Bang!
The barn door jolted violently. Susan screamed. Eldon’s eyes were glassy and terrified because he knew what was waiting for him on the other side of the doors.
Bang!
Eldon let out an old man sounding shriek.
“Eldon. Please, let me go. Get me out of this thing.” Susan rattled the chain around her ankle, trying to get his attention. He only looked wide eyed at the doors. Another rumble of thunder boomed outside and then there was a scratching, clawing sound coming from the far wall on the same side of the barn doors.
Eldon knew. Oh sweet jesus, he knew what was scratching the exterior wall of the barn. He trembled at the memory of cutting up scrap metal in this very barn in 1947 and then placing them on the fingertips of the scarecrow; the same scarecrow that was making its way around the outside of the barn, dragging it’s scaly, metal fingertips across the ancient wood as it lurched around the corner of the barn.
The scratching sound was one long and continuous tone of metal tearing through wood. Both Eldon and Susan listened in silent terror as the sound went around the barn and then stopped suddenly at one of the dirty, cobwebbed curtained windows.
The sudden silence seemed more frightening than the actual scratching sound. Late afternoon sun was shining through the window but it was murky because of all the filth layering it.
Outside, Susan could see the sky turning a pale brown. She couldn’t remember if it was going to storm or not. Her brain had received so much information since this afternoon until now that she couldn’t remember if she had checked the weather on the radio. Another clap of thunder cracked across the sky and the thing outside the barn came into view when it showed it’s hideous face in the window; it’s red eyes gleaming and metal trap mouth snapping together open and shut.
Susan inhaled her horror silently and covered her mouth. Eldon on the other hand released a deep and throaty howl and fell to his knees, clutching his chest.
The scarecrow beast peered in through the dirty window for what seemed like an eternity to Susan. That’s it. That is the thing that killed my daughter! She thought in disbelief. It’s just like Angel described.
She was trembling almost uncontrollably at the thought. The beast roared and Susan could feel it from where she was sitting. The horrid beast’s face looking into the square window looked to Susan like some hellish picture; the ugly brown sky being the perfect background.
Then the beast disappeared.
Eldon was still clutching his chest and looking wide eyed at the window. Susan looked at him and immediately knew he might be having a heart attack. A new horror formed in her mind. Oh, dear God. Don’t let this happen. Don’t let Eldon die and leave me here trapped with this monster from hell!
“Eldon,” She yelled. “Are you all right?”
He turned his whole body to her like a stiff statue. His eyes were big and his mouth was agape in pain. He was hissing out a wheezing breath through his mouth. Susan knew he was dying. She also knew that she was confined by the chain around her ankle. She knew she was going to die. A frown formed on her face at this thought but was wiped away when she heard a series of loud bangs and hits on the wall opposite her and Eldon.
The beast was climbing up the wall.
Then, a heavy thud from the roof jolted Susan’s attention up and at the ceiling. Eldon was still stuck in the same position of holding his chest and staring with eyes of terror at Susan.
The scarecrow began stomping around up on the roof going from one end to the other. Susan never knew where it was. It was only tormenting them. It roared and the thunder joined in its rage.
Susan then remembered Angel’s story from that night. There was something on the roof. It kept banging. She shuddered when she thought of what Angel told her next of how the beast crashed through the garage door and took away Heather. Is that what’s going to happen next? She tried to push the thought out of her mind and focus on how to get out of the chains, but lost all hope when Eldon fell over onto his back, onto the barn floor, still making that deathly wheezing sound.
Susan screamed and the beast kept stomping and terrorizing and Susan could have sworn she heard the thing laugh, high up on the roof. Maybe she was just losing her mind, knowing that she was going to die a bloody and horrific death the same way her daughter did, but then a small ray of hope blazed through her when she saw Eldon lying there, near dead on the floor.
The gun. I need to get his gun!
She was too far from him reach it. The length of chain confining her was short and not long enough to reach. She tried anyway because she was a fighter. She had to. She wanted to live.
She grimaced in pain and let out a strained shriek as she stretched out her arms as far as they could go in order to save herself and retrieve Eldon’s gun. But it was hopeless. She quit and laid there crying on the floor, feeling tired and defeated.
NO! You can’t give up Susan! You have to try. You can’t let that thing rip you apart and be a part of its bloody, murderous legacy, one that includes my beautiful daughter Heather. Dear God, I miss her so much.
She screamed out an anguish filled scream that no one was going to hear. Only God, Eldon and that fucking potato sack of shit on the roof. Then she realized something.
The noise on the roof had stopped.
CRASH!
The barn door exploded open, emitting shards of wood in the air. Susan was too broken to scream when she heard the door come crashing open. She did manage to sit up a bit and turn around. There, about twenty feet away, stood the eight foot tall scarecrow, full of human killing, blood sucking rage.
It lurched towards them.
She frowned in defeat as it edged closer. In its large hand was its killing sidekick: the beastly and violent barbwire whip that had wrapped itself around many a female and male’s ankle, only to drag them out in the cornfield in the black of night and suck every last bit of blood from their bodies.
The beast roared and slashed its whip down. It sparked as it slid across the floor.
Susan could not look away from the scarecrow. As deathly afraid of it as she was, she was in awe of it as well.
It came closer; and then a little closer. So close to death Susan could reach out and touch it.
The beast was upon her.
Her neck craned up almost straight as she stared in fascination and ungodly terror at it. Her blue eyes met its red gleaming eyes and she wondered how painful it was going to be when that fucker dug into her stomach or neck or back and began sucking all her blood right out of her body, leaving her a useless skin bag of bones and deflated guts.
She closed her eyes and a strange calmness settled over her. I’m going to be with my daughter again, and my husband and Angel and my sweet granddaughter Amy. She smiled when she thought of sitting next to Mark on some huge puffy cloud, sipping on a long island ice tea and them holding hands and that’s when she heard a loud, metallic click.
The beast growled a low roar sounding confused. Susan opened her eyes and saw Eldon pointing his gun in her direction. He was still lying on his back but managed somehow to keep ahold of his gun. Susan couldn’t tell who he was pointing it at; her or the blood sucker.
He managed to say in a chocked voice, “I’m sorry Susan.”
The barrel of the gun fell in line with Susan’s face and she felt that calm feeling once again. She smiled and closed her eyes. She could see all of her family in her mind, waiting for her, all standing together holding hands, getting closer to her. But before it was too late, she quickly opened her eyes which were filled with tears and mouthed the words, ‘thank you’ to Eldon. Thank you for this mercy killing so I don’t have to die such a horrible, violent death by the mouth of that beast. Thank you.
Eldon nodded back at her and smiled. Susan closed her eyes again and prepared herself for the reunion with her family.
A white hot flash exploded in front of her tightly shut eyes and a loud blast left her ears ringing. She felt both grateful and amazed by how painless it h
ad been until she felt a throbbing ache on her leg. She opened her eyes slowly and saw a white fog of gun smoke surrounding Eldon. She looked down at her leg which was bleeding but not profusely. Next to her ankle was a split in half piece of metal, the cuff link that was attached to her.
Time seemed to have slowed down like in a slow motion scene in some horror movie. When she raised her head up and saw through the white gun smoke, the beast was standing behind Eldon, looking down on him with angry red eyes and the old man yelled out his finals words.
“Run, Susan!”
Part 4
Susan Smith: Scarecrow Killer
1997
A wild explosion of feelings clashed together in Susan’s mind. It happened so fast. She was prepared to die and in the blink of an eye she had found a way out. Part of her was angry at Eldon for not killing her. She truly was ready for death and had her heart set on seeing her family again. But now that had all changed within seconds. Deaths aside, the reality of the situation seem to slap her in the face when she stood up. Tottering back and forth she felt like she might fall over but managed to stand straight. The beast roared out in hellish anger and then Eldon slid the black spell book to Susan. She quickly retrieved it and bolted away towards the busted open barn doors. The outside world was a murky, sepia toned color from the oncoming storm. She glanced over her shoulder and felt a wave of nausea in her gut at what she saw.
The beast had Eldon in the clutches of its metal mouth. The old man’s arms and legs dangled helplessly as the beast held him up. This entire ordeal ever since Eldon Wharton showed up on Susan’s doorstep only just one day ago, would take Susan years if not the rest of her life to get over, but what she was seeing now, the life and blood literally sucked out of Eldon, she would never forget.
The last image she would see before running out of the barn was the old man’s skin crinkling up and deflating, and the long, distant, wide open stare in his dead eyes as if he was looking right at her.
Stunned and in shock, she stumbled to her car. How long have I been in that barn? It felt like she was trapped for days, but it was only beginning to turn evening.
From inside the barn, she could hear the wretched, gurgling, chocking sound of Eldon’s blood being taken from his body. Susan fumbled around for her keys and got in her car and quickly turned the ignition. A bolt of lightning struck the earth next to the barn. She screamed at the loud, wicked pop of thunder. Heavy drops of warn rain began hitting her windshield. She put the Buick in reverse and slammed the gas pedal down to the floor. The car skidded and jerked out and around facing the driveway. She bolted down the long, winding driveway. A heavy gust of dust filled wind blew into her car making it lift up slightly. She glanced into her rearview mirror and to her horror she saw the scarecrow standing in between the broken barn doors; its demonic red eyes staring right at her.
A chill of fright attacked her chest and she sucked in a scream of horror. She reached the main road and made a hard right, not caring how fast she was driving away from the scene in hell.
Susan’s mind was a hurricane of terror filled thoughts as she drove as fast as she could home. What is happening right now? Am I dead or alive? Is all of this a nightmare? Did Eldon really shoot me dead? Did I really see the creature that took my daughter’s life, the creature in Angel’s nightmares. What should I do? I feel so numb. Do I go to the police? No, don’t do that. They’ll never believe you Susan. Just like they never believed Angel. They will throw you in the nuthouse too. Is that thing going to come after me later tonight, once it’s completely done draining Eldon of all his blood? Oh, dear God.
She kept waiting to see the beast in her rear view mirror jump out from the corn on both sides of her car. Thunder and lightning crashed all around her as she sped down the gravel road to her house. Late summer, green corn swayed in the violent wind. Finally, she made it to her house where she got out and ran inside just before a heavy down pour hit.
She ran upstairs to her room and quickly changed into some fresh clothes. She didn’t bother with a shower. She was too terrified of that beast sneaking in on her so she skipped it. She turned on all the lights in the house and nervously made a pot of coffee. She was running on fear induced adrenaline, not stopping to think about the horror she just witnessed and lived through. By the time the coffee was done brewing the rain had settled down to just a drizzle. She sat down at the kitchen table, lit a Virginia slim with shaking hands and poured herself a cup of hot coffee. She kept an eye on the back door the entire time she sat there. Her legs shook at the black spell book in front of her, wondering why Eldon had slid it to her at the last minute and what use it was to her. Finally, she couldn’t hold out any longer. The events of the day had caught up with her and she began to cry, letting all the confusion and horror drain out of her.
After a few minutes, she sat with her hands covering her tear wetted face. She wished desperately that Mark was there to protect her. She was overwhelmed with fear and loneliness. She didn’t feel safe. Looking at the clock, it was only a quarter till nine. She had the rest of the night ahead of her. The thought made her heart speed up. Darkness was coming and so was the beast.
It was 12:05 a.m. and she still had not turned off any of the lights. She sat curled up on her couch, watching David Letterman at a low volume, drinking her fourth cup of coffee. She couldn’t help but laugh at herself a bit for the absurdness of lounging around after such a traumatic event. Some eight foot monster almost kills me and I come home and make a pot of coffee. She laughed out loud at the thought. But then her laughs turned to cries again. But what am I supposed to do? She threw her legs over the edge of the couch and sat up. She rested her elbows on her knees and covered her face. Her heavy sobs filled the living room. Seeing the beast that killed her daughter, the reality of Angel’s story and Eldon’s set up was like a hail storm of lies, confusion and despair raining down on her. Her mind was battling all three terrors at once and it was too much. Her hands slid down her face and she saw the black book sitting on the coffee table. She’d been meaning to look inside it but kept putting it off for fear of something bad happening. She reached for and opened it anyway. She just didn’t read anything out loud. What’s going to happen? Will the earth open up and suck me down into a pit of sludge, fire and demons? Most of it was difficult to read. The paper was old and brittle and had a musty odor to it. The print was very small. Some of it was in Latin, but mostly in English. There was no date of publication anywhere on the book, so she had no idea how the book came about. It didn’t matter. It was evil and had been the bane (she now realized) of all the terror and heartache in her life. Her tears were drying and then a new emotion other than fear had taken over her. It was anger.
As she breathed heavily and grit her teeth, looking at the book, she then realized that she had the evil in her grip and she was now in control. She felt very powerful all of a sudden because the true entity that had caused all of this treachery was in the palm of her hand. She lit a cigarette and blew smoke on the little black book and knew then what she had to do. She flicked her lighter and smiled at the small orange flame; its eerie glow reflecting in her vengeful eyes.
Staring out into the night, Susan gripped the steering wheel of her truck hard, almost until her knuckles were white. But yet she was determined to put an end to this twenty three year nightmare.
Gravel crunched under the tires. The sound was almost calming to her. Despite her new frame of mind her nerves were rattled and it wasn’t that fifth cup of coffee that had her wired (she was a coffeholic anyway, caffeine never seemed to bother her).
She was wound up with the dreaded anticipation of seeing that beast again and she knows she will. It was one thirty in the morning. She never laid down this evening, but she felt very awake and aware. No sense in sittin’ around waiting for that thing to come prowlin’ around in the night, right up to my door, bustin’ it open like it did those barn doors and crawl up the stairs and suck my blood out of me. Su
san shuddered. She had made up her mind that living in fear was not an option, even though she was terrified more than anything right now as she was driving in her truck on 750 w. en route to the place where her daughter spent her final hours on this earth.
A lump formed in Susan’s throat when the guilt struck her. Guilt of leaving the garage sit in that field untouched, year after year. I should have agreed to let the city tear it down. But that was 1976 and now it’s 1997 and she’s tired of living in a nightmare.
There was a sense of urgency in her motives though because there was another storm on the way and if it was raining cats and dogs, her plan of setting the book and the garage on fire would be foiled. She was almost there. Her stomach did a somersault. The two large cans of gasoline along with the axe and a pitchfork she put in the bed of the truck, rattled and clanked. She didn’t know really what she would do if she did see that 8 foot scarecrow again. You might piss out all that coffee. A nervous chuckle escaped from her.
She slowed the truck because she knew she was coming up on the hidden dirt drive that led to the garage. And then she saw it.
An icy chill went up her arms because once she turned her wheel to the right there was no turning back.
Her truck had slowed to a stop. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as the trucks engine idled and rumbled. She looked out the window into the darkness and then in her rear view mirror. What’s it gonna be lady? Without thinking she turned the wheel a hard right and went down the path to hell.
The truck dipped and bumped along the dirt path. Almost black looking stalks of corn surrounded her peripheral vision. She flipped on her brights so she could see through the dark din of night.