Journey into the past

Charlie

Prologue

I rolled the window down and felt the breeze swept through my hair, blowing my ginger curls haphazardly across my face. I couldn’t wait to feel the call of nature, the scent of pine cones filling my lungs. I have been literally dreaming of this place for a year. Never seeing the entire picture but snippets of things here or there. I did not know why this place was so important, but the ache in my chest intensified the closer we got to Colorado. I was anxious, almost terrified there would be nothing there-----that this trip would be all for naught.

It was difficult getting my parents to agree to go camping in the mountains of Colorado. We are from Delaware City people and my dad is black and my mom is white. I grew up knowing that black people didn’t camp. I know it sounds absurd. It was the excuse my dad use every time I ask “Charlie black people don’t camp.” Let's just say it took months to plead my case for this trip.

They kept their promise, rented an R.V for my seventeenth birthday. My brothers, the little twin rascals, bark at the idea of living off the grid. No internet, no devices, just being one with nature. They begged and pleaded with me to change my mind. They even tried to convince my parents I was slowly losing my mind. My mom shook her head at their antics, and my dad laughed at the prospect of seeing them interact without the inconvenience of technology.  

We were going to leave the city for a week, see the sights, and just enjoy family time. My dad develops games for a living, so my brothers Noah and Leo, twelve are his testers, and thus seldom see the light of day when in a new game mood. My mother is a patent lawyer. Yes, my dad is one of many clients she deals with daily. No one knew I had an agenda besides camping. I know I should have said something, but the idea of them looking at me like I was crazy kept my mouth closed.

My dad parks the R.V after we have been driving for two days straight, to fill up on gas and snacks for the road. Then we were off again until at last, we arrived at Cresent Moon.

We stopped at the top of a hill that looked down into a deep crescent shape valley.  It was beautiful. Pine trees filled my visions for miles. The sunset darkened the sky a reddish yellow it was breathtaking, and it felt more like home compared to the two-story brownstone I grew up in.

“Charlotte, stop gawking and help your brothers with the bags so we can set the tents up before it gets dark.” My mom says, literally shaking me from my stupor.

“Wait mom are we staying here I thought we were going to explore the crescent, you know down there.” I pointed at the dip below the hill.

 “Charlie baby, listen to your mother,” my dad laughs at my chagrin expression.

I was aggravated. I had come all this way just to what-----stay a hair's breadth away from seeing-----God knows what.

“Come on, guys, why can’t we camp down in the crescent-like we planned, what is the point of coming all this way, if we’re not going to see everything up close.”

My dad stops what he’s doing to stare at my mother. They have this silent telepathy thing they do with their minds or faces. It's creepy as hell. As per usual, after several minutes, they broke their stare and then smiled at me.

See, what the hell was that non-verbal communication thing. Only my parents were this strange and loveable at the same time.

“Ok, your dad and I decided you 're right, and it makes sense to go down, it’s not like we will have this opportunity again to see this beautiful place.” 

I raise my hand in a triumphant fist pump, both Leo and Noah roll their eyes at me simultaneously and continued offloading their gear.

We each took a bag filled with supplies and headed down on foot after my dad secured the RV.

Several hours later, we all sat around a fire roasting marshmallows, telling scary camp stories, hollering with laughter as my dad imitate an ax murder on the prowl for his next victim. It was one of the best nights of my life. My parents were both in one place, no work emergencies hanging over their heads, just being one with nature laughing with their kids. It was exceptional. By the time we each headed to our own tent, it was after midnight.

Loud screams jerked me awake, disorientated I sat up like a marionette doll being tugged upright. Rubbing a hand over my face helped me focus and stave off sleep. A quick glance at my phone said two-fifteen-----shit. Two hours of sleep was not enough for me to process the three kinds of hell that were occurring outside my tent. I pondered whether to ignore the insistent screeching or stand up on wobbly legs to investigate. My tired eyes and aching head refuse to obey, so I slapped myself in the effort they would cooperate. As much as I languished the idea of just laying back down to continue my restless sleep, I decided I would see what the problem was.

I stood up, made my way outside as my eyes adjusted to the dark. It took several seconds for the scene I witness to make any semblance of sense. Stark terror froze my feet instantly. A hand flew to my mouth to stop the scream that threatened to penetrate.

Oh god, no, this couldn’t be happening.

Immediately, tears blurred my eyes.

Without thinking, I ran to where my father laid on the ground, several holes in his chest, blood everywhere. My mother sat next to him, tears streaming down her face with her hands tied behind her back, screaming for my dad to wake up. Leo and Noah sat next to her with fear in their green eyes, sobbing as two men aimed shotguns at their chest.

“Dad,” I screamed, pressing my hand against the open wounds to stop the bleeding. The harder I pressed, the more blood sprouted. I checked his pulse. Nothing thumped against my hand. His skin was pale, clammy, and cold to the touch. I bend my head to touch his cheeks, kissing his face as tears trailed down my eyes at the realization that my dad was dead, gone.

“Fuck Stan, there’s another one of them beast, this one really pretty. We could have some fun with her.” I opened my eyes and stared opened mouthed like a deer caught in headlights. As the shorter of the two men spoke. He titled his bald head, leering at me. ” You want a taste of me, you wild beast.”

A wild beast. What the fuck was he talking about.

Bile rose in my throat as he grasped the crotch of his pants, pulling and tugging what could only be a barely there penis. I couldn’t even make out the imprint as I did with Devin Thomas when he flashed me three weeks ago in the girl's locker room at school.

“Can I Stan,”

Gross, he smiled suggestively, showing off crooked black teeth. As stomach-turning as he appeared, the other one frightened me the most. The hatred in his hazel eyes as he stared at me said he wanted me dead and not as a plaything.

“Fuck no,” the scary one shouted. “You want to be like them, shifting, filthy venom, John. We will do as we did in Mexico, kill them all, even the boys.”

I shivered, holding his stare, contemplating what I could say to talk him out of this. His long grey coat covered his entire body, including his head. I saw blue-black hair peeking out under the hood. He was much taller than the nasty, bug-eyed bald one by at least two inches, with an intimating stare, a square jaw chiseled from granite.

“Please, why are you doing this, we have done nothing to you.” My mother cried, pleading on deaf ears as his eyes held mine for what seemed like an eternity.

“You copulated and produce young spreading your sickness to another generation of beast, for that you must pay the price.” He pulled the trigger. Both my mother and I scream out. "No," as the blast of the shotgun threw her a great distance away from my father’s body. Blood gushing out of the multiple holes created by the gun.

Terrified, I sat on the ground, tears falling from my eyes, staring at both my parent’s life-less bodies. Shock paralyzed me to the spot.

Leo and Noah started crying harder than as they too look upon the carnage. This couldn’t be happening any minute now I would wake up and realized that this was just another nightmare brought on by my dad's terrible campfire stories. It couldn’t be real, could it?

 I watch as the tall one, who seemed in charge, reloads the gun, then points it straight at Leo’s chest, whose eyes widened in fright as he clutches Noah's hand tightly in his own.

"Please don’t, they are just little boys,” I cried, huge gulps of tears running haphazardly down my face. “Take me if you want, leave them alone.”

“You think we want to soil our godly bodies by copulating with you, filthy beast,” He shouts in disgust as spit flies from his mouth in a torrent.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but please just let them go. I will do anything you want,” I shouted.

As numb as I felt I wasn't about to lay there and watch more members of my family being gun down, not the most innocent, not when every fiber in my being said I needed to protect them from this nightmare-----a a nightmare that was all my fault. I was the one who begged to come here, why I still did not know. If anyone was going to sacrifice themselves, it was not going to be Noah and Leo. They were children, for crying out loud. These men were monsters.

He sneers at me, then aims the gun once more in my brother’s direction.

I ran to them, skidding to a halt, wrapping my arms around them, acting as a shield of sorts, just as the gun goes off. I felt the jeering impact of the gun reverberated through my body. A deafening ringing penetrates, then silence. It was then I realized the blast had ruptured my right eardrum, considering how loud it sounded. Blood trailed onto my shoulder from my ear. My left ear seemed fine, though I could definitely hear the boys screaming my name at the top of their lungs. That was a good sign, I guess.

“Char,” they screamed in unison, a nickname they called me since birth cause Charlotte was too long and Charlie was even harder

I lift my head to stare into their frightened tear strike eyes “I am okay,” I say “He missed.” I lied. It made no difference. They knew it was a last-ditch effect to comfort them. Cause I couldn't lie to save my life. I was terrible at it. Dad said my eyes were too genuine. 

Leo, the braver twin, trailed a stumpy little finger down my cheek as more tears filled his emerald green eyes, a trait we all got from my mother's Irish side. Noah hiccups, trying to overcome his fright to say anything. As the baby, both Leo and I always protected him from bullies. They both bowed their heads to touch mine. “I love you both so much,” I whispered.  Kissing their cheeks, I knew we were all going to die. That thought gutted me to my bones that Noah and Leo were never going to see another birthday to play video games with my dad. “Don't look at them, look into my eyes, it will be okay.”

I smile for Noah and Leo’s benefit. I peered up just in time to see the smirk that crosses the bald guy’s face. 

“You got the bitch good Stan,” He shouts, as he does a little happy jig at the prospect.” You could have let me have her for a few minutes though,” He sulks, a frown marring his ugly face.

That’s when I feel the wetness seeping from my clothes. I glance down and there are multiple holes in my lower abdominal. Before I can say anything, the gun goes off two more times. More bullets tear through my already shredded flesh. I gasp, then fall onto the boys. I see first Leo, then Noah inhales sharply, then closes their eyes. As the impact of my body forces them to the ground, a loud crunch sound echoes under me. Breathing hard, I hear the men behind me sharing a laugh at our expense. If I could, I would kill them with my bare hands. 

I try to speak, but a gurgling sound erupts as blood fills my mouth. My eyes become hazy, but I swore my gaze landed on a huge grey wolf. I told myself I was seeing things. Who knew hallucinations played a role in dying. The wolf’s golden eyes stared into my soul. I smiled and tried to reach out to touch it, to see if what I saw was real. I never got the chance. My eyes close as terrified screams follow me into the darkness.