Courtney Adkisson

Sneak Peek – Chapter 2

Two

When I arrived at the estate, I felt rather grateful for the bitter cold.

The thought of smashing something became more…appealing the more I thought of Evelyn’s predicament. And who knows how long it was going on for. As soon as I felt the rage bubble up again, I felt a blustery gust of wind hit my face. Get it together…you’re no use pissed and raging.

Before I knew it, I found myself standing in front of my two-story brick estate. The curtains were drawn as I approached the rather familiar dark wooden door. This place was home regardless of how empty it seemed from the outside and the tragedy bestowed upon it.

It’s hard to believe that I almost ran from this whole town entirely. Everything felt like I was starting from scratch in the most brutal way. But I felt pulled back. I had a feeling my parents’ deaths weren’t accidents which made it harder to leave. It felt as if I was abandoning them if I stepped out and tried a new life.

This whole town seemed cursed even as far back as my grandparents. My mother would tell stories of things they witnessed as children. My father tended to agree with her regarding the many oddities that would happen. They were good people, smart people. Why would they lie over something like that? Either they were caught up in the lore of everything, or they genuinely believed it.

Now the only thing that remained of them was this house, a shell of what used to be. Ghosts of people who became mere victims of it and unfortunately becoming their own urban legends. But to them and the rest of this town, everything about Blackwood Hollow was all real at the end of the day.

I took off my jacket, finally feeling the bitter cold spread all the way to my fingers as I stepped into the foyer. I glanced at the unchanged décor of the entryway. I tried to respect the estate, keeping it as my parents left it. The elaborate floral green wallpaper that my mother adored saying it would “brighten up the mood” always stuck with me. I tended to agree with her. The dark wood that my father insisted that would make the place sharper and more distinguished to the guests who would show.

Their portraits remained along the walls, though I kicked myself for all of them being covered in dust, and…turned around. I didn’t have the heart to look at them. Lord forgive me, I couldn’t look at their faces anymore.

My mother’s crosses were taken down as well. The holy symbol that used to mark her faith was now hidden, missing from the house. Disagreeable or not, God was too busy with the rest of the world to help the small town that was being picked off one by one. At least that’s what I told myself. Why else would this be happening over several generations? A bitterness crept up into my throat. My thoughts stopped immediately as I looked down at the floor.

Watery, snow-melted tracks led along the dark floors to my study. Judging by the size and shape of the footprint, they belonged to a certain teenager. I rolled my eyes.

I turned to follow the tracks on the floor, noticing the study was, indeed, open. I peeked in, and of course, Bryan Fields was sitting at my desk, his feet resting so comfortably on my father’s desk.

I had to bite my tongue, but I felt my jaw tighten in disapproval anyway. Perhaps my father was rolling in his grave with the amount of scolding I had to restrain.

Bryan Fields was a curious boy, he always had been. Sometimes that curiosity got him in trouble. Bryan was indeed his mother’s son. He kept the name Fields as almost a rebellion against Avery. Not to mention his grandfather refused to give up the legacy with the only grandson he had. Bryan never liked the name Atwood. Avery might’ve taken that as an insult, but he wasn’t exactly fond of his son. And as much as Evelyn despised her father, she would not disagree with keeping the name to fill certain legacies.

Bryan being as…brilliant as he was had a rebellious streak that made his mother worried in the recent years. It included going into abandoned places or wandering around the woods as if it meant nothing to the rest of us. Then again, I was like that too, especially after my parents were gone. I understood his situation. His father never bonded with him and Evelyn did her best to pick up the reins.

The more he was absent the more she worried, and I couldn’t blame her. To ease her discomfort, she had asked me a favor: putting the boy within arm’s reach, keeping an eye on him and my chivalrous nature couldn’t fathom saying “no” to her. Even the sheriff in town agreed, nudging Bryan to occupy himself in my company.

His curiosity might get him killed one day, the officers would complain and I agreed with that statement. Didn’t need him to end up being another news story.

Bryan was sixteen and it’s hard to believe he survived this long, especially when his interest piqued on the odd of the cases I’d been a part of. He refused to keep his nose out, so I kept him in my sight. Outside of Michael and Oscar, I seemed to be the only person who seemed to take Bryan’s curiosity seriously. No matter how much his habits got to me.

What he had was not a vice, but a talent. Something to be admired. That’s when cases were solved and how people were found. Plus, Bryan seemed to only listen to my advice. Which made the responsibility of having him in my dwelling even more grueling.

And now here we are, the boy now taking over my study, his wet boots on my father’s desk.

As I finally entered the study, I looked over his shoulder as he seemed to be busy reading the local newspaper.

After a moment, I cleared my throat in a greeting which caused Bryan to jump from his seat.

The surprise made him gasp while the newspaper was sent scattering around the desk…the desk which was now wet.

“Connor I-” Bryan greeted but I immediately raised my hand to silence him. Bryan nodded, slowly sitting down and lifting his feet back onto the desk.

“Off!” I scolded quietly but sternly.

His feet hit the ground instantly with a loud thud.

I pointed at some spare cloth for him to fetch. I would not have his mindless action ruin my father’s desk. His eyes darted to the water stains on the desk. He flinched and gave me a sheepish look then immediately proceeded to clean up the evidence. I could tell on his face he wouldn’t do that again.

“Sorry Connor, I-”

Then I furrowed my brows. Connor? When did he start addressing me so informally by my name?

I put up my hand to silence Bryan for a moment. He swallowed, waiting rather impatiently as he put the rag away and sat back down in the chair. “When did you start calling me that?” I asked.

Bryan’s eyes widened and his face turned pink as he did when he was younger.

“I uh-” Bryan stammered.

I sighed shaking my head. I wasn’t going to scold him again within a matter of minutes. “Never mind.”

The looming reminder of needing Bryan to talk lingered in my mind. But him being so disrespectful in my study after seeing his mother just set me over the edge. He must’ve noticed because his eyes studied me worriedly.

“Did I do something?”

“No.”

“I only ask-”

I tsked again, rubbing the bridge of my nose as I leaned against the opposite end of the desk. Bryan sat there in the chair staring at me as I tried to regain my composure. I had to give him the run down. He deserved that much if I were to question him later.

“I talked to Reverend Donovan this morning,” I began.

I didn’t think the boy’s eyes could get any wider. “You found out, didn’t you?”

“Depends on what you mean about finding out,” I replied.

Bryan shook his head, looking away. I could instantly by the look on his face he was angry. Not the normal childlike response he used to have, but genuinely upset.

“He started it!” Bryan growled through gritted teeth, his eyes averted. “That bastard-”

“Bryan!” I growled warningly.

Bryan stopped for a mere moment as I saw the rage and almost betrayal in his eyes. I regained some steadiness in my voice.

“Don’t talk about your father like that,” I stated quietly, holding back my own reluctance. Though…I was definitely on his side right now as much as I hated to admit it.

“But he is!” Bryan objected, a growl in his throat.

When did the boy’s voice get deeper? I sighed, needing to keep my cool as well. If I felt as horrible, rage inducing as I did seeing his mother, I couldn’t imagine how he felt. And who knows how long they’ve been acting like this. Hidden from the rest of the town. I took a breath and collected my wits.

“Listen…I can’t get a clear picture if you don’t tell me what happened,” I explained.

Bryan hesitated, crossing his arms.

“I don’t know,” Bryan pushed.

I know he didn’t want to talk, but I needed answers and I had to do it carefully. “Bryan, listen to me,” I pressed gently, his eyes now away from me. “I need you to be brave for me all right? Sometimes we must have difficult conversations, right?”

Bryan flinched, eyes tearing but he wiped them away before they could fall.

I waited another moment.

“All I want is to know what happened. For you to be honest with me,” I reassured him as best I could. “Remember how honesty affects what we do?”

Bryan stayed silent and shook his head.

I could see the battle he was having. I kind of took the hint that he was not going to go into it. Boys shouldn’t go through this. No one at his age should be dealing with any of this. I nodded in acceptance; he’ll tell me when he’s ready. “Where’s your father now?”

Bryan shook his head. “He’s home, though I’m not sure if we’re going back tonight.”

“Where would you be staying?”

“Mrs. Baker’s,” Bryan replied, grabbing a pen off my desk and fiddling with it. He looked at me and gave an exasperated sigh. “Although not sure if that’s any better.”

“Now be nice. Mrs. Baker seemed like a nice lady,” I quipped. “And Ted is no one to sneeze at. They’re good people.”

Byran rolled his eyes again.

“Why can’t you just beat him up,” Bryan groaned. “We’d be better off without him.”

“Oi!” I spat as I grabbed the pen from his fingers. He looked at me grudgingly. “Knock that off. Just because your father had an episode doesn’t mean there isn’t reasoning. And I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

I felt my voice bite on my words.

Bryan rolled his eyes. “It’s not just the one.”

I swallowed while regaining my sense of composure.

“Patience is a very hard and painful thing. It takes a long time to master it,” I reminded the boy as I did in a lot of my lessons. “However, there is something you can do for me.”

“That being?”

I sighed, sitting on the desk in front of him and forcing a smile on my face. “Keep your mother safe,” I replied simply. “Something is terribly wrong and we are going to find out understand?”

Bryan swallowed and looked away, nodding slowly. “Can we talk about something else?” he insisted, grabbing the newspaper rather quickly as if to shut down the conversation entirely. “I got the rundown.”

I sighed, nodding slowly as I stood from the desk and backed away slightly so that I could pace around the room. He was a smart boy, and he learned things rather quickly. I could tell he needed the distraction. It’s not like my mind wasn’t begging for it either, because if I didn’t, Evelyn’s bruised face would flash back into my mind.

“Give me the run down, Fields,” I encouraged.

Bryan hastily grabbed the pages trying to reorder them best he could. He then cleared his throat as he rummaged through each loose paper. He stopped on one and his face brightened.

“Oh! Reports of missing livestock again in the last month-”

Again. More farm animals missing. But unfortunately, that isn’t the same as missing people…unfortunately.

“Does it say who’s making the claims?”

“It’s the pig lady-”

I turned, looking at Bryan. I raised my brows at him, daring him to continue the sentence and sighed.

“She does have a name Bryan,” I reminded the boy. “Manners.”

Bryan’s cheeks reddened as he rolled his eyes despite nodding in understanding clearing his throat. “Right… Miss Shaw,” he corrected himself. He looked at me as if to confirm any form of satisfaction which I nodded in response, motioning for him to proceed. “She’s been missing a few animals throughout the whole year. Says it might be the woods you know.”

Miss Jane Shaw was an odd duck around town. She’d been here as long as I could remember. Her family was relatively well known even in my parents’ generation. It was odd to have her be such a local legend. She mainly worked on a farm by herself for as long as I had known her. Although she had a bit of a reputation. She somehow always managed to have a massive piece of land, yet her pigs especially would go missing. The butcher never received the livestock, and there was no sign of them anywhere in the entire town. It made me wonder if they fled from her poor upkeep.

“Or her incompetence,” I commented. “That woman never had a handle on her own livestock since her family set foot here.”

Bryan shook his head.

“Any others missing recently?”

“Not since the last one,” Bryan replied. “That was months ago.”

Thankfully. I stared at Bryan as he flipped to the familiar section of the obituaries. I prayed he was right. But word goes around quickly, and Michael would’ve told me if something else had been conjured up as suspicious. Unless he had no reason to tell me…

“Are you going to the services tonight?” Bryan asked. “Maybe we can ask around. Mingle.”

“Mingling isn’t exactly appropriate in church,” I joked. “You make it sound like a party.”

“Well, it’s a memorial regardless. Everyone will be there,” Bryan explained.

Bryan flipped through the pages quietly as my eyes rested on the map. All the articles, photographs, and drawings just stared back at me. There had to be a link. Anything. But there was nothing. One by one people seemed to be picked off. Maybe even before that.

Blackwood Hollow was a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately for me, I was the only one who ever truly looked for an answer.

That’s when it hit me. The twinge in my gut that forced my hand. I didn’t want to be haunted by that church. Old memories were going to be sprung onto me but something screamed down to my bones that I’d be a fool not to go. At the very least I needed to alleviate Elizabeth’s worries about Evelyn.

My eyes then rested on an illustrated picture of the home I currently stood in. Without any of my family that stood in a quiet, happy picture. Yet the map labeled the home: The Sullivans with my father’s beautiful calligraphy.

I wasn’t sure how long I was staring before Bryan broke the silence. “Are you all right?”

I had to go tonight. For Bill, for Elizabeth, for Bryan…for Evelyn. They were the only real family I seemed to have left. I turned around, leaned forward, grabbed Bryan by the shoulder, and pulled him up from the desk chair.

“Go home and put on your Sunday best Fields,” I announced grinning.

“Sir?”
“We don’t want to offend God.”

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Blackwood Hollow is a fictionalized supernatural horror mystery, self-published and available on ebook, paperback and hardcover. Check out my website to find out where you can get it globally or contact me directly!

Blackwood Hollow:

Connor Sullivan always knew that there was something wrong with his hometown of Blackwood Hollow, NJ. Mysterious deaths and missing persons cases seemed more common than they should for such a small, isolated place. Some even believed it to be a “curse.” After the tragic death of his parents, Connor became a private investigator spending years trying to follow even the smallest lead to the disappearances to no avail. Whether it was monsters or men among them, not even Connor had been able to connect the dots. When a good friend, Reverend Bill Donovan calls over a domestic dispute involving one of his parishioners, Evelyn Fields, Connor’s curiosity is piqued enough to take up the case. Connor couldn’t have predicted that this one case would begin the domino effect which may very well lead him to finally solve the mysteries that surround Blackwood Hollow.