A Little Teaser of Something

Here is a little something I am sort of working on spontaneously in my spare time. It might lead to something, or it might not. There is a working title, but it may change. Enjoy.


A Shade of Midnight:
Tales of East River


David Conlin McLeod
Copyright (c) 2009




Campout in Crows Rest Park

August 4th, 2003, Crows Rest Park, East River, Connecticut

Amy settled into her sleeping bag and curled by the campfire her step-sister Robyne was poking at with a stick. She still wasn’t sure why Robyne wanted to spend the night in such a scary and forbidding place as Crows Rest Park. Even though she was sure the Living Darkness was long gone and nowhere in sight anymore, the old park still had an eerie, spooky feel to it. There were crows, ravens, and blackbirds everywhere up in the trees chattering and squawking. The trees rustled restlessly and Amy was sure that something in the rustling meant the trees were getting ready to lean in on them and grab them. There was something alive inside this park that wasn’t just some mosquito or blackbird.
Robyne didn’t seem bothered by the eerie atmosphere. She was shrugging off the breezes and chattering noises and staring into the flames of the campfire. Her mind was somewhere else entirely and all Amy could do was sit and watch her friend poke the fire absently. The expression on Robyne’s face—what Amy could see of it in the glow of firelight—seemed sad, frustrated, and maybe a bit frightened or haunted.
All Amy knew about this surprise campout was that if she didn’t bundle up some clothes and her sleeping bag and follow along, she’d be left behind and never know what was troubling her sister. Whatever made Robyne want to wander off or run away, it was important or some really big deal to Robyne. There was something troubling Robyne enough to make her want to leave her comfortable bed and their cozy new house and all the things that were so awesome about it.
They were supposed to be safe now and nothing was supposed to bother them anymore. Yet, they were out here in the middle of Crows Rest Park and Robyne was clearly bothered by something that a cool new house and comfy bed couldn’t cure.
“They say ‘time heals all wounds’,” Robyne muttered under her breath, breaking the long silence. “I don’t buy it.”
Was Robyne referring to her scars and old wounds and marks, Amy wondered, or was Robyne talking about something else? Amy wanted to ask, but held her silence and simply watched Robyne as she continued to violently stab and poke her stick into the fire.
“It’s not all perfect. I can still hear her sometimes in my head. I can still feel her—like she’s holding me down and grabbing my shoulders,” Robyne added.
“Who?” Amy asked, leaning in.
Robyne sniffed and glanced up at the night sky. “Somehow she’s still pulling my hair as she’s combing it and doing it up for my big meet. She’s still telling me gymnastics is for sluts. All eyes and teeth, boobs and legs, I am just some flirt flaunting my body in some skanky, skimpy leotard, she thinks.”
Amy listened and clutched her sleeping bag protectively. Robyne continued, her voice finding strength.
“It doesn’t matter that she’s rotting in jail. I still have these ugly scars all over my body and she’s still in my head telling me what to do and how to do it. I thought she’d go away. I thought I could just leave her behind… but… well obviously she has her way of finding me.”
Robyne fell silent and tossed her stick into the fire. While it might be true that the Living Darkness was long gone and nowhere to be seen or felt, other ghosts and demons remained. One of them was hovering over Robyne’s shoulder like a nasty, vicious dragon with claws dug deep into her flesh. Her mother might be in jail, but her mother’s presence was like a ghost or lingering spirit hanging over her like a shroud. Just as things had really started to look so much better and brighter, a storm cloud of memories, chilling feelings, and old voices swept in.
When did Robyne notice these haunting sensations? Maybe the presence of her mother had always been here following her. Maybe the good things like her dad marrying Amy’s mother, the new house, and all those changes for the better were just temporary distractions? Maybe her mother’s spirit or presence had only been in hiding, just waiting for the right moment to return and strike even harder than before? If that was true… if it were possible for a person to have such a power….
“What if my mom is the Living Darkness?” Robyne pondered with a whisper.
“I’m sure the Living Darkness is gone. We found the light and it pointed us home,” Amy replied firmly. “We have a big family now and we can do whatever we want now.”
“Maybe some of the Living Darkness is still inside my mom, and she’s sending it out to find me,” Robyne replied. “Our light might not have reached as far as my mom.”
“Well she’s not your mom anymore. My mom is your mom now and she makes sure we live happily ever after now,” Amy replied.
“Our mom is awesome, but I can’t help thinking that somehow my old mom is out there with the Living Darkness thinking up ways of getting back at me.”
“Is that why we’re in scary Crows Rest Park? Are we hiding from your old mom?”
Robyne offered no reply and unrolled her sleeping bag.
“Well?” Amy persisted. “Are we hiding from your old mom?”
Robyne glanced at Amy briefly before she slid into her sleeping bag and curled inside it. She couldn’t bring herself to answer Amy. Amy sighed as Robyne rolled onto her side and gradually fell asleep. Now Amy only had the flickering flames and the chattering and cawing of ravens to keep her company.
* * *
Amy woke to a strong, stiff wind gusting through the clearing. Smoke from the dying campfire was blowing into her face as she struggled to sit up and rub the aches in her back and legs. With a cough and wipe of her face with the sleeves of her shirt, Amy found Robyne already wide awake, rolling up her sleeping bag and putting together her bundle.
“What’s going on?” Amy asked, trying to avoid the smoke from the doused fire.
“I put the fire out. I want to go for a walk,” Robyne replied. The tone of her voice deep and abrupt. “I left you some granola bars and a juice box. I want to be alone. I’ll come back for you in a little while.”
“You’re leaving me alone?” Amy asked, aghast.
“You can handle being alone for a while. Nothing is out here that can hurt you. I won’t be gone that long,” Robyne replied; rising and wiping dirt and debris off the seat of her khaki shorts. “You’re smart enough to take care of yourself sometimes.”
“But why can’t I come with you?” Amy pleaded, struggling to free herself from her sleeping bag.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Robyne sighed heavily. “There are some things only I can understand.”
“Like what?” Amy asked curiously.
“You just wouldn’t understand, okay?” Robyne nearly shouted.
Amy flinched at the anger in Robyne’s tone and backed away with her sleeping bag. Robyne turned her back on Amy and walked off across the clearing and briskly quickened her pace to a jog down a winding hiking path. Amy watched as Robyne, then her shadow, disappeared from sight.
It wasn’t until well after all the granola bars were gone and the juice box was finished off before Amy saw the sun high overhead among the gathering crows and ravens looking for their perches. Hours had passed, that much Amy was certain of, and still there was no sign of Robyne anywhere. She just jogged off and disappeared, leaving her all alone in an empty clearing in the middle of the scariest park in town.
Even with so much sunshine and warm breezes, the park had a scary vibe to it that Amy was picking up on. She had felt these eerie feelings before with her Grammy at her side not so long ago. These feelings were familiar from nightmares and “clumsy days” and from times spent with her old father who used to yell and scare her too. The spooky way the wind blew and sent chills up her spine reminded her of last fall, just after school started, when a mean, bad monster-man took her away from Grammy and sent her away in a far, far place. That was when she learned what a real monster was.
As Amy stuffed the empty granola bar wrappers and other bits of garbage in a plastic bag, she worried that maybe Robyne was out in the woods looking for where the bad feelings came from. Maybe Robyne was right. Maybe the Living Darkness had been with Robyne’s old mom and maybe now it was coming out again to look for Robyne? Maybe their light couldn’t reach far enough to get Robyne’s old mom?