The Raven Mocker (42 page)

Allie Mae.

For some reason, the instant the name appeared in Jason’s head a chill ran along the bottom of his spine, racing up its length before moving across his shoulders. He shivered.

Get a grip, man. You don’t want to end up like those weenie-lovers crawling out from the back of the Jeep, do you? We sure the fuck don’t want that to happen, right??

Once Ed and Polly picked up the cooler and brought it around to the front of the Jeep, Jason pulled a pair of wire cutters from inside his letter jacket. Directing Stevie to hold up one of the flashlights they brought, he cut through several wires before anyone else could react.

“
What the hell did you do that for?” asked Ed, worriedly. The “Keep Out!” sign fell to the ground with a loud clang. “We could go to jail for the destruction of public property!”

“
And who the hell is going to know, unless ya’ll tell ‘em?”

Cocky to a fault, Jason waited for another rebuke to come from the group. When it didn’t, he picked up the wood waiting at his feet and moved through the fence. Soon, everyone else joined him on a rock ledge at the top of the ravine. Now all the girls murmured about the surreal darkness before them, where for some reason the full moon’s rays couldn’t penetrate.

“
This is really spooky,” Dianne whispered to Jason, pulling her coat tighter around her as if embraced by a deep chill.

Like the other guys, he paused to comfort her before getting started on a fire.

Everyone dressed in jeans and sweatshirts, most also wore some kind of jacket as well.
Jason noticed that all of the other girls pulled their coats tighter. Hot natured, he noticed the temperature became a tad cooler once they moved through the fence.

The darkness seemed to lesson, allowing their flashlight beams enough penetration to see what was here. The rest of the fence formed a corral roughly the size of a football field. It really didn’t look like much of a ravine to him, as a grass covered hill with boulders and other debris sticking out of it rose up in front of them.

Another thing supporting Chris’s tale that night. Some sort of temple used to be here….

“
Hey, let’s get a fire going.” He picked up several hickory logs and arranged them in the center of the ledge to where a quick blaze would be possible. “Once we get it going strong, we can crack open the beer and cook us a little feast.”

A slight breeze moved through the treetops, drawing everyone’s attention, the girls moving closer to their men and Dianne nudging him to hurry up. The fire became a roaring blaze, and to make sure it stayed that way, he and T.J. brought more wood—enough to last several hours. By then, the girls had set up blankets around the fire, to where they all could lounge comfortably. Plenty of beer to go around, and hotdogs and bratwurst ready to roast.

“
This is sweet!” enthused T.J., his smile radiant within his ebony skin.

“
So
fucking
sweet, indeed!” echoed Stevie, leaning toward the fire with a hotdog skewered on a coat hanger.

His rich Irish heritage, a full head of red hair framing his freckled face and deep blue eyes, seemed enhanced by the fire’s glow.

“
Good deal,” nodded Jason, glancing around him. The females and even Ed seemed pleased, or at least hungry, each with a hotdog or brat ready to roast. “After we’re done eating, it’ll be time for some exploring. The place is supposed to be haunted, so why not check and see if that’s true or not?”

“
Haunted? You didn’t say anything about this place being haunted. No wonder it’s been giving me the creeps!”

At first, Stevie didn’t take his girlfriend’s anger seriously. But when Stefanie retreated to the edge of the fence after laying her uncooked hotdog down atop the cooler, he pursued her.

“
Baby, come on!” he pleaded. “It’s just some story that Chris told me and Jason last spring. Just a story, like anything else.
Boo!!
”

He added a nervous laugh in trying to sell her on this.

“
Chris? You mean Chris
Hobbs??
” she asked incredulous. “The football player?”

“
Yeah, the quarterback-of-the-future for the Giants,” he agreed. “We all got drunk as hell and he told us a wild tale about this place. That’s all it is.”

Jason held his breath. If someone asked if big bad Chris ever came out here, he’d have to lie and say he did. Fearless in football games, especially when a critical victory was on the line, Chris refused to even consider the idea of coming out here.

Dude’s scared to death of the place, man. Wouldn’t even come with me and Stevie to the park in broad daylight.

“
I doubt that’s all it is,” said Polly, pushing her blond bangs away from her eyes. She gazed out into the ravine and then back at Jason and Stevie again. Her eyes looked afraid.
Very
afraid. “I’ve heard stuff about this place. Like the ghost of a girl in Cades Cove who sneaks up on lovers who stay in the park after dark. And then those people who mysteriously disappeared twelve years ago…. That
did
happen!”

She started to cry, which only made matters worse. Ed immediately came over and wrapped his arms around her.

Ah-h-h Christ! Better get this shit taken care of quick, before everybody wants to leave.

“
All right, all right!” said Jason, moving to block Ed and Polly from stepping down from the ledge. Everyone else seemed poised to leave, with Stevie losing the battle of keeping Stefanie there. “Let’s just enjoy a nice meal, and afterward, if anyone wants to join me in having a look around, then that’s cool. Everyone else can enjoy some more beer and roasted marshmallows. How does that sound?”

Hopeful he wouldn’t be forced to immediately pack up everything, everyone but Stefanie agreed. Fearing she would bring a premature end to the night’s festivities, a pleasant surprise came when Stevie persisted in his attempts to get her to stay. It worked.

The promise of continued protection and comfort might’ve taken Stevie away from helping him hold this party together, but at least she wouldn’t leave…yet. As for everyone else, once they got some good food in their stomachs and a few more beers, the group became more boisterous. The atmosphere much more festive.

Dianne and Shikara pointed one of the flashlights out toward the deep darkness, focusing on the trees along either side of the ravine not obscured by the debris hill in the middle. Several trees covered with names, Dianne suggested to her beau that they should get a closer look.

Excellent! ‘Better seize the moment before she changes her mind….

“
Let’s go do it!”

He took a beer with him and pulled her along with his arm around her waist.

They moved down into the ravine, Jason balancing her and the beer bottle while she held the flashlight to where they could see. Careful to avoid the sharp edges from what looked like veined white marble sticking out from the hill, they moved through tall grass and wildflower stems until they reached a row of mature oaks along one embankment. By Dianne’s count, just over thirty names covered the trees, some encircled by crude hearts. Names like Milton and Bertha made them both giggle, until the flashlight began to flicker and dim.

“
Oh, shit, the batteries must be dying,” he observed, stating the obvious.

The beam continued to fade, but before it flickered out, he glimpsed something shining near the base of the hill to their left. The small object appeared round when he saw it, glistening red, less than twenty feet ahead of them.

“
Did you see that?” he asked.

“
See what?”

Apparently not. No matter, before she could stop him, he stepped over to it.

The flashlight died. Only the fire’s illumination behind them, forty to fifty feet away. Then movement in the darkness ahead…up above the ravine in the thick forest to their right. The sound of crunching footsteps—just like their own had been, stepping on dried pine needles, maple and oak leaves. Heading toward them.

“
Jason, let’s get of here—
please!
”

“
What’s going on down there?” T.J. calling. “Ya’ll okay??”

“
I’ll be there in a moment!” Jason called back.

What’s this? Jesus!! It looks like a jewel…red ones are rubies, right? Holy shit—this is fucking amazing!!!

“
You won’t believe what I just found out here!!” he yelled excitedly. “It’s got to be the coolest damned thing….”

Suddenly he heard it too. There really was someone moving atop the ravine near the edge of the woods. Crunching footsteps and the sound of something swishing, brushing against the leaves.

A dress?? Stop it, man… quit thinking about that goddamned story!

“
We’re on our way down there, ya’ll!” Stevie calling this time.

Worried voices and several people on the way down behind him…that brought comfort. Strength in numbers. But the other noise still approached ahead…moving faster. And with it came a sigh.

A female? No fucking way!!

Dianne screamed behind him. It sounded like she tried to call his name, and then nothing. His legs felt heavy, but at least he could move, where just a moment ago they felt clamped to the ground beneath him.

“
Dianne!!”

He ran back to her and called again. No answer.

“
Where the hell are you??”

Still no reply.

“
Jason, we’re coming, man!” J.T. again. “Almost there, man. Almost—ah shit…
What the hell’s going on here?!”

Jason whirled around, in time to see the bottom of a blue gown descend into the ravine…maybe ten to twelve feet away. But, was that what J.T. screamed about from the other side of the hill??

Not sure…but you better get moving… NOW!!!

“
Dianne? Where are you, baby??”

Moving as fast as possible back to the ledge, the fire now more visible. But the footsteps gaining on him….

I can hear her breaths…and gurgling? What the fuck’s happening??

He slipped on something wet, and when he steadied himself his hand touched warm moistness. He brought it up to where he could faintly see something dripping dark from his fingers onto his palm.

Blood? Oh God, please no!!

“
Where’s J.T.??” Worried, the voice belonged to Shikara. At least that’s how it sounded to Jason. Suddenly another shriek, but not hers.

That chick, Stefanie? Must be, because it sounds like Stevie over there mumbling ‘Oh, my God—Oh, my God!!’

“
What the hell is that thing??”
screamed Shikara.

T.J.’s girl sounds closer…. Is she looking at the thing that’s breathing down my back? So fucking cold…and that gurgling noise…. Something just splashed up against my back!! Run-n-n-n!!!

It shamed him that he didn’t stop and turn to face whatever pursued him. He hated himself for that and for not searching for his beloved. Instead, he sprinted to the ledge.

Shikara let out a shrill shriek, and after he brushed by her, he heard her no more. The same report for Stefanie and Stevie. Like T.J. and the love of his life, Dianne, they were gone.

After he climbed back up the embankment, he looked behind him. Whatever pursued him had disappeared in the thick shadows. No footsteps, brushing, or the maddening gurgle sound. Gone? Who could say for sure?? But then he looked at his right hand under the glow from the firelight… Dianne’s blood covered it. Already congealing, it had dripped down past his wrist.

She’s really dead…how can this be?? They’re all gone!! All my friends—the people who matter most to me are all—

What about Polly and Ed?

Then he saw them. Somehow, they managed to get the keys from Stevie.

Does that mean his body is down there someplace? Did these motherfuckers kill Dianne and everyone else???

They looked at him, blank expressions on their faces. Ed started the jeep and then backed up, their emotionless expressions never changing. The Honda spun around and sped toward the meadow, and the road out of this hellish place. As the engine’s hum faded into the night, a noise similar to swarming hornets approached from behind the ravine. At the same time, he felt a vibration against his left hand. The one holding the circular jewel he found. It moved like a roach trying to crawl out from his grasp.

Surprised he opened his hand. The vibration stopped, but inside the ruby something moved. A clouded mist appeared, traveling from the back of the jewel to the front.

Well I’ll be damned. It looks like some sort of….

Jason gasped in surprise. An eye appeared within the mist, cold and reptilian. It studied him, like a snake or crocodile sizing up its prey.

Then the eye blinked.

Ah-h-h Shit!! It’s too late to save anybody but yourself! Leave now like Ed and Polly or die. Leave here or….