NIGHT WATCHERS (An original story by Lawrence LeBlond)

-Chapter 5-

Things were getting very weird in Wayport. Zane, against his will, remained in the cop car while Doug approached the front door. No house lights were on, and there seemed to be a peculiar mist lying over the top of the roof.

Zane listened to Doug’s knock on the door. It was too much for Zane to just sit and wait. He had a bad feeling about this and needed to know firsthand. He climbed from the cruiser, leaving the door wide open. He walked toward the house. Doug stepped down off the porch and stopped Zane.

“I thought I told you to wait in the car?”

“I have to go in. This is my family.” Zane pushed Doug’s hand away from him and walked toward the house with Doug following closely.

Zane reached and turned the doorknob, slowly pushing the door open. A fine mist blew out from within, chilling Zane and the cop as it rushed out.

“What the hell?” Doug pushed Zane aside and shone his flashlight into the home’s front hall. “Is anybody here?”

There was a dead silence. Zane hoped they were asleep and this was some kind of bad dream. He pinched himself, realizing it was no dream. He pushed back against Doug and stepped into the house, disturbing the fine layer of cool mist. He reached for the light switch on the wall and found that it was already in the ‘on’ position.

“It looks like we have no power,” Zane alerted Doug. “You better lead.”

Doug again pushed ahead of Zane, shining his flashlight into the living room. Zane knew this was somehow connected to the previous evening, but could not connect the dots. What the hell is going on here-he thought to himself?

A search of the bottom floor revealed no signs of Zane’s parents, as well as no struggles. Everything was in place and accounted for, except for the Staples’. Doug reached the bottom step of the upstairs, shining his light upward. The fine mist had subsided and warmth started to filter back in. Zane followed Doug up the steps quietly, acting like there was still someone, or something, in the house that should not be abruptly disturbed.

As the two investigators landed on the top step and moved into the upstairs hall, it became clear that nobody was there. All three bedroom doors were open and empty. Zane scratched his head. Where could they be-he perused?

“Okay, I need to go speak to the neighbors,” Doug blurted out.

Zane doubted the neighbors could shed any light on what happened here, other than what they already shared. He did not know if what had transpired directly caused his parents’ disappearance or if they simply fled in fear. It was still possible that they were hiding out in the garage, or perhaps even the woods. Either of those ideas seemed unlikely to Zane, but he had to at least hope that was the case.

Zane checked the garage while Doug talked with the neighbors. Everything was in place, including the family car. If they fled, it was on foot-Zane again perused in his mind. He stepped back out into the dooryard, shining a flashlight he pulled from a shelf in the garage out toward the backyard. He walked slowly between the house and garage, pointing the light toward a veil of mist that was still lingering on the back lawn.

As he cornered the house and was within full shot of the mist, he could tell that there was something within the mist. His heart raced.

“What do you want?” Zane shouted out.

The mist formed into a ball and slowly rose up into the air.

“Where are my parents? Where are they?” He knew whatever this was, it was intelligent.

The mist dispersed from above and everything was gone. Zane lowered himself to his knees and dropped the flashlight on the ground, with the beam of light pointing into the trees at the edge of the lawn. Zane deeply sighed as his head hung low. “What is going on?”

He followed the beam of light until his head was upright and he could see into the woods. There he saw it, a leg stretched along the grass, poking out from the edge of the woods. Zane began to tremble. He tried to get to his feet, but his legs wobbled beneath him and he collapsed back to the ground.

As he tried to pick himself up again he heard Doug screaming from behind, “ZANE!”

Chapter 6 to be posted on Thursday October 1, 2015

NIGHT WATCHERS (An original story by Lawrence A. LeBlond)

-Chapter Four-

The night air was eerily still. Zane left his bike and took to the street on foot. He again carried his jacket just in case of another unexpected anomaly. Treading north along Wagner Street, Zane picked up Hill Road heading west toward Freddie’s. He could have easily picked up the phone and called, but he really just wanted to find out first hand if they were safe and sound. He found it odd that neither of them had got in touch with him.

Zane stood at the intersection of Hill and Wagner, peering down the mile-long stretch of road. There were only a few houses and three street lights along the wooded road. Most nights he never minded the walk. Tonight was a little different. It would only be a few minutes into his crossing when his mind started to wander away from the road ahead of him.

Zane stopped every few steps to peer off into the blackened woods. He was sure he heard something. Typically, he would have brushed off any noises in the woods as night animals scurrying about. However, to him, it seemed as if the noises were following him. When he stopped, so did the noises. He turned his attention back to the road and started walking again, only to pause again as the soft echoes emanated from the woods.

“Is someone there?” Zane squinted his eyes hard trying to peer into the darkness. He studied the tree line. “Hello?”

Once again, Zane turned his attention to the road ahead. As he approached the first street light next to a few houses, the noises subsided. Zane began to walk a little easier and took a few big sighs. He assumed it was just a curious night critter, but after the recent events, his mind did think about other things… a stalker… a prankster… a killer.

As he passed beyond the second house and away from the lighted street, he checked the woods to his right, waiting for the sound to return. He continued walking, keeping an ear attuned to the forest. He picked up the sound of an owl in the distant and the very-distant cries of some coy dogs. The soft crunch in the nearby forest, however, did not return. He breathed another sigh of relief and picked up his pace.

Within ten minutes he was more than half-way across Hill Road. The last street light was just a few-hundred feet ahead. But as he approached, his mind again began to wander. And that was enough for him to pause and again study the woods. Once again, he thought he heard something. This time, however, it seemed like a whispering voice was calling out to him.

Zane listened carefully. Sure enough there were very faint voices. He cupped his hand around the back of his ear and tried to focus deeper into the woods. The whispers were persistent, but he could not make out what was being said. His mind started to race, as well as his heart. He stepped closer to the edge of the road and tried to focus harder on the sound. His focus was so deep that he did not see the approaching car’s headlights, until the bleep of the siren went off, startling Zane and causing him to fall toward the ditch.

Zane quickly turned on his knees and started to rise to his feet, brushing the dirt from his pant legs. He kept at a crouched position and looked up at the bright headlights and the silhouetted figure that approached. He was then again blinded by the bright flashlight.

“Zane, is that you?” The man knelt forward as he spoke. “What are you doing out here tonight, Mr. Staples.”

Zane stood all the way up to his feet. “Just walking, I guess.”

The man lowered his flashlight. Zane could now tell it was Deputy Sheriff Doug Deacons. Zane stepped up onto the road and came to within inches of Doug.

“Weren’t you told that there is a curfew in place until this investigation is over? You are not supposed to be out after dark.”

Zane had no clue about the curfew. As far as he knew, neither did his parents. Why else would his father let him out the door at that time of night?

“No sir, I had no idea. Nobody said anything to me.”

Doug could tell that the teen was telling the truth. Years of training made it easy to distinguish lying from honesty.

“All the calls went out this morning. I am sure your parents got that call. I am afraid you are going to have to come with me.”

“Am I in trouble?” Zane held his hands out like he was going to get cuffed. “Am I going to jail?”

Doug laughed. “Heck no. I was just planning on taking you home.”

Zane was happy to be in the car. While he really needed to see his friends, he was glad to be off Hill Road. He was sure something was about to happen, again. The short ride home should have been pleasant enough, except that the call came over the radio moments later.

“Base to Car 2.”

Doug grabbed the CB and radioed back to base. “This is Car 2.”

“Car 2, we just received a call from 323 Wagner Street. They said they are hearing loud unexplainable noises coming from their neighbor’s home.”

Zane immediately drew uneasy. He nervously looked up at Doug, who returned the look to him.

“Do you have an address on the disturbance?” Doug hoped for Zane’s sake that it was not his parents’ house.

The radio crackled. “They said it was The Staples residence.”

Zane sunk in his seat as Doug stepped on the gas. It was less than a mile to home, but it felt like an eternity getting there. Zane drew his attention ahead as Doug whipped out onto Wagner Street.

“Car 2. The caller states that the noises have subsided.”

Chapter 5 to be posted on Sunday September 27, 2015

NIGHT WATCHERS (An original story by Lawrence A. LeBlond)

-Chapter Three-

Zane sat on the back step of the ambulance, trying to figure out what the hell had happened. An emergency medical expert was looking over the few scratches and bruises he endured when he hit the ground, breaking through some sticks and small rocks below. He overheard one medic explain to an officer that Zane was likely in shock, but Zane knew that wasn’t it. Yes, he was shocked over what he had just seen, but he was able to stay focused on his surroundings.

“Excuse me, Mr. Zane Staples.”

Zane looked up at the officer. “Yes?”

“We need to ask you a few questions before you leave with your parents. Let me know when you are ready to talk.” The officer’s badge showed that his name was Wadleigh.

“I can talk now, Officer Wadleigh.” Zane rubbed his eyes and slid down from the ambulance, standing before the cop. “What do you need to know?”

The questions seemed fairly straight forward. However, Zane didn’t have the exact answers the officer was likely looking for. In fact, he knew nothing. The only question he easily answered was that he last saw Dylan at Fun Zone last night at around ten-thirty. Zane thought about mentioning the previous evening’s weather phenomena, but seemed it would only lead to more questions than answers. Zane held his lips tight and only reacted to the direct questions.

Once the drilling was through, Zane’s mother walked him to the family wagon. His father, who was at work when the call came, was also waiting with an open door for his only child. Walking toward the open door, his father reached out to him, bracing him briefly before he sunk down into the backseat. Once inside, his father apologized for Zane’s loss.

“Dylan was my best friend.” He planted his face into his hands and began to sob. “How could this happen?” he muttered through his weeping breath.

Richard turned, reached back and patted his hand on his son’s shoulder. Zane looked up. While he knew he couldn’t just blurt it out, he felt the weather somehow was tied to what had happened. It just seemed too weird that his girlfriend was now sick and his best friend was burned alive… all after a very odd weather experience.

It was around dinner time when Zane finally came out of his room. The day started out bright but was ending dark and dreary. His parents were sitting on the couch in front of the television, as usual. His mother motioned for him to grab the leftovers from the oven.

“I didn’t want to disturb you. I knew you wanted to be alone. There’s some meatloaf and potato in the oven if you are hungry.”

Zane looked toward the kitchen, but could not stomach food at this point. He walked to the handheld phone and studied the buttons on the keypad. He began punching in the numbers to Tabitha’s. He was sure she knew what happened, but really just wanted to talk to someone he knew would understand him.

“Hello! Mr. Blake! Can I please speak with Tabitha?” Zane waited.

“I am sorry.” There was a long pause. “Tabitha is not here.”

“Is she out?” Zane was a little confused. “I thought she was sick?”

There was still a long pause. “No, she is not out with friends. She is still sick. Her mother took her to the medical facility in Brighton. She was coughing up blood.”

This was something Zane did not want to hear. He just lost one friend and could not lose another.

“I told the police you were out last night with my little girl. They will be talking to you soon. You better pray what happened to your friend doesn’t happen to my little girl.” Zane felt the harsh words spray through the receiver. “You stay away from her now.”

Zane pushed the off button and placed the phone down on the night stand in the hall. He collapsed into an open chair beside the desk.

His mother looked on from the living room. “What’s the matter, honey?”

Zane looked up. “Tabitha is getting worse.”

Lorraine darted from the couch to his side in mere seconds, holding him and pressing his head against her stomach. There were no words. They were not necessary.

Zane had to find out what was wrong. He needed to find his other friends and some of the people who were out that last night. He needed to know if anyone was feeling similar symptoms. He pushed himself away from his mother and stood to his feet. “I have to go out and find Freddie and Ray. I need to know that they are safe.”

“Wait just a minute,” Lorraine grabbed her son’s arm. “It may not be safe out there. What if there is a killer out there running around?”

Zane agreed that there was a killer out there, but believed this killer was something stranger than man. “I have to go, Mom. Please don’t stop me.” Zane looked at his father for permission, getting a positive nod. He hugged his mother and bolted.

Chapter 4 to be posted on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015

NIGHT WATCHERS (An original story by Lawrence A. LeBlond)

-Chapter Two-

“Rise and shine.” Zane was awakened by the sound of his mother, Lorraine’s, calling. He peered over at the small football alarm clock on his night stand. It was just after eight in the morning. He reached up behind his bed and pulled the shade outward, catching the morning sun on his face. He squinted and smiled.

After his morning rituals, Zane plopped on the dining room chair downstairs and began digging into three pancakes sitting on his plate.

“You were pretty quiet last night,” Loraine pursued. “Is everything okay?”

Zane was not sure how to explain what happened. He was sure someone else must have witnessed what he saw, but was sure his parents were not any of those people. “Everything is fine. Just got a little wet on the walk home last night.”

“Wet?” His mother was confused. “I didn’t know it was raining.”

Zane drew a look of perplexity. It rained quite hard for at least a few minutes and the chill was plainly evident… at least in his eyes. “You didn’t hear it? It came down pretty good for a little bit.”

“Sorry, honey. I guess we were too wrapped up in the news.” Loraine tossed a few sausage links onto his plate and smiled.

Zane couldn’t shake the oddity of the previous night. He had never seen, nor felt anything quite like what had transpired. He wolfed down the rest of his breakfast and shot up from the table. “Sorry, mom. I have some things to do today.” He kissed her on the cheek and darted out the side door.

The warmth of the sun was not taken for granted this morning. He held a light jacket in his hand as he perused the garage for his bike. He felt like he had to connect with his friends to see if anyone else had an experience similar to his. Wayport was a fairly sleepy community and it was readily acceptable that the majority of the townsfolk were planted in front of their TVs instead of out on the town on any given night.

Zane pulled out of the garage and hopped up onto the seat of the old bike. The back tired rubbed against the frame as he rode off down Wagner Street. It was only a short jaunt to Tabitha’s house and he was excited to see her. However, as he placed the bike on the lawn just to the edge of the driveway, he was immediately greeted by Tabitha’s father, William.

“I am sorry, Mr. Staples, Tabitha is not feeling well and won’t be able to see you today.” The older man stepped onto the first step of his house, keeping Zane at bay.

“Oh.” Zane glared into the man’s eyes. “Do you know what’s wrong?”

The man pointed to the skies. “I guess last night’s weather kind of got to her.”

“So you know about it?” Zane drew some interest. “What do you think about it?”

“Actually, I don’t know anything. Tabitha just explained that the cold air got to her. She said it was almost winter-like air. I am not sure if that is why she is feeling lethargic this morning, or not. I do know that she seems under the weather and she will be resting for at least today.” The man stepped back up to the door.

Zane stepped back. “Can you please tell her I said Hi?” He stepped down onto the lawn and started to turn toward his bike, stopping and turning back. “Oh, and please tell her to get better fast.”

Zane rode hard to Dylan’s house, which was on the other side of town. The old farmhouse actually sat well outside of town in the country. However, Dylan’s family had a lot of acreage and Zane hoped he would find his good friend hanging out in the tree house as he normally spent his weekends there. It seemed like any other Saturday as he raced down Main Street toward Route 5. People were out and about and there seemed to be no concerns of the previous evening’s cold snap. Although it seemed like normalcy in town, in Zane’s mind, there was nothing normal about what happened.

At the edge of town, Zane found the trail into the woods near an orange-painted pole marking the edge of Dylan’s property and the town’s wildlife refuge property. Zane walked his bike into the woods and parked it near a mossy stone. The walk in to the treehouse was rough and would only be harder to traverse with a bike in tow. He slowly guided himself through the trees, pushing occasional limbs out of his way and hurdling small rocks and rotten stumps.

As he neared the treehouse, Zane could smell the smoldering remains of a campfire in the air. The woods slightly cleared and a small opening greeted Zane. The treehouse sat in two large maple trees at one edge of the clearing, surrounded by several smaller trees of various species. In the center of the clearing a small fire pit was releasing small plumes of smoke into the air. Zane searched the area from his vantage point. It seemed eerily quiet. He stepped into the clearing and trod past the fire pit. A few empty soda cans were littered around the ground along with an empty bag of chips.

“Hey, Dylan,” Zane hollered out. He walked toward a rope ladder, hanging down from the bottom entrance of the treehouse, which was about fifteen feet up. Zane felt that Dylan was either out in the woods or made a trip to the house as his call went unanswered. It made it seemingly more evident that he was gone due to the fact that the rope ladder was down. Dylan never kept it down when he was in the trees.

Zane climbed about halfway up the ladder before coming to a dead halt. A foul odor emanated from above. He could not place it, but it was unlike any smell he ever faced before. He could only explain it to himself as the smell of wet dog with that of burning plastic. He slowly climbed a few rungs and tried to peer up into the home’s main floor. He was sure he would meet some kind of animal and did not want to be startled half to death.

A few more steps up and the horror graced Zane’s eyes. He immediately lost balance on the ladder and fell backward nearly ten feet to the ground.

Chapter 3 to be posted on Monday Sept. 21, 2015 

NIGHT WATCHERS (An original story by Lawrence A. LeBlond)

-Chapter One-

Zane wasn’t always a loner. Growing up he was usually found with the “in” crowd and had a very outgoing lifestyle. Living life quite normally, Zane would frequently be found at the Fun Zone, mixing it up with his peers and doing what most typical teens do. He had a steady girlfriend and a decent after-school job. He was even pleasant and respectful to his elders and was always willing to lend a helping hand.

Things began to change for Zane, however, as graduation day approached that mid-June in 1989.

It was an eerily chilly evening in Wayport, Maine with dark clouds looming over the horizon. A slight breeze meandered down the street, brushing up against Zane and his girlfriend, Tabitha, as they walked home from an interesting afternoon at the Fun Zone.

“Can you believe Dylan nailed that shot?” Zane excitedly directed his attention toward Tabitha, jumping up and tossing an air ball into an air hoop. “I mean, that guy is a killer.”

“Yeah,” Tabitha smiled, rubbing her crossed arms. “He definitely killed it.”

Zach, noticing that the evening air was beginning to get to his sweetheart, closed up against her, hugging her close to him. He looked up ahead at the impending darkness. “Those clouds look ominous. It seems like it is colder than usual.”

Tabitha brushed up closer to Zane. “Look!” Tabitha breathed in and out. “I can see my breath.”

They had not expected to encounter such chilling temperatures that evening and were still close to a mile from Tabitha’s home in only t-shirts and shorts. The temperatures had been falling steadily since their departure from the fun center.

“Why is it so cold?” Zane seemingly searched the dark skies for an answer. “Maybe we should pick up the pace a little.”

The walk hastened to a slight jog as they made the journey home. Just as they reached the doorstep of Tabitha’s Victorian-style home, the sky opened up and a cold, hard rain began to fall.

“Maybe you should come inside,” Tabitha uttered as she tugged at his arm.

“Nah. I can make it home in just a few minutes if I run really fast.” Zach reached in and gave Tabitha a soft kiss on the lips. He smiled and stepped back into the chilly rain. He could tell Tabitha was quite displeased with this decision, but he was quite confident he could make it home in one piece.

As Zane raced the half-mile stretch of road to his house, the rain’s intensity slowed to a fine mist. This would have been fine except for the fact that the air surrounding him was starting to become like an icy fog. Zane slowed to a halt and tried to peer through the thickening veil of air. He knew he was close to home, but the thick fog reduced his visibility to mere feet in front of him. He picked a spot on the curbing and followed along, believing it would be six more driveways until he reached his.

As he followed the curb, it was apparent that he was not going to find his way home by sight. The thickness only grew deeper and the iciness of the night air chilled him to the bone. His pace slowed to a crawl and he now did not know if he was any closer to home or maybe had passed it. His parents were likely in the living room watching TV and he thought maybe if he screamed loud enough they may hear him.

The first two attempts failed to penetrate the wall of fog. He took in a deep breath and hollered out once more, but the sound only resonated around his ears. Being unsteady on his feet, he dropped to his hands and knees and felt his way onto the soft grass over the curb. He believed his only chance would be to feel his way to home. Scared and cold, he meandered on all fours across the chilly lawn.

Stumbling over a block of wood, Zane stopped and looked around. Still in a complete darkness of fog, he took a little solace knowing he was at his neighbor’s house. The block of wood was left there from the previous fall, when Mr. Hamlin was out cutting his firewood for the winter. He picked himself up and sat on the stump. Without any visible clues around him, Zane was unsure which direction home was. He sat on the stump, shivering and unable to go on.

Just as quickly as the coldness settled in and the fog rolled through town, it lifted. Zane, who had eyes closed, slowly opened them to perfect clarity. The coolness in the air had vanished and the warmth began to race back into him. Still shivering, he saw his front porch just fifty feet away. He began to laugh nervously, unsure of what had just happened. He glanced upward. The dark clouds had mysteriously dissipated and the clear night sky pushed through. 

Chapter 2 to be posted Friday Sept. 18, 2015

My first story to be posted will be told in chapters. The first chapter will be posted shortly. Each new chapter will be posted a few days following the last. I hope everyone enjoys Night Watchers

Beginning this week I am starting to post original paranormal-based stories to this site. It was my intention to do this long before now, but for some reason or another, it wasn't meant to be.

My ultimate goal is to garner interest in an epic saga I have written and hope to publish soon. The saga itself is not paranormal in nature, but rather a fantastical tale of a boy and a girl who are tasked with saving the world from certain doom.

You may find my writing style to be obscure, but I hope that my stories entertain and enlighten. Many of these stories will be inspired by things that have happened in my personal life, as I grew up in two very haunted homes and have had other strange occurrences happen throughout my life. Be on the lookout for my first short story within the week.