Why The Willow Weeps (II) (406 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 2 on 5 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by r0fl (View user info) at 2006-08-11 17:40:23 EDT
Read Part I First: http://www.ubersite.com/m/91274
August 2nd, 1999
Dusk
Their Jeep Cherokee Classic rolled over the crests and troughs of the countryside asphalt, headlights now illuminated cones extending from the hood. It was almost dusk now, 7:38 by the Quartz clock mounted on the dash.
They weren't high anymore, but not completely sober either. The sun would be occasionally blocked by the hills as they wound through the roads East, towards Thomas Parker's fortress of solitude. Details ran through the boys' minds: ivy covered outer walls, spider web-caked windows and doors, the whole nine. Aden carried the spade, the gardening gloves' fingers flapping out of his pocket.
The sun, now deep in the sky, was revealed as they rounded a bend. The boys in the front, Carter O'Connell; and Adam Szetela, flapped down the flaps usually pressed up against the ceiling to shield their eyes. The sun was a deep orange oblong disk, stretched horizontally. It seemed distorted by the Earth's atmosphere, it seemed as if a body builder had grabbed it by the sides and pulled - stretching it beyond all repair. It painted the sky below and above a bright pink, the brightest pink the boys had seen. The pink dissipated into deep reds and blues, then to a darker purple. It was the color of the sky opposite the sun during sunset - not quite black - but dark enough to look it opposite the Sun.
Pink skies at night, sailor's delight, Adam thought.
But it was late afternoon, almost nighttime, but he still took it as warning. He felt uneasy, his stomach gurgled. Must be nerves, he thought.
The spade, bobbing back and forth from Aden's left and right hands as it was firmly (but not that firmly, now that he really thought about it) anchored on the Jeep's floor, was brought to bury their kindling after hours. It now served a different purpose. It was not to be used to bury things, but to unearth them.
"Which street did you say it was?" Carter asked, looking at Adam and the road, alternating every few seconds.
"It's a left on Route 2, up there," Adam responded, pointing towards a fork in the road up ahead.
---
The Jeep banked left, rode a few more miles, with silence and static accompanying them. Not many radio stations came in up here. Carter looked at his cell-phone; no bars, no service..
"Here it is, coming up. Slow down, put on your parking lights," Adam commanded, and surprisingly enough, for the first time - probably ever - Carter O'Connell obeyed.
The Sun was even lower now, if that was possible, still high enough to illuminate the clearing where Thomas Parker's cabin stood. It stood higher than they expected, with wide, clean windows and was well kept. "Supposing history," Aden O'Connell thought, "plants 'sides the crabgrass didn't want to grow anywhere near there."
Aden mumbled his thoughts, partially out loud, and all the boys were so aware of their surroundings they all nodded silently. Acorns and pinecones crumbled beneath their feet as they slowly stepped towards the house.
They wouldn't admit it to each other, but the hair on the necks began to stand on end, their forearms and legs prickled with gooseflesh. They approached the house further - complete with brick chimney - as the uppermost tip of the chimney blocked the sun's rays. On either side of the path, and almost encircling the Cabin - sure enough - were Willow trees. The clearing was massive - the size of a football field the O'Connell boys estimated. The trees were no uniform height; some were grown mammoths, others young saplings, and still others intermediary.
"Let's get this fuckin' show on the road," Carter said, excited and nervous at the same time.
"I'm not goin' in there," said Brandon Szetela, almost shouting, but not quite. His voice was well heard over the Jeep's laboring engine, we'll put it that way.
"Why not?" asked Aden. "You too fuckin' chicken?"
"No, I'd rather stay in the car, that's all," Brandon replied. "Does it matter?"
"Shut up, both of you" Adam and Carter yelled almost at the same time. Aden followed, and Brandon remained.
They slowly walked up the steps, one foot in front of another, slowly crossing feet each time, just like in the movies. They approached the door, and noticed a hanging porch swing, barely supported by rusty "S" hooks and chain-link. Aden knocked on the door, loudly and defiantly. "Anybody home?" he shouted.
A rustling in the bushes, beyond one of the larger Willow trees drew their attention.
They all sensed something malevolent unconsciously or not - something watching them from the trees. In the back of Aden's mind - dark, hollow eyes bore down on him - inspected him - deemed him unworthy. He let loose a cold shudder, and knocked again, this time harder.
He knocked and turned the ancient doorknob at the same time, and the door opened, creaking from misuse, weary on its hinges - not meant to last this long - that's for sure.
That feeling of watching never left, even after Cabin door was half shut.
Down the path, another door hung open. It was the right passenger side of Carter O'Connell's Jeep. Brandon was nowhere to be found, the Rubik's cube he was playing with lonely on the ground.
Thick rugs lined the floor, animal skins, mostly. A deep musty smell invaded the three boys' noses, that of decay, of isolation, of death. Something terrible's gone on here, Carter O'Connell thought, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Not yet, at least.
The boys swept through the first floor of the house, Brandon still in the car, engine idling, Aden with the spade, Carter leading the way and Adam holding a larger knife - one he found in the kitchen. You can never be too careful he supposed, and felt like shittin' his pants. He was as scared as he's been in a long time.
The sun ducked under culionimbus clouds that had been gathering since their drive, and the house instantly became almost black as the vacuum of space. They made their way outside, the clearing illuminated by the Jeep's headlights. It was too dark to notice the door agape, the hyper-white headlights blinding them from the illuminated and empty Jeep.
"Let's get digging before it's too dark," Carter said, his brother Aden agreeing.
They approached the smallest sapling in the long line of Willow trees, no more than a few years old. Aden placed the tip of the spade toward China, placed his heel on the butt-end, and forced his body weight toward the center of the Earth. He dug with his upper body, extracted some thick, black dirt, and repeated. He dug through the first layer of grass and other forest foliage, wiped his brow, and handed the spade to his brother.
He handed it to him, right hand extended, Jeep to his back. He slowly glanced past his brother's left shoulder, towards the edge of the clearing, seeing two reflective orbs.
Eyes. Couldn't be.
No fuckin' way, Aden reminded himself, as his brother continued the excavation. The orbs blinked, disappeared. They reappeared closer, this time over his right shoulder, only visible mid-shovel stroke.
"Uhhhm... Carter... hey, Cart?"
"What bro, we're getting deep, here, I think I almost found something."
"Look behind you, you see that?"
Carter looked behind his right shoulder, seeing two dark yellow, glowing orbs, bobbing slightly up and down, as in deep breathing stroke.
"Don't move," he stated, handing the spade over to Adam, and letting go prematurely.
The spade dropped towards the hole in the ground they were digging, hitting with a thump.
"Did you just touch me?" Adam asked to the two other brothers, nervous. His hands began to clutch for his friends, to regroup them - but his sweaty palms found nothing.
"D-d-d-did you h-h-haaaear that?" Aden asked, almost sobbing.
Carter looked over towards the Jeep, the driver's side door. The dome light sprayed light into the cockpit of the Jeep, as empty as the soul carrying those yellow orb-like eyes. A cold breeze crept in from the direction of the house. They now noticed Brandon was gone.
"We need to get out of here, now!" shouted Adam.
"I'm not fucking around anymore!" screamed the one of the O'Connells, as they ran towards the Jeep
"They're eyes," Aden mumbled, shaking, shivering, distraught.
They ran towards the Jeep, when the sound of metal-on-bone rang through the night, followed by the sound of a collapsing body on the grass and foliage.
Carter and Aden briefly yelled each other's names as a primitive fight-or-flight role call, leaving Adam behind, and his brother nowhere to be found.
The boys continued to run, one shorter in the party now, when the spade connected again, this time catching one of the boys' elbows - immediately tearing all ligaments and tendons. The sound of the snapping joint shook the trees as much as the young man's screaming response, sleeping birds awakening and fluttering about, shaking branches, causing more noise in an endless audible domino effect.
But these birds had seen this display before it seemed, and gathered themselves. The Jeep finally revved its engine shortly later, kicking up dirt from the back tires, trying to bury the place whence they came. The two boys remaining - exhausted emotionally and physically - sped down the winding roads toward their campsite, calling the police as soon as they could.
User Reviews
Submitted by silent1 (user info) at 2006-08-12 10:28:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Looking forward to the next one.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-08-12 03:15:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Snalty (user info) at 2006-08-11 21:11:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm hooked!
Submitted by ticklish_squirrel (user info) at 2006-08-11 19:15:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This gave me butterflies... in a '*gasp* ohhh shiiiit' kind of way
Submitted by Maltese (user info) at 2006-08-11 18:31:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
-2DIE