Bone Gap
Judas watched as the man fled out of the church door screaming, sweat pouring down his face and soaking his shirt. Walking over to one of the two huge glass windows he watched as the man ran down the church’s long driveway and headed into town. Judas knew the man would find no solace among the town folk. The majority of them were true believers of the one true God, and the others were to scared to get involved, after all, everyone knew what would happen if you opposed the church.
Judas watched as the man reached the nearest buildings and vanished from view, smiling he walked over to the other window, a huge, stained, glass window depicting the crucification of Jesus, and concentrated. The glass began to swirl and the image of Jesus was replaced with the image of the man running from house to house looking for help.
“They never learn,” he said. He knew the man would never reach help, and even if he did who was going to believe the story he had to tell? I’m from a town called Bone Gap, and we have a preacher, but he isn’t really a preacher. He preaches about a God and a religion that doesn’t really exist, at least it doesn’t really exist outside of Bone Gap. Were not allowed to go outside during the day, and the graveyard, the graveyard is off limits, especially by the tree.
Judas watched as the man stopped at a house and began knocking, the door cracked open a little and he could see the man in the house peeking out, his lips moving as she talked to the man. The window didn’t allow him to hear what was being said but he knew whom the house belonged to and he would make sure that they got what was coming.
Everybody in town knew better than to help those ousted by Zion, even talking to them was enough for a severe judgment to be brought down on the family. Judas smiled as the door shut and the man kept banging on it, frustrated he turned and ran out of town towards the surrounding farmland, and eventually to his death. Judas took one last look at the Gideon’s house and made a mental note to make an example of the family tonight at church. Aaron Gideon didn’t know it yet but he unknowingly just sealed the fate of one of his children, and he will get to pick which one it will be.
Concentrating on the man running for his life he stood back, his arms crossed, and watched as the ground began to move.
=============================
Brian Deaver couldn’t believe what he had done. Confronting Judas on the disappearance of his daughter had been a death sentence from the get go but he still had to know what had happened to her. With an evil grin, his sharp teeth flashing in the faint church light, Judas had answered his question.
“You will find out soon enough Mr. Deaver,” reaching out Judas grabbed his arm as a flash of memory shot through Brian like a jolt of electricity. In a split second Brian had learned more than he wanted to know. He had seen his daughters’ death; he had felt the excruciating pain she had endured at the hands of Judas. He had seen what Judas had done with his teenage daughters’ broken and mutilated body. He had seen the tree; the tall, gnarled, burnt Oak loomed in his mind as Judas laid his daughters’ body at its base.
“For you Zion,” Judas said as the full moon shone down, illuminating his body in an ethereal, green-yellow glow. Just then the ground began to tremble, and the tree began to move in the breezeless night. The ground around the girls’ body began to move apart as she was lowered into the ground, her body brought down to Zion’s realm as the ground folded back over her, engulfing her body in an earthly tomb. Pulling free from Judas he stared at the preacher, mouth agape, tears streaming from his eyes.
“You monster,” Brian whispered as he backed away.
“And now it’s time for you to join your daughter Mr. Deaver,” snarling, Judas lunged forward and tried to grab Brian’s arm. Turning sideways Brian managed to evade being caught as he ran out of the church screaming. From behind him he could hear Judas laughing inside the church, a laugh so shrill that it sent shivers down his body.
Brian didn’t know what to do, he needed help, but the residence of Bone Gap knew better than to help people that were ousted by Judas, it was an automatic death sentence. Still, the horror that he had just witnessed and the fear for his life made him try anyways, he just prayed that he wouldn’t bring any unwanted attention to other families.
Knocking on the doors as he ran through town no one even peeked out their windows to see who it was. He couldn’t blame them, they were scared and they had every right to be. When he reached Aaron’s house he expected his friend to do the same as everyone else had done, but when he cracked the door opened and peered out Brian couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved.
“Help me,” he said as he stared at the half face of Aaron through the crack in the door.
“You know I can’t,” Aaron replied.
“Please!”
“I’m sorry,” he said shutting the door.
“Please, Aaron!” Banging on the door a few more times he turned around and ran towards the farmland. If I can get to the road, maybe I can get some help, he thought. As he ran through the short corn stalks he tried to remember which direction the nearest road was. Stopping for a second he tried to get his bearings when the sound of a horn rang through the air.
“A car,” he said breathlessly. Just then the ground under his feet began to tremble; the stalks began to sway off to his right. He could see the mound in the ground as it came racing towards him. Behind it, at the edge of the cornfield, he could see the graveyard, and the old Oak standing like a sentinel in the middle of it.
“Shit! Zion,” Brian said as he watched the mound moving toward him, the stalks rising in the air, swaying back and forth as the mound moved under them. Turning he ran towards the sound of the horn that he had just heard. He didn’t know what would happen if Zion got him, and he didn’t want to know but he wasn’t going to make it easy. Jumping over a wooden fence that separated two families fields he looked back as the mound crashed into it, shattering the wood, sending millions of small wooden fragments out in every direction.
“My God!” He said as he ran faster, his legs burning from the excursion. Up ahead he could make out the faint outline of the road and the cars driving on it. Running faster, he tried desperately to reach it not really knowing if that concrete strip would be a safe haven or not. Fifty feet from the road he began flailing his arms at a car coming towards him. Thinking he was going to make it he slowed down a little, exhaustion taking its toll. The ground in front of him exploded sending dirt flying into his face, blinding him momentarily. Wiping it away he saw a huge, taloned hand shoot out from the hole in the ground and bury into his stomach. Gasping his last breath of air, blood poured from his mouth as the hand pulled him to the ground. His body was bent in half, backwards, as he was pulled into the small hole. The two people in the car that Brian was trying to flag down saw the whole scene, but they didn’t stop. The image was burned permanently into their minds and it would stay there until they died decades later. It was the image that they would dream about every night, and it would be the image they would tell their friends about when they reached their destination the next day. It would be this image that would prompt two friends, aspiring authors, to drive to Bone Gap in search of the story that would lead to the next big horror book. Stephen King, eat your heart out. It was the motto that they chanted all the way there. Not knowing that they would get their story, but only one of them would make it back to write about it.
