CHAPIESKY: By AJ Brown
Friday, July 31st, 2009“I worry about him, sometimes,” Chasity said as she looked out the kitchen window toward the front yard. “Sometimes he zones out and it’s like he’s in another world.”
“Chas, he’s autistic,” Melanie said and peered through the window at Joshua. “Sometimes they do that—zone out and go to another place . . . a place where you and I can’t go.”
“I know, but I still worry about him.”
***
Joshua sat on the grass, a broken crayon in his hand. Across the street four little girls sat in a circle, clapping their hands together and singing a song.
Miss Suzy had a baby,
She named him Tiny Tim.
She put him in the bathtub
To see if he could swim.
Their voices echoed as if they were in a large open room. To Joshua the song seemed to call to him, to beckon for him to join the girls.
He drank up all the water,
And ate up all the soap…
He tried to eat the bathtub
But it wouldn’t fit down his throat.
One of the girls had dark hair with barrettes on either side of her head holding her hair in place. Her eyes were black with purple rings beneath them. She smiled, showing cracked and broken teeth. She raised one battered hand and waved to Joshua.
Joshua lifted his hand, the crayon gripped tightly in it, and waved back.
***
Chasity frowned when Joshua wave toward the house across the street. She looked to see if there was anyone there, but saw no one.
“What’s he doing?” she asked.
“I think he’s . . . waving.” Mel’s smile faded, a frown replacing it; her eyebrows furrowed.
“Yeah, I got that. But, what is he waving at.”
Mel stepped away from the window and sat down, her hands shaking, face pale.
“What’s wrong, Mel?”
“No one lives there..”
“Really?”
“Not since the Chapiesky twins were killed along with their two best friends.”
***
The dark haired girl motioned for Joshua. He stood, cocked his head to one side. The other three girls, two blondes and another one with dark hair that looked like the one waving, turned their heads to him. They all motioned for him to join them. Joshua took a few awkward steps toward the road.
***
“The Chapiesky twins lived in that house. They were good girls. As were Mary Ellen and Beth, their two best friends. They had a sleep over one night and things went terribly wrong. Someone broke in . . .” Melanie’s voice cracked, a tear streaked down her face.
“What happened?”
“Someone broke in and killed the Chapiesky’s—all of them except the mother, who spent months in the hospital. It’s been said that the murderer had been stalking her and went berserk that night and tried to kill her. Her husband tried to fight the man off but died from his injuries. She managed to call 9-1-1 and the cops got there before he could kill her. By then, the girls were all dead and so was her husband . . .”
“Did you know them?” Chasity asked.
Melanie stood up, nodded and went to the window. “It’s been said just before someone dies the girls appear to them and call that person to them.” Melanie looked out and saw Joshua approaching the sidewalk. Just beyond him, she saw the four girls, their hands motioning for him. “Joshua! No!”
Melanie bolted from the kitchen and to the front door. Down the steps she ran with Chasity following close behind.
“Joshua, stop,” Melanie screamed as he reached the street.
***
The girls turned their faces to the two women running across the yard. One of the dark haired girls smiled and blood slid from a crack in her lip. Her dress, which had changed into a nightgown, tore on one side, blossoms of red bloomed on the fabric. The other three girls began to bleed, their throats opening up and pouring their lives from them. They all crumpled to the ground, their mouths open as if they were gasping for air..
Joshua stopped in the street, not knowing what to do. The sight before him was hard to comprehend and he thought the girls were playing like they were asleep. The squeal of tires didn’t draw his attention from the dead girls.
***
Melanie reached the street as the car slammed on the brakes. She thought she was too late but ran into the road just before the car reached Joshua. She vaguely heard screeching tires and Chasity screaming.
Pain tore through her body as the car hit her, lifting her off the ground and into the air. She landed a few feet away, near the other side of the street. Blood seeped from her nose and mouth and her body lay in a crumpled heap.
Through her pain she heard a man crying and babbling about not seeing them in the road. Even with blurred vision she could see Chasity hugging Joshua, who still stood in the street unharmed.
Melanie looked at the Chapiesky’s yard. The four girls stood near the edge of the road. No blood on their bodies, their gowns intact. Their pale faces still held dark sunken in eyes.
One of the dark haired girls knelt down and placed a hand on Melanie’s face. A tear trickled from her eyes and she whispered . . .
***
“Mommy.”
***
As Melanie closed her eyes, the sounds of her daughters and their best friend’s singing filled her ears.
Miss Suzy had a baby,
She named him Tiny Tim.
She put him in the bath tub
To see if he could swim…
©2009 AJ Brown
AJ Brown is a writer of fiction. He hopes his work can at least, be used to line the bottoms of bird cages. If not, he enjoys seeing them published. Some of his short stories have been published at Sinister Tails, SNM Horror Magazine, The House of Horror, Liquid Imagination, Dark Distortions among others.
