Chapter47 A Rape in the Woods

Martin briefly clears his throat before repeating, "Unless they weren't dead?" "What do you mean?" Deputy Hopkins asks. "Well; if the papers were wrong about Mary Howell being murdered…maybe they were wrong about Chelsea committing suicide. And, Beth never found anything written about Tommy's death at all." "I think you may be onto something there, Martin." Deputy Hopkins speculates, "Maybe Chelsea or Tommy didn't die back in 1927; and, had some sort of relationship with this Charles character somehow. But, what was it; how are they all tied together?" "Maybe it was a connection to this house." The sheriff wonders out loud to the group. "Maybe not the house, Sheriff." Cindy joins in. "Then what, Ms. Cindy?" Cindy turns to Beth, "Beth, with everything going on; I forgot to tell you your cousin called before." "Trish called me?" "Yeah." "What did she want?" "She was calling to see how everything was going, and give you some more information about this house." "What did she find out?" Beth sits at the table. "Other than what we already knew of; from 1908 until 1955, this place use to be a mental institution. The patients were all criminally insane." Sheriff Faulkner exclaims, "Well slap my fanny, put me in a dress and call me Susan!" The deputy laughs, "Looks like you're ready to be committed yourself there, Lloyd." "Professor," Cindy asks, "what if Martin's right about Chelsea and Tommy not being dead; what if Chelsea tried to commit suicide, but didn't succeed…and, they had her committed to the institution for killing Tommy. Maybe Charles was a patient there at some point." "But, other than being in the institute at the same time; what's the relationship between the Steinman kids and Charles that requires some sort of resolution?" The sheriff asks. Professor Rhyies removes his glasses to clean. He does this frequently; not that they need it…it's more of a compulsive action he takes when he's troubled. "I have an idea; but, before I talk about it…Ms. Lidestrom; did Beth's cousin mention the name of this institution?" "No, Professor; but, she wants Beth to call her back. Maybe Beth can get the name then." "No problem." Beth asks, "But, what if she doesn't know the name of it?" "It doesn't matter; I'll just use my contacts in the field to find out. If an institution did exist here, I'm sure one of my colleagues would know something about it; or, at least know someone who knows something about it." "And, what about that relationship between Charles and the Steinman kids, Professor?" The sheriff asks. "Actually…and, I apologize, Beth, for not telling you before…but, I wanted to wait for the right time to bring this up; and, now seems to be as good as any. I made a little discovery today at the library; purely by chance. I happen to come across an announcement made in one of the smaller local papers. It was congratulating Phillip and Helene Steinman on the recent birth of their new twins; Chelsea…and Charles Steinman." Cindy…who's been having trouble sleeping…decides to take a walk. There's a breeze out; so, Cindy's pretty sure what she hears are the leaves rustling about in the trees. But, as the sound becomes increasingly louder and more pronounced …yet still intelligible…Cindy starts thinking that what she's hearing may possibly be the voices of spirits bound to those woods speaking amongst themselves. She concentrates on listening, in hopes that they'll somehow become coherent; but, their whispers still remain undecipherable. And, the further she goes into the woods, the louder the voices become; although Cindy still can't understand what they're saying. Suddenly, Cindy's eardrums start pounding…causing a throbbing, painful sensation as the voices echo throughout her ear canals…and she slaps her hands over her ears; squeezing them tightly against her head in a futile attempt to muffle the piercing din resounding in her head. Soon, she feels her palms starting to get wet; and, when she takes her hands off her ears to look down at them, she realizes her ears are bleeding. Cindy presses her hands against her ears again, as the excruciating pain shoots through her entire head; causing her drop to her knees. She then falls to the ground; rolling from side to side while kicking and screaming in agony…until passing out. When Cindy comes to, everything's extremely blurry at first; but, once her vision's fully restored, she notices that the woods appear to be different. The trees are smaller and more spread out. And, for some beguiling reason, there's a layer of fog wispily hovering inches above to the ground; making the area seem more bog-like than forestry. Cindy walks back about a hundred yards; then, hears a woman screaming and men laughing. She goes to investigate. As she approaches a clearing, Cindy observes a small group of men…about six or seven…in a circle, pushing a young woman dressed in a hospital gown back and forth to each other. Before pushing her off to the next, each one quickly fondles her body; grabbing at her breasts, butt and genital area. She's crying out loud; alternating between pleading for them to stop and yelling for help. Cindy stands back in the tree line…convinced one of the presence's personas wants her to witness this…watching this disturbing image unfold in front of her eyes. She feels terrible…bordering on guilty…not being able to help; but, Cindy knows that there's nothing she can do. This is an apparition from the past; so, all she could do is cry while watching this poor woman being molested and tormented by those barbaric monsters. Eventually, one of the brutes throws the young woman down to the ground; and, two of his cohorts kneel down on each side of her, grabbing both her arms, and hold her down while he menacingly positions himself over her. He reaches down, tears her gown open, and rips off her bra and underpants. Then, he smiles as he pulls his pants and underwear down to his ankles and tells her, "Now for the real fun!" He kicks her legs apart and quickly drops to his knees between them. The man grabs each ankle and pulls her legs further apart while bringing them up in the air; then, proceeds to forcefully penetrate her. She screams in pain as he pounds her small frame; brutally raping her. The others watch and laugh. When he finishes, the others start taking turns; treating her in the same manner. And, by the time her fourth assailant mounts her numbing body, her screams stop; and, she lies there crying softly. Cindy's also crying; fighting back the lump that keeps coming up in her throat. Then one of them finally confirms what Cindy's already suspected as he yells out, "Yeah; give it to the bitch! You know you like it like that; don't you, Chelsea?"