Silent Hill: Forgotten Sister
Chapter 11: Grave Digging
5:06 p.m.
It was already five o'clock and I was dead tired. I didn't go to work because I wasn't feeling well and I told Jeff to talk to Randy. Hopefully the store owner figure out I wasn't going today because I told him I was sick and I assume he really wasn't expecting me today. Anyways, I was sitting in the lounge area watching TV and contemplating my life. After the whole Erika's grave fiasco with Jeff, it honestly got me thinking. What if he was right and I am just hallucinating from the lake of sleep? I don't want to believe that I am insane. I know Erika is alive! These bruises and scar proves it is true. I sighed. Fucking Erika! I thought.
My mom entered the lounge area.
"Hey Alex," she called out. "Can you do me a favor?"
"What's up?" I asked while focusing on the TV.
"My arthritis is acting up and I was wondering if you can go pick up Joshua from soccer practice," replied my hazel eyed mother.
UGH! I thought. I don't really want to do that but- I stopped and thought about it. I need flashlights for tonight's journey and I don't have any good ones here at the house.
"Sure," I said.
"Practice ends in twenty minutes," informed Lillian.
"I know," I said. "But hey, can I take the family car? I don't want to take my car because it still needs an oil change."
I don't think I will ever get to change the oil in my car because I do not have time and I am stressing a lot. I'll take it to a shop this weekend if I have too.
"Sure," said Lillian.
"Thanks," I said.
. . .
Shepherd Glens Jr./Sr. High School.
I waited outside of the car, by the soccer field, staring at the sky and drinking a can Dr. Pepper. I was stressing out too much and I needed fresh air. Hopefully I can relax before I meet up with Jeff tonight. I took a deep breath and let it out. When Jeff mentioned Erika's 'funeral', it makes me wonder why Joshua and I were not there. I don't even remember anything from my childhood except the abusiveness and cold shoulders from both my parents. To this day, I still get abused and cold shoulders from my dad and not so much from my mom. Anyways,I don't even remember Erika being a part of my life. Now that I met Erika for the first time, I am not even sure if I do want her to be a part of my life.
Joshua exited the gates of the soccer field alongside with Joey Bartlett. They both seemed to be laughing and enjoying each other's presence.
"I'll see you later, Joey!" Joshua said as he broke my train of thought.
I looked down from the sky and I saw my brother part ways from his best friend Joey Bartlett. Josh and Joey have been best friends since like pre-school, maybe longer than that. When I first met Joey, he was quiet and shy but after a while, he kind of turned into a nut like my brother. Joey is the same age as my brother, 15, and he is a brown eyed, pale skin and blonde haired shorty. I say shorty because he is short as hell. It makes me laugh because Joshua is like 5'7 and Joey is barely 5'3 and when you look at their buddy pictures, Joey is so small. He hates it when I call him 'short stuff.' Anyways, I like Joey because he's a great kid with a great sense of humor.
"Hey Alex," greeted Josh.
"Hey buddy!" I greeted back as I opened the car door and entered. "How was school? How was practice?"
"It was all right," replied Josh as he entered the car. "We had a test in math and we have a science project that will take a month to work on. Practice was the same as usual."
"How was the test and what's this science project on?" I asked.
"Test was okay," replied the brown haired. "It was fractions and no one really likes fractions and the science project is on anything. Basically a free choice project."
I started the car and began to pull out of the parking lot.
"Oh," I said as I stopped at the stop sign, looking both ways before going. "Sounds pretty exciting. Any homework?"
"Just math homework," informed Josh.
I always hated homework, I thought. The only homework I liked was group projects because I got an excuse to go over to Jeff's or Elle's.
"Hey! How come you are not at work?" Joshua asked changing the subject. "I just realized this and where were you yesterday too?!"
"I don't feel well," I lied. "And yesterday I wasn't feeling well either and I had to go to Brahms."
"For what?" asked the high school student.
"None of your business," I said.
"Well jeez Louis!" complained Josh. "I was just asking."
"More like being nosy," I commented.
My little brother rolled his eyes.
"Whatever," he said with attitude.
The attitude, I thought. Erika has it and now Josh? Tsk tsk! Our family is definitely full of sass and attitude.
"Hey," I said trying to change the subject. "Can I ask you something really random?"
"Go for it," replied Josh.
"What would you do if we have a sister?" I randomly asked. "I just wanna know because yesterday Elle was complaining about Nora and how she was such a hassle."
"Big or little sister?" asked Joshua.
"Is it that important?" I questioned.
"As a matter of fact yes," replied the brown haired boy. "It's two different ages with two different answers. Nora is younger than Elle and therefore Elle says Nora is a hassle."
I sighed.
"Older than you but younger than me," I stated.
"So the middle child?" questioned the brown haired boy.
"Yes," I said impatiently.
"Gosh damn," said Josh. "No need to get mad."
"Just answer," I ordered.
"I honestly don't know," answered Josh. "We might be cool friends but screw around with each other and embarrass each other in public."
"Thank you," I sighed.
"What about you?" asked Josh.
"Me," I said. "Well, I'd have the same answer as you."
If Erika did live with us today and she still acted like a bitch, I'd be mean back.
"If she was younger than the both of us then I'd pick on her to be honest," informed Josh. "But I wouldn't pick on her to make her wanna kill herself like them suicide victims."
I said nothing. At least Joshua was being honest. I don't even remember what I did to Erika when we were little and yesterday I just made her cry cause I summoned the Boogeyman apparently. Anyways, since Joshua is the youngest, would Erika pick on him or love him more than me?
. . .
I arrived at Mr. Hardy's Hardware Store.
"What are we doing here?" asked Josh.
"I need to pick up a few things for tonight," I replied. "Jeff and I are going to be hanging out for a while."
I unbuckled my buckle and opened the car door.
"I see," said the brown haired boy. "Hey! Can you give me a pack of gum?"
"If you give me money," I said.
Josh grunted in annoyance as I got out of the car. I entered the shop and it felt so warm and comfortable. I like it!
"Hello Mr. Shepherd," greeted a middle aged woman with a country accent by the cash register. "What brings you here this fine day?"
"Good evening Mrs. Jodie," I greeted back. "I'm just here to get some flashlights."
A/N:Jodie is a middle aged woman from the backwoods of North Carolina, big redneck. She has long blonde hair that is always braided and her eyes are blue. She is a skinny tall light skinned lady. Jodie wears boot cut jeans with brown boots and a purple flannel with a green apron over her outfit. She is a nice person.
"They're in the back," informed Jodie. "You're just in luck Mr. Shepherd, the flashlights are on sales. Good sales if I say so myself."
"Well well, it's my lucky day," I stated. "Thank you for telling me."
I am in luck, I thought. Nothing is more exciting when the items you need the most are on sale.
I walked to the back and entered the aisle that has the flashlights. Buy two for five, it says on the sale. Jodie is right, these are good sales! I grabbed two medium size red flashlights and made my way to the counter. Just to be a nice brother, I got Josh a pack of green mint 5 gum.
I placed my items on the counter.
"Is this it?" asked Jodie.
"Yes mam," I replied.
"I never asked because you walked away," informed the blonde haired cashier. "What are these flashlights for?"
"My apologies for walking away," I said. "I got these for Jeff and I. We'll be hanging out tonight. We'll be going to Toluca Lake."
"Aww, how fun," commented Jodie.
"Yea," I agreed.
"Well, your total is five dollars and six cents," informed the blonde haired cashier.
"I got a pack of gum though," I informed. "That should be a dollar more."
"No no," said Jodie. "It's on me because I know your little brother always gets this kind of gum."
"Thank you so much," I said giving the money to the blonde haired cashier. "You didn't really have to but-"
"No no," said Jodie. "Y'all are sweet kids."
"I really appreciate it," I said grabbing my bag.
"Have a great night," said Jodie. "Tell Jeffery to be careful because God knows what that crazy animal will do. Be safe, Alex."
"Same to you," I said walking towards the door. "I'll be sure to tell Jeff."
I exited the store, noticing the change in the weather. It's getting colder, the air is filing up with thick fog and the sky looks cloudy. It looks like it's going to rain and hail tonight. Well this sucks, I thought. It's going to ruin mine and Jeff's plans but knowing us, we're not going to give up with a little rain.
I entered the car.
"Here," I said tossing Joshua a pack of gum. "I was generous to buy you this but Jodie was very generous to give it to you free."
"You two are the best," said Joshua opening the pack. "Thank you."
"Don't forget to thank Jodie the next time you see her," I said. "Kay?"
The brown haired boy nodded.
"Guess what!" said Josh.
"What?" I asked starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.
"I saw your ex-girlfriend, Olivia Vega, drive down the street in her grandpa's truck," informed Josh. "She stopped next to me and rolled her window down. We talked."
"Talk about what?" I asked.
"The weather, life and a little bit about you," replied the brown haired boy.
"Oh yeah? What'd she say?" I asked.
"She misses you to be honest," replied Josh. "Times are getting rough now a days. Do you miss her?"
I said nothing but thought about what my little brother said. Olivia Vega, I thought. My ex-girlfriend. We started to date when I was a freshman and she was in eighth grade. Basically she is a year younger than me. Anyways, we were kind of off and on due to the fact that I moved to Portland to attend St. Mary's Catholic school but when I came back for secret reasons, Olivia and I started to date again. It bothered Elle a lot because she told me a lot of stuff how Olivia went crazy and 'opened her legs' to other men, older and younger. I was distraught by that but I thank Elle a lot for telling me the truth. If Elle didn't tell me anything, I could have had AIDS or Chlamydia.
"I don't really miss her to be honest," I said. "She was once a sweet girl but now she is a lying whore. Even if she didn't change, I still wouldn't miss her because I have my hands full at the moment. I don't want to focus on love."
Erika, I thought. As much as we hate each other, you're still important at the moment.
"Wow," said Josh. "I kind of liked Olivia."
"Good for you," I said.
. . .
11:08 p.m.
It's eleven o'clock at night and I am sitting outside my backyard with the flashlights, watching the rain while I am waiting for my green eyed friend. My parents and brother are in bed thank God. I cracked the windows open in Josh's tree house and stayed in there for a while until my parents went to bed. I watched them through the window to be honest. I waited for the lights to be turned off ya creeps.
It was kind of hard for the dog though. I let Shuki inside the house so she can stay dry and so she doesn't bark at Jeff when he arrives. She knows my best friend really well but she'll think it's a burglar and she'll go psycho. Then my parents will wake up and I am in huge ass trouble.
Since it is raining, I wore a pair of my old hunting jeans with my boots and my raincoat over my black hoodie. I told Jeff to wear old clothes with boots and a raincoat so we don't get wet and dirty as much. Hopefully he does or he'll be sick tomorrow. Speak of the devil; I saw his car lights pull up next to the park. I put my raincoat hoodie on and exited the back gate. Here goes nothing, I thought. I hope this plan works.
As I walked through the alley, I heard sloppy footsteps. I turned a flashlight on and shined it in the middle of the alley.
Jeff was walking towards me carrying two shovels, dressed in the attire I wanted him to wear. The only difference is that he has is wearing a ski mask.
My green eyed friend and I met up with each other in the middle of the alley.
"Hey man," I greeted. "I brought the flashlights."
"Good," said Jeff. "Here are the gloves."
My green eyed friend tossed me the gloves and I caught them. I put them on and I felt the wet leather.
"Dude what is up with that ski mask?" I asked.
"I was thinking," said Jeff. "I bought them so the cold doesn't hit our face and we get sick and if we get caught, they can't see our faces. Here, I bought you one to."
"That is smart," I commented while getting my ski mask.
"Thank you," said Jeff.
I put my hoodie down for a second and put my mask on. As soon as I fixed it and got it to the point where I can see well, I put my hoodie back on.
Jeff and I walked down the alley and entered through the back gate of the cemetery. It's locked, I thought. Luckily I have my pocket knife with me. I can pick locks by just using a knife, a bobby pin, a baby pin or a needle. I learned this technique from a friend of mine back at St. Mary's Catholic school. I am happy I learned this skill because I will need it for later. I grabbed the lock and began to pick it.
"Just so you know," said Jeff. "As I left work, police officers were roaming around the streets."
"Thank you for telling me soon enough," I said sarcastically as I got the lock opened.
I removed the chain.
"You're welcome I even told you at all," informed my green eyed friend.
We entered the cemetery. Jeff and I don't need a map of this place because we know it by heart. We used to play hide and seek here with a few other friends. Good times, I thought. Funny time too! Anyways, Jeff and I made our way into the old crypt. Jeff and I entered a hallway that lead from the old crypts to the Bartlett Mausoleum. There is a locked gate next to the mausoleum.
I squat down and began to pick the lock.
*click*
I removed the chain and opened the gate. It takes me about ten seconds because I know what to do.
One gate open, a shit ton more to go, I thought.
The gate opening went better than expected, I thought. A few of the gates were open and some locks I couldn't pick so Jeff and I just jumped gate. It was raining harder too which makes things more dandy.
Jeff and I stood over Erika's 'grave'; gawking at it like it's a piece of gold.
"Shine the flashlight on her grave," I ordered. "I'm going to remove all of this crap from the grave and we can start digging."
Jeff nodded.
The bright light shined on the grave as I took off all of the flowers.
"Should we destroy the head stone?" asked Jeff.
"Maybe later," I replied. "Let's focus on digging for now."
Now that all the flowers were gone, Jeff and I started to dig. It's a little easier because the dirt is wet and I can be able to lift a lot of dirt.
"Can you do me a favor when we're done?" I asked Jeff.
"Sure buddy, what's up?" replied my green eyed friend.
"Can you not tell anyone about this?" I asked. "Especially Elle. Just tell people that we went to Toluca Lake just to have fun."
"Why?" asked Jeff.
"Because it's no one's business and I only told you because you're my best friend," I replied. "I trust you, damn it!"
Jeff kept quiet for a moment.
"No problem," he finally spoke.
"Thank you," I said.
. . .
2:48 a.m.
Three hours gone by and Jeff and I were still digging. It felt like we've been digging for more than three hours. Even though I am beat, I didn't give up. There is no point in giving up when Jeff and I are halfway there.
*boom*
Surprising, I thought. When Jeff and I are halfway done, it starts to thunder. Great, just great..
"We better hurry," I told Jeff. "We're going to get struck soon."
"Don't worry about it," said Jeff. "We're almost to the bottom."
We were almost at the bottom but it felt like more dirt was added every time we took some out. I guess the rain kind of helped because it turned the dirt into mud and it dissolved? I don't know but the rain is helping.
I took a big heavy shovel of dirt and threw it on top.
*clank*
"Hey!" said Jeff enthusiastically. "I think I got it."
My green eyed friend jumped into the bottom and cleaned the rest of the dirt off the coffin while I shined the light at him. The coffin looks like a small child's coffin and it's black with the Shepherd family symbol in gold. Jeff found the latch and managed to break it open.
"Dude come down here and take a look," informed Jeff.
I dropped down into the hole with my flashlight and shined the light around the black box. There wasn't much except dead flowers, dust and some kind of item that was wrapped around in a bunch of old clothes. I picked up the clothed item and it was pretty heavy. What the hell could it be?
"What do you think that is?" asked Jeff. "Could it be a body? Bones?"
"Not really," I said. "It's too heavy for it to be bones but it could be a body."
I put the item down and began to unwrap it slowly. It was wrapped in a little girl's clothes which I assume it's Erika's, and old towels. I gasped in surprise as I revealed the item.
"Whoa dude," commented Jeff. "That is cool."
I held a sword that looked like a cross in my hand. The sword handle is baby blue and on the sword is the symbol for water. This sword looks very old but it doesn't look rusted. Why is there a symbol for water? Does my family have to do with water? To be honest, I have never seen this in my life.
"There is something else here," said Jeff rummaging through the clothes.
He pulled out an emblem with a weird looking symbol on it. It has a triangle in the middle of the circle and inside the triangle is some kind of snake. Around the triangle are squiggles and x's. I have never seen this emblem before.
"Do you have any idea what it could be?" asked Jeff.
"No," I replied. "I have never seen that emblem before."
I wrapped the sword back up.
"You're right," said Jeff. "Erika is not dead. I'm sorry for doubting you and calling you crazy."
"It's ok," I said softly.
"So what are you going to do now? Are you taking these things with you?" asked Jeff.
*boom*
It thundered again. Instead of answering my best friend, I just climbed out of the ditch with the sword and emblem.
"Hey! Answer me!" yelled Jeff.
"I'm going home to do some research," I told my best friend. "I'm going to question my parents tomorrow first thing when I see them. I am tired of all of these secrets!"
I started to walk away. At first, I wasn't planning on telling my parents anything but whenever I would find out more information about our family or Erika, I just continue to get lost and more confused. I know this won't be easy but I'll manage a way to sweet talk my parents. If I have to, I'll get Jeff to back me up.
"What about the grave?" yelled Jeff.
I stopped and turned around.
"Just forget about it," I yelled back. "I'm done with it. We might as well destroy it. Well, you can."
There is no point in burying the coffin again. Now that I took everything out of it, there will be nothing inside but old clothes and towels. I think it would be a waste of time trying to bury it. Erika is alive and not-so-well.
Jeff climbed out of the ditch.
"I brought matches," he said.
"You can try with all this rain," I said. "I doubt it'll work but be my guest."
My green eyed friend reached into his pockets and pulled out a packet of matches. I don't know how it's going to work because it is raining but I did insist on him trying. Then he pulled out a water bottle which looked like it is filled up with gasoline. He poured the bottle of gas inside the coffin, lit a match and threw it in the coffin. The small box caught on fire as Jeff ran away towards me. We watched the flames try to eat the coffin as it was fighting its way through the rain.
"Yea, it's not going to last long," informed my green eyed friend.
"I kind of figured," I said as I walked back to the alley.