Beneath the Veil Read Online Free PDF

shadow crossed the hallway.
    “Come here, please,” Jen called out.
    “You have to be quiet,” the voice said, closer this time.
    Jen stood on the chair and trained the light through the opening.
    “Best be careful,” the voice said. “Old man Hockenberry fell off that chair and hung himself.
    Momma said he used to be a pastor, but wasn’t one anymore on account of what he had done.“
    “What’d he do?” Jen asked.
    “He joined the true religion.”
    “Can you open the door and let me out of here?” Jen asked.
    “I can’t, not till nighttime comes.”
    “Sure you can, Jen said. “It’s easy.”
    “Not for me, not anymore.”
    “What’s your name?” Jen asked.
    “Willow.”
    “Willow, my name’s Jen. I am real cold and hungry and need to get out of here.”
    “You’re fixin to get the crop,” Willow whispered. She moved closer to the door. “They grow‘em in the graves.”
    “Please open the door and let me out of here, my friends are looking for me.”
    “I told you, I can’t. Not till nighttime comes.”
    Jen shined the lighter through the opening.
    “Come closer, I want to see you.”
    “I’m right here.”
    “I can’t see you.”
    “Most can’t till the nighttime comes. I can’t even see myself,” she said sadly. “Less I am near the creek.”
    Jen pulled a compact mirror out of her pocket and held it up to the opening. Willow’s ghastly image reflected in the mirror. She appeared to be a child of seven or eight years old, but had pallid skin and dark circles surrounding black eyes. Jen dropped the compact and it shattered on the stone floor.
    “How long you have been here, Willow?” Jen asked, voice shaking.
    “I came down to this cellar last night. The sun came up and I got stuck. I just wanted to see who they brought down here.”
    “How long have you been in this town?” Jen asked.
    “A long time, Momma signed the pledge on account of me being real sick.”
    “What pledge?” Jen asked.
    “The pledge to true faith,” Willow replied. “Momma said it made me better.”
    “I know it’s hard, but I need you to open the door.”
    “When the night comes I can open it, but that’s when the hunger comes and you shouldn’t be out when the hunger comes.”

C H A P T E R  S I X T E E N
    “J ackson, I see a place up ahead,” Barry said.
    They had located a path from the main road that led them to a vine covered cabin. As they approached the building, the last rays of sunlight glimmered through the trees.
    “Looks abandoned,” Barry said.
    “Yeah,” Jackson replied.
    They walked through a field of high grass and onto a crumbling porch. Symbols were carved into the wood around the front door.
    “These symbols are the same as the ones we saw on the rock face outside of town,” Barry said.
    “What do you think they are?” Jackson answered.
    “Some type of superstition, maybe protection against evil,” Barry answered.
    He examined the carvings in the dying light of the sun. The channels cut into the wood timbers were smooth and even. Jackson cleared vines away from the front door and gave it a push. The door opened inward revealing a stone fireplace and rough handmade furnishings. The ceiling was high with beams running across the width of the room. Dim light filtered through the distorted glass of a single window.
    “Jackson, I noticed a fig tree out back when we walked up. Could you pick us some to eat?”
    “Sure, I’m starving,” he answered.
    “I’ll get a fire going,” Barry said. “I think we’re far enough off the road to be noticed.”
    Barry walked outside to gather wood for the fireplace. A sliver of moonlight illuminated the forest where green trees and golden sunlight had been replaced by a canvas of gray shadows. Once he collected an armload of wood, he carried it back in and placed it on the floor. He stood up and realized he felt good for the first time in months. Jackson returned through the front door with his arms full of