trent. “Just tell me what it is Trent.” “Well I was in the woods looking, you know. And well…” Trent paused wondering if he should tell the sheriff what he had just seen. What if the sheriff laughed in his face and called him a baby and a daydreamer. “What?!?!” the sheriff’s face was red. Trent told the sheriff the whole story about the ghostly farmer and the evil cat that nearly gave him a heart attack. When he was done the sheriff looked at him with both amusement and consideration. “Ummm… Trent…maybe you should take the rest of the day off.” The sheriff smiled at Trent and patted him on the shoulder. Trent looked at the sheriff in disbelief, he knew this was what would happen. Not one single person was going to believe him and something really bad was happening in New Castle. He turned around sharply and left the office, slamming the door behind him. Something very, very bad is happening in New Castle, he thought.

Jeremy was paired up with Will. Cody was somewhere in a different part of the woods with Barney. He could still hear them shouting out ‘MR. BROWN!’ and ‘FATHER!’ What idiots, Jeremy thought, What if the guy is knocked out. He probably won’t be able to hear you. “So when did Mr. Brown disappear?” asked Will. He was on Jeremy’s right and was shining his flashlight in front of both of them while Jeremy shined it sideways to look around to see if Mr. Brown was anywhere to be seen. “Two days ago, I think.” replied Jeremy, “I really don’t know actually. Barney told me and Cody yesterday, but I forgot.” “Ah, whatever, we’re probably not even gonna find him.” “That’s what I said, but Cody had to be all generous and offer!” Jeremy laughed and then looked at Will who laughed too. They walked for ten more minutes before stopping to rest on a rock. The boys talked a little, but slowly the conversation died away and it soon became quiet. Will was playing with sticks, trying to build a small log house with them and Jeremy was throwing rocks trying to hit certain trees he had picked out. Jeremy picked out a tree in his head that was at least twenty yards away. He threw, and missed. Although he did hear the rock clunk on something, and he also heard a growling voice say, “Ouch! Hey boy, watch where you throw them rocks!”

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Jeremy looked up in shock of what he had just heard. When he looked up he saw nothing there. Except something shiny, in the direction he threw the rock, was glimmering in the setting sun. “Hey what’s that?” Jeremy said to Will who, by shock, knocked over his log fort and looked up at Jeremy. “What?” “That.” Will pointed in the direction on the glimmering shiny thing. Jeremy stood up from the rock and started to walk towards it. “Where are you going?” asked Will frighteningly. “I wanna check it out.” “Be careful.” Jeremy nodded and continued to walk in the direction of the shiny thing. As he got closer to it, it revealed itself to be a farmer’s hoe. It was an ordinary one, to Jeremy’s eye, so he picked it up and balanced it in his hands. It had a bit of dirt on the end of it, but besides that it looked brand new. Jeremy walked back over to Will and showed him the hoe. “That’s it,” snorted Will, “That’s the magical object that was over there.” “I didn’t say anything about it being magical. All I said was that I wanted to see what it was.” Jeremy looked at the hoe more carefully. He noticed that in the middle of the handle part was a pair of initials that read ‘I.T.’. “I.T.? Who that heck is I.T.?” Will asked, dumbfounded. “Beats me.” Jeremy me replied. At that moment a voice far off somewhere shouted “WE FOUND HIM!” “Barney!” exclaimed Will. “BARNEY WHERE ARE YOU?” shouted Jeremy. “FOLLOW MY VOICE!” The two boys followed the voice southeast until they met up with Barney, Cody, and the dead body of Mr. Brown. You could tell he was dead. His neck was hanging in an odd position and his white shirt, what looked like a white shirt, was stained red all over his chest. Barney looked at his father and started to cry. The three boys looked at Barney and then at Mr. Brown. “It’s okay Barney,” said Cody, trying to comfort Barney, “We really did all we could.” “It’s my fault.” Whispered Barney. “I should have stopped him from going out that night. If I would’ve stopped him from going out this would’ve never have happened.” Barney shook and trembled with despair. “No Barney,” said Cody, “It’s not you’re fault. There was nothing you could’ve done. Don’t blame it on yourself.” Tiny rain drops started to fall on the group’s heads and it was Jeremy who made the suggestion to leave before a severe storm hit. Cody and Barney grabbed Mr. Brown and began to carry him through the woods with Jeremy and Will trailing behind him. A bolt of lighting struck the ground nearby and the group’s stride quickened to a fast walk. “Jeremy!” shouted Will, “Look at your pants!”

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While trying to keep the steady pace, Jeremy looked at his pants which were stained with blood. This would have been normal if he were carrying Mr. Brown, but he was not, so he looked over his body to try to find the source of the blood. “Jeremy!” shouted Will, again, “It’s the hoe!” Jeremy looked at the hoe he was carrying with him, and it was dripping with blood. Jeremy stopped and screamed with horror, dropping the hoe on the ground. A huge lighting bolt hit the tree right in front of Jeremy and Will and it sent the boys flying backwards. Jeremy, Will, Cody, and Barney looked up at the tree that the lighting had struck and all cried out in horror. On the tree two women were strung up with ropes. Their heads were all cocked in the same position as Mr. Brown’s and blood was pouring down the tree. In the center of their body, where the heart is, a huge hole was made and blood was gushing out. There was no heart in the body, something had ripped it out. Black and blue marks covered their face, legs, and arms and their mouths were open as if they were trying to call for help. One of the women was Gale Hatchet, Kent’s mother, and the other was Carol Chance, Jeremy’s mother.

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The top story of all three newspapers in the state read, ‘Three people found dead in the North Beach woods in New Castle Pennsylvania. Found by three thirteen year olds and a twenty year old. The old man who is revealed to be Jeremiah Brown was one of the three who were found dead. The autopsy report says the all limbs and bones in his arms and legs were broken and a symbol was drawn across his chest with a knife. His neck was broken after someone had slit it. The two women were brutally beaten and then strung up with ropes at thin as kite wire on a tree that was struck by lightening. The horrific part was that both women’s hearts were found not in the body and a huge hole had been made in their chest. The two women were later revealed to be Gale Hatchet mother of Kent Hatchet and Carol Chance, a lady who has been missing for some time now. New Castle, Pennsylvania and the state of Pennsylvania should not leave their homes at night for something truly horrible is going on and of course, as always, the police have put their best people on the case and they will surely have it cleared up in no time. The burial Jeremiah Brown will be on Thursday, October 6. The burial of Gale Hatchet will be on Friday, October 7. The burial of Carol Chance will be on Monday, October 10.’ 16

“SIX MONTHS! SIX MONTHS!” The sheriff was sitting in his desk. The whole police force of New Castle was in front of the desk, shaking in fear by how angry the sheriff was. “SHE WAS MISSING FOR SIX MONTHS AND THEN SHE TURNS UP DEAD! WHY COULDN’T WE FIND HER? WHY?!?” Nobody could answer him. After a long silence of shudders Lieutenant Wahburgh spoke on behalf of the whole force. “Sir, listen, Carol could have been anywhere. We searched for a very, very long time. She could have even gone out of the state. But I don’t really believe that.” “Well then what do you believe Trent?” shouted the sheriff. “I’m not too sure, but why do we trust Jeremy. For all we know he could’ve killed her. You saw the blood on that farmers hoe and…Oh, my god!” Trent stopped talking and looked up at the sheriff. “Sheriff it’s what I told you on Friday.” “What are you talking about?” The sheriff questioned. “The farmer! ‘Member? I told you I was in the woods and I saw…” “Trent, if this is another one of your silly daydreams I don’t want to hear it.” Laughed the sheriff. He turned to the team, “Now getting back to reality…” “It wasn’t a daydream goddammit! It was real! I saw him as plain as day! Why wont you believe me?!?” Trent was now advancing to the front to look the sheriff right in the eye. “While you piss around with your little papers and orders we have got a killer on the loose and you are doing nothing about it except yelling at everyone for your mistake.” “I thought she was gone for good. Okay? When Jonathan turned up dead and then she disappeared I actually thought that she killed herself somewhere. And now, she turns up dead on some tree with Gale, not only a woman she was very close to but also a woman who was reported to be missing that Thursday. There has to be some sort of link to all three of these murders including Jeremiah’s. A person just doesn’t kill three people for the hell of it on the same night.” “But how do we know it was on that night.” Trent said, “Okay, so we know that Jeremiah died that night, but Gale and Carol, how do we know that they weren’t killed say Wednesday or maybe Thursday?” “Because top doctors examined them and they said that they were freshly dead. That probably means that day.” The sheriff screamed. “PROBABLY!” screamed Trent. “The key word there was probably!”

After every bolt of lightening came a blundering roll of thunder a second after. Jeremy stood near his window watching the storm increase before his eyes.

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The rain bounced off the sidewalks and streets flooding it up with water and turning it into a white water rapid. The leaves on the trees broke away from the branches that were connected to the man trunk which also shook with fright as the wind howled in the sky with delight. It was only six o’ clock at night but it seemed much later due to the wind and the darkness created by the monstrous storm. CRACK! Jeremy jumped. He looked outside his window and saw that the tall oak tree that had stood in his next door neighbor’s yard was now lying in front of the house blocking the road that lead into town. Jeremy sighed with relief for the oak tree had just missed his neighbor’s house. Jeremy could now see and hear red lights and sirens in the distance as the lights of the house flickered off. His and Aunt and Chester had already taken shelter in the storm cellar but Jeremy had remained shut inside his room ready to take on the monster throughout the rest of the night. The monster roared with delight; louder and louder the growls grew as the rain that was fighting hard to keep the monster from attacking the world below suddenly died away as the monster defeated it. The rain water fell from the gutters as the steady rain poured into it. The monster howled with delight, for it knew that it was winning but the rain took up a new leader and fought back. Hail started to fall in unison with the rain as both teams drew up their swords of defense to fight off the monster. As the rain and the hail fell hard the driveway of Jeremy’s house flooded over and looked soon became a miniature version of the Monongahela river as it carried twigs, bugs, stones, mud, and anything else that had been laying on the driveway. The rain now echoed in the sky like a tin roof was covering the earth making the noise of the rain increase. The rain raised its sword higher as the trees twirled in a production of Swan Lake trying to distract the monster so the rain could defeat it. Jeremy sat on his bed and watched the mighty battle unfold in front of his eyes and to his horror the monster was winning with power and hate. Jeremy ran over to his radio and switched the channel over to Weatherscan where the newscaster’s voice rang throughout his room, blocking out the screams of battle. “Anyone who is in the top floor of their building,” said the newscaster, “Stop listening and get to the nearest basement as soon as possible. And whatever you do, do not step outside at all; I repeat do not step outside.” Jeremy switched off his radio and grabbed a flashlight from his chest of drawers. He ran out of his room and raced down his steps that led into the living room. The monster let out a bellowing roar and the whole house shook with fright as the rain tried hard to fight back. He turned right into the kitchen and unbolted the lock to the storm cellar. Chester did not bark and his aunt did not yell at him. He ran down and sat beside her and Chester as the three of them waited for the monster to lay down his sword of fury. 18

The morning smelled of rainfall. The remains of the rain fell from the bottoms of the trees and sewer pipes exploded with water. The air Lieutenant Wahburgh breathed in that morning was dense and stuffy. Trent was mad for many reasons on this gloomy morning, but the main reason that he was mad was because of what the sheriff had done to him in front of all his fellow policemen. He was not heading to work this morning. Instead he was heading toward his Ford truck where he was planning on a trip to Pittsburgh to talk to the police there about what was going on. He crossed his lawn, the drops of water on the grass falling onto the bottom of his pants, staining them with clear dots. At his truck he put his keys in the lock to unlock his door when something shiny in the passenger seat caught his eye. He left his keys where they were in the lock and looked into the car where the shiny thing was. He backtracked one foot by horror and stared at the bloody farmers hoe lying on his passenger seat getting blood all over his black leather seats. Within a second he reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone and phoned the sheriff’s house. It rang…but no answer. After the answering machine came on he left a short, strong worded message to the sheriff about how first thing this evening he would like to have a brief meeting with him. Brief meeting my ass, thought Trent. He knew that it was time to get down to business with what’s been going on. This isn’t and normal thing happenin’ here! Something bad! He unlocked his Ford and grabbed the gardener’s hoe by the handle, where there was no blood, and yanked it out of the truck, being careful not to spill any blood on the interior. He carefully studied the blade of the hoe and seen that it was dented at the top. He didn’t know the significance of this except that Jeremy was the last one who touched the hoe before Carol and Gale turned up dead. And then blood was found on the hoe at the exact time when they found the body. Trent was still suspicious about this Jeremy kid but really didn’t have the time to worry about some kid at the moment. He placed the hoe inside the trunk of his Ford and got into the car and started up the engine. He revved up the motor and pulled out of the driveway and faced up north. He hesitated, looking up at the long stretch of dirt road in front of him. Huh, should I?, he thought. He was looking at the back roads, the roads no one really ever used. He gave a sigh and turned the car around and headed south toward town. He was not taking any chances.

“What do you mean you don’t know how the blood got on?”

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“I don’t know. One moment there wasn’t any and then the next there was. What, do you think I did it?” Jeremy sat in his chair, huffing and puffing as he looked into the sheriff’s red, dark circled eyes. Jeremy was rubbing his arm and stains where tears had ran down his cheeks shined in the fluorescent lights. “I’m not saying that Jeremy, not at all, I mean why would you?” The sheriff smiled. His aunt glared at him. “Because that’s just the kind of boy he his! He never listens to me, he does bad in school, and he loafs with all the wrong friends.” “SHUT UP!” Jeremy shouted at his aunt. He looked at his aunt and then at the sheriff. “All you ever want to do is find a way to yell at me. That’s all everyone wants to do! You piss around all day with your dog and don’t do shit! Don’t yell at me because you screwed up your own life!” Jeremy’s aunt slapped him hard in the face. Jeremy touched the reddened part of his cheek and looked at his aunt, his jaw open and breathing heavily. He looked at his aunt, wondering if he should slap her back. The sun was going down but Jeremy could still hear more and more people being brought into the local jail. He wondered if he would join those peopled, the people being persecuted, probably half of them didn’t even do the crime they were accused of. “Jeremy listen to me,” the sheriff said, almost sounding comforting, “I want to help. I know you do too. Don’t you want this to stop?” He looked at Jeremy, giving him a half hearted smile. “I guess so,” Jeremy replied, and looked down into his pants, the glow of the fluorescents hurting his eyes. “Good. Then just tell me what happened that night when you and Barney went to look for his father.” The sheriff sat back into his seat looking as if he was getting ready to watch a new action movie. Jeremy’s aunt stared directly at him, intending to catch him telling a lie. Jeremy decided that it was best to leave Cody and Will out of it. He proceeded to tell the sheriff what had happened that night in the woods. The sheriff listened with wondrous eyes as Jeremy retold the event as though he were reading it straight from a book. “Wait a minute.” The sheriff stopped Jeremy right at the part where he found the hoe. “You said it had an initial on it?” Jeremy nodded his head. “Well what was it?” the sheriff asked. “Umm…” Jeremy looked out the window trying to remember. He looked up at the sheriff, “I.T. …I think. Yeah, that was it, I.T.” Jeremy smiled to himself. “Enough with the games son,” the sheriff said, and now he wasn’t looking so friendly. In fact he looked like his aunt looked beside him, furious and ready to pounce. “Now tell me what the initials said!” Jeremy realized why the cop was yelling at him and why he hadn’t taken Jeremy’s word seriously. The initials ‘I.T.’ also spelled out the word, it. But, there

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was nothing Jeremy could do about that, that’s what the hoe said, and he was prepared to swear that in front of a court. “I’m being serious!” Jeremy shouted. “Now don’t you take that tone with me young man!” The sheriff pointed a finger at Jeremy, “You stay right there.” The sheriff stood up from his chair and walked out of the interrogation room. He walked passed the tiny jail cells, which held no one, and walked passed the room with the black door and looked away quickly. He ran into Trent who was just coming in. “Trent, hi, any idea where Mary is with ‘case twenty four’s ‘ evidence?” Trent looked at the sheriff trying to remember. “Oh, umm…she’s down in the crime lab looking over the evidence.” “Thanks,” said the sheriff. He walked passed Trent and walked into another tiny hallway. This hallway had a lot of memories to the sheriff. For one, this is where he had kissed his wife when the first met on the New Years party about twenty years ago. What a party!, thought Dale. He shook his mind trying to clear his end and proceeded down the hallway and down a pair of steps. It became much cooler as Dale walked down the steps and the smell of rubbing alcohol and phemaldehyde stung his nose making him sneeze. “That you boss?” a voice from down the stairs came. “Yeah,” Dale got to the bottom of the steps and looked to see where Mary was. She was at her microscope that was connected to the T.V. looking at… something. “What it is boss?” Mary asked, not taking her eyes away from her work. “Do you have that hoe; the one that was found at the scene of the crime?” The sheriff looked around the room trying to see it himself. He didn’t. “No but I have a picture of it on my computer. Wanna take a look.” She pulled her eyes away from the microscope and walked over to her computer. Dale followed her and stood behind her as she pulled up her picture browser. “Here we are.” The picture popped up and the answer Dale was looking for was staring him right in the eye. “Zoom in,” said the sheriff, a little forcefully. He noticed that in his voice so he said, “please.” She didn’t seem to notice and went straight to work on zooming in. “Damn!” Dale exclaimed. “What is it?” “Ah, nothing. Looks like the kid was right. Thanks anyway Mary.” He didn’t even want to hear her ‘you’re welcome’, and went straight back upstairs into the interrogation room. “Well?” Jeremy asked, as he pulled his head off of the black steel table. He had been snoozing while his aunt had been fiddling with her hair and thinking of all the ways that Jeremy was going to get in trouble. And she smiled at them. “I owe you an apology. I’m sorry.” The sheriff pursed his lips together and nodded his head.

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“So, what the hell does that prove?” Is aunt screamed. “Now Muriel, please settle down,” said the sheriff trying to talk in his ‘its okay voice’. “No!” Jeremy’s aunt screamed back. “HUSH!” Sheriff Whitman said, not really screaming, but he did raise his voice. He turned back to Jeremy knowing that he had shut the aunt up for now. “Jeremy I’m sorry but can you continue where you left off. Remember you were at the part when you heard Barney’s voice and then you ran to go and find him?” “Oh, yeah,” and Jeremy began retelling the event. The sheriff watched like it was Stephen King himself retelling his most popular book. “…and then a huge bolt of lightening struck the tree in front of us and when I looked up…” Jeremy felt a little embarrassed as the tears stung his eyes. He tried to hold them back but a single tear fell and trickled down his cheek and then fell off of his chin. “… and that’s when I saw my mom and Mrs. Hatchet,” he paused and then scowled, “Kent’s mother.” Sheriff Whitman leaned back and let out a long sigh while pulling the ends of his shirt down, not wanting to expose the bottom of his stomach. “Is that all?” the sheriff asked. Jeremy looked at his aunt, who wasn’t looking at him, and then he looked at the sheriff and nodded his head. “Yes,” his usual rough and scratchy voice now sounded like something was blocking his windpipe all together. He cleared his throat and then put his face in his hands and started messaging his temples. “Very well, you may go.” The sheriff looked at Jeremy’s aunt, “Muriel, have a nice day.” Muriel did not look at the sheriff as she stood up and left the room but Jeremy did. As he walked out the sheriff gave him a pat on the shoulder and watched Jeremy and his aunt leave the station. Poor kid, thought Dale, It must be tough…living with that old hand bag. He laughed at his own joke and walked down the hallway into the main hall where he ran into Trent again. “So boss, how did it go with Jeremy?” Trent really didn’t care much for Jeremy and he suspected him as much as he suspected any other thug in the whole state of Pennsylvania. “Went good,” replied Dale, “I don’t suspect him at all. He doesn’t look the type and from what he gave me, he doesn’t seem the type either.” “Ah, bullshit boss!” Trent screamed louder than he wanted to. “What did he tell you?” Dale told Trent the same story that Jeremy had told him. “The only thing that he left out was the two other boys that went with him. Cody and Will. Other than that, Trent, it sounded true to me, and let me remind you, I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have.” Trent rolled his eyes and shook his head at the sheriff. “Look…” he began but the sheriff cut him off. “Look, I know what I’m doing.” “Do you?” Trent asked in a mocking way. “Do you know that there is another missing person? Huh?” 22

The sheriff’s eyes went wide. Thoughts began reeling through his head. What if the person ends up the same way as…? He shivered at the thought. The only thing he could say was, “Who?” “Julia Pfluenger. She was last seen today at seven A.M. by her nine year old daughter Annabelle going out of town to Pittsburgh to get her daughter a birthday present.” Trent looked around the room. They were the only two in the room now. “Damn!” shouted the sheriff. He had just about had enough with all this crap. “Listen Trent, I want you to go to wherever the hell that little kid is and I want you to bring her here, understand.” The sheriff’s voice was a little demanding, almost scary. Trent was wondering if the sheriff was going to say ‘dead or alive’. “UNDERSTAND?” The sheriff shouted in Trent’s face. “Yes!” Trent shouted back in surprise. “I’m on it!” Trent stormed out of the room and the sheriff headed to his office. When he got there he picked up his phone and called the Pittsburgh City Police. Dale waited and waited until a young man answered. “Pittsburgh City Police…how may I help you?” the young man said. “This is sheriff Dale Whitman of the Newcastle City Police, I want you to put a missing ad all over the radio, the television, even the sky, just tell all of the U.S. that we have had three deaths and probably another one coming.” Dale spat the words out over the telephone, spraying spit in the mouthpiece of the receiver. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch that could you say that again?” the young man said. “GET THE HELL OFF OF THE DAMN PHONE AND GIVE ME THE SHERIFF!” Dale was screaming at the young man in Pittsburgh now and he could imagine what the man must look like, quivering in his little chair. Bet the little sissy pissed his pants!, thought Dale. “Hello? This is the sheriff…” “No time for those stupid intros, now listen to me. We have got a missing person by the name of Julia Pfluenger. We have already had three deaths in less than a week and if you don’t help us find this lady, you might as well add another dash to the chalkboard. I want her name on the television and radio all across the east coast. Please!” Dale’s hand was shaking and he was praying to God that this man knew what he was doing. “Alright sir, I got that. Any idea where she was seen last?” The sheriff of Pittsburgh sounded like he knew what he was doing, which gave Dale a chance to breathe and pop a white pill from his orange container. “Umm…according to my Lieutenant she was last seen leaving her house by her nine year old girl, that’s all we knew, but I’ve sent Trent, my Lieutenant, over to the house now to talk to the girl. You know, see what she knows.” “Okay, now listen to me very carefully,” the Pittsburgh sheriff said, and Dale was listening with Dumbo ears. “I want you to alert every policeman in your area. Send a wire to New York and Connecticut and I’ll do the rest. Just 23

make sure you know where everyone is.” The phone buzzed, and the sheriff of Pittsburgh was gone. Dale hung the phone up and opened his desk and started rummaging through it to find his phone book. He flipped it open to ‘N’ and found the police chief’s number for New York. He dialed it, praying to God that the guy would pick up.

4 Now Trent Wahburgh was usually good with kids, except this one. He wasn’t even so sure that it was a kid. A devil trapped inside a kid’s body more like it. This girl was going to end up being the death of him and at his funeral the girl would stand over his tomb and laugh like the little demon she was. Even though he thought this about Annabelle Pfluenger, he didn’t say it to her face and he had to take it easy for her. She had just lost her mother. “Sweetie come on into the car, everything is going to be alright.” Trent said, grabbing the girl by the waist and trying to force her into the police cruiser. Trent thought that she was putting up way too much of a fight for a nine year old. He had to keep retelling himself that she was a demon child. “No, no, no, no, no, NOOOO!” Annabelle screamed, “I’m not going anywhere till mommy gets home!” She began to wail a piercing scream that only dogs should be able to hear. A couple of the neighbor’s heads were popping from behind their curtains to see what all the screaming was about. Trent felt even more embarrassed than the time he had called the sheriff mother in front of a whole committee. Annabelle’s arms started flapping in front of her and her left leg kicked up and it connected with Trent’s left eye. Trent fell on the ground, screaming, and grasping his left eye. Annabelle stood there just laughing at him. That’s it, he thought, definitely a demon baby! He stood up, the left side of his face still stinging in pain, and grabbed the girl by her waist again, and quickly shoved her into the police cruiser. “Ha!” he screamed into the sky, hoping that it would reach heaven so that God himself could hear. The neighbors didn’t know what to make of it. Some of the senior citizens were shaking their heads in disapproval. Trent didn’t care though; he had completed his task and was ready to embrace the demon child. He got into his cruiser and locked the doors. He didn’t know what powers the child possessed. He was actually amusing himself with all this demon crap, but Annabelle didn’t seem at all amused by anything and would’ve probably liked to rip his head off. “Now Annabelle,” Trent said, trying to sound like the big brother character, “You’re going to go to the courthouse to talk to the sheriff about mommy. Can you put on your big girl pants for mommy? She’d like that.” He

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looked at Annabelle with a smile on his face. She didn’t say anything let alone show any emotion. Trent drove down the road, the demon baby in the backseat planning her revenge. “I still don’t get it, tell me more,” Cody was still chewing his peanut butter sandwich, but he didn’t care, he wanted to know the whole story about Jeremy’s trip to the interrogation room. “What’s there to tell?” Jeremy said, “I just told them what happened in the woods and…well…the sheriff seemed okay with it…except…” “Except what?” Cody asked, almost falling off the lunch bench. “Well, actually you weren’t with Will and me, but…remember that hoe that I found in the woods?” Cody nodded his head. “Well, it had initials on it, before I saw blood, of course. The initials were, and I know this is gonna sound weird, but the initials were I.T.” Cody laughed. “I.T. Ha, you gotta be kiddin’ me?” Cody looked at Jeremy, smiling, ready for Jeremy to say that it was a joke. “No, I’m not,” said Jeremy, looking down at the ground, feeling small. Cody twitched his head backward, looking shocked and amused. “Bullshit,” Cody said looking at Jeremy like he was five years old and didn’t know what the heck he was talking about. “Unless you can prove it.” “Jeremy bit his bottom lip and looked around trying to find Will. When he spotted him walking back into the building he grabbed a rock and threw it at Will. When Will turned around Jeremy signaled for him to come over to the bench. “What is it?” Will asked, panting. “It’s important,” said Jeremy. “Ok, well…well whatever it is hurry, if I’m late for class, Miss Mary Ellen’ll kick my ass to the moon.”

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