Hazel's Lock (Book 1)
Elora held Finn’s hand as they entered the ancient witch’s shack. Finn was her boyfriend and was nice enough to bring her to the haunted artifacts museum, even though he believed none of it. They had finished the first half of the tour, which had been indoors. Now their guide would walk them outside and through the shack then back into the building for the second half. Elora was never so excited to be anywhere in her life, she loved the paranormal.
“This is pretty damn cliche,” Finn said through a light chuckle.
The shack was built like it was straight out of a dark fairy tale. The wall to the right was basically just a large wood burning stove. Elora knew from her limited knowledge of fairy tales that the witch most likely slept on the stove to keep warm. On the left wall was a shelf below a small window, on the shelf was jars of who knows what. Probably halloween props meant to scare people. In the corner of the room was a skull from a very large bull. Bones littered the floor from the size of a small animal to human size and even a couple that were bigger. The wood looked to be planks that had been pulled from the fire after being mostly charred. Finn was not impressed in the slightest. He laughed when he noticed the cast iron cauldron over a fire pit in the center of the room.
He walked over to it and laughed again, “Babe, they put a fake lock of hair in here.” It had obviously been placed there by the museum to give a spooky vibe. Their guide was at the front of the line, the shack could only hold about eight people. Half of the tour was already out the door, including him. Finn and Elora were at the tail end of the line of museum goers. Finn stood over the cauldron as the last of the other guests exited the door on the far side of the room.
Finn pulled out the hair. “Feel it,” he said and reached out to Elora.
“What the hell are you doing?” She asked, clearly upset by Finn being an ass. “Put that back right now.”
“Are you serious?” He asked with a smile on his face. “We both know that it’s a prop to scare people.” Behind the smile was slight frustration for being scolded like that, he didn’t do well at hiding it.
“You don’t mess with shit like that,” She said, even more angry now at his attitude. “You may not give a damn but I really believe in this stuff.”
Finn laughed but it was not a happy laugh. Elora knew that her boyfriend was mad about this minor tongue lashing. She didn’t care, she was not going to be cursed because of his dumb ass. “There is no such thing as witches or curses,” He said, then stuffed the dark hair in the front pocket of his black hoodie. He stepped towards the exit but stopped when Elora didn’t follow.
“I’m not leaving until you put that back,” she was furious now. “Doesn’t it freak you out that it looks exactly like your hair?” Finn laughed out loud at that. “Put it back now.
“Then you’re going to be here for a long time,” Finn said as he walked out the door. Elora did not understand why he was being such an asshole. She didn’t think she had ever been this mad at him.
After a moment the tour guide walked back into the shack with an uncomfortable smile. “Ma’am,” he said in the everlasting tour guide's cheery voice, “Do you have any questions?”
“No,” She said, still very angry at Finn, she would tell on him. “The guy that just walked out took the hair out of here,” She pointed into the cauldron.
“There was no hair in there,” He said, his smile turned more natural. He walked over to the fire pit and looked into the cauldron. “I bet some kids put it in there as a joke. We do find stuff in there from time to time. We found a message in a bottle one time. It said, ‘take me home and I will haunt you for a lifetime.”
“What happened to it,” Elora asked. She was less mad now and more interested in this new bit of information. Finn would have thought her to be dumb.
He thought for a moment. “Honestly I don’t know,” He answered, disappointing Elora. “But I can promise you that I am going to find out. I completely forgot about it until now.” He smiled again. He was clearly pleased to have her so interested in his story. “You can leave your number at the front desk and I can let you know.” Elora thought that was a great idea. “Are you ready to move on?”
“I’ll do that,” Elora said, “ that would be amazing.” They walked out, the guide let her exit the shack first. Both were smiling, Finn got jealous almost instantly.
Finn stood there with an irritated smile on his face. Elora decided not to let him ruin her day. She would think about his attitude and how to deal with it after she got home. Elora had been wanting to come here since the museum opened up a year and a half ago. They drove three hours to get here and for a moment Elora dreaded the ride home. For now though she was going to enjoy herself. She smiled back at him, his irritated look did not suit handsome face. She did love the way his wavy dark hair framed his cheeks.
She was going to make this museum experience worth the drive. Elora got to see a few haunted dolls, a mirror said to show Bloody Mary, and a masterfully carved Ouija board. It had two names carved into it, “Bawa,” and “Bazon.” The Ouija board was found at the scene of a double murder and disappearance. Two young boys were murder by a long time female friend that was never found. The paranormal story was that the names on the board were demons that possessed the young lady then swept her off to the beyond. The police story was that she disappeared to avoid prosecution. Nobody knew for sure what happened to her.
The ride home was everything that she had expected, uncomfortable and unpleasant. Finn did apologize, “I was just trying to have fun. Stuff like that is boring for me.”
“Well that wasn’t fun for me,” Elora countered. “I know you think that it’s bullshit but I don’t and you didn’t respect me. What if you just cursed yourself to try to be funny?”
Finn smiled a tense smile, or maybe he was holding back laughter, “I am not cursed. Honestly that is one of the most ridiculous things you have ever said to me. I don’t believe in that shit so I am ok.”
“Well I do,” she said again “and I think it was a dick move for you to shit all over what I believe. I would never disrespect you like that.”
Finn could not believe that he was arguing with his girlfriend over a stupid witch and a bullshit curse. “Are you serious right now?” He asked, frustrated at the ridiculousness of this argument. “How many times have you given me shit when I wear my lucky hat during the playoffs?” Finn had what he called his lucky hat special for his favorite hockey teams playoff games. She made fun of him every time he put on the old and dirty hat. “I never get mad at you for that.”
“You really think that is the same as a witch's curse?” being cursed did sound a bit silly when she heard it out loud but she was too far into the argument to turn back now. She knew this disagreement would go nowhere but she didn’t care, Elora wanted to have this fight. It really was very out of character for her.
The two argued in circles for about forty five minutes which to Finn felt like an eternity. Elora finally said that she would be sleeping at her place tonight. Finn agreed that would be a good idea. The both fell silent so the radio could play the soundtrack to this scenic drive through the Wasatch mountains. The canyon gave way to a valley which then later gave way to the city of Provo. They drove north through the various cities that lined I-15 for about an hour. The Salt Lake valley must have been so beautiful before it was taken over by the concrete jungle that it was now.
Finn pulled into Elora’s apartment, they shared an angry good-bye kiss, and a non-affectionate I love you. As she stomped away to her apartment Finn realized that he owed her another apology, for now he was too angry. He drove away and for the entire ride home he had an internal argument whether to apologize tonight or in the morning. He decided to give it about an hour before he apologized. By then she would be asleep, Elora was an early to bed early to rise girl and she would see it first thing in the morning. He felt like anything before that would seem fake and forced. She was being irrational but he was being kind of dick also.
He watched the hockey game that he recorded, smoked a joint, and ate pizza. He could not believe he missed the game for that stupid shit, but it was important to her and he knew that he kinda ruined it. His team won in a shoutout, between that and the weed he felt now was a good time to apologize. It was a little later than he planned but it was the thought that counted.
Sorry babe he texted I shouldn't've been an dick at the thing. I was just bored and was tryin to be funny. I overreacted when you told me to put it back. I thought you got a little more mad than you shoulda. But I shoulda been nicer about it too. I will talk to you when you wake up, sleep well beautiful. I luv ya.
Finn knew that would be a good way for her to wake up in the morning. That would end the fight and everything would be normal by the time they got off work. He did his nightly routine of showering, shaving, and brushing his teeth. He was ready for bed and thought that he would sleep like a baby tonight. This was the first time in months that Finn was sleeping alone and was kind of enjoying the extra space. They both planned on moving in here; they just had to wait for Elora to finish her lease. The air in his room shifted somehow and dropped in temperature significantly. Finn found himself smiling, maybe the ghost stories had gotten to him a little bit. Finn had lived here for two years without so much as a creek in the floor.
His dad taught him from a very young age that there was no such thing as ghosts. “There is nothing in the dark that is not there in the light,” He remembered his father saying. He thought back to his family movie nights every Saturday night. Finn, his mom, his dad, and his two older sisters would watch movies and eat candy. The tradition was as long as his memory and probably began when his parents were a young couple before the kids. On the nights that they watched a scary movie their dad would have them play a little “game.” First Finn's oldest sister would walk down the wooden stairs, it would be impossible to run without hearing your feet thumping on them, with his watch and his wallet. She would place them on the coffee table in the family room then count to sixty (one Mississippi two Mississippi all the way to sixty). After she returned, then the middle sister would retrieve one then Finn would get the other, also counting to sixty. It was scary at first, he remembered, but before long it was as easy as pie. Towards the end Finn had even begun to enjoy it, then one day they just never had to do it again. The game had worked.
He turned his TV on to his favorite show right now, which was about a Canadian minor league hockey team. Before long Finn was dead to the world. Not long after, however, his eyes opened slowly with the feeling of someone’s eyes on him. The TV was off and the only light in the house was the clock on the stove in the kitchen. Finn looked out the door and swore that for a second there was a shadow of a hunched over old woman. Finn jumped out of bed and grabbed his phone. He turned on the flashlight then ran to the door where he turned on the bedroom light. Finn quickly searched his small one bedroom one bathroom apartment. It was empty. He assumed that the ghost stories had got to him, giving him some weird ass dreams.
Finn climbed back in bed and fell quickly into a light sleep that didn’t last long. As he was about to step over the line from light sleep to deep restful sleep he heard footsteps in the hallway outside of his bedroom door. Finn looked out his doorway and saw the same shadow of the hunched over old woman.
“What the hell?” Finn felt like he was stuck in a strange dream that was about to become a nightmare. Again he assumed this could be a side effect from all the ghost stories today. As he moved in his bed the shadow darted out of the doorway into the bathroom. He knew that he would not find anything but this was definitely getting weirder by the minute. His assumption was right, there was nothing in the bathroom, what was going on. Finn hadn’t felt this scared in years.
Finn decided that he would hit his pipe a couple times to calm his nerves. The weed did its job and after only a few hits Finn was ready to get back to sleep. He was on the verge of sleep when the feeling of being watched overwhelmed him once again. He opened his eyes, this time already facing the doorway, the damn shadow woman was there again. The door slammed, Finn shot out of bed and turned his phone flashlight on. Finn was scared now, like he had never been before.
He ran barefoot to the door, he tried the knob but it would not budge. Finn’s heart was beating hard and his hands were shaking like leafs. He went back to his bed to get his clothes on, he left them in a pile next to it in case of emergency. Basketball shorts, tanktop, and slippers. The official uniform of freaked out people in the middle of the night. Finn turned back to the door and it flung open so hard that the knob put a hole in the sheetrock. Then immediately slammed back shut, his neighbors must think he is going crazy. Finn’s eyes shot open, he was still in bed. The dream had been too vivid for Finn’s liking. He had not had a dream like that since he was a very young boy watching a scary movie in the basement with his family.
Even though it had just been a dream, Finn was pretty damn terrified. Finn picked up his phone from his night table. There was no message from Elora and it was 3:33 in the morning. Finn did not believe in the superstition , but was still aware of the significance of that time. That is when the whispering started. It was coming from everywhere like the darkness itself was whispering insanity. His phone went and stayed dark despite him pushing buttons repeatedly.
Finn could not understand a word that the darkness was speaking, it sounded like another language. He jumped up, as before in his dream, and put on his basketball shorts and flip flops. The shadow woman was there yet again, he could somehow tell that she was ancient. He blinked and she was gone. The door opened and slammed three times, the sheetrock behind the door was devastated. Finn decided that he would be sleeping in his car, there was a zero percent chance of him staying here. Finn ran towards the door. Just before he crossed the threshold of the door she appeared again. He had no chance of stopping, Finn passed right through her. Every nerve in his body screamed out in pain and he fell to the floor in a pile of agony. His whimpers of pain were drowned out by a witch cackle, it sounded like a fifties TV witch.
Eventually the pain subsided a bit, Finn fought his way through it and to his feet. He tried to run but his legs were stiff and heavy like they were coated in a layer of cement. The cackle faded and the whispers resumed. Finn thought if he had to listen for long it would drive him mad. He stiffly walked down the hall and towards his front door. Finn felt the eyes following and the darkness smiling at his misery. The air became arctic very quickly.
Finn struggled his way to the door then fought with the lock like a drunk guy. He got the lock then clumsily fought with the knob. He could still feel the pain in his nerves and his body was still stiff like a cement man. Finn got the door open with a shaky hand, he had never felt this level of terror. The thought of what the witch may do to him gave him the strength to run out the door and down the hallway of his apartment building.
He ran towards the stairwell with shadow feet scuffling after him. The overhead lights were flashing like nightclub lights but Finn thought this was much less fun. His legs were no longer stiff so he reached the door quickly. He opened the door and for the first time realized how spooky the unpainted cement walls looked. Maybe it was just the overall feeling of this night. It was pretty fuckin scary, but he did not think about it long. He lifted his foot to take his first step, two hands pushed hard in his shoulder blades. Finn was knocked wildly off balance so he reached for the handrail.
A shadow hand reached out and smacked his hand away. That was the last step to his demise. Finn’s right foot came down awkwardly making his ankle flash with pain. His back slammed hard against the handrail and his head hit the wall making stars flash in his vision. His knee was next as it smacked hard against the cement stairs. Next was the most painful flip of his life. As his spine snapped on the stairs he screamed out in agony. Lastly, he fell headfirst against the cinder block wall next to the exit door and landed in a heap.
As Finn waged his last war against death he watched a pair of shadow feet walk down the stairs towards his nearly lifeless body. He tried to scream but was completely unsuccessful. In the last moment before death Finn felt a boney hand latch on to his hair and yank out a lock. Elora had been right. Darkness took him.
Evelyn held Alex’s hand as they stepped into the small ancient witches shack. The plaque said it had been built in the seventeen hundreds. Alex commented on how cliche the whole place was, from the large wood burning stove to the name Hazel that the witch used. Alex looked in the cauldron and laughed when he saw the fake lock of wavy dark hair. They even put blood and skin on the end for the appearance of authenticity.
“Should I take it? Alex asked.
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