Black Water Creek (14 page)

He
looked into the terrified eyes of Kelly.

Paul
released his grip and stumbled back, not onto the dusty floor of a decrepit house in Northern Afghanistan, but his girlfriend’s bed.

Keegan stood in the doorway, holding his blanket and crying.

Kelly gasped for air and coughed. Paul stood frozen in shock. He looked down at his hands. “Oh my God.”

He went to Kelly and she screamed. “No! Get away from me!” She stumbled off the bed, grabbed Keegan
, and ran into the bathroom.

Paul put his hands on the closed door. “Kelly, I’m so sorry. My God, I would never hurt you on purpose! I don’t know what happened, it was…it was so real.”

Kelly didn’t answer, just sobbed uncontrollably behind the bathroom door. Paul pictured her sitting on the floor, clutching her son in terror. He slowly backed away, knowing any more explanations would be hollow. He got dressed as quickly as possible with his shaking hands and ran out into the frigid night.

*****

Just like before, he’s completely naked except for the rubber gloves, now completely covered in blood. It’s everywhere. Dripping from the table, smeared on the back of his hairy thigh where he scratched his leg, splattered on the wall, covering the instruments scattered about the room.

Kelly can’t take her eyes from Elizabeth’s fiery red hair, caked with her own blood. He still stands with his back to her, busying himself with his project, oblivious to Kelly’s watching eyes. She
’s frozen, too shocked to move and unable to look away. Finally, he detects her presence and slowly turns around. The expression on his face is pure evil. Pure madness.

The violation of Elizabeth’s body is
almost beyond Kelly’s comprehension. She tries to scream but her throat constricts and nothing comes out. Large flaps of skin from various body parts, gone. Fingers and toes, missing. Her eyes may have be removed but it was impossible to tell from the swollen and mangled face of the once young and beautiful girl. Her chest cavity is spread wide with a rusty surgical apparatus.

The man h
olds something in his left hand, his right hand busy pleasuring himself using Elizabeth’s lifeblood as lubrication. Kelly gags, followed by dry heaves, but still can’t turn away.

He drops the item from his left hand and lunges for her. Kelly has an instant to see
the heart bounce off the floor before he’s on her, both hand clamped around her neck. He squeezes and lifts her off her feet. She finally snaps out of it and fights back. Slaps his head, claws at his face, kicks his legs. He absorbs her blows without flinching, a sick smile spreading across his face, revealing his crimson stained teeth.

The corner of
Kelly’s vision darkens and her legs give out. Suddenly she’s on the floor, the maniac on top of her, still choking. Her lungs burn for air. She feels the fight slowly slip away from her.

The hands suddenly release and she blinks her eyes in the dark room. Paul on top of her. Keegan sobbing in the doorway.
Fighting to take a breath. Her nightmare turned reality.

Chapter
23

Kelly cried until her throat grew hoarse and her tears ran dry. She sat on the bathroom floor clinging to Keegan, rocking him back and forth. His pajamas were soaked with her tears. He had quieted down and stopped crying himself, now he just stared blankly at the floor with this thumb in his mouth.

She stretched out her legs and groaned from her stiff muscles and joints. He
r tailbone hurt from sitting on the hard tile floor. She’d heard Paul leave a long time ago, probably over an hour, but couldn’t bring herself to open the door. She felt safe in the small room, locked away from the horrors of her dreams and the man she thought she was falling for.

Kelly blew her nose and looked at her son, hating herself. She thought she’d saved him from the unstable and violent life back home with Don and now here i
t was starting all over again. Instead of putting Keegan first above everything else, she’d let Paul come between them just like she’d let it happen with Don for far too long.

“Sweetie?” She rubbed his back. He looked at her, thumb still in his mouth. “Are you okay?”

He stared at her for a moment before finally answering. “Is Paul my new daddy?”

“No, he’s not. He’s just…he’s Mommy’s new boyfriend.”

“Is he mad at me?”

Kelly pulled him onto her lap and kissed the top of his head. “Of course not. Paul would never get mad at you. I think he just had a really bad dream tonight and he didn’t mean to hurt me. It was an accident. I know he would never hurt you.” Kelly’s heart ached, wanting to believe with every fiber in her body what she told her son was the truth.

“I’m so sorry that you had to see that and it scared you. It scared me, too.” She rocked her son until she could stand the hard floor no longer. She finally got up and unlocked the bathroom door. The house was dark and quiet. She held on to Keegan’s hand and looked out the kitchen window. Paul’s car was gone.

She tucked Keegan back in his bed and stood at her own bedroom door for a moment before going back into his room and curling up next to him.

Chapter 24

Kelly woke with a start at the sound of knocking at the front door. She quietly slipped out of Keegan’s bed without waking him and quickly went into the kitchen. Her heart raced as she pulled the curtain back and saw Paul standing on the other side. He looked terrible. His eyes were red and puffy and he was wearing the same clothes from the night before. She unlocked the door but the kept the chain on and opened it a crack. She didn’t know what to say.

Paul broke the silence. “Can I come in?” His breath held a hint of stale booze and it made her stomach turn. An all too familiar odor from the past.

“I don’t know.”

“Kelly, I am so sorry. I don’t know what happened and I had no idea what I was doing. I had a terrible dream and…” His voice trailed off.

Kelly kept her hand on the door and pulled her robe tight against the cold morning air slipping in.

Paul glanced at her neck. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

She looked at the ground and shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

“Can I just come
in so we can talk? Please?”

“I can’t, Paul. I need some time. If you could only have seen the look in your eyes.”

He took a step back and held up his hands. “Okay. Whatever you want, I understand. Just…just call me when you’re ready, okay?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to his Jeep.

Kelly almost called out to him but stopped herself. She was doing the right thing. She had to be one hundred percent sure her son was safe and she couldn’t get the image of Paul’s face out of her mind. The pure hatred and anger. It was too much.

She closed the door and fiddled about in the kitchen while her mind raced. A few minutes later she jumped at another knock on the door. Would she let him in this time? Maybe she was overreacting. A sense of disappointment mixed with relief hit her as she pulled the curtain back and saw Sue.

“Is everything okay, dear? I expected you twenty minutes ago.”

Of course, she was supposed to be working that morning and should have dropped off Keegan by now. Sue waited for an answer while Kelly’s mind whirled.

“I just got up. Stupid alarm clock didn’t go off. I was just about to call you, actually.”

“No problem, you go ahead and get ready. Little one still sleeping?”

“Yeah, we were both up pretty late if you wouldn’t mind letting
him sleep in a little while longer.”

Kelly got in the shower, feeling guilty about not telling Sue the truth. She wasn’t even sure if Sue knew her and Paul were together and she didn’t know how to tell her that her nephew almost strangled her to death.

She dried her hair off with a towel and put it in a ponytail. She checked herself out in the foggy mirror and wasn’t pleased with the results. She looked ten years older and felt twice that. At least she didn’t have any bruises on her neck.

She tossed on some jeans and a sweater and went into the kitchen. Keegan sat at the table eating cereal
and Kelly was relieved to see him acting like himself, humming and swinging his legs as he ate. Kelly kissed him on top of the head.

“Morning, sweetie.”

“We’re going to Playland!”

“Really?”
Playland was an indoor playground in a former warehouse on the outskirts of town. For five dollars, stressed out stay-at-home moms could get a moments peace while their kids enjoyed the ballpit and slides. Sue took him last week and that’s all he’d talked about since.

“Sounds, great.” Kelly went for her purse. “Let me get you some money
, Sue.”

“No, no, it’s on me. You get going before that nephew of mine fires you for being late.”

Kelly said goodbye and put on her winter coat, a futile exercise once she stepped outside. The icy wind cut right through it. She approached her truck, staring at the large white magnet she’d placed over the spray-paint until they could remove it properly. She started up the engine and rubbed her hands together as the motor struggled to warm up.

The thought of going to work filled her with dread but she doubted Paul would come in
so she wouldn’t have to see him. It was the last place she wanted to be, but guilt over leaving Charlotte alone at the store was enough for her to put the truck in gear and drive.

Charlotte
put down the phone as Kelly walked in. “There you are! What’s going on? I just called Paul and he didn’t answer.”

“Sorry I’m late. Paul’s not here?” Kelly feigned surprise.

“Uh uh. I had to open myself.” Charlotte crossed her arms and leaned back on the counter. “Not that it matters much. Nobody has come in yet, but still.”

“Sorry again,” Kelly called over her shoulder. “I’ve got some books to shel
ve.”

Kelly tried to keep her mind occupied with her work over the next few hours but wasn’t having much luck. When she wasn’t thinking about the incident with Paul, flashes of the horrible nightmare plagued her thoughts
instead.

She sorted through a stack of trade-ins one of the others had bought and paused at a book named
,
Rockwell County – An Illustrated History Guide
. She flipped through the local history book out of curiosity and stopped at the chapter on Black Water Creek. The first couple of pages were old photos of downtown. Kelly smiled at the men in their suits and ties and the women in their long dresses. Horse and carriages lined the street in one photo and the other showed off the town’s first street car as it carried passengers from a neighboring village.

Kelly turned the page and
nearly dropped the book. Her blood ran cold as she looked in the eyes of the man from her dreams, staring back at her in black and white. It was the same man, without a doubt. She finally tore her eyes from his face and read the caption below the photo:

Harlan Hoskins (1872 – 1932) was one of the county’s wealthiest men and is considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of Black Water Creek. Hoskins was the first standing village president and owner of several successful businesses in town. At one time almost half the population of Black Water Creek was employed by Mr. Hoskins.

As an officer in the Army reserve
s, Hoskins served briefly as an infantry company commander in World War I before a shrapnel injury ended his military service. Hoskins turned into a recluse after the war, selling his businesses and rarely leaving his riverside estate until his death in 1932. Hoskins’ official cause of death was listed as natural causes, however many in town suspected he took his own life due to losing most of his fortune from the stock market crash of 1929.

Kelly flipped through the following pages, hoping to find more about Hoskins, but found nothing. She turned back to the photo. It had to be the same man from her dream. Riverside estate. Could Ed and Sue be living in his old house? It was too much of a coincidence.

She went to the computer and
typed his name into the search engine. After clicking through a few pages of results she found nothing. Hoskins may have been a big wig in town back in the day, but the modern internet wasn’t interested.

Kelly glanced at the clock and went to find
Charlotte. She sat behind one of the counters, looking bored and flipping through a magazine.

“Hey,
Charlotte, I really hate to ask considering I was late and Paul’s a no show, but do you think you can watch the store by yourself until closing time? I have sort of an emergency at home.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Thanks! I owe you one.” Kelly slipped on her jacket, grabbed the book, and went out to the truck.

*****

Kelly pulled up in front of the Black Water Creek library, a modest one story brick building that shared space with the community center. She walked up to the front desk and was greeted by a silver haired librarian sorting books.

“
Do you have any books on local history?”

“Yes, I believe there are a few.” The woman lifted her reading glasses and propped them up on the top of her head. “
I’ll show you where they are.”

She led Kelly down one of the aisles and paused at the end. “Here we
go.” She pulled three texts from the shelf. “Not surprised they aren’t checked out. Most folks don’t find too much interest in local history. Are you doing a report for school?”

Kelly blushed. “No, I’m not in school. I’m just curious about a few things.”

“Oh goodness, I apologize. You looked so young I figured you were still in high school.”

“Well thanks, I supposed I’ll take that as
a complement.”

Kelly took the books and sat down in one of the desks lining the back wall. The first book was
a county history text, much like the one back at the store. It didn’t mention Hoskins at all. The second book only documented the stories of a handful of local men that served in World War II. The third book was self-published by the county historical society and wasn’t much thicker than a pamphlet.

She flipped through the pages and finally found Hoskins in a photo
from 1904 at a village board meeting. He sat behind a long table, posing with four other men on the board. It listed his name but otherwise the book held no more information about him. The picture sent chills down her spine as she stared at his eyes. They were still clear as day from her dream the night before.

Kelly sighed in disappointment and returned the books back to the shelf. The librarian looked up as she passed the checkout desk. “Find what you’re looking for?”

“Not really. You wouldn’t happen to have any old newspapers on microfiche or anything would you?”

The woman’s eyes lit up. “It’s so funny you should ask. We just finished having all the ol
d newspapers scanned and loaded on discs.” She rummaged around behind the counter. “It’s quite a collection, almost every issues of
The Chronicle
since the early nineteen hundreds.”

She placed a large b
lack binder on the counter. “I’m afraid it’s not available to check out but you’re welcome to use one of the computers.”

“
Thanks a lot, this is perfect.”

Kelly sat down at one of the old computer stations and opened the binder, starting at the f
ront. The disc holding the oldest issues was labeled 1915. She loaded it into the tray and started scrolling through the pages. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for but had to find more information about Hoskins. Anything that might explain why she dreamed about him.

The Chronicle
was a weekly county newspaper that divided its news with a page or two per town. Kelly flipped through dull stories of crop reports and softball scores. The war in Europe. County fair. Car accident.

After scrolling through month
s of mundane news, Kelly only found Harlan Hoskins’ name mentioned two times. The paper quoted him once accepting a state grant for improvements to Elm Street Park, and another time congratulating the high school football team on their improved season from last year.

Kelly
felt her eyelids grown heavy when a close up photo of Hoskins suddenly jumped out at her. It was on the front page of the June 14
th
, 1917 issue.

HARLAN HOSKINS, OTHER LOCALS, JOIN THE FIGHT. Black Water Creek village president and local businessman Harlan Hoskins resigned as president Tuesday afternoon when he announced his Army reserve unit was being called to active duty. Members of the 2
nd
Battalion, 37
th
Regiment Infantry based in Monroe will be headed to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for training next month before shipping overseas.

“It’s been an honor to serve the community of Black Water Creek
, but my duties now must be focused on serving my country as a whole,” Hoskins said.

Rumors of Hoskins
’ departure for the war in Europe has left some feeling uneasy. As the owner of several major local employers including Hoskins Pulp and Paper and Rockwell Steel, some workers worry Hoskins’ absence may hurt his businesses and ultimately kill jobs.

“If the unthinkable happens and Harlan gives the ultimate sacrifice for his country, we’ll feel the loss back here at home,” said Chip
Seaver, President at First State Bank. “He’s a heck of a businessman and has done a lot to get Black Water on the map. May God watch over him and his boys over there.”

The story went on for a few more paragraphs profiling other young men from the area who volunteered to enlist in the service now that the country joined the war.

Kelly shifted her weight on the hard wooden chair and str
etched. Her eyes were burning and her stomach growled since she hadn’t had a bite to eat all day. She kept scrolling. She knew a little more about Hoskins but it didn’t explain her vivid dreams. Did it mean anything? Could the man in her dreams just look like Hoskins and she was jumping to conclusions?

She kept looking, coincidence or not, meaningless or not, she couldn’t fight the irresistible urge to push ahead and keep looking. If
nothing else, it was keeping her distracted from worrying about Paul.