Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Caleb has stopped talking for what seemed like a few minutes and tried to figure out the priest’s thoughts. He didn’t have to wait too much longer when the Priest began.
“Well, my son…” The priest searched for the right words. “I strongly hope you really have repented for all of these terrible sins. I will not lie to you and say that I am not appalled at your lack of concern (to say the least) for the human life. In God’s gracious mercy you will be forgiven, but you should realize that only because we have such a merciful God, will you still be able to venture in to the gates of heaven when it is your time.”
“I yearn for heaven’s gates father, but I fear I will push them too far out to my reach,” Caleb said sadly.
“That is nonsense my child, our God is a harsh but just God, and through Jesus Christ may you be saved if you truly want to be saved.”
“You make it seem that anybody can kill anybody and just repent and be saved. Where is the logic in that?” Caleb asked.
“One who truly wants to be saved will be saved. God can read our minds and our hearts. A man who has killed but has seen the wrongness of his ways and runs towards the light is a man who runs to salvation.” The priest said triumphantly.
Sorrowfully Caleb responded, “I don’t think I can be saved father. My life story is not over and I think at the end you will be saying differently. I will continue if you don’t mind.”
“Continue on then my son.” The priest shifted himself in a more comfortable position as he had a feeling he would be on the hardness of the wooden bench for a time longer than he had anticipated. As Caleb picked up from where he left off, the priest realized he may not be able to help this man.

‘The sun had been up for a few hours when I pulled in to a town to get another quick meal. I decided to stop at another small diner; the last one had been real good to me. I parked my car and grabbed the ruby hilted dagger off of the passenger seat and put it in my waist band. The layout of this diner was much like the last one, only there were a few more people working inside and a few more customers. I asked for water and a turkey sandwich when the waitress finally came to greet me. As she was walking up though, I felt the strangest feeling deep in my body as if I knew this woman. I quickly dismissed the feeling. The waitress, whose name tag read “Bonnie”, was in her early thirties and had a pretty face with long black hair. After she brought my meal she stayed around for a second eyeing me in a suspicious manner.
“You need anything else sugar?” She asked intent on satisfying her curiosity.
I looked up from taking the first bite of my sandwich and shook my head no, then went back to eating. She still didn’t want to walk away.
“If you don’t mind my asking where is your parents? I saw you pull up in the red car and you seem barely old enough to be cruising around?’
I looked up at her once again and just stared in to her eyes, subconsciously I was screaming for help, but she was as observant as she thought she was.
“My parents are dead ma’am and I’m driving to my grandparent’s house in Washington D.C. I know I don’t seem old enough but I assure you that I am.” I kept my eyes on her a few moments longer and then went back to eating.
“I’m very sorry to hear that. My parents are both with God too…” She kept talking but I didn’t hear a word of it. At the reference of God my head had snapped back up. She assumed I was listening to her story with pity; I was really searching my memory for any recollection of God. I was deep inside of my mind and I could feel that I was brushing the edges of my knowledge of this God. I could here her talking far off in the distance when a sharp pain burned through my skull. I screamed a guttural scream, and fell over to the floor. The world went black.
I had a dream during this black out, or more of a vision. I believe the man in white had sent it to me. I saw the sheriff of the town I used to live in with my foster parents, sitting at his desk when a young woman walked in. She had her back to me but I could tell it was the beautiful waitress for their diner. Tiffany was her name and I could hear the worry in her voice.
“They should be back by now sheriff. Jacob told me they’d only be gone for a night and they still aren’t back. It just doesn’t feel right I tell ya. Something happened and you need to check it out.”
“Ok, ok Tiffany calm down now. I’m sure it’s nothing. They have been having some problems with Caleb and they prolly wanted to stay out there a little longer to let him clear his head. He’s had a hard time in this life so far.” The sheriff stood up and put his hands on her shoulders. Calm down now sweetie, everything will be fine; I’ll go check it out tomorrow morning if they still aren’t back.”
“Ok, you’re prolly right, I’m sorry for getting all worked up, and bothering you over nothing,” Tiffany apologized staring in to the sheriff’s eyes.
“Oh it’s no bother, you know how much I enjoy your visits,” the sheriff said smiling. Tiffany giggled as the sheriff pulled her close to his body wrapping his arms around her. Their lips met as the sheriff began sliding Tiffany’s dress off. Through the window, the moonlight shined down and glinted off of a gold wedding ring on the sheriff’s finger. A gold wedding ring that tiffany had no part of. The world flashed white.
The sun was up and the sheriff was in the woods yelling for help. He was crouched down over Jacob’s and Margaret’s bodies crying begging the lord for assistance. The reference to the lord stirred something in my mind but was quickly pushed away. The sheriff had his head on Margaret’s back and both arms were around her hugging her close.
“Oh ma no not this, not my ma. I’m sorry I’m so sorry lord why…” The sheriff continued sobbing. I hadn’t known that Margaret was the Sheriff’s mother. I remember Jacob saying he never had any children which may be a reason why he and Margaret were never married. It seems everyone can sin. The world flashed white again.
The sheriff was in the station talking to his deputies. The sun was shining the windows of the police station outlining the sheriff in an angelic way.
“The boy, Caleb, is missing with the car. Maybe someone took off with the boy and the car, or maybe it was the boy who took off with the car. Either way I want answers and I want ‘em now.” My world flashed white one last time and I woke up on the floor of the diner with Bonnie the waitress shaking my shoulders.
“Hey, hey sugar you alright? Monty, we need to get him to the doctors. Hey sugar.” She yelled shaking me more urgently.
“His eyes are opening. Hey you ok?” Bonnie asked smiling.
“Yeah,” I answered dazed. “I’m fine could I just get some water?” I asked as I started to stand up. I was a little woozy still but Bonnie kept her hand on my elbow. As my vision straightened and my head cleared up I noticed my shoulders felt relieved as if some great weight had been lifted. I walked out of Bonnie’s grasp to the sunlight coming in through the glass front door. I opened it and felt the warm tingle cover my face. A slight breeze rustled my hair as I inhaled the clean air of springtime. It seemed as if this were the first time I had ever seen the daylight. My world seemed trapped in endless nights. I walked back in the diner smiling and Bonnie was taken aback.
“You seemed so sad and angry when you first got here child, now your smiling? You sure you’re ok? That spell didn’t mess with your head at all did it?” Bonnie asked teasingly.
“I feel better then I have in a while Mrs. Bonnie.’
“That’s Ms Bonnie,” she quickly corrected. “The Mr. ran out a long time ago.” She looked to the ground as if recalling some distant depression and I nodded my head in respect.
“I like this place bonnie.” I said changing the subject.
Startled she looked up at me. “This ‘ole diner? I don’t see why.”
“No I like this are outside the diner. I think I may stay here for a while. Just until I feel like continuing my trip up to see my grandparents,” I promptly added.
“Well what a shame, D.C. is going to be missing out on the pope and you. I feel sorry for the district,” Bonnie said teasingly.
“The pope?” I asked
Bonnie just stared at me for a few seconds dumbfounded then responded.
“Yeah the pope, the Catholic leader? Hellllooooo. Ring any bells? He was supposed to be making his first trip to the United States this week but something came up and he couldn’t make it. They say it will be years before he can return. Although I don’t understand why, it’s just a plane ride away. It can’t be hard for him, I mean, he’s the pope” Bonnie trailed off on her own thoughts as I stood wondering if this had any significance with my change in moods and obvious abandonment of the man in white. I shook that thought away and put my mind on more important matters, like where I was going to sleep. Bonnie handed me a glass of water and I gave her my thanks not even noticing she had gone get it.
“You know if you are deciding to stay in this dump of a town then I have a few extra bedrooms at my place. I’d make you pay rent of course but I could get you a job working here at the diner sweeping floors or something while you figure out your way.” I stared at her smiling and she already knew my answer. “Well sugar I’m gonna have to know your name if you are gonna be living with me.”
“My name’s Caleb, Ms. Bonnie.” I responded.
“No, no just Bonnie, I don’t need that little constant reminder,” she said smiling. “I get off in about an hour if you want to wait around, then we can go together. Now I have to help these other good people out so just make your self comfortable and I’ll be done before you know it.”
I sat back down at my table with my water glass and half eaten sandwich. My eyes followed Bonnie as I saw a beauty in her that I hadn’t recognized before. She wasn’t just a pretty face it seemed she had once been stunning. Now her face was a worn mask that had seen too many awful things, and it seemed she had taken a good beaten from the stress. But underneath it all was a gorgeous woman with a kind heart. I suddenly felt some kind of feeling stirred deep inside my body that I had never felt before and I felt my cheeks flush. Bonnie looked at me then and her smile grew wider as I turned my head back down towards my sandwich. Living here might be the best thing that had happened to me so far. This might be a place that could shield me from the demons. I thought that this place could be the start of a new life, a place that could take me away from all of the bad. Somewhere far off in the recesses of my mind I could have sworn I heard laughter.
I was sitting at the same table when Bonnie was finally off of the clock. I had been thinking about my life, and wondering where a lot of my memories had gone. I hadn't heard the man in white's voice in a while and i was hoping that it would be gone for good. I had begun to think that I wasn't doing those bad things on purpose that maybe it had been him controlling me somehow. I just couldn't wrap my mind around it.
"So you aren't some evil boy that's gonna attack me in my sleep if I let you stay with me are ya?" I looked up as Bonnie finished talking with a smile on her face.
"No ma'am," I replied back cautiously. A melodious laugh came from her throat then as she motioned for me to get up.
"I was just pulling your chain Caleb, and lets forget all of that ma'am stuff. Now lets get out of here before they make me get back on the clock, and go check my place out. I think you'll like it, there is a lot of land, a big pond in the back yard and my house is big enough to keep to your self if that's what you'd like."
"I think that sounds wonderful," I said and I really meant it. I was hoping to forget the atrocities of my early childhood and begin anew.
"You wouldn't mind it if we walked would you? I love to walk through the trees and it's only a short distance. Your car will be safe here." She was asking me as if I would say no and make us drive to the house in which she was letting me live for a short time.
"That's fine with me," I replied. "I just need to get a bag out of the car." It was a bag full of clothes I had packed before my ma and pa's camping trip.
We had left the diner and I went and grabbed my bag and made sure the dagger was in place in my waistband. We began walking down a dirt road that was parallel to the main road for a distance, than forked away in to some trees. We hadn't been walking 15 minutes when a great big white house loomed before us. There were windows every where and not another house as far as I could see. Trees and woods outlined bonnie's property and the seclusion seemed nice. The shutters next to every window were black as were the big double doors leading in to the house. There was a porch the stretched the entire length of the house and around. A porch swing sat off to the right of the main doors. There were a few balcony's hanging off of some of the windows which were big enough for a grown man to walk out of. This house truly was a sight. It didn't even dawn on me to ask how she came to be in possession of a house of this grandeur.
"It was my great grandfather's passed down though the family line until it got to me. This is the Monroe family mansion, and it would seem I'm the last Monroe. I was born in to money if you were wondering and I don't need to work, but I like the company at the diner, it gets lonely around here sometimes and i like the people." She paused for a moment studying my face. "You know you don't say very much but it's almost as if I can here your thoughts through the looks you make on your face and your eyes. I like that." She turned back to the house we were walking towards. The sunlight was dwindling and frogs could be heard croaking in the distance. Geese honked over head as a slight breeze pushed around my body and through my hair. I think this was the first time I can remember being truly happy. The man in white had come through on his promise to set me free and make me happy. Although I couldn't being to remember how I had been sad as a young boy.
"We are far from through yet boy," the voice in my head laughed. "Enjoy your peace now but before long we will play together again." The voice trailed off echoing more laughter in my skull. I shivered as a cold wave of dread ran down my spine. It had been foolish of me to think he was gone. But I would enjoy my peace for as long as I could. Bonnie saw me shiver and asked if I was ok. I nodded as we walked up her porch steps. She put her key in to the lock and pushed the two tar black doors in. My eyes opened wide in amazement at the crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling. A little to my right were stairs that went up to the next floor and circled back down to a little further to my left where the stairs came back down. I couldn't see the far back of the house from where I was standing and the doors to the left and right of me were shut. Bonnie began walking to the back of the house where I couldn't see and I had to shake myself out of my initial shock to begin to follow her. Through the cavernous house we walked until we reached another set of doors. These ones weren't as big and when opened led to a kitchen bigger than the one at the diner where I was raised. We walked through the dimly lit kitchen to another set of doors.
"If you ever get hungry you can rummage through all of this. Any food in here is your food as well. Your bedroom is right here," she said as she opened the doors. Again my jaw dropped at the grandeur of where I was to sleep. The huge bed on the solid oak frame with matching oak dresser drawers on the wall next to the bed seemed almost too much for me to bear.
"This is the bedroom fit for a king," I said still in disbelief.
Laughing Bonnie replied, "No that would be my bedroom up stairs. This is just one of the guest rooms. Make yourself comfortable, we can have dinner in about hour. We can talk then." With that she walked out of what was now my bedroom and shut the doors. I was alone in my own little part of a castle. I smiled as my luck seemed to be turning.
I threw my bag on the floor and looked around the room. I walked over to the dresser and pushed it away from the wall just enough to drop the dagger behind it, and then I pushed it back in place. Hopefully I wouldn't need that for a while. I jumped in the soft bed and closed my eyes. A little nap is just what I desired.
I stood standing on a rocky ledge, my vision blurry as screams pierced my eardrums. My brain was vibrating in my skull from the wails and cries. They came from everywhere, millions upon millions of them stabbing my senses. I crumpled to the ground, my head cradled in my hands. I felt a warm liquid running down my face. I opened my eyes, and through my dazed vision I saw red streams coming from what I could only assume were my ears. I started sobbing then, as I let go of my head and began crawling to the edge of the rocky shelf I was on. The temperature rose to an almost unbearable degree the closer I crawled yet for some reason I needed to see what was causing these agonizing screams. Fire shot up in front of me and I tried to turn away from waves of flames but I wasn’t fast enough. The fire melted the right side of my face to the bone, yet for some reason I could think through the pain. The sight was gone in that eye but through the heat I crawled on, only a few feet from the edge. I could feel the wails of the tortured souls burning me more than the flames. The skin from my hand and knees was in gooey patches trailing behind me. With my good eye I could see scorched skin hanging from my chin, dragging on the burning ground. My eardrums had finally burst from the wailing and yet still I trudged on. The need to know was too strong, and there was no point to turn back. One final heave with my melted hands pulled me to my curiosity’s end. I had my good eye closed pondering the horrid sound of my finger bones scraping across the rock. I took one last deep breath and felt my throat and my lungs give way to the burning. I tried to scream in pain but the sounds of the moaning and screaming consumed my shriek. I opened my eye to a never ending ocean of fire below me. Millions upon millions of people were splashing around in the liquid flames screaming and melting in front of me, only to regenerate and melt all over again. I could feel the rest of my skin burning off as I got sick. I put my head down, and then forced myself to look back up. The flaming waves and stopped moving, the shrieking and the wailing had ceased and my pain had stopped. I laid there on the burning rock, somehow even more terrified than before. It was as if time had frozen. Then, through the bodies and the frozen flames a man in all white walked towards me smiling. His beautiful blonde hair swayed on his forehead as he walked then he stopped about twenty feet away from me and pointed.
“Welcome home,” was all he said as I screamed and the world went white.
A knock on the door sat me upright as the shock from being brought out of a nightmare slowly dissipated.
“Dinner time if you’re hungry,” Bonnie yelled as I heard her footsteps walking away from my door.
I got out of bed and went to meet her for dinner. The set up was amazing. Under another crystal chandelier we ate steak with hot buttered rolls, green beans, and mashed potatoes with a mushroom gravy. The smell itself was making my mouth water as I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten such a meal if ever.
“I take it you like what you see?” I nodded my head in agreement. “You don’t talk much do ya Caleb?” She stared at me a moment to see if I would respond. “Well that is something we are gonna have to rectify. Well sit down already, and let’s say grace.” My head cocked sideways at the word grace. It was something from an early memory yet I couldn’t quite grasp what it was.
“You must not come from a religious back round my dear. Grace is a prayer to a God thanking him for the food we are about to eat.” Again that God word plagued my ears. It almost hurt to hear that word uttered and yet it drew me in and my curiosity was insatiable.
“God?” I questioned. “I would like to know more about this God, if you wouldn’t mind.” Bonnie just stared at me for a second and I could have sworn I saw a snarl on her lips. But quick as a lightning flash her face was smoothed and she smiled.
“God can be a topic for another day. I haven’t the remedy in me right now to cure ignorance. Next you’ll be asking me who the devil is, but I’m sure you don’t need to know about him do you?” That time a visible snarl was on her lips and didn’t go away so quickly. “Never mind all f this banter sit so we can eat, I’ll say grace.”
As I sat she lowered her head and clasped her hands together on the table and began.
“Bless us, O Lord, for these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Help us to be mindful of all our blessings, and the needs of those who have less. Amen. We can eat now,” she finished as she looked up at me smiling. Her tone during the grace seemed almost mocking.
“I am apparently mindful of those who have less today, what with you sitting at my table. You need a bath. Next time, be sure to wash before sitting at my table to eat.”
Her tone sounded different more malicious and I started realizing that she already didn’t like me very much. I couldn’t figure it out because she had taken me in, but I also didn’t care too much. I had begun figuring out what I was capable of and though the real me despised it, the me who was confronted by ill will from others enjoyed it.
“The food is very God, thank you.” Immediately I realized the mistake I had made and quickly stammered. “Good, good I meant the food is very good, thank you.” I put my eyes down at the table and began to wonder why a simple mess up of words had seemed like such a big deal. When I looked back up Bonnie was smiling.
“The food is from God so I suppose saying the food is very God is not completely incorrect.” Still smiling she added. “Although, there is someone who might not appreciate your talk about God,” Bonnie chuckled. “I can’t imagine him liking it at all.”
I was confused but again I didn’t mull over it too much, the food was amazing and I was famished. When I finished eating I helped Bonnie bring the dishes in to her kitchen and wash them and put them on a rack to dry. She stared at me almost the whole time.
“What is so special about you?” she asked, really seeming to wonder about it. “Hmmm, well I am going to go change and then go out to the pub down the street, being as you are too young, I have a television set in the living room down the hall, feel free to watch it. I’ll be home a little later. Make yourself comfortable. There are some extra men’s clothes in one of these rooms, I’m sure some of them are bound to fit you.” With that she went upstairs to change and I went to do something I had never really done. Watch television. When I saw the television I was amazed at its simplicity but confused as to how it worked. I just understood the general idea that there weren’t people in the box they were just being shown on the TV set from somewhere else. I turned a knob that said on and off and with a soft high pitched noise it turned on. After about a minute an old man appeared sitting in front of a long desk with another man to his right. They were both in suits and one had papers in his hand and he began talking.
“The top news stories we will be covering today are troops in Vietnam total 250,000, Pope Paul VI and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko meet in the Vatican for the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Soviet Union, and last but not least, word that a Church of Satan has just been formed by a man named Anton Szander LaVey in San Francisco today frightening the Christians local to that area. We’ll now take you to Robert Metclaff for news about the war in Vietnam, Robert…” I didn’t hear the news anymore as I sat stunned upon hearing about the pope. Some purpose I had began coming back to the surface at an even more alarming rate when I heard about the Church of Satan, whom I had began to believe was the man in white who came to me every so often and tormented me. I wanted to find this pope of the Roman Catholics, yet I also wanted to visit this Church of Satan to figure out more about the man in white. I was sure that the leader could help me. I sat back on the couch yawning and pondering when Bonnie came in the room.
“I’m leaving now sugar, sorry for acting so weird at dinner, I get in moods sometimes. I hope you’ll forgive me, but I’m leaving now. I’ll make up my poor behavior at dinner to you later on. I’ll be home in a couple of hours don’t wait up,” and with that last word she left.
The television was still talking to me about some war in Vietnam and I found it quite boring so I lay down on the couch to rest a little. I hadn’t had my eyes closed for more than 5 minutes when I heard a loud thump coming from upstairs. I looked up at the ceiling as the thump hit again. The moon was no where to be found outside so the windows were pitch black. No lights were on except the light from the television set, as the thumping grew louder and more frequent. I sat up for a moment wondering what I should do, as the thumping grew louder knocking dust from the ceiling above me. I started shaking as I decided I needed to see what was making that noise. I got off the couch and walked out of the living room. When the light form the television had faded I stuck my hands out and walked very slowly, my heart jumping with every thump I heard. I bumped in to a wall and searched it for a light switch but was unsuccessful. The thumping grew louder and the closer I got to the stairs I could barely make out a muffled sound that was coming faster than thumping. I figured the sounds were coming from the same source. Walking with my hands out proved to be more difficult than I had imagined when I hit what I think was a table and knocked it over. Whatever was on the table fell smashed against the floor in a loud crash and I stood completely still. The thumping and muffled sounds had stopped. My eyes were still in constant black and the hairs on the back of my neck began to rise. A feeling of small electricity went down my spine and arms and legs as the air got a little bit chillier and I shivered. I started walking again, and although I couldn’t see I sensed something move on the ground past me. I hesitated but kept going having a general idea where the stairs where. The dark was consuming me, and yet as my eyes were useless my ears seem to pick up every sound. I almost thought I could hear the legs of a spider hitting the wall as it climbed up it. I instinctively reached my hand out and squished something against the wall. I wondered for a moment how I was able to do that, then I remembered the “talents” bestowed upon me by the man in white not to long before. I used those skills and through the pitch blackness of the house I found the first step up to the terrible sounds. The thumping had ceased for the moment as only the muffled cries of what I could now hear was a man, were disturbing the silence. Emboldened by the remembrance of my “talents”, I stepped up the stairs a little more sure of myself. When the next loud THUMP rang out, I stopped dead in my tracks and tried to stop my knees from shaking. The moaning became louder as my fear rose higher. All I could think of was how I shouldn’t be scared of this after what I had done in my life, but I couldn’t help it. I reached the top of the stairs as the moon shown through the glass windows on the ceiling. Using the moonlight with my extra sensitive eyes I looked to the left down the hall and down to the right when I heard another THUMP come from the right. I made my way down the hall as the muffled cries grew louder and louder and the thumping grew more consistent. I came to the door where the sounds were coming from as the moon had hidden behind clouds again leaving me swallowed by the darkness. My whole body was shaking as I put my hand on the doorknob. I turned it and pushed the door open. The creaking from the hinges pierced my ears as my knees almost gave out from the fear. The thumping and muffled sounds had stopped as I looked in the room and realized it was empty. There was nothing in it. It was completely empty; there was absolutely nothing in the room except a closet. THUMP and I turned my head back to the closet. Whatever was making the noises was coming from there. I walked over and without any hesitation I swallowed my fear and opened the closet door. The moon came back and shown its light down on to a huge black box in the back of the surprisingly large walk-in closet. Still unable to find a light switch I walked up to the box. There was no sound; the silence was ringing in my ears. Though big for a closet it was still a small place as I bent down to unlatch the lock on the box. THUMP THUMP and muffled screams pushed me to my backside as I scooted backwards away from the blackness of the box towards the door. Silence struck me again. I got on all fours and crawled back to the box in the closet. I firmed my resolve and put my hand out to the latch and undid it. I sat back for a moment and waited, but nothing happened. I leaned forward back to the box and put both hands on the smooth, cold metal of it. I pushed the lid up a little bit and something shot up of the box smacking the lid up and knocking me back on my backside. I screamed until my lungs could scream no more as whatever had shot out of the box was now leaning over the edge of it. My body was shaking violently as I fought to regain my composure. The man or what I had assumed was a man wasn’t a man at all. It was a boy tied up with a gag in his mouth. I sat for a moment staring at the boy, my fear slowly dissipating into anger of being scared over a mere child. The boy, still tied, raised his head and stared into my eyes. His eyes were cold and even with only the moonlight to guide my sight I could see how dark they were. They seemed to devour the blackness around him. I leaned forward again and put myself about an inch from his face. I had to prove I wasn’t scared of this boy, but something about him wasn’t right. I reached my hand out and took the gag out of his mouth, and still we sat there staring at each other in the darkness of the closet, spotlighted by the moon. That’s when I saw his body, grotesquely contorted and bruised. There were sores all over his naked form, and his bones were nearly visible underneath his tight skin. A smile began to play upon his lips in a mocking way as I tilted my head and backed away in confusion and horror.
“You,” he coughed then, as if he hadn’t spoken in a while. His voice was creaky and weak. “You,” he began again. “Share the same blood as me, but you are not my family. You will die. You will burn for an eternity and there is nothing you can do about it. Your family before you has doomed you. You have doomed your family. You have doomed yourself. I spit on your future, your waste of God’s gift. I spit on the one who doomed us both.’ His head bowed as I knew tears were falling off of his cheeks to the wooden ground.
“Who are you? Why were you in this box?”
‘DO NOT SPEAK TO ME AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH…” the boy screamed again knocking me back. I stood up this time angered now more than ever at the insolence of this little boy whom I had just saved. All of a sudden a pain shot like an arrow through my skull and I walked to the tied up boy and put my hands around his neck. I waited there for a minute so he knew what was to happen.
“And so begins my descent in to the flames. I will see you one day, and you will…” I did not let him finish as I snapped his neck. I sat back down in shock as the pain subsided. I put my head in my hands and yet could not cry. I could only wish I was not this person that took destroyed life. I lied down in that closet, in the dark next to the dead boy’s body and closed my eyes. I woke to Bonnie sobbing next to me and hammer coming down on my head.
When I woke again the sun was shining through the window only was way above my head and I could see grass growing outside of it. I must have been moved to the basement. My whole body ached as if I had been dragged down stairs and that confirmed my suspicion. I went to stand up but found out I couldn’t and hear the rattling of chains. My ankles were locked in metal clasps that had chains connected to a metal bar that was connected the brick of the basement wall. I heard maniacal laughing coming from somewhere around me as my head was struck with something hard. My face slammed in to the ground and my ears were ringing again only this time not from silence.
“You killed him, you sonofabitch, you killed him. You had no right, he was mine, but you killed him. You took him from me,” she screamed and again struck my head with what I soon found out was a metal pipe. I was beginning to lose consciousness as I lay in a pool of my own blood. Only the strength of the man in white’s gift was keeping me alive, but it wasn’t enough to keep me conscious.
I don’t know how long I had been out but the moon shined down through the little window above my head. My head was pounding and my body ached. I could feel my hair crusted to my head with what I could only assume was my blood. I vomited from the pain of the headache and curled up in a ball on the ground. My throbbing head was almost too much to bear as I struggled to stay awake. I forced my eyes open and would not let them shut, and then I saw the plate of what seemed like food and a cup. The cup held water in which I wasted no time slurping down. On the plate was stale bread and pieces of some kind of meat. Upon seeing the food I had become extremely ravenous and I cleaned the entire meal in a matter of seconds. My head had gone numb, which was a good thing and I curled back in to a ball on the ground. My vision started to get blurry and wavy and I struggled to stay conscious but my eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. Yet again I was out.
I awoke sometime during the day; although what day it was I had no clue. I saw a squirrel run by the window above my head, and smiled in delight as this was the only action I had seen since I had been brought down here. The squirrel stayed by the window for a bit then was gone; I thought that if the squirrel came back I would name him. The basement was dark and humid, and my muscles were stiff from sleeping on the ground. My ankle was chaffed from the shackle but my mind was too confused to try to figure out how to fix this. I thought about the squirrel again to try to focus my mind when the memory of how I had arrived in the basement came back to me. That weird little boy who told me my family had doomed me, I had doomed my family, and I had doomed myself. I thought about it a moment before the thought fluttered away like an aimless moth. My headache had come back but not as strong and I noticed that I wasn’t as badly injured as I should have been. The strength from the man in white had come in handy yet again. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked around at my surroundings. The stone floor and gray cinderblock walls pressed in on me as the chains held me firm. My vision started blurring again as I fought to regain my composure. I fell over on to my hands and knees and hung my head towards the ground. I could feel the tears welling up inside of me but I forced them down. I had promised myself I wouldn’t cry and I would keep that promise. I heard door hinges creak as I pushed myself up back in to a sitting position. Footsteps down the stairs alerted me that someone was coming to see me, and I could only assume that it was Bonnie.
“Soooo you’re awake are you, ya little sonofabitch? You’ve been sleeping for the last couple days now, how are you feeling?” Bonnie asked sarcastically.
“Better,” I said trying to keep the anger out of my voice.
“Well don’t worry sugar; I’ll make sure to remedy that. I held my boy in that box for seven years. His body was misshapen because of it but I couldn’t let his evil out on the world.”
“Why didn’t you just kill him?” I asked.
“Because he was my evil. It was my mistake why he was born so I kept him alive and fed him and washed him, but I couldn’t risk the world finding out.” Bonnie responded looking away.
“You didn’t kill him, but you kept him locked in a box?” I asked, curious about the evil nature of such a young child.
“I told you he was in that box because I couldn’t let his evil loose on the world.” Bonnie was pacing back and forth in front of me. “I couldn’t let anyone find out what I had done. That boy was not born absolved of sin, he was born from the devil’s seed,’ she yelled nearly crying now pacing back and forth frantically now.
“The devil’s seed?” I asked. “You mean you had the baby with the man in white?” I had never before been with a woman in a physical way, so although I knew it took a man and woman to make a baby I wasn’t quite sure how it worked. When I lived with my ma and pa and went to school, there were girls but they didn’t like me much. I had also pretty much surmised that the man in white was this devil, or Satan I had heard about.
“The man in white?” she questioned, stopping her pacing to stare at me.
“The devil I mean, that boy in the box was from the devil?”
Bonnie continued to stare at me before she explained. “He tricked me and told me he was an angel. I was out in the field behind my house asking God for proof of His existence and then he came to me. A man in white as you described. He told me he was my proof of God and after some talking we made love and then he left. I realized I was pregnant about a month later and that’s when the nightmares began. I couldn’t tell you how many times I woke up screaming and crying. His eyes tearing my soul right out of my body…”
“Soul?” I interrupted. “What’s a soul?” I asked remembering vaguely that I had given mine to the man in white.
“Don’t you interrupt me again you little shit!” She screamed. Bonnie walked right up to me and snarled in my face and then coming to her senses quickly backed up and began pacing again.
“Since you are so ignorant, I’ll give you this little gift and I’ll tell you what a soul is. It’s god’s essence that he put in each on of us here on earth. It’s what makes us live and connects us to the Lord…” Bonnie began to cry. “And I think I gave mine up that night in my field. The nightmares have stopped though now that you killed my boy, so I can thank you for that but you had no right no right at all. He was my penance to bear and you took him away from me. If God can’t punish me for my sin than I will never join him in the afterlife, and I don’t want to go to hell Caleb. I can’t take his eyes. His evil eyes,” her lips began to quiver as her body began to tremble in fear but it all stopped almost as soon as it had started when her eyes found mine again. Her lips curled up in to an almost devilish grin.
“I found out a secret about you though Caleb. I could sense his presence all around you from the moment I saw you. You are tainted with his stink, and now you will become my penance. I will keep your evil locked up so the world won’t have to deal with it. God will see my good deeds and he will let me back in his light. I will keep you from spreading your evil on to the world Caleb you are my prisoner now,” she laughed as she was walking towards me. I hadn’t noticed the lead pipe in her hand until just then. I opened my mouth to say something but no words would come out. I didn’t know what to say and for the moment at least, my situation seemed hopeless. I closed my eyes as bonnie lifted the pip up and dropped it down on my head. My world went black.