The Mystery of Maple Creek

Chapter 4. The Ritual Game

Chapter 4

The Ritual Game

(Perspective: Hellen Mayweather)  

In the evening, the locals came to the main park. I saw people were enthusiastic about this little folk party. Some people were holding on to a stick of fireworks. While the others were having a barbecue.

My dad waved goodbye at me as he joined Larry and other men. He basically left me stranded here. And I had not seen anyone who I recognized yet.

When I observed around, people wore a casual shirt that looked pretty on them. Meanwhile, I wore my regular old tartan long sleeve shirt. I just never got bored since it had been my favorite shirt.

After a while, I saw Noah and his cousin just arrived at the fence.

“Hellen, I know you’ll come. It’s nice to see you again,” Noah said. His smile looked sweet.

His cousin, Ronnie immediately nudged his elbow. Seemingly, he enjoyed teasing him.

“What a Buzzer you are,” Ronnie shouted. “I don’t think Melissa and her little armies are enough for you.”

I squinted perplexingly. “Sorry, what does he mean?”

Noah breathed out his annoyance for a second. He stared back at me to explain, “I am not a Buzzer. And certainly, I don’t give a crap. I’m just a friendly guy. That’s all.”

Ronnie laughed at him and said, “Yeah, you can say that since Melissa is still crazy in love with you. She is basically a winning trophy in town. You got lucky, man.”

I immediately chuckled in disbelief. Was that the truth about Melissa Wilder?

Then I just remembered again. I was supposed to be waiting at home. Melissa and her friends would pick me up tonight. But it was still seven p.m. when I peeped at my wristwatch.

Once Ronnie walked away to mingle with his friends, Noah finally looked relieved.

“Hey, sorry about Ronnie. He’s such a pain in the arse,” Noah told me. “So, do you want a drink?”

I nodded while chuckling, “Yeah, sure.”

We walked toward the long table. There were sweet cakes and lemonade drinks.

As I gulped a little of lemonade cup, Noah asked me, “I hope you get to see big fireworks tonight. They are beautiful when you look closely at the park.”

I half opened my mouth when trying to tell him, “Oh, actually—Melissa just asked me to attend her girls’ night out. So, I was thinking—”

“You want to avoid her?” Noah assumed. But he was kind of right. There was a part of me that wanted to bail from the rendezvous. And then he said again, “She usually has this stupid pajama party or something. Since she’s the previous Miss Maple Creek, now she’s the sorority leader.”

“Oh, there were other girls beside Bree and Bridgit?” I wondered. “So, do you think she wants to take me to join her official clique club?”

He almost burst to laugh when I asked him such a stupid question.

“Sorry, I am very new to this town. Anyway, I don’t think I will fit in her clique club,” I said.

“There are not many women in this town, you see. So, I guess Melissa and her friends are kind of happy to see you,” Noah told me.

I squinted bewilderingly. “Why is that? I mean, I also notice—”

Noah seemed perplexing to answer my curiosity. But before he could come up with his opinion, girls were hollering behind us.

“HELLEN! OH, MY, GOD!” Bridgit greeted me excitedly. She was holding a lemonade cup.

And then came Melissa. There are also other two girls I had not met yet.

“Oh, Hellen, I didn’t know you’d be here too!” Melissa shouted. “So, you have seen Bree and Bridgit. And these are also my friends, Joanna—” she pointed at the white girl who had long black hair with bangs, and then to a red hair girl next to them, “and Marion.”

I could see Noah seemed uncomfortable suddenly. Melissa kept stealing a flirty glance at him.

Afterward, Melissa asked me, “You’ll still come tonight, right?”

While hiding my hands in the back of my pocket jeans, I talked reluctantly, “Oh, right, but I heard there will be fireworks—”

“We still can see fireworks together tonight!” Bree reminded me.

“Yeah, we’re going to play a good game in the hills. It’s our sorority ritual,” Joanna added. And the girls followed to nod.

Noah squinted his eyes at them. He seemed suspicious about something. And then he stared sharply at Melissa, “Wait a minute. You’re not going to do silly stuff, right?”

I stared back and forth between them. Sometimes, I had a bad hunch about their invitation. Maybe Noah was right to avoid them, or maybe I was just thinking too much.

“Chill, Noah!” Melissa snapped peevishly. “We just want to celebrate Hellen’s arrival in town.”

“You are all told by the elders not to come to the hills at night, especially anywhere near the white house,” Noah warned them. His tone sounded sharp and firm.

“We always do this every month. Nothing’s happened. So, chill out!” Melissa snapped again.

Noah immediately stared at me and said worriedly, “Hellen, please don’t.”

I half opened my mouth perplexingly. But then I just convinced him, “Noah, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. It’s just a little game party between girls.”

“Urgh, please, let me know if you ever change your mind. Now, I need a drink,” Melissa said, while crossing her arms. And then the girls followed her to the long table.

Noah was still staring worriedly at me. Soon, he said, “Where do you live? Maybe I can take you home after the party.”

“Noah, don’t be panic,” I said, convincing him again. “You don’t think they are going to hurt me, right? Or if anything will happen in the hills—”

Noah cut me off to say, “It’s better that you don’t go.”

But the more he disallowed me, the more I wanted to go.

There was an instant curiosity that haunted me now. If there was ever really anything weird in the hills, what would be the worst story of it?

“Noah, can I ask—” I spoke, my voice almost like whispering. He stared carefully at me. “Why the girls are not allowed to go to the hills?”

He was quiet for a second. His eyes blinked fast, looking anxious all of a sudden.

“It’s just—” he still tried finding the right words, “There’s this stupid legend. It’s a long story. Maybe I can tell you another time. But tonight, just don’t go there. The place is not safe.”

“I can tell. Because it’s the hills after all. The place is near the woods,” I said, finding the logic behind his words. “It’s normal if there are wild animals—”

“Hellen, please be safe. If there is anything weird—” and then he suddenly took my phone from inside my pocket jeans. I was surprised.

He just exchanged our phone numbers. It was the way he did it without my permission, making me bulged my eyes out.

“Just call me, alright,” he said, as giving back the phone. And I just nodded obediently.

Before I came back to see Melissa and her friends, I searched for my dad in the park. At least, I had to tell him where I would go, and then waved him a proper goodbye.

***

Melissa was driving us in her old red Chevy car. Bree and Bridgit kept talking to each other about the last episode of their favorite romantic TV Show. While Joanna and Marion were just listening quietly.

And I was here, sitting next to the beautiful driver. Sometimes, I stole a glance at the way she drove her car so elegantly. That made me missing my sedan car so much. My dad had not yet allowed me to drive alone. He just didn’t trust me enough. He thought I could be careless when driving.

Although we actually shared the car, I half paid for our black sedan. I used to work as a florist in Calgary. I helped my grandma selling pretty flowers. Thus why, I had saving to spend.

But now that my grandma’s flower shop had closed. And my dad also tried to sell her house. I only had a little money saved in my account. But that was life. It turned upside down.

“Okay, girls. We’re here!” said Melissa. And soon, she parked her car in the middle of the empty ground. The place surrounded by the tall pine trees. We could see the hills from down here.

After I observed the quiet surrounding, then I glanced cautiously at Melissa.

“What? I’m not going to kidnap you,” she muttered peevishly. “Don’t give me that look!”

“Be easy, Hellen, we’re just going to play a little game with you,” said Joanna as she tapped my shoulder gently.

While Bree and Bridgit secretly chuckled at my naïve attitude, then Marion asked, “Haven’t you played a daring game before?”

I glanced at her and squinted my eyes. “Sorry, but no.”

“If you want to join our little sorority club, you should pass the test first,” Melissa said, as giving me a hint when she smirked.

I chuckled in disbelief. Just like what I was expected. I had imagined it in my head before, when she said something like that.

“We really want you to be part of our club. Besides, you can get an advantage if you’re with us,” Bree told me.

“What kind of advantage?” I asked curiously.

But before anyone answered my question, Melissa got out of the car. The others followed along, and so did I.

The night sky looked so dark and the howling owls sometimes heard between the trees. I immediately felt the eerie sensation crawled under my skin. The only lights came from her car’s headlamps. I hurriedly stood side by side with them.

“We just want to know if you can keep up with us,” Melissa said. Her tone sounded annoying. “And to answer your curiosity; you’ll get a head-start to any local events in town, if you join our club.”

“Yeah, only if you pass the test,” Joanna added and chuckled.

“And FYI, we’re going to play Charlie-Charlie game here,” Melissa informed me.

I narrowed my eyebrows bewilderingly and asked, “If we’re just going to play a kid game, why we should come here?”

“That’s the idea—” Joanna said. Her mysterious tone led me to believe there was something off. My hunch kept telling me to go home.

Marion added, “The rumor said—you can only get the real feeling when playing in the dark.”

“So, you guys want to chase for adrenaline here?” I asked, naively. “And by playing the legendary haunting game? I thought it’s only a stupid myth—”

“Oh, no, no,” Melissa shouted out and shook her head, “It’s indeed stupid to believe in something like that. But we are here to face our darkest fear.”

I felt like what she said kind of contradictive. But since I didn’t know anything about their game, I should just tag along first.

Melissa quickly clapped her hands and shouted out, “Okay, girls. Let’s just start our game!”

I thought one of them was going to get a pencil and a paper for the game. But eventually, Bree drew a yes and no word with white chalk on the ground. And Joanna helped to find a tree branch around as a replacement of pencil.

“Are we just going to wait for a ghost to move the tree branch, right?” As the words came out from my mouth, I immediately regretted it.

They laughed at me. And maybe they thought I was too stupid.

“Nope, you’re wrong,” Melissa snapped. The cynical looked on her face kind of bothered me.

“Actually, this game will not be involving any paranormal activity. Because it’s going to be one-hundred percent normal,” Marion said. “It’s going to be more like dare and truth game.”

“Just follow the lead, you will understand,” Joanna assured me. Then she took a step closer toward the tree branch and asked, “So, who is going to start the game?”

Melissa and the others followed to step closer. And then she said, “This is our version of the Charlie-Charlie game. One demands, and the others will submit themselves.”

The echo in my head kept telling me to step back. Something about this felt dangerous, but I didn’t know what. Then I looked at them cautiously.

“You better start!” Bree shouted at Melissa. “Since you’re our sorority leader. Just tell us what to do—”

Melissa smiled eagerly at her. Then she took the tree branch and tapped it on the ground a couple of times.

“It’s going to be fun,” Marion whispered. And Joanna nodded to agree.

Melissa paused for a second before she murmured, “Charlie-Charlie, we are here. Wherever you are, come out and find us—”

As if she was about to call out a supernatural entity from the woods, I felt terrified.

“Charlie-Charlie, the game is on, whatever it is, we can win,” Melissa continued talking, “Now I’m telling you; hide and seek, as long as you can, before the sun will rise.”

“Oh, I like that! It’s a hide and seek time!” Bridgit shouted out excitedly once Melissa finished.

“That’s it? You want us to hide around here until sunrise? And what’s next?” I asked in disbelief. And I felt annoyed.

“I haven’t finished talking, actually,” Melissa said arrogantly. “Hear my Last Rites—”

“It’s not funny, Melissa,” I warned her. How could she say something like that? As if any of us was about to die here.

But Melissa ignored me and smirked. Then she spoke, “Through the cycle of life and death, may the Lord give his mercy to help you all with grace. At the departure of the soul, let the sin save you and raise you up—”

And the girls shouted out to her, “Dead man rises. Dead man ends.”

“What the hell, guys? Why should you say all those things?” I quickly asked, in incredulity.

“It’s the funny thing in our ritual game. We just have to say it, like tomorrow is a dead-end,” Marion said.

Then Melissa warned us, “Alright! Hide as long as you can, before I will find any of you!”

And quickly, the girls separated their way into the woods. I didn’t have much choice but to follow along.