Black Water Creek (11 page)

Chapter
18

Something keeps brushing against her bare toes. A sharp pain from the side of her foot, like a hot needle piercing her skin, finally wakes her. Her legs flail and her foot hits something soft and furry. A short high pitched squeal followed by the frantic sound of claws scurrying across dirt fill the room.

She screams and scrambles to her feet, slamming up against the crumbling brick wall in the darkness. Panic grips her as she
blindly gropes the wall in the dark and brushes up against cobwebs. Her foot feels like it’s on fire. Finally, she notices the dim light through the slot in the door and lunges for it.

“Help me!” She pounds on the door, barely making a sound on the thick wooden planks. “Let me out of here!”

Footsteps hurry down the hallway and a woman appears, shushing the whole way and holding a finger to her lips. “What are you doing? Be quiet, be quiet!” Her silver hair is pulled back into a bun, a good portion of it escaping from the hair tie and brushing up against the side of her face. A dark purple bruise one on cheek. A large and discolored growth on the other.

Kelly pound
s on the door again, terrified the woman will leave her. “Please, let me out. I don’t belong here.”

“Calm down,
now. Everyting is fine. Ye probably just had a bad dream.”

“I don’t understand. Where am I am?”

“That’s enough!” The woman slaps her side of the door and her eyes narrow to slits. “He’s not here right now but ye need to learn, regardless. Never make a sound. It only makes it harder.”

“He who?”

The woman glances down the hallway. “I don’t have time for your silly questions. As a matter of fact, I was in the process of fixing your breakfast before ye started carrying on. We need to get ye cleaned up today.” She starts down the hall.

“No! Please don’t leave.” Kelly thrusts her fingers through the slot. “There’s a rat in here. Let me out, please.”

The woman returns. “Ye know there’s no eating upstairs. It’s practically rule number one.”

“Please.” The tears blur her vision but Kelly sees the woman’s internal debate
on her face. She glances to the ceiling and down the hall again before looking down. Sighs. Jingling of keys.

The door swings open on wailing hinges and Kelly steps down slightly onto the wooden planks of the floor. The woman takes her hand and pulls her along, telling her they have to hurry.
She passes other doors along the way and thinks she hears whimpering from behind one of them. Can’t be sure.

The woman unlocks a door at the end of the hall and climbs a narrow stairway, telling Kelly to hurry
again. They stop at the top of the stairs and stand in the tight confines as the woman sorts through her keys to unlock yet another door.

“Y
e better be grateful for this,” she says. “If he comes early and finds ye upstairs he’ll take it out on the both of us.” The door unlocks and the woman pulls her though.

Kelly steps out and shields her eyes at the brilliant light. She looks down at her feet, squinting past the filthy nightgown to her bloody foo
t, caked with dirt.

“Just a quick breakfast and it’s into the tub.” Clanging of cookware and utensils from across the room. “It’ll take every minute we have to scrub y
e clean. Don’t tink I’ve forgotten ye refused to take a bath last time. Where do ye suppose this bruise come from?”

Ey
es adjusted, Kelly finally looks up and takes in her surroundings. She’s in the living room of her cottage. A piano where the television and VCR should have been. She’s practically standing in the spot where Keegan likes to watch TV. Oil paintings on the wall. An overstuffed sofa behind her.

“If you’re just going to just stand there y
e could at least give me a hand.” The woman stirs a pot on a big black wood burning stove where her electric stove should have been.

Kelly looks out the living room window at the river and trees beyond, takes a little comfor
t in seeing something unchanged but can’t ignore the bars on other side of the glass.

Th
e woman slams an iron pot onto the massive butcher block table dominating the kitchen and ladles out what looks like porridge into a bowl. “Come and eat so I can feed the rest of the girls.”

Kelly shuffles for the table, wincing from her sore foot. She passes a large mirror on the wall and stops to look. The girl in the mirror is young, can’t be a day over fifteen. Pale skin, bright red hair. Kelly screams, causing the woman in the kitchen to drop one of the bowls. Kelly screams again, the girl in the mirror matching her breath for breath.

Chapter 19

Kelly looked up and realized Sue had said something to her. “What?”

“I just asked if you could pass the rolls.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She picked up the bowl of dinner rolls and handed it to Ed.

“You feeling all right?” he asked.

“Sorry, guys. I’m a little out of it.” She covered a yawn with her hand and jabbed a carrot with her fork. “I just can’t seem to get a decent night sleep. Feels like I’m on fumes.”

“Is your new mattress comfortable enough? They have a thirty night guarantee or something like that I heard,” Sue said.

“The bed is great, I love it. Just lots of nightmares lately, I guess.”

“Maybe you should think about seeing a doctor.” Ed took a sip of his beer. “Jimmy, down at the shop
, always had problems sleeping and the doctor gave him a prescription. Ambi-something. He swears by ‘em.”

Keegan pushed his mostly uneaten plate off to the side. “Can I open presents now?”

“I’ve told you a dozen times, not until tomorrow morning.” Kelly smiled at her son despite his instance of early Christmas presents. She was looking forward to him opening them in the morning as much as he was.

Ed checked his watch.
“It’s pretty early. I don’t think Santa has even left his workshop at the North Pole yet.”

They heard the front door open and close, followed by a hearty “Ho
Ho Ho!” from the living room. Keegan’s eye lit up and he spun around, only to be disappointed as Paul entered the dining room.

“You’re not Santa,” Keegan scowled.

“Sorry, Squirt.” Paul bent down and spoke quietly into Keegan’s ear. “I’d keep an eye on Ed over there, though. Look at his big tummy and white hair. What if he’s Santa?”

Keegan considered i
t for a moment but resumed his scowling, since he wasn’t any closer to opening presents.

“Have a seat, Paulie,” Sue
got up. “We were just about to have dessert.”

“Sounds great.” He sat down next to Kelly and
tossed a black olive into his mouth from the relish tray.

“How’s Ailene doing?” Ed asked.

“Same as usual, I guess. She had one too many glasses of wine at dinner. Fell asleep on the couch and I covered her up. She’ll be fine there.”

“We invited her over here but she said she wasn’t up for it.”

Paul nodded. “My mom,” he explained to Kelly. “She’s had a hard time with holidays ever since dad died.”

“Here we are.” Sue returned with a pumpkin pie and set it on the table.

They ate their dessert and Kelly looked around the table at her new extended family as they chatted. She couldn’t help think of Christmas Eve last year. She’d worked all afternoon on a dinner much like the one she helped Sue prepare that evening. Turkey, homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, the works. Don stumbled through the door late after spending most of the day at the bar. He ate a few bites barely saying a word and passed out on the couch. Later that night, he finally came to bed still reeking of booze and was all over her. She didn’t resist, just laid there while he groped and pawed at her. It was better sometimes to just let him do it instead of risking a big fight. Especially at Christmas.

She turned to Paul, his eyebrows raised, still wait
ing for an answer to a question she hadn’t heard.

“What?”

“I asked if you were done. I can walk you guys back to your place.”

She looked down at her empty dessert plate. “I guess I am. Sorry, zoning out again.”

They said their goodbyes to Ed and Sue and walked down the trail to the cottage. Large fluffy snowflakes fell lazily to the earth, blanketing everything with a fresh white blanket.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Kelly said.

“Yeah, snowing on Christmas Eve,” Paul said. “Just like in the movies. Can’t remember the last time it’s happened in real life.”

“Now can I open presents?” Keegan whined.

“Argh!” Kelly threw her hands above her head. “You’re driving me crazy!” She ran down the path, waving her hands. “Crazy, crazy crazy!”

Keegan laughed and ran after her, joining the chant. “Crazy, crazy
, crazy!”

Paul shrugged his shoulders and followed, having a hard time keeping up with his prosthetic leg but compensating by shouting
louder than the others. He reached the cottage, out of breath and laughing right along with Kelly and her son.

“I think my sleep deprivation really is making me crazy,” Kelly laughed.

“Hey, I didn’t want to say anything, but…”

“
Craaaazy!” Keegan jumped up and down.

“Oh God,” Kelly groaned. “I’m never going to get him to sleep now.”

The smile on Paul’s face faded as they got closer to the front door. “What’s that?”

Kelly turned to look, frowning at something dark attached to the white door. “I have no idea.” She squinted in the darkness, regretting to forget to leave the porch light on yet again. She got closer and stifled the shriek trying to escape her lips when she finally realized what she was looking at.

“What the hell?” Paul muttered.

“What is that?” Keegan asked.

“It’s nothing, baby.” Kelly scooped him and turned him away from the door. “It’s just a mess, that’s all.”

Paul quickly opened the door wide, hiding the decapitated rabbit nailed upside down from Keegan’s view. “Come on guys
, let’s get inside.”

“I wanna see,” Keegan whined.

Kelly rushed him inside and clicked on the lights. “Santa is never going to come unless you get to bed, you know.” She shot Paul desperate glance.

“Sit tight. I’ll be right back.” Paul flipped on the outside light and shut the door. He pulled
out the single nail driven through the rabbit’s back legs and tossed it into the trash can on the side of the house.

The blood puddle on the steps
below the body was still tacky. Paul guessed it had been hanging there for less than an hour. He scanned the darkness beyond the house but saw nothing. A few old footprints led away from the house up the driveway. Drops of blood led away from the door toward Kelly’s truck. Paul followed them and discovered what happened to the head. He removed it off the hood of the truck, placed where a hood ornament would have been, and tossed it into the trash with the rest of the carcass.

He went inside and locked the door behind him, nodding at Kelly as she tried to get Keegan into his pajamas. A VHS copy of The Grinch
playing on the television already stole his attention from the mystery at the door.

Paul washed his hands at the kitchen sink as Kelly hurried over. “Is that what I think it was?”
she asked.

“Some sick bastard’s idea of a joke. On Christmas Eve of all nights.”

“Oh my God.” Kelly stared blankly out the window. “It couldn’t be.”

“What?”

Kelly lowered her voice and glanced over at Keegan. “What if it’s Don? What if he found me?”

“Your ex-boyfriend?”

“I could see him doing something sick like this, just to scare me.”

Paul grabbed the dishtowel and dried his hands. “It’s probably just some punk kids screwing around
. How would he even know where you are?”

“Tammy found out
. All she had to do was ask at the diner where they sent my last check.”

“Even if it was him, the lights are on
, door’s locked, and I’m here. You guys are safe. I can stick around as long as you’d like.”

*****

Kelly turned off the TV and hit rewind, sending the Grinch back in time and ready to start all over again. “Sorry I don’t have any grown up holiday movies. This is the first year I can remember not seeing
It’s a Wonderful Life
.”

“
If you think anything can top the Grinch then you’re nuts,” Paul said.

“I’ve been meaning to get satellite TV ever since I moved in but now that it’s been a few months I’m not so sure. I kinda like not having it.”

Paul sat up and stretched. “Yeah, it’s nothing but two hundred channels of garbage anyway.” He got up and placed another log in the fireplace. “I’ll take a nice fire over TV any day.”

“It’s getting late. It’s okay if you get going.”

“But that look in your eye tells me it’s not.”

“Is it that obvious? God, I’m such a baby.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself.” Paul squeezed her hand. “Besides, I don’t want to spend Christmas Eve alone either.”

Kelly glanced at the wall clock. “Christmas Eve has been over for three minutes.”

“Ah well, mission accomplished. Merry Christmas.”

They sat in comfortable silence on the couch, enjoying the glow from the fire and Christmas tree lights. Paul took Kelly’s hand and she let him.

“I hate to admit it,” Kelly finally said, “I’ve got it so good here and Ed and Sue have been so generous, but I just haven’t felt safe here lately.”

“What do you mean?” Paul frowned
and pointed at the door. “Has anything else like this happened?”

“No, nothing like that. It certainly isn’t helping
, though. I’ve been having such bad dreams lately and getting creepy feelings whenever I’m in the house. The dreams are about the house, too. Like it’s haunted.” Kelly looked Paul in the eyes. “You probably think I’m nuts, right?”

“Not at all. You’re living on your own with a young kid down by the river in the woods. I think a lot of people might find it a little scary.”

“It’s not just that, though. It just feels…wrong. Evil.” She glanced over at the wall where the basement door in her dream had been. She’d inspected every inch of the wall earlier, looking for any sign of a door and was relieved to find none.

“Hey, you know what?” Paul put his arm around her. “I’m no ghost expert
, but assuming they are real, I don’t think they can hurt you. Probably doesn’t make you feel much better but I think it’s the truth.”

“You’re right.” Kelly looked him in the eyes again. “
Sitting here with you makes me feel better.”

Before she knew it, their lips touched, their bodies seeming to melt together. Paul’s tongue in her mouth. Her hands on his body. His hands on her. She grabbed his hair with both hands, trying
to pull him closer, trying to completely wrap herself in his warm touch. Somehow they made it to the floor, both of their shirts coming off in the process.

Her head spun, a million thoughts swirling together, trying to take hold at the same time. Was is it too soon? Was is it a mistake?
Paul pushed against her and she moaned, arching her back and pulling him closer. Her doubts vanished as she fumbled for his belt buckle with one hand, running her nails down his bare back with the other.

*****

Kelly rested her head on Paul’s chest, swirling her index finger around the light patch of hair on his stomach. His heart beat thumped in her ear and she enjoyed feeling the rise and fall of his chest.

“You okay?” he asked.

She lifted her head and kissed his bare chest. “Never better.”

“Not bad for a gimp with half a leg, huh?”

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a freak.”

“Ouch.” Paul laughed.

Kelly slid her hand down Paul’s thigh. “Does it still hurt sometimes?”

“Nah, just gets sore after a long day standing on the prosthetic. Beats hopping around or using crutches, I guess.”

Kelly put her head back down and rubbed his leg. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like to go through that. I just can’t wrap my head around it.”

“It happened so fast, I barely remember
myself.”

“Was it a bomb?”

Paul sighed. Kelly lifted her head again and looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t like to talk about it, but I get curious sometimes.”

“
It’s okay. I probably should talk about it more. It was from mortar shrapnel. I don’t remember, but they said my leg just above the knee was only held together by a couple strands of muscle and some skin after the hit. It completely pulverized the femur.”

“Oh my God,” Kelly whispered.

“Here, give me your hand.” Paul placed her palm on his side just above his pelvis and pushed on her fingers. “Feel that?” Just below the skin she felt something hard move under her fingertips.

“What is it?”

“One of the souvenirs I still get to carry around. They say removing some shrapnel can do more harm than good, so they leave it in there.”

“You poor thing.”

“Yeah, I think I need extra attention.” He pulled her on top of him and kissed her.

“What else happened?” She asked. “Did anybody else get hurt?”

“Come on, it’s Christmas. Do you really want to hear about this crap?”

“I do, really. How can I ever get to know you if won’t tell me about it? It was a big part of your life.”