Redcoats

Chapter 4

The laughter began to die down slowly. Everyone was thinking the same thing but no one said it at first. They all just stared at one another.

Finally, Tiff spoke up, "Did you guys ever go back to figure out what it was."

Brandon and Mike looked at each other and shrugged then shocked their heads.

Jasmine looked at Mike, "You've never had a problem when you stayed over here in the past."

Mike shrugged, "Well the whole thing is surrounded by a fence maybe it's like Old Gunn, everyone says it calmed down when they put a fence around it."

Sammy shook his head, "That fence isn't made of steel, it's old brick and the gates over on Highmarket are alway opened."

Brandon spoke up, "But we all saw the thing walking towards Mike man, what about that."

Jasmine snarked, "Have you guys not seen drunk Carl when he gets really bad, and the scream could have been anything."

Drunk Carl was an old drunk who lived about a block away from Sammy in an old run down house on Duke street. He was a Vietnam veteran who lost his wife and child in a car crash. The crash messed up his back and made him walk with a strange limp. After the accident Carl fell into a bottle and he never came out.

Billy had returned and hearing this explanation made him take pause. For four years he, Mike and Brandon had lived in fear of that church and the graveyard around it. They had crossed the street whenever they had to walk by, avoided it at night and did everything they could to stay away. Had all that work really been for nothing?

Billy looked at Mike, "You really think that could have been Mr. Carl?"

Mike shook his head, "Hell, until everybody ran and ditched me I thought it was your dad man. Maybe Carl fell and was screaming for all we know, you remember when we found him in the street that one time."

Brandon began to grin, "Bros are you thinking what I'm thinking man, we could totally go and investigate, like Scooby Doo and stuff?"

Tiff and Barbara both jumped with glee, "That sounds fun."

Sarah looked up at Mike to see what he thought, he shook his head.

"I don't wanna go back there man I already proved myself on that ground."

Sarah smiled and ran her finger under his chin, "Besides we have some things to do, you guys can go without us."

Brandon took the lead and the eight of them headed out back leaving Mike and Sarah to themselves. They all made their way to the back fence and started to look around at the graveyard on the other side. I was quiet and dark the ancient oaks planted there blocked even the moons light from shining in.

Brandon climbed over first followed by Barbara and Tiff. Next went Sammy Jasmine and Dave. Simon and Billy helped Julia over before entering the graveyard itself. They slowly made their way into the the graveyard until the noticed a second larger wall ahead.

They notice that they were in a separated section of the graveyard the original yard lay beyond that wall. There was an old wrought iron gate halfway down the wall that was closed, but it looked to be the easiest point of entry. Billy reached it first and found it unlocked only an old stone block held it closed.

Unsure of how the gate opened Billy went to remove the block. As he went to sit it back down the block fell onto a small paver stone and cracked it. A cold wind blew through the cemetery and the gate swung away from him into the older part of the graveyard.

Brandon went first, followed by Billy and the others. They moved slowly into the oldest section of the graveyard behind the church. In the middle of the grounds stood an ancient oak tree towering over them, the shadows around it giving off a sinister look. The crept towards the base of the tree and began to survey the cemetery.

"So where did you guys see the thing walking?" Tiff asked as she looked around curiously.

Brandon looked around for a minute then pointed toward the path they'd just left, "Well Mike would've been coming through here when we saw it, so it would have been?" he moved his finger along a path towards the crypt at the far corner of the cemetery, "There, just before you get to the crypt."

Sammy looked over at the crypt, I was like a stone shed maybe six foot by ten foot. It was only five or six foot tall and it looked ancient. Even in the low light from here he could tell that moss and crept up its walls and across the stone roof.

"Has anybody ever checked it out, I mean that's not the old section is it."

Billy pointed to the area closest to the back of the church itself, "That's the old section, there are graves over there from before the Revolutionary war I think, that thing couldn't be more than a hundred years old."

Sammy nodded, "Ok so we check it out first, then we check the church, and no scooby doo type stuff here ok."

Brandon nodded in agreement, "Great idea, Dave you and Jasmine go with Sammy over there, the rest of us will check out the church."

Brandon and Billy went towards the church with Simon and the girls following them. Sammy and Dave looked at each other and back at Brandon.

"He literally said no Scooby Doo shit man what the hell?" Dave called after them.

Jasmine grabbed his hand, "Trust me if he's going that way we're safer going this way."

As they made their way to the crypt Brandon and the rest of the group approached the church's main building. The graves here were hardly readable and covered with signs of the passage of time. As they got closer Billy noticed something peculiar on the ground. In the middle of the pathway was another paving stone; this one had strange markings on it.

"Hey Simon, you're a nerd, what do you think of this man?"

Simon shoved Billy playfully, "Your mom didn't call me a nerd last night asshole."

He bent down and looked at the stone carefully and then started to look around the rest of the graveyard peering down the path. Sure enough near every gate and in specific places these paving stones were placed. He started to back away slowly and pulled Tiff with him.

"Billy I think that's like some kind of hoodoo or wiccan shit man, like the stuff they had at Old Gunn, and it's old, maybe we should leave."

Barbara Julia and Billy began to follow Simon's lead, figuring they may have pressed too far. Brandon was not impressed; he pulled a knife from his boot and stabbed it into the ground beside the stone, trying to uproot it. Billy went to grab his hand and stop him but he was too slow and the stone came loose from the ground and broke in two.

A scream erupted from the church, and echoed through the graveyard. The wind began to pick up and thunder crashed in the night sky as lightning flashed around them. Simon didn't wait with Tiff in one hand and Barbara in the other he sprinted back the way they had come towards the new section and the wall to Sammy's yard.

Brandon Billy and Julia ran in the opposite direction, knowing that a closer exit lay just on the other side of the church near Highmarket street. They didn't stop to look back for fear they would see something chasing them. Only once they passed through the wrought Iron gate did the trio come to a stop.

Brandon quickly grabbed the gate and forced the iron hinges to give and the gate to shut. As he stood on the other side he saw a figure walk from the back of the church slowly towards him. Brandon began to back up as the figure came closer. He crossed the sidewalk and stepped out into the street.

"Brandon, look out!" Billy screamed, but it was too late.

The truck came around the corner at more than twice the speed limit for an inner city street and caught Brandon right between it's grill. He was flung through the air like a rag doll falling back to the earth with a sickening thud. The truck screeched to a halt only a few meters ahead.

Brandon stared in horror at the wrought iron gate. His eyes fixed on the figure the other did not see. As his life slowly slipped away he could see the sickening grin upon its face.