1

Cold. That’s all Kailie felt for the time being. Stuck outside the Joshua house in the middle of November, the cold was blinding. It’s not like that normally in Joshua, Texas. It has winters, but they’re usually bearable to an extent. This year, it was getting so bad that she could barely feel her body at times. It was as if the winds were strangling her… Even when she would get into warm places, Kailie Hartman could swear that fingers were tightening around her neck until she walked to a fire.

“Let’s go, James!” she cried.

Where the hell is he?! She thought. It wasn’t like James to be too late on an outing. Kailie understood that he loved the cold, but she was never a huge fan. According to her grandfather, the cold was the time for, what he called, “Old Ones’ Gathering”

“The Old Ones come out every cold night near the end of the year,” he would say. “Parasites, they are. They can never survive bare.”

Kailie never understood what he meant by that, and figured he was just telling spooky tales. When she was five, until she was eleven, those stories would give her nightmares ever night during those two months. The way he would tell them to her, though, it never sounded like he was joking. A man of the war, her grandfather Joseph hardly ever joked around, even with his children. Pale white skin and light blue eyes, there seemed to always be a mystery within Joseph Hartman. Kailie used to play along and ask if he has ever run into one of them on his journeys. His gaze would cold and he would never answer her. He seemed to be a million miles away from where they would be sitting. Now at age twenty three, Kailie did her best to mature on the level of knowing reality from fiction.

“I’m coming, d****t,” James called. His jet-black hair looked had way too much sheen for its own good. Even when he shaved it all off a year ago, the sheen never left. To go with it, his chestnut eyes were always so comforting. Even if he was angry, James Conroy had the warmest heart Kailie had ever known. Twenty five and a bit naïve, he could never hurt a fly.

Smiling and rolling her eyes, Kailie waved her hand impatiently for him to get in the car. Her shoulder-length blond hair was beginning to stick to her face, and the tickling sensation was getting a bit annoying. The cold wasn’t enough for numbness, but it was enough to make her pores sweat a bit. Going on the cross-country tour with her best friend every year, it was always difficult for Kailie to refuse. As much as she despised the cold, Kailie loved traveling. James preferred, of course, to go by car in order to see more of the sights. A writer with a block, James figured driving would gather more inspiration. An artist with charcoal, Kailie wanted more scenery.

As if by magic, Kailie sees James at the front door with four bags in his hands and space. By some miracle, they were all able to fit in the back of Kailie’s orange Kia Spectra. Oh, sure, they were mainly his clothes and hers, but she always wondered if he made a deal with her grandfather to take trinkets to protect each other. It happened on their first trip, and the “protection” ended up bouncing out of the car and then, run over by another, before they could stop and check.

“And off we go,” James howled. The winds were picking up as they pulled out of the drive-way, Kailie’s eyes watering and her hair blowing wickedly around her face. The sky was a misty gray that, on any other day of the year, it would rain in no time.

#

Fifteen minutes passed, music blaring when Kailie couldn’t hold it in anymore. James never tells her ahead of time where they’re off to until later on. The suspense was eating her alive. Last time, they went all the way to Michigan because of the Michigan Chillers James used to read when they were little. For the most part, Kailie would draw what she saw on the covers, hence the idea of becoming an artist was born.

“Where are we going?” Kailie asked.

James’s grin grows across his thin, pale face. “First stop: my favorite place in the world, Bethesda Road.” Blowing a raspberry at her, Kailie couldn’t help but giggle. Such a beautiful place, she thought. So peaceful, so secluded.

The trees make a tunnel as James moves slowly down the road. It was one of the times where they like to savor every little moment they have on Bethesda. From each side of the road, they appear to be intertwined as if there’s a fear to let go. Green grass and a tiny stream surround the trees, guarding them from outsiders. Of all the places that earn “construction” around them, Bethesda has never been touched. Kailie always wondered why that is. Most of the stories her grandfather would tell her happened to take place on Bethesda Road.

“People never go near the Bethesda Cemetery,” he would say. “I don’t want you setting foot in it either, my dear.”

“Why, Grampy?” Kailie would ask.

“The gates close at night for a reason,” he explained. “They don’t want Kana escaping from his place.”

“Who’s Kana, Grampy?”

Joseph’s face was pale as he looked up to the sky. It was as if the answer was somewhat out of reach for him to tell his granddaughter. His hands were shaking, and by then, he was as white as a sheet. If anyone else were in the room, they would have assumed that he had stopped breathing and his eyes would be black, no trace of color left. Taking a deep breath, he begins the story, delicately.

“Almost two hundred years ago, when Texas was founded, a lot more happened than what we were led to believe. When Houston and the others left in peace, Santa Anna was alone to think. As he stared into the sky, he noticed a shadowy figured drifting toward him… Not walking, drifting. He claimed that feet never touched the ground. Hair as white as snow, eyes black as the ebony we have. Skin so pale you could put the tiniest black dot anywhere on the body and it would be noticed in a heartbeat.

“Dressed in rags, Santa Anna claimed he never knew this…‘being’, if you will. Looking into the creature’s eyes, Santa Anna was then hypnotized. He would then start repeating what the creature would tell him to say. Those black holes for eyes drew him closer and closer away from his home. Before he knew it, Santa Anna came to stop in Bethesda Road in Joshua, Texas.

“‘You will rest here,’ the being replied. No one knows for sure what completely happened, but it has been suggested that from then until he died, Santa Anna had no recollection of what Kana did to him. Many Texans suggest that he was overshadowed for his last years until he died in Mexico City. One person claimed his last words were, ‘No estoy asustado de ti. Dejame en paz.’ From then on, Kana stayed in the Bethesda Cemetery.”

“What do those phrases mean, Grampy?” Kailie asked.

“‘I am not afraid of you. Leave me in peace’. It’s the only way to force the specific demon out of the host.”

#

Kailie and James continued driving through Bethesda, and it seemed a little longer this time around. It was as if time was playing tricks on them. That’s, at least, how Kailie began to see it. So many secrets about Bethesda seemed to make her think every time she passed through. As beautiful as the autumn colors were on the tree tunnel, they looked as if they were trying to hide something. Never in a million years would she try to buy what her grandfather used to sell, but still… such seclusion, like they were on another planet, briefly. Nobody is ever seen driving from the homes on Bethesda… People just pass through.

James looked over to her, a look of concern across his face. “You okay?”

Kailie shook her head quickly as if she was in a trance. “Yeah… Just lost in the colors.” She put on a grin that James could never tear away from. Born and raised in Texas, Kailie could never resist the colors of changing leaves. No matter what the season turned out to be, the consequences of the weather, hot or cold, were always worth it to her.

“It’s just… Don’t you think it’s a little odd that people actually take the ghost stories seriously around here?” Kailie scratched her nose, trying to see the trees up close.

James shrugged. “You know many people around here are a bit religious and such. I guess they figure certain superstitions could be a form of ‘protection’.”

Giggling erupted from his lips seconds after he spoke. James has never been a religious person, despite his upbringing. His mother, Martha, was the exact opposite, sending him to Sunday school every week until he was fourteen years old. James claimed he was completely drained by the time he graduated from high school. He said to Kailie, his only real friend at the time, he couldn’t wait to get away from “that woman”. Ironically, less than two months after he went to the University of North Texas, when he was eighteen, her body was found face down in the bathtub. All that was left was a strange note written on the sink in her blood:

All who step in the blood of He, will writhe for all eternity

“Oh, come on,” Kailie sighed. “Not everyone is like dear Martha.” She blew a raspberry at him as James wiped his eyes from laughter.

As the minutes continued, the wind started picking up, so Kailie rolled up the window. She always figured, if the wind gets too strong, it could blow her over, even when she would sit in a moving vehicle. That was the one thing her grandfather often disagreed with.

“Our Lord watches over us,” he would say. “But be mindful of your decisions and surroundings.” That statement stayed with Kailie Hartman ever since it passed his lips.

The sky was becoming darker and, based on the feeling of the car window, the wind was getting colder. It was only three in the afternoon, though. As Kailie began to close her eyes, she noticed something very unusual.

“Oh my god!” she cried. “James, are you seeing this?!” Her eyes were wide.

The leaves on the trees, all at once, simply fell in the middle of the road. Kailie looked over, and realized they weren’t too far from the cemetery when this happened. Even with simple shedding, this never happened before.

Slowing down a bit, James nodded delicately. “What the hell?”

The trees were waving around slowly at first, no longer intertwined. Completely empty of leaves, the branches began to look like wild snakes fighting over a meal. Kailie noticed that they were getting lower and lower to the ground.

“James, slow down!” she cried.

James kept nodding. He reminded her of a bobble head on the desk. Whispering, his voice had never been so raspy. “I am.”

Still getting lower, the branches were moving faster. Kailie was getting dizzy watching one at a time. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that a few of the branches didn’t really look like branches at all, but rather…hands…and arms. It was as if they were grabbing for something, as a couple more slammed into the back windows. Glass went everywhere. Kailie and James covered their eyes for the time being to keep it out. As they did, the slamming became much more violent.

Panting, James reached for Kailie’s hand. “Let’s get out of here!”

#

Holding her breathing, trying not to scream, Kailie returned his grab, and the two of them bolted out of the Kia. Getting out just in time, a giant log slammed down on the roof, the rest of the glass flying everywhere. Blinded by tears, Kailie wouldn’t let go of James’s hand as they kept moving out of the tunnel, toward the cemetery. In the corner of her eye, Kailie saw that the car was literally folding up. It was as if a burrito was being made. Twigs were flying around their faces as they continued running.

Water splashed from the tiny stream. It was a lot more than Kailie would have guessed. The liquid seemed to freeze on her face, feeling like sewing pins.

“Don’t you let go of my hand!” James screamed.

Panting harder, Kailie squeezed a little tighter onto his fingers. Her lungs were burning and her breathing was hot, to match. “What’s going on?!”

James kept his mouth closed as long as possible as they continued on. His head started to feel like a balloon getting ready to drift. With his legs burning, he silently wished to be lifted, even just for a while. The tunnel seemed longer as they went on foot, but then again, the last time Kailie walked through Bethesda, her grandfather was showing her where to stay away. Holding James’s hand with one hand and covering her eyes with the other arm, Kailie felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest, when at last they escaped through the tunnel. By then, there was a loud, giant THUD! behind them. When they turned around, it was already too late. The Kia somersaulted into the grassy areas next to the road, completely pulverized.

Heart still pounding, Kailie’s grip on James’s hand was still as tight as ever. His arms and head were shaking as if he was having a seizure. It was getting so cold, that he had to check his hand, every few seconds, to see if hers was still with his. Sweating from the top of his head to the bottom of his neck, he crashed to his knees. Sweating in the cold, he thought. He glanced at the cloudy sky and rolled his eyes.

“To answer your question, I don’t know,” he whispered. Kailie felt his stare like poisonous barbs in her neck. It briefly made her legs wobble, realizing she didn’t really want to stand for the moment. Their cell phones were in the car, so as far as they were concerned, for the moment, there wasn’t any chance of call 911. What were they to say, anyway? Hi. We’re on Bethesda Road, and our car was snatched and destroyed by trees.?

When they finally looked at each other, Kailie’s suspicions were correct. James was walking as if in a trance. His face was like stone, expressionless. White as a sheet. Even the Michigan snow they played in had more color than his face right now. The winds started picking up once more, wrapping around Kailie’s face, turning James’s hands red. The first feeling of a soft scarf quickly turned into a spiky rope around her neck. No matter how much James rubbed his hands, the cold and frustration never left.

“We have to find shelter,” she said. Fat chance.

All James could do was nod quickly. It was as if someone stole his tongue right out of his mouth when the trees crashed the car. As they continued walking, huddling close to each other. It was as if they were born attached. Besides their feet, the only body part that would move would be their eyes. Staring all around the tunnel, they couldn’t believe it. The trees seemed to return to their original state, as if the previous incident never happened.

“Take your pick,” James pointed. Houses were lined up right next to the creek. Nobody came out of them, though. It was as if no one really lived there. Kailie always figured Bethesda was abandoned, whenever her grandfather mentioned it. To her, it just never “sounded” like a place to live. Then again, many towns in Texas are like that. Nothing but farmland, in many parts.

#

Knocking on doors was, for the most part, a waste of time. Cars and doors were locked on nearly every try. When they weren’t locked, the places were deserted. Cob webs were all around belongings inside the homes… Not just inside, as well. It was as if they haven’t been touched in a decade.

“Where the hell is everyone?” Kailie asked.

James shook his head, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Couldn’t say… I can see why this places spooks your Granddad.”

Kailie scoffed. You don’t know the half of it.

As they kept looking, Kailie kept feeling a sharp pain in her ear. What the hell is that?! How can he not hear it?! Sharp whistling was her guess. What am I, a dog?! As she walked to the next house, the sound became louder. By the time she made it to the front porch, the whistling suddenly stopped.

“You ok?” James called.

Kailie nodded, walking up the dusty porch. Scratching on the wood occurred as she gently went up the stairs. At last, she couldn’t fight the suspense anymore. Looking under one of the steps, there wasn’t anything visible for the moment. Realizing that the wood was old enough to break with her bare hands, she went for it.

“Are you crazy?!” James said.

Kailie rolled her eyes. Mr. Boy Scout. “It’s not like anyone really lives here.”

Continuing to rip at the wood, she seemed to have a better sight, even as dust lightly exploded in her face. Reaching for a small flash light in her pocket, what she saw made it seem as if the world stopped turning. She couldn’t remember breathing for minutes at a time. Gooseflesh rose on her arms and legs, and it wasn’t because of the cold. Despite the terror she felt, she couldn’t tear her eyes away for quite some time.

“What is it?” James demanded.

Suddenly looking back at him, it was like Kailie was snapped back into reality. Looking back at James, her eyes were hollow and her face was pale. A large lump appeared in her throat, and briefly, she couldn’t find the words. Finally, she exhaled.

“We need to get in this house.”

Reviews

[Lady Celery]

I really like this! It was suspenseful and kept me interested from start to finish. I think Kailie's flashbacks to her grandfather are well-crafted and helped me get to know her character. The only thing I would suggest is that sometimes in the narration, you use the present tense when you should use past tense so everything agrees. But other than that, this is a really creative story that I can't wait to keep reading!