Willowcreek; Within The Roots

Part Eighteen ─ Beware The Shadowman of Willowcreek

Beware the Shadowman of Willowcreek.

Speaking his name won't make him stir, but calling his victims will,
He'll wake from his sleep, he'll hunt you down, you'll be his next kill,
If you wake him, just remember this very simple rule;
Be quiet, don't make a sound, remember that he's cruel,
For if he finds you, your name will join the rest he's taken,
Yours will be the next name that will remain unspoken and forsaken.

Beware the Shadowman of Willowcreek.

"That's so stupid," Cash rolled her eyes as her friends laughed about the old legend. She lived on the estate. Well, not exactly on, but close enough to know how ridiculous it was to think that some creature lurked in the woods and stirred to hunt people from their deaths.

"I thought you were a believer, Cashy," said George Kieley, sprawling out on the grass of the playground in town. George may have thought he'd had her at that, but Cash laughed and shook her head.

"I believe in ghosts, not urban legends," she dismissed him.

"No, it's not a legend, it's real," Mari Evans spoke up. The mousy girl played with her hands as everyone turned to look at her. Mari was the type of girl to be seen─and because of her skin tone, she stood out─but very rarely heard. "My grandpa said he's seen him. Out by the boundary line. One of the last people to be killed by him was a friend of his. Apparently, they woke him up as a dare, calling out the names of people who have died on the property, and within the week, Grandpa's friend was found dead at the old Haversfield property. Grandpa said he'd never seen anything so gruesome."

Cash had heard about that death. It actually took place on the land that once belonged to her dad's family, but they lost it a while back, selling it on to the people who owned Willowcreek. But the guy that had been killed was found ripped to shreds, with a very significant gash across his chest and, most disgustingly, his tongue had been torn out.

It wasn't exactly light reading for teenagers, however, Allie was fascinated by it.

"So they just yelled random names of dead people?" George asked, raising his eyebrows and leaning back on the grass. He placed his arms behind his head. The group were silent before George shouted, "Freddie Mercury!"

Cash rolled her eyes again, smacking George's arm as laughter broke out in the group. "You're such an asshole."

"It's not a joke," Mari insisted, as the small group laughed at George. He was the joker of the group, he was a fun guy, but he was definitely even parts jackass.

"Look, I've never seen some Shadowman during my twelve years of living up there," Cash told the group, trying to calm them down. Mari was like her new Allie, only less...Allie. She didn't let them tease her.

"They didn't yell random names," Mari told them. "They picked five names of people who died up at Willowcreek, only one was suspected to be a victim of the Shadowman. They drew straws. The friend that died was the one who called the victim's name. Explain that."

It seemed Mari had them convinced at that point, but of course, George was going to be George. He asked Mari to tell him her grandpa's friend's name. She refused to tell him, shaking her head so violently, the bun that Cash had helped pin into place started falling apart. Why would she? She was not calling the Shadowman out, no way.

Steering the conversation away from the old legend, Cash managed to convince George and Mari to go and buy some lunch for the group. Albert had stopped allowing Cash in when his diner almost burned down the afternoon following her first shift working for him. She believed it was because she lived by the boundary line. He'd been pushed to give her the job by his wife, Constance, but she knew he didn't want her anywhere near his place, let alone working there.