The Quarry

by Christopher Schmitz

conclusion

Minutes passed as the group sat around the campfire, talking about the latest gossip and waiting for the party to really begin. An underlying tension seemed to brew beneath the surface. Melissa was withdrawn, distracted beyond hope. Curled up against a log, she watched the water.

They heard another crunching sound. This time, the noise was unmistakable. It had come from just inside the woods. The breeze strengthened noticeably, and it carried an ill sound, like a moaning voice. Melissa gasped.

A strong gust blew in from the waterside. The chill it carried cut through their clothes and blew against the flames. Cinders scattered as the fire rippled in the forceful wind. Glowing embers lodged themselves in Mick’s duffel bag and set it on fire.

“That’s it. I’m done,” said Sherry. The strange events had finally creeped her out enough. “I want to go home.”

Melissa anxiously jumped up, ready to follow. She had been prepared to leave since the evening began.

“C’mon guys,” Sam pleaded. “Sherry? My cousin’s gonna be here any minute.”

Mick stomped the flames out of his bag. “I’m all for leaving. This isn’t fun anymore. I’m not scared or nothin’, but we’re out of beer and the girls want to leave.”

Walt shrugged as they headed towards the car. “Sorry, man. I’m the driver.”

Sam followed, trying to convince them to stay as they walked the short distance down to ground level. The group stopped before crossing a small stream; it filled the ditch and provided a tiny barrier between the gravel road where they had parked and the quarry’s staging area.

Sam rested his hand on a No Trespassing sign, “I thought you said there was no such thing as ghosts.”

“What I said,” replied Jessica, “was that there are demons.”

Sam looked at Sherry. Pleading with his eyes.

“Hey, what do I know about science anyway. I’m failing that class.”

“Make sure you put out the campfire,” Walt reminded him. “We’re gonna head over to Mick’s. His folks are gonna be out late.”

Sam turned back to the quarry, but their campfire was gone, completely snuffed out. Not a single flame flickered where they had just been sitting. It should have been visible from where they stood.

The whispering came back again, but this time, there was no breeze. The eerie voice made up words that could almost be distinguished. With clenched teeth, Jessica groaned uneasily, terrified.

Frozen in place with shock, a slight noise drew their eyes upon the water of the quarry. Ripples spread out from their epicenter as a hand peeked above the surface, fingers clenching as they tasted air. The decayed appendage rose further and Melissa screamed; more of the body was revealed as it ascended.

They turned to flee across the stream, back to Walt’s car, but skidded to a stop. In the middle of the road, next to the station wagon, stood the black-clad apparition. Without eyes, his stare seemed to pierce each of them. It did not disappear, but growled with an otherworldly voice.

Sam turned, sprinting up the granite cliffside, leading his friends. Walt shook Melissa out of her fearful trance; the terror had rooted her in place.

“Come on! This way! There’s a four-wheeler trail at the top of the cliffs!” screamed Sam. He dashed past the water’s edge where the groping, leprous arm protruded. Glowing orbs, now plainly visible, hovered just above the quarry’s maw.

In the dark, Sam stumbled past their fire ring. Walt ran right through it, kicking up cold soot and char. The coals were cold and dead; not a shred of smoke escaped.

At top speed, they continued up the trail, barreling through the prickly bracken and broken poplar trees. Mick stepped on a cluster of fallen elderberries and slipped as their juices slicked his footing.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” he chanted, rolling back onto his feet.

Sherry looked over the edge and saw the monster fully emerge from the slimy pool. She began to wail despondently. She seized up with horror at the sight.

Sam grabbed Sherry and shook her like a rattle to get her attention. He saw it as he shook her: a decayed body, covered in slime and mire, glowing yellow eyes, a mouth that oozed water and maggots from between its rotten teeth.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” Sam copied, dragging Sherry along the path.

Their hearts beat inside of their ears and their field of vision narrowed as they ran. Every breath they exhaled was accompanied by a cry of fear. They were dizzy with terror.

Sam led the charge, bursting through a clump of jackpine boughs and onto the ATV trail. His friends tumbled into him as he abruptly came to a halt. Standing on the trail was the shrouded apparition. It seemed to ooze the mist that hung above the path.

Instinctively, they fled in another direction. They ran across a clear pathway nearby; the brown grass crunching underfoot, their pulse’s thundered in their ears. They stopped only when they ran out of ground. They were trapped at the edge of the stone cliff that hung over the quarry.

Their nerves shot from the adrenaline, the teenagers were soaked with sweat. Walt doubled over, heaving gasps of oxygen; Melissa collapsed on the ground. Mick pointed and collapsed to his knees in despair. “There!” he wailed hopelessly.

The creature from the pit shambled towards them. It seemed to relish their fear and it gleefully filled the air with the stench of death. A shadowy blackness hovered above the ghoul, as if the demonic entity were controlling it like a twisted marionette.

Something felt dead within the teens’ souls, as if their spirits were rotting within their chest. The cloying, palpable sense of horror was overpowering.

Sherry collapsed in tears. “Why?” she pleaded with whatever powers would help her.

Sam looked over the edge of the cliff, where thrill-seeking kids often jumped. Bobbing in the water below were dozens of hands, each reaching skyward, grasping for him, beckoning for him to jump and be dragged to the depths.

Jessica stood, shaking like an epileptic. She had come to her faith as a last resort. “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave!”

The rotting smile gaped open in a cock-eyed grin. Filthy water leaked from the cadaverous mouth. Its voice came as a potent thought in their minds. Jesus Christ I know, but you I do not, it cackled.

Jessica fell, bawling like an infant, curling into the fetal position. The monster continued its approach; its stiff-legged steps bore it steadily onwards, leaving staggered footprints of vomit-like mire that smelled of seaweed.

You five shall join me in the depths of my pit. As my trophies, you will accompany me in Hell.

Sam’s friends rocked back and forth. Rendered catatonic by the demonic oppression, they had given up. The futility of his situation hit him. Sam dropped to his knees. “Lord, help me! Rescue me, help my unbelief!”

He watched, eyes wide open as the demonic beast plodded further towards him. “God, I’m sorry!” Sam screamed.

He could hear the fiend growling at him. Then, the growling shifted; Sam could hear the change in sound as an ATV approached. Its headlight silhouetted the form of the creature.

With a crunch of gravel, he heard the ATV stop. Sam’s eyes welled up with tears. The combination of sudden, blinding light and his cousin Tom’s voice filled him with hope.

“Hey! You!” he heard Tom shout. The light obscured everything, but he could hear Tom’s feet stomping the dried undergrowth; he was running to them.

“Get away from them!”

The demon shrieked at him, a blood curdling sound that sucked away the remainder of Sam’s willpower. How could his cousin stand? The shrill pitch of the scream shattered the headlamp on Tom’s ATV, a shower of sparks fell to the ground. Sam’s vision was partially restored with the darkness. He could see as if he were drunk.

“Demon, I command you! Depart in the name of Jesus Christ, in whom I trust.” Tom’s voice was bold and confident; it did not leave room for argument.

The demon hissed and recoiled at the name of its adversary. It was clear that the creature did not want to leave when it was this close to its prey. It tried to resist. It shrieked and flailed, trying to intimidate the bold young man into doubting the power of his faith.

“In the name of Jesus, who has given me the authority to bind the powers of darkness, I bind you, wicked spirit!” Tom prayed loudly, invoking the Lord. “My God, exercise your authority. I pray that you would remove this demon from my midst, in your name, holy Christ, I pray!”

Like an explosion, the monster disintegrated into a cloud of lice and dispersed. Tom quoted a passage, ‘and He said to them, “this kind cannot come out by anything but prayer and fasting’.”

Tom ran to the distressed teenagers. Sam grabbed his cousin and hugged his waist, sobbing on his jeans.

The newcomer gathered the demonically harassed teenagers to himself. They began to recover from the mental and spiritual damage as Tom prayed over them.

Sam explained what had happened over the last hour to his older cousin. “I’m so sorry, Tom. I’ve been so selfish lately. I figured that you were coming out to party with us, that you were going to be ‘buying’ now that you’re twenty-one.”

“No Sam, you should have known better. Don’t you remember that summer at Bible Camp? That summer I accepted a call and mission from God, a calling to serve him and become a pastor; I thought you knew that. I finally got an internship in a church up north here.”

Jessica was still sobbing, “I couldn’t do what you did. Does this mean that I’m not a Christian?”

“I only know that the enemy intended to pursue you all. We need not fear anything when we have faith. You too can have the power and authority to do His will. Do any of you want to pray with me, become a true Christian?”

* * *

Seething shadows, cloaked in a shroud of darkness, the foul spirit watched six heads bow in prayer with the saint who had arrived. The demon had failed its objective. Its prey had found their only path to safety and salvation, a power that repelled, overpowered its own.

Its vacant eyes watched from a distance. It was repulsed by the sincere words of their prayer. There would be more time, however, to stalk these converts. Its authority over them was diminished, almost nonexistent. But there would come a time, a weak moment, and then it would oppress them again, and as forcefully as it could.

With the prayer uttered and asked in the name of Jesus Christ, the vile creature could stand no more. It departed... for now.