Prologue: Discovering Death

"...He's sick officer Benton; he doesn't know what he's saying..."

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010:


“Honey!” the man shouted, racing up the concrete stairs. His heart was pounding in his chest, his breathing was heavy and his eyes were wild. “She’s back again. I heard her voice this time,” he cried, slamming the door behind him and locking it.

His wife rounded the corner and rolled her eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you? There are no such things as ghosts.” But her voice was slightly shaking and she was having more and more trouble convincing even herself that it was true.

“They’re angry at us.” He stumbled toward his wife, pleading. “We have to move. I can’t live this way anymore. You saw the messages on the kitchen floor; she’s going to make us suffer for what we did.” His honey colored eyes reminded her of a scared puppy.

“Why wait all these years to start though?” she asked skeptically. When their trouble with the ghosts first began, she’d thought it was their daughter lashing out in scary a*s ways… But there was no way it could have been her, she was gone at school the day it all happened.

“…and what about all the voices… and the blood?!” he was shouting as his wife dragged him to the den, where his favorite chair was set in front of the fireplace.

“Don’t worry sweetheart,” she said sweetly as the fire crackled and hissed, and the rain poured heavily onto the roof. “I’m gonna make these voices disappear,” she promised.

“Like you did last time, right? I’m sick of hearing her moaning and crying! I just want them out of my head!” She wrapped a shawl around his shoulders as she called out to her daughter, who appeared in the doorway in seconds.

“Go make us some tea! And when you’re finished, you father would like you to read to him.” The girl nodded her head obediently and ran to do as she was told.

“Promise me,” he muttered gripping her hand, “that we won’t be sent back. I don’t want to lose all of this.” She gently squeezed his fingers, just as terrified as he was.

“We won’t. I promise you, we’ll bed dead before we go back.”

“Here’s your tea.” Her angelic voice drifted melodically to their ears, and they couldn’t help grinning at their prize.

Three Days Later:

Ariel Chumley was yanked forward forcefully by the leash wrapped around her wrist. She tried to pull the mangy stupid dog backwards, but he was much stronger than the frail, anorexic teenager.

“Rascal,” she hissed wickedly at the dog, “stop it!” He was practically dragging her off of the stupid path and into the bushes. Ariel dug her heels into the dirt. The effort was useless. See! she felt like shouting at her father. This is what happens when I take the dog for a morning walk. He’s gonna kill me sooner than I kill my goddamned self! But it wasn’t herself that she should have been worrying about.

Rascal, a retired police dog, dragged the Chumley girl through the brush and trees, toward the poison creek. He stopped short a few times, sniffed, barked, and kept moving. His tail was wagging ferociously, almost like he’d… found something. When he reached the slimy, roaring creek, he slowed to a trot, panting heavily, and stuck his nose into the air.

As Ariel was about to collapse onto a rather comfortable looking boulder, Rascal raced for the water, barking and yelping with excitement and dragging her along with him. Nothing had worked up the dog this much since Ariel had ever known him, which struck the emaciated child as odd. But it wasn’t nearly as shocking as what he’d discovered.

Trapped between the fierce current and an unmoving boulder was a mangled, bloody corpse, whose empty, lifeless eyes were staring directly at her.

The only logical thing her body allowed her to do at that moment was release an ear-splitting shriek that could be heard almost a mile away, before blacking out completely.

---

Author's Note

Real Description:

An entire town is baffled when young Charles Derry admits to committing a double homicide. The bodies of his alleged victims were found floating in the creek of the local park, with evidence that the kid was indeed telling the truth. As police begin to dig deeper into the most mysterious, tangled case of their careers, they discover hidden pasts, buried secrets, and a web of deception so thick, it's almost impossible to connect the myriad puzzling strands. Will the town discover the truth before it's too late? Or will they send an innocent boy to jail, allowing a murderer to walk free? How far will one child go to protect their closest friend?

"...I close my eyes like I'm ready to pray,
Did you know, my birthday was today?
I make a wish, but it won't come true,
That's okay though, they never do..."