Hollow Traditions - Chapter 2

Alex Gregory watched as his only daughter, Tabitha, rode her bike down the street headed for school. He had been immensely concerned for her emotional well-being since the three bodies were found in the area of Bartlett Woods behind their home over the past summer. Alex knew that Tabitha had always been an extremely empathetic child, but this was the worst he’d ever seen her; she had become obsessed with what had happened to the three teenagers that had been out exploring the woods on a July afternoon. Usually a happy, good-natured teenager, Alex was proud of the fact that she wasn’t like all the other teenagers in her school; she was respectful, courteous, did well in school, and she even loved spending time with him. What father can say that about his teenage girl? Alex would always brag to his colleagues. But in the few months since the bodies were discovered, Tabitha had morphed into a sullen, and withdrawn girl. Tabitha had spent the remainder of her summer out scouting the woods for clues as to what happened to three kids, or at the library doing research on the woods. Alex could hear her in her room at night, battling some bad nightmares. That was when she was able to sleep at all.

A week before school started, Alex suggested that she go and talk to a psychiatrist to help her deal with what had happened so close to her home. But Tabitha insisted she was fine, kissed him on the check and went back to her room. A few friends would call occasionally, and she would pass on whatever plans they had made. Now, only her friend Erika would come by every now and again to catch up.

When Tabitha disappeared from his view, Alex turned from his porch and went to go back into his house. He saw from the corner of his eye the For Sale sign that had hung in front of the Hollow house for the past three years was finally gone. Just as he was about to turn inside, he saw a woman emerge from the thick foliage that engulfed the front of the strange old house. She was tall and slender, appeared to be in her late-twenties with long auburn hair pulled back into a tight pony-tail. He watched as she stood at the foot of the driveway and scanned the neighborhood, maybe looking for her moving trucks? Alex thought as he watched her. Although his house was a fifty or so yards away, he could tell she was very attractive. Alex’s interest in the girl continued as she stood there just looking out over the neighborhood. He had certainly never seen her before, and assumed it was she that bought the creepy old house. She stretched her neck from side to side slowly, rotating it back and forth. The lines of her neck were long and made her appear very graceful. The woman’s gaze suddenly locked with his and he felt a pang of guilt for staring. He quickly smiled and put a hand up to wave before ducking into the house.

         “Great, my new neighbor probably thinks I’m perv,” Alex laughed to himself, as he walked back to his bedroom to finish dressing for work. “What a great way to make a first impression.”

         





         Tabitha stared out the classroom window at the parking lot beyond the pine trees. Her teacher had opened the windows to let in some warm autumn air and the light smell of pine on the breeze captured Tabitha’s attention. She longed to be out in the woods, exploring; to hear nothing but the birds and the crunch of pine needles under her boots. The sound of the dismissal bell brought her attention back to the classroom, and she realized that she had taken no notes, nor caught any of the homework assignment. Even though it was only History, a class she could handle in her sleep, she had not been paying attention all week. She looked around to see if there was anyone she could copy notes from, but any of the kids she would even consider asking had already left. Tabitha sighed and resigned herself to a weekend of reading some of her history text just to be safe. School was only a month gone, but she knew that her grades weren’t going to stand up and that eventually she’d have to answer to Alex for it. Her father was an extremely reasonable man, but Tabitha would rather avoid it if possible. Besides, she thought, he already thinks I need to see a shrink. This will just add to his case.

Just as Tabitha finished packing her book bag, a shadow fell over her desk, and immediately knew that she wouldn’t be pleased by its owner.

         “Hey Tabitha,” Bobby Smythe said, deliberately enunciating each syllable, Tab-i-tha… “you ok?”

         Tabitha was surprised to see him of all people standing in front of her. Considering that he wasn’t someone who would normally acknowledge her general existence. Bobby had been a good friend of Erika’s before she transferred schools, but she had barely ever spoken to him. Whenever Erika insisted on bringing him along, or including Bobby in their plans, Tabitha would either back out or do her best to ignore him completely. Bobby was everything that Tabitha couldn’t stand in boys. He was wealthy, cocky and completely in love with himself. He was the youngest son of one of the most prominent families in Harlow Village and for Bobby, that meant he could get away with murder.

         “Yeah, why?” Tabitha asked, looking at him with obvious disdain..

         “You were zoning all week. He must be a helluva hot guy.” Bobby laughed and sat on the corner of her desk. He ran his fingers through his thick mop of blonde hair and looked at her sarcastically.

         “What?” Tabitha asked and started walking out of the classroom, “Who are you referring to?”

         “Not in important… anyway, how’s Erika doin’ over at the nun school?” Bobby asked her, ignoring her question. “That must really suck, especially for her.”

         “She’s ok.” Tabitha said, trying not to prolong the already tiresome conversation.

         “Man, I so told her not to screw around with that car. Her parents must have been so pissed to throw her in the convent.”

         “I guess.”

         “Well gotta go, tell Erika to give me a call tomorrow night. Maybe we can all get together.”

         “Yeah, whatever.” Tabitha mumbled as she made her brake for the school exit.

         Once out of the building, she began to feel better, not so cornered. Her plan was to get home, get changed, and take a walk into the woods before it got dark out. Alex wouldn’t be home till after seven and she could spend all that time out there without him knowing. In the beginning of her interest the woods, Alex didn’t seem to mind. He would even question her about her time out there, encouraging her desire to research the history of the area. Whatever made her feel better and happy, he wanted for her. But lately he was looking at her different. Then when he brought up the psychiatrist, Tabitha knew he was getting worried. He just didn’t understand what she was doing and how important it all was to her. Tabitha knew that Alex just saw this as her wanting to know what happened to those three kids, but it was much more than that. It started out as inquiries about them, but as Tabitha’s investigation of Bartlett Woods continued, she unearthed many other mysteries that gripped her attention. She had desk drawers full of newspaper clippings, photographs, and notebooks upon notebooks of research. There were many times that she wanted to share her findings with Alex, but he was a rational thinking man; he would never buy into the mysteries of Bartlett Woods. He would dismiss them as urban legends or local folklore; saying there was no merit to any of the claims. But Tabitha would get proof; she was determined too. Her walks started out as trying to find some clues that the police missed when they combed the woods, until she had her first experience. Then the walks became about having more encounters; as many as she possibly could. Never once did it cross her mind that she could end up like the many people who had lost their lives over the years in Bartlett Woods.

         Tabitha got to her bike and turned the combination to unlock her chain. She pulled the chain free and shoved it in her backpack. Just as she was about to mount the bike and head for home, she saw Erika walking towards her dressed in her new school uniform. A smile crossed Tabitha’s lips for the first time in days as she saw the look on her friend’s face.

         “Not one word Tabitha Gregory or I swear to all that is holy I will never speak to you again!” Erika stared at Tabitha; her intense blue eyes challenging Tabitha to laugh just once.

         “I think you look great,” Tabitha said maintaining her composure, “The colors actually bring out your eyes.”

         “You are so full of shit. I look ridiculous! I mean, blue, gold and white uniforms? Are these people color blind? And, I can’t wear any jewelry… oh! No make up. Well, cover up and colorless lip gloss…” Erika trailed off and crossed her arms across her chest.

         “Really Erika, it’s not that bad. Hey, at least you don’t have to worry about what to wear everyday.”

         “Funny.” Erika said totally void of any humor.

         “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you didn’t steal your mother’s car, drive to Philadelphia, get busted being underage in an eighteen plus club, and then get the car towed…”

         Erika put up a hand to stop her. “I know… I know. I did this to myself… You don’t think I heard the lecture fifty million times over. But, there is something good about all this. You know that kid Justin Harrison? He lives over on Popular Street at the Northeast entrance of the woods.”

         “Um, yeah I think so. Isn’t he friends with Bobby Smythe?”

         “Yeah, well, he is in like ninety percent of my classes. So, at least I have something good to look at.”

         “As long as you are getting something out of the deal I suppose. Look, I gotta get home. I have a ton of homework to do, so…”

         “God, do you ever do anything but study?”

         “You know I do, it’s just that I have a ton of reading to do and I don’t really want to waste the entire weekend if I can help it.”

         “Well, just hang out for a second and talk to me,” Erika glanced over Tabitha’s shoulders towards the exit door of the school. Tabitha noticed and knew that Erika just wanted her to stand there and make conversation until Bobby left the school building.  “Besides, I have a favor to ask of you.”

         “Yeah, when don’t you,” Tabitha mumbled under her breath. Erika obviously didn’t notice because her gaze was still fixed on the door. Tabitha waited a second longer and when Erika still didn’t respond, she snapped her fingers in front of her face. “What? What favor do you want?”

         “Oh, sorry, I thought I saw Bobby coming out over there. Doesn’t he leave from this door? I know that’s his car over there. Is he staying after or something?”

         “Last time I checked, it wasn’t my turn to baby sit him.” Tabitha’s blatant sarcasm brought Erika’s attention back front and center. She rolled her eyes at Tabitha and placed her hand on her hips, a sign which Tabitha knew Erika was close to a tantrum.

         “Gee, thanks Tab. I thought that when I transferred schools that you would keep an eye on him for me. Ya know, make sure no one was moving in on him.”

         “I thought you were all about this new kid.” Tabitha asked raising her eyebrow. Erika smiled and winked at Tabitha.

         “Eye candy my dear, pure eye candy. I am all about Bobby. Besides, you think I’m going to give up after spending all last year getting in good with him, let some other girl reap the rewards of my hard work, I don’t think so.”

         “Ok, well, whatever. What favor do you want?” Tabitha was growing impatient with Erika, she had this tendency to stray from the point and it irritated Tabitha to no end.

         “Oh, yeah… well, you know that creepy house on your street; the one at the end of the cul-de-sac?”

         “The Hollow house? Yeah, what about it.”

         “Did you know that someone moved in there?” Erika asked, taking a step closer to Tabitha.

         “No, actually I didn’t notice. I guess someone finally bought the place. So what?”

         “No, they didn’t buy the place. The girl who moved in is one of the girls that used to live there.” With every word, Erika’s voice got lower, as if she was sharing her deepest darkest secrets. “Not only that, but my mother said the whole family were a bunch of witches; including the girl who moved back.”

         Tabitha tried to think of the names of the girls who grew up in the house. In the beginning of her research into Bartlett Woods, she had come across an article on one of the girls that had lived in the house; but with her growing irritation, she neglected to remember where or how the girl died.

         “And all this ties into your favor how exactly?” Tabitha asked, noticing that Erika’s attention was quickly drawn back to the door. Tabitha turned around and saw Bobby Smythe leaving the school building and heading towards his car. Erika smiled and put a hand on Tabitha’s shoulder.

         “Sorry, gotta run…” Erika began walking away quickly, then turned back and started walking backwards, realizing she wasn’t finished with Tabitha.  “I’ll call you tonight about that favor!”

         Tabitha watched as Erika caught up with Bobby and began working him like only she could. His usually calm exterior changed to a love-sick teenager, drooling over her in her new school uniform. He playfully kept trying to see just how short the skirt was, and Erika, while still smiling, would shoo his hands away and laugh. Tabitha rolled her eyes, glad to be free of any more interruptions, and left for home.