ELDRITCHVILLE
by
Shawn O’Toole
*****
PUBLISHED BY:
Cover Art Illustrated by:
Shawn O’Toole
Eldritchville
Copyright © Shawn O’Toole 2013
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this story, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Your support and respect for the property of this author is much appreciated.
This story is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
*****
ELDRITCHVILLE
*****
Chapter 1
“Lost in the Storm”
John Elderberry was watching television when a firm yet feminine touch squeezed and massaged his shoulders. Martha, his wife, whispered into his ear, “You’re putty in my hands.”
John chuckled, “Yeah. I don’t mind.”
Martha kissed his cheek then left him to his television program.
John heard Grace, his nine-year-old daughter, rambling to her best friend, the cute and perky brunette, Annie DeSilva. “Totally,” his daughter said about something obviously “important.”
“I know!” Annie agreed.
John pointed the remote control at the television and amplified its volume.
Later: “Dad?” Grace addressed him, coming into the room with Annie.
“What?”
“Can you take us to the mall?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can order whatever you want online.”
“Going to the mall is not just shopping!”
“Ask your sister.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know. You girls only tell me where you’re going when you need me to take you there.” Grace huffed and rolled her eyes. John suggested, “Ask your mother.”
“I already did.”
“Later,” the man shooed his daughter out of the room.
Later: John was on the computer when his daughter came into the room. “Dad?”
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
John laughed at himself. He smiled at his daughter, telling her, “I’m just tired, sweetie. Sorry about earlier.”
“It’s okay.” The child massaged her father’s shoulders before leaving the room.
Dinner: John, Martha, Grace and Annie were all together at the table when Mrs. Elderberry told her husband, “You need to take Annie home, after supper.”
“I thought she was spending the night.”
“She was, but her brother is coming home tonight. Her mother wants to have a surprise party for him.”
“I’ve been playing chauffeur all week. Her mother can pick her up.”
Martha coughed and hinted towards embarrassed little Annie. John tittered.
On the road: John was driving towards the sunset when he read aloud the sign, “Eldritchville?” He wondered, “Where are we?” He continued on.
The dark, rainy night flashed with lightning and boomed and cracked with thunder. John Elderberry drove his van through the storm. He could barely see ahead of him for all the rain and blackness. Only lightning and the van’s headlights shed any light on this otherwise completely dark town!
“Dad, you’re passing the same monument again,” Grace told him. He glimpsed the statue of a naked young girl atop a pedestal as he passed it.
Annie commented, “I think we’re going in circles.”
“How?” Mr. Elderberry disbelieved. “I haven’t made any turns.”
“Maybe the road curves a little.”
“I don’t think so.”
Grace insisted, “Dad, we’re going in circles. Maybe we should stop and ask for directions.”
“Don’t sound like your mother.”
“We’re going to be late!”
“Not now, Grace. I need to keep my mind on the road.”
“We need to ask for directions.”
“From whom?!”
“The storm knocked out the power, but I’m sure there’s people in some of these places. It’s not that late.”
“Maybe.” Mr. Elderberry drove straight ahead... but still passed the same monument! “What the...?”
“It’s the same monument, dad.”
“I know!” He made a left turn. He drove on awhile.
“There it is,” Grace pointed ahead at the same monument of a naked girl.
“I don’t believe this!”
“Dad, ask for directions.”
Mr. Elderberry pulled into a filling station and honked. No response. Annie speculated, “Maybe they closed and went home because of the storm.”
Mr. Elderberry grabbed his raincoat. “You girls lock up. Get some sleep. It might be awhile before I find somebody.”
“Dad, you shouldn’t walk around...,” she was interrupted by a boom and crack of thunder. “You might get struck by lightning.”
“I’m not worried about it.”
“I am!”
“You’re not your mother. Stop acting like her. I’ll be fine. You girls just lock up and maybe get some sleep. I’ll be back.” With that, he darted out into the rain.
The pouring sky flashed and rumbled, but Grace and Annie were dry, warm and comfortable. They helped themselves to snacks and warm drinks. Suddenly they heard a noise: Someone was trying to open the side door. “Dad?” Why was he keeping himself below the door window?
“Don’t open it,” Annie whispered her plea.
The girls hid together on the floor and pulled a blanket over themselves. The flash of lightning sporadically filled the vehicle. Rain pelted the roof and thunder boomed. Whoever was trying to open the side door... stopped.
“Maybe it was your dad,” Annie hoped. Then why had he not identified himself and asked them to let him in? Why did he hide below the window? Suddenly someone tried to open the back hatch! The girls hoped it was Grace’s dad playing a trick on them. No: Whatever was out there made the stomach sick, the heart faint and the blood run cold. It was not who they hoped it was! The girls could literally feel the menace, the evil that was just outside.
The thing tried the front doors. They were locked. Though under a blanket and too afraid to look, Grace and Annie knew when it was looking in. A face they never wanted to see was looking in, knowing they were there!
John ran through the rain from building to building and knocked. No one answered. Coming to a hotel, he looked inside the lobby: only darkness. He tried the door. It opened. John went in. “Hello?!” No response. He turned on his flashlight and walked down a corridor, knocking on doors. “Hello?” He went upstairs and tried the same thing. “There’s no one here,” he concluded. He pulled out his cellular telephone and dialed “911.” John thought to himself, “The police will know if the town’s been evacuated.” His phone seemed to be working, but no one answered. He tried to call Martha to ask if anything was on the news. She did not answer. No one answered any number he tried! “The storm?” John tried texting and hoped someone would call him or text him back. Going back downstairs, he found telephones and tried to make a call. Every line was completely dead. “The power’s out and the phones are out. There’s nobody here, either. What’s going on?”
John went back ou
t into the tempest and headed back towards the van, passing the same inescapable monument. Had the town been evacuated for some reason? No. The parked cars and trucks were too numerous. “Psst!” John looked around. Thunder cracked.
“Hello?!” John called out. There was no response. All was dark except for the flashing of lightning. All was quiet except for the downpour and the boom and crack of thunder.
“Psst!”
John turned. A bright flash revealed someone standing nearby, facing him. The lightning flickered and the figure was gone. “Hello?!” John ran in that direction then stopped. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. John ran back towards the van. He had to get back!
Returning to the vehicle, John was concerned at finding the sliding door open! “Grace!” He looked inside. The girls were gone! Suddenly something grabbed his ankle! He kicked and jumped back. Someone was under the van... chuckling. Whoever it was, they crawled out on the other side and disappeared into the dark, rainy night. “Hey!” John called after them. He stopped and looked around. “Grace!” he called over the boom of thunder. “Grace! Grace, where are you?!”
John was running about town when he noticed headlights approaching. “Hey!” he ran out into the road and flashed his flashlight at the vehicle and waved his arm. The machine sped up. John jumped out of the way. It was a van, his van and it had veered to hit him! “What’s going on here?!” John cried. His van was turning around for another pass. John ran towards a department store. The automatic doors were closed, but unlocked! As the van sped towards him, John forced the doors open and darted inside! The vehicle screeched to a halt, then backed up and sped off.
John turned off his flashlight and waited. The storm raged outside, but his mysterious attacker never returned... as far as John could tell. Mr. Elderberry turned his flashlight back on and searched the store for anything useful. Someone had already looted all the guns and ammunition. “Oh, that’s wonderful. That lunatic might have a gun.” John armed himself with a crowbar and a hunting knife. He chose a backpack and filled it with anything he thought might prove most useful (and that he could carry). He then ran back outside into the storm in desperate search of Grace and Annie.
John turned off his flashlight. He could see, though barely, without it. If the lunatic who was stalking him had a gun, John did not want to be an easy target.
John was wandering about town when he noticed a light. Flashes of lightning revealed that it was coming from the window of the town hall. If the lunatic was there, then maybe so was Grace and Annie! John ran to the town hall. The door he tried was not locked. His crowbar held ready, John went inside. Lightning sporadically illuminated the interior. John did not see anyone, yet. He quietly ascended a staircase and reached a pair of closed double-doors. Horrid possibilities (and equally likely impossibilities) of what might be on the other side, came to John’s mind. As he opened a door, he cringed at the seemingly loud creak of the hinges. He found himself in a courtroom. A man’s voice uttered, “Guilt is evil in defiance of the law. Righteousness is evil in the name of the law.” The voice snickered... then boisterously laughed! “I see you and your trusty crowbar.”
John turned on his flashlight and looked about. Where was this man?! “Who are you?! Where’s my daughter?!”
The voice imitated in mockery, “Who are you? Where’s my daughter?” He chuckled, then all was silent... save for the storm outside.
John discerned that the voice was coming from behind the judge’s bench. He turned off his flashlight and moved towards it. “Tiptoe! Tiptoe!” the hidden menace mocked. He knew John was coming. The door to the judge’s chamber opened then closed. John ran up to it. A shadow lunged up at him and slammed him against the wall! Lightning revealed a crazed face with wild, bulging eyes and a demonic grin! “Sucker!” he laughed maniacally. He snapped his teeth at John’s throat, but John held the man’s head at bay. The lunatic flung Mr. Elderberry into the judge’s bench and started kicking him, laughing all the while! John sprang up and tackled the madman. The two bumped into things, tumbled and rolled on the floor in a desperate, clumsy scuffle. “I love you,” the lunatic claimed.
John punched him in the face, dazing the man. “Where’s my daughter?!” The lunatic sniffled and sobbed. “Where is she?!”
The madman became eerily calm. “I don’t know.”
“Tell me!”
The lunatic flung John aside then dashed for the double-doors in the back. He turned and shouted, “If I had a girl, I’d have better things to do than bother with you!” He stuck his tongue out and grinned. “Is she pretty?” He then disappeared into the shadowy depths of the building.
John returned to the storm in search of Grace and Annie. He knew the lunatic, for all his madness, did not have them. John suspected, in his gut, that evil abounded in this town.
Mr. Elderberry wandered about when he noticed light coming from what appeared to be a community center. He ran over to it and peeked through a window. The interior was lit by portable lamps. People were inside singing, dancing, eating and or drinking. Everything looked almost normal, but felt wrong. John noticed something: a naked, cooked child lying on a platter! An apple was wedged in the hapless thing’s mouth. A man cut slices from the thing’s buttock and offered them to eager children who were holding paper plates! A little boy noticed John peeking in and pointed at him. He spoke to the man, who looked at John and sneered. Mr. Elderberry ran!
John ran and ran. He eventually hid, caught his breath and waited. Hopefully those people would not follow him through the storm.
John thought: The cooked victim being eaten by cannibals was undoubtedly a small child, thus not Grace or Annie. In a sad way, that was a relief. Still: Mr. Elderberry now knew what type of real dangers were afoot! In his heart, he somehow knew the girls were all right... for now. He had to find them, or else.... John did not want to dwell on the horrid possibilities. He resumed his search for Grace and Annie.
The tempest lessened, but still raged as John meandered about town. “You again,” he said passing the somehow inescapable monument. The statue of a naked young girl looked uncomfortably familiar. “Don’t join the madness,” John warned himself. “This place is crazy enough without you.”
John was searching a shopping plaza when the storm renewed its intensity. Flashes of lightning revealed dozens of people running towards him! “Hey!” a man shouted. “We’re coming to help you!” The others laughed. The thunder rumbled as if the sky itself was laughing with them.
John ran. He zigzagged, climbed over fences and would sometimes hide, but the mob was always close behind him!
A woman cackled. “Keep running!” Some of these people had guns, but no one fired a shot. Were they all just having fun?
John slipped into the department store he had looted earlier. He slid the doors closed and hid, hoping that none of his pursuers had seen him go in. He heard the door sliding open. Lightning flashed. The mob was coming in! John fled deeper into the store. He could tell by the shadows and footfalls that they were fanning out in search of him.
John snuck into the back, hoping to escape out a fire exit. He risked a glimpse of the stockroom with a short sweep of his flashlight. One of the shadows seemed to have moved! John heard whispers and footfalls nearing from behind. He turned off his light and approached where he had seen the exit. Something lunged at him! He struck the attacker repeatedly. The thing tried to spring at him, but John kept beating it back. How much punishment could this person or thing take?!
“Over here!” Someone shouted. The others were coming.
John beat his attacker to the floor until it stopped moving. Lights and shadowy silhouettes were coming! John found and darted out the exit back into the stormy night.
Grace and Annie sat together huddled in a post office lobby. “How’s your dad going to find us?” Annie wondered.
&nb
sp; “I don’t know.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hey!” Annie pointed out the window. A flashlight shone through the rain.
“Wait!” Grace warned when her friend was about to run out to whoever was out there. Lightning flashed. It was Mr. Elderberry! The girls ran out into the rain to greet him.
“Dad!”
“Mr. Elderberry!”
John heard childlike voices before thunder drowned them out. He saw Grace and Annie! The girls ran into Mr. Elderberry, hugging him. John embraced the two together. “We need to get out of here,” he told them.
Grace pointed at the post office, “We found a place to hide.”
“Good.” The man followed the girls. John explored the building then helped the girls over the counter. They all huddled together and listened to the tempest raging outside. “You girls get some sleep. I’ll watch over you.” The girls cuddled him and were soon fast asleep. They felt completely safe, just because he was with them.
John snuggled the children. “Don’t have any nightmares,” he told them. “I’m sure you had plenty of that while you were still awake.”