The Shades That Prowl

Chapter 5: June '82: Cursed

I got Dut to my car. Larry wrote his phone number on a notebook while I buckled Dut in.

"I'm going home, Kid," Larry said. "What are you going to do?"

"Get Dut home and keep an eye on him."

"What then?"

"I need to get away. Get away and think."

"There isn't any getting away. My dad's life proved that."

"There's got to be a way to shake this thing loose. I've got to figure it out, but first, I've got to get Dut home."

"What about his car?"

"We'll get it tomorrow."

Dut slumped in the seat as I drove him home. The roads took us to Kemp Lane and passed the cemetery. I glanced at Dut then slowed to watch the tree and tombstones. I considered stopping there, doing something to end all of this, but the fear of what I might draw out of the ground kept me moving. I turned the corner to Shookstown Road. The Herrin's house sat poised near the road. I wondered about Larry's dad watching from the attic window.

The road climbed in increments slowly pitching me up the long incline. Dut's house sat off the road, back in the trees. We sat in his living room sipping coffee. He stared no farther than the rim of the mug.

"Dut, you still with me?"

"I'm here."

"We've got to plan."

"I don't want to be in this anymore. I never wanted to be in this at all."

"I know Dut, but we're in it now. I've been thinking. That girl, whatever she was..."

"Don't talk about her."

"Yeah, just a minute. She was trying to talk."

"Be quiet, Matt."

"Dut, she was trying to talk. She tried to say, 'mother.'"

"Shut up!"

Dut stared into his coffee cup, but quivered where he sat. I let the quiet expand. Finally, he spoke.

"She was all around me, Matt. There was nothing I could do. It's like she crawled under my skin." He shook more. "There was nothing I could do."

"It's okay Dut. I'm sorry I got you into this. You're a good friend."

"There was nothing I could do."

I pulled off Dut's shoes and leaned him back on the couch. He closed his eyes immediately but kept quivering while I covered him up. I walked to the window and watched the street.

Dut sat upright, "mother."

"Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy. Lay back. Your mom must be asleep upstairs."

He settled again and fell asleep. I got comfortable in a chair by the window. I watched the street and dozed. Toward morning I found myself doodling on a newspaper: buildings, windows, silhouettes, people blending in a margin of change. In the early twilight, a man walking up Shookstown Road stopped at Dut's driveway. I sketched him, a darkened blur moving subtly, considering the sunrise.

I walked through the darkened hallways to Mrs. Herron's room, doors opening before me. Someone followed me. I couldn't see them, but felt their presence. I was aware that others walked the school. I only needed to spread my arms and they would be drawn to me. I could see them running beneath the floors, screaming, lost, and homeless. They reached for me, but were blunted by the floors. I knew that once I'd found the right place in the school, they'd come to me. I'd be able to release them. I walked to a juncture and it became a wooded valley. Hills blocked the sun; escaping air through a narrow pass left the trees mummified, rattling cobweb leaves. The plain below me drew my attention. I appeared there, lured through an unnamed sense to the right spot. People scattered around me; rushed into my face passing through me. Herron's house rose out of the ground.