Chapter 8: The Curse of Evil to Come.
Location: Off Drokata Highway - Cursed Tree
Time: 15:37
The Cursed Tree was an area outside the confines of the residential area of Sunset Valley. The estimated time of travel between the residential area and Cursed Tree was around 20 minutes.
George was driving and Sam sat was sitting in the passenger’s seat. He was driving faster than usual. Winston was the caretaker of Cursed Tree. The name had come from a barren tree standing firm, surrounded by fifty feet of barren land. The tree was famous for ‘cursing’ the land around it, preventing any seed, plant or tree to blossom.
The land was not pretty to see, either: barren land in the middle of a forest, with an ugly lifeless tree housed in the centre. And the local folklore about the tree did not help, either. But Mayoress Annabelle thought it would be best to turn the place into a tourist attraction. And it was famous as well. The visitors of Sunset Valley just could not keep themselves away from a creepy looking tree that was rumoured to be planted by a demon.
And so Winston was given a cabin to live near the land and it was his responsibility to keep the land safe and clean.
George’s car ripped the tarmac as the clock was ticking fast. Winston was a widower and he lived at the cabin by himself. However, sometimes his grandchildren came down to visit him. He hoped that the kids were not the ones to discover the head.
And there was another problem. Mayoress Annabelle was already having a hard time trying to convince the townsfolk that the tree had nothing to do with the crops around Sunset Valley sometimes dying by themselves. Some people had proposed that the tree should be cut down and burned, while some young kids once thought to burn the tree themselves. The site was an easy target of a lot of hatred.
How many more people would hate the site even more if a human head was found on that land?
The question cropped up in his head and more started flowing in. Why here?
George concentrated on the road as they approached the site. He noticed Sam. She looked nervous, almost on the verge of breaking apart.
‘Sam, listen. When we get there, I want you to stay by the car. We might need to seal the place if…’ George could not complete the sentence.
He knew Sam had never seen a dead body before.
‘If they find Trish’s head there…’
Sam knew George was just looking after her. He had no idea what Sam was going through. All she could do was toughen herself up and carry on through this ordeal.
‘But George, I wanna be there.’
George nodded.
They reached the site. Winston stood next to the steel gate that led an unpaved road to the site. His white hair shone in the bright sunlight.
They pulled the car over and hopped out. Winston always had a calm saint-like expression on his face, except today. Fear was clear in his eyes, sweat ran down his temple and he looked like he was out of breath.
George walked up to him. He first asked him to calm down. When Winston could speak, he looked straight into George’s eyes and said,
‘Good thing the young ones didn’t find it.’
That one sentence confirmed George and Sam’s worst fears.
‘What did you see?’ Sam asked.
‘You need to see for yourself.’
George and Sam walked through the rusted metal gate as Winston shut it and led the way. The last thing they wanted was some tourist walking in accidentally on their crime scene. The officers could see the tree standing with nothing else surrounding it.
‘When did you find it?’ George asked Winston.
‘The moment I rang you lot.’
‘We found the body last night. It’s a possibility that the killer could have come here. Did you see anyone passing by?’
‘My old eyes aren’t weak yet, George. I can see that awful thing right out my damn window. And I’m tellin’ ya, I didn’t see anyone.’
They were getting nearer to the tree. Sam had seen the tree numerous times, but never had she been this close. She could see why people were so afraid of it. There were no leaves on it, just decaying branches. And yet, the tree had been standing there as long as she could remember.
She turned her attention to Winston and said,
‘Maybe the killer was quick to dump the head, Winston.’
‘With all due respect, ma’am,’ Winston pointed at one of the branches sticking out from the middle, ‘but that would take some time for any human being to do.’
That was when the sheriffs noticed it. The head of Trish Gaffney was tied to the branch by her own long hair.
The sight was disturbing. There was some blood on her face below her chin. Her eyes had rolled back. Some of the blood from the open wound had poured on the exposed root of the tree beneath the suspended head.
Sam fell on her knees. The courage she had found few moments ago was gone. Someone who chose her as someone close was now gone. Her nightmare had come true. Trish was gone and she was alone.
George looked at the sick view with disgust. What kind of monster was capable of such an act? Why would someone do such a thing? He knew everyone in town. And there was no one he could think of that was capable of even thinking about doing such a thing.
But someone did. There was someone in town with their hands covered in blood. George could see what the killer did. The killer had not killed and condemned the victim; the killer had condemned Sunset Valley by offering blood to a cursed tree.
‘I think our killer wants to offer a sacrifice to this tree.’
‘Why would someone do such a thing?’ Sam asked, shaking her head. She could not bear to look at Trish’s head.
‘That’s what we are going to find out.’
‘George, let me ask you something,’
Winston turned around to face the sheriff.
‘Who would wanna offer a sacrifice to a tree that brings nothing but a curse of lifelessness?’
‘Maybe that’s what the killer wants.’
X’s words were ringing in his ears. If what X said was true, then this was just the beginning of a bloody tale that would change Sunset Valley forever.
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A word from the Author:
Thanks for reading this ebook. I hope you enjoyed it. This is my book in this series and I plan on expanding on characters and the Sunset Valley itself a bit more in the next few books. The next book in the series is called ‘The Axis of Darkness: Chronicles of Sunset Valley’ and follows the story of Trish Gaffney. The book serves as a prequel and sequel to The Sacrifice. You can follow me on Facebook Suneil Angel. I want to hear from you what you liked about this book and what you didn’t. I want to thank you again for reading this book and I hope you are looking forward to the next one because this is just the beginning.
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