‹ Prequel: Thorn of a Rose
Reach Out For The Sunrise
chapter 008
Two weeks later, it was around ten o clock, and Gerard, Mikey, Ray, Frank, and Bob were all out at the bar. Everyone sat in the girl's room, reading, writing, or in the case of Shawn, Rose, Troy, Amy, Dylan, and Jordan, making out. Finally Alex spoke. Well, sang. He began to speak to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it".
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIfffffffff you're bored as hell and you know it clap your hands..." he sang, looking around the room. Everyone clapped. Alex smiled and Troy broke away from Amy, joining the song with a smile.
"If...you want to go out and find something to do clap your hands!" he said. Everyone clapped, looking at one another with smiles. Then there was silence. Shawn smirked and looked from side to side, then sang.
"If you're bored out of your mind, and you want to let me drive, someone find the fucking keys and get in the car." he sang smiling. No one clapped, but Jordan chucked him the keys to her SUV and everyone ran like hell up the stairs, grabbing their jackets and pulling on their shoes, running out the door. Shawn pulled out a book that at a second glance Rose recognized as the "Weird N.J. 2015 Guide". She raised an eyebrow.
"Baby..." she asked. "What are you looking at that for?" Shawn just smirked and ran his thumb and forefinger across his lips, signaling he wasn't going to say a word. Rose rolled his eyes as he snapped the book shut and followed her out to the car, sliding his hand into her back pocket.
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Rose had her feet up against the airbag compartment, knees leaning against the door, her head on the window. It was ten thirty and they'd been driving for twenty five minutes. Every now and then Shawn would pull over and think hard for a minute, before putting Jordan's SUV back in drive and setting off again. It was eleven o clock and Rose was officially mad. Where was Shawn taking them? Then Rose saw a sign for entering a new town. NOW ENTERING LEEDS POINT it read. Shawn gasped, smiled, and pulled into the parking lot of a CVS they'd just seen.
"This is our stop!" he said, unbuckling his seatbelt. Everyone just sat there looking at one another and him. "Well, come on!" he said, cocking his head towards the doors. Everyone slowly started to get out of the car.
"Dude." started Alex. "Where are we going?" he asked. Shawn had a crazed smirk on his face.
"We're going where you learn the consequences of letting me drive." he said. He held out his hand. "Cash. If you've got any, give it here." he said. Everyone turned out their pockets, handing Shawn a mix of coins, singles, fives, and tens. He counted the money in his hand before adding his own. "Seventy five. Awesome." he said. He cocked his head towards the CVS and started walking towards it. Everyone followed, still confused. Shawn strolled down the isles casually, every now and then turning around to make sure his friends were still following. He pulled two Jansport backpacks off the shelf and tossed one to Troy. He turned down the next isle and grabbed five flashlights. He glanced at the packaging on one of them. "Two D batteries." he muttered before shoving the flashlight into the backpack with the other four. He turned down yet another isle and crammed into the bag probably thirty D batteries. He grabbed the other backpack from Troy and strolled up to the counter, dumping the contents of his backpack onto the counter, to a very annoyed late night cashier. He threw the money down onto the counter and as she rang everything up, began to tear the batteries from their packaging, screwing two into each flashlight. He handed one to Troy, one to Josh, one to Alex, one to Dylan, and put one in his pocket. It didn't really fit, but Shawn ignored it. He divided the remaining battery packages between the two backpacks, and waved the gang to the door. Rose was getting nervous.
"Shawn..." she started. "Baby...where are we going?" she asked. But Shawn just shook his head and took off for the woods behind the CVS, turning on his flashlight. Everyone ran after him, shouting his name. Shawn seemed to be enjoying the attention. He turned around and walked backwards. He smiled at the gang and held the flashlight under his chin.
"That's right pussies!" he shouted. "Scream my name in an orgy of fear, terror of the dark night, and the darker knight who leads you there, and the child of evil who awaits you!" he cackled. Rose stopped.
"Child of evil?" she asked. Shawn nodded. "Shawn what the fuck are you talking about?" she asked. Rose was beginning to think her boyfriend was crazy. Shawn beckoned them over, and sat down on the damp dirt.
"Come kiddie winkies and I'll tell you a tale." he said. Rose walked over, and feeling afraid of both the night, and Shawn, sat on Josh's lap, feeling safest with her homosexual bff. Shawn rolled his eyes, but Rose wrapped her arms around Josh and rested her head on his shoulder. Josh held on to Rose tight; he seemed to be just as freaked as she was. Shawn turned off his flashlight, casting everyone into darkness. Josh immediately flicked on his light. "Okay. I did some quick research, and we're sitting on the outskirts of the forest where ninety nine percent of the Jersey Devil sightings have taken place-"
"Oh come ON!" shouted Dylan. "You're kidding right? The jersey devil? Yeah, okay." Shawn raised an eyebrow.
"Are you quite finished?" he asked Dylan quietly, but impatiently. Dylan nodded. "Good. Then I'll continue." he hushed his voice and everyone leaned closer. "The year is 1790. The town is this very town, Leeds Point, New Jersey. A Mrs. Shrouds gets pregnant with her thirteenth child, and swears that she wants it to be a devil." his voice was a threatening whisper. "The baby was born misshapen and deformed, and the townsfolk were revolted by its appearance. So Mrs. Shrouds took her baby into a house in the woods, and raised it there. One day, the baby, rumored to be winged, flew away out the chimney of the run down shack. Mrs. Shrouds would be haunted by shadows and strange noises until she died. For years after that day that the mutant devil-baby ran away, a strange winged creature terrorized the town, until a priest exorcized it, for about a hundred years, the creature reappearing in the 1890s. The creature came known as the Jersey Devil, and it's stricken fear into inhabitants of the pine barrens since 1790." Shawn finished his story, and his voice bounced off the bodies of his silent friends. Rose was petrified with fear, as was Josh. Looks of disbelief were plastered across everyone else's faces. Finally Alex spoke.
"What was the point of that?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. Shawn's jaw dropped.
"What do you mean what was the point?" he asked Alex, voice raised. "Where do you think we are?" he shouted, bringing his arms back and sending birds scattering from the trees. Rose quickly reached over and put her hand over his mouth. Yeah, Rose was really creeped out.
"Kay, Shawn, baby..." she whispered. "Let's go home..." she said. She moved right next to him and ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm sure you can find a lot more fun at home with me than you can find in the woods with some devil." Rose knew that she'd do just about anything to get home right then, but Shawn shook his head.
"Babes, why'd you let me drive?" was all he asked before standing up. He looked intently around, and his eyes fell on Troy. "Come on dude, help me out!" he said. Troy thought for a minute.
"Well..." he started. "Okay. Let's go. Besides, going in there promises to be much more of an interesting night then listening to you and Rose fuck at two AM."
"Atta boy!" shouted Shawn. Everyone just shrugged and stood up.
"What do we have to lose?" asked Jordan helplessly. Shawn smiled and hugged her.
"That's what I like to hear!" he said. He turned back to Rose and extended his elbow, meaning for her to latch on. Rose backed away towards Josh.
"No way. I'm not going in there with you. You're a psycho." she said, smiling a little. She and Josh locked arms; the two of them being the only ones scared out of their wits. Everyone flicked on their flashlights and walked tentatively into the trees.
*********************
About fifty yards and ten minutes into the trees a stifling silence was cast in the air. No one really spoke except for Rose or Josh's occasional shriek at the sound of a breaking twig or a bird's flapping wings. Occasionally Amy would yell too, but she didn't get scared as easily as she seemed like she would. Every now and then Shawn would turn sharply in a different direction, and suddenly he stopped, causing Jamie to smack right into him.
"Ugh, Shawn what the fuck?" she yelled. Shawn just stood there. Rose walked up to him and looked at his face. She could have sworn she saw what looked like fear in his eyes. Jordan ran a hand across Shawn's face a few times.
"Shawn?" she asked. "Shawn what's wrong?" Shawn's mouth just opened and closed a few times, and he raised a finger straight forward.
"L-l-l-look!" he stuttered. Rose flicked her flashlight to where Shawn was pointing and a wave of terror overtook her. Her light was joined by everyone else's for prime light, and the light fell on an ancient run down shack. The roof had caved in several places and part of the chimney had fallen away. Parts of the shack were covered in ivy, and the windows were shattered, the broken glass casting odd shadows on the inside walls of the house from the flashlights. Rose realized that Shawn was so afraid because it could only be the house of Mrs. Shrouds. Just as Rose was ready to turn around and run, one of the shadows in an upper floor window moved, and a section of shadow completely disappeared. Rose's eyes were drawn to a huge black figure, cast in shadows flapping its wings. The figure flew out the chimney and off into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness. Amy shrieked. Jordan started shouting orders.
"GO! GO! COME ON! GO! RUN LIKE HELL!" she shrieked. Rose snapped out of her terror trance and started to run. She turned back and saw Shawn still frozen there. She ran over to him.
"SHAWN!" she screeched. "SHAWN COME ON!" she shook him hard. The figure was circling them in the sky now. "UGH FUCK IT!" she shouted. She grabbed Shawn's arm and set off running, him finally running too. They turned a million different ways and finally the bright lights of the CVS came into view. No one stopped, Shawn unlocked the SUV and everyone just jumped inside, not sitting, just climbing in all over each other. The tires squealed on the asphalt as they sped off.
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About a half hour later, barely anyone had said a word. Finally, Alex spoke breathlessly, making everyone gasp.
"Dude..." he said. "That was the scariest shit of my life." he said laughing. Amy joined his laughter, soon Troy did, and soon everyone in the car was laughing about their experience in the woods of Leeds Point.
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIfffffffff you're bored as hell and you know it clap your hands..." he sang, looking around the room. Everyone clapped. Alex smiled and Troy broke away from Amy, joining the song with a smile.
"If...you want to go out and find something to do clap your hands!" he said. Everyone clapped, looking at one another with smiles. Then there was silence. Shawn smirked and looked from side to side, then sang.
"If you're bored out of your mind, and you want to let me drive, someone find the fucking keys and get in the car." he sang smiling. No one clapped, but Jordan chucked him the keys to her SUV and everyone ran like hell up the stairs, grabbing their jackets and pulling on their shoes, running out the door. Shawn pulled out a book that at a second glance Rose recognized as the "Weird N.J. 2015 Guide". She raised an eyebrow.
"Baby..." she asked. "What are you looking at that for?" Shawn just smirked and ran his thumb and forefinger across his lips, signaling he wasn't going to say a word. Rose rolled his eyes as he snapped the book shut and followed her out to the car, sliding his hand into her back pocket.
********************
Rose had her feet up against the airbag compartment, knees leaning against the door, her head on the window. It was ten thirty and they'd been driving for twenty five minutes. Every now and then Shawn would pull over and think hard for a minute, before putting Jordan's SUV back in drive and setting off again. It was eleven o clock and Rose was officially mad. Where was Shawn taking them? Then Rose saw a sign for entering a new town. NOW ENTERING LEEDS POINT it read. Shawn gasped, smiled, and pulled into the parking lot of a CVS they'd just seen.
"This is our stop!" he said, unbuckling his seatbelt. Everyone just sat there looking at one another and him. "Well, come on!" he said, cocking his head towards the doors. Everyone slowly started to get out of the car.
"Dude." started Alex. "Where are we going?" he asked. Shawn had a crazed smirk on his face.
"We're going where you learn the consequences of letting me drive." he said. He held out his hand. "Cash. If you've got any, give it here." he said. Everyone turned out their pockets, handing Shawn a mix of coins, singles, fives, and tens. He counted the money in his hand before adding his own. "Seventy five. Awesome." he said. He cocked his head towards the CVS and started walking towards it. Everyone followed, still confused. Shawn strolled down the isles casually, every now and then turning around to make sure his friends were still following. He pulled two Jansport backpacks off the shelf and tossed one to Troy. He turned down the next isle and grabbed five flashlights. He glanced at the packaging on one of them. "Two D batteries." he muttered before shoving the flashlight into the backpack with the other four. He turned down yet another isle and crammed into the bag probably thirty D batteries. He grabbed the other backpack from Troy and strolled up to the counter, dumping the contents of his backpack onto the counter, to a very annoyed late night cashier. He threw the money down onto the counter and as she rang everything up, began to tear the batteries from their packaging, screwing two into each flashlight. He handed one to Troy, one to Josh, one to Alex, one to Dylan, and put one in his pocket. It didn't really fit, but Shawn ignored it. He divided the remaining battery packages between the two backpacks, and waved the gang to the door. Rose was getting nervous.
"Shawn..." she started. "Baby...where are we going?" she asked. But Shawn just shook his head and took off for the woods behind the CVS, turning on his flashlight. Everyone ran after him, shouting his name. Shawn seemed to be enjoying the attention. He turned around and walked backwards. He smiled at the gang and held the flashlight under his chin.
"That's right pussies!" he shouted. "Scream my name in an orgy of fear, terror of the dark night, and the darker knight who leads you there, and the child of evil who awaits you!" he cackled. Rose stopped.
"Child of evil?" she asked. Shawn nodded. "Shawn what the fuck are you talking about?" she asked. Rose was beginning to think her boyfriend was crazy. Shawn beckoned them over, and sat down on the damp dirt.
"Come kiddie winkies and I'll tell you a tale." he said. Rose walked over, and feeling afraid of both the night, and Shawn, sat on Josh's lap, feeling safest with her homosexual bff. Shawn rolled his eyes, but Rose wrapped her arms around Josh and rested her head on his shoulder. Josh held on to Rose tight; he seemed to be just as freaked as she was. Shawn turned off his flashlight, casting everyone into darkness. Josh immediately flicked on his light. "Okay. I did some quick research, and we're sitting on the outskirts of the forest where ninety nine percent of the Jersey Devil sightings have taken place-"
"Oh come ON!" shouted Dylan. "You're kidding right? The jersey devil? Yeah, okay." Shawn raised an eyebrow.
"Are you quite finished?" he asked Dylan quietly, but impatiently. Dylan nodded. "Good. Then I'll continue." he hushed his voice and everyone leaned closer. "The year is 1790. The town is this very town, Leeds Point, New Jersey. A Mrs. Shrouds gets pregnant with her thirteenth child, and swears that she wants it to be a devil." his voice was a threatening whisper. "The baby was born misshapen and deformed, and the townsfolk were revolted by its appearance. So Mrs. Shrouds took her baby into a house in the woods, and raised it there. One day, the baby, rumored to be winged, flew away out the chimney of the run down shack. Mrs. Shrouds would be haunted by shadows and strange noises until she died. For years after that day that the mutant devil-baby ran away, a strange winged creature terrorized the town, until a priest exorcized it, for about a hundred years, the creature reappearing in the 1890s. The creature came known as the Jersey Devil, and it's stricken fear into inhabitants of the pine barrens since 1790." Shawn finished his story, and his voice bounced off the bodies of his silent friends. Rose was petrified with fear, as was Josh. Looks of disbelief were plastered across everyone else's faces. Finally Alex spoke.
"What was the point of that?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. Shawn's jaw dropped.
"What do you mean what was the point?" he asked Alex, voice raised. "Where do you think we are?" he shouted, bringing his arms back and sending birds scattering from the trees. Rose quickly reached over and put her hand over his mouth. Yeah, Rose was really creeped out.
"Kay, Shawn, baby..." she whispered. "Let's go home..." she said. She moved right next to him and ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm sure you can find a lot more fun at home with me than you can find in the woods with some devil." Rose knew that she'd do just about anything to get home right then, but Shawn shook his head.
"Babes, why'd you let me drive?" was all he asked before standing up. He looked intently around, and his eyes fell on Troy. "Come on dude, help me out!" he said. Troy thought for a minute.
"Well..." he started. "Okay. Let's go. Besides, going in there promises to be much more of an interesting night then listening to you and Rose fuck at two AM."
"Atta boy!" shouted Shawn. Everyone just shrugged and stood up.
"What do we have to lose?" asked Jordan helplessly. Shawn smiled and hugged her.
"That's what I like to hear!" he said. He turned back to Rose and extended his elbow, meaning for her to latch on. Rose backed away towards Josh.
"No way. I'm not going in there with you. You're a psycho." she said, smiling a little. She and Josh locked arms; the two of them being the only ones scared out of their wits. Everyone flicked on their flashlights and walked tentatively into the trees.
*********************
About fifty yards and ten minutes into the trees a stifling silence was cast in the air. No one really spoke except for Rose or Josh's occasional shriek at the sound of a breaking twig or a bird's flapping wings. Occasionally Amy would yell too, but she didn't get scared as easily as she seemed like she would. Every now and then Shawn would turn sharply in a different direction, and suddenly he stopped, causing Jamie to smack right into him.
"Ugh, Shawn what the fuck?" she yelled. Shawn just stood there. Rose walked up to him and looked at his face. She could have sworn she saw what looked like fear in his eyes. Jordan ran a hand across Shawn's face a few times.
"Shawn?" she asked. "Shawn what's wrong?" Shawn's mouth just opened and closed a few times, and he raised a finger straight forward.
"L-l-l-look!" he stuttered. Rose flicked her flashlight to where Shawn was pointing and a wave of terror overtook her. Her light was joined by everyone else's for prime light, and the light fell on an ancient run down shack. The roof had caved in several places and part of the chimney had fallen away. Parts of the shack were covered in ivy, and the windows were shattered, the broken glass casting odd shadows on the inside walls of the house from the flashlights. Rose realized that Shawn was so afraid because it could only be the house of Mrs. Shrouds. Just as Rose was ready to turn around and run, one of the shadows in an upper floor window moved, and a section of shadow completely disappeared. Rose's eyes were drawn to a huge black figure, cast in shadows flapping its wings. The figure flew out the chimney and off into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness. Amy shrieked. Jordan started shouting orders.
"GO! GO! COME ON! GO! RUN LIKE HELL!" she shrieked. Rose snapped out of her terror trance and started to run. She turned back and saw Shawn still frozen there. She ran over to him.
"SHAWN!" she screeched. "SHAWN COME ON!" she shook him hard. The figure was circling them in the sky now. "UGH FUCK IT!" she shouted. She grabbed Shawn's arm and set off running, him finally running too. They turned a million different ways and finally the bright lights of the CVS came into view. No one stopped, Shawn unlocked the SUV and everyone just jumped inside, not sitting, just climbing in all over each other. The tires squealed on the asphalt as they sped off.
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About a half hour later, barely anyone had said a word. Finally, Alex spoke breathlessly, making everyone gasp.
"Dude..." he said. "That was the scariest shit of my life." he said laughing. Amy joined his laughter, soon Troy did, and soon everyone in the car was laughing about their experience in the woods of Leeds Point.