Rose Creek: A Collection of Short Horror Stories

V: Grieve No More

Photo by geissht from Unsplash

V. "Grieve No More"

Orford Township.

Ross Gautier - 2004.

I packed my bags immediately after I found out what had happened. My wife, Breanne, wanted to come with me but there was no way I could bring her with me – this was a personal matter involving only me and my mother. My adopted brother, Elliot, had just finished celebrating his sixth birthday last week when my mother found his body... face down, lying in the field behind our home. It was a complete shock to not just my family, but our entire hometown community. Nobody knew what happened, he was a perfectly healthy little boy who just seemingly dropped dead while playing in his backyard – no signs of a struggle, no signs of anyone else being with him, absolutely nothing. My mother has been undoubtedly a mess in recent days since the discovery, and from what I've heard, she hasn't left the house nor let anyone inside, her only interactions are with the police who I'm sure see her as a suspect. However, I know my mother, there is no possible way she would have done anything to that boy, she loved him like he was her own, and when I was a child, she loved me just the same. What really worries me is the fact that she lives by herself, I cannot let her grieve on her own like this. That is why I am packing up and temporarily moving to my hometown of Rose Creek to be with my mother, she needs my support now more than ever, and regardless of if she wants to see me or not, I am going to help her get through this.

I threw my suitcase in the passenger seat of the car as my family stood in the driveway to send me off. I gave my two daughters goodbye hugs, telling them I was just going to visit grandma for a little while, and to not worry as I would be back home real soon. I then turned to Breanne and gave her a quick kiss, quick enough not to gross the kids out. She wrapped her arms around my waist and seemed to not want to let go. I smiled and said, "Don't worry, we can video chat every night, and I'll be home before you know it."

"I think you'd be lucky to get enough signal to even send a text way out in that shithole." She said in an accusatory tone. I jokingly rolled my eyes in response, "It may not be 5G, but I'm sure they have at least a few cell towers around." I then gave her one last kiss on the forehead, pulled away from her iron-tight grip, and got inside my car. I took in a deep breath and pulled out of the driveway as my family all waved goodbye not knowing when they would see me next.

The drive into Rose Creek was around four hours, but it felt like so much longer. Driving alone usually leaves me to the mercy of my own thoughts, and all that was on my mind was my brother and mother, and the radio barely helped fill the loneliness. I couldn't help myself as my mind raced through different theories regarding what happened to Elliot, something clearly happened to him out in that field, but what? The autopsy reported absolutely nothing, the doctors said it was like nothing they have ever seen before – no signs of violence, foul play, nothing. Even if there was some sort of foul play involved, who would want to harm an innocent six-year-old boy? The doctors had to rule his death a heart attack, there was absolutely nothing else to go off of; I can't even imagine the stress my mother is going through right now, your perfectly healthy child suddenly dropping dead with no explanation, with all fingers pointing at you, as you were the one who had the unfortunate fate of finding him, I'm never going to be able to rest until I find out what happened to Elliot, but first I need to focus on supporting my mother.

The second I passed the municipal line I felt an overwhelming sensation of dread – I looked in my side mirror to see bright, sunny skies behind me and then turned back to my front windshield to be greeted with a dark and gloomy overcast; now that I think about it, I don't think I have any memories of the sun shining in Rose Creek. For a long while after passing the Rose Creek municipal sign, I saw nothing but fields as I drove through the empty countryside. My radio began to stutter, and the audio cracked up until I just turned it off in frustration, I took a quick glance over at my phone to see that it only had one bar. I laughed to myself, Breanne was right, Rose Creek really was a shithole.