Four Corners Dark: Horror Stories (13 page)

“Abby, what are you doing out here?” she asked.

When she stepped off the bridge the darkness enveloped her.

“Abby help me,” she said.

Ima fell to her knees fighting to breathe as Abby glided towards her with crimson patches appearing on her white dress. Her arms were covered with gashes and her face was smashed and distorted. Ima had seen these types of injuries working the highway patrol. The creature reached down and stroked her hair as if to comfort her. Then it yanked her head back and lifted her off the ground.

“No,” Ima managed to choke out.

The smell of rotting flesh and burned skin hit Ima as she was pulled forward. She aimed her gun and fired but the weapon only sounded a muted click. She pulled the medallion from her pocket and the creature released her. She fell back onto the hard stones of the bridge and let the cold air pour back into her lungs. The creature moved to the edge of the bridge and locked dead eyes on her.

“What the fuck?” Ima shouted and ran back to the lodge.

She ran in the back door of the lodge and bolted it behind her then stumbled into the great room and found Donald and Brenda waiting with Joseph.

“Ima, where have you been?” Joseph asked.

“Out back, something horrible has happened to Abby. She’s in the woods—” Ima stopped in mid-sentence.

Abby sat in an armchair in the corner of the room, eating a bowl of soup. Her ankle was cuffed to the leg of the chair. The medallion dangled from her neck as she leaned forward to spoon the soup.

“I am feeling much better now, Ima,” she said slowly.

“Maybe you saw my sister Addie. She lives in the forest now.” Abby smiled a medicated smile.

Ima sat on the floor in front of the fireplace and explained the details of her encounter in the woods.

“Ima, I told you not to leave this lodge. No one is to leave this house,” Joseph said.

“I’m sorry,” Ima said dejected.

“Let’s go get you cleaned up,” Brenda said.

She took Ima’s hand and led her upstairs.

“Donald, please go down to the cavern were we left the remains,” Joseph said. “Soak some of that gauze in the water.” He gestured toward the first aid kit. “The waters have recuperative powers. It might help the bump on Abby’s head, and this hole in my side.”

“Of course,” Donald said.

Donald walked into the hallway and unhooked a kerosene lantern from the wall. He lit the lantern and slipped into the opening behind the mirror. The lantern light glowed on the gray walls of the cavern. The tarp with its horrible cargo lay where they had left it, the nylon stained black with its oozing contents.

Donald approached the water and placed the lantern on a stone ledge. Mist swirled over the surface and danced in the yellow light. He dipped the gauze and sealed it in a plastic bag. He shot a nervous glance at the tarp, then walked up the stone steps and returned to the great room. Ima sat across from Brenda who was feeding Joseph. Abby was slumped over sleeping in a chair by the fire.

“Feeling okay?” Donald asked Ima.

“Yes, feeling human again.”

“It could have been worse,” Joseph cautioned. “Much worse.”

“What was that thing? The Raven Mocker?” Ima asked.

“Yes,” Joseph answered. “The Raven Mocker can take the form of any animal or person it has encountered.”

But why would it imitate Abby?” Brenda asked.

“It wasn’t imitating Abby. It was imitating her sister,” Joseph answered.

“The creature has a hold over Abby and is using tragic memories of her sister. It will use any advantage it can to manipulate and destroy us. Your family has fallen prey to this beast and anyone associated with your family will be used or destroyed until it is satisfied.”

Joseph noticed that Donald had brought the dampened gauze. “Ima, could you dress Abby’s wound with that gauze?” Joseph asked.

“Mine too, if you please.”

“Sure,” Ima answered.

Donald handed her the bag. Joseph spoke as Ima changed his bandage.

“When I was a young boy I was bitten by a rattlesnake. I was foraging in the forest with my grandfather when I stepped on the snake. I became dizzy and began to vomit, but we were too far into the woods to get to a doctor. Instead, my grandfather carried me to the lake behind us.” Joseph gestured towards the back of the lodge. “I remember he walked into the water carrying me. By that point I could barely move, I was dying. When we entered the water I felt a surge of energy and the effects of the venom disappeared. However, the cure did not come free. My grandfather had aged noticeably by the time we dried off. The water needed to draw power in order to heal me and my grandfather was the only living thing around.”

“What about this?” Ima said holding up the remaining gauze.

“It is safe. There are five of us here and we are not asking much of the water,” Joseph answered.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

R
ain began to patter on the metal roof of the lodge then quickly intensified into a hail storm. Chunks of ice hit the stone veranda and bounced wildly in every direction. The wind whipped across the field and uprooted trees behind the lodge, beyond the bridge the forest was untouched by the storm. Brenda joined Donald at the window.

“A bad storm is coming,” Donald said looking out the kitchen window.

The lights flickered off and the lodge was plunged into darkness.

“Shit, power’s out,” Ima said in the other room.

The light from the fireplace cast leaping shadows throughout the lodge. Donald located a flashlight in a kitchen drawer and gave it to Brenda.

“Thanks.”

“We better get back to the others,” he said.

They returned to the great room and found Joseph sitting in front of the fire. Abby sat nearby and stared into the flames.

“It is upon us,” Joseph said looking into the fire. “We need to be ready.”

He lifted his shirt and removed the dressing on his wound, then crossed the room and removed Abby’s. Both of their wounds were completely healed with no evidence of scarring.

“It’s cold in here, I’m going to check the furnace,” Donald said.

“I would not recommend that,” Joseph said. “The only access is from the outside and no one should leave this room. You can find blankets in that closet.” Joseph pointed at a set of double doors.

Donald walked to the closet, and retrieved an armload of blankets and pillows.

“Might as well be comfortable,” he said.

“Yes,” Joseph replied. “We have plenty of wood and supplies, and if things get really bad, we can go down here.”

He rolled back a Persian rug and revealed a trap door in the floor, then pulled a lever and opened the metal door.

“Ted believed in being prepared,” Joseph said.

Ima shined her flashlight down the black opening in the floor. A metal ladder ran down the wall.

“What is it?” Ima asked.

“The building’s keep,” Joseph answered.

“Think of it as a safe room. Go on down and have a look. I will watch Abby,” said Joseph.

Ima climbed down the ladder as Donald trained the flashlight on the floor below. She found a hand-cranked generator and powered on the lights. The bulbs flickered for a moment then burned brightly. The room was windowless and made of steel with bunks built into the walls. Symbols were painted across the walls and ceiling. Donald and Brenda followed her down into the room.

“All the comforts of home,” Donald said. “Your uncle didn’t leave anything to chance, Brenda.”

The trap door closed above them.

“What the hell,” Ima said.

Ima climbed the ladder and tried to open the door. It wouldn’t move. She pounded on the door.

“Joseph, let us out of here,” she said.

Joseph’s muffled voice came from above. “I am sorry, Ima. I cannot.”

“Joseph!” She banged harder.

“It is for your own good. The creature can imitate any of us, you saw that for yourself,” Joseph said through the locked door.

“Joseph!” Ima screamed pounding harder and harder, but there was only silence now.

He placed the rug back over the trap door and examined the perimeter of the stone circle. The rain continued to pound the roof of the lodge and the wind caused the building to creak. Abby stared expressionless at Joseph with blood dripping down her manacled ankle from scraping the handcuff up and down the wooden leg of the chair.

The air was freezing cold and Joseph could now see his breath. He walked to the fireplace and added a log to the fire, then wrapped a blanket around Abby’s shoulders.

Behind the lodge, trees cracked and fell into the surging river and broken trunks jutted from the water. Joseph walked to the kitchen window and watched the storm rage outside then dashed through the great room and into the hallway as Abby cackled behind him.

“She’s coming Joseph, she coming,” Abby screamed.

In the great room, a gust of wind blew down the chimney, forcing ash and burning embers into the air. The fire roared as the cold air rushed over the logs and Abby grinned as the ash formed into the shape of an old woman with burning embers for eyes. The creature floated along the hearth and stopped at the stone circle. Abby gazed adoringly at the creature which extended an ashen hand to her. She stood and moved towards the fireplace dragging the heavy chair behind her. The stones and herbs were swept away when she walked out of the circle. Abby contorted when the creature embraced her and buried its burning embers into her eyes.

Joseph stood on the steps to the cavern floor when the wind howled and slammed the mirror shut behind him. He shined his flashlight into the dark and walked down the steps.

“No,” Joseph said.

The channel was nearly drained with only puddles of water remaining and the tarp was ripped open with black stones scattered around the floor. Behind him, sharp claws scraped on stone. He spun and saw a raven perched on the steps. His light passed through the bird illuminating the door behind it. It made a guttural sound and spread its wings until its shadow touched the walls, then closed and encircled him. His arms were pinned at his sides forcing the flashlight from his shaking hand. The creature forced him to the ground and began to peck into his chest. Joseph began to scream, its vengeance would be slow this time.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

“W
e need to get the stones and the remains back to where this all started. Somewhere around the cabin they missed collecting a stone,” Donald said. “After Calvin and his men attacked the creature, they were supposed to count the stones and gather them all up. They rushed the job and missed one.”

Ima sat on a lower bunk within the keep. The fluorescent light cast a greenish glow on the metal walls.

“How are we going to find an old cabin, much less a single stone in the middle of a forest?” Ima asked.

“I have a map,” Donald said tapping the front pocket of his jacket. “A map to the cabin at least. The stones they used were black hematite which wasn’t common to the area.”

“But how do we get out of here?” Brenda asked.

“There’s a fire axe hanging on the wall there,” Donald said pointing towards the ladder. “The frame around the hatch is wood. It may take a while, but I think we can chop our way out.”

They all jumped to their feet when the trap door swung open above them.

“Joseph?” Donald called out.

Abby climbed down with only the back of her legs visible, a pair of handcuffs attached to a broken chair leg dangled from her ankle.

“Abby, thank goodness,” Brenda said.

Abby reached the floor of the keep and grabbed the axe from the wall, then turned and knocked the generator to the floor. The lights flickered as the damaged generator pulsed. She advanced toward them with burnt cavities where her eyes had been. The room went dark and they scrambled when she swung and hit the wall near Ima’s head. The lights came on and Donald and Brenda were able to run to the base of the ladder. Ima waved for them to escape then wrenched the axe from Abby’s grip and swung it into her throat. Abby collapsed forward and drove the pointed backside of the axe through Ima’s heart. Donald watched helplessly as the two woman died impaled together on the axe. Brenda and Donald climbed out of the keep and into the wind that howled through the broken windows of the lodge. The smoldering logs in the fireplace cast a dim glow on the destruction. Donald grabbed Brenda’s hand and ran towards the study and when they entered the hallway, she stopped in front of the mirror.

“What is it?” he yelled over the wind.

“I thought I heard Joseph,” Brenda answered.

He looked around and noticed the mirror door in the hallway.

“Wait here,” he said.

Donald slipped inside, crept down the stairs and found Joseph lying on his back with his arms pinned at his sides. His blood stained shirt was ripped open and a black bird stood on his chest. Donald reached into his pocket, retrieved his medallion, and then wrapped the chain around the bird. The creature let out a cry, then flew into the wall leaving only black vapor behind. Donald knelt down and helped Joseph to his feet.