The Purging of Bridges Valley

Chapter 12

The moonlight streamed through Calvin's window as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling. It was one in the morning and he hadn't been able to keep his eyes closed.

The Chief hadn't been lying about their time at the jail. Calvin and his father stayed three hours answering the same questions over and over to several different people. By the end of it Calvin had just wanted to go home-- he'd had a ton of homework to do and repeating the same story grew old quickly. Ultimately the testimony didn't help find the Orourkes but it did confirm what the police already knew about the wheelbarrow and put a timestamp on Morse's last known location.

Calvin sat upright and threw his legs over the side of the bed. He looked out the window and listened to the sounds of crickets chirping in the distance. Usually the steady rhythm lulled him to sleep, but tonight they were unmercifully loud and irritating. The stifling heat was no help either-- he peeled his boxers from his legs and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

The darkness took on an eerie aura as he surveyed his room, a feeling he hadn't experienced since he was little and still afraid of the dark. Shadows were cast every which way, obscuring familiar forms. His desk and chair looked like a crouching beast. His slightly ajar closet door hid the supernatural voyeur who now peeked through the crack at him. Under his bed? He didn't want to think about it. The shadows were not as complete as the shadow that flowed through Morse, but Calvin wondered if they could creep up on him, too.

He was almost sure what he saw had been real, that it had not been a figment of his imagination.

His father used to talk a lot about demons and angels growing up, about how all around there were hundreds of battles being fought that humans couldn't witness. It was a constant war between good and evil waged since creation. He'd never been too keen on that idea, always a skeptical child and slow to trust, but the shadow had no explanation. Given the circumstances, anything could be possible-- unless he'd simply been delusional from the heat.

The authorities were not willing to divulge any information on the case of the Orourkes but Calvin knew Morse had something to do with it-- and it all happened at the hole he had been digging.

Calvin couldn't sleep. He had to be certain that what he saw was real-- it was eating at him to think that he could be seeing things. He wouldn't be able to investigate during the daytime when the place was swarming with cops. If he wanted answers, he had to look now.

He slid off the bed and pulled on his jeans, t-shirt and socks, which he'd abandoned on the floor next to his bed. He crept out of the room toward the stairs, taking it extra slow past his parent's open bedroom door. The rickety wooden floors always betrayed movement, the boards loudly announcing any passage at every given opportunity. His father was snoring quite loudly so hopefully that would drown out any alarm. If Earl caught Calvin sneaking about it'd be the belt to his ass.

Luckily the noise issuing from his dad was enough to mask his movement and Calvin swiftly made his way down the stairs. He grabbed his sneakers, triple knotted them tight like he always did, and spent a few minutes searching for his dad's heavy-duty Mag-Lite. When he found it buried in the confines of the junk-drawer he tested it in his hand, liking the weight. It was heavy and solid and would make for a quick weapon if he needed it. Hopefully he would not. Before he left, he grabbed his jacket and zipped it up to his neck, pulling the hood over his head.

Outside he was met with a wall of stifling, wet night. The grass was laden with dewdrops, the air pregnant with mosquitoes and gnats. When Calvin switched the flashlight on he could see swarms of the insects hovering around the porchlight.

Calvin plodded down the porch steps and made his way down the drive, his sneakers crunching gravel and rocks beneath him. The crickets continued their chorus as Calvin, his heart racing, flicked the flashlight left to right and back again, straining his ears to pick up any errant sounds. It was spooky out, that was for sure. The forest was a dense black, the night sky mottled by a few heavy clouds. Tonight the moon was hidden, so it was an extra thick darkness. Thankfully the maglite could penetrate the veil.