Come Get Me Page 11

  Any feelings about not being welcome that might still have lingered were quickly dispelled when Grandma’s voice broke the silence that Jim hadn’t realized existed. He didn’t catch all of it but heard something about her being in the kitchen and what was taking them so long to get there. After walking down a dim hallway with even more pictures on the wall the arrived at a door. Jill stepped aside with a smile so Jim could be the first one to enter. For some reason he found that he was nervous, but before it got the better of him he pushed open the door and entered.

  Grandma was seated at a small table and looked almost like he remembered her looking when she was behind the store counter. He couldn’t help but smile as a smile brighter than his own spread across her face.

  “Jimmy,” she squealed doing a good impersonation of a fifteen year old, “finally found time to come back and visit an old woman huh?”

  Walking to where she sat he saw that she looked just as he remembered her. Maybe a few more wrinkles here and there but other than that she was still the same old Grandma from his memories. When Jim was little she’d always seemed much bigger than him, like most adults, but now looking at her as she stood to greet him she seemed much smaller. Of course he’d also gotten a lot bigger over the years.

  Reaching her and not knowing what to do he took a minute to look at her. From this new perspective things were quite different. Now instead of her being taller than him he found that she was actually about the same height as his mother. Her hair had always been sorta grayish but now seemed almost white. Looking at her he could see just a hint of where Jill had gotten some of her looks from. The resemblance was strongest in the eyes and nose but he saw it peeking out in a few other places too. A lot of people said that he himself looked a lot like his grandmother but he couldn’t see it. How could a guy look like a girl was the thing he always wondered and never understood.

  Jim smiled as he stood wondering what the proper protocol was when you saw an adult you knew as a kid. He wasn’t left to wonder for long though. Grandma unexpectedly reached out and embraced him in a rib cracking bear hug. She might’ve been old but she was surprisingly strong.

  “I’ve known you too long to be shaking your hand or any other stupid thing like that young man,” she said releasing him after a few seconds and taking a step back to look at him. “Heck, I’ve know you since you were just knee high to a grasshopper. Not that way anymore though is it? Anyway, don’t be treatin’ me like some little old lady you have to treat like she’s made out of eggshells. No coddling or anything like that when you come to see me. Hell, you’re the one that’s all skin and bones not me.” She looked at him for a few seconds to make sure he knew she was joking then continued. “Then again looks, as they say, can be deceiving. I remember you were always a good little boy and now that I see you, I’m guessing you’ve probably grown up to be quite a nice young man. At least I hope you have considering how my granddaughter’s been looking at you.” Jim quickly glanced at Jill only to find her red faced and trying to find a closet to go hide in. Grandma didn’t seem to notice. “You look good,” she said. “You sure are a welcome sight for these old eyes.”

  Jim was only a little uncomfortable with the welcome he’d received. They’d always been friendly but she seemed to have actually genuinely missed him. He was deeply touched to think that someone other than his mother cared about him that much and felt a little bad for not having made the effort to come see her before now. It was a lucky thing she was still alive. He hoped she would be around for a lot longer. He would definitely have to come back home more often than he had. Maybe his mother wasn’t the only thing he’d left behind after all.

  “Hi, Grandma,” he said with a silly grin. “How have you been?”

  “How do you think I’ve been?” she snapped back. “I’ve been getting older and more worn out as the days go by. I’m thinking one of these days pretty soon it might be time for me to take a rest. One of those long ones if you know what I mean.” She said this last part as if she were trying to elicit a response of some sort. Just as she’d probably planned Jill quickly chimed in.

  “Don’t talk like that Grandma. The only kind of rest you’re going to be taking is when you go to sleep later on tonight. You know I really don’t like it when you talk that way.”

  Grandma gave her a sullen look but as she turned back to him he saw a smile quickly spread over her face and just as quickly disappear. She’d gotten what she wanted and been scolded for it but now it was time to move on. Speaking to Jim, she asked all the normal things like how he’d been and what he’d been doing all these years. She asked almost as if he’d been avoiding her or something. He couldn’t help but laugh and began telling her about his life and how it had gone since leaving town. When he got to the part about how he wasn’t married she quickly asked Jill if she’d heard him. Jill, to her credit didn’t turn as red as she had the first time. Deciding not to embarrass her anymore than she was he acted like he hadn’t noticed anything and went back to talking to Grandma although with a smile a little bigger than he’d had before.

  They talked about the town and who had come and gone since he’d left. Most of the people she mentioned were only vague memories as far as he was concerned but he listened and actually found himself interested in what had become of everyone. Grandma seemed to enjoy talking so he let her do it.

  The conversation eventually reached the topic Jim knew was coming but short of leaving couldn’t there was no way to stop it. Tommy’s death, or murder as he was now thinking of it, brought a halt to what had previously been an enjoyable evening. He didn’t have the heart to tell Grandma he didn’t want to talk about it. He just hoped she wouldn’t take too long.

  After a few minutes of silence Grandma realized he wasn’t going to be too talkative about it so began quizzing him on what he’d found out so far from the people around town. Not knowing where to start he just told her everything with the exception of things Rob had said. She agreed with him when he told her he thought it was strange the way everyone had been told what happened was an accident. After he was done she didn’t seem to be satisfied. She told him she knew the official story but wanted to know what he’d found out unofficially.

  He knew she was talking about what he’d found out from Rob but didn’t know how she knew he’d told Jim anything. Then again they had been best friends so of course Rob had told him stuff. Jim had promised not to tell anyone but after thinking about it for a minute he decided that the two women could be trusted with the secrets. Besides they weren’t about to go running out the door shouting his information to the world. Grandma seemed to know everything that happened in town anyways and Jill wasn’t going to tell anyone so he figured Rob was safe.

  After coming to his decision he began relating to them all the things Rob had told him especially how the tree near Tommy looked like it’d been cut and about the goat hair. He tried to add the goat hair bit as an afterthought but wasn’t too convincing. If he thought about that part too much he would start thinking those crazy thoughts again. He definitely didn’t want that to happen. Not having been stopped he quickly moved on to the part about the tracks that were found in the area and how they couldn’t figure out where they’d come from. He didn’t mention any of his suspicions but when he was done the room had gone quiet while everyone thought about what they’d heard could mean.

  Grandma sat across from him looking thoughtful. While he’d been speaking he noticed her getting more and more upset so he’d ended his tale as quickly as possible but probably not fast enough. Some of the things he’d said must’ve been known to her but a lot of it was almost certainly new. Grandma slowly closed her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. Jim thought he heard it rattling in her lungs but hoped he was mistaken. He was just nervous. He didn’t like where the conversation had ended up and hoped it would move on to something more pleasant soon. Unfortunately that wasn’t going to happen.

  “One of my poor boys is dead and that creature from those damn wo
ods is responsible,” Grandam whispered. “We thought it was gone. But no! Oh no! It always comes back.” She looked as if she’d aged ten years in the last few minutes. Her shoulders slumped more than they had when he’d arrived and her eyes had lost a little of that sparkle they’d previously had. Jim looked at Jill trying to find some explanation for what Grandma had just said but if anything she looked as if she were more baffled than he was.

  “You,” she said looking at Jim, “are too young to know what I’m talking about and you,” she said turning to Jill, “didn’t even grow up in this cursed town so have never even heard about the damned things I’m about which I’m going to speak.” She paused to gather her thoughts. Jill looked at her worriedly before looking at Jim hoping he might know what was going on. Not having any answers for her he just shrugged his shoulders and waited. Grandma drew a shaky breath and began speaking.

  “Once a long time ago this town was a very sad and dark place. It started out nice enough. When the town was new, everyone lent a hand to help each other get on their feet. For the first few months it wasn’t actually that bad of a place to be. But eventually that changed. Things started going wrong. The town itself was, by this time, quickly filling up with houses and people, so some of the folks recently arrived from other places began venturing out into the surrounding woods looking to make a place for themselves. Others went to explore, but a lot were searching for just the right spot to build their new houses and begin their new lives. Unfortunately for most that wasn’t meant to be. Those that chose to live away from town usually were rarely ever seen again.”

  “Oh sure, every once in a while one or two would come stumbling from the woods but something wasn’t quite right with them. Something had gone wrong in their heads and they quickly either wandered off again or killed themselves. Some of the towns’ people tried to talk to them and find out what had gone wrong but only got strange tales for their troubles. Those that returned told of strange creatures and strange places the quiet people of the town couldn’t begin to understand.”

  “They spoke of things that were quite literally beyond their belief. Mostly, the stories they told went something along the lines of having lost their way in the woods but not being too worried about it at first. They continued by saying that as they walked they could swear they heard whispers and things moving through the woods around them. They never saw what made the noises but they knew something was there. The feeling of being watched never left them. Eventually the whispering would get louder and they would begin to think they could almost understand what was being said. At first it sounded like someone was calling them. The voices sounded almost familiar to them. The people, now beginning to get scared, would start running towards what they thought was safety but they never found anyone. They would no sooner get to the place where they were sure the voices were coming from than it would suddenly start from a totally different direction. This would go on and on until they could run no farther. Then it would suddenly stop. They would collapse from exhaustion but just as they were about to fall asleep the voices would start again. Urging them to stand and look for help again. Promising they weren’t far and were almost out of the woods. If they were lucky they might suddenly find themselves out of the woods with the whispers now turned to laughter at their backs. If they weren’t lucky, well you can probably figure out that part.”

  Grandma stopped at this point to take a drink of her now cold coffee. Jim had been so memorized he hadn’t even seen it sitting on the table in front of her. Thinking Jill must’ve brought it over he looked at her only to find her face full of disbelief. She probably thought her grandmother had finally gone off the deep end. Thoughts of old folks homes were most likely passing through her head right at this moment. He was just about to trying to get her attention when Grandma took up her story again.

  “Others,” she began again, “told terrible stories of monstrous creatures that would chase them night and day until they thought they wouldn’t be able to take another step. Just as they were sure they were dead and had no choice but to collapse the sounds of pursuit would stop. Chest heaving, legs aching they would finally get up the nerve to turn and look for their pursuers only to find the forest behind them empty. No beast with thousands of teeth waiting, no shrouded figure with raised scythe. Just empty woods with bird chirping at them from the trees. Thinking their ordeal at an end they would soon find themselves fast asleep with thoughts of how silly they were for thinking something was chasing them dancing in their head. But then it would start again.”

  “If that weren’t enough, there were a very few others who said they actually saw the creature that chased them. But like I said there were very few of these. It probably would’ve been better if there were none. The lost ones that claimed to have actually seen the creatures were the worst off. They were the ones who usually didn’t live long after their escapes. They were never extremely clear about what exactly happened but most spoke of how the creature would only come at the end of one of the chases when there was no possibility that its prey could move another inch.”

  “Then it would appear, lumbering through the woods carrying a crude ax or some other type of weapon braying its horrible call. The focus of its fury would have no choice but to sit and wait for the death the creature promised by it’s approach. It would stand over them, looking down upon them with horrible leaf green eyes until they either passed out from fright or closed their eyes to wait for the end. They would stay this way, sure they could feel the beast breath on their face, smelling it’s earthy, wet stink thinking about what was about to happen. But nothing did. When they either woke or opened their eyes the thing would be gone. They said things of this type would go on for days. There was no hope of fighting back. The creature seemed to inspire weakness in them. Once brave men became babes in its presence. Then for no reason they could figure out, they would be running from one of the beasts and would suddenly find themselves back where they had started, on the edge of the woods. Alone. No creature chasing them. Nothing but the chirping birds and themselves. Thinking themselves crazy they would slowly make their ways back to town. They would be found talking to themselves about creatures that didn’t exist and these frightening stories would then be passed to the rest of town making many a brave men crowd around a fire at night. None ever returned to the woods. Most eventually wandered off. Those that didn’t, as I said, killed themselves.”

  “Now I see the by the looks on your faces you think I left something out. You’re probably wondering why nobody went and hunted these beasts down. Well, some did. Some went out to see if they could find anything. Most returned empty handed. At least those that returned. Some never did. It was almost as if the things in the woods knew that if they took too many or were caught themselves then more people would come invading there woods. After a time of searching and finding nothing fewer and fewer people went looking. Everyone stayed to the known roads and pretty much left the woods alone. The ones that did venture in never went out of sight of the road they’d left. Over time people stopped disappearing and it was eventually forgotten. A few brave souls began building houses closer to the woods. They lit fires at night to keep whatever might be lurking at bay. When nothing happened and the terrible events of the past faded to just a memory more and more people started building near the woods. People who just couldn’t live with the past moved away but most ended up staying. They’d traveled far and weren’t going to give up their new home. Where would they go? Everything they had was here.” Grandma stopped speaking to take a small sip of her coffee. The face she made indicated what she thought of it. She got up and went to the sink as she continued her story.

  “All this happened a few months before my mother was born.” she said. Pausing to look at Jill, she said, “Your great, great grandfather was one of the people that went looking and never came back. He was young back then. Just married and with a little one and another on the way. He wasn’t about to back down and give up his home. So off he went one day
never to return.” Almost as if caught in a memory she stopped speaking and just stared off into nothing. Jim was about to ask how she knew all this but she beat him to it. “The stories of what happened were passed down. They became things of legend. Urban myths if you will. But these legends, these myths, were based in fact not fiction.”

  “Mothers used the tales to frighten children,” she said with a sad smile. “They scared them, myself included, by telling them that if they weren’t good or if they didn’t listen and do their chores, then the Goatman would come and take them away to the woods. If the parent was especially cruel or the child especially bad they would tell how he’d hang them by their toenails or strip the skin off their back and eat it right in front of them. The description of the terrible things that would be done was enough to make the kids lay awake in their beds for a week. Needless to say most kids in town were well behaved. Then again there were a few that weren’t but they never ended up staying around long.

  As far as we know the beast never came out of the woods but children still disappeared once in a while. No smart parent would allow their kids to go anywhere near the forest alone. My mother didn’t need to use things like that to get me to listen. We’d already lost our grandfather. That was enough. Now after all these years the damn thing should be dead but from what I’m hearing it sounds like its back. I knew this day would come and prayed that it never would. Some damn idiot must’ve called it.”

  “What do you mean called it?” Jim asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

  “Well from everything I heard as a child, the actual reason that all the bad things really stopped was because of an old woman who lived nearby. Actually now that I think of it I think she lived in the woods themselves. Everybody thought she was a witch or something. Who else could live where she did and survive? Anyways, the story goes that at some point, for some reason she put a curse on the creature that was taking our people. Nothing I heard was really clear on why just that she did. After that things calmed down. People stopped disappearing and things returned to normal. A while later, after a particularly bad storm, someone went looking for the old woman and found her cottage empty. The person that went looking saw a message scratched in the wood of the door that said the beast that was terrorizing the town was gone and would only come again if somebody called it. There was this stupid little rhyme that could return it to our world where it could once again terrorize the town. All I really know is that the disappearances stopped. For all we know the witch was the one causing everything and the creature was just trying to save us. Nobody knows for sure except for sure. The only thing we know are the stories of those it chased. Unfortunately my grandfather was one of the last few people that disappeared before the old woman put and end to it. I know that creature was the one responsible and now it’s back.”