Evil Agreement (19 page)

What’s their plan?
thought Ed.
Something here can
tell me, I can feel it.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked slowly around
the room. His eyes passed slowly over the pastoral designs of the floor length
drapes. He stood up from the bed and went to the curtains and pulled them open.
He looked behind them from the ceiling to the floor.

Nothing.

He was about to let go of the drapes, when his hands felt
something moving along the drape’s surface.

He was startled by this sensation and let go of the drapes.
Standing back from the drapes he looked at them with renewed interest. He
carefully examined the tableau of several human figures woven into the brightly
patterned drapes. Some of these figures were walking, carrying baskets of
vegetables or flowers. Others stood next to picket fences, seemingly engaged in
conversation with passing figures. Others still worked in gardens or orchards.
There were several children in these scenes as well. There was no mistaking the
movement he had felt, but he couldn’t locate the cause. The pastoral scenes
were repeated many times across the fabric, as the pattern seemed to repeat
itself every three feet.

Ed reached out and touched the edge of one of the drapes and
waited for the sensation, to repeat itself. Several moments passed with no
repeat of what he had experienced before.

He examined the fabric up close. It seemed to be normal,
machine stitched, drapery material.

Maybe he had imagined it.

He dropped the drape and returned to his systematic search of
the room. He began removing the bureau drawers and checking their undersides
for anything hidden.

Still nothing.

Lastly he removed a Swiss army knife from his coat side
pocket and pried open the screw head. He knelt down next to the room’s
combination heater and air conditioner and unscrewed the front panel. Nothing
was hidden inside. He replaced the panel. He stood up, and again scanned the
room for clues. He spotted the tour guide magazine on the coffee table. He picked
it up and leafed through it.

Nothing.

He put the magazine down on the bed. He had searched
everything and had come up empty handed. Unless something else turned up, it
was looking more likely that snatching
Korie
was
going to become the priority plan to leverage Aaron’s cooperation.

Ed left and locked the room. Moments later he passed through
the hotel’s lobby. He nodded to the front desk clerk who nodded back. Ed headed
out to take in some music at
Mojo’s
.

***

Kelley Porter had headed to bed early tonight. She had
announced to her parents that she felt really tired.

“That’s okay, dear. You’re a big girl now and you should know
when you need some rest,” said her mother.

“Remember when the kids were younger, we had to fight with
them to get them to go to bed,” said her father.

Her parents had a good laugh at her expense. It didn’t
matter. She just wanted to get away from them. Forcing a half smile, she kissed
her mother and father and then headed upstairs to her bedroom.

Her brother had been picked up earlier in the evening by
Walter. They were going to a meeting at the Reverend’s house. She hoped they
would be gone all night.

Kelley closed and locked her bedroom door. She turned on the
night light on her bureau. Next she went to her closet, and pulled a backpack
from out of the corner. She began to pack it with things she would need. Her
plan was to get her friend Paul to run away with her. They would steal his
father’s car and drive south on the highway to White River Junction. From
there, they could catch a bus to Boston. She had studied a highway map of New
England she had slipped out of the glove compartment of the family car before
supper. Her plan was simple. They had to get away, far away, before anyone knew
they were gone.

She pulled the covers back on her bed and propped the pillows
to form the rough shape of someone lying down. She pulled the covers over these
pillows and was satisfied with the level of deception they offered. She turned
on the small radio on her nightstand. The radio was dialed in to WGMT. The
station was playing requests tonight. The DJ was Charles “Chucky”
Trainor
.

“All right now. It’s your close and personal friend, Chuck
waiting here for you to call in your requests for a song for someone special.
It’s hot and humid tonight in the Winooski River valley. It’s a night made for
lovers and loving so give me a call at 45...”

Kelley was very nearly done packing. She picked up a stuffed
bear from the deacon’s bench at the foot of her bed and placed it at the head
of the pillow shape on her bed.

She took one last look around her room. She would miss her
room but she knew she had to get away. Deep down inside, she felt her very life
depended on her getting away.

“Hello, Chucky, this is Beverly.”

“Well, Hello...Beverly,” dripped Chucky.

Kelley unlocked the bedroom door. She knew if it were locked,
it would arouse suspicion. Her parents might discover her plan before she had
time to fully implement it.

She turned out the nightlight and crawled out the window.

From the radio came the sexy voice of Beverly, “Chucky, may I
call you, Chuck?” she said with emphasis.

“Sure. Now Beverly, it sure is hot out there tonight, isn’t
it?”

“Chuck, you don’t know how hot it is honey,” she purred.

“Oh, I think I know, yes I do. So Beverly do you have someone
special on your mind tonight?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Is there a song you want us to play for you two lovers
tonight?”

“Chuck, can you play...?”

The sound from the radio had now faded away as Kelley made
her way along the porch roof, which was just under her bedroom window. She was
now at the other end of the house. She put the backpack on and pushed herself
off the edge of the roof. Her dangling legs felt the post of the porch and she
wrapped her legs around it. Slowly, she slid off the roof and made her way down
the post to the porch rail. She quietly jumped down onto the porch. She went
down the side stairs and quickly broke into a half run. She took a moment to
glance down at her watch. It was twenty minutes until eleven. She didn’t want to
be late, so she quickened her pace, to a jog. She would be at the back of the
library in less than fifteen minutes.

Several streets away, Paul
Lacosse
,
Kelley’s boyfriend, slid out of his own first floor bedroom window. He quietly
pulled his bicycle out of the garage. He walked it down the driveway before
hoping aboard and pedaling off to the library to meet Kelley.

Paul arrived first. He laid his bicycle down onto the damp
grass.

The night was turning cooler. The air was filled with the
night sounds of crickets, frogs and the occasional flutter of bats that were
scooping up summer insects, as they feasted in the dark.

Paul could her someone coming. He heard the slapping of
someone’s sneakers on the paved sidewalk. Then he heard the crunch sound of someone
running down the gravel driveway of the library.

It was Kelley. She was nearly out of breath.

“Paul ...Paul...Thank you, for...coming,” panted Kelley.

“Hey, you knew I would. I would do anything for you, Kelley.”

He tried to put his arms around her but immediately noticed
her backpack.

“What’s this, Kelley? What’s going on?”

“Listen, Paul. I need your help, like, in a big way.”

“Help to do what, exactly?”

“I need to run away, Paul, and I want you to come with me.”

“What?” he exclaimed, as he put his hands to his head in
disbelief.

“I need to get away...tonight...or something bad is going to
happen to me, I just know it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Listen, I’ll tell you everything. But you’ve got to promise
me that either you’ll run away with me tonight, or at least, you’ll help me get
away, tonight! Do you promise?”

Paul was troubled by this sudden and unexpected situation.
His love for Kelley was strong, but running away was another thing. His father
could be mean, and violent, when he was pissed off, and Paul running away was
sure to set his father off.

After a brief hesitation, Paul jumped in with two feet.

“Okay, I’m in. Now tell me what’s happening here, and why you
have to run away tonight? If I’m going to set off my old man, it had better be
good.”

Kelley proceeded to tell him about the menacing spirit that
had threatened her in the bathroom and in her bedroom. She told Paul all about
her brother and the coven, at least as much as she dared. She didn’t want to
tell Paul too much and then scare him off.

“Shit, that’s incredible,” was all he could say.

“So, you can see, that’s why I’ve got to get away.”

“Yeah, so what’s your plan?”

She told him about their taking Paul’s family car and trying
to get to Boston.

“They’ll follow us and try and catch us, and then my ass will
belong to my old man,” said Paul.

“Paul, I don’t care. I’m not coming back!”

“But what if they find us?”

“I’m not coming back!” she said defiantly.

Somehow, he knew, just what she meant. She’d rather die than
return to Sutton.

“Okay, but we’re going to need some money,” said Paul. “My
mom’s got an old cookie jar filled with money that she puts aside for school
clothes. I think I can get it.”

“Good, now let’s...”

Suddenly, Paul put a finger to her lips, signaling her to be
quiet. He gestured to the front of the library. He quickly picked up his
bicycle and pointed towards the woods at the back of the library property. They
moved as quickly and quietly as they could. When they were near the edge of the
woods, they both looked back at the library. A car slowly came down the
library’s driveway with only the parking lights on. The silhouette outlined by
the street light gave it away as a police car. Suddenly, the window mounted
spotlight shown along the back of the library, and then began to sweep out to
the grass and woods where Kelley and Paul were standing. They both dropped down
into the tall grass and watched as the spotlight passed over them. After a
moment, the car could be heard pulling out of the driveway, back towards the
street. Paul stood up first and then gave a hand to Kelley. Paul picked up his
bicycle and the two headed into the woods. After just a short distance they
came to the railroad line that ran through the town along the eastside of the
Winooski River. They turned left and walked along the tracks. The moon was out,
it was three quarters full.

They walked perhaps a quarter of a mile, and then stopped at
the back edge of the Town’s graveyard.

“Let’s cut through here,” said Paul, “it’ll bring us right out
to my street.”

“Why not ditch the bicycle here?” said Kelley, “since we
can’t bring it with us.”

“I guess you’re right,” Paul said with a sigh. He was going
to miss his bike. He was actually looking forward to running away by driving
his family’s car. His father had been giving him driving lessons. How ironic it
would be, to run away, in the same car he was taking his driving lessons in.

They began to make their way through the cemetery.

“Hey, hold up, I’ve caught my foot on something,” said Paul.

He pulled and pulled but couldn’t free himself.

“Wait, I’ve got a flashlight,” said Kelley as she dropped her
backpack and fished around inside. In a moment she had found the flashlight, it
on and pointed it down at Paul’s trapped foot.

“
Eieeeee
,” she shrieked as she
dropped the flashlight.

“What is it?” asked Paul as he reached down for the
flashlight. He picked it up and pointed it at his own foot. What he saw caused
him to freeze with fear.

It was a bony hand gripping his sneaker, like some sort of rotted
twisted root. He yanked his foot with all his might. The hand was incredibly
strong. Paul’s yanking had now pulled the hand further out of the ground. Its
arm was now protruding out of the ground. It was heavily soiled with black
earth. The arm jerked his foot back so that Paul fell to the ground and the
flashlight rolled away from him, its light slapping at the darkness.

“Kelley, help me!” pleaded Paul.

She picked up the flashlight and pointed it again at the dark
gray bones of the hand, which had her boyfriend’s leg firmly in its grasp. To
her horror, another hand broke through the grass in front of the tombstone, and
grabbed Paul’s other leg.

“Kelley, help!”

Kelley put the flashlight down and pulled at Paul’s arms.

Suddenly he lurched out of her grasp. She fell down on her
butt.

“Kelley, what’s happening?” cried Paul.

She reached for the flashlight and shown it on his legs. They
were now half way into the moist earth. He was buried up to his thighs.

Kelley scrambled to her feet, dropping the flashlight on the
ground. Its light now pointed at Paul. She grabbed Paul by the shirt, and
pulled as hard as she could.

“Kelley, I love you!”

“I’m going to get you out of this,” she protested.

His body jerked again. This time there were snapping sounds
like branches being broken. He was now buried in the ground up to the middle of
his chest. He was sobbing.

“Kelley, Kelley,” he kept repeating, “It hurts
sooo
...much.”

Kelley was frightened and confused. She felt helpless.

“Kelley, come here,” said a familiar voice.

Kelley turned around and saw the moon lit silhouette of three
people, standing off about twenty feet from her location.

“Kelley, he’s not for you,” said the same voice. She
recognized it as her brother Samuel.

She leaped to her feet and flew at her brother. The other two
people stopped her before she could reach him.