Cemetery on Lonesome Hill
The restless sun yearned for the moon to replace its reign in the heavens as its fiery red hue painted the horizon in soft twilight. A gentle breeze from the North unexpectedly blew the air mattress across the still waters of my pool with the promise of change. It was on this evening that I found rest from the weekly stresses that threatened my sanity and it was also the day my beard turned gray. My fifteen year old nephew had decided to come spend the weekend out at my country house nestled away in the safety and peace of the woods. We were enjoying the beauty of the mid-summer day and mostly just lounged around doing absolutely nothing. “Hey Ty-Ty, want to go for a drive or something before it gets dark?” My nephew asked out of the blue.
“Sure, what do you have in mind?” I asked feeling a little restless myself.
“I don’t know maybe we can just drive down some of these old roads. I just thought since it was so nice out we could enjoy some of the scenery.”
“That’s cool. It will give us a chance to get out for a bit before we fire up the grill and kick back to watch some movies I rented.” I replied anxiously. Little did I know just what was in store for us with this subtle twist of fate. “Hey Chance, grab my keys out of the house.” I called out to him as I climbed into my truck and realized my keys were not in the ignition. Without a second thought my nephew sprinted to the house and burst through the front door. After a few minutes he came back out with his hands up in the air.
“Where are they, I can’t find them?” He asked.
“Aren’t they on the key holder on the wall?” I inquired puzzled.
“NO!” He responded as if I had asked a stupid question.
“Well maybe they are on the kitchen cabinet or my desk in my den.”
“Nope,” he said shaking his head from side to side, “I’ve already checked there and in the bathroom and the living room.”
“Humm, well that’s what happens when you piss the day away being lazy.” I said as I climbed out of the truck upset that my keys were lost. Instantly I began to pat my pockets to make sure they were not in my possession.
“Are they in your pockets?” He asked curiously with a slight chuckle as he thought about the humor of the idea.
“Nope, they’ve got to be in the house…you must have looked over them.” I said as I made my way to join in the search.
“I’m tellin ya Ty-Ty, I looked everywhere.” He said as he followed me back into the house. My mind race trying to recall what I had done with them earlier, but the last time I had them was the day before and I had gotten home about ten that morning. I thought for a long while as we searched all the areas I had mentioned earlier, but I could not remember where I had put them. After we searched the rest of the house I began to get frustrated and by the look on my nephews face so was he, but I didn’t want our perfect day to be ruined by a sour experience so I tried to think of something to lighten the air.
“Well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be, maybe something is telling us to just hang around the house.” I said with a chuckle.
“Are you sure they‘re not in one of your pockets?” He asked in a disappointed tone. Immediately I patted down my pockets again then poked my hand in each one and removed the contents.
“Nope, a lighter and some change in this one…and…a knife in the other.” I replied boggled. “Maybe you left them in the pants you wore yesterday.” His voice filled with a new hope that sparked a possibility in my mind at the idea. As I made my way to the laundry room I convinced myself they would be there. I opened the hamper and there my pants from the day before lay, rite on top. Anxiously t picked them up and searched the pockets.
“Hey there’s my wallet.” I exclaimed cheerfully holding it up for him to see momentarily before placing it in my back pocket. I then continued the search turning both front pockets out, but my keys were not there. Depressed now from the shattered hope, I took a deep breath then decided to search the bathroom again not quite ready to give up. “I don’t know…” I breathed heavily. “Let’s make another round through the house, check the couch, under it…every where you can think.”
Chance took a deep breath and rolled his eyes, but said nothing. After several minutes the frustration started to build especially after we double checked every place previously searched and each other. “I haven’t a clue Chance. I’m sorry.” I replied completely swamped from the search and swarm of emotion as I headed for the door. “Maybe they’re in the truck…It’s the only place we haven’t looked more than once. Besides I need a cigarette now.” I said in a tone of complete loss. Chance followed me out to the truck and watched as I checked the ignition, the seat, the ashtray and the dash. Beaten, I tossed my hands up in the air then snatched my smokes of the dash and irritably placed one in my mouth then searched for a lighter. “Great, now I can’t find my lighter.” I said bewildered as I patted down my pockets. “I just had it earlier.”
“You put it in you pocket. I saw you.” My nephew replied humored by the scenario. I knew he was rite so I poked my hand down in my pockets and again removed the objects. To both of our surprise in one hand were some change and a knife and in the other were my lighter and my keys. Before he could say anything I defended myself.
“Now you saw me turn my pockets out earlier, there were no keys.”
“I know…that’s weird Ty-Ty.”
“No-that’s mind stager Twilight Zone s**t there. C’mon before it gets dark.” I urged him as I climbed into my truck and started it up relieved that my keys were had been found. There is nothing like being stuck way out in the country with no keys or a phone to call for help. As we drove down the road we analyzed the incident and being unable to come up with a logical explanation began we began to joke about it finding our laid back spirits again. We only went about a mile when Chance spotted a creepy over-grown road to the left that I had never noticed before.
“Hey where does that go?” He pointed at the road.
“I don’t know.” I answered as I started to slow down to make the turn. “It’s probably somebody’s driveway, but let’s check it out any way. It may lead to an abandoned house we can check out.”
His eyes lit up with adventure at the thought, “That would be cool, cause it doesn’t look like anyone has been on this road in a hundred years.” He said as he looked around excitedly. The trees filled the air around us thick with leaves that raked along the sides of the truck. Over-growth and fallen limbs littered what was obviously more of a trail and not a road, but my truck set high enough off the ground that we just crept over it all. Shadows began to creep around us as the lingering sunlight was blocked from the dense forest around us, but still we followed the road up the hill to an unseen destiny.
Suddenly, an uneasy feeling came across me causing the hair on my arms to stand up. Instantly I had the feeling that we shouldn’t be here and thought maybe we were trespassing, so as we neared the top I came to the conclusion that we would turn around and get out of there. Chance’s eyes lit up with absolute joy with what we found, for as soon as we peaked the top of the hill a breathtaking and bone chilling view opened up to us. There, nestled deep in the woods hidden from the world was a very old cemetery. Chills burst down my spine and made my skin crawl as my neck involuntarily cracked to one side. Usually places like this did not bother me and on any other day I would have jumped at the opportunity to explore it, but something about this one did not settle with me.
I stopped the truck just for a minute as I searched for a safe place to turn around. “Oh man…can we check it out? Look how awesome this place is.” Chance exclaimed.
“Na- I don’t think we should, it’s going to be dark soon and we don’t have a flashlight.” I replied trying to find a reason not to stick around.
“So. It won’t take long…C’mon Ty-Ty; look how old this place looks. We’ve gotta see if we can find some dates on these stones.” He pleaded in a tone that was still full of exhilaration.
“Na-maybe another time when we have more time.” I replied in an attempt to let him down easy. As I spoke I noticed several of the old grave markers were lying on the ground and some were even broken into pieces. As I stared out the window tiny leaves danced end over end as they tumbled around some of the windows of the dead, but as I looked to the branches of the trees, I noticed there was no whispering wind touching their leaves with its breath.
“Your not scared are you Ty-Ty?” He asked looking at me with a daring smile. I met his gaze and tried to think of something to prevent me from falling into the classic trap, but apparently my slow response gave my true reason away. “You are…” He laughed, “You have the evie-gevies.”
“No, I’m not scared.” I answered trying to maintain his expectations of me as I turned the truck off. “I just don’t want us to get lost without al light, cause when it gets dark these woods are going to get dark. Now come on and let’s make this fast. Ok.” I added then opened my door.
A triumphant smile spread across his face. “Ok.” He answered in a serious tone. As we approached the ancient place of the dead, the mystery and beauty of the place washed the uneasy feeling I had away. Row after row of grave markers we passed examining the dates of the births and deaths on the well weathered and barely legible stones. After about twenty the eerie feeling returned as it was more than clear that so far everyone in here died before the age of three and over a hundred years ago. My mind was horrified and saddened as I tried to guess what could have happened to all these children. “Why did they all die so young?” I thought to my self. “This is strange dude…do you notice all the ones we looked at are children?” I said in disbelief.
“Yea. Weird huh…let’s try further down.” Chance replied with a dry tone that told me he was getting freaked out as well. I looked to the west and could barely see the warm red light of the sun through the trees. Only a sliver of it remained above the horizon and I knew it would be dark in less than ten minutes.
“Alright, but let’s make it quick we won’t be able to see the stones in a few minutes.” I replied sly so he wouldn’t catch on that I was feeling kind of spooked. We wend down about four rows and examined some of the newer stones. To our surprise there were more children, but they all passed away between the ages of one and eighteen. I then noticed that out of all the grave markers we looked at there were only five different family names. “Ok this is strange enough for me. Let’s get out of here.” I said in a serious tone that insinuated I was not in the mood for any more arguments. As if in answer to the creepy feeling that was becoming unbearable, Chance did not argue but instead totally agreed. I could tell by his quick pace that he was feeling the same thing I was, but I didn’t say anything until we were in the truck and half-way down the hill.
A few minutes passed and we were almost to the house when I decided to break the silence. “That was a weird experience.” I said raising an eyebrow.
“No kidding. That’s weird that all the graves we looked at were kids. Do you think the whole cemetery is just kids?” He responded with an uneven tone.
“I don’t know we’ll have to go back again when we have more daylight and check it out.”
“That’s alright, that place was cool but it creeped me out.”
By the time we pulled into the driveway it was dark, but no stars filled the sky yet. As we got out of the truck I instructed chance to start the grill while I got the food ready. A strange silence fell between us as we both struggled independently with our own thoughts. Finally the aroma of steaks kissed by the licking flames of the fire mixing with the smoldering hickory chips sparked a light conversation. “Oh Ty-Ty, that smells good.” Chance said in his usual tone. “I can’t wait to eat, I’m starving.”
“It will be done in about two minutes. Why don’t you pick out a movie and get it ready, while I pull these off.”
“Sure thing. What do you want to watch first?” Chance asked me as he steeped into the house.
“I don’t care. One of the comedies.” I answered thinking comedy would help us forget about the spooky cemetery. We sat down, ate and watched three movies and neither one of us mentioned the cemetery once. In fact it had slipped my mind altogether. My eyes began to grow heavy so I looked over at the clock. “Wow it is eleven. I’m going to bed; you can stay up if you like.” I said stretching as I stood to my feet.
“Ok, night Ty-Ty.” Chance replied pulling his feet up on the couch and laying his head against the arm rest.
“Good night.” I bid him as I climbed up the stairs. I heard the volume of the television lower and assumed he was going to stay up for a while longer. I was glad to see my bed and could not wait to climb in between the Egyptian-cotton sheets. Slowly I undressed and turned the air conditioner down a notch. I decided to leave my bedroom door open since I was already across the room. Looking forward to a good nights sleep, I turned out the lights, fell back onto my bed with a sigh and pulled the covers up over my chest. My room was unusually dark this night and as I lay there I realized there was no moon in the dark sky.
Several minutes passed, and with my eyes closed I took a deep breath absorbing the comfort of my bed and let it out slowly with the tension of the day. Just as sleep started to find me and the noise of the television down stairs began to fade, I felt my blood run cold and an uneasy feeling of being watched washed over me stopping my descent into a peaceful slumber. My mind woke to the sudden alarm, but my eyes remained close. I noticed the temperature in my room was really cold and the hair on my arms stood up as Goosebumps raced down my limbs. I could feel a cold lifeless stare penetrate my very being and my body began to tense. Suddenly I felt a cold touch on my foot and my eyes flared open as I jumped back against my headboard.
It was pitch black, the dark of dark, and I couldn’t see a thing, but the unbearable weight of unseen eyes clawed at me. Taking a deep breath to slow my increasingly rapid breathing I told my self it was all in my head. “You are a grown man and you are letting your imagination get the best of you.” I scolded myself. Feeling myself regain control of my fear, I was still very aware of the strange aurora in the air and decided to jump up and turn on the light to put my mind at ease. In a controlled motion I slowly got up keeping my fear at bay and acting like a grown man I made my way to the light-switch and gave it a flip. The light chased the darkness away with a stinging blur to my eyes and to my relief there was nothing there. I stood with the light on for a few minutes scanning my room from one corner to the other as I pulled myself together. Satisfied I had over reacted to something stupid, I turned out the light and climbed back into bed, but this proved useless.
I tossed and turned from my side to my stomach but my mind drifted to the images of the cemetery and the eerie feeling that surrounded it. Several moments passed and my mind refused to rest leaving me in struggle to sleep. After turning to my side again, I had had enough of the restlessness and decided a nice hot shower would relax me. I tossed the covers to the side agitated that my slumber was troubled and glanced over at my alarm clock. “S**t it’s almost one in the morning.” I said under my breath. I flipped on the light and stumbled down the hall to the bathroom. As my hand wrapped around the doorknob, my senses screamed out an alarm telling me something scary was waiting behind the door.
Again I forced the fear down into the pit of my stomach and with incredible speed pushed the door open and flipped on the light. “Ha, nothing there.” I thought triumphantly.
Mindlessly I slid my boxers down around my ankles and stepped out of them, but as I reached for the shower curtain to pull it open a powerful feeling smashed into me like a fierce-wicked storm turning my blood to ice. Images flashed in my mind forcing me to clinch my eyes closed to push them from my head. With all the courage I could summon I slung the curtain back with a racking cling of porcelain rings sliding on cold stainless steel. My heart paused on a heavy thud as the image of an empty shower became evident to my exhausted eyes. With a deep breath I assured my self that I was going crazy and slowly turned the hot water nozzle on. Steam began to fill the air as I adjusted the cold water and tested it with my hand.
“Ahh, just right.” Eager to fill the relaxing beading spray spatter over my body I climbed in and pulled the curtain closed. The hot steaming water teased my flesh and I could feel it wash away my anxiety. Completely enveloped by the sensation I dipped my head beneath the tiny streams and let the cleansing water wash down my face. I closed my eyes to protect them and bask in the privacy of my relaxing temple of pristine deliverance. Just as the last fingers of complete relaxation melted me I felt the same heavy stare upon my naked flesh, but before I could begin the mental fight to ignore it fingers icy-cold fingers ran through my hair at the back of my head. Impulse forced my eyes open and I spun around but nothing was there except the cold feeling and uneasiness that I was not alone.
Frantic I pulled the curtain open with a flash to see a ghostly woman in the nude with long dark hair dripping with water. Her eyes were dark and lifeless causing my knees to go week. The fear jolted me against the shower wall and overbalanced I fell pulling the curtain rod free from the hanger with a crash. Completely overtaken with fear I struggled to get to my feet in the slippery tub and when I looked up to make sure she wasn’t coming closer, she was gone. My heart was pounding in my chest wildly and my breathing was out of control. Her pale image and haunting eyes were burned into my mind. I was at the mercy of fear and its deadly clutch was squeezing the life from me. Through exercised discipline I pulled my self together and with great haste turned the shower off, dried and pulled my boxers on. As my breathing slowed the silence was broken with a familiar voice that helped calm me.
“Ty-Ty.” Chance called out in a calm voice from downstairs. My muscles relaxed and I began to look myself over for injuries.
“Ty-Ty.” He called out again, but this time fear was in his voice. Worried he was experiencing a visit from my apparition my noble bravery returned and completely drove all fear away. I didn’t waste time. Quickly I ran out of the bathroom and headed for the stairs. With a few long strides and leaps I was at the bottom and had the light turned on. When I entered the living room, Chance was huddled up in the corner of the couch. His features were pale and his eyes stared wildly at me from an expression of total fear and shock.
“What is it? Are you all right?” I asked concerned as I went over to him. He remained motionless for a few moments as his mind sorted things out. I watched the color fill his face as he realized I was there. “Are you all right? Did you have a bad dream?” I asked. He continued to look at me blankly saying nothing, so I sat down on the couch next to him and waited patiently for him to feel comfortable. Finally he turned to me.
“You’re not gonna believe this.” He said in a hollow tone.
“Try me, I’m your uncle and nothing surprises me.” I replied trying to ease his hesitance.
“I woke up because I had to go pee.” He swallowed hard trying to chase the dryness from his throat. “And when I started to sit up, I got this really creepy feeling that I was being watched. When I looked over to where the chilling stare was coming from, by the stairs…There was a woman standing there with long straight hair. I rubbed my eyes because I was still sleepy and couldn’t see her face. Then I stared at her and after a moment realized I didn’t know who she was. Then the air got really cold and the hair on my arms stood up, my skin on my back crawled and I could see her hair was all wet and her eyes were really dark like they were empty. I jumped back and tried to find the blanket to cover up in but I couldn’t find it and I didn’t want to take my eyes of her incase she started moving. I knew it wasn’t a person….It was something else….It was a ghost or something…” The blood washed from his features again as he recounted his tale to me. I knew he was telling the truth because his description of the girl was exactly what I saw. I didn’t tell him of my encounter with her, because he was scared enough. I decided to save it for another day.
Casually I picked up the remote control and turned on pushed play restarting the movie we watched earlier. I decided to help comfort him that I would sleep downstairs as well on the other half of my sectional. I stayed awake the rest of the night to ensure he slept well and nothing else happened, but this time I remained unafraid and strong. The next day proved less exciting and as the sun crossed the sky to rest once again in its crimson throne, Chance had become his usual self and recounted his tale with more ease and less side effects of the fear he had suffered. Later that night he noticed the bruising on my leg, hip and arm and inquired what happened. With a grave look and a serious tone, I shared with him my account of the night before and the terror that sought me out. To this day five separate people on separate occasions have witnessed a visit from a ghostly girl with long hair and haunting eyes in my home. They all gave the same description of her and the air she brought with her and all five of these people had no prior knowledge of the events that took place the night Chance and I went to the cemetery on lonesome hill.
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