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Authors: Paul Tremblay
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and creepy, and she doesnât like looking at the coin or holding it.
Mom calls out Kateâs name. Kate doesnât want to yell back from inside her brotherâs room. Mom hasnât come out and said she shouldnât be in here but the made bed might as well be a K EEP O UT sign.
Kate reseals the coin bag and places it back in the tin. She walks on her toes toward the door and the hallway. To her right is Tommyâs closet, and that white door is open a crack. She allows herself to imagine Tommyâthe real one, not ghost or shadow-Tommyâsimply hiding in his closet, and when she opens the door he shrugs and says, âSorry,â and then he pulls the door shut.
Kate stares at the thin, dark opening between the door and the frame, and then she opens the closet enough to see two lonely button-down shirts hanging on a rack thatâs mostly empty hangers and belts he never wears. At the bottom of the closet are his dirty clothes piled up in the hamper. The dank, sweaty, stale smell is overpowering and seems somehow amplified. Does his closet always smell this bad? Is this the same smell that Mom claimed she smelled last night?
Kate believes in ghosts. She believes ghosts are everywhere andanywhere. They are always watching and they are always coming for you. They can be in any room, in any closet, under any bed or desk, behind the door, in any dark corner, more dark or less dark it doesnât really matter.
But Tommy isnât a ghost. He canât be, because right now Tommy is the opposite of a ghost. He is nowhere.
Kate leaves the closet door open a crack. Just in case.
Elizabeth Finds Notes from Tommy
T he next morning Elizabeth is up and awake before Kate and Janice. Outside the sun peers over the backyard but itâs still dark in the house. She checks her phone for a morning-update email from Detective Allison. There is one.
The search has expanded beyond the neighborhoods surrounding the park, and today theyâll canvass convenience stores, local malls, and other places that are local teen hangouts. They are monitoring local transit stations and bus stops. They are working their way through the list of acquaintances the other two boys and Elizabeth provided. They continue to monitor Tommyâs cell phone number and records, and they are monitoring various social media platforms for messages about and/or directed at Tommy. Overnight they received calls from three different residents whose properties abut Borderland, complaining of a person who cut through their yards and then into the state park. The Ames police responded and just after 10 P.M. , they found a group of high-school-aged teens gathered at Split Rock. (Ill-advised vigil or mind-numbingly tasteless party, Allison didnât specify). The S PLIT R OCK sign was vandalized to read âDevils Rock.â The teens were escorted out of the park, questioned about Tommy, and were released to their parents.
Elizabeth responds with a thanks, Iâll call soon, and a question: Have you ever heard of Devilâs Rock before?
Elizabeth leaves her bedroom and doesnât turn on any lights on her way into the kitchen. She intently stares under the kitchen table and into dark corners and nooks. Last night, she didnât sleep much and spent most of the evening exploring dark spaces, looking under her bed and in her closet and staring at the emptiness between the chair and end table, desperate to see what she saw the previous night. Desperate to see Tommy again.
She pours herself a glass of orange juice instead of making coffee, and she slowly shuffles out into the living room, still with the lights off, looking nowhere and everywhere at once. She slumps to the couch with her glass huddled against her and finds the TV remote wedged between the back of the couch and the cushion to her left. Sheâll be careful to not tune the TV to any of the local news stations, most of which have been calling the house asking for
Mom calls out Kateâs name. Kate doesnât want to yell back from inside her brotherâs room. Mom hasnât come out and said she shouldnât be in here but the made bed might as well be a K EEP O UT sign.
Kate reseals the coin bag and places it back in the tin. She walks on her toes toward the door and the hallway. To her right is Tommyâs closet, and that white door is open a crack. She allows herself to imagine Tommyâthe real one, not ghost or shadow-Tommyâsimply hiding in his closet, and when she opens the door he shrugs and says, âSorry,â and then he pulls the door shut.
Kate stares at the thin, dark opening between the door and the frame, and then she opens the closet enough to see two lonely button-down shirts hanging on a rack thatâs mostly empty hangers and belts he never wears. At the bottom of the closet are his dirty clothes piled up in the hamper. The dank, sweaty, stale smell is overpowering and seems somehow amplified. Does his closet always smell this bad? Is this the same smell that Mom claimed she smelled last night?
Kate believes in ghosts. She believes ghosts are everywhere andanywhere. They are always watching and they are always coming for you. They can be in any room, in any closet, under any bed or desk, behind the door, in any dark corner, more dark or less dark it doesnât really matter.
But Tommy isnât a ghost. He canât be, because right now Tommy is the opposite of a ghost. He is nowhere.
Kate leaves the closet door open a crack. Just in case.
Elizabeth Finds Notes from Tommy
T he next morning Elizabeth is up and awake before Kate and Janice. Outside the sun peers over the backyard but itâs still dark in the house. She checks her phone for a morning-update email from Detective Allison. There is one.
The search has expanded beyond the neighborhoods surrounding the park, and today theyâll canvass convenience stores, local malls, and other places that are local teen hangouts. They are monitoring local transit stations and bus stops. They are working their way through the list of acquaintances the other two boys and Elizabeth provided. They continue to monitor Tommyâs cell phone number and records, and they are monitoring various social media platforms for messages about and/or directed at Tommy. Overnight they received calls from three different residents whose properties abut Borderland, complaining of a person who cut through their yards and then into the state park. The Ames police responded and just after 10 P.M. , they found a group of high-school-aged teens gathered at Split Rock. (Ill-advised vigil or mind-numbingly tasteless party, Allison didnât specify). The S PLIT R OCK sign was vandalized to read âDevils Rock.â The teens were escorted out of the park, questioned about Tommy, and were released to their parents.
Elizabeth responds with a thanks, Iâll call soon, and a question: Have you ever heard of Devilâs Rock before?
Elizabeth leaves her bedroom and doesnât turn on any lights on her way into the kitchen. She intently stares under the kitchen table and into dark corners and nooks. Last night, she didnât sleep much and spent most of the evening exploring dark spaces, looking under her bed and in her closet and staring at the emptiness between the chair and end table, desperate to see what she saw the previous night. Desperate to see Tommy again.
She pours herself a glass of orange juice instead of making coffee, and she slowly shuffles out into the living room, still with the lights off, looking nowhere and everywhere at once. She slumps to the couch with her glass huddled against her and finds the TV remote wedged between the back of the couch and the cushion to her left. Sheâll be careful to not tune the TV to any of the local news stations, most of which have been calling the house asking for
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