Chapter53 Chelsea Moves On

Cindy's suddenly awakened from a sound sleep; and, although not sure exactly why, gets up and heads to the back door. When she steps onto the back porch, she sees Chelsea lumbering by the barn doors. Cindy starts to approach Chelsea. Cindy takes notice to Chelsea's movements; which at this point appear to be very labored and awkward. It's apparent to Cindy that Chelsea's apparition is demonstrating signs of having lost most of its motor coordination skills. Her decomposing body's freely swaying about, with Chelsea having very little control over it; although at times Chelsea does seem like she's forcing her movements…trying to get certain body parts to cooperate with her wishes. Most of the time, however, it appears as if they're not. Cindy's about seven or eight feet away from Chelsea, when she suddenly stops as she begins to smell that horribly putrid odor that Chelsea's rotting flesh is emitting. She takes a moment to become accustomed to the foul stench before starting her approach again. With about three or four feet distance between them, Chelsea slowly turns around; nearly falling several times, as she momentarily loses her balance from the movement. Once she's completely turned around…and forces herself to stand more erect from her hunched over stance…Cindy's met with a repulsively, grotesque sight. Chelsea's remaining flesh is ash grey in color, with most of it hanging loose on her bones…sort of resembling meat on a boiled chicken carcass…and, so rancid that even the maggots have gone; refusing to feed on her emaciating corpse. Her remaining hair's also ash grey; and, is as brittle as dried hay. Her eyeballs have totally dried up and fallen out of her head; with only the eye sockets remaining. Chelsea's lower jaw has broken away from the top half…dangling precariously while attached by some facial sinew; which has the texture of beef jerky. And, even in this condition, Chelsea struggles to incoherently utter, "Tom-my." Cindy fights to keep from crying at Chelsea's tragically disturbing appearance. She realizes Chelsea's demise is near; and, needs to communicate with Chelsea now if she's to help the Lazinski's out of with their dilemma…and, maybe even help Chelsea escape her fate. Cindy apprehensively reaches out, and gently strokes Chelsea's hair. Tears start forming in her eyes. Cindy takes a swallow…which has unfortunately left a foul taste in her mouth…to try to subside the lump forming in her throat. She tries to talk as she chokes up. "Chelsea, Sweetheart; are you still looking for Tommy?" "Fiii-ndd Tom-my." "Why, Chelsea; why do you need to find him?" "Fiii-ndd Tom-my." "Yes…find Tommy…But, why; Sweetheart?" Chelsea becomes irate. "Fiii-ndd Tom-my! Fiii-ndd Tom-my! Fiii-ndd Tom-my!" Cindy tries to calm her down. "Okay, Sweetheart; we'll find Tommy." "Fiii-ndd Tom-my." Chelsea starts to settle down. "Pleea-ssse. Fiii-ndd Tom-my." "Okay, Sweetheart; we will." Cindy hesitates before asking, "Chelsea; do you know what's happening to you?" As Chelsea slowly nods, her jaw sways side to side. Cindy quickly balls her hand into a fist and raises it in front of her mouth; attempting to keep from gasping at this sight. She continues her conversation with Chelsea. "Chelsea; you're going to be gone soon. I'm so sorry, Sweetheart. I promise…even when you go…I'll still find Tommy for you. I promise you, Sweetheart. But, Chelsea; we need your help. If there's anything you can tell me…or, show me…that will help us figure this thing out…please; let me know now. Show me. Help me, Chelsea. Help me to help you. Anything at all, Sweetheart." Cindy waits for some sort of response from the dying Chelsea. Ten minutes or so pass, and neither has moved. Cindy's at her wits end at this point with Chelsea. She remembers what Beth told her, and decides to utilize this method to see if she could get any results. "Fucking God damn it, Chelsea! Are you God damn stupid or what, you God damn, dumb little bitch! You're going to die, God damn it! Show me something, God damn it!" Chelsea belts out a disturbingly ghastly, deep inhuman roar of a moan. Cindy, who's totally caught off guard and startled by this ungodly bellow, jumps back. Chelsea leans to her side and wildly stumbles across the backyard, falling short a yard or two of the outside cellar doors. She struggles to raise her arm to point to the doors. "Thhh-errre. Nowww, fiii-ndd Tom-my. Pleea-ssse." Chelsea's body rapidly decomposes, leaving a pile of dust; which is shortly blown away by a sudden gust of wind. Cindy drops to her knees and cries. As she looks up, she notices Beth…who has been watching for the past several minutes…standing on the porch; also crying. Cindy meets Beth half way; taking time to hug and console each other on the recent passing of Chelsea. After they compose themselves, they walk over to the cellar doors. The lock on the latch is unlocked. Cindy removes the lock, and Beth opens the doors. Cindy enters first; immediately followed by Beth. At the bottom of the steps, they both stop. The lights suddenly come on. Both Cindy and Beth look in horror at the sight they find down there. In the middle of the cellar floor lies the lifeless body of Delilah. She's posed as if she were laid out to rest in a coffin. Placed under her folded hands is an old, brownish-yellow, brittle newspaper. When Cindy takes it from the corpse, she notices the paper's opened to the obituaries section. They read a circled obituary entry… "In Loving Memory of Charles Robert Steinman, beloved son of Mayor Phillip Montgomery Steinman and Lillian May Steinman, born April 13, 1921; died September 08, 1924 from a severe bout with pneumonia. He will be missed dearly by his surviving family, including his twin sister, Chelsea Dolores Steinman."