Come All Ye Little Children

Julie drank the entire pot of coffee. It warmed her bones and made her feel better. She turned on the news, and again found herself annoyed. The disappearance story was fading into the anniversary story of her car accident. Sarah’s Mustang wrapped around a tree. Julie couldn’t stop the memories.

“Jewels! It’s your birthday!” Sarah cried. She already had more to drink than she should have.

“I need to get this new piece for the show next week down. Just let me practice this week, please?” Julie begged. Sarah shook her head; red curls flew around her shoulders.

“No! I will hurt you if you don’t put that stupid viola down now! Come on!”

“It’s a violin,” Julie corrected, but did as she was told. “You’re not driving.”

“But my car is sexier than yours.” Sarah whined. Her green eyes pouted with her glossed lips. “I’m not riding in your car.”

“We either walk, or I drive your car then.”

Two hours later, they were dancing in a club that Julie didn’t bother to catch the name. Their bodies swayed with the music, moving with the crowd. Shot after shot, her wound nerves came undone, and Julie actually had fun. Laughing and drinking. Sarah hit on everything in pants, and got turned down.

“We’re too drunk to drive, but we have to go home,” Julie said, giggling between words.

Sarah hiccupped. “Speak for yourself, viola girl.” She pulled her keys out, and headed for her car.

“NO,” Julie squealed. “You can’t drive.”

“Get in this car, or I will leave you!”

She couldn’t let Sarah go home alone, not after all the friends she lost. Julie climbed into the car. The road was dark. Sarah served from side to side as she sang with the radio. Julie held onto the side of her seat and the handhold. This felt wrong. Something darted out from the woods. Sarah jerked the wheel…Julie screamed.

“Sarah Mitchell was pronounced dead in this horrible tragedy even though no signs of her body appeared on the scene while violinist, Julie Harrison, survived. Her injuries were severe enough to keep her from continuing to perform with the state Macabre Concerto.”

Julie turned the television off. “What do they know?” She whispered to herself before grabbing her instrument. Her fingers pressed into the strings as she glided the bow across it. Stinging pain shot through her arm, but she played. She growled to herself though. “I sound like a beginner, not a pro.”

Her fingers moved slowly around her violin’s neck as she continued through the pain. She closed her eyes. Music filled her mind and body. A slow smile moved across her features. Julie could almost feel herself walking across the stage, playing for her audience in her costume. The Cheshire grin filled her face.

She nearly dropped her violin when glass shattered in the kitchen. Julie crept toward the open room. Cold air blasted through the broken glass of her back door. Someone threw a rock through the windowpane on her door. She maneuvered around the broken glass, but could see no one. Julie made a hasty decision, and called the Sherriff’s department.

Twenty minutes later, Ethen stood in her kitchen examining the rock. “You didn’t hear anything until the window shattered?”

“I told you, I was playing my violin.” She griped. Her elbowed propped her up on the counter while her chin rested her in hand. “I force myself to work through the pain.”

“Who’s coming after you, Julie?” He asked more to himself.

“Why would anyone want me?” Julie retorted with an eye roll.

“Do you mind if I look around your woods? For safe measures, of course.” He smiled sweetly. Julie didn’t like him.

“Do what you have to do, Officer. Don’t ruin my property though.”

“We’re not supposed to go in there!” Julie protested. Vivian pulled her closer to the tree line. She really regretted her quick decision to replace Hannah, but she deserved better.

“Come on! One little peek won’t hurt.” Vivian reached the trees. “What do you think is out there?”

“Trees. Nothing but a lot of trees. Let’s go back now!” Julie complained.

“NO! Let’s go explore.” Vivian’s blue eyes sparkled. “Don’t you want to…?”

“Did you see that?” Julie questioned. A dark figure, almost as tall as her aunt, darted between the trees. It moved too fast to see its face, but she was sure it was a person.

“Don’t try to scare me,” Vivian said. She crossed her arms and stepped forward. “There’s nothing out there.”

“I’m not going, Viv!” Julie planted her feet. “There is too something, and I don’t want to find out what it is.”

The blue-eyed little girl walked passed the trees. Julie counted her steps until she couldn’t see Vivian anymore. “Dang-it!” She hissed as she stepped into the darkness of the trees after her friend.

“Julie?” Ethen called. “Miss Harrison…hello?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Have you ever been in those woods?” Ethen asked again. He looked a little concerned, although she might have mistaken his annoyance for concern.

“Maybe when I was little.” She answered. “I don’t remember.”



Police littered Julie’s yard, crashing through Katherine’s rose bushes. Gold, red, and pink petals tracked across the grass as if a wilted carpet rolled out especially for the cops. “I’m not so sure you should let them go too far into these woods.” Julie said. “All the land doesn’t belong to me.”

Ethen nodded as he checked the clipboard attached to his hand. “I called the surveyor while I was waiting for the search team. If we find anything off site, we’ll let you know.”

“Don’t you need a…”

“After your property ends, it becomes public land. I don’t need a search warrant.” He turned to watch her. She squirmed under his intense gaze. “You volunteered for this search, Julie. Are we going to find something out here?”

“Viv!” she screamed. “Viv, this isn’t funny! Let’s go back.” The crisp air swirled red and yellow leaves around her feet. Silence of rustling leaves filled her ears. Julie shivered, rubbed her hands over her arms, and scanned the darkening woods. She could feel the warmth evaporating as the sun sank in the sky.

Growling erupted around her. A black figure darted between the tree trunks. “Vivian,” Julie asked more to herself. The figure moved closer, and she screamed. Her feet hauled her away as fast as they could, but she never saw Vivian again.

“Maybe animals; there used to be a lot of growling when I spent the night with my aunt.” She answered, shrugging the memory from her mind.

“Listen, Miss Harrison, you seem like a nice person. Tell me now if you’re hiding anything.” Ethen’s attention was on Julie’s entire being now.

“I’ve been hiding in that house for a year because I used to be semi-famous. My best friend went missing one minute and got pronounced dead the next. If I’m hiding anyone, Mr. Cross, it’s my fear, and I’m covering it up so I don’t have to face it.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Sir! You need to see this now.” An officer yelled.

“Stay here,” Ethen said as he moved through the woods.

Julie fought the images of Bobby Engleton’s body bubbling in her memory. She tried to fight the dark figure roaming her mind too. Her foot began to tap as her nerves took over. She paced in front of the tree line. “Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

“There’s a weird nest,” a female cop said, “just outside your property.”

Julie stopped and stared at her. “What do you mean ‘nest’?”

“I can’t say any more.” The officer moved her walkie-talkie from her belt. “We need forensics ASAP on Mason’s Hill, the last house.”

Julie’s arm began to burn and she remembered the grip on her shoulder. Something had her that day in the woods with Vivian, but she survived it. The memories ached in her head, pulsing through her brain as if they were blood.

“Aunt Kat!” Julie’s voice was at its full octave. She could sense the darkness on her heals. “Katherine!”

She had to make it to the tree line. Something in her gut told her to make it out of the trees where safety waited. She could see the fading light in her aunt’s yard, but she couldn’t run faster. Her leg began to cramp. Julie tried to scream again, but no words came out.

Growls echoed around her, enveloping her in their danger. Her shoulder burned as if someone stuck five hot pokers to her skin at once. Red liquid stained her blue jacket. A scream finally left her lips, piercing the air.

Katherine threw open the back door. She shook a dark bottle in her hand as she ran forward. Her body crashed through the trees before she pulled the lid off the bottle and threw it. Clear slimy liquid coated Julie’s shoulder, hissing filled her ears before the searing burn stopped. Katherine picked her niece up and ran into her house, bolting and chaining her door.

“Promise me, Jewel, you will never go in those woods again.” She demanded, shaking Julie’s shoulders.

“I promise,” Julie whispered as she hugged her aunt tight.

“Jones, I need you to bring Miss Harrison to see this.” Ethen’s voice crackled over the female cop’s radio.

“No!” Julie objected. “I’m not going into those woods.” She shook her head as she rubbed her prickling arms.

“Miss Harrison,” Jones said in a no-nonsense tone, “We are going down a path filled with officers. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

“I promised my aunt I wouldn’t go exploring when I was little,” she retorted.

Jones rolled her eyes. “We’re not exploring the woods. You need to see the evidence apparently.”