This is something I wrote for my creative writing class my senior year of high school, we had to write horror stories for Halloween - how festive (and cliche :P). I apologize if there are any misspellings or anything like that. Well, then, that being said - Enjoy!

River lifted his girlfriend’s suitcase into the back of his old beaten up dark green van, sweat droplets popping out of his forehead and his slight muscles rippling. He moved his brown hair out of his face to reveal one green eye and one blue eye.

“Jesus Christ, Naomi. What all did you pack?”

The short plump blonde girl shrugged and smiled.

“Enough for two weeks.” She stood on a toe and kissed River on the cheek.

“Hey, hey!”

They heard a cocky voice from behind them say. They turned to see a tall lanky red haired boy with an arm around an equally tall, model thin girl with long raven hair down to her waist. She flung her hair back and her high heels clacked as they crossed the pavement to the van.

“Hey, Eli!” River welcomed his friend with a high five. Naomi rolled her eyes and tried not to look at Eli.

“Oh, hi, Eli.”

“Hey, Naomi. D’ya gain five more pounds?” He joked cruelly.

River looked at the unfamiliar girl on Eli’s arm. She smiled, stretching out a manicured hand to him.

“Hi, I’m Emma Vandergrift. I’m Eli’s girlfriend.”

“I’m River.” He replied, shaking her hand. “Hey, Naomi, why don’t you take Emma and see if Nate’s ready, okay?”

She shrugged and motioned to Emma to follow her. Eli giggled evilly as he and River watched their girlfriends walk off towards an apartment building.

“Look at her wobble, like a little Pot Bellied pig. She’s got four asses.”

River smacked Eli on the back of the head.

“That’s my girlfriend and you’re an ahole.”

“Ow, dude! I’m just playin’.”

“Look, I promised Naomi that you wouldn’t be a jerk on this trip so shape up or go home.”

“All right, man, all right.”

“I’m serious, I will leave you on the side of the road.”

Eli shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “All right, all right. I’ll stop.”

River opened the sliding side doors and put the middle seat down.

“I call shotgun.” Eli said, shoving his over-stuffed black suitcase into the trunk.

“No, Naomi gets it.”

“What? C’mon, man!”

“My van, my rules.”

Eli rolled his eyes and leaned against the van. “Whatever.”

Two girls came out of a bluish-white house across the street from where the van was parked, one with a navy blue duffle bag and the other with a medium-sized sea-foam green suitcase on wheels. The one with the seam foam roller suitcase looked as if she had stepped out of the 1960’s. She wore an off-the-shoulder short-sleeved brown peasant blouse and faded bellbottoms with patches and painted flowers on them and reddish-gold sandals on her feet. Henna tattoos decorated her arms and hands. Her long wavy dark auburn hair was pulled into a ponytail that rested loosely against the nape of her neck. Circular red sunglasses covered her eyes.

The other girl – shorter than the first - looked absolutely childish; short ear-length light brown hair – strands pulled back and pinned with “Hello Kitty” barrettes, pink denim shorts, a Bugs Bunny band-aid on her kneed, an old ripped up “Alvin and the Chipmunks” t-shirt, an obviously self-made neon pink, green and yellow beaded bracelet with lettered beads that spelled out “Heather” tied with red string on her wrist, fingernails sloppily painted orange.

Her navy blue duffle bag had “Care Bears” and “My Little Pony” stickers on the sides, a plastic Scooby-Doo keychain on the zipper.

She smiled at Eli and River, flashing a mouthful of glow-in-the-dark braces.

“Jessie, Heather. You ready?” River asked, opening the trunk back up.

“Yeah,” Heather said, sounding like a squeal-y twelve-year-old girl.

Jessie pushed the handle of her roller suitcase down and stacked it on top of another in the trunk.

“We saw you guys out here with some girl a few minutes ago. A new girlfriend, Eli?” She said, lowering her sunglasses to look at him.

“Yup, her name’s Emma. You’ll love her.”

“What I would have loved is if you had introduced her to us weeks ago before the trip.”

Eli shrugged. “I coulda, but I didn’t. Trust me, you’ll love her. She great.”

River shook his head, taking Heather’s bag and putting it with the others.

“I call shot gun!” Heather called, her arms reaching to the sky in a stretch.

“Naomi has it,” Eli mocked. “His van, his rules.”

River gave Eli a look, making him stop.

“I’ve been his friend for six years and he’s known her for two.” Eli muttered, under his breath.

As Jessie and Heather took their seats in the back of the van, Eli leaned against the van again, his head clunking against the window.

Naomi scurried out of an upstairs apartment, bouncing slight down the stone steps. Following behind her was Emma, click-clacking and wobbling in her heels as she made her way down the stairs, her hand clenching the wooden banister. A look of fear of falling off the stairs and worry of being left behind on her face. Naomi jumped the last step and made her way to the van, trying to be quick but casual. She swung the passenger side door open and hopped in. She slammed the door behind her, rocking the van. River and Eli exchanged concerned looks.

ClickClickClick! Emma’s raven back hair swung in the breeze as she tried to jog to Eli’s side.

An unfamiliar woman came out of the apartment upstairs. The sun gleamed on her dark bronze skin, giving it a caramel color. Her long black kinky hair flowed as she fluttered down the stairs, buttoning up her white blouse. She smoothed out her skirt as she got to the last step. She tried to fix her shoe as she ran. River’s eyes widened, his face turning slightly pink. Eli laughed loudly.

“Rita Gutierrez!” He called out to the girl as she ran by.

She turned to look at Eli, muttering something in another language.

A young man came out of the apartment upstairs. He stood at the top of the stairs, putting a belt on. He grabbed a faded army backpack by the doorframe then closed the door. He tugged on the door, making sure that it was locked. He hopped down the stairs, his short dreadlocks flying. His licorice black skin blushed red in his face. He smoothed out his extra large orange shirt. He breathed heavily.

“Hey, Riv. Eli.”

Eli nodded. “Nate.”

River took Nate’s backpack and put it in with the rest of the luggage.

“Where’s Beau?”

“I dunno, I guess he’s running late.”

“Aw, is Rainbow not coming?” Eli sniffled and pretended to wipe away a tear. “Boo-hoo-hoo.” He laughed.

River and Nate rolled their eyes. Nate got into the back of the van and sat with Jessie and Heather. River pulled the middle seat up for Eli and Emma.

“I’m not gonna sit next to Rainbow, Riv. I’m serious.”

“Just shut up and get in, Eli.”

“Hey, wait! Guys! Don’t leave without me!”

River looked back to see a skinny pale young man running towards him, dragging a carry-on bag. River flashed the boy a friendly and welcome smile.

“Hey, Beau! You made it!”

“Yeah,” Beau said, out of breath. “I missed my bus. Heh, heh.”

River patted Beau on the back.

“Glad you could make it, man. Here, let me take that for you.”

“Oh, thanks!” Beau handed his bag to River and happily made his way to the van’s open door. He stopped, his smile fading.

“Helloo, Rainboo!” Eli said, in a lispy feminine voice.

Beau looked at the ground and climbed into the van, sitting next to Emma. River slid the doors close and hopped into the driver’s seat. Emma stuck her hand out to Beau.

“I’m Emma, Eli’s girlfriend.”

Beau smiled slightly. “Beau Jackson, nice to meet you.”

“Beau doesn’t dig chicks, Em.” Eli joked.

River gave Eli a look from the rearview mirror.

“Leave him alone, honey.” Emma said, slapping Eli in the chest playfully.

River started the van and off they went, leaving the city.

They had traveled for hours, only stropping to use the bathroom, fill up on gas or stretch. They had left very early in the morning and while everyone in the van napped, River was feeling drowsy at the wheel. His eyes felt heavy. His eyelids drooped until they closed completely.

A delivery truck honked loudly, jerking River from his sleep.

“Oh, shit!” He swerved off the road and slammed on the brakes hard, but it was too late. River’s green van made contact with an old tree.

The girls screamed as the front tire exploded. Everyone in the van sat wide-eyed at the tree, all of them breathing heavily.

“Everybody okay?” River asked.

They all nodded and murmured in agreement. Smoke rose from underneath the hood of the van with a loud hiss.

“Okay,” River said calmly. “Everybody out.”

Everyone piled out and stretched their legs. River and Eli went to the hood of the van and lifted it, waving the smoke away from their faces. “Oh, man . . .” River sighed. “Looks like we’re gonna be here for a while now, guys!” He called to everyone. They all groaned.

“This is like every horror movie beginning I’ve ever seen, man.” Eli mumbled, lighting a cigarette. “The first one to die is usually the black dude or the gay guy . . . so either Nate or Beau is gonna die first.”

“I am not fucking gay, Eli!” Beau yelled, charging at Eli.

He head butted Eli in the chest, knocking him down. Eli sat in shock for a moment then jumped back up and punched Beau in the mouth.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Don’t you ever fucking do somethin’ like that to me again, you dumb fag! I’ll kill you!”

“Oh, my God!”

“Guys, knock it off!” Naomi yelled, running to Beau, who held his hand to his jaw. “Beau? Are you okay?”

Beau didn’t answer. He looked at his feet and started walking. Eli looked back at Beau as he walked past him, past the van.

“Oh . . . Beau!”

Naomi jogged past Eli, trying to catch up with Beau. Emma took a step forward, her gaze on Naomi and Beau.

“You’re such a jerk!” She glared at Eli, her green eyes fiery with anger. “You know in horror movies, usually the second person to die is the cocky asshole.”

She made her way off to Beau and Naomi who were sitting by an old crooked gnarled tree about a mile away, teetering on her heels as they stuck in the dusty dirt road.

Jessie sat with the luggage in the open trunk, swinging her legs. Sitting on a wooden fence like a cat by the van was Heather, playing with a pink Nintendo DS. Inside the van, Nate was laying on the middle seat, listening to music on his CD player. River looked at Eli.

“Did the car accident make you even more retarded, Eli?” He exclaimed, his hands on his hips. “I’m so close to just leaving you here, man.” He sighed. “Man, Eli, one of these days you’re gonna get your ass kicked and I seriously won’t be there to help you out.”

“Beau, I’m really sorry about Eli. Please, come back to the van.” Emma pleaded as Naomi rubbed his back.

Beau shook his head.

“I’d rather walk.”

Naomi hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“If we promise that he won’t bother you, will you come back?”

Beau shrugged. “Fine . . .”

Something red caught Naomi’s eye. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she picked it up. She had never seen anything like it before. It was the shape and size of a plump black cherry, but t smelled like apples. It was a reddish-orange color with yellow and green at the stem with little bumps with yellow dots in them that reminded Naomi of a juicy strawberry.

“Whoa, what the hell? What is it?”

“Lemme see.”

She handed it to Beau, who examined it, smelled it, and twirled it by the stem. He squeezed it slightly.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before . . . so weird.” He said, handing it back to Naomi. Emma crouched down by Naomi, looking at it.

“Dogwood.” She said.

“Huh?”

“It came from this tree, it’s Dogwood and that’s the start of its flower.”

Naomi and Emma made eye contact. Chocolate colored freckles randomly dotted the bridge of Emma’s nose. She smiled at Naomi, showing her a slight gap in her teeth. Naomi smiled slightly, but it disappeared faster than it came and was replaced with a look of terror.

Jenny waited patiently by the crooked, gnarled old tree, the slight cool breeze whipping her long light brown hair against her face. She looked around, cautiously. She bit her lip, fear in her eyes. She jumped when she felt hands on her shoulders. Ennis laughed.

“Ennis Thurgood Turner! Don’t you ever sneak up on me like that or I swear I’ll –“

Ennis grabbed Jenny’s wrist, pulling her close to him. He smirked.

“Or you’ll what?”

She smiled as he put his arm around her and kissed her deeply. She slid her arms around his neck, pushing herself closer to him. Ennis broke the kiss by moving his head, much to Jenny’s dismay. He held her hand as he dropped an old army backpack from his shoulder. He reached in and pulled out a woven red and yellow blanket dotted with moth holes and scented with the old musty smell of mold.

“Oh, Ennis. Where’d you get that ratty ol’ thing?”

“I found it in the attic.” He replied, air out the blanket then smoothing it against the ground by the tree.

“What were you doin’ up there?”

“Never mind that, Jennifer-Mae. Come sit down.”

He sat down, yanking on her arm and pulling her down next to him. They sat under the tree, watching the stars, listening to the crickets and kissing.

Naomi screamed, causing the others at the van to look over. River’s head snapped up when he heard his girlfriend scream. He looked over from his spot inside the van and jumped out the open driver’s side door, sprinting over to Naomi’s side by the tree.

“What? What? Naomi, what is it?”

She clenched Emma’s wrist, her eyes wide. Half her body was hidden behind Emma’s tall slender frame. She pointed to the large black scorpion by the spot where she had been sitting by the tree. She began to hyperventilate as she shook in fear behind Emma, hypnotized by the scorpion.

River – not taking his eyes off the scorpion – stepped in front of Naomi and Emma. He held his hand out to them in a way that told them to stay back.

“Okay, okay . . . Just stay calm, Naomi . . . Emma, can you slowly, slowly walk Naomi back to the van?”

“Yeah, sure.” She said, softly.

She slowly turned Naomi in around in a full circle towards the van and with Beau, walked Naomi back to the van.

River slowly leaned down to pick up a fallen tree limb and stood up, not making any sudden movements. He raised his tree limb above his head, his eyes transfixed on the scorpion. He brought the tree limb down hard onto the creature, splattering it into pieces. River beat it until it was nothing but goop.

Breathing heavily, he dropped the limb and walked back to the van. Eli jumped off the dented hood of the van and lopped over to River, like a puppy.

“Hey, man, what was that about? Naomi’s crying.”

“She’s really afraid of scorpions. How’s the van?”

“Not good. I’m not gonna be a dip shit and pretend that I know a lot about cars because I don’t, but all I do know is that we need a mechanic.”

River took out his cell phone and flipped it open. He made a face and put his phone back in his pocket.

“Cell phones don’t get service out here,” Eli said. “I checked mine a while ago. Nobody’s are working.”

“All right, let’s try and find a phone.”

“Wh –what? Where? Where would we find a fucking phone? The last town we passed was two hours ago!”

“Well, let’s go this way. We’ll just walk. I’m sure there’s a town close by.”

Eli sighed. “But what about all our shit? We can’t just leave it here with a note, saying ‘Please, don’t take our stuff’.”

“I doubt anybody is going to come and take our shit, Eli. I mean, take a look at where we are.” He stretched out his arms, making his body a “T” shape. Eli nodded in agreement. He turned on his heel to the others.

“Okay, guys. Let’s go look for a phone.”

The group began to walk to dusty golden dirt road. The high sun shone brightly on the group, making them sweat profusely. Dark sweat stains grew underneath the boy’s armpits. Eli took his shirt off and left it on the side of the road. He walked on, wearing a black under shirt. Emma walked barefoot, kicking up dust and swinging her high heels that were in her hands. Heather pointed to something far off in the distance.

“Hey, look! A house!” She ran forward, acting childlike. She left the group in a cloud of dust.

“Hey, Heather!” Jessie yelled, she and the group running to catch up with Heather. “Heather, stop! Wait!”

As they neared the two-story old country house, Heather was nowhere to be seen.

“Where could she be?” Jessie asked herself, tugging at the hem of her blouse nervously.

They all looked up at the house, studying it. The white paint was chipped, showing dark wood underneath. The curtains in the second-story windows were close. The windows on the first story were covered with dust. An old rusty swing set stood by an old tree. One of the swings hung by one chain, the other swung slowly in the wind, creaking.

The group approached the veranda of the house, warily. They stood at the door as River knocked. The door slowly creaked open. They peered in cautiously.

At River’s lead, they followed him into the house. The large living room was musty, dirty, and covered with dust as if nothing had been used in years.

“Hello?” River called, loudly. Eli looked around.

“Maybe, they have a phone in the kitchen.”

He walked into the kitchen and felt nauseas.

Steve watched his skinny father take a bite out of a severed woman’s arm as if it were a chicken leg.

“Papa,” Steve said, his large overbite drooping over his bottom lip. “Why you eatin’ that girl’s arm?”

“’Cause, son, she’s bad. Everybody who ain’t family is bad.” Ennis wiped blood from his mouth.

“Why everybody who ain’t family bad, Papa?”

“’Cause, son, they don’t approve of us, they don’t like the things we do.”

“Do they hate us?”

“Yes, boy, they do. Now, go on outside and play – take your brother witcha.”

Steve ran out from the kitchen to the living room where his three-year-old brother sat, watching “Tom and Jerry”.

“C’mon, Tuck!” He said, patting his brother on the back then running out the front door.

“Be quiet!” Ennis called out to them from the kitchen window. “Y’alls mama’s sleepin’ upstairs.” He swallowed a chunk of the arm then looked over at the 20-pound baby in the high chair next to him. The baby’s blubbery fat overlapped the sides of the chair, his large walrus-like cheeks took over half of his face. His lumpy baldhead fell back against the headrest.

“What’re you lookin’ at, Lumpy?”

The baby gurgled, bubbles and mashed up food particles coming from his mouth.

“I’m just kiddin’, Tiny.” Ennis said, rubbing the baby’s head.

Flies buzzed loudly around a human foot dripping with blood on the kitchen table. The color drained from Eli’s face. He went back to the group, in shock.

“Eli? Is there a phone?”

“There’s no phone,” He said, his throat dry. “We have to leave now.”

“Honey, are you okay?” Emma held Eli’s face in her hands. “You’re sweating!”

“River, we have to go now.” Eli said, a little louder this time.

A loud thud came from the cellar beneath them, making them jump. They heard loud hard footsteps. They separated, scurrying around trying to find hiding spots.

A door in the kitchen swung open and a huge bald man with old tattered clothes came out. From Naomi’s hiding place in a closet, she saw the man dragging a legless, crying girl by the arm.

“Please!” She begged, snot and tears running down her face. “Please, don’t do this!”

The lumpy-headed bald man ignored the girl’s please. He dragged her through the kitchen, two long bloody trails coming from her legs.

Naomi’s eyes widened in fear as she recognized whom the girl was. It was Heather!

The giant man lifted up Heather by her hair and laid her down on the kitchen table. She began to cry louder.

“Please, mister. Don’t do this!”

The giant held down one of her arms with his large hand and with his other, he picked up a meat cleaver from the kitchen counter. Heather screamed as the meat cleaver came down on her arm’s socket. Blood poured onto the table.

Naomi covered her mouth with her hand, tears forming. She turned away, hearing another scream. Heather began to scream once more but was cut short by the sound of the meat cleaver being stuck into the table. She heard the lumpy-head giant’s hard footsteps walking away from the kitchen, going up the creaky stairs to a bedroom upstairs.

When she was sure that the giant was gone, she ran out of the closet. She ran down the hallway, bumping into a hard body. She flailed her arms as the person tried to stop her.

“Naomi! Cut it out!”

She flung her arm out, palm open and smacked the person in the face.

“Oof!” The person gasped.

Naomi stopped and stared at River, who rubbed his reddened cheek.

“River!” She gasped, grabbing him by his forearms. “We have to get out of here now!”

She dug her nails into him, fear covered her face.

“Ow, Naomi. Let go. Just settle down. Now, tell me what happened?”

“Didn’t you hear her screams?” Her eyes widened.

“Screams? Whose screams?”

Eli gulped. “River, let’s just get out of here. When I went into the kitchen, I saw a foot.”

River looked between Naomi and Eli several times, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Okay, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m gonna call for help.”

“Who are you gonna call?”

“Gee, I dunno, maybe Ghostbusters? Who do you think? Someone. Anyone. The cops, I guess.”

River pushed Naomi aside, walking into the bloodstained kitchen. Eli and Naomi followed, protesting, pleading. River ignored them and went straight for the old phone on the kitchen wall. He lifted the receiver from its cradle, trying to untangle the cord. Eli and Naomi stood semi-hidden in the hallway. She bit her lip hard, causing it to bleed.

“Let’s just forget about calling someone. Let’s just go.” Eli suggested, worriedly.

“Where are the others?” Naomi whispered to Eli.

“Hidden, don’t worry.” He whispered back.

“Hello?” River said from the kitchen. “Please, we need help. Something’s really wrong.” He cried frantically into the phone. “We –“

The giant had brought an ice pick down into the crown of River’s head. He fell down, dragging the phone down with him. Naomi gasped. Eli covered her mouth and the two of them ran down the long wooden hall. He squeezed her hand as they ran into the small laundry room.

Beau, Nate, Jessie and Emma sat huddle together behind the old washer and dryer. Naomi shook with tears, her own hand over her mouth. Emma crawled toward her, encircling her arms around Naomi’s body.

Eli’s cold sweat dripped down his body. He stood, rigid, paralyzed in temporary shock. He shook his head, tossing the feelings away.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Jessie asked in a hushed voice. “Where’s Heather? And River?”

“Tiny!” They all heard a scruffy voice from outside the room call. “Tiny! What the hell are you doin’?”

The giant grumbled, dragging River’s body by his hair.

“We have to get out of here.” Eli whispered quickly.

“What’re w gonna do?” Emma asked, consoling Naomi.

“They’re gone.” She choked out. “They’re both gone.”

“Who? Who’s both gone?”

Before anyone could say anything, they heard Tiny’s hard footsteps go by. They froze, watching the laundry room’s doorknob.

She bore down; sweat dripping from every single one of her pores. She gritted her teeth and pushed, a pain-filled scream escaping her.

“Okay, here it comes. One more.”

Jenny pushed hard and felt a sudden release. The newborn’s cries and Jenny’s cries filled the room. Ennis cleaned the baby with a towel then stopped, a look of confusion and shock on his face.

“Somethin’s wrong with his head.”

“What?”

“Look.”

He lifted the shivering, crying newborn up to Jenny’s face. The baby seamed to be missing the top of his head. No scalp, no skull, just brain.

Jenny’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and fell into the bed, temporarily unconscious. Ennis placed an old raggedy dirty-blonde wig on the newborn’s head.

“There yaw go, Steve.” He cooed at the baby.

He smiled to himself as he bounced and rocked the baby to sleep.

“What do we do?”

“What do we do? We leave! That’s what we do.”

“But how? We can’t go out there and through the front door.”

“Yes, we can.”

“Are you crazy?” Naomi raised her voice to Eli. “You saw what happened to River! You want that to happen to us?”

“No, I don’t. We’ll wait until the coast is clear, okay? If we get caught, we’ll split up and run. Hide anywhere. Upstairs, downstairs, wherever. We’ll meet back here in twenty minutes.”

“Jenkies, Fred.” Emma said, sarcastically.

Eli ignored her and opened the door. Everyone bolted out and as they reached the door, they heard thudding and groaning from the upstairs. They turned their attention to the ceiling, forgetting about escaping.

As they watched the ceiling, they were being watched from a pantry cupboard in the kitchen. The only one in the watcher’s vision was Jessie. Silently, like a trap-door spider, the bony toothless twitchy man jumped out and grabbed a hold of Jessie. Her eyes widened as an unfamiliar dirty death-smelling hand covered her mouth and an arm snaked around her stomach.

Silently still, he moved backwards to the cellar door in the kitchen, watching the group. The two disappeared down the stairs.

Eli shook his head.

“Forget whatever’s up there, guys. Let’s go.” He looked at the group and realized that their gang of six had become five.

“Where is Jessie?” He asked, his eyes darting around the room.

“She was just here!”

“Oh, no . . .”

“All right, guys.” Eli sighed, dreading the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “Let’s split up and find her.”

Nate and Beau explored the downstairs as Emma and Naomi did the same to the upstairs. Eli decided to search the cellar. He stood in the doorway, looking down at the darkness. He could hear water dripping somewhere. Cautiously, he made his way down the old stairs, his hand gripping the banister tightly.

He held his breath as the dripping became louder. He thought he heard rats scurry around by his feet. With one hand on the banister and the other on the wall, he made his way from the last two steps and planted his feet firmly on the concrete cellar floor.

Drip . . . Drip . . . Drip . . . He could hear what he thought was water dripping right in front of him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key ring with a small blue and green flashlight. He pressed down on the button, pointing the mini light at the floor. The small yellow light illuminated a puddle of crimson.

“What the fuuu . . .?”

He trailed off as he moved the light’s beam up. He opened his eyes wide as he saw a naked headless, legless, armless torso. The stomach had been cut open into a large slit, gutted like a pig. Blood drain slowly from the torso’s holes. Slowly, his hand rose to meet his mouth. The fingertips pressed firmly to his lips, holding back the vomit that threatened to escape.

Fading brown designs swirled and circled areas on the naked torso.

“Henna . . .” He whispered.

For once in a very long time, Eli’s eyes began to water at the realization that the torso had belonged to Jessie. How much could he take? Three of his friends had died. He wasn’t about to leave the others behind to fend for their selves. He thought of Emma and Naomi wandering the upstairs and thought back to a time a few weeks before this horrific road trip.

River and Eli sat on the apartment building’s rooftop, cigarettes burning between their masculine, callused hands. Crickets chirped softly, frogs croaked. The pink sky of the setting sun started to fade to blue night, dotted with the few first stars.

They sipped at their cigarettes, quietly, and stared off into the distance.

“Life’s to short, man.” River muttered.

Eli nodded, flicking his cigarette butt off the rooftop. It landed silently in the moist jade grass.

“Yeah . . .” He replied.

“Keep this secret, all right?” River asked, his voice suddenly serious.

He reached into his pocket and grasped a small black velvet box.

“Oh, Riv! Ya shouldn’t of!” Eli joked, his goofy smirk poking a dimple into his cheek.

River looked at the box, feeling the velvet cover with his thumb.

“I’m gonna do it . . . On the trip . . . I want to turn her from Naomi Dunivan to Naomi Allen . . .”

“You’re not really . . .?”

“I love her . . .” River looked up and made eye contact with Eli. He could see his best friend’s eye moisten. “I love her.”

Eli bolted up the stairs; vomit particles on his pant leg and shoe. He stood in the doorway of the cellar, again, this time looking out into the kitchen. Why had they split up? They should have searched as a group!

Beau and Nate wandered around a dusty bedroom, amazed at the gruesome things they had found. The window was covered with a thick film of dust and a pair of tattered floral curtains. A large wooden crucifix hung on the wall above a dirt mattress with a baby blanket and torn couch pillow. Stuffing poked through the hole of the pillow.

On a broken dressed were candlestick holders made from human bones and skulls. Shriveled heads hung from either side of the bed’s headboard, tied together by the long gray hair.

“This is bizarre . . .” Beau whispered, lightly touching a shrunken head. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Where the girls?”

Beau and Nate swiveled around to see Eli in the door, holding a bat.

“Eli, man, we were looking for Jessie –“

“Where are the girls?” He repeated.

“Upstairs, I thought.”

“C’mon, let’s find them and get the hell out of here.”

Emma and Naomi held on tightly to each other’s hands, making them grow white. The floorboards of the upstairs creaked with every step, every tiptoe they made.

“Naomi?” Emma said, softly.

Flipping her raven hair behind her shoulder, she turned to look at Naomi with her green cat eyes.

“Yeah?” Naomi answered, her cheeks flushing a light pink color.

She had only known Emma for almost a day and she liked her, but her beauty and body still made Naomi self-conscious.

“I’m sorry about the things Eli says about you. I think you’re beautiful. I wanted to tell you earlier but I just couldn’t get a chance – “

A loud groaning interrupted Emma. The two girls looked in the direction that the noise came from. A door with a crooked gold-plated crucifix hanging on it was opened ajar. The girls quietly made their way to the bedroom door and peeked inside.

All they could see in the room was a bedside table with a lamp made of human spine and part of a headboard.

“Hello?” Emma called.

She was answered with louder groaning from the room.

“Hello?” She called, a little louder. “Are you all right?”

She pushed the door open all the way and the girls gasped back screams. Lying on the bed was a woman. Or what they thought was a woman.

The woman was morbidly obese with paper-thin bluish green skin; dark blue veins trailed her body like a map. The dirty bloodstained, urine stained mattress was concaved in the middle, due to the massive woman’s weight. Instead of legs, she had stubs. Her legs had been cut off at the knee and skin had grown over the wounds. The woman groaned loudly, seeing Naomi and Emma. She kicked her stubs and flailed her ham hock arms.

“What’re you doin’ here?!” The girls turned to see an old scruffy man hunched over a cane. Glasses threatened to drop from his nose.

“Who are you?!” He yelled. “What’re you doing in here?!”

The girls stood in shock, speechless. He hobbled over to them, passed them, and continued hobbling over to the woman’s side.

“Get out of here!” He yelled. “You leave us alone! You don’t understand our love! We’re not evil, we’re not sinful! God understands, you’ll be the ones in hell!”

“I’m sorry, sir. We’re just looking for our friend – “

The man held the woman’s massive bear paw of a hand in his own wrinkled ones.

“I’m here, Jenny. I ain’t leavin’. They ain’t gonna take me away from you. I love ya.” He glared at the girls.

“Can’t you just leave us alone? We’re not bad people! It’ is just love. You people made it evil. You people made us do what we did!”

“Look, mister. Maybe, you’re thinking of someone else –“ Naomi started.

“No, it’s you. All of you. Every single of ya. The town. You made us do it.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“Tiny!” The man yelled, his eyes at the open door. “Steve! Tuck!”

The girls ran from the room, screaming. They ran past Eli, Nate and Beau at the top of the stairs. They followed the girls into a room at the end of the upstairs hallway. The barricaded the door with a dresser.

“What is happening here? What do they want? Why is the happening to us?” Naomi collapsed in a corner of the room, her knees pulled up to her chest.

“He said that we were evil.” Emma said, looking at Eli.

“Who said this?”

“This old man! He said we made them do something, he said we made it evil.”

“Made what evil?”

“I don’t know. Please, Eli, let’s just get out of here. I want to go home.”

Eli opened his mouth to speak when Naomi screamed.

They all turned to see Naomi pointing to something under the bed. She slid back up the wall, shivering.

“Naomi, are you all right?” Beau ran to her side, almost knocking a jar off another dresser. Nate grabbed it before it had a chance to shatter against the floor. He put it back on the dresser then realized what was in the glass jar. What was in all the glass jars that lined the dresser’s top.

Eyes. All eyes. Blue . . . green . . . hazel . . . brown . . . black . . . gray. The eyes floated in their jars.

“Oh, my God . . .”

Eli looked under the bed, where Naomi was pointing.

“It’s just a nightgown.” He said, pulling it out.

It felt strangely heavy and he didn’t know why until he held it in his hands. There was a skeleton in the nightgown. It was a little girl’s skeleton. Eli dropped it as they all screamed. Screamed for the skeleton, screamed for the glass jars of eyes, screamed for help, for River, for Heather, for Jessie.

Ennis and Jenny held hands as they stood at the foot of their parents’ bed. Ennis tightened his grip on his sister’s hand and the knife. He pulled back the blankets, exposing their sleeping parents’ bodies. Ennis plunged the knife into his father’s chest and dragged it down the rest of his body. Pa’s eyes snapped open and he jerked, gasping.

Ma sat up quickly, startled. Jenny slashed Ma’s throat open with the knife in her hand. Blood spurted in all directions. The think crimson liquid stained the bed sheets.

The psychotic couple heard a small gasp behind them. They turned, still holding hands, to see their little sister, Mary-Kate, standing in the doorway, holding a tall glass of milk.

The glass fell from her small hands and shattered into thousands of shards.

“Get her.”

Jenny lunged at Mary-Kate at Ennis’ command.

“Hold her.” He instructed, grabbing a large shard of glass.

Jenny held Mary-Kaye by her arms with one arm and with the other, held a firm grip on Mary-Kate’s chin. Ennis lifted the shard of glass and slowly slid the shard into Mary-Kate’s left eye socket.

The eye fell out with a pop, followed by a blood-curdling scream. The right eye popped out and rolled under the bed. Another scream escaped Mary-Kate. As she cried, blood poured from her empty eye sockets.

“Okay, let’s get the hell outta here.”

Eli looked around for weapons that the other could use. Nate pulled out a gun from his back pocket, hidden under his shirt.

“Here.” He handed it to Eli.

“Why didn’t you tell about this earlier?” Nate just shrugged and took the bat from Eli.

Jenny jumped when she heard tapping at her bedroom window. She saw a human form behind the curtains.

“Mary-Kate, go downstairs and get me some milk.” She said, shaking her little sister awake.

“But it’s dark.”

“Just go . . .and be quiet.”

She watched the little girl tiptoe from their dark bedroom. She hopped out of bed, rushing to the window. She pulled back the curtains and opened the window.

“Ennis!” She threw her arms around his neck in a hug. “It’s been months! Pa’s changed the locks and won’t let me go anywhere except to and from school.”

“I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to see you. Let me in, Jenny.”

“I can’t. Ma and Pa –“ Ennis climbed through the window and stood in front of Jenny in awe.

“Wow, Jennifer-Mae. You’ve sure gotten big.”

“What’re we gonna do, Ennis? If they find you, I don’t know what they’ll do.”

“I ain’t goin’ anywhere, Jenny. Don’t you worry. I gotta plan. It’s the only way we can be together.”

They made a chain out of themselves, holding the hand of the person in front of them as they walked out of the room, cautiously.

Eli stopped when he heard familiar hard footsteps ahead of the group. He cocked the gun and held his hand out to the group, making them stay.

The large giant, Tiny, rounded the corner and seeing Eli and the others, he charged.

Eli closed his eyes tightly as he pulled the trigger, firing two . . . three shots. He opened his eyes after the room stopped shaking from the impact of Tiny’s body. Smoke billowed from the gun and from the gunshots in Tiny’s head.

A door creaked open from behind Naomi. She swiveled quickly, a dresser leg in her hand. She swung at the man with the massive overbite and mop-like, gross wig and made contact with his head. He felt to the ground, blood shooting out from the wound the rusty nail in the dresser leg made in his temple. As he hit the floor, his wig flew off. The group circled around him, staring.

“He . . . he . . . he doesn’t have a skull.”

“ . . . Just a brain . . .”

“What the hell is wrong with these people?”

“Oh, my God . . .”

“What the hell did you do to my brothers?!” The skinny, twitchy balding man that had taken Jessie’s life yelled from the top of the staircase. His eyebrows furrowed in rage as he glared at them, baring his nonexistent teeth.

“Tiny!” He yelled, running over to the giant’s body.

He looked up to see his other brother lying at the group’s feet.

“Steve!” He ran quickly over to Steve’s body. He pushed the group out of the way. He looked from Steve’s swollen brain, pulsating to the dirty blonde wig.

He turned to see to see the barrel of Nate’s gun between his eyes. Eli glared down at him.

“You killed my brothers.”

“You killed Jessie.” Eli replied, pulling the trigger twice more.

Ennis and Jenny held hands, squeezing softly. Pa sat at the kitchen table, a knife in one hand, a fork in the other and a plate with a large stack of pancakes in front of him. A square of butter melted atop of the pancakes as sweet maple syrup spilled down the sides.

Ma stood at the stove, flipping a couple of golden brown pancakes onto a white and blue floral plate. She smiled at her eldest children, pouring syrup on the pancakes she held.

“Hi, babies. Ya hungry? You’re just in time for breakfast.”

“Ma. Pa. Me and Jenny have somethin’ real important to say.”

“Well, what is it, son? Y’all in trouble?”

“Pa, I’m pregnant.” Jenny looked at the floor, her hair falling in her face.

Ma dropped the plate of pancakes and the plate shattered against the tiled kitchen floor. Pa’s silverware clinked on the table.

“Well, whose is it, Jenny?”

“It’s mine, Pa.”

Ma clutched her chest, holding onto the counter for support. Pa bounced up, sending his chair flying.

“What?! You disgusting little – “

“This is against God!” Ma boomed, her large bosom heaving. Her face grew red as she yelled.

“Sinners! You’ll burn in Hell!”

“Jennifer-Mae, you go to your room. I don’t want to see your face ‘til supper. Ennis Thurgood, I want you outta my house. I never want to see you again.”

“Do you know how many sins you have committed?!” Ma screeched.

She began to throw plates at Jenny and Ennis, making them run from the kitchen.

Marching like soldiers, the group entered the master bedroom. They encircled the bed, looking at the morbidly obese woman flailing her arms and groaning at them. Eli raised the gun to her head, but stopped when Naomi touched his arm.

“She can’t move. She can’t do anything. Look at her, she’s helpless.”

“What’re you doing in here?” The scruffy old man said from the doorway.

They turned to see him hobble over to them, relying on his cane to support him. His furry white caterpillar eyebrows furrowed in a mixture of anger and hurt.

“Can’t you just leave us alone?” He said, shaking as he lowered himself onto the stool next to the bed. He grabbed his wife’s hand and squeezed softly.

“Those boys . . .I told them that you were evil. I told them everybody but the family was evil. You made us do this.”

“Do what?” Eli yelled, raising his arms in confusion. “What did we make you do?”

The man looked at Eli, his tiny beady coal eyes burning into Eli’s blue ones. He shook an accusing finger at Eli.

“You made our love evil. You made us kill.”

“How did we do this?”

“We couldn’t leave the house, we couldn’t go into town. We had to eat. Ma and Pa didn’t approve; they said we sinned. Jenny and I love each other.”

“Look, we just wanna get the hell outta here.”

Jenny groaned, the fat of her cheeks wiggling. Her whole behemoth body convulsed with a seizure. Drool spilled down her multiple chins. Blood dripped slowly from her nostrils. She shook for a moment longer then was still.

Ennis gripped Jenny’s hand tightly. His body relaxed as he accepted his wife and sister’s death. He looked up at the group. Tears pooled in his eyes and skied down his wrinkled cheeks.

“Get out.” He said. “Just leave. Are you happy? You’ve killed her! You’ve killed my sons and my wife. Go! Get out of my house!”

Ennis threw a lamp past them and it shattered against the wall. He lifted up a photo album and hurled it at Beau as the group ran from the room.

Emma picked it up as the rest ran down the stairs. She followed, holding the album close to her chest.

The group ran from the house, ran from the yard, and ran down the dusty road. The night sky filled with stars was their only source of light as they stumbled and ran down the road.

They did not stop running until they reached River’s broken van. High beams from far off grew brighter and brighter as they got closer. The group jumped and waved their arms, flagging the car down.

They realized it was a police squad car when it pulled over onto the side of the road next to them. The police officer left his lights on as he stepped out of the car. He walked over to them briskly, the walk of an authority figure.

“What seems to be the problem here, fellas?” He asked, turning on this flashlight and shining it over Eli, Naomi, Beau, Emma, and Nate then the van.

“Officer, we’re so glad you’re here.”

“Sir, our friends have been murdered!”

“Murdered?” He shone the flashlight on Emma’s face, making her squint.

“Who’s been murdered?” He looked at them all, his face showing great concern. He nodded his head towards River’s van. “Whose van is this?”

“It’s my boyfriend’s, Sir.” Naomi answered.

“Is this yours?” He asked, addressing Eli.

“No, it’s River’s.”

“Who’s River? Which one of you is River?”

“River’s not here, he’s been murdered.”

“Who murdered him?”

“This psycho family. They got Jessie and Heather, too.”

“Okay, okay. Hold on a second here.” He said, taking a step back and holding his hands up. “Start from the beginning.”

“Okay, we were going on a trip and we crashed into this tree so we walked. We saw this house a few miles from here; we went in to look for a phone. Our friends Heather and Jessie disappeared –“

“And this giant man named Tiny killed my boyfriend when he tried to call for help.”

“Are you kids on anything? Have you been taking a hallucinogenic? Have you been drinking? You kids drunk?”

“No, this is all true!” They shouted, all trying to tell what had happened.

“These people –“

“There was Tiny and Steve and this other guy –“

“There was this woman-“

“She bedridden, she had a seizure-“

“Her name was Jenny.”

“Jenny?” The officer asked, his tone gravely serious. “Where was this house? What did it look like?”

“It was two stories. It had a swing set in front of it –“

“Swing set?” He looked at them. “You talkin’ about the old Turner Estate?”

“We don’t know. We’re not from here.”

“I’m calling for backup, hold on.” The officer jogged back to his squad car and pulled out the walkie-talkie to his radio. “This Gordon. I need backup.” He mumbled something the group couldn’t hear then jogged back.

“Okay, I’ve gotta nother officer coming. We’re gonna take you down to the station and you can finish your story there. I suggest you get your things outta this van.”

They waited in a room, hot Styrofoam cups of coffee and tea in their hands.

“What’s that?” Officer Gordon asked Emma, pointing to the photo album in her hands.

“I dunno, this old man threw it at us.”

“I think that might have been Ennis.” An older officer said, leaning on the doorframe.

“They were talking about Jenny, Stone.” Gordon said to the older officer.

The officer came and sat at the edge of Gordon’s desk.

“Who are these people?” Eli asked. “What’s wrong with them? Why’d they kill our friends?”

“Easy now, Mr. Stevenson –“

“Just call me Eli.”

“Eli. Doug and Mary-Beth Turner moved into that house back in the forties or the fifties. They had a son, Ennis, and then a year later had a daughter named Jenny. Twelve years later they had another daughter named Mary-Kate.”

“Oh, my God . . .”

“When Ennis was seventeen and Jenny was sixteen, they began to grow . . . close.”

“Close?”

“Ennis had impregnated Jenny.”

“Oh, gross.”

“Their parents had disowned Ennis and were going to have Jenny have he baby then give it away during the night. Months later, Ennis and Jenny killed their parents and their little sister. They took over the house and had a deformed, in-bred family. This town is very religious and we didn’t accept things like that.”

“But you do now?”

“No, we don’t. We think that it’s against God; it’s a sin. We just tried to forget that they even existed.”

“So, they killed our friends so they could . . .”

“That’s what he meant by them having to eat.”

“I just wanna go home . . .” Naomi begged. “I just wanna go home.”

“You will, Miss Dunivan, you will.”

“We killed them. We killed their sons . . . Jenny had a seizure.”

“Ennis is still alive?” Stone looked back at Gordon.

“We sent Davis and Brookes out to search the place.”

Emma flipped through the pages of the photo album, shaking her head.

“God, they looked like such nice people . . . Normal people.”

Eli pulled up to the dark apartment building that Naomi shared with River.

“Are you sure you want to stay here by yourself tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” She nodded, looking down at her hands in her lap. “I’m sure.”

“Please, come stay with me and Emma tonight. We’ll sleep in sleeping bags in the living room. C’mon, it’ll be like a sleep over. We’ll rent movies.” He joked.

“No, Eli. Please.”

“I insist.” He reached for her hand and held it.

She looked up to see his eyes burning into hers, reflecting the look of hurt and pain and loss. She smiled softly.

“All right. Come with me to get my stuff.” She reached for her door handle and pushed the passenger side door open.

“Naomi.” She stopped and looked at him.

He reached over and opened the glove compartment. He took out the small velvet ring box and handed it to her. She looked from him to the box.

“River was going to . . . on the trip . . .He wanted to –“

Naomi leaned over and wrapped her arms around Eli in a tight hug. It took him a minute to realize that she was shaking. She was crying. Eli put his arms around her and held her tightly.

The two of them sat in Eli’s white Ford Festiva and cried for the friends and loved ones they had lost that horrific night.

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