Baby Hughie

Ariel's family moves out to the country, where life is more simple and wholesome. The old farm house hides more than just bad plumbing.

Warning: after reading this you may need to sleep with your light on.

 

     Ariel looked at the scenery as it blurred past the family SUV. It had been all the same for the past hour or so. Nothing but farms, cows, or horses. It started out as a beautiful day, but now a few clouds were begining to gather just over the mountains in the distance. Next to her, her baby brother, Gabe, slept peacefully. The toddlers copper lashes rested on his chubby cheeks, his rosy lips making a sucking motion. Her older brother, Raphael was still scowling. He hadn't wanted to move. He was the star quarterback back at Lincoln high school and had been dating the head cheerleader. Ariel never did like the pretentious blond, but her big brother seemed truly heartbroken at having to leave her. Poor Rafe's blue eyes had actually watered when they'd kissed good-bye for the last time. His twin, Micheal, had a falling out with his own girlfriend a month before the move. Brandy had dumped him for a new rich boy that had started that spring, so Micheal had no qualms in leaving.

     He played air-guitar as he rode shot-gun, the icy air from the SUV's vents touseling his shaggy blue-black hair. Raphael lifted his hand from the steering wheel and cranked up the volume, the dark goth metal tune about to leave Ariel deaf.

     She looked at Gabe, who was now smiling in his sleep, tendrils of his deep red hair sticking up from the air coming through the vent. How the baby could sleep through that loud racket was beyond her. The lead singer from the band sounded like a blood-thirsty demon.

     Ariel rolled her eyes, wishing she hadn't packed her Ipod. She could be listening to Lady Gaga right now.

     The brake lights from the large trailer truck infront of them came to life. Ariel felt butterflies in her stomach as she leaned forward to peer through the windshield.

     The moving-truck her dad was driving ahead of them turned onto another road. Ariel's eyes widened as they passed a pair of rusty iron gates. The road was cracked and had a few pot holes, but the trees that lined either side of the drive were breath-taking.

     "It feels like the entrance to a fancy estate." Ariel sounded breathless.

     "Pops said he got it real cheap," Micheal grinned back at Ariel.

     Raphael only snorted. "We'll probably find yellow police tape and a chalk figure in the entrance."

     Ariel blinked at Rafe's profile. "Somebody died here?" 

     Micheal punched Rafe's arm. "A*****e. You're gonna scare her."

     Rafe looked at Ariel through the rear-view mirror. He still had his natural blond hair, the same gold shade as Ariel's. "Sorry," he mumbled.

     Ariel loved her brothers, though there were days their incesant bickering made her wish they were someone elses siblings.

     As they cleared the canopy of trees, they came upon the the sprawling white farm house. Two stories high, the windows reflected the greying sky. The paint looked neglected and crab-grass grew everywhere. Two stately oaks adorned either side of the walkway to a wide porch. One of the trees had a large tire swing. She imagined Gabe swinging there and giggling as mom pushed him.

     Ariel rushed out of the SUV to her dad, who was already walking up to the front doors to unlock them.

     "What do you think, honey?" He wore a backwards New York Yankees baseball cap and a navy Giants t-shirt that was too sizes too big.

     Ariel smiled, feeling excited. "Its so big, dad. Can I pick out my own room?"

     "Sure thing, pumpkin."

     Ariel found the perfect room. It was big and had a sloped ceiling with two windows that reminded her of the Peter Pan story. They were more like doors and opened inward. Metal railing barred the small balconies. Down below was a garden Ariel was sure would be beautifu once her mother tended to it. Mom loved gardening almost as much as baking goodies. Gabe's chubby cheeks were the results of her culinary mastery. Then again,Gabe put everything in his mouth.

     It started to rain, so her parents decided to postpone bringing in their belongings until the next day. A few boxes and some blow-up matresses were quickly set up.

     As Ariel danced around her new room, planning where everything would go, she caught the faint smell of...something rotten. The last time she'd sniffed such an awful smell was the time when their kitty, Pandora, caught and killed a large rodent behind their old colonial home in Boston. The rat had rotted behind the shed, giving off a God-awful stench for days.

     Ariel peered over the railing of one of the windows and caught sight of a strange old woman, grabbing...pieces of bloody meat...and tossing them down a small round metal chute in the center of the garden.

     Heart pounding, she raced down the steps, "Dad! Dad!"

     Her brother, Micheal found her before her father. She hadn't realized she was sobbing until she tried to speak. By the time she managed to say what was happening, even her mother had come from the kitchen at the sound of her wails of fright.

     A few hours later, the police escorted the crazy lady offf the property.

      She kept screaming she had to feed baby Hughie.

     "I promised Adelheide I'd take care of him on her death bed. You b******s. You're all going to die!"

     Glancing through the kitchen window, she saw her father and brothers make a face when they looked down the strange chute.

     The rain came down harder and they ran back in.

     "Smells like she's been pouring meat down that chute for ages." Her father grimaced.

     "Where does it go to ?" her mother asked wiping her hands on a dish towel.

     "Probably some underground storage." Micheal went straight to the cellar door.

     Ariel felt terrified. "Wait! What if there's some crazy person down there?"

     A heavy hand fell on her shoulder making her jump. "Well, then we should find him before he walks out in the middle of the night and eats our entrails." This was followed by a malevolent "BWAHOO-HA-HAAA!!!"

     "Rafe," her mother admonished.

     Her father calmly grabbed a large flashlight and moved forward. "Okay, you clowns. Let me go first and check everything out."

     The teenaged twins followed close behind their father and after a while her dad came back up.

     "No boogie-man, pumpkin."

     "What's down there?" her mom asked retiying her unruly red hair.

     "Just a bunch of baby junk. Old fashioned stuff, all stamped with Baby Hughie."

     Curious, Ariel descended the old wooden steps to the basement. It was huge, the wall made of brick, the floor dusty concrete.

     Micheal was sitting on a large, old, rocking-horse, laughing.

     "Look, Ari. I'm Baby Hughie."

     He barely finished talking when his wooden steed  creaked and crumbled beneath him. He fell in an ungainly heap on the floor, the silver chains on his black jeans rattling .

     Rafe's peals of laughter echoed in the space. "You idiot."

     Her mother came down with Gabe in her arms and peered around. Then told them not to get too dirty before dinner.

     Gabe protested to be let down.

     After her mom went back up, they continued to go through baby Hughie's things.

     Rafe found a diary written by some lady and began to read. After a while he started to tell them about the people that lived there before them.

     "Geez, this lady had an affair with the town reverend."

     "Ew!" Micheal grimaced, pulling a small ball away from Gabe, before he ate it.

     "Hey, and baby Hughie was a fifteen pounder when he was born. Says here, the reverend's wife found out and cursed both her and the baby."

     "Wow" Ariel gaped.

     "What an evil b***h. I mean the baby had nothing to do with what the adults did." Micheal said.

     After a while, Rafe began reading about how baby Hughie wasn't really a normal baby. His mama had written about her worry over her only son's penchant for torture and blood. Many times she'd caught him torturing some small animal, until she'd found him one evening in the celler doing something really horrid. He'd tied down a neighbor's dog that always barked and growled at him. Hughie had skinned the poor animal and was in the process of eating him...alive. Frightened, the woman had locked him in the cellar and began feeding him through a chute from the garden.

     Ariel shivered. "And what happened to him?"

     "Doesn't say. Her last entry was in 1990. Says she got cancer and was worried about what woud happen to her baby Hughie."

     "Creepy." Micheal murmured. he walked around looking up at the ceiling. "Hey. We never found out where the chute leads to."

     "Dad will figure it out tomorrow," Rafe replied.

     "Baby Hughie," Micheal called out. "Oh, baby Hughie? Where are you, you nasty f****r?"

     "Mike, what the hell are you doing, you crazy emo f**k?" Rafe growled.

     "Baby Hughie, I evoke you," he laughed. "Come, oh evil one. Come unto us if you dare!"

     A rasping noise made Ariel jump. It reminded her of the demon voice from their CD in the SUV.

     "S**t," Micheal yelled running.

     Ariel turned, ready to see some hideous rotted corpse behind her, with maggots trailing down its putrid cheeks from empty bloodied eye sockets. What she saw terrified her even more.

     Her baby brother stood, mouth open eyes completely rolled back, showing only the whites. Rafe grabbed him and began pounding on his back. "F**k! Call dad! He's choking on something!"

     It was the most horrible fifteen minutes of Ariel's life. For a moment it seemed as if her baby brother Gabe was dead. His throat blocked by a strange object. Her father managed to pull out a plastic squeaky-toy he'd somehow swallowed and began giving him mouth to mouth. the baby would not respond.

     They laid his tiny body on the folding table they'd set up in the kitchen. Her dad comforted her hysterical mother, yelling at the twins to call 911.

     Ariel watched in horror, unable to believe this was actually happening to her family. When she cast her gaze once more to her baby brother's body she screamed again.

     He was sitting up, staring at all of them, a dazed expression on his face.

     The paramedics checked Gabe and pronounced him in excellent condition. Her parents took him to sleep with them in their room after the terrible scare they'd had.

     Ariel tried to find sleep, she wondered about baby Hughie. Had his disembodied spirit come back to try and kill poor little Gabe?

     She dreamed of bloodied animals running around the house, their entrails hanging out, creating ribbons of gore on the hardwood floors of the farm house. She ran to her parents room and there they lay, thier eyes gouged out and their throats cut. When she ran screaming into the twins rooms, they had been gutted as well, thier intestines wrapped around each other and tied in a bow at their necks...like some gory Christmas gift from a Satanic Santa. A noise behind her ahd her turning with a shriek.

     Gabe stood crying and pointing to the mirror. "Wun, Awi, wun! Monstuh-monstuh!!"

     Ariel jumped up on her inflatable mattress. Relived that it had all been a dream, she rose and decided to get a glass of water from the bathroom at the end of the hall. There was no way she was sneaking down to the dark creepy kitchen by herself.

    As she passed her brother Rafe's room she saw a light on underneath the door. She wondered if he was using his wi-fi on the laptop to talk to the stupid cheerleader. She really didn't like that girl, especially the way she'd always tease Rafe, rubbing his leg till his face turned red and sweaty.

     Ariel peered in, but the door squeaked, giving her away. Rafe's face was flushed, and she could tell his jeans were open even though his back was to her. On the laptop screen before him was the hateful cheerleader, her big b***s exposed. What a s**t!

     "F**k! Ariel-get-out!!"

     Ariel slammed the door and skittered away, very embarrassed. She hadn't meant to sneak up on Rafe while he had cyber-sex with his trashy girlfriend.

     "Stupid ho," she muttered.

     She got her glass of water and began to tip-toe to her room. Her foot slipped on something wet. It was dark in the hallway, but whatever it was, felt sticky between her toes. Passing her parents room, she went in to take one more look at her precious baby brother, thanking God that he'd given them the miracle of saving him. She tip-toed to the edge of the bed, trying to make out the huddled figures wrapped in the sheets. A brief flash of lightning burned the image into her retina's: blood gushing from her parents missing eyes and slashed throats.

     Ariel stumbled away and ran out screaming into Rafe's room.

     "Oh, God! Rafe, they're dead!" She ran to him and turned the computer chair around when he didn't answer.  Something wet spilled on her bare feet. Yards and yards of slippery intestines, with red and purpley veins. Rafe's eyes were still wide and he exhaled once before the black pupils of his eyes grew so big it almost covered the baby blue of his irises. She stared at the dead face of her beloved big brother.

     The scene in Micheal's room was just as gory. Running down the steps to flee the house, she spotted Gabe standing in the living room, just off the entry hall at the bottom of the spiral staircase. His lone sillohuete was deliniated by the moonlight and brief flashes of lightning that glowed from the glass panes in the double front doors of the house.

     "We've got to get out of here!" She bent and scooped him up. He felt so heavy. She stumbled to the front door and cried in dismay when she realized the doors had double locks. Where was the key?

     Ariel looked, panicked at Gabe. He merely smiled at her...wide...like his eyes.

     "I got pwesent fuh Awi." His voice was not Gabe's voice. It was the voice of the demon singer from the goth band. The laugh that followed was diabolical. That's when she noticed that his arm was held straight up. As she looked at the tiny hand, something flashed.

     The pain in her eye made her drop Gabe. She screamed as blood poured down her face. Her eye! Gabe had popped it with a knife! Pain blazed at her throat and she was no longer able to scream. As her body crashed to the floor, she felt the blade slice up her torso, saw her entrails spill. Everything grew darker, the sound of her choking on her own blood filling her ears, the sight of Gabe munching on her liver with a smile the last thing she saw before death finally claimed her.

             ***************************

     The old farm house swarmed with police. Sheriff George Ricks scratched his head in disbelief.

     "The whole family's been butchered. Only the baby is alive," his deputy informed.

     "That kid is a miracle baby. I heard last night they'd had a scare with him. Choked on one of Hughie's toys."

     The deputy snorted. "The boys tore down the far wall in the cellar. His bones were back there. Hughie's. Looks like after his mama died he was sealed in there by himself for a couple of years. Martha was rambling on about how she was feeding him through the chute."

     "Crazy witch. How come she never said anything to the authorities? Why didn't anyone investigate this before? How old was that little b*****d anyway?"

     "About ten when he died. Coroner's not sure, but he thinks Hughie choked on an animal bone. There was a bone lodged in the corpse's throat." The deputy scratched his head. "By the way, what are we going to do with baby Gabe?"

     "I'm sure child services will place him with some nice foster family until we can find out if he has any surviving relatives."

     At that moment, a heavy-set lady came out of the house carrying the two-year-old boy. The early morning sun shone on his red hair and his cheeks glowed pink underneath corn-flower-blue eyes. Gabe smiled at the police officers and waved bye-bye.

     "He sure is a cute little angel. Poor thing."

Author's Note

Okay. So this is the first horror story I write. I figured that LUCIEN'S BIRTHDAY wasn't really scary enough and made this one up. Funny thing is that when I was in the really gory part somebody started rattling my front door. I almost peed on myself from fright. Don't know who it was, but it sure was scary!!!! Guess someone got the wrong apartment.
BWAHOO-HA-HA!!!!!!!!! :P

Reviews

[SilentDreamer]

Very good horror story. Especially for your first. Kept me interested and had a good plot. Nice job.

[Sean M. Addams]

very nicely done like the creepiness of this story and like the dark humor in some parts too... nice job ..its cool to see you as a finalist in Mr. Kult's Horror Contest too... good luck :)

[Colleen C Dunphy]

Haha, I love your opening and closing comments.

And I probably shouldn't have read this while I was eatting my lunch.

I might just sleep with the lights on tonight!

[Levana Hyll]

I tried not to make it too long, so it might seem rushed. And I just had to put in one slightly racey scene (erotica), but it's pretty PG-13 (the scene at least) The rest of the story has so much gore and nasty spooky stuff that I think it's more R rated for that alone. Also has a few expletives. Enjoy.