The Collector (part 1)

September 14th , 2020

It was always a bit of a spine chill, standing on the corner of Melbourne and Locke. The small hours of the morning didn't need to be in full affect but helped extend that fear. In all of the cities and villes that I've had the happenings to enter and exit; the corner of Melbourne and Locke was the one street corner that bothered me on a level I can't explain. But I guess that's to be expected.

See, the 3 story apartment building that sat there was once my home. And the chill that this place reverberated wasn't just because of the oddly placed singular street lamp, right at the periphery of the residence, Which made the seemingly innocent structure drown in the shadows of it's own casting.

No.. The horrors that those walls had been accessory to... the secrets that were unearthed.

and the silent truths that place still held..

Those facts scared the shit out of me.

and it'd been 20 years since The Collector took it's prey.

I had no idea if it was still even here. But I had to find out.

I needed closure, if anything.

It's just after 9PM. The over pass at the edge of Town makes the ghostly neighborhood feel more populated as families pass by heading further into the city, but this little patch of hell still bleeds despair into the world. It's a black spot on the soul..

Judy… If I was just a little older.. stronger..

As I open the rusted gate that used to be connected to a beaten down chain link fence and listen to the overgrown lawn rustle; a familiar smell of stagnation sets into my sinus.. burning with the smell of a poor community and crumbling foundations.

The memories rush in..

__

October 3rd, 2000

"Charlie hurry up! We're going to be late; Again!"

Judy never could get over how long it took me to get ready for school in the morning..

At the time I was running a paper route and raking the leaves in the neighborhood with my friends to try and beef up my lunch money stash, I'd stuff it in the landlords mailbox to keep just enough money flowing so that we wouldn't get evicted. School wasn't getting the full attention it deserved..

"I'm coming, I'm coming.." I shoved the pile of clothes off of the bottom step as I descended into the kitchen, crammed and handful of lucky charms into my mouth (inadvertently spilling the bag on the floor) and ran out the front door after Judy.

Judy was standing on the side walk next to three boys, my best friends at the time. Shawn, his little brother walker and our pudgy foul mouth (and my best friend of the 9th grade); Finnly. (Fin for short)

"Ya know, for a 6 year old. You're kind of a hard ass; Moody Judy." Fin laughed and roughed Judy's hair up.

"Someone has to keep him in line ya know." As I came through the gate I high fived Walker and got on my stolen Huffy bike. Judy climbed onto the pegs as she did every morning.

"You know, that creepy old man stares at us every morning." Shawn pointed to the top floor of our building, I glanced up just a little to late and saw the curtains swaying.

"Oh up there? I think that's the landlords husband or something.."

Fin snorted, "Don't you think he's a little too old for your landlord?"

Judy rolled her eyes, "They're both old, she's like really old, 35 or something."

"Well I heard.. that he's the snatcher."

We all turned around and stared at Walker who had his head down and his pockets in his jean jacket. (that he never took off, even in July.)

"We said we'd never talk about that guy, Walker" Shawn was giving his brother a stern look.

Judy stepped down from the pegs and cocked her head. "Whats the Snatcher?"

"Marcus down at my Mom's favorite gas station said that he was a man who would take little kids like us from our beds at night."

Judy's eyes widened and Fin grabbed Walker by the jean jacket.

"What the fuck man!"

Shawn pushed Fin, "Hey he's just a kid let go of him!"

Walker kept going, "Marcus said he would take the kid's and do horrible things to them. Like tie them up and cut them open on their belly's and stuff. That what he said."

Fin lunged for Walker and Shawn tackled Fin.

"All right that's enough!" I grabbed judy and kicked Shawn's and Fin's bikes over.

Fin jumped up and brushed himself off "What the fuck man that was a gift from my aunt Tina! Aww man look at that scratch she's going to beat my ass."

Shawn rolled his eyes. "You don't have an aunt Tina you fuck."

"Yeah well you don't have a dick. So, there's that."

Walker yelled, "Enough look!" we looked back to the window and the old man was staring at us.

"Wish that old fucker would just tell me he wants to fuck me so I have an excuse not to come over here anymore. "

Shawn groaned, "Really Fin? Do you have to be so nasty all the time?"

Fin chuckled, "Ask your mom."

Walker spoke up, "Guys, he's looking at Judy… not us."

We all looked up again and realized the same thing; and then the man sunk back into the apartment and out of site.

I knelt next to Walker and Judy, "Look guys, Marcus likes to tell stories. I read in an old paper that the snatcher was caught years ago. Right Shawn?"

Shawn nodded, "Can we get to school now please?"

We all dusted ourselves off and remounted our bikes; Fin led the way to school from there until his obesity overcame his tardiness, and made up a busted bike chain, so we carried on without him.

__

September 14th, 2020

As I reached for the door to the front door a car slowly pulled to a stop behind me. The Building was condemned and I knew that it was most likely a sheriff. I didn't grow up to be a decent citizen or anything and in a lot of ways The Collection drove me to abuse substances much like my father.. I had been clean for 2 weeks prior to this, wanting to be as sharp as possible. But my past had left marks.. warrants… I froze and closed my eyes as a light hit my back.. I thought I was fucked, I put my hands up and turned around to face the light, when I heard a familiar voice.. a voice I hadn't heard in years…

"Charlie? Is that you?"

"Shawn?"

The flashlight dropped and my old friend wrapped me in a hug.

"What are you doing here?"

Shawn pulled away, "I should ask you the same question."

"Well…."

We stared at each other in silence for a long time until it sunk in..

"Has it really been 20 years already..?"

"I've counted the days every day since it happened Shawn.. On the 10th month every 20 years it Takes for The Collection.."

Shawn looked at the ground and finished the saying. "And on the night of two worlds it takes home what its beckoned.."

"You were going in there alone?"

I nodded and looked back at the door, "Well that was the plan."

Shawn shook his head." I miss them too Charlie.. but this isn't the way.. if it's really that time again… we have time.. Ive been watching the place for years.. so has Fin.."

"Fin is here?"

Shawn shook his head. "Not anymore, He moved upstate after the first decade. Married with kids of his own. Let me call him. You know he will want to help."

"No Shawn I couldn't ask that of either of you, I'm doing this for Judy."

Shawn spit at the ground, "It took Walker too Charlie, and alot of other ones.. this is our fight too.."

"Shit… I'm sorry Shawn I didn't mean to.."

Shawn shook his head and put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it.. lets make this it's last year. Come stay at my place tonight, I'll give Fin a call. See if he can make it down."

I nodded and followed my childhood friend away from the darkness and toward his old buick skylark.

__

Fin didn't greet me with the same embrace as Shawn. We met at the diner on 5th and Lincoln the next morning. (Fin was late.) Shawn and I sat in the back corner booth and drank or coffee in silence for the majority of the wait. Shawn was surprisingly upbeat though, his appetite was pronounced. By the time the sun was high up in the sky and the lunch specials were being placed on the old chalkboard above the diner, he had already had a plate of french toast and a second breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham. And was considering getting lunch at that point.

"What's the deal with that?"

Shawn looked up from a plate of steak fries and put his butter scotch milkshake to his mouth.

"With what?"

"what's the deal with you shoveling down all of this food? Aren't you sick by now?"

Shawn took a large swig and sat the foam cup down on a napkin.

"No, I just eat when I'm stressed. Started a few years ago I think. When heather left."

"Heather?"

"My ex-wife, things were rocky for awhile between us. I started having night terrors and the textile plant shut down. So her income alone ran the house for awhile. I came home from an interview one day and she was just gone."

"You never heard from her again?"

"Nope, she just vanished. Probably a good thing too. Because she'd have left a long time ago if she knew I was working for the sheriff."

The blood fell from my face. "you're a deputy?"

Shawn shook his head. "No I'm dispatch, I just take the calls. Don't look so nervous Charlie. Nobody cares about your warrants here."

"you know that I've had some problems then.."

Shawn shrugged and took another sip of his shake.

"We all have problems, yours just ended up being on the wrong side of social acceptability."

The door to the diner swung open and a short man with a stalky demeanor bee lined for our booth. When I realized it was Fin I stood to greet my old friend.

"Hey man how've yo-"

I was met with a fist to the eye. I went crashing over the table and into Shawn's lap; along with all of Shawn's dirty dishes and my fresh cup of coffee.

"What the fuck Fin!" Shawn was trying to get out from under the disaster my body had made in his seat.

"17 years.. You've been gone for 17 fucking years Charlie. Not one call, not one letter."

Shawn crawled out of the booth and stepped in front of Fin. "Fin this isn't necessary, we've all been dealing with this in our own way."

The other patrons of the diner had all been watching the commotion unfold. Shawn flashed his badge and they mostly went back to their food and conversation.

I couldn't help but lay there in the seat, covered in syrup and coffee and start to laugh.

Fin looked down at the mess.

"What's so funny?! want some more?"

I sat up and pulled a soggy cigarette from my jacket pocket.

"17 years Fin, you still hit like a bitch."

Fin's face grew red and after a moment of tense silence we all cracked with laughter. And just like that it was like we were kids again. Bonded through a new trauma, instead of the insufferable fallacy of choice. (Back then we were all each other had), now grouped under a common trauma.

October 13th, 2000

"That hole in the tree line. Just passed the dugout. That's how you get to Audman's trail."

Shawn looked like an Army Ranger when he led the group with his book of carefully planned adventures.

"Why's it called Audman's trail?" Judy was eating a caramel apple that I had bought her before we ditched the Raven Festive that takes place uptown every Fall.

Shawn scratched his head. "If I remember correctly it was named Audman's trail in remembrance to Eugene Audman. The Audman family was massacred in the night by a group of townies in upheaval over the misinformed newspaper reports of Levy Audman being under investigation of a kidnapping involving a little girl on Brockheim Road."

"Oh my god.. But why is the trail named after Eugene?"

I knelt next to Judy, "We learn in school that Levy was Eugene's dad. Eugene had a little sister named.. Shit, what was her name?"

Shawn chimed in, "Verna, Eugene's sister was 3 at the time and matched the missing girl's description, Levy had picked her up from the park not far from Brockheim the day that Alisha Stinsen went missing. This caused the kidnapping tips to roll in. When the police didn't act, whether because they knew Levy was innocent or just out of laziness, the small community did what they thought was best. They broke into the Audman home around 2am and started chopping away with a hatchet. First lady Audman who (according to Eugene) was screaming hysterically, then Levy. Instead of stopping there. Once they realized Verna wasn't Alisha, the consensus was that there couldn't be any witnesses, Verna had her head chopped off, took a couple of hard swings because she curled in a ball when the hatchet was swung the first time and it left her head still attached. Eugene's room was in the back of the house and he managed to gain the foresight to slip out of his window when the commotion started and ran into the woods. It's said he followed this game trail, which is now named after him. For 3 hours and the pitch black until he made it to a house and called the police."

Judy's mouth laid agape. In the midst of the terrible story she had dropped her treat and it now laid in the dirt of the baseball field.

Walker, who was completely invested in Shawn's historical account and Walker's friend Eric who followed him from the festival (With glasses two times to big for his small frame and an inhaler constantly in his hand) through their hands in the air as if they were in school trying to answer a math question.

Shawn rolled his eyes and picked on Eric, "Yes Eric?"

"Um.. Why?"

"Why what?"

Eric hit his inhaler, "Why did we leave the festival to come see this? It's scary and stuff."

Shawn glanced at me and Judy and then back at the boys. "It's October, we're supposed to do spooky shit in October, that's just what you're supposed to do."

Walker's face twisted up in confusion. "Okay but what about the rules mom gave us? About not leaving the festival and stuff?"

I must've rolled my eyes because Judy whispered, "Really Charlie.."

Shawn groaned, "This is the only time we've ever been allowed to ride our bikes this far up town. This is the only chance we have to sneak off and see the trail that Eugene ran for his life. I have an entire list of scary places for us to visit before Halloween, so do us all a favor and don't go crying to mom about it?"

Walker looked at Eric for approval, Eric took another hit from his inhaler and nodded and Walker agreed not to tell on the group.

Shawn put away his papers.

"Good, now we just have to wait for Fin. He's gotta be coming around soon..Right?"

Judy snorted, "I saw him slobbering all over Kristi Gohlen by the funnel cake booth about an hour ago."

I remember laughing, "There's no way he was making out with Kristi, she's in the 11th grade. Not to mention she's got Fin's league beat by about 10 points."

Shawn raised his eyebrows, "You're forgetting, Kristi blew Sloan Mckinster behind the bleachers last year, he was a 9th grader."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah but he was held back, and Kristi was in the 10th grade then, they were the same age. Fin's in the 9th grade because he belongs here."

Eric puffed his inhaler and snorted, "Plus he's fat."

Walker hit him in the shoulder and Eric dramatically squealed. "Can it nerd. Fin's not fat. He's just big."

Eric stood up, "Hey! That hurt! You don't even like Fin!"

Walker jumped up and knocked Eric's glasses off. "I like Fin! He's just an asshole!"

Shawn broke the boys up and gave Eric his glasses back.

Just then Fin emerged through the hole in the ball field's fence.

"speak of the devil."

I kicked Judy's dirt ball of an apple at him and it bounced off his shoe.

"Where have you been, it's getting dark dude."

"Sorry, I was uh.."

Fin stumbled over his words.

"I was trying to get a soda and couldn't find my money that mom gave me."

Shawn smirked. "That's not what we heard."

Fin wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Well that's what happened."

"Judy saw you Fin. Spill the beans."

Fin's face went pasty white. "Oh fuck you guys, like any of you have ever gotten a blowjob. So I couldn't get hard. Big fucking whoop!"

Everyone's mouth dropped and Shawn fumbled his book and Eric dropped his inhaler all at once.

Walker dropped his hands to the side. "What. In. The. Actual. Fuck."

Fin froze, "You guys…weren't talking about that were you?"

I picked up Shawn's book and took off running off of the pitcher's mound toward the hole in the tree line to break the awkwardness. "Let's go! Last one in's dick doesn't work!"

We all started laughing while Fin was bringing up the rear shouting profanity's.

Judy was screaming behind me. "That's not fair I don't have a penis!"

__

The light was gone, washed away like a dead rat in a sewage drain. As soon as we breached the wall of trees, the ball field, the distant noises and lights from the festival and all happiness and fun that was left in those moment's leading up to the entrance fell away into nothingness.

We all drew silent. Even Eric's inhaler addiction ceased. The forest looked crowded and thick in the darkness, all was still. The path before us was nothing more than a faded line in the dead pines that led on deep into the eerily straight formation of trees and beyond.

After a few minutes of settling into the spine chilling closeness, Shawn collected himself and took his book back from me.

"Okay.. it says here that the trail eventually splits into two paths. If we go right, we'll hit the main trail and it will bring us out downtown where the other homes used to be. If we go left."

Fin was over the fear fairly quickly and pushed passed the rest of us. "Yeah, Yeah. Go left, got it. Bye fuckers."

I told Judy to stay with the others and ran after Fin.

Once I caught up, we walked together for awhile, talked about normal stuff for a change. The things you talk about to your best friend or a journal.

He told me about how his mom was going to make him go to a camp in the summer. We talked about how my dad hadn't been home in a few months and how he was probably in jail again and we even briefly talked about Kristi's breasts.

During a discussion over whether or not I thought Dexter's Lab was a more influential show than AHH! Real monsters;

"You just have a thing for tall dumb blonde bitches."

I slugged him in his arm and laughed.

"Clearly you must wack it to sewer monsters then dude."

Fin jerked and abruptly fell making a painful squeal as he fell.

"Chill dude, don't be a girl. All I did was frog you."

Fin sneered.

"No you dick, somethings in my foot."

"Let me see."

Fin jerked at his foot and produced what looked like three sticks tied together at the center with sharp points on each tip. It had pierced through his shoe and he was bleeding pretty badly.

"That's not a small trap thing man, how'd you step on that?"

Fin groaned and held his foot, "I didn't, it went through from the top."

"What? How?"

Fin's composure started to fail when he tried to stand up and his foot made a crippling popping noise, like breaking a handful of glow-sticks

"Fuck! I don't know Charlie! Help me though, fucking Christ."

I threw Fin's arm over my shoulder and we turned around and started back down the way we came. But when we turned around I saw another stick bundle, this time one of the tips was bedded into the trunk of a tree that we had just walked past moments before.

"Hey..was that.. was that there before?"

Fin looked up.

"No fucking way it was there before, I would've noticed it."

I looked passed the tree, further down the trail toward the way we came and my heart dropped to my feet. As far as the eye could see, every tree trunk had a bundle embedded in it or hanging from a limb.

"What in the fuck Fin.."

Fin pushed him off my shoulder and fell on his ass. He took off his shoe and started to dig at the hole in the top of his foot.

"What the hell are you doing!? Stop it!"

Fin ignored me and dug his fingers deeper. he started to yell in pain. The popping grew louder and turned into a gurgling wet sound by the time he was two knuckles deep.

I watched on in horror.

With a yell and a quick jerk upward, he ripped a broken stick 3 inches long or so from the wound and tossed it aside.

After a deep breath, he stood and put his shoe back on.

I was stunned.

"Dude… that was badass.. can you walk?"

He tested the support strength of his foot and everything seemed to be in place. Aside from the trail of blood that had started to quickly fall behind his steps.

"Yeah man, I'm good. Let's get the fuck out of here."

The pronounced silence of the forest fell back into earshot. But it was more sinister this time. The bundles that marked the trees had my heart running faster than my brain would let my body. I played it slow and calm to walk with Fin's slower than usual pace but inside I knew; We had to get the fuck out of there.

The trail slightly curved around a bend we couldn't see around because of the lush vegetation. Even though the path was linear, we felt lost. Somewhere bleak and alien. We started asking each other stupid questions as if the other would know the answer.

"Didn't we already pass that tree?" Fin would ask.

"I don't think so, I'd reply." and then the cycle would switch.

The frustration set in.

"Okay we've definitely been here before."

I rolled my eyes. "No shit dude, we're back tracking." it's a straight shot all the way back to the ball field."

Fin checked his Casio watch and tapped it in desperation. "Charlie, when we came in here until about where I got hurt, it had been an hour."

"And?"

"And since we started walking back.. it's been 3."

My heart went into my throat.

"Yeah so? You're moving slower than usual Fin, you're hurt."

Fin started to pace. "No it's more than that. We've back tracked onto a trail that we didn't see on the way in or something. I'm telling you, we're lost."

Fin might've been right. The entire thing was confusing and made no sense; but we were just boys. Our composer couldn't last long. And I could feel the panic start to set in.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement in the trees to my left. I jumped and whipped my gaze in that direction.

Fin jerked. Startled by my quick movement and started to scan the forest too

"What, what was it? I don't see anything."

"Shh!"

I kept my gaze on a singular oddly placed poppler that sat absurdly right in the middle of a pine forest.

"What's up with that tree man… It's weirding me out.."

I ignored Fin, mostly because we both know I didn't know.

Against everything in my body and everything that every nature and survival show had taught me.

I stepped off the path..

The tree was massive. From the distance of the path it looked of average width. But being up next to it was daunting.

"Why the fuck would this tree be in the middle of some pines?"

I understood, a little.

"It was planted here on purpose, A long time ago."

Fin raised an eyebrow, "How do you know that?"

"Well, if you paid attention in school you would've learned that trees are like flowers, their fruit and nuts have to be spread to make new trees. I don't know about you but I haven't seen a single tree like this today. Which means the nut had to have been carried here."

The leaves were a brighter blood orange, compared to the rust and sage colors of the fresh and dying pines that littered the ground everywhere else.

"Well since we're lost. I'm gonna climb this motherfucker and get a look above the tree top."

"Fin you're hurt keep your fat fucking ass-"

It was too late, Fin had jumped for the first branch and swung his injured limb over before I could finish my sentence. I watched as my friend struggled one branch after the other to climb higher and higher up the tree. Soon he was out of sight, yelling back to communicate.

"Man it's crazy that this thing is just hidden in here! Don't ya think?!"

"Yeah it's pretty wild!"

I kept scanning the forest around us with my back to the poppler. Something still felt really dreadful out in the darkness.

"So what if a squirrel dropped the nut here?! think that's what happened?!"

"I don't know Fin! Are you at the top yet?!"

Fin grunted in the distance as his voice trailed further and further away.

"Not yet, almost! Man these branches are grown so wide!"

I shook my head. "Not that wide! Branches can't grow straight out when other trees are growing around them! To crowded!"

Off to the right I saw something move behind a pine.

"Well I'm telling you they are straight all the way to the top!"

I was half replying to Fin when it hit me.

"No Fin you're blind, that can only happen if the tree grew by itself in an open plain or somethi-"

I stopped, my brain started racing.

What if the poppler wasn't placed in the forest.. what if the forest of pines was planted around the poppler.

I flashed back to when we first entered the trail. Noticing how linear the rows of trees were.

My heart sunk.. somebody wanted this poppler hidden.

Just then I caught it with my eye, full contact with the figure, but just a glimpse. But it was there. Fear filled my being.

"Fin we have to go now!"

Fin wasn't responding. The tall skinny figure curled it's fingers around the mid sized pine way off in the distance and peeked just part of it's head out.

I started crying, my eyes were like uncontrollable faucets, something deep within me knew if I didn't leave now, if I broke eye contact, if I tried to run or did anything.

I was going to die.

Just then a shriek slammed through the air above me, I glance up to see a shower of Blood orange and Fin flipping through the branches. With a wail he crashed and thumbed his way through the branches, colliding violently with multiple. He flipped from his back to his front and then nothing but his face collided with the last limb. When he slammed the ground he was out cold, blood pooled by his mouth. I jumped to his side in a panic.

When I glanced back at the direction of the figure it was gone. Flight mode had kicked in. I drug Fin over my shoulder and started to heave us back toward the trail. After awhile my strength gave out and within minutes I was pain painstakingly dragging him on his ass down the trail with tears in my eyes.

My lungs were burning and I collapsed. I submitted, I couldn't win this cat and mouse game, even if Fin wasn't slowing me down. I resigned myself to the realization that what ever was about to become of us? I was ready for.

I was on my back at that point, nothing I could do, nowhere I could go. looking into the darkness of the tree tops I could see wind high above the stagnation whip the canopy open. Just enough that I could make out Orion's belt.

I could hear shuffling in the trees all around us growing louder by the second.

I started thinking back to everything I had been through. And trying to come to terms with it. I flashed back to before Judy's birth. Watching our mother and father take turns hitting what I now know was a crack pipe. Mom abandoning dad to raise us alone, Doing most of the late night raising of my newborn sister while my dad laid passed out on the front porch or in jail again for what was usually drug possession.

I started to think about meeting Fin. The first day of second grade. I remember going to his house the first time and that being the night they had gotten the called about his dad Roger getting hit by the Drunk driver. I remember the progression of the sweet loving mother he had turning into a drunk herself to cope. The slosh tipsy nights that she would come into the room while we were playing video games to let him know that she wished it was him that died because he was draining her youth.

The shuffling was now all around us on the path, accompanied by a collective hissing that had grown so loud in a matter of moments that it was deafening. A whisper among the static hiss vented from the back.

"Not the damaged onesss.. broken pieces will hurt the collection."

My eardrums couldn't take the static hiss and blood rushed through them. The entire world drowned in a second and as my conscious faded away, I thought I saw… the old man from my apartment..

When I came too I was in a hospital bed. Shawn, Walker, Judy and Shawn and Fin's moms were all in the room.

"What happened?" I said groggily.

"You passed out like a bitch."

I glanced to my right and Fin was in the bed next to me.

"Finnely!"

Fin's mother was glaring at him.

"Sorry mom but it's true."

Shawn rolled his eyes.

"You both passed out."

I was trying to piece together the events of what happened.

"But the trail was different."

"What trail?"

Shawn's mom eyed suspiciously.

"No mom he's talking about the pitch that hit him. I call my fast ball the trailblazer. I threw it in a curve and that's why he missed and it got him in the temple. Same thing with Fin's missing tooth."

Me and Fin glanced at each other.

"Uh yeah.. The trail was different Shawn."

Fin rolled his eyes and fed the lie.

"Yeah what can I say, You should be in the major leagues."

Fin's mom was checking the wrap on Fin's foot.

"First you flash a girl at the festival and she stomps on your foot with her heel. Then this? Honey you really need to stop being so wreck-less and rude."

Me and Fin both glanced at Shawn and Walker who's faces were beat red from containing laughter.

Fin's eyes flashed with a glance, a "I'll get you both for this, motherfuckers." kind of look.

Before Fin could potentially ruin the cover that our friends had put in place, the doctor walked into the room.

"So here's the heavy hitters, you got some pretty great friends for calling for help when they did. You two were pretty beat up."

Fin groaned, "Yeah the best."

The doctor looked at the chart. For a moment. "We should be able to get you both out of here within an hour. Charlie I spoke to Shawn's mother and she said your father was out of town for work and that you were staying with her.. Is that true?"

I looked at Shawn who nodded to me encouragingly. Hinting that he was the one who'd convinced his mother of that.

"Yeah… he's out of town.."

"Normally we're supposed to contact your parent or guardian when a minor is admitted but the fact that you boys have been here more times than I can count over scraps and bangs, We didn't check you in. It's only been a few hours so there's no point in contacting him."

The doctor looked around the room for a moment.

"If it's all the same to everyone, I would like to have a private conversation with the boys. If everyone could step out of the room for a moment. It'll just take a second."

Fin's mom nodded and rushed the guys and Judy out of the room.

When the door clicked behind them, the doctor's smile disappeared and he turned to me and Fin.

"So A fast ball and a heel huh?"

He slowly walked around my bed, dragging a finger along the bottom railing.

"Pretty harsh injuries from some pretty minor incidents."

I looked at Fin who was sweating.

The doctor took his hand off the rail and walked around to Fin's bed and started doing the same to his bed.

"You don't have to tell me what happened. I was a boy once I understand that sometimes things get crazy when you're out doing all types of crazy stuff. But if things aren't okay at home, if things aren't going well. It's okay to speak up and get the help you deserve."

The doctors eyes shifted back and forth between us as he spoke. I stiffened up. "Thanks doc, but everything's fine. We were just playing a little too hard."

He tapped his finger on the railing for a moment. And then his stern face whipped back into a smile. "Okay I just thought I'd check, can't be too sure."

I breathed a sigh of relief. The thought of Judy being separated from me was terrifying.

The doctor turned toward the doorway and then hesitated.

"oh..one more thing.."

He turned around and grabbed Fin's bandaged foot and started taking off the wrapping. Fin winced.

"Hey not so rough, the shit's sore."

The bandaged fell away to show a crusted fresh wound, a foul smell rose into the air.

The doctor's smile disappeared again and he slowly met Fin's eyes. An awkward moment of silence passed and the doctor slammed a thumb into Fin's wound. His eyes glazed over and his voice dropped an octive. Fin jerked and writhed in pain. It must've hurt because Fin couldn't even scream. He just convulsed with his mouth open.

The doctor whipped his head to me.

"I belong to a group of like minded individuals that would appreciate it if you never came back into our woods."

I nodded in compliance, terrified.

He looked at Fin and plunged his thumb all the way into his foot. Fin slammed back against the bed.

"That goes for you as well."

With a yank the doctor pulled his hand free and bile spewed from the wound onto the white sheets. He held a small piece of pine wood into the light. "There it is." placing it into his pocket with a sigh of relief, the smile returned and he slid the bandage back over Fin's foot. Fin had passed out.

"You'll be free to go in just a little while. I don't know how you managed to get back off of Audman's trail but if you come in again. We won't let you leave."

On that final note the doctor open the door and exited.

October 1st 2020

"It's exactly the same isn't it?" Fin shifted in place from foot to foot. Not applying much weight to the one he had mangled all those years ago.

Over the years the park had been improved, updated, an influx of government development had drastically changed the old neighborhood. The ball fields had been moved to the grounds of the new high school that was built a couple of years ago. The area where we were standing was now a fenced in area of the already attached park. An area specifically for dogs. But the looming pines still existed on the edge of civilization.

Though the entrance to the path was long gone and forgotten, we knew exactly where it was.

I was the first over the fence, followed by Shawn and lastly Fin, who was hesitating; no doubt reliving the trauma from all those years prior.

It took a few branches to the face and moving away some dense brush but when we broke through, the path slid into place beneath our feet. The trees were still looming and linear, the pine bedding thick and padded, blocking all sounds from the busy outside world and the freeway beyond.

I looked at Shawn, "You think we'll find them? The group I mean."

Shawn nodded and sat his bag down, we had come prepared. We had no plans on leaving this time, not until we found what we came for. The fear of children had crumbled over the years. We were men; molded by a common break in our souls.

"So I say we hike in to the fork. Maybe a little further. Set up camp and hunker down. They found you two before, I'm sure they'll find us again."

Fin shook his head. "There's no way, It's been years. You really think there's any way they still come out here? Hell the only one we knew about was Doctor Hemmerson. And he died years ago."

"He did?" It just hit me how much I had missed.

"Yeah man, aneurysm. 2015, 3 months after mom."

"Oh shit man… sorry.. I didn't know, I would've come.."

Fin waved me off. "Don't sweat it Charlie. I didn't even go. She was a drunk. In the end she even started calling her grandkids mistakes. I won't let her or her memory taint what I have."

I smiled, it was insane to think that out of all of us. Fin would have been the one to fix his life.

Shawn tossed us bottles of water and threw his pack back over his shoulder.

We walked the trail's straight and unnatural path for alot longer than when we were kids. 4 hours had passed and it was well beyond nightfall when we reached the fork in the path.

"This isn't right. There was no bend in the path… and the fork was way further down the path than when we were kids."

I shrugged at Fin. "We're older, taller, more rooted in reality and less in our childhood fears. The place looks different. Land settles and changes. And they say time passes slower the older you get. With what we've experienced. Maybe what was here is gone. Maybe it's not fucking with us. Or maybe it's just harder for us to notice because we aren't impressionable."

I sat down next to Shawn, it had been 2 decades and he still preferred the adventure. He was trying to use flint and steel to start a fire, rather than a modern lighter.

We indulged him for 20 minutes or so until I grew cold and pulled out my pack of cigarettes, lit one, and then reached over and lit Shawn's tinder bundle from the other side.

He groaned and gave me a look and I couldn't help but grin. After we settled into our blankets and Fin produced a fifth of whiskey the conversation turned back to questions about our task.

"So..how do we know that this group, if they still exist, is associated with the collector..?"

I glanced at Fin and then Shawn and I looked at eachother.

"What? What are you not telling me..?"

I sighed. "Shit man.. it has never crossed my mind all these years on the run from this shit."

Fin's brow furrowed. "What? Fuckin tell me."

"Look man, I told Shawn back when we were kids what happened and just assumed you didn't want to talk about it. I guess you were out cold when it happened. But before I passed out, one of them spoke to the others. Something like, "We don't take broken ones for the collection."

Fin angrily shifted to Shawn. "You knew that detail?!"

Shawn shrugged. "Like Charlie said, thought you knew."

"After all the years we stayed in touch and tried to find this fucking thing, you never once thought to be like. Hey lets go check out that crazy fucking lunatic trail.?!"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Regardless of whether or not you knew what they said, it's pretty fucking easy to associate an evil cult being associated with the fucking collector."

"No..it could've just been a coincidence."

"Where do you think we grew up Fin? Fucking Halloween town?"

I chuckled and stole Shawn's drink of the fifth and passed it to Fin.

Fin leaned back and took a swig, "Man…if the circumstances were different. This would be real nice guys."

After that, what we came here to do came back into the forefront of the moment. We all grew silent. And after awhile the fire reduced to cinders and I drifted off.

__

According to the broken phone screen on the ground it was somewhere between 3 and 430 in the morning when the panic started. Shawn was screaming at the top of his lungs. I opened my eyes but it was darkness. The fire had extinguished and the forest smothered all possible star light.

I jumped out of my blanket and scrambled into my waist band for my gun. I kept one on me for years after the incident.

I couldn't see where Shawn was and I couldn't hear Fin at all. A crisp crunching noise that resembled wet granola sloshed just to the left of Shawn's screams so I took aim at nothing and fired two rounds.

What I glimpsed in the light bursts sent me scrambling backwards and dropping the gun in the process.

That tall hunched thing that I saw all those years ago was standing in our camp. Fin's legs hanging from its long and wide mouth, that looked as though it was frozen in a wicked and sharp scream. It' eyes large and black. Segmented like an insects. It was paying no attention to Shawn who was screaming frantically at its feet. When the rounds hit it, the thing just sluggishly stepped to the side and continued to eat what was left of my friend.

"What the fuck!"

I grabbed at the dirt around me and found a stick. In a panic I scrambled to my feet and slammed the branch across the limbering things chest. It took a sluggish step back and tripped on the embankment, The creature lost its footing and slid on the damp pines and went rolling backwards, into the pines off the trail, in the process it opened its mouth and something fell to the ground.

It was quiet for a moment, I rushed over to the dim lit broken phone and frantically beat on the screen until I managed to get the light on, I whipped the beam to check on my friends. Laying where the thing stood was a leg and a half of my childhood best friend, in a pile of bloody mush and innards.

I whipped to my right and Shawn was nowhere in sight.

After a moment of silence I whispered, "Shawn.."

And the behemoth screeched and started to ascend the bank.

I ran, Into the darkness. I needed to help my remaining friend but I need to survive this thing as well, and the only way to do so was to hide before it finished eating like a grazing cow and turned for another meal.

I ran far enough that I noticed the silence set back in. I grasped the nearest tree and heaved air into my lungs.

I flashed deep into the confines of my past. Remembering how quick and predator like that thing had looked when I was a child.

But the way it sluggishly chewed at Fin. The laziness, The pure disregard of us.

I slammed my fist into the tree in frustration.

"Why did we fucking drink!"

I turned and put my back to the tree and sucked air in like a fish looking for water.

To my left I heard a twig snap and on reflex my lungs halted.

I listened for a moment.

I waited.

My insides burning for release.

And when I heard nothing else I exhaled.

That's when something metal whooshed through the darkness and crack my in the face.

And then I was gone.

__

October 26th, 2000

Fin's foot healed quickly enough. The perks of youth. A small lapse in observation ruined our cover however.

Fin and Shawn were outside of Shawn's house the day after and going over everything that had happened when Eric had pulled up on his scooter looking for Walker. When Fin bullied Eric into leaving, well, Eric spilled the beans.

As a result, me and Fin were barred from Shawn and Walker for a few days and on top of that Fin and I weren't talking after the incident at the hospital. Neither of us really knew what to say to the other. So for a few days Judy and I spent some time sitting in the apartment.

My head was swimming with everything that had happened. On the morning of the 26th I rode my bike to the library. (A forbidden place that we had been barred from after Fin had peaked in on Katie Simmons and Michelle Hearling why they were in the girl's restroom.)

And had Judy go in and rent me a stack of books on the town's history and Audman's trail. I was surprised by all the content that was available on the subject. On the trail and it's stories alone there was a stack 6 or 7 books high and by the time I had gotten all of the material home I had made four trips and Ms. Lanyard the librarian had taken notice and watched me suspiciously from the lobby window.

I started with the trail. The books were your basic run of the mill anthologies. 'The trail of the survivor' and 'Audman's break away' were clearly about Eugene's incident. So I put those to the side for now. What I was after was something more recent. Shawn had a hand copied map from an old book of the trail. What I wanted was something updated.

And I found it.

In a book called 'local topography and altitudes'. I was surprised that I had honestly. Mapping something like Audman's after the incident seemed insane to do.

What I wanted to know is if there was more to the trail than the fork.

And there was. It wasn't just an updated map. There had been tens of maps of the area made by air over the last few years and it was stunning.

The Ridge of the forest was prominent. Clearly a scan from some equipment . different altitudes were signified in blues, greens and reds. The trail was a solid dark green, from start to finish. I traced the line with my finger. It was harshly straight and prominent, even through the trees. And about halfway to the fork, there was a slow crest that bent south and went on for miles until it reached the old part of town. Where the Rosalyn Hotel used to be.

I made a quick note in a small composite notebook that I'd stolen and flipped open a book about town history. Checking the index I found it. Page 83.

"The Rosalyn Hotel, Built in 1943, abandoned and condemned 1961. In 1968 the Rosalyn was purchased by Chaney Wilson, a distant heir to the Rockefeller fortune. In 1974 the Rosalyn re-opened in the promising redeveloped and newly industrialized 'Garden' sector of the city.

Unfortunately disaster struck and the Rosalyn was destroyed in the fall of 1976, An electrical fire that started on the 4th floor of the 18 story master class Hotel. The Rosalyn's entire 680 rooms were booked the night of the blaze. Of the 600 guests and 118 staff members that were present from the floor of the blaze up; only 1 survived.

Ethan Audman.

Audman's original testimonial to the local paper helped determine the cause of the fire."

"What the fuck? No way that's a coincidence.."

I jumped up and shifted the books around that I had sprawled around mine and Judy's room.

Under a volume of "The history of the Raven festive." I found the towns census record.

"Thank god you're thorough Judy."

I was whispering to myself and had forgotten she was in the room, on her twin bed listening to her Walkman, Barbie girl by Brittney spears blaring through the speakers. Yet she still heard me.

"If I wasn't nobody would be."

I flipped through the pages. One after the other. Year by year. Until I found the 1976 residential census.

I flipped through the pages. One after the other, on the third page of A's I found him about halfway down.

Audman, Ethan

Father Timothy Audman -Deceased 1953

Mother Sheryl Mourne -Deceased 1967

I flipped to the 1953 census and found Timothy's information.

Audman, Timothy

Father Eugene Audman - Deceased 1933

Mother Alisha Stinsen -1946

"What the fuck.."

I flashed back to the Audman's trail story, " Alisha Stinsen had a son with the son of Levy? The man that was murdered because it was thought that he kidnapped her when she was a Toddler?!"

"What the fuck dude.."

I whipped around to see walker, standing in the doorway, "What the hell are you doing here? I thought your mom didn't want you guys near us."

Walker shrugged. "She doesn't, I'm supposed to be at the gas station picking up cigarettes from Marcus for her."

Judy raised an eyebrow, "Then why are you here? You're gonna get in trouble."

Walker sat a large paper bag down on the floor. "It's from Shawn, he said since mom trusts me more that when she let me leave the house I was supposed to bring you this."

"What is it?" Judy kicked at as if it was full of spiders.

"Flashlights and stuff I think. Shawn bought a whole bunch for us when we were going to the trail. But you guys ran off and the crazy stuff happened."

I grinned, "Tell him I said thanks, I'll see you guys this weekend when the grounding is up?"

Walker nodded, waved goodbye to Judy and let himself back out.

I turned back to the books. I had to see if Ethan was still alive, I went back to his census. Maybe he had an address.

As I scrolled down and saw it my heart lurched.

Audman, Ethan

Father Timothy Audman - Deceased 1953

Mother Sheryl Mourne - Deceased 1967

Address Apartment #2, Melbourne and Locke,

I quickly flipped to the last city census. 1999 and there it was.

Audman, Ethan

Father Timothy Audman - Deceased 1953

Mother Sheryl Mourne - Deceased 1967

Address Apartment #2, Melbourne and Locke,

The old man's face creeped into my mind. Staring at us through the curtain. Seeing his face in the forest..

I needed answers..

I needed them now..

__

It took a minute for me to walk down the hall . I was conditioned by the neighborhood to fear what was behind that door. Every time I took a step, the old floor creaked; and the fear in me made it sound as loud as shotgun blasts in my head.

I back tracked a few times. Went back to our apartment and paced. Then finally mustered up enough courage to charge the door.

I held my breath up the stairs and down the hall to the landlord's apartment. And with a hard and informative 'Hell hath no fury' attitude, I beat on the door. My heart was threatening to break through my breast plate. I lost my stones and turned to high tail it back to my house and lock myself in my room when the door behind me flew open.

"Charlie?"

I whipped around terrified, when I realized it was my landlord that answered the door. "Oh, hey Cindy, I don't mean to bother you… Um so the old man that stay here… Is he your dad?"

Cindy cocked an eye brow in confusion.

"What I mean is, I'm doing a paper for school that's due back after the holidays, and my subject is the Rosalyn tragedy.. I did some research and found out that Ethan, your dad, Erm.. Mr. Audman was the only survivor of the fire. I was just trying to get a first hand account of what happened. If I don't pull of this report I'll fail so I'm taking it seriously.."

Cindy stared at me for a moment and then cracked a small grin. "Ethan isn't my dad, He's just a man that rents the upstairs apartment. He's been here for ages. I just run his hospice for extra cash since some of my tenants are always short on the rent."

She slitted her eyes at me. "Seen your dad around lately?"

I pulled at my shirt collar. "Oh, um, no he's out of town. But he's supposed to be sending me a check for you in a few days.. Do you think Mr. Audman will speak with me?"

Cindy shrugged. "You can try, but Ethan has spoken to anyone in years. His family has a bad reputation for mental illness and being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What do you mean?"

Well a few years before you were born a lot of kids turned up missing, and rumor started to circulate that Ethan had something to do with it. And I'm sure you know about his grand daddy abducting that little girl from your research. It's like this town doesn't forget."

"No, I thought that Levy was found to be innocent after his death."

Cindy shook her head. "No, Eugene did it."

My jaw dropped. "What?!"

She nodded, "back then they didn't put kids in the system or anything if your parents got chopped to bits, Eugene just owned the house after that. About ten years after all that crazy shit happened. Eugene shows up to the hospital with a skinny, malnourished teenager who's about to bust."

"Bust?"

"With a baby, Ethan's daddy, Timothy. Guess little Eugene snagged himself a girl and locked her in the cellar and when shit went back to normal and things went about like they do. She grew up taking a liking to him. She didn't press charges when it came to light either. They way I was told, The papers didn't even cover it."

I hastily scribbled in my notebook all of this new information. "I wonder why nobody reported on it."

"Probably ashamed, they had already wrote about Eugene's bravery, Renamed the trail after him. I guess they felt like fools. Either way, the family is just bad for business, so Ethan stays to himself."

I shook my head, "Well I'd still like to talk to him if I could."

Cindy nodded, "Sure, you mind sitting with him? I have to run out for milk and eggs anyway."

"That's fine."

__

When I stepped into the apartment I was met with a smell that reminded me of a 60's movie, the strong and pungent cologne that elderly men wore that they seemed to always have stockpiled from an era before product regulations permeated the atmosphere.

Cindy walked me to through the den and into the living room where Mr. Audman stood with his back to the apartment, staring out the window.

"Ethan this is Charlie, he's going to stay with you while I run to the carry-out."

And with a smile Cindy stepped out and I was left in silence with The Snatcher.

When face to face, Mr. Audman wasn't a tall and looming figure. He wasn't a dark presence over the children in the neighborhood. He was kind of just an old man. Normal in height. 5'7 or 5'8; Hunched in the shoulders with a long clear tube that hung over his shoulder and drew from an Oxygen tank that sat at his feet.

I tried initiating conversation a few times but Ethan just stared out into the day. Down at a group of children paying basketball in a nearby court.

I sat down on the musty couch to my left with a defeated sigh.

"Why were you in the there?"

I jumped startled, I looked toward Mr.Audman who was sternly facing me now.

"E-excuse me?"

He grumbled, the way elderly men do when they have to waste the precious moments left for them to repeat something.

"Why were you…in the pines? "

"O-oh.. it was you I saw that night, I should ask you the same thing."

Mr. Audman groaned once more and shuffled over to an arm chair that sat next to the window and caddy-cornered it to face me.

"Why were you in there?"

"Well… My friend made a list of places to visit for the Halloween season. And the trail was spooky.. because of Eugene's.. erm….your grandfather's story."

Ethan scratched the gray stubble on his chin for a moment.

"So you went in the pines…for fun?"

I shrugged "I guess so.."

The old man started to softly chuckle and then churned it louder until it was full on laughter.

He slapped his knee, "Well isn't that just something!" the laughing made him start to cough and gasp for air, he reached over and turned the knob on his oxygen and settled again.

His face settled into something of stone. And he stared at me for a moment before turning his head and staring out the window.

"It's called the collector."

I cocked an eyebrow.

"The collector..?"

Ethan licked his lips, eyes glazed over as if reliving something concerning from his past.

"What those people and things protect. In the forest. They call it the collector. It's an evil thing. The bowels of this town have always been where it beds."

"Was it what was chasing us in the woods? Is that what you saved me and Fin from?"

"Fin?" The old man looked confused for a moment. "Oh the fat one. No.. That was just a throw away."

"A throw away?"

"What you saw was an abandoned thing. A golem. Lifeless. Created from the failed attempt of those people to wake up the collector before his time. There's a few throw aways slothing about out there."

"Why was it so ready to attack us?"

"when the collector returns, he eats the fear in those who see him, he survives on the fear. And children are his preferred. Though he's been known to take an adult or two. If he's out of options. Throw aways have the lust for fear as well. You were afraid, so it smelt you."

"I still don't understand how you managed to pull us out being on.."

I glanced down at the oxygen tank.

Ethan groaned

"It's called Audman's trail for a reason, my family has a.. special claim to that land that the group respects. I just happen to take my walks out there. I decided to drag you out and those people and the throw away just backed away."

"They respect you're family? Why? I thought everyone hated the Audman's…no offense."

Mr. Audman turned the valve on his tank again and breathed deep.

"We're the reason The Collector settled down here, kid."

I shook my head.

"Wait, wait, so you're telling me there's more of those things in the woods. The doctor and a bunch of other people belong to a cult who created those things in the process of trying to summon something worse that takes children. Something called the collector that only comes out sometimes, and youre family is the reason it's here in the first place? Am I pretty close."

Ethan chuckled. "For a kid you're pretty quick. Yeah that's basically where we're at."

"Okay just checking, continue.."

"When Eugene kidnapped my Grandmother, it was for her own good you understand."

"Pardon my french, but how in the fuck is kidnapping a toddler ever okay?"

"Well when they're going to be slaughtered."

"Huh?"

"Just shut up and listen kid."

Mr. Audman pointed a shaky hand in the direction of a duty bookshelf

"Over the, second shelf. Dark green book. Take it, you'll need it later."

I stood up and confusingly grabbed the book and put it under my arm, before I could ask what it was Mr. Audman continued.

"The Collector was not entirely our fault. The thing was making rounds and devouring innocence even back then, who knows how long it's been going. The people who connected the dots… who managed to see it back then and survive, weren't as acclimated to things that looked so.. unnatural. Treated the thing like an elder god.

When Alisha was taken, It was by that thing, He grabbed her, Eugene was in the park on Brockheim road with a class mate and saw the collection. It tried to puppet itself off as a human, but Eugene could see his real face. Not the mask it made Alisha see.

Eugene followed it back to an old house, (a house that he didn't give the details to so I can't find myself.)

Waited until it fed from her. And when it slept he took what was left of her and ran. Where he hid her in the cellar to keep her safe. You know the rest of the events that unfolded. But Eugene believes. That taking Alisha angered it. And because of that, It refuses to move on from our town. Until its satisfied or dies. If it can die."

I stood there engulfed in his story.

"How do you know all of this?"

Ethan lifted a shaky hand and pointed to the book in my lap.

"It's all in there. That's Eugene's account. Not what the history books will tell you."

I had so many more questions, so much information had been shoved into my head, I looked at the book. It was old. With old yellow pages and permeated the smell of timelessness. Truth. I looked back to Mr. Audman who's eyes were closed.

"Thank you, Mr. Audman."

The door clicked and Cindy entered the door. "Ethan? I picked up some Bavarian cream donuts, I know they're your favor-"

Ethan was still, with a tired look on his face. As if he had finally clocked out and passed a burdening shift on to someone else. To me. And it was now my job to piece all of this together.

"Oh…I'm sorry Charlie I didn't think it would be this soon.. You should go..I'll have to make some calls.."

"Okay Cindy, It's okay.. He was a nice man."

I walked out of the apartment and softly shut the door behind me. My conversation with Mr. Audman single-handedly changed my entire life..

As I stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind me, I lifted up the worn green book and opened the front cover, inside was a hand written poem.

On the 10th month in the year 20, it Takes for The Collection..

and on the night Two Worlds collide, it devours what its beckoned..