Picture of a Lousiana scarecrow as depicted in my books 'Scream of the Scarecrow', but they return in 'The Evil Inside'; and Robert Bloch's 'Psycho II', 1982, audiobook, right in the media section. Warning: It is rated R for strong violence, sex references, coarse language, and strong adult themes. You must be 18 years and over to hear it.
***
The scarecrows at Dearing Farm swayed in the northerly breeze. They were killed by teenagers. Yes, the story was supernatural; yes, I shivered.
Yet, my story didn't believe in the supernatural. Because there wasn't ghosts to force out; there were just psycho killers.
It was just the beginning.
And, for me, that was what happened.
***
I awoke from the dream.
It was 4:00 AM.
I stared at the black skies; I stared at the black moon. It didn't glow; it never glowed. Because, in Louisiana, the glow was obscured by the eerie swamplands.
We were sleeping off the previous night's horror. The slow darkness was irritating. It meant that, in three hours' time, the sight of the sunlight would arrive on time.
No time to gather errant thoughts; no time to scream at the House Mother. No time. I knew what was going to happen.
If the psycho with the butcher knife returned...I've behead the fucker...
...And that was a promise.
***
Vickie opened her eyes.
She flicked on the lamp.
Once the light illumed, her blue eyes focused on the window. The temperature was 61 degrees. She covered her nightgown with both hands; she covered her breasts.
The other girls also yawned.
Alison greeted her.
"I was gone not that long".
"I hoped we're safe".
"We are".
"How do you know? It is intolerable. And Silvia, Zara, and Hilare are getting pissed. They were hiding their boyfriends under their fucking bed. And they were having sex quietly. Quietly! It's not going to be...".
"Let's have some breakfast. Then we'll do something".
And Vickie grinned.
***
The Food Hall was very full of sorority girls.
A silver colored chandelier was in the middle of the room; green drapes surrounded the arched walls; the Delta Delta Delta campus, (which was around for a long time), was now full. In the past, the demonic possession of girls caused a sensational impact on everyone; in the future, occult, supernatural, and paranormal activities were banned.
And, in its place, was the old school horrors that seeped into the Internet feeds; apps; and other social media places, in which horror stories could thrive.
***
"I told her not to go there", Silvia said.
"She was going there", Zara added.
"In the evil house?", Hilare piped in.
"Yes!",Silvia said.
***
Alison walked into the Food Hall.
"Hello", she said.
"Fuck off!", Zara swore.
The House Mother arrived for breakfast.
"Who swore?", she yelled.
"I did!", Zara shuddered.
"You'll be confined to your dorm all day. No lunch; no dinner; no supper". And she waited for a reaction; she waited...and waited.
"But...".
"Two nights' detention. And I will force soap into your dirty, filthy, mouth. Kids today aren't disciplined enough, because they cry to Mom and Daddy. But this is my sorority. And you filthy girl shall show me respect".
And she yanked Zara by her hair with her hair...and pushed her into the dorm rooms with such violence...that pieces fell onto the hallway.
***
The dorm was cold.
She was scared; she was very scared.
"But I'm sorry...".
"You have a foul mouth, girl; you have fouled us. Consequently, by tonight, at Midnight, you'll be leaving here".
"No! I was...".
"You swore. You told off one of the good girls. You know such language isn't going to be tolerated. You know why I must do what is necessary".
"But...".
And the dorm room door was padlocked...and she begun to squirm in terror.
***
I wanted to enjoy exercise.
It was something to love.
But I couldn't enjoy today.
Because the dorm room was padlocked. I heard the shouting of Zara. She was banging on the door; she was drawing blood on her hands.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU FUCKING BITCH!".
And I saw the House Mother unchain the door. And she dragged Zara away to The Dark Room. Hell, it was a fucking crawlspace where the mad dwell.
And that was what drove Zara to madness.
***
The crawlspace was ancient.
Inside was a chair; a window; and a bed. If prisoners had simplistic things in their 3X3" cells...this was bigger.
And it was freezing.
"She won't survive at Midnight. Because at Midnight, the blood gushes. You read that horror novel. Bad ass book".
"I read it".
"Yeah, freaks you out".
"Like, what an we do?".
"We deal with her. If she goes insane, I'll kill her. The crawlspace is where psychotic sorority girls go. Hell, you hear about the dead rising. But now there's more than Zombies to deal with. The psychos of Louisiana".
"What kind of condition can she suffer?".
"Claustrophia. Fear of enclosed spaces. It's an old phobia disorder that Mom had. She also suffered from Coulrophobia. The fear of clowns. Stephen King's "It", from 1986, scared her. She was 13; she's 41 now".
"Like that TV show".
"American Horror Story: Freakshow is a cross between all different horror stories. You see those killer clown pranks on YouTube; you see 'Killer Klowns from Outer Space'? Really scary from 1988. You don't need to deal with that phobia...unless the guy comes with an axe...or butcher knife...and go Norman Bates on you...".
"And how can we stop him?".
"By making the sorority safe. No boyfriends".
"I don't have one. I'm not sexy".
"Hey, don't be stupid. You want to eat with me?".
"Yes!".
And we checked on the other girls...before Zara slit her wrists. Or hanged herself. Or turned psycho herself, and murdered us with an axe.
***
Zara calmed down.
She wanted to scream.
She was just swearing.
That's all.
But the old bitch House Mother was a psycho, herself.
And she had had to do what was needed to survive.
Zara glanced around.
A poker was near the warm fireplace. A modern grille protected it from wildfires. Sometimes she'd run out of the building when the flames at home was too much to handle; sometimes the flames were so intense she let the Louisiana Fire Department to do their jobs; sometimes she'd wish the old bitch would burn...
...And she grabbed the poker in her right hand...and started to stab into the dorm doors until she could see holes in it...and she could drop the weapon...and open the room up. Then she imagined stabbing the old bitch in the forehead...until she saw her bleed.
***
I grabbed the axe.
It was great to hold it.
I'd chopped wood with Dad and his hunting buddies. It was there that I saw Elspeth, The Woodsgirl; I was sure you know of her, too.
Frankly, it is an old legend.
I smashed the door.
The blade cut deep into Zara's body. Blood splattered everywhere. And, when she died, the horror ended the sideshow...
...And, for us, the terror ended...
...But not before I saw the killer's face in the window outside...with the bloody butcher knife in his right hand, in the afternoon sun.
***
After the incident, the cops came.
And the Sheriff.
It was dark now.
They were here for hours...
...A lot of fucking hours...
...And I knew I wouldn't swear too much in front of the House Mother. Because she was screaming; she was upset; she was...
...And she was talking rapidly to them...
***
Mom spoke to me on her I-phone 6.
"I hope they...".
"They're doing a CSI on the sorority house. They knew what they wanted; they knew what they needed; they knew...".
"And now?", she asked.
"Now, it's 6:00 PM. Six hours until Midnight and the blood gushes. And we're all super-hyped. And we're seeing psychos outside with butcher knives".
"Did you see a psycho?".
"Yes, but he went away Mom. He did hack into the female populace. And male populace. And boyfriends are banned".
"You poke the bastard...".
"I have a poker. I can be like one of the girls in 'Friday the 13th Part III'. You see the 3D version from 1982?".
"That's beside the point, Alison. You need to find another sorority. You decided to deal with them. Or else, you're going to Stamford, Connecticut".
"I don't want to go there! It's imperative that I survive until Midnight, Mom. Besides, it's six more hours; it's six...".
"And now you're scared".
"Yes; yes, I'm bloody scared".
"Calm down".
"Fine, but I need to deal with the psycho".
"I'll call the cops. Good bye!".
And the sound of the END CALL button ended the conversation.
***
The lights got in my face.
"Alison, I hate to say this, but I'm scared. He could be here; and she needs to be in a psych ward. And the House Mother needs to be, too".
"I know that. It's all and well to deal with psychosis. And to see it affect one of our sorority sisters. But...".
And then the House Mother screamed...as the Sheriff arrived to take Zara's body away. But not before he interviewed us, and me, and the CSI team took more forensic photographs at Delta Delta Delta sorority house.
And, since they called Zara's Mom and Dad's house at 8:21 PM, and told them that she went insane because the now dead House Mother caught her swearing...they broke off the conversation on the Sheriff's I-phone 6...and called their lawyer after they pressed the END CALL button.
***
I didn't want to know why the crazy part of the story happened. All that I cared about was Vickie. And the other girls...And how they were cared for...once Midnight came around.
***
The morning rays hit my face.
It was a sickly feeling in the middle of my stomach. My face was etched in pain. This wasn't supposed to happen; this...
...But Vickie kissed me like a sister I never had. A real sister. The Sisters of Delta Delta Delta sorority house were there to comfort us; the evil inside the haunted house where the lesbian Vampires killed, was so horrible that I didn't think that I'd be queer, (a term Mom and Grandpa, and Grandma said decades ago, that I learnt meant odd or strange in the 50's, 60's, and 70's); but not now in 2014.
I could tell you what I knew now.
The screams; the horror; the bloood; the gore.
But, for us, while Midnight did arrive...the psycho with the butcher knife never came to murder us. Maybe because the Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff, and the Louisana CSI men and women, were here; maybe they disturbed his play time; maybe he waited for tomorrow night, when the heat was gone; maybe...
...Well, I didn't give a fuck; I didn't give a damn...
...Because Vickie and I had had survived...
...And she texted her parents that I had had saved her...
...And they called me a hero.
I wasn't a hero; I was a survivor.
***
The day went from worse...to much more fucking worse.
It started when the Sheriff blurted:
"You knew about her?".
"Zara was normal. Until the House Mother hit her for swearing. We swear when she's out of the room; we fuck our boyfriends when she's drunk; we see the psycho with the butcher knife outside the window; we see what is important to us here, Sheriff; we see what needs to be done. Because, in the light of day, we see the evil inside everyone...
..."And we saw her turn psycho in that fucking crawlspace because she was scared. And she battered the doors; she battered until she did a Jack Torrance job on the doors...You read 'The Shining'?", I asked.
"Yes, and I know what is wrong with old killers in fiction horror books; I also know, that you're afraid of what could happen".
"What is important is that by Midnight tonight, we must have better security. It is my dream to have all sororities to be as safe as possible".
"We're doing our best".
"Can you promise me?", I asked.
"Yes! Besides, I want the girls, including you, to leave for the night. Once the area is clear, then I'll deal with the psycho with the butcher knife. Good bye!".
"Good bye, Sheriff!".
And, as she watched him, head into the sorority house...her parents arrived to pick her up to take her home...along with the other girls...who were still alive.
***
Vickie smiled.
"I hate to go home".
"Yeah, but it'll be better".
"Will it?", she asked.
"Yes, besides, hopefully there'll be a new House Mother. And she'll be nicer to us. And we'll be glad security will be tighter".
"See you, Alison. 'Bye!".
"'Bye!".
And, when the cars arrived to take the girls home, a cold, freezing, air bit into the atmosphere. It wafted through the sorority house...until the temperature dropped to 61 degrees in Louisiana. Everyone shuddered, then the Sheriff ordered everyone to keep on working.
***
Two kids were near Dealing Farm.
They shivered from the dread that they'd had felt.
"You're sure we want to see them?", Nate asked.
"No. It's Halloween; it's scary", Joan answered.
"Get over it, honey".
"You want to do it in the...".
"Farmhouse".
"Yes!".
And he kissed her...as she felt the whooshing sound that came from the houses...as the evil inside beckoned them to come come into its domain.
***
The Sheriff gazed at the rooms.
"The doors need to be fixed".
"You think the House Mother was abusing kids?", the Deputy enquired.
"With old school violence. Capital punishment is outlawed because it's too old. And the parents have sued everyone".
"Look, over there".
And, as they walked down the eerie hallway, the crawlspace door creaked open....and a sense of dread consumed them.
***
Inside, the Deputy Sheriff gazed with his flashlight into the deep gloom. It was full of stuff: babies' prams; old rocking chairs; framed mirrors; magazines; newspapers from the 1950's; and two scarecrows were eyeing them near a set of brown drawers.
~~~
"Jesus!".
"What is it, Don?", the Sheriff asked.
"Fucking scarecrows", he answered. He remembered the ancient Jeston family case. The girls who hid in the attic; Randall, a loner, murdered campers in a scarecrow suit because of the bullies; the fallout with the dead kids' parents; the accusations of cover-ups; the shit storm that ruined every camp since; the resignations...and it culminated in a sense of horror of an epic scale that the Deep South hadn't experienced since the KKK racial murders of the 1960's.
***
Alison was home.
She wished she wasn't.
"You were lucky", Mom told her only daughter.
"I would've survived".
"You were dead if it wasn't for us", Dad bleated.
Alison was staring.
"Fuck, no. You were waiting to take me down, Dad; you were planning it all along with Mom. You were thinking that I couldn't survive sorority house; you were thinking I wouldn't survive. But I did survive; I did survive".
"Stop it!", Mom yelled, "...Go to your room!".
Alison glared at her.
"I'm going back to my sorority house. You two are too psycho to deal with the truth; you two make me sick".
And she grabbed her I-phone 6...and ordered a taxi to take her back to Delta Delta Delta sorority house...just as the cable tv news reports of the psycho girl going insane was met with horror on the faces of the news readers.
***
Back at the attic, The Sheriff pondered.
"Take them away".
"But they could kill us".
"They're not real; they're fucking not real!". He was agitated now. He waited to deal with the way other Sheriff dealt with the Jeston family.
They heard movement coming from the edges of the bed.
"Did you hear it?", the Deputy asked.
"No!".
Suddenly there was movement.
And, just as they were about to scream, the scarecrows smothered their faces with their straw hands...and killed them by twisting their heads until they broke.
***
The taxi arrived.
The man smiled.
"Where to?", he enquired.
"Delta Delta Delta sorority house".
"No, way! I'll take you half way. It's dangerous".
"Fine! Here's $US50".
"Okay".
And he watched her get into the passenger-side door, put her seatbelt on, and close the door. Then she ignored her screaming parents...since she knew how angry they were.
She placed her luggage on the ground next to her feet. Then she relaxed. The driver drove within the speed limit...as a cold, freezing, gust of wind, blew from the north.
***
Desorre watched the house.
She smoked a cigarette.
Then she waited...
...And watched.
She cursed Regina for letting her be alone; she cursed her.
They never shouldn't have let her see the house.
~~~
The evil inside it was sizzling with demonic power. She sensed her friend was around. "Regina! Are you playing me?", she asked.
Silence.
"Regina! Fuck you, girl!".
She smoked a cigarette after the first one burned her right finger. She saw the flames, then yelled. It was a minor burn; it was hurting like a bitch.
She felt like she was a pariah.
Yet, deep in her heart, she knew the truth.
A killer was on the loose.
And hewas mad.
***
The killer watched her.
It wasn't hard to deal with anyone who was on the road. The police were covering the sororities; the police were a pain in the ass.
But he noticed several cars on the edge of the kerb. He blinked his eyes. Dark clouds hovered in the evening sky; dark clouds hovered above his head.
He was about to kill anyone, when thunder boomed in the night sky. And, because he didn't want to be drenched, he knew that time was running out.
Tomorrow night!, he thought to himself...and held the bloody butcher knife in his right hand...and scoured the city for new victims.
***
Desorre felt the rain's power.
She decided enough was enough.
She walked towards Blafer's Motel.
The bright, flashy, light illumed the front door. It was neon. But, due to its age, it was rusty. But she didn't care; she wouldn't care until she was fed...slept in a warm bed...and rested. She went inside; she walked along the blue carpet; she walked past the spacious foyer; she walked past the old couple who wanted a room by themeselves, so that they could renew their love, after fifty years together; she walked up to the middle-aged man who was reading a crime novel.
"Can I have a room?", she asked.
"Yes. $US60 a night. Plus tax".
"Okay".
And, when she did pay, the man smiled.
"I'm Brian Garger, the Manager".
"Desorre Hardiet".
"The soul singer".
"Yeah".
"Wow".
"Do you want an autograph?".
"Maybe. I feel that no one famous what's to stay here".
"Why not?".
"Because business is down since the big boys in Arizona. Have you stayed at The Resort? Fucking rich bastard in Arizona".
"Sorry".
"Don't be. They're elite; we're not elite. We're small scale. Hell, if you come regularly that'll be something to celebrate. Sign there".
"Okay".
~~~
And she watched the pictures of famous people on the walls.
"Finished".
"Great! Now, room 4 is free. Dinner is now. Supper at 9. Lights out at Midnight. Breakfast is at 7:00 AM, in the Dining Room".
"Okay".
And, once she got her key, she made her way to Room 4, just as more thunder boomed in the night sky...and lit up the city with an ominous fury.
***
Page 9.