Darkwood Falls Paranormal Investigators Book One: The Dead Truth

Chapter Twelve

"There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger.  The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty." - L. Frank Bawn, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

     All the noise left the room.  It was like someone turned down the volume and all that seemed to exist anymore was me and that body.  That corpse.  That charred, sickening corpse.  The chunks of flesh.  That eyeball.  I heard something beating in my head, like fists beating on a door.  Tiny fists.  Begging, screaming, crying.  In the back of my mind, I knew someone was saying my name, but I could barely hear them and I couldn't bring myself to respond.

     I felt hands wrap around my arms, and I was pulled to my feet, then steered away from the dead man, and out of the room.  I was only vaguely aware of someone leading me down the hallway.  The image of the man was still etched into my mind; the only thing I could truly see.  It was only after I was led through the living room, out the front door, and the cold winter night air smacked me in the face that I was finally awakened from my catatonic state.

     When I became aware of everything around me again, I found myself sitting on the top concrete step outside the front door.  I couldn't remember how I got there.

     "Shawn?  Are you okay?" I looked to my right to see Nick sitting next to me, his hand resting gently on my arm.  I then looked up to see Richard, Brandon, Axl, and Ruby looking down at us, all illuminated by the porch light.

     I took a deep, quivering breath and said the first words that popped into my head.  "What the fuck did I just see?"

     "I guess we forgot to tell you . . . " Richard said, rubbing his chin absentmindedly.

     "If you ever see a spirit, you usually see them how they were when they died," Brandon told me, looking down at me with concern.

     "You tell me this now?" I said, gripping my knees to stop them from shaking.

     "Sorry.  We forgot," Ruby said, shrugging as if she had forgotten to tell me it was supposed to be cloudy that day.

     "Richard already said that.  Thanks a lot for the warning."

     "Are you okay?" Nick asked me again.

     I turned to him, "I have no doubt in my mind that that was the most fucked up thing I have ever seen in my entire life.  I don't think I'll ever be okay again."

     "We're sorry, Shawn.  We should have remembered to tell you," Nick said.

     "I can't do this.  I can't go back in there," I said, covering my face with my hands.  "I feel sick."

     "Here.  Take this," Richard said.

     I removed my hands from my face to see him holding out a me a bottle of water.  I stared at him.  "Yeah.  Water will help me forget I just saw a scorched dead man with his eyeball hanging out."  He looked guilty.  "Sorry," I said immediately regretting my rudeness.

     I took the bottle from him.  "I didn't mean to. . ."

     "It's okay," he said.

     My hands were shaking as I tried to open the bottle.  "Fuck!" I cried out a little too loud.

     There was a loud bang and crash behind us, and we all screamed just as a racoon popped out of the Martin's trash can near the driveway.  The creature glared at us as if we had insulted it, then took off running.