Chapter 20: Leaving Wellow Falls

CHAPTER 20

Underneath the mat was a key. He didn't understand why his father insisted that the key be placed there since it was the first place that most thieves looked. He had broken into many homes over the last several years because the occupants had also insisted in placing keys under their mats.

It fit neatly into the lock and he turned the door.

"Remember the promise."

"Just go in Preston." He turned the key and pushed the door open. The kitchen was quiet and he strained to hear his father's movement in the house. He let out a sigh of relief. The house looked the same. A box of cereal lay out on the kitchen shelf and several unwashed glasses and plates sat in the sink. He could hear the steady tick of the clock.

"I don't think he's home." They walked across the living room and up the stairs. He wondered how many times he had walked up the stairs, scared and terrified about the monster waited at the top, ready to tear him apart. He could feel the familiar fear but this time there was a semblance of comfort. This would be the last time he would walk up the stairs and the last time that he would feel the anger and fear which his father had battered into him. He squeezed Ryan's hand tighter as they reached the top.

"This way." He directed her into his room. It was exactly as he had left it and yet the room had become as distant as the moon. His bed was meticulously made on orders from his father and the walls were spartan and bare. A sole chair decorated the room and several books lay on top of it. As he had grown older, Preston had withdrawn as much as possible from his home life. He had retreated to the forests around town and left as little as possible of himself in the house. There was an intense anger in the sparse accommodations, an anger which had slowly evolved and even lessened somewhat in the last week. The reminder of his past state of mind was a surprise.

He stood staring at the room until Ryan nudged him.

"Preston, hurry up and get the keys." She looked uneasy and Preston cursed himself for being inconsiderate. She was probably terrified after what he had told her. In reality he had purposely delayed getting the keys in his father's room. The room conjured up the most powerful memories and he felt terror at the thought of entering it. He squeezed Ryan's hand for reassurance and wondered what he would have done without her.

His father's door was open and they walked in. The room was just as spartan and dark. There was also a strange, unpleasant odor to the room. Preston ignored the smell and felt a rush of relief at his father's absence. He closed his eyes and pushed away the memory of the countless beatings. Ryan's body stiffened and Preston turned to look at her.

"Are you allright?" She looked confused and took a step back.

"I think we should hurry Preston." He looked to the door and the frame was empty. Quickly, he walked over to his father's closet and pulled it open.

"Dammit!" he roared into the closet. Ryan grabbed his arm.

"Preston, we need to get out of here, now." His head began to throb and he noticed that the sour odor was becoming stronger and more pronounced. They key, where was the key, he wondered? He staggered back and rushed over the bureau. "Preston," Ryan screamed, "we need to leave, someone's coming!" He bolted upright and realized she was right. He could hear footsteps on the stairs and the unpleasant odor had become an almost unbearable stench. He realized they were trapped and Preston grabbed a heavy metal piggy bank. The footsteps reached the top of the stairs and Preston stepped in front of Ryan. His hand began to shake violently and he lost his grip on the bank, sending it crashing onto the floor. He had to fight to keep the terror from completely overwhelming him.

There was a pause and then his father entered the room. Like the town and house, there was a difference about him. His body looked stiff and jerky. His father looked like a living corpse, similar to the movements and smell of Martin.

"Looking for these my dear son? Ah, like all good children, I new you'd eventually come back home. It's murder getting kids out of the house these days." He looked at Ryan and seemed to hesitate.

"Bringing others into the house is against the rules Preston. You've broken a lot of rules, many rules. My god what a disgrace you have been. Your mother would just weep to see you now, cavorting with a girl, breaking into your father's room, preparing to steal his car. You were going to take the car, weren't you Preston?" He didn't answer. He watched his father and realized he had finally become the part he had always acted - a monster. The creature took a step forward and Preston noticed that the shoes were still immaculately polished. He backed away and felt a sharp spear of pain in his finger.

"You want the car, don't you?" he repeated while fingering the key chain. "Answer me son!"

"I'm not your son anymore!" he yelled back.

His father took another step forward and brought his hands together. Preston instantly recognized the nail that he held before him.

"Not my son. Preston, you will always be my son. I am more than the man that gave his seed to your existence. I have lived a thousand lives and been to as many lands. But in the end, I walk in this body, I talk with this body, and you are still my son." He flashed the nail through the air. "This Preston is your redemption from the life you have been leading. It's discipline and order. Just a little tug and pinch and you will have learned your lesson. No more disobeying me Preston. You will become a part in something far bigger and better." His father had directed them into a corner and Preston realized there was no escape. He saw his father advance but he was too mesmerized by the words to act. His resistance was gone and Preston felt his knees weaken as he braced for the attack.

Instead his father remained silent and threw the car keys at his feet.

"They're yours. Take them, go as far as you can." Preston just stared at floor. "It's not a trap. I want to take you Preston. I really want to take you out of your pathetic existence but I can't."

Still he hesitated in picking up the keys.

"It's true Preston, no beatings. Ask your friend if I'm telling the truth." He slowly turned to look at Ryan and she seemed dazed. Her eyes were removed and she had slumped against the window pane. Their eyes met and she nodded her head, signaling that he should believe what used to be his father.

Slowly, keeping his eyes on the man in front of him, he crouched down and picked up the key. As he slowly rose, the figure moved aside.

"Leave now Preston, but you'll be back. I guarantee you will be back very shortly. Next time I will not be so merciful and you will be punished."

"You’re wrong about that, I'm never coming back here," he hissed, before grabbing Ryan's hand and guiding her down the stairs and out of the house.

He expected an attack at any moment but it didn't come. He expected the car to be gone, but it was in the garage full of gas. He expected it not to start, but when he turned the key the engine turned over smoothly and it settled into a comfortable hum. Preston backed the car out of the garage and down the driveway, still not believing or understanding how they had ever made it out of the house.

He drove slowly, taking in the empty town, comparing it to how it had been and how he remembered it. It was as empty driving as it had been on foot. Desolate, forlorn, a ghost town without even the ghosts to haunt it and add some semblance of a past life. They drove back down the block and the trees canopied nicely over the street. Today it did not look nice, it looked confining and Preston felt claustrophobic and trapped. He wanted to get out but he forced himself to go slow and to absorb WellowFalls for the last time.

He wondered where they were. In the houses, behind the trees, in the stores? He could sense the eyes of the town's inhabitants watching the car slowly pass through the town and he wondered what they were thinking. A plague had descended upon WellowFalls that had turned rationality upside down, converting nerds into supermen, abusive fathers into seemingly benevolent monsters. It made no sense but Preston had long ago given up trying to explain and understand what was going on.

"Ryan, why did my father say that you knew he would let us go?" She looked confused and upset.

"I don't know Preston, I really don't understand why he said it." Her eyes grew wide. "He was telling the truth. I know it, I feel it."

"How?" Ryan rubbed her forehead.

"I just know. I can't explain it but the feeling is the same as the dark spells. He wanted to attack us, but he couldn't, something held him back, that's all I can tell you." Suddenly she continued. "God, I hate this! Preston, what the hell is going on with me, with this town!" Her frustration exploded and Ryan banged her fist against the window. She began to sob.

"Ssssh, it's alright. We're leaving, don't worry." She hugged him and Preston brushed the hair out of her eyes and rubbed a tear from her cheek.

"Will you help me Preston?"

"Help you with what?"

"Escape whatever demons are pursuing me. Help me to escape from the dark spells and the glowing closets, and the blank life I've been living. Please tell me you will because I need to hear it." He could sense her terror and it surprised him. Before, she had been an enigma, but now Ryan was like a lost soul. Her identity seemed to be disappearing before him and it raised even more questions. It also awakened new feelings of affection. Her vulnerability stirred a protective response in him. He did not fight the feeling.

"Once we get out of here everything will be fine." He smiled and tried to convey a strength he didn’t have. She only caressed his hand and sadly nodded her head.

"I don't think so Preston, I really don't think so."

At that moment a car emerged from a side road and pulled in front of them. His thought should have been to turn their car around and drive away. Instead, Preston stopped the car and watched a man waddle out, tell something to another occupant, and then begin walking towards him. The man walked over to the car and knocked on the partially closed window. He was wearing Bermuda shorts and a bright yellow shirt.

"Hello, excuse me, hello." Preston was speechless and paralyzed by surprise.

"Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could give me directions to the resort." The resort, the resort, he thought, turning the words over in his brain and trying to grab a hold of his thoughts. "First time here and we seem to have gotten a tad bit lost. I've been driving around for hours but this place is deserted. Must be a big holiday." he stated although it was really a question. The resort, this guy wants to go to the resort, he told himself, realizing there was no immediate threat. He wanted to tell the guy to jump in his car and high tail it out of town. Instead, he gave him the directions.

"Go straight on this road and you'll come to the center of town. Go straight through the center and take a left on Buckbend Road. About five miles down you'll see a small road on the left. Take that and it will bring you right to the resort. It's not well advertised so you can miss it if you're not careful."

"Much obliged," the man smiled and turned away.

"Hey Mr." The tourist turned back and smiled. "I'd turn around and go home if I were you. There's something strange going on in this town." The smile faded.

"What do you mean by strange?"

"You said it yourself, everyone's gone. A few people in town have murdered in the last couple of days." The man chuckled and nodded his head.

"Son, I'm from the city. It's going to take more than a few murders to scare me away. Just the other night a man was killed near my house trying to resist a robbery. That was in the good section of town. We've come half way across the country and I've spent two years saving for this weekend. Thanks for the warning though." Preston's mouth hung open and he watched the bright yellow shirt bounce back to his car. He vaguely heard the man talking to his wife.

"Scared about a couple of murders. Imagine that, empties out the entire town. This isn't the eighteen hundreds anymore..."

"I tried to warn them," Preston said to Ryan as he finally put the car into park and pulled away from the side of the road.

"Maybe its not just WellowFalls, maybe its everywhere," Ryan sighed as the car sped down the road. They both sat in silence as they passed a sign posted at the side of the road. It read:

"Thanks for coming to WellowFalls. Please come again." Not on your life, not on your life, he repeated to himself as he floored the accelerator and left his house, his memories, and his old life further and further behind.