beverly chapters 6 - 10

8/9/2019 Beverly Chapters 6 - 10

1/48

Chapter Six

God and Monster

So fuck that.

There was a banging on the door, and I woke up on the couch in

the first floor of my house. Last night was just a bad memory and I

tried desperately to believe that it could stay that way. The

banging on the front door wasn't going away though.

I was still in my clothes from the night before, a white t-shirt

and cut off jeans and I just felt like shit. It was like a hangover,

but it was worse. At least with a hangover you get the joy of

getting drunk as hell the night before.

The banging was coming from the front door, and I opened it to

find Bobby there. I'd been playing with him for a couple of years in

Jefferson's Cross, but he hadn't ever been over to my house. I'd

been over to his, at least twice, the last time when he was getting

married to that girl he was having the baby with.

Morning Bobby, is there some reason why you're here?

Figured you might want some company to stop by the church.

I must have looked at him like he had two heads. I hadn't been

in church for a long time. Not since my grandfather died. Not since

I stopped caring about God or Jesus or whatever.

What are you talking about Bobby?


2/48

The church, it's having a service for the Callahan family. The

funeral is on Monday, but Pastor Johns thought having a service for

them would be good for Beverly.

Bobby was one of those who tried to walk the line in Beverly

between church and everything that I held dear. I used to be one of

those people too. After last night I wasn't sure what I wanted.

I'm not dressed Bobby, and I just got up.

He looked at his watch. If you're coming, get dressed then.

It starts in twenty minutes and it's going to be packed as a mother

in there.

I considered telling him to go fuck himself. I don't know why I

didn't.

I need to get dressed.

He smiled at me. I'll wait.

I motioned for him to come in, and took a look at the time. I

usually don't sleep passed seven a.m. It was 10:45 now and I tried

not to think about what had happened the night before that made me so

able to sleep late.

I changed into a black button down shirt (with a pink shirt

underneath that read Fuck Doll). I wore a black miniskirt beneath

which wasn't entirely appropriate for going to church, but I'm not

entirely appropriate in a church.

It's actually not that far from where I live on Temper Road to


3/48

where the church is at the head of Main Street, but that's because

the center of Beverly isn't really that big. It was ten minutes

before a service, and there was already a crowd outside the nearly

century old stone building that the church used for its services. It

was the first Baptist Church of Evangeline County, but the church

itself was newer. The original burned down in a massive fire that

leveled most of the town that had been there at the time.

When we got there Bobby found his family who had come in his

wife's car and left me alone in the back. In Beverly everyone knows

everyone, but I didn't like most of them. It's small town Louisiana

and I've never been a very good fit here.

I stood with Jefferson in the back, who was dressed in an un-

tucked shirt and tie and a pair of jeans. He hugged me when I walked

next to him, and we both got the evil eye from an old woman who stood

behind us. Any other day we probably would have been thrown out of

the church. Any other day probably neither of us would be here.

Sorry I didn't come around last night Beverly. I know you were

with Lee last. And I heard about what happened later.

I squeezed his hand. Jefferson had been a good friend for a

long time. God knew why we hadn't slept together yet. I think

everyone has by now. Good thing you didn't stop by last night

though. I wasn't home.

He gave me this strange look, but the service started then.

I hadn't been to church in years, but it was much the same as it


4/48

always had been. When I first moved here from New Orleans my

Grandfather put me in Sunday school. I took my baptism when I was

sixteen and all it felt like was some people were trying to drown me

while saying I should be filled with the Lord. I never felt it. I

don't think my Grandfather ever really forgave me for that, for not

being close to God. I don't think I ever really forgave him for

being close either.

Pastor John was young, but he was old school, all fire and

brimstone and sin. I think he secretly wanted the Old Testament God

to come and smite everyone who disagreed with him on matters of

faith, which counted just about everyone in America. And here he was

with a full church. He had a full church just about every Sunday but

to have one on Saturday too was something special for him. The truth

is I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying. Sermons scare

me and Pastor Johns once told me that I had a demon inside of me. I

wonder what he would say if he saw the shirt I wore under the black

one.

The Pastor's wife stood with what was left of the Callahan

family. Lee's grandparents stood there and I could almost hear their

thoughts just by looking at them. 'What do we do now' they might be

thinking. No one should have to bury their own children.

I spoke to God last night. Pastor Johns words brought me back

to the present and just for a moment I listened to him. I spoke to

God last night and I tell you last night I heard him speak back. I


5/48

speak to God every night, and most times God does answer, but its in

little ways. I'll open my bible to the perfect passage, or my answer

will come when I'm least expecting it. But last night, and I tell

you truth, I was angry. Lee was a holy man. Yes, he struggled with

faith, and he sinned. But we all struggle with faith and we all sin.

And yesterday a great tragedy befell him and his family. And I asked

God why would this fall unto them. And I tell you he answered me as

clearly as I am about to tell you. God told me that there is a devil

in all of us. And that we spend our entire lives either trying to

feed him or banish him. Lee, he ended his earthly struggle late last

night, and now he is with God. I pray for his soul and I pray for

the soul of his mother and his father. Johns had heard the voice of

God.

The service lasted only a couple of hours, which was short since

his Sunday services could last upwards of four. Religion lasted too

long to be my drug.

After it was all over I made my way to the front, since I wasn't

likely to offer my condolences if I didn't go to the funeral. And I

wasn't planning to go to the funeral. Too much death for one week.

I shook Lee's grandfather's hand and said what I could. Just about

everyone else there was giving me this look of mortification since I

was dressed in a miniskirt, but I wasn't there for them. I wasn't

even there for myself. I would grieve for Lee in my own way. I was


6/48

there for Lee, because Lee liked church. I was there because Lee

would have been there for me.

Pastor Johns met me as I walked out of the church with this

disapproving look on his face. Even on a day like that one he could

judge me. Sometimes I wonder which one of us was closer to Jesus's

teachings. Beverly, I don't see you around here anymore.

I wanted to tell him so many things. But it was a church and I

wasn't there to cuss out a man of God, if that's what he was. No

you haven't.

He seized my hand, and his was cold. It was odd to have a cold

hand at the end of August here in Beverly. It was the middle of a

drought, and it was pushing 101 that day and his hand was like ice.

I tried to jerk my hand away from his but he was stronger than he

looked. Beverly, you must stop feeding your demon. Lee would have

wanted that.

I jerked my hand away and stopped myself from slapping him. I

walked away from him then, because there are things you shouldn't do

to a man of God either.

I walked back down Main towards my house, since Bobby had driven

me and I wasn't in the mood to accept a kindness back. Besides, the

walk would do me good, and I didn't want to explain to anyone where I

was going next.

Ray's garage is on a side street off Main and I was surprised


7/48

that he wasn't at church that morning. Ray wasn't Baptist, but he

wasn't against religion like I was; and he was the closest thing Lee

had to a best friend. For him to not be there...well, let's just say

he was more likely to be there than I was.

There are some things you should know. It was the night before

and I remembered what Elise told me after I picked up Mama Rourke's

doll and hurled it far away. There are things that are too much to

handle, and what she'd just showed me was one of them.

What did you just show me? Why did you just show me that.

Mama Rourke lit up a blunt behind her, took a drag. Because

you're touched. Because you saw what you saw and you're touched.

You're connected to me, you're connected to her, you're connected to

that poor dead boy and his mother. And you're connected to the thing

that killed them both. That boy, his mother hand his father.

I stood up and backed away to the corner of the campsite.

You're all crazy. Lee's mother did it. Lee's mother killed them.

She took another drag and just looked me in the eye. It was

the shadows that killed them both.

I walked into Ray's garage, and it was dark. He liked to work

on Saturdays because he was the only station in town, and he didn't

like to hire employees. Ray liked money and he didn't like paying it

to other people.


8/48

But here I was in the middle of the day on Saturday and I knew

Ray hadn't been to church. And if Ray wasn't at his garage it meant

that he was home or he was at Rhapsody. There's just not enough to

do in Beverly otherwise.

I walked from the open garage a sure sign Ray had to be around

to the office that Ray worked out of when he wasn't working on cars

or pumping gas. We'd done a lot of things in that office while we

were dating. I think there are grooves on the desk where I...you

know what? There are some things that you just don't need to know

about me. And I've been far too forward as it is.

Besides, I'm just stalling because I really don't want to tell

about this next part.

Ray was in his office and when I opened the door and let the

light in, my eyes went to the movement of the shadows that ran like

roaches. The shadows didn't just disappear with the light, they

moved, as if they were hiding, as if they were scurrying away from

something.

And everything that had frightened me up to that point in my

life, everything that had set me on edge or that I'd deemed as too

horrible to be true, they all just went away, because of what I saw

there.

Because Ray was sitting there, working on something, writing

something, and there was this...thing by his shoulder. This devil.

It's the only way I can describe it. It didn't have horns or wings


9/48

or anything like they tell you. It didn't even have form. It just

was.

And tears that weren't tears were streaming down Ray's face;

rivers of black ink that just pooled down at his feet. And he spoke

then, and I don't know who it was, but it wasn't Ray. The man who

spoke through Ray's mouth was not Ray.

Hello Beverly, there's someone I've been wanting to introduce

you to.

I don't like to admit this, but I may have screamed.


10/48

Chapter Seven

Things I Should Know

There are things you should know.

I was running down the street in broad daylight, but most people

were still at the church waiting to be seen or wanting to be seen.

What I had seen there in Ray's garage, what he looked like, that

scared me. In the last few days I'd seen a woman blow her brains out

and a doll start screaming and, well, we'll get to the rest. But Ray

was a friend, and it was just all too much.

What happened there in that garage, I don't think I need to tell

you that it wasn't normal. It wasn't natural. And these last few

days, from fixing my car, to taking me into those fucking woods with

Mama motherfucking Rourke, when things weren't normal the Elijah and

Elise were around. Like I said, when they came around everything

changed.

It wasn't voodoo. She was telling me it wasn't voodoo.

There are old things. Things older than Voodoo, things older

than Christianity. Some of that is what I do. Some of that is who I

am.

She was telling me it wasn't voodoo. Because when shit like

that happens in Louisiana you always have to talk about voodoo. And


11/48

she was doing freaky things with dolls. And she was telling me that

it wasn't. I didn't believe her, but a few hours ago I didn't

believe a lot of things.

Elise sat down next to me and touched my shoulder. It was the

shadows that killed Lee. And his mother. The doll was supposed to

show us, and it did.

Mama Rourke just took another drag from her blunt, and stared at

me through black eyes. Windows to the soul. From how people spoke

about Mama Rourke and looking at her black eyes they were likely

right about that.

It was a long time ago. A long time ago child. There were

three of us then. The witch, the priest and me.

Who else did I turn to?

Halfway down Main Street I was sure that Ray hadn't followed me,

but I wasn't so sure about the thing that had been with Ray.

Something like that could follow you and you wouldn't even know it.

What I'd seen, it was evil. I know I hadn't seen anything done,

and I know that all I saw was....I don't know what I saw. Anyone

else, they'd get religion, but my religion was never in a church. My

religion was in the back seat of my Charger, or on stage with my

bass, and a hundred people watching me play. So when I see a demon I

didn't go running for church, I went running towards Temper Road and

everything that stood there.


12/48

I think I went running for Elijah or Elise.

I wasn't even thinking as I turned onto Temper, still running

but desperately out of breath. My lungs were burning and I was light

headed, but there was no part of me that wanted to stop.

I can sit here and talk with you about all of my reasons for

running where I did. But I would probably be lying to you because

all I was trying to do was run. And when I ended up at the garage on

Temper Road, I knocked on the door so loud that it could wake the

dead in the middle of the day.

Mama Rourke was the oldest person in Beverly. I know I've said

that before but it bears repeating, because no matter how many times

I say it I can't make you see or believe just how old Mama Rourke is.

She oozes age. She was probably one of those people that was just

born old. There are pictures of her in the library, sometimes in

newspaper clippings when they'd caught her in the background . When

she thought no one was looking.

I hadn't wanted to stay that night. I'd just seen a doll scream

and I'd thrown that abomination so far away from me I couldn't hear

it anymore. I still felt sick, and it was partially because of what

I saw and it was partially because of those drugs that I'd taken.

I hadn't wanted to stay that night but I had no where else to go

because I didn't have my car.

The three of us sat around the fire that Mama Rourke had likely


13/48

made. Now that my eyes had adjusted I could see the outline of a

trailer a few dozen yards away into the murky blackness of the night

that had embraced the three of us. It was getting cold out here, I

noticed. It was night and at the end of August I wasn't dressed for

it.

There were three of us then. she was saying. The witch, the

priest and me.

Elise handed me a thermos, but the way I looked at her she must

have felt that I didn't trust her. Gee, I wonder how the hell I

could have ever thought about that. She smiled at me in the way that

said she was mocking herself more than she was me. Don't worry. I

only drug people once a day.

I took the thermos and smelled the contents. Tea. She was

giving me tea. It wasn't quite the drink I would have wanted for

that moment.

You said the shadows killed Lee. I was done waiting for them

to tell me why I was here. Why they showed me what they showed me.

What did you mean?

Elise sat down next to me on the dirty ground but somehow I got

the feeling that she would never get any of it on her. It was a

long time ago. And it involved the three of us, like she was saying.

But I'm not a witch. The wiccans wouldn't have me.

I stared at her a moment. But you're new in town here. You

just arrived a month ago. With Elijah.


14/48

Mama Rourke grunted. This isn't now she's talking about. This

was a long time ago. She sighed, A long time ago. Before the

Crash. Before all the bad things happened. Before the flood. What

year was that now? When was it Elise?

The air hung dead a moment and Elise just had this grave look on

her face. It was 1929. It was a long time ago.

I hadn't been knocking that long when Elijah opened the door for

me. He was dressed how he was always dressed when I'd seen him. In

a dirty tank top and semi-torn jeans. His dark hair was tousled, as

if he'd just woken up, but judging by the fact that he was covered in

grease it was more likely that he'd come out from underneath a car.

He frowned at me.

I didn't think you would show up here again.

I pushed passed him because I couldn't be outside. Not while

knowing that whatever had been at Ray's could have been following me.

He closed the door behind me.

Okay, yeah, you can come on in. I wanted to pace. I wanted to

do what I did yesterday and self medicate, but that hadn't worked out

all that well. I wanted to fucking scream.

I was over at Ray's garage, I started, and the rest just came

out of me. Where I had been, and what happened after that service.

It came out of me like I had to vomit it out.

When it was over I was shaking. I hadn't realized just how far


15/48

down I'd gone. I was upset beyond my capacity to be upset. It's

hard to even describe it, and I'm not sure if you've noticed but I'm

not particularly good with words. My grandfather had always told me

I swear way to often to have a command over the language.

For a moment he just stood there. I didn't know at the time

whether it was because he didn't know what to say, or just how to say

it, but it looked like he was debating something in his head. It was

like you could watch him thinking. I'd seen it before, the first

time I met him when I asked him to fix my car. He looked like he was

having entire conversations in his head.

Can you show me?

No, I told him. I'm not going back there. Not now.

Look, we'll drive there, and you can stay in the car if you

want. He looked up at his truck and smiled. Believe me, there's a

demon under her hood.

A few days ago I could have believed that he was joking.

He saw I was still hesitating, and he sighed, Look. You came

to me with this. You can either stay here all by yourself, or you

can come with me. It's your choice.

Right at that moment, I didn't want to be alone.

The hot liquid inside the thermos was too enticing and I took a

sip. If she did poison me at least I would be poisoned while warm.

It was strangely cold for a Louisiana summer night. Or maybe I was


16/48

just in shock.

Also I wasn't sure whether or not they were crazy or whether

they were just feeding me bullshit. Mama Rourke was always someone

that people thought was dangerous, but no one ever said she was a

liar. But Mama Rourke was old...maybe it was dementia?

This has happened before. Murders like this. Deaths like

this. Other things too. Other things are going to come.

Mama Rourke took another drag, The first time it happened was

1929. Back when the church was made of stone and we didn't have

paved roads even. She laughed, at it looked like a scarecrow

laughing. Say what you will about the woman, but she is creepy as

hell. It's a long story. And tonight is not the time for it.

There are things we're going to have to do in the coming days. We

thought we'd stopped it back then. But we were wrong. Because what

we stopped is back. The shadows are back and that means he's back

too.

The old woman stood up and dusted herself off. It's getting

late, and I'm not as young as I used to be. I'm feeling the age in

my bones Elise. Damn you for your youth.

Elise's face was flickering in the firelight. I'm going to be

damned for a lot more than my youth. Good night Mama Rourke.

She waited until Mama Rourke was gone before she spoke again.

Last night, when Lee died...things like that have happened before in

Beverly. You were with Lee before he died. And because of that you


17/48

still had some of him on you. We needed that to find out if Lee's

spirit was still lingering, because if he was killed by what we think

killed him, his spirit would still be around. I tried not to think

too hard about Lee still being on me. That wasn't my kind of kink.

You're telling me that doll is him?

She hesitated. No. Not exactly. Not quite. It's what's left

of him. And it's here because the pieces of him that remain stay

here to warn everything else. The Shadows have come back to

Beverly.

There was silence between us for a time. You're not going to

tell me what any of this means, are you?

The moon was setting in the west and she shook her head.

Tonight? No, tonight it's late and we've seen what we've come to

see. I can tell you this. What has come here, you're in the middle

of it. This won't be the last strange thing you see.

The inside of the truck was like the cockpit of a plane. Okay,

I'm lying to you because I've never seen the cockpit of a plane. So

it's what I imagine the inside of a plane might look like.

It wasn't the first time I'd been in it. The night before Elise

drove me home in it, and I was amazed at just how quietly it ran.

Something like this, a pick up truck big enough to make other pick up

trucks look small, you expect to sound how it looks, like a monster.

You couldn't even hear it purring.


18/48

He drove down to Ray's garage, and I stayed in the truck while

he got out to check. I'm not normally that type of girl. The type

of girl that stays in the car while the man goes somewhere, but this

wasn't a situation I knew how to handle. He lived with Elise, and

likely he knew how to deal with it.

At that point, I just wanted no part of whatever was going on.

Elijah came back, looking around like he was waiting for

something to happen. Come on. It's safe now.

I climbed out, and walked closely behind him as I followed up

passed the gasoline pumps and into the office where I'd seen Ray. It

was a mess in there, like a brawl had taken place, or something

worse. Of that little...what do I even call it? Saying it was a

demon doesn't do justice to what I saw here last. Of whatever it was

there was no trace. Which, to my mind was a good thing.

But Ray wasn't there either, and that was troubling.


19/48

Chapter Eight

Eat You Up

I took a shot of tequila and poured myself another in between

songs. Jefferson was drinking a beer, and Bobby was smoking, despite

the no smoking sign above the front door. I'd originally came with a

blunt in my hand, but Bobby talked some sense into me, because if I

was caught on stage with weed, then I would probably lose my job at

the police station. Not that they didn't know I was a pothead.

Plausible deny-ability.

Really I always played drunk. Music just flows better out of me

that way, but I was hitting the tequila hard. Harder than I had in a

while. It had been a rough week. I just allowed myself to get lost

in the music. Jefferson turned to me, looking concerned for a

moment, but I gave him a thumbs up. I was a big girl, I could handle

myself drunk.

All right, let's do Eat You All. That was one I was supposed

to begin. It was also one of the most popular songs we did locally.

I kept the beat loose and languid and I started to strum. The music

that came out was like being in heaven and just for a little bit I

could forget what had happened. Bobby's guitar came in, syncopated

and high and the audience started to clap and yell.

And then he started singing. The closest way I can describe

Jefferson's voice is like you're being beaten a rock wrapped in


20/48

velvet.

Why

was I the enemy in your midst

as the dog who never barked loud

as the lion always lying down

In the end

well I guess you really showed me

Dropping napalm, every blitzkrieg,

all the mustard gas for lunch

And I can subsist on that

Yes, I can subsist on that

I'll eat it up

Rhapsody was alive that night with all the nervous energy that

comes when people are frightened, when people are shocked, when

people are upset. They were just eating all this up, and Jefferson

was drinking in their energy and the adulation from the girls who

were screaming out in the closest thing that Rhapsody had to a front

row and they were screaming.

I found

a hornet's nest in my houseSwarming angry starved and half crazed

but I couldn't stay away

And I knew

that I had to make a pact with them

cause their poison almost killed me

after drinking every day

Well I can subsist on that

Yeah, I can subsist on that

I'll eat it up

And they were thinking of all the things that Jefferson would

like to do with them that would probably land him in jail and

knowing Jefferson he would want to do it to all of them at the same


21/48

time.

Better pray

That modern therapy's effective

You're not seeing all these animals

Howling at your door

And pray

when you step out of your house

That I won't be out of there waiting

Waiting

How did I never end up sleeping with him?

It was me that finished the song too, my bass chords wrapped

tightly around Bobby's screaming guitar.

I'd moved on from Jose Cuervo to my best friend, Jack Daniels

and Bobby was standing with his wife looking worried. Rhapsody is

open till 3 am on most nights, but by 1 most everyone was gone. Now

it was just me, Bobby, his wife and a couple of her friends (who I

never did get along with. Cheerleaders from high school. Ever

notice how the bitches who are cheerleaders never actually stop being

bitches?) and Jefferson and his little cadre of underage jail bait.

My pink Fuck Doll shirt was covered in sweat and I just felt

that there was something not right about the moment. I've never been

the popular one in the band and I've never been the stable one

(that was Bobby), but I was always happy having Ray and Lee around,


22/48

even if I hadn't slept with one enough and I slept with the other too

damn much.

Have I ever told you that I fucking hate this town? Well, I

fucking hate this town. Everyone knows everyone and everyone knows

everyone else's damage. A place like this you can't have an affair

and not have everyone now know. There are no secrets, there are no

lies but what we let people have. And there are sins that are worth

keeping to yourself.

The bartender had given me the bottle because I paid him enough,

and I was pouring myself another shot when Bobby came over.

Let me drive you home Bev.

I must have looked at him like I wanted to punch him in the

throat. I must have looked at him that way because that's how I felt

and I have a bad poker face. But he took it well Bobby always

does. Sometimes I think that I'm really just fucked up. Bobby's the

kind of guy you fall in love with, and he was making his girl very

happy. Me? I was drinking Jack Daniels and thinking about Lee and

Ray and how I'd really just messed up with both of them.

I softened up and kissed him on the cheek. No Bobby. I'm

fine. Just gonna walk home. He hugged me despite the fact that I

must have smelled like a distillery.

Bobby said his farewells to Jefferson, who barely paid attention

to him because he was getting the phone number of one of his

groupies, and signing his name on another's t-shirt over her tits.


23/48

Jefferson's a real classy son of a bitch.

But like I said, he sings like an angel would sing.

I slammed back another shot of Jack and didn't bother saying my

farewell to anyone.

I was drunk as fuck, but it wasn't my first time, and it sure as

hell wouldn't be my last. But this one was unhealthy, even if you go

by my rather low standards. It was almost three in the morning and

it was Sunday, so it was time to atone for all of my sins.

Now you might wonder what's wrong with me. And there's a list,

somewhere. By this time I'm sure someone's compiled one. But what's

this time what was wrong with me for being a girl walking home even

though it was only a half mile in the dark, drunk as hell, carrying

an expensive bass guitar, and wearing only a pink shirt with an

obscenity written on it, and a black miniskirt. You might wonder

what was wrong with me, but the answer was, I was drunk.

That seems to be what people always answer to justify a lot of

sins.

I was halfway home when I noticed the shadows. It wasn't like I

should have before it was night and the only light was a half assed

moon hanging low in the sky and streetlights, only half of which

worked there were shadows everywhere. And if you've ever done any


24/48

walking at night, and you probably have, then you know that the

shadows play tricks on you. Shadows move and deform and change and

you're just so keyed to see movement that when you can't explain it,

you get this irrational fear even if you can explain away what you're

seeing rationally.

But these shadows were different. These were like black ink.

These were like the shadows I'd seen in Ray's garage. They weren't

humanoid shadows, but they were alive. They breathed, they slithered

and they were like nothing else. I might have been drunk but I

wasn't mistaken in what I saw.

And it just became so important that I just go home and close my

door so the world can't come in. So whatever horror I'd found myself

in could just go to hell and leave me alone.

I started to run.

But I didn't get far.

Temper Road curves towards Main, I live close to where those

streets meet up. By the beginning of the curve my lungs were burning

and I started to think that all the time I spent drinking and smoking

and generally treating my body like shit should probably have been

spent at the gym. Or at least in a place not quite so self

destructive. But self destructive behavior is what I do best.

And maybe it was because I could barely breathe, and maybe it

was because I was so focused on getting away from the shadows that

were all around me, and maybe it was the memory of that thing that


25/48

hadn't been a shadow with Ray in the office, but I just didn't see

what hit me as I ran. I went sprawling and twisted my ankle on the

pavement, which hurt like hell. My guitar hit the ground with me,

and I prayed it hadn't broken.

I was panicked and when I looked around, half in a daze, half in

a crazed maniacal state, I saw the one person I didn't to see.

I saw Ray. He was just standing there with this strange

expression on his face, like he didn't know why he was there. Like

he wasn't himself. His face was silhouetted in the pale glint of the

moon and streetlights, and his eyes were still black, like they had

been in his office. And in his hand was the one thing I could see

clearly in the darkness because he held a knife.

Beverly, have I ever told you what I thought about you? I

shuffled myself backwards, trying to stand despite the pain of the

twisted ankle. I had to get away. I think you're a whore.

That stung. I don't know why. It wasn't like I hadn't slept

around. A lot. But the way he said it, I knew he meant it, and

maybe it wasn't him talking because the thing that had been with him

in the garage had to be a demon, because if that wasn't I don't want

to know what is. And demons, they posses you. At least that's what

they say. That's what Pastor Johns thought. Everyone had a demon

inside them. Don't feed my demon. I started laughing, I couldn't

help it. It was just so God damn funny on some level.

But you're so pretty. I could just eat you up. He started to


26/48

advance.

The next sound I heard sounded like salvation. This truck came

roaring out of the darkness like some kind of monster, and the growl

of her engine sounded like a demon itself. The headlights shone

bright, and turned the night into day, and the truck came screaming

to a halt along Temper Road heading in towards the center of town.

What does it say about me that I felt I could trust a man who

had drugged me the night before? What does it say about me that it

was the second time I trusted him the day after?

Elijah reached over and opened the passenger's side door as Ray

stopped and stared at him in the most inhuman way I'd ever seen

anyone look. It wasn't like the Exorcist, with that little girl

who's head turned all the way around. It was like...it was like

something worse than that. Something subtle.

What happened next wasn't subtle at all.

Ray opened his mouth, and it dropped wider than it should have,

and these shadows just came pouring out of him like he was vomiting

black sludge; and these shadows writhed with life and malevolence and

I could smell the promises of death and destruction.

I grabbed my guitar automatically and ran/limped to the monster

truck, and didn't even bother climbing in; I just jumped headfirst

onto the passenger's seat and slammed the door behind me.

As soon as the door was closed and possibly before that

Elijah's foot slammed on the gas and the monster I was in just


27/48

slammed forwards like it was trying to pull down a mountain.

Let me guess, he spoke while he was driving, that was Ray.

I put on my seat belt, and he shift up into another gear.

Behind us the streetlights went out one by one. I didn't need to be

told that Ray, or what had been inside Ray, was now following us.

Elijah looked up into his rear view mirror and cursed.

I'm lucky you passed by.

He grunted, Luck has nothing to do with it. Listen, what has

to be done right now, I can't do it. So something's about to happen

and just keep in mind that when it does, we're in a moving car.

He took the right onto Main Street hard, and the tires squeeled

below us.

I was looking at him, and resisting the urge to laugh, Honey,

I'm not sure anything will surprise me anymore.

And I'm sorry, I was wrong, because what happened next, it was

surprising. Even with everything else that had happened in the last

two days.

Elijah was driving, and then, he just wasn't. He changed,

shifted, and just wasn't himself any longer. It was her, it was

Elise. Still wearing Elijah's clothes, but it was Elise, and I could

see her arms covered with old and new scars from the wrist to the

elbow.

And I don't know. I think I started laughing, because it was

just so preposterous, so over the top, even in reference to the last


28/48

two days that there just wasn't anything else to do but laugh.

I wasn't even quite sure of what I just saw. Elijah was Elise?

They were the same person? They were two different people in the

same body? Have I mentioned I was drunk? Only ten times right?

Elise was not as good a driver as Elijah was and she took the

next turn inexpertly at the speeds we were going at. Almost tipped

over the truck. Open the glove box. She was talking to me.

I shifted my guitar around and opened the compartment in front

of me. A knife sat inside, a wicked looking one too.

Give it to me.

Elise never seemed like the kind of person you should say no to,

but what she wanted to do with the knife was beyond me. I handed it

over, and she rested it in her lap. She took her left hand of the

wheel and ground her wrist against the blade.

That looked painful as shit.

Blood dripped down from her wrist, and I cried out, What the

hell are you doing?

Relax. She smiled, I'm a professional. She stuck her hand

out the window and took another turn left this time, and now we

were facing Temper Road again. Behind us the streetlights were still

going out one by one. Now shut up. I'm going to need to focus.

I shut up.

We drove back towards Temper Road and took a left. I felt like

I was going crazy. She was driving around in circles, and how would


29/48

that help? And all the while her blood was just dripping out the

driver's side of the car and likely onto the pavement below.

And as we drove she spoke in this strange language. It sounded

like a prayer, or a hope, or a dream. It sounded desperate. We took

the next left back onto Main and we really were driving in a circle I

realized. She was making a circle (really more of a square, but I'm

not sure the actual shape matters) with her blood. For what ever

that might mean.

She was taking the corners dangerously and part of me wanted to

scream, and cry out that we should slow down because we were going to

crash, but the things were still behind us. I could feel them, even

if, in the darkness of a night without streetlights for comfort I

couldn't even see them anymore.

She slammed on the brakes roughly when we reached roughly where

she had cut herself before, and spoke one more word. Her voice was

now calm, and she was completely collected.

And the world turned to white, and there was this sound; it was

this low sound, something primeval, something primitive. Something

barely on the edge of hearing.


30/48

Chapter Nine:

Tourniquet

Elise was tying one of the laces from Elijah's shoes around her

arm to staunch the bleeding and I sat next to her not knowing what to

say. Things were eerily quiet all of a sudden, like the world

outside had just come to a full stop. But we weren't. We were still

moving and breathing and living. Elise was still bleeding.

Are you all right. She was asking me. She was asking me.

My ankle hurt. I was no longer drunk I realized, but just sick

to my stomach, like something was living there and it wanted to just

crawl out of my as fast as possible. I'm fine, I lied. But it

wasn't like she could help me. It was my own damn fault for drinking

that much to begin with.

Good, she said, Because we still have miles to go before this

stops. She hesitated and then looked at me again. I'm letting

Elijah drive. Don't freak out.

And all of a sudden, like before, she wasn't there anymore, it

was just Elijah, in his tank top and ripped jeans. His sandy hair

was a mess, but otherwise he looked no worse for wear. Even his arm

was in one piece, while her's hadn't been after what she did with the

knife. Still, he left the shoelace tied.

I didn't understand it, and I wasn't sure I ever would.

We have to see someone, he told me.


31/48

Who exactly do you mean? And what the hell is going on?

Mama Rourke, he answered. We're going to see Mama Rourke.

For a few minutes we rode in silence, up the dark roads of

Beverly's outskirts. The digital clock told me that it was 2:30 am,

but I was wide awake, although the adrenaline that had been powering

me before had drained out of me. Still, I couldn't fall asleep, not

now.

I cleared my throat. I have some questions.

I imagine you do. He laughed then, a little bit, and kept

checking his rear view mirror. He'd been doing that ever since left

Beverly by way of Temper Road. Maybe Ray was still following us.

Maybe whatever had been inside Ray was still following us.

I met Elise about five years back. He began and I listened

closely because Elijah Elise and Mama Rourke had been particularly

close lipped during these last few days about what the hell had been

going on. There are things I needed to know they told me, but there

never seemed to be time to tell it. I didn't know who she was then,

but she knew me. At least she knew about me. Elise, she's old.

Older than Mama Rourke. It's not my place to tell you more than

that, but for now that's enough.

He flipped on the high brights and the shadows in front of us

ran away in the incandescence. She was looking for something that

didn't exist anymore, and because I knew cars, and I knew roads, I


32/48

knew how to get to places that others just can't get to. It's not

traveling back in time, mind you, but it's close. I was taking her

on roads that don't exist anymore. Kind of like we're doing now.

I looked out the window and I could tell he was right. We

weren't in Beverly anymore, I didn't know where we were. The road

outside was dirt, or clay and there was a river on the side that had

never run through Beverly before. A chill ran down my spine and I

stayed as quiet as the grave. I stifled a laugh and I remembered the

screaming from the night before. That was supposed to be Lee's

spirit they told me. And it was screaming. Maybe the grave wasn't

all that quiet.

Or maybe the grave wasn't all that quiet around here.

Instead of laughing I held myself tight to ward away the cold.

We met something on the road back then. Something that shouldn't

have been there. Something that she wasn't expecting and it almost

killed me. Almost killed her too, but I don't think she wants to

admit that. He took a right over a wooden bridge over the river.

It looked primitive. It looked like it wouldn't hold the weight of

the massive truck that we were in. But it held and we met the other

side all in one piece. It was strange to be on this road that he

wasn't shouldn't have been there, because clearly we were on it. I

believed him though, because despite all of my years here, and all of

my years in Louisiana this didn't look familiar. This didn't even

look like Louisiana. I told him that.


33/48

We're not in Louisiana anymore. We're actually halfway around

the world. But don't think about it too hard. Sometimes it confuses

me too, and I have to concentrate.

I shut up. I barely understood what he was doing. Anyway, I

almost died out there and Elise saved me. But everything Elise does,

it comes with a price. That's why she bled. That's why there's all

those scars on her arms. That's why she's missing a thumb. There

are other things too, but she doesn't like to talk about those.

She's sacrificed more for her art than anyone else I've ever heard

of. He laughed, And everyone thinks Van Gough ear thing is so off

the wall.

He shifted down into another gear and the world changed again,

ever so slightly, but it was enough so that I could tell the shift.

The road was no longer clay, but a strangely colored red dirt that

was hard packed. Other tire tracks were grooved in; this was a well

traveled road.

The price of saving me and saving her own life was that we must

share physical reality. It's far more annoying than having to share

a room mate.

He didn't drive for long, and he didn't bother explaining much

more as he drove. He seemed worried, and I got the feeling that

whatever Elise had done back there in the middle of town, it wasn't

enough. Certainly they were both worried enough to go to Mama


34/48

Rourke.

He pulled into the clearing that finally did look familiar. It

was where I'd been holy shit, was that the night before? It felt

so much longer. It felt like a life time.

Mama Rourke sat on the closest thing the trailer had to a front

porch. She was smoking a pipe, and rocking back and forth in a

chair. Elijah changed once again to Elise, and I'd gotten used to it

by now.

Beverly, she told me. We're going to need your help here,

and then we'll answer all of your questions in the morning. Because

after everything that is about to happen, we're going to need to

sleep.

I laughed, What still needs to be done?

We still need to save your friend. She reached behind us into

the extended cab and took out an over coat, the same one she wore the

night before. She shifted it around herself, giving her some modicum

of decency, since a man's tank top didn't really leave much to the

imagination.

Come on out. Say hi to Mama Rourke.

She opened the door and called out. It's me, Elise. And I've

brought Beverly back. She ran into a spot of trouble tonight.

Is that right? I climbed out of the truck and onto the dry

grass. The drought had hit here hard, and most of the grass was

dead, brown material that crinkled underneath my feet.


35/48

Hello, I said, not really knowing how else to begin. It's not

like Mama Rourke and I are old friends. I ran in Ray Warren on my

way home. He was...he had something inside of him.

She stood, although she did so at great difficulty. Well then,

there's much to do. Come here child. These old bones aren't what

they used to be. She cackled like that was somehow funny.

There were three of us back then Mama, and there are three of

us now. Do you think this will work? Elise was building another

fire, like the one that was lit the other night.

I limped over to the porch and lent the old woman my arm. The

lame leading the aged. It was a comical sight. Oh girl, you have

to stop hitting the bottle. If I lit a match you would light on

fire.

I've had a hard day.

She laughed again, only this time more quietly. Yes child, I

imagine you have. Well, Elise, last time we had a priest, and I

don't think this girl is no priest. But she'll have to do for now.

I lead her to where Elise was starting the fire, and she sat down on

the ground. I sat next to her, happy to be off my foot, which felt

like it was on fire.

Elise lit a match and put it in the fire pit. The bits of grass

and paper lit and soon the fire was burning and growing. Magic,

she began to say, it's not like it is in the books. Magic is not

about circumventing the world, or trying to break the rules. Magic


36/48

is about doing what you know best. It's about making it work for

you.

Mama Rourke took a doll out of her pocket and laid it out on the

ground between us. Elise stood and then spoke again, unwrapping the

shoelace around her arm. It had clotted somewhat, but she nicked

herself with that wicked looking knife again, and the blood flowed

freely, dripping down onto the ground. She walked about us in a

circle, and then took a burning brand from the fire, and held it

close to the dirt. Where her blood had dripped lit and caught and we

were surrounded in a circle of fire.

Beverly, what do you know best? Elise asked the question

after wrapping the shoelace tightly around her wrista again. What

are you good at?

I blushed. Well, Ray Warren once told me I was only good at

two things. Fucking and playing the guitar.

What I'd said didn't even phase her. Sex can be a powerful

thing. A powerful magic, but frankly we don't have time for

something like that. Your guitar is still in the truck. Get it.

The fire won't burn you.

I stood again, cursing the ankle. Pain shot up through my leg

with each step until I came to the fire. She was right, the fire was

burning but it did not burn. It wasn't even hot. I passed through

it without harm. I moved quickly to the truck and took my bass

guitar out. There were sounds out here in the woods, and I closed


37/48

the door again and moved quickly back into the circle.

Mama Rourke held the doll up to me. Spit on it girl.

What the hell was with Mama Rourke and spit anyway? I did as

she asked and then she tossed the doll to Elise who bled on it. God,

these people were weird.

Is Ray dead? I asked.

Elise shook her head, No, but he is in trouble. The closest

thing I can say is that he's possessed. What we're about to do,

well, you could call it an exorcism. She passed the doll back to

Mama Rourke who began to sing. It sounded old, and it sounded like

some mix between French Creole and some kind of Native American

language. It sounded beautiful, but it was harsh.

Last time this happened, you had a priest. Now it's just Mama

Rourke, the witch and a whore.

A chill went down my spine and I turned to see Ray standing

there, but it wasn't really Ray. I could see that now. It didn't

move like Ray, it didn't stand like him. It didn't feel like him.

For all of Ray's faults, and he did have so many, he thought of

himself as a gentle person. But now when this thing that looked like

Ray moved it just promised violence. It was some kind of

abomination.

Elise looked up at him, her black eyes flashing. You are not

welcome to that body. You are not welcome here.

Elise, you were a bitch back then and you're a bitch now. He


38/48

grinned at me. Come out Beverly, I can make this sweet. You would

taste so nice. So much better than this Ray. So much sweeter.

I swallowed nervously and didn't know what to say. Mama Rourke

spoke for me. You are not welcome here Santos. Do as Elise tells

you and remove yourself from that body before we do it for you.

He shook his head, No that's not going to happen. Do you think

you'll be able to get her to perform correctly before I break your

circle?

Elise stood and put her hand on my shoulder, Let's find out.

Ray's face changed and it was no longer mocking, but it was just

terrible. He stood over the fire and stepped forward, but it was

like he was held back. Whatever Elise had done it seemed to be an

effective barrier for him, whereas I had just passed right through.

Then Ray just reared back and slammed his face against he

invisible barrier and the shadows just came pouring out of him again

like so much blackness.

I was afraid, and I didn't know what to do. Elise bend down in

front of me and took my hand. Do you want to save Ray?

My heart was racing and I truly did not know the answer to that

question. Not now. A few days ago things would have been easier.

Of course I would want to save Ray, but right now I was just tired.

So damn tired. But it was the right thing to do. Saving Ray, it was

the right thing to do. And I know Lee would have wanted to do

anything to save him, and that was all I had left.


39/48

All right, I said, All right, what do I need to do?

The shadows were traveling out from Ray around the circle,

testing, looking for a way in. I don't think Elise or Mama Rourke

expected it to last for long. What we need to do, she was speaking

but I wasn't quite paying attention, Beverly, listen to me. You

listen to me, because we don't have much time. What we need to do is

call Ray back. We need to call Ray back. I don't know him, and Mama

Rourke doesn't know him either. We need you to call Ray back into

this doll.

I met her eyes, Well, how the fuck am I supposed to do that?

She knelt down by me and Mama Rourke just kept on singing,

oblivious. Like I said, magic happens when you do something you

know how to do. And if you know how to play, then play and the magic

will just flow out of you. Trust me. We don't have much time.

It wasn't like I had much choice. The barrier wouldn't hold for

long and I didn't want to know what would happen if the shadows burst

through. I'd seen enough blood and violence in these two days than I

wanted for a life time.

I opened my guitar case. Thankfully had left my guitar in

better shape than my ankle. I didn't have the amp with me, but I

slung it around my shoulder and well....I just didn't know what to do

next.

What do I play?

Elise quickly looked over her shoulder and I could tell that the


40/48

shadows had wrapped around us like a sphere. I couldn't hear the

music. Just hours ago I'd been playing up on stage and I just

couldn't hear it anymore. There was too much din around. There was

too much of this bullshit around. Too much fear.

The the fear was something I could play about. I had played

about sadness and death and even hope before, but not about fear. I

could play about fear.

And it was like I hadn't even asked my fingers to start, but I

just started strumming. It was a bass melody almost sub audible, and

that became everything my world was. Elise took my shoulder as I

played and I could feel her blood just washing over me, but that

became a part of the melody too. And everything from the past few

nights, all the fear and the sadness and the death just flowed out of

me like water or blood.

Ray said he liked to listen to me play. When we were sleeping

together, afterwards when we were just a tangle of legs and arms on

the bed he would say, I want to hear you. I want to listen to you

play. I tried to tell him that it was just the bass part but he

loved it. And I loved playing for him. We were dysfunctional, but

there were good things about the relationship Ray and I shared. And

that became a part of it too.

I played and I didn't even notice that the shadows had broken

though, drifting inside the circle and blowing out the fire.

But I did notice when Mama Rourke stood up, as if she was half


41/48

her age, and took the doll and plunged it deep inside the shadows.

Elise had been holding me, and I knew that I hadn't played that

alone. Elise had helped me. What Elise had helped me do I wasn't

quite sure.

The fire sprung up again, but this time from the central fire

pit. The shadows ran, and at first they seemed to want to go to Ray,

but Mama Rourke had taken his hand and pressed the doll into it.

And it was like Ray was like the sun to the shadows, they just

ran away from him. And for a moment, everything was still.

Then Ray blinked, and just stared at us for a time. What the

fuck was that?

He fell down unconscious.

And I was covered in Elise's blood.


42/48

Chapter Ten:

Sunday

On Sunday morning I was dead to the world.

I can remember what I told you about the night before, but

nothing about what happened after. I know the fire died down and I

know Ray fell as if he were dead or unconscious, and I knew that I

had done something with the guitar that simply shouldn't have

happened. When I moved to Beverly from New Orleans my grandfather and

grandmother couldn't afford movers, so we made do just with

ourselves. It took eight hours to move all of the stuff I wanted to

keep from that disaster of an apartment we used to keep; I didn't

think we had eight hours of stuff in our entire lives. Anyway that

night I couldn't help but continue moving things in my mind; it was

like the physical memory of it wouldn't let it go. That night I had

dreamed about moving.

Sunday morning I was dreaming about playing the guitar.

I've known how to play a bass guitar (with varying degrees of

competency) since I was fourteen when my grandfather brought a used

one a few towns over. I don't think I need to tell you that the

night before I had never done anything like that. In my dreams I was

playing and it was music. And I don't mean to say that it wasn't

music what I'd been doing with Jefferson and his Cross all these

years. Until the day I die I will forever love all that I've done


43/48


44/48

mood for honesty of that kind. Thank God Elise liked black because I

didn't have on a bra. I took my jeans out of the bag and put them

on, feeling a little slutty even for me for not wearing any panties.

There was a mirror, and I looked at myself quickly. My eyes

were puffy, and my peroxide blonde hair was going in every direction

but straight. I felt the same way.

My ankle throbbed and just looking at it I could tell it was

half again as big as it should have been. I could walk on it, but it

hurt.

I left the room feeling in disarray and found myself ina

hallway. The building had been vacant offices when Elijah took it

over, and despite the fresh carpeting and the attempt to hang

pictures in the hall it still looked like that. There was an

elevator at the end of the hall, but it was boarded up. A few feet

away there was a staircase, which hadn't been carpeted and still

looked plenty industrial.

I walked down the stairs and I felt like a ghost. I don't know

why. Despite my reputation (and don't get me wrong it's a reputation

I cultivate) I tend to wake up on my own. It's either because I

hadn't slept with anyone, or either I left or my date left before we

decided to sleep for the night. I know, I date real winners. But

then I'm a real winner myself.

But that morning it just felt....lonely. I wanted to see Ray.

I wanted to see Lee. I wanted it to be like it was, before


45/48

everything got bad. Before everything got all fucked up.

In the staircase I found I was on the third floor and decided to

go down instead of up. I took the stairs gingerly considering my

messed up ankle, and found the second floor boarded up as well. I

went down to the bottom floor. There was an old sigh there, half

destroyed from age and misuse that had a capital letter L there for

Lobby. It wasn't a lobby anymore.

I went through the door and found myself in Elijah's garage and

it wasn't a surprise that he was already there. My car sat in the

back parked in between the monster and whatever he had covered by

that tarp. He was working on it, fixing the damage that I'd done to

it in my high and distraught state just two nights ago. It's amazing

how quickly the two days go. And how much had happened. In just

three days everything changed and I realized that even if Elijah and

Elise left and Ray could run his business unmolested by freaky little

fucking demons this would never be the same. Even if I lived my life

in the most boring and dull way possible I knew things would always

be a little different. A little more frightening.

Eljiah must have heard me walking in because he took his head

from underneath the hood. Good morning Beverly. Did you sleep

well?

I cleared my throat, and I almost wanted to laugh at the

question. I'm alive. I'm not sure if I should be.

He smiled. I had to say I kind of liked Elijah. I mean, he was


46/48

weird as shit with that whole turning into Elise thing, but he had

this shy little look about him. And he saved my life. How's the

ankle?

I shrugged and leaned on the table in the middle of the room to

get off of it. Like I said, I'm alive. I'm not sure about the

condition I'm in.

Yeah, I think we're all a little worse for wear from last

night.

I hesitated. You seem fine.

He got this little dark look before he laughed and shook his

head. Yeah, well, not everything is what it looks like. He wiped

the grease off his hand with a towel and walked towards a pot of

coffee that he's probably put up a while ago. Can I get you some

coffee?

Sure. I usually don't drink that stuff, but I needed

something this morning. Then I remembered what had happened the last

time Elijah had given me something to drink. Are you going to spike

it this time?

I couldn't tell his expression since he was pouring with his

back to me. Yeah, well that wasn't my idea. Milk or no milk?

Milk with sugar if you've got it. What happened to Ray?

He brought me my cup of coffee in a mug that said Kiss your

mechanic and handed it over. Ray's back with Mama Rourke. It's

going to be a while till he's right again. He's asleep right now is


47/48

my understanding.

I took the coffee, and sipped it. It had stayed hot. I think

it's time we talked about the things I should know.

Elijah sighed and sat down, and I sat across from him. There

was this radio that lay in pieces on the table that he started

fiddling around with the moment he sat down. I sat down across from

him, hoping that I would start getting answers.

I think Mama Rourke or Elise should tell you about what's been

going on around here. Because frankly, they're the ones who know.

I'm not. I'm just the mechanic. I know he said the last bit

sarcastically.

But aren't you Elise? I mean don't you and she.... I didn't

know how to say next what I knew.

I can sometimes hear what she's thinking if she wants to make

it known. And she can hear mine if I want to make it known, but it's

not like we have long conversations. He pointed to his head with

the screwdriver he'd picked up. Having a room mate up here's not

all it's cracked up to be. I didn't think it sounded all that great

to begin with.

So you were saying you and she didn't used to be the same?

I've never told this story to anybody. He didn't seem to want

to. But I wasn't about to miss out on trying to figure something out

today.

I think it's time you told me. Because there's a lot of fucked


48/48

up stuff that's been going on around here. And you're here now and I

don't know where Elise is.

Elise is asleep. She's here, but she's not here.

It's...complicated. Damn it. He banged the screwdriver down on the

table again, took a moment and I think I started to understand how

hard this story was for him to think about. I grew up in Georgia,

he began...

beverly chapters 6 - 10

Documents