NEW!!!!! Wednesday Night Horror!

“Digging up the Past”

A writer from New York takes on an assignment to discover the rampant discrimination and bring a light to the numerous Civil War Memorials that still exists in the South. She finds that sometimes the past needs to stay buried!

Lightning illuminated the clouds crossing the dark lines in one and extending to the next in a brilliant display of light.

“Oh my God, I have never seen anything like this,” Mia said. She divided her attention watching the road only briefly while she found delight in nature’s display of light. The wipers on the car struggled to keep up with the rain and then without notice, the downpour would stop.

“What the hell is this?” she said with a chuckle. “I didn’t sign up for this.” Mia looked at the GPS display that just announced that she was going into an unverified area. She looked down at the printed directions placed on her console. Turn left at the first dirt road past Cedar Point Drive. The area appeared to be high end for Alabama with million dollar homes on every point along the water. The power appeared to be off. None of the homes had lights and they were only visible by the lightning which was flashing frequently.

“Dammit! Where is the road?” She glanced at the GPS which appeared to be frozen. The car's headlights reflected off the wet street sign which read Sexton Bend Road and Cedar Point Drive. Two hundred yards further, the muddy road appeared. There were no street lights but she was relieved to turn on the path that led straight to her vacation home for the next month. Mia wanted to spend time in the south since she was a teenager. Now she was a writer getting paid to present an article about her visit. Alabama was ripe with statues of the Confederate soldiers. It was the first capital of the Confederacy and she would make a big splash with exposing the conservative views and the still rampant discrimination.

Mia rubbed her eyes as relaxation started to set in. She sped up in anticipation to get to the house. The mud from the road was lightly tapping the car as she ran along the dirt road. Lightning flashed and illuminated the person directly in the car's path. The woman stood in a night gown, sludge dripping from her hair. Mia pulled on the steering wheel hard to the right and the car ran off the dirt road and into the muck on the side of the road. Mia kicked the brakes to the floor and the car slid to a halt just before it ran into a tree.

She sat there just a few seconds trying to collect her bearings.

“Oh my God, I had to have hit her.” Mia unbuckled the seat belt and slowly stepped out of the car. She couldn’t see anything in the shadows, but total darkness. The rain was just a drizzle now as she searched for the girl.

“Hello, can you hear me?” She walked through the sludge to the point where she saw her standing. The humming of the car engine was the only sound that resonated in the quiet night. Nothing was visible in the darkness past the red glow from the taillights. She walked to the edge of the road and looked in the brush on both sides of the road, but there was nothing.

“I’ll turn the car around and shine the lights down the road.” Mia turned to walk back to the car. A gurgling sound came from behind her. Chills ran down her spine because she had felt the breath of whatever had made the noise. She couldn’t move. Fear had frozen her legs.

“Leave this place while you can,” Mia felt the air from the voice on her neck and the cold mist passed over her shoulders on a ninety-degree night. Chills ran down her back and her body stiffened. She wanted to run but her mind made her turn.

“Thank God you are alive,” she said hesitantly and turned to face the woman. The outline of the woman was all that was visible. The red tail lights of the car gave her a red tint that took her breath away. She stepped forward to help her. Lightning flashed and the features of her face appeared. Rotting skin was hanging from her face and mud was covering her nightgown. Her hair was falling from her scalp and hanging by strands.

Mia screamed so hard it burned her throat. She stopped caught her breath and screamed again. The decomposing corpse came forward within an inch of her. The red glow now lit up her face. The only thing that was intact was her eyes and they showed the knowledge of death. Blood rushed to Mia’s head and for a moment, everything started turning. The creature screamed and the smell of the death and decay sprayed in her face. Mia fell on the ground unconscious.

The rain started coming down hard once more. Mia breathed in hard and started to gag as the water from the muddy road went into her lungs. She coughed hard as she tried to stand. The nightmare was still vivid in her mind and she struggled to get away. Her feet would barely move and she spit mud from her mouth as she opened the door to the car. Her hand jerked the transmission into drive and she pushed the pedal before the door was closed. For a moment, the car just sat and spun.

Mia was now crying and didn’t even know it. Tears ran down her face and sounds came from her throat, but nothing was clear to her. She looked into the rear view mirror and the reflection of the ghost was standing directly behind the car. Mia whimpered loudly. It was combined with a scream and mixed with a cough and blubbering from her tears. She was in shock and all that crossed her mind was to escape.

The tires grabbed the grass on the side of the road and the car started to move. Mud was now being thrown high into the air and the sound of the engine at 6000 rpm echoed against the trees.

The car was going side to side down the road and Mia tried her best to hold it steady. She had only gone a half mile when the old antebellum house appeared in the distance. It was the only place at the end of the road. She drove the car onto the concrete driveway. Her hands were trembling and her lips were quivering. A sound was coming incoherently from her mouth as she turned around to look behind her. She checked every mirror and imagined seeing eyes peering back at her from each one. The apparition was nowhere to be seen. Time passed quickly as Mia sat there reliving every moment, car running and doors locked, trying to understand the series of events

She had been sitting in front of the house for thirty minutes and her heart still raced. The crying now sounded more like small hiccups and she gathered her awareness. A thousand things crossed her mind. Driving back to Manhattan was the very first.

“What will I say? I saw a ghost so I drove back. They will just say that someone played a hoax on me.” Then she realized that it was just a prank. She had been played by a bunch of dumb ass Alabama Red Necks.

“Fuck me. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. How could I let them do this? I don’t even believe in fucking ghost. Damn it. What is wrong with me?” Her hands slowly calmed as her temper began to grow. She reached over to her purse and tried to find the keys to the house. For the first time in her life, she wished that there was a firearm in her purse. None of her crowd believed in weapons. She had only been in Alabama for three hours and wanted to buy one.

“No fucking wonder they love the NRA, damn it!”

The keys were in the pocket of her purse. It was the same place she had placed it when she received them through the mail the month before. She felt the cool touch of the key ring which held four keys and a metal University of Alabama locket. Something about the keys felt strange in her hand. It was almost like it connected her with the house.

Mia was convinced now that it was all an elaborate prank, but she was going to get the best of them. She did carry mace and she placed it in her muddy pocket. The house was huge and intimidating. The second story of the white house was entwined in darkness. For a moment, she allowed her eyes to scour every window. She imagined something moving in each one, sitting back in the darkness, waiting for her to come inside. For a moment, a face appeared then disappeared in the attic window of the old house. Delirium possessed her and nothing she could do would stop it.

“Stop it. Stop thinking like that. GOD!” She placed her hands over her face and grunted loudly into them. Something hit the car. Her heart skipped a beat and for a moment, she didn’t want to look. Slowly, her hands drifted below her eye level. It was a limb that dropped onto the hood of the car and slowly slid to the ground.

“Damn, I can’t believe that I am letting myself act like this. Ok, I am going in.” She reached in the back and picked up her bag and headed toward the door. Every instinct told her to go back, run, don’t go inside, but she continued.

She walked up the sidewalk as the lights to her car slowly faded. Now, she had wished that the adjustment was on for longer. Lightning flashed giving the house a hellish look. Mia’s hands were trembling again and she really didn’t know why. The voices in her head were now screaming at her to go in. Something was coming up her. Her sixth sense told her to hurry. She could feel the presence. Chills formed on her neck as she fumbled with the keys. There were four and she had tried two already.

“Please God, let this be the one.” The prayer was answered and the key entered. She pushed the door hard and ran inside, slamming the door behind her. The wind blew against the door and the lightning became more intense. The rain began to hit the windows with extreme force. Mia placed her head against the door and turned the lock, then dead bolted it. The house creaked from the excessive wind.

She raised her head. The women’s horrific face was in the glass of the doorway. Mia screamed and backed up to the stairwell. Her body stumbled as she backed up the stairwell watching the women. In her mind, she knew it was a prank, but her heart was racing.

“Go away you fucking bitch. Leave me alone.” Mia blinked and in that split second, the woman was gone.

Five minutes went by and her eyes never left the door. She eased down onto the stairs, sitting, watching the door. The storm outside still raged. Rain sprayed against every window, but it didn’t make her head turn. Mia thought about the expression on the woman’s face and her stomach turned in knots. It looked as though she had been under water for months. She had seen the best makeup in New York City theatre and nothing compared to that fucking corn fed bitch.

“Where do they learn this shit? What if it is real?” For the first time, she considered that for some reason, a ghost was trying to communicate with her.

“But why just to scare me? She hasn’t tried to attack me?” Mia thought about what the woman had said.

“Leave while you still can.” Why would she say that?”

Mia looked around the house. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The furniture was a little older than she expected, but the place was spotless and was surprisingly well kept. She slowly walked up the stairs to the bedroom. The owner specifically asked her to use this one room. At the time it was odd to her and now she wondered if maybe it was part of some game he was playing. She backed up the stairs, bag in hand and took each stair one at a time. There was a thud against the upper window in the foyer but it was just the limb of the large oak tree.

Mia made her way to the bedroom and scoured the room with her cell phone light. There was nothing to be scared of. She eased into the adjoining bath and her light revealed the bathtub shower and toilet which was surprisingly nice and up to date. For the moment she was safe and unafraid. It took her very little time to shower and change to her two-piece cotton pajamas which she loved and used her cell phone to get ready for bed. The women’s face haunted her and Mia constantly looked around the room expecting the ghost to appear, but she didn’t.

The feel of the cool cotton sheets relaxed her and took away her thoughts of death. Within a minute she was dreaming and the sun beat down on her and the humidity made her forehead and lips sweat even under the giant oak that sat in front of the house. It was a different time and houses lined the river bank as far as she could see. The dress she wore was full and never in her life had she felt engulfed by fabric as she did in her dream. In the distance she heard gun fire and a moment later, the smell of smoke teased her senses.

“Sara, get the kids and run as fast as you can into the woods.” Fear filled her mind as she watched me ride up on horses. The man who just spoke to her ran in front of her and fired at the soldier on the horse. Another shot rang out and the side of his head sprayed across her off white dress. She screamed in horror. The men set fire to the houses. Flames rose quickly in the hot sun and Mia watched in disbelief as the soldiers in blue massacred the people around her.

“Run! Leave this place!” The sound brought her out of her sleep. Her eyes opened and she couldn’t breathe. The rotting flesh of the ghost was inches from Mia’s face.

“Leave, now!” The ghost continued to scream in its whispered voice. Mia heard a loud crash upstairs which caused the ghost to stop and rise into the air. She floated a foot off the floor and Mia could not take her eyes off of the spirit. In a solemn voice, she spoke once more as she looked up toward the ceiling.

“It’s too late.” The entity slowly disappeared. Mia’s chest pounded as heavy footsteps crossed the attic floor. Run, her voice sounded emphatic in her mind. The sounds of walking started down the stairs from the attic as she opened the door. The lock was stiff and it took her several seconds to open the door. She swung it open and the looked at the dark corridor which led up the stairs. Lightning flashed and there stood the bloody Confederate soldier with the front lobe of his face missing.

Mia screamed and ran down the hallway toward the stairs. She took the stairs three at a time, never looking back. In the back her mind, she heard him behind her slowly stalking her. She didn’t dare look back. The door lay just ahead of her and her feet moved quickly against the hardwood floor. She opened the lock and turned the handle. The door didn’t budge. Her hands gripped the handle firmly. Panic set in as she felt his presence within a few feet of her. She didn’t want to turn and see him again.

“No, God let me out,” she screamed. "The deadbolt,! It was the deadbolt holding the door." Hands touched her shoulders and she screamed again. The bolt clicked and she pulled the door open and ran out of the grasp of the entity. Lightning flashed as she ran off of the porch and down the stairs. The front yard was filled with the rotting corpse of Confederate soldiers and their families. A small boy grabbed her by the leg and looked up at her. His facial bones were distorted and his right eye hung out of its socket.

“Mommy” he screamed as he struggled to hold onto Mia’s leg. She pulled away frantic. A constant sound came from her throat. The walking dead was closing in upon her and she struggled to get away. Mia ran to her only exit; the river. Her bare feet hit the wooden pier and moved along the length of it very quickly. She was a great swimmer and knew that she would be safe. The water would be her savior. Half way down the pier she dove in and began to swim. Hands reached up through the water and grabbed her by the ankles. She screamed as they pulled her under. Her lungs filled with water as she struggled to get away. With death reaching out to her, she conceded and floated to the bottom of the Black Warrior River. A million thoughts ran through her mind before her soul made its passage. The vision of the young women floating across from her was the last one she would see in this realm.