Back From The Dead

“Enough!” Officer Clapton held up a hand to silence the detective. Looking directly at Tim, he said, “John wasn’t entirely dead when Officer Walsh and I found him. Pieces of him were strewn over a one block area. The parts I saw were crawling toward a house on Oak Street near Zuck’s Woods.”

“Wh-what?” Did Officer Clapton say parts of John were crawling?

“I didn’t stutter,” Officer Clapton said. “They were crawling. Like they were still alive.”

“And on top of that, we have a dozen people missing in that neighborhood, and whoever took them wasn’t very nice about it,” Detective Andrews said. “There was blood in all the houses we entered. These people didn’t go quietly.”

Officer Clapton’s gaze was imploring him. Please tell me everything you know.

And as much as Tim wanted to, as much as he wanted to tell them everything, something made him hold back. The fear of being blamed for everything that was going on.

Tim took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you what I know, but first I need to talk to my lawyer.”

“Goddammit, we don’t have time for this!” Detective Andrews sputtered.

“My lawyer,” Tim said, looking at the detective with a steely gaze. A sudden burst of confidence thrummed through him, the knowledge that whatever was happening wasn’t his fault the overriding influence behind it. “Now!”

And with that, Officer Clapton and Detective Andrews left Tim’s cell to summon Doug Fenner, the lawyer George Ulrich’s dad hired for them.

* * *

Billy Thompson and Candace Drombowsky’s bodies had lain undiscovered in the thick forest of Zuck’s Woods for almost forty years.

Yet their spirits had always remained.

Trapped by something that held them to the spot, they’d waited for the right moment to break free when they could venture forth and seek vengeance on the people that murdered them.

Thanks to the malevolent force Gordon Smith unwittingly conjured, they now had their chance.

Billy and Candace’s essence directed the force into the ground where their bodies lay, and that was all that was required to ignite the spark they’d been waiting for in order to depart this place.

The force could have done that itself, but only to a limited degree. It really had no overwhelming power over remains that had been reduced to bones, but because of the ethereal spirits of Billy and Candace had remained in the area, it had sufficient power to fuel them, to give them enough strength to take control and use their brittle remains to dig their way out of their grave.

It took most of the night. By the time they reached topsoil the sun was up, the birds were chirping and darting among the tall grass, snatching insects. From two miles away at a distant farm, a cock crowed. Five hundred yards down, water burbled in a stream. Candace and Billy did not hear any of this, nor did they need to as they dragged their dessicated bones out of the soil. The earth had preserved some of the tendons that glued their limbs together, as well as their surface skin, giving their corpses a dried, mummified appearance. The tattered remnants of the clothing they’d been buried in crumbled into dust around their feet as they turned their attention to the north.

The presence that directed their movements was the main force that drove them forward, picking their way through the forest. But within the memory of their essence were those that had done them harm. It burned deep in their memories, giving the dark spirit a focus. A sense of direction on where to spread itself. It pushed its two new vessels forward, working at what it was called forth to do.

The spirits of Billy and Candace cared not one whit about what the dark force wanted. They had their own agendas.

Revenge.

And like a beacon in the night, Billy Thompson and Candace Drombowsky shambled their way through the woods, heading toward the Bradfield estate as if they’d known it was there all along.

Chapter Twenty-One

Tim didn’t know what was going on beyond the confines of Brendan Hall, but when his parents arrived a little after seven-thirty with Doug Fenner, his mother shot him a worried glance.

As they filed into the interrogation room, Tim noticed his parents looked worried. Officer Clapton still had that look of fear on his face. Detective Andrews didn’t even look at him. Two other people joined them, a man and a woman dressed in business attire. They took seats across from Tim as Officer Clapton closed the door.

His parents sat on either side of him with Doug on Dad’s right. Mom squeezed his hand. “Are you okay?”

Tim managed a smile for her. “I’m okay.”

Dad gave Tim a nod, then conferred with Doug in quiet tones for a moment as everybody settled in. Mom leaned close to Tim. “I know you’re scared honey, but Clapton is on our side. We had a talk with him in the hallway.”

“You did?”

Mom nodded. “We talked to him and Detective Andrews. They’re going to work on getting the warrant for your arrest revoked so we can get you out of here.”

Tim was watching his dad and Doug Fenner talk among themselves in low tones. Dad nodded at something Doug said and caught Tim’s gaze. He smiled, gave him a thumbs up sign. Tim relaxed. The tension in the room, which had been unbearable a moment ago, suddenly eased.

“Somebody needs to get out to Chelsea’s place,” Tim told his mother. “Gordon Smith threatened her.”

Officer Clapton heard him. “When did Gordon threaten Chelsea?”

“Last night. When you pulled us over he told me that if I told you anything about what was really happening, he would hurt her.”

“And what’s really happening, Gordon?” Detective Andrews asked.

All eyes centered on Tim.

Tim felt his breath draw in, felt his nerves getting frayed the way they always did when all the attention was focused on him. He glanced around the conference table at the people assembled here — Mom, Dad, Doug Fenner, Officer Clapton and Detective Andrews and the two people Tim had never seen before. One of them was a slim, attractive woman dressed in a burgundy suit with dark hair pulled back from her face. She smiled at Tim. “Hi Tim, I’m Diane Keller with the District Attorney’s Office.” She reached across the table to shake his hand.

Tim shook her hand as she introduced him to the man seated next to her, who was older with graying hair and a ruddy complexion. “This is Pat Brown, my associate.”

Tim shook Pat’s hand and then Doug Fenner said, “We’ve all discussed your case prior to coming here to talk to you. We want to hear the truth of what happened, Tim. Like your mother said, your arrest warrant is going to be revoked this morning. You aren’t in any trouble.”

“What about for any so-called future crimes Gordon and Scott decide to frame me for?” Tim asked.

“The Lancaster County Prosecutor’s Office is well aware of the history of harassment leveled against you,” Diane said. “We’re already looking into filing criminal charges against Gordon Smith, Scott Bradfield and possibly others for making false statements to police and for filing false criminal charges against you.”

Tim glanced at Doug Fenner, who nodded. “She’s correct,” he said. “Go ahead, Tim. You’re among people you can trust now.”

Tim could feel that this was the truth. For the first time in years he felt things were finally turning his way. He glanced at each person in the room. Officer Clapton nodded at him, his features open and kind, ready to listen. Likewise, Detective Andrews had lost that hard-assed edge he’d possessed last night. And his parents didn’t look angry the way he thought they would.

“Some of you are going to think this is pretty crazy,” Tim said.

“After what I saw a few hours ago, I think I can believe anything,” Officer Clapton said.

“John Elfman’s body parts moving around?” Tim asked him.

“Yep.”