The Mystery of Maple Creek

Chapter 5. The Dead Coffin

Chapter 5

The Dead Coffin

(Perspective: Hellen Mayweather)

But I had a second thought about this. I was still standing in front of Melissa. Of course, she bulged her eyes peevishly at me for not following the rule of the game.

“What are you doing? Hide! Now!” She demanded me.

“No, wait. Do you think it will be safe to walk into the woods?” I said, as my eyes were peeping into the dark woods from afar.

“Why? Are you afraid?” Melissa mocked me.

I was surely annoyed. But I had to ask, “I just remember that Noah told us—”

Melissa immediately cut me off, “Noah is a loser when it comes to something like this. So just forget what he said, alright?”

“He said there is a white house in the hills,” I reminded her again. “And he said this place is not safe. What if there is a wild animal—”

“Or a ghost, yeah?” Melissa opposed me. “Did he also tell you about a monstrous legend story—” then she suddenly moved closer to me and whispered, “which happened here?”

I narrowed my eyebrows perplexingly for a second. Then I muttered, “No, but he would tell me another time.”

“Well, then let me recap the story for you,” Melissa said daringly. “The people in Maple Creek—were terrified about the old legend that happened here a long time ago.”

I didn’t blink my eyes for a while. I was too focused on listening to her.

“They said—there was a man rising from the dead. And he was the frightening ripper,” her voice alone kind of gave me goosebumps. “He killed every woman he met in town.”

My mouth worked faster than my head as I asked, “Is the story true?”

Melissa smirked. And she continued telling me, “Some people believe, he was a living ghost. And others believe, he was an immortal man. Pick your bet.”

I muttered reluctantly, “Well, I don’t know—”

“I prefer the first one,” Melissa said, while crossing her arms to her chest. “His ghost probably travels around the town. Seeking for his next victim.”

“But ghost isn’t real,” I said. And then my lips closed tightly.

“You know what? Ghost is just a ghost. He can’t do anything to us—human,” Melissa said. Seemingly when she talked, she was convincing herself than I was here. “Because his soul traps in the ether. Even if we can hear his voice echoes in the air, nothing scary will ever happen.”

“That’s an old legend. I guess, every small town has a horror story. But none can be proven,” I said, opposing.

“I told you, pick your bet. It’s your choice if you want to believe it or not,” Melissa muttered. “And as for me, I don’t believe it.”

“What about the white house? Is it related to the legend?” I asked, still curious.

Melissa paused for a second. She took a heavy breath before telling me, “Yeah, about that—it’s where the mystery of the ripper ghost is buried.”

I shook my head as I didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

“We are told not to enter the house, no matter what. They said, his ashes are buried in that creepy house in the hills,” Melissa told me. Her face looked terrified.

“That sounds really creepy,” I muttered.

“Whatever. It’s just a story. So, now, HIDE!” She demanded me with her super high pitch voice. “Or you will not win the game, Hellen!”

Before she yelled annoyingly again at me, I quickly ran into the woods.

***

I almost strangled to walk. It was dark everywhere I went. I could only hear the owls howled in between the trees. I tried to find a balance when walking in the woods. Once I followed the only trail I found, the road led me toward the hills.

“Damn it,” I muttered peevishly while panting. There was no one around me. I didn’t know where the girls hid.

I paused for a moment as I leaned on the tree. My eyes scanned the quiet surrounding here. Now I found myself already stood on the high road.

I just realized there were dead trees everywhere here. This place almost looked like a horror set in a movie. The dark atmosphere kind of gave me goosebumps. This was probably one of those ghostly places in Maple Creek.

I remembered a few infamous articles on the internet about ghost towns. One of the articles mentioned there was a remote land in Maple Creek. And maybe, this was it.

I also just remembered, Noah and Melissa told me about the white house in the hills. I saw it. And it was the only house here.

It looked literally creepy, just like what Melissa said. That big house was established in the middle of the hills. And the high road connected to the house’s front yard.

The wind blew under my skin. I felt the ghostly chill around me. Suddenly, a harsh tap on my back instantly made me jumping out of the ground.

“Holy s**t!” I shouted in a huge surprise. “What the hell, Marion? Don’t you ever do that.”

She chuckled, enjoying my stupid expression. And said, “Hey, sorry. I saw you walking here.”

As I regained my awareness, then I asked, “Where are the others?”

“I don’t know where Bree and Bridgit are, but Melissa already got Joanna in the woods,” she informed me. “It’s best that we hide somewhere now.”

Before Marion left me, I dragged her arm and asked, “Wait, and what’s next? Are you all expecting me to hide until sunrise to win the game?”

“Kind of—” Marion said, raising one of her red thin eyebrows. “Since Joana already got caught. We can’t let her find us. She is Melissa’s army now.”

“This is ridiculous,” I muttered agitatedly.

“Should we just hide in the white house?” Marion asked. Her eyes stared faraway at the view of that dark place. “If we win, then Melissa will give us a head-start to the Miss Maple Creek event.”

I immediately squinted hard when staring at her. “What? This is all for a beauty pageant?”

“Ugh! Aren’t you excited? I am!” Marion said with such a happy face. “Let’s hide now!”

I dragged her shoulder again to remind her, “We’re not supposed to enter the house.”

“Who cares? It’s just an old legend in town. Nobody actually believes it,” she muttered.

“Wait—” I shouted out cautiously to her. But she already ran away toward the high road.

If the house hid the ghost of Maple Creek, what would be the creepiest story about it? But every time I asked that question to myself, I felt foolish. I didn’t want to believe in such a thing as a ghost, but there was a part of me that kept warning me to walk away.

It took my breath away when I finally reached the terrace. I was pretty sure nobody came here for a hundred years or so. This place was really dirty. The smell of wet dirt usually made me energized, especially after the rain. But here, in the front yard, the smell was like the dead.

When I looked around, I saw there was a small barn across the yard. Then I stared up again at the big house in front of me. This house had a few windows and one main entrance door.

Before I got to open the door, suddenly it opened. I jumped on my feet immediately.

“Oh, God!” I shouted out. “Marion!”

She giggled, finding my scared face to be funny.

“You’re so jumpy, Hellen,” she muttered. Subsequently, she nodded her head and said, “Let’s go inside. Come on!”

I followed her step carefully. It was so dark inside the house. I could barely see anything.

“Hey, Marion—” I muttered to her. “I can’t walk here. It’s too dark—”

And suddenly, she lighted a small candle in her hand. “There you go. I found this on the desk.”

I saw a wooden desk near the main door. Besides unused candles, there were some torn papers and withered flowers in a vase. I quickly lighted another candle and brought it with me.

Then my eyes started scanning around the room. The house was very huge from the inside. This foyer alone was divided by lots of arched doors. I wondered how many rooms there were, also added with the second floor.

“Hide wherever you can, Hellen! Come on!” Marion told me. Her face looked excited.

I was still looking around. Then I went to the next room, where there were two couches and a fireplace. And there was something next to the living room table. I wondered what was hidden behind the dark sheet, which covered it.

I quickly placed the candle on the table. Then I observed the rectangular shape of this unknown item. I could feel my hand trembling suddenly.

Whatever it was behind the sheet, it could be just another antique furniture. But my heart raced faster each time my hand reached closer for the sheet.

I should take it off to know what it was. My curiosity just got the best of me. And soon, without a second thought, I immediately took off the thick layer sheet which covered it.

My eyes wildly opened in a tremendous surprise. I couldn’t make sense of what I saw at first.

 “What the hell is this?” I asked myself in disbelief.

It was an old wooden coffin chained with a holy cross. Sure, I knew what it was, but why would it be here in this house? I thought a coffin should be stored in a funeral house.

I wondered if there was anything inside. I imagined if there would be a treasure hunt, but a laying creepy corpse was the least I could think of.

“Hey, Marion! Look what I found here!” I shouted out. But she didn’t respond to me.

And so, maybe I should just open this very old antique coffin by myself.

But first, I opened my eyes widely at the thick iron chain that locked the coffin. Why would this coffin be chained like this? Kind of gave me a creepy idea about it.

Then again, I had to feed my curiosity. I hurriedly took off the chain. And I instantly bewildered by how easy I could take it away. This chain didn’t actually lock it, but just hanging all over the wooden coffin like an accessory.

As soon as I opened the coffin, I screamed out and walked backward immediately. My eyes were still popping out widely at the astonishing view.

“Oh, my God. What the—what is this?” My heart throbbed faster again. I felt my deepest fear gnawing my whole body.

There was a dead dried corpse inside the coffin. But I assumed this was a male body, still covered in an old fashion colonial clothes. His face was covered with a leather mask, so I couldn’t see what he looked like.

“Mar-Marion!” I called out for her. And this time, she ran toward the window.

After she peeped behind the cream curtain, she warned me, “Hellen! They are here!”

“But, wait, I found—”

She just didn’t want to listen. And ran away again behind the big pillar as she demanded me, “Hide, hurry! Before Melissa and Joanna find us!”

I was still trembling alone. I was about to take the candle away from the table, but then my hand unintentionally nudged something in the coffin.

I almost fell down. If I had not held on to the edge of the coffin, I would have landed my lips on his dried clothes.

And I just realized, something I nudged was thrown all over his chest. But it was a bit dark to notice what was the thing that I threw unintentionally. But I coughed when the ashes spread in the air and tickled my nose.

When I took the candle to illuminate the view from closer, I finally knew. I just threw a jar of ashes into his corpse.

“Damn it. What is that?” I asked anxiously to myself. I felt so clumsy. “God, this is such a horror scene—”

Before I could finish my muttering, Marion reminded me again, “Hellen! What are you doing? Hide, hurry!”

When I looked back, the corpse slightly moved his hand. I was shocked.

“What—” I couldn’t finish the word. I was still trembling terribly.

It was about three seconds after I gawked my mouth stupidly, and then the other part of his body started to move as well.

“Ma-Marion! Oh, God!” I shouted. Then I hurried placed the candle on the table again before running away from the coffin.

I kept shouting out her name to warn her. She finally came out from her hiding place. Her face looked bewildered at my frightful attitude.

“What is wrong with you, Hellen?” She asked, still narrowing her eyes at me.

“We need to run! Get out of this house! Come on!” I demanded her. But she still stood like a frozen statue there. She just didn’t get with what I was trying to tell her.

And then slowly, when we heard a movement sound, we looked concurrently at the coffin. It was only a few meters away from us. We both tremendously shocked when the corpse body raised up.

Marion bulged her eyes out and muttered, “What—what is that, Hellen?”

“I don’t know! But that’s what I’m trying to tell you!” I said, started panicking.

We both hurriedly ran as soon as possible. Since Marion also got panicked, she unintentionally blew off the candle which she had earlier. The room immediately turned darker. We could only see the only deemed light came from the one candle, which I placed on the table.

And then we ran. I shouted to her to get to the door with me, but Marion lost her way. I was still panicking when trying to save her.

But then I saw the corpse finally got down from the coffin. He stood tall in the room. I opened my eyes in huge astonishment. I immediately noticed what he brought along with him. I knew I didn’t see it wrong. He was holding on to a sharp blade.

I was so terrified. I wanted to scream, but I suddenly lost my voice. It was only a few steps to reach for the door, but I couldn’t move myself. However, I forced myself to move. And I finally could hide behind a wall by the arched door.

I carefully stole a glance at him. The dead man was scanning the room, searching for his victim. He moved like a zombie, looked weak. But I wouldn’t want to underestimate him for the first time.

I saw Marion was hiding in the pillar, which not far from the coffin. It was too risky. She should be hiding with me here—or we should have run away from the house earlier.

And suddenly, his eyes caught her hiding behind the pillar.

There was a thunder stroke into my chest afterward. I immediately warned her, “Marion! Run!”

But it was too late. He walked fast to drag her out. Marion was screaming as he threw her roughly on the floor. Then he raised his blade in the air.

When he swayed his blade toward her neck, I tried so hard covering my mouth. I almost screamed out of fear. I saw her blood spattered on the floor. It was the most suspenseful moment in my life. I had never seen anything like this directly, except in a movie.

Marion was still fighting for her life. She still breathed when begging him to stop.

But on the contrary, he didn’t care for her. He immediately repeated his action. He throbbed the blade into her chest this time.

I paused from breathing the air when I witnessed Marion finally closed her eyes. This was happening. This was real. I was not in a dream, although I wished I was.

Thereafter, his stare suddenly shifted from her dead body to me. And then he slowly pointed it out his blade toward me from afar.

He walked like a zombie at first, but then his pace was faster each time.

Without a second thought, I instantly ran to the door.