Sweetheart, West Virginia - 6. Chapter Six

Sleeping was the least of my concerns as I spent half the night looking back at the all the evidence that I have accumulated since I became an official police officer for the town of Sweetheart. My study room was an organized mess if that made sense with so many papers spread everywhere in the room, but all were place strategically, so I could refer to them when needed. I was examining all the information, so I could construct the right questions that I thought would be useful to ask Travis since he must hold a plethora of information to what happened to my sister that night at prom.

I would’ve stayed up all night; however, I was a lightweight when it came to sleep deprivation. So, after the clock’s hand hit three, I managed to collect all the papers back into their appropriate folders before placing them into my desk and locking them. After that, I collapsed onto my bed and managed to get a few hours of sleep before the alarm on my phone rang its unfortunate tune. I slung my half-conscious body from the bed and awakened myself with a cold shower. I then headed straight for the police station to get dressed. I would’ve made some coffee back home, but of course I ran out of coffee filters and knew that the coffee in the break room would have to do. Hopefully, I can a fresh batch was before once I arrive and get dressed.

Entering the locker room, I turned the combination of my locker and opened it before changing into my police uniform. Three other police officers were there as well in different states of undress as they conversed with one another with what happened at the plantation last night. I couldn’t blame them; the news about the return of the sheriff’s son after five long years had already spread throughout the town of Sweetheart. It has even made it to the local news channel this morning with the headlines hyping up the story most likely for the ratings, especially since the man rediscovered was missing a hand.

As I put on a fresh, white undershirt, one of the police officers, Franky, called out my name and said, “Cash, tell these guys that you indeed saw an abandoned shed with rotting animal bodies inside.”

I chuckled humorlessly and said, “Unfortunately, I did. And I’m wondering if that shed has anything to do with Travis’s disappearance.”

“See! I told you guys! There’s definitely more to Travis’s disappearance than he just spent those five years hanging with the wolves.”

“Hey, Cash. How did you discover Travis was in the woods behind the plantation anyways?” another police, Dave, asked.

I was careful when I answered him by saying, “I was just getting a breather from the wedding, so I decided to go into the woods for a break…and that was when Travis appeared.”

“Wow…and I heard you were with that Benjamin Bratt guy when it all happened,” Dean asked.

Buttoning the shirt of my uniform, I nodded. “Yeah, he was with me at that time.”

“Do you think he had anything to do with Travis’ reappearance? I mean…he was blamed for what happened at prom night those five years ago…with your sister,” Franky said cautiously.

Holding back a sigh, I looked at my fellow police officers and said, “I don’t think that Ben was involved with the reappearance of Travis Nolan. Yes, he was suspected with the disappearance of Travis and what happened to my sister, but after talking with him I truly believe that he’s not at all involved with the incident.”

“Oh…okay,” Dave said. “Well, even if he’s not involved with what happened five years ago, you should still watch your back when you’re around him, Cash.”

I closed my locker and said, “What do you mean?”

Dean snickered. “I heard Benjamin Bratt was some bigshot photographer back in the city, and not only that, rumor has it that he was fucking other dudes as his side job.”

“Or getting fucked,” Dave said before laughing.

“Yeah, or that. So, watch your back when you’re with him, Cash. You’d never know when guys like the fairies who live in Hollywood might sneak up behind you and shove their wand up your ass.”

My hands were already clenched into fists and as the two police officers laughed at the horrible joke, and Franky seemed to notice and told to the other guys to hurry up and get dressed. I quietly thanked him since I thought hearing another joke about Ben would cause me to do something that Dave and Dean would regret if they cared about their faces. Letting the anger slowly simmer down, I finished getting dressed and walked out of the locker room.

I walked directly to the breakroom where a pot full of freshly made coffee was at. On my way, I was greeted by a few other police officers, a couple even congratulating me for finding the sheriff’s son; though, I wished I found him in a different condition, with both hands and his sanity intact. However, it was still miracle that he was even still alive and that was what mattered.

Inside the room, I saw that Zoe was also here, filling a paper cup with coffee creamer.

“Hey, Zoe. How are you doing?” I asked as I grabbed a paper cup of my own from a tall stack.

Zoe turned and smiled. “Hey back, Cash. I’m doing fine.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Just another day at work. Well…not really. I finally understand what you meant by small-town gossip because of what happened last night.”

I chuckled and as I poured coffee into my cup, I said, “Yeah, everyone in Sweetheart must know about the news of Travis’s reappearance by now, and I’m sure it’s going to be the talk of the town for weeks if not months.”

“I bet…and apparently he was just released from the hospital with only slight concussion. That didn’t have anything to do with you, did you?” Zoe raised an eyebrow.

“The guy looked like he was about eat Ben’s face. What was I supposed to do?”

Zoe snorted and drank her coffee. “Anyways, after what you told me about what happened five years ago during prom night, I hope he’ll give us some answers to what exactly happen.”

“Yeah, me too,” I admitted as I drank my own coffee.

I hoped to God that Travis had the capability to say exactly what happened to him during the five years he went missing. I wanted to know what traumatized my little sister so much that she has constantly nightmares and crippling panic attacks ever since that night at prom. And…I couldn’t stop myself from also hoping that Travis could be the key to finally vindicating Ben’s innocence and be the person to tell who the real perpetrator was who left my sister covered in blood and Ben ostracized from the town was raised in.

“Hey, you two.”

I turned to see a police officer pop her head out through the break room’s doorway. “Hey, what’s up?”

“A lot. The sheriff and two of our officers are talking to Travis Nolan right now in the interrogation room. You both should come and watch. Everyone else is.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there,” Zoe said before the officer zipped away. Looking at me, she then said, “This should be interesting.”

“Definitely.”

Zoe and I quickly finished our coffee before walking into the interrogation room. Looking through the glass that doubled as a one-way mirror at the other side of the interrogation room, I watched with my arms crossed as two policemen and the sheriff himself interrogated, well talked to, Travis.

“Do you where you are, Travis?” Sheriff Nolan asked his son. “Please, talk to me, son.”

However, Travis didn’t say one word and one of the officers informed the rest of us that didn’t say one word since he was brought to the hospital and later escorted to the police station this morning. He just looked forward with a blank stare, not even blinking, as the sheriff continued to ask him question upon question without any response.

“What happened to you see you disappeared five years ago? Do you know it was that long since you went missing from this town?”

No response.

“Do you know you are? Do you know who I am?”

Silence.

“What happened to you, son?” Sheriff Nolan said with a whimper.

More silence.

Thirty minutes passed since the interrogation started and me and the rest of the police officers stationed here came and were all watching what was happening since a man reappearing five years later without a hand wasn’t any everyday occurrence. However, Travis, if that was really him, wasn’t saying anything, and I was wondering what really happened to him since he first went missing. Was he connected to all the animal carcasses found in that abandoned shed? And what other incidents that went unsolved were perpetrated by this man?

I was getting somewhat annoyed since Sheriff Nolan wasn’t asking Travis more specific questions, like what happened to Claudia when they were together during prom night? And did Benjamin Bratt have any involvement with what happened? Right now the sheriff was treating him like his son rather than a suspect to serious crime, which I understood completely. But repeating the same damn questions that were getting no response and getting more emotional with every passing minute of silence was not helping either. I really wanted to be in that room and ask Travis the important questions, but alas I couldn’t, and I had to remain a spectator.

“This is so strange.”

I turned to face Zoe who was holding her chin in thought. “It definitely is.”

Zoe turned around and I followed her to the back of the room. “Do you think…Do you think that person is actually Travis Nolan?”

Sighing, I said, “I…I don’t actually know. I mean, he looks like Travis Nolan, but…”

“Something must’ve happened to him, like he was held captive by whoever cut off his hand,” Zoe suggested.

“That could be a possibility…however, until he even speaks, we won’t know.”

“Well, you’d think that Travis would at least be more excited to see the sheriff, his father,” Zoe noted as she looked down. “I heard Sheriff Nolan fainted when he heard the news that his son’s alive, so I know how he reacted… Something really terrible must’ve happened for him to act completely stoic throughout this whole thing.”

I nodded in agreement when a door swung open and Trevor Nolan rushed out through the doorway. “Trevor!”

“Where’s my brother? I was told he was here!” Trevor said with heavy breathing.

I quickly approached Trevor and placed my hands on his shoulders to steady him. “Yes, your brother is here, Trevor, but right now is not the best time to talk to him.”

“No! I thought my twin brother has been dead for five years, and I need to see if the person in the interrogation room is really him, that he’s alive!”

“All right, all right! You can see him. But just through the window,” I said, placing a hand on Trevor’s back and leading him to the window.

The other police officers parted away from the window, allowing me and Trevor to step in front. I heard Trevor choke as he looked through directly at his twin brother with his face close to the window, his breath creating a fog on the glass.

“I can’t believe he’s actually alive,” Trevor said with a hand on his window. “What…How did this happen?”

Placing a hand on Trevor’s shoulder, I said, “We don’t know all the details right now, Trevor.”

“How was he found?”

I cleared my throat. “I found him. He…He was in the woods near the plantation when your wedding was happening.”

“But why now?”

“Well, until your brother starts talking, we won’t know,” I explained.

“I want to talk to him. Maybe then he’ll speak.”

“You can’t right now, Tr—”

Not waiting to finish my sentence, Trevor pressed a button on the console below the window and began calling out his brother’s name.

I immediately pulled him away from the console. “Don’t do that!”

“Guys! Something’s happening to Travis!” one of the police officers yelled.

Releasing Trevor, I looked back through the window and saw Travis convulsing on the table. The sheriff and the two police officers tried to hold him down, but his flaying arms and legs were moving so erratically he looked like a contorting puppet with someone shaking the stings with such violence and abandonment.

The sheriff called out for assistance, and I was the first person to enter the interrogation room and assisted in holding Travis’s head, so he didn’t suffer any further brain injuries. What I didn’t know was that Trevor followed right behind me and looked at his twin in shock as he continued to shake violently on the table with foam coming out of his mouth.

Other police officers poured into the interrogation room just as Travis started to relax with the convulsions lightening into random twitches. I continued to hold his head just in case, and I looked back at Trevor who was pale faced and shaking, almost like a shiver. I then looked at the sheriff who was holding back sobs as he held his son’s legs against the table. I didn’t know what just happened, and I doubted anyone else knew either since the entire room was completely silent except for a few sobs and heavy breathing. Releasing my hands from his head, I took a step back and hoped Travis didn’t have any episode.

Then suddenly Travis turned his head to his brother and said, “I’m so sorry, Trevor.”

Those were the first words I heard Travis say since he went missing five years ago and before I or anyone could process that, Travis turned around on the table and reached for his father’s waist. There he grabbed his gun, and everything seemed to go in slow motion as Travis pointed the gun on the right temple and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun cracked in my ears and all I saw was red…so much red.

Looking at Trevor who splattered with blood and bits from his brother’s head, his face was frozen by shock before he collapsed onto the ground, fainted. A scream then pierced through the room, and I looked to see the sheriff holding his son on the table and crying hysterically. Everyone else was still, frozen as well by the scene that just happened. I was still as well, but I managed to turn my head to the officers behind me and ordered them to call the ambulance, hoping there was a chance to still save Travis.

As police officers scrambled to get everything back in order, I looked at the body of Travis being held by his father and shut my eyes, hoping to God that this was just a nightmare.

***

I couldn’t sleep last night, like at all. After experiencing something so surreal as going to another dimension where a person was being eternally damned for the sins they committed in the past, there was no way I could even get a nap. My beliefs about life, death, and the afterlife were now being questioned since I literally thought that I experienced what it was like to be in hell, like in the biblical sense. Though this hell didn’t involve fire and brimstone, the punishment endured by Travis was what I imagined a place where a devil or an evil overlord resided in.

I was in my computer for the whole night researching other incidents of people seeing visions of hell first hand, and all I could find were people who saw hell, demons, and torture after near-death experiences. What I didn’t find was someone using themselves as a conduit to transport me to that realm of fire.

And that dark figure that was about to take over my body when I was at that other dimension haunted me. I still felt its cold hands touching my faces, the cold so penetrating that it felt like hundreds of needles stabbing through my skin and into my soul. I was so fortunate for Cash to arrive just before something terrible happened to me. He was my savior and through the hours of nonstop searching in my laptop for any similarity to what I witnessed, I continued to think about Cash.

When my research turned into articles about ghosts and demon possession, the morning light had arrived and despite the heaviness of my eyes that would finally let me fall asleep, I knew that I couldn’t rest peacefully until I found some definitive answers. And the place where I could find them was back at the woods where I experienced hell firsthand and where the whole incident took place five years ago.

So, after changing out of my tuxedo that I had on all night, I decided just to wear a shirt, jeans and a plaid overshirt after taking a cold shower. I then went downstairs and drank two cups of black coffee; I needed all the energy I could get since sleep was out of the question. After washing the cup and placing in the dish rack to dry, I grabbed my car from the end table at the foyer and was about to leave, but then I went back to the kitchen and wrote that I was going to the grocery store on the small white board below the calendar. Assured that my uncle and tita wouldn’t worry about me, I went out of the front door and into my rental car.

I drove for less than ten minutes and made it to the wooded area near the plantation; life in a small town indeed had its benefits since I didn’t have to worry about traffic like back in the city. And I also appreciated the fresher, crisper air of nature after I got out of my car and smelled the trees and flowers that were in bloom. However, I had more important priorities than to enjoy the outdoor scenery as I locked my car and ventured into the woods in search for anything that could answer my questions. What exactly I didn’t know, at all.

I made sure I had my phone with me just in case I went too deep in the woods and couldn’t find my way back without an app. With birds chirping and dead leaves crunching under my feet, I steadily walked further into the woods, trying to see if there was anything significant, like ghosts or even those ghostly faces that I saw last night before I encountered Travis could lead me somewhere. However, as a few minutes turned into thirty and I continued to walk through the trees without even a chill up my spine or a sense that there was another presence close to me, I was beginning to think that coming here was a waste of time.

My phone suddenly started buzzing, and I pulled it out and saw on the screen that it was my tita calling. “Hello.”

“Oh, Benny, I’m glad you answered. I saw on the white board that you’re at the grocery store. Do you mind if you can get some mangoes, while you’re there?” Tita Jane asked.

Suppressing a sigh, I said, “Yeah, I’ll get them. How many?”

“Just five. Thank you, Benny!”

Tita ended the call, and I knew I had to go to the grocery store next, so I wouldn’t be suspected of lying. I thought that I should head back to the car now, and so I started to venture back when something caught my attention. I turned to see some type of wooden structure near the area where the ground was steeper. Curious, I quickly walked to its location, being careful not to slip on the sloping ground.

I managed to approach the structure which looked like an entrance to a mine. The entrance looked gnarled by both weather and time, and I wondered how old this mine was. I knew when I was a child that Sweetheart was established as a mining town due to its rich sources of coal and other materials underground. However, after a devastating collapse of one of the major mining tunnels that killed more than a dozen miners, the mines were soon abandoned, and the town’s purpose eventually transitioned to trade and logging. I remembered being warned along with other kids of my age to not play in the mines; though, concerned parents didn’t have to worry since most of the entrances to the mines have been boarded or destroyed all together…except the one I was standing in front of right now.

If there was any chance of a haunting, possession or any ghostly activity, it had to be in the mines; though, I wondered if entering inside was actually a good idea. Obviously not, but something was pulling me to proceed inside, like a force beckoning me to go forth. So, taking a deep breath, I went through the entrance of the mine and into the darkness. I turned on the light on my phone and shined it front of me as I continued to walk further inside.

As I walked slowly through the mine, I shined my light on the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, looking at the wooden beams that looked fragile and could break with just a touch. I thought about turning back, but I gathered my courage as I followed the one-way tunnel to who knew where. I then came across a minecart that was connected to rusted tracks. Looking inside there was only thick layer of dirt and rocks. I passed the minecart and ventured onward.

I was very thankful that I charged my phone this time before leaving the house since venturing back without any light to guide me would’ve terrified me to no end. However, when I checked the battery power on my phone, I saw that the battery was reduced to only fifty percent. I knew I fully charged the damn thing only thirty minutes ago, and it was a brand-new phone as well. I didn’t know what was going on, and I considered turning back again. Then I heard something. A voice…from behind me.

I quickly turned around and flashed my light in front of me. I couldn’t see anything other than the mine’s walls that seemed narrower than before. It suddenly became colder as well, and I lowered the sleeves of my overshirt to conserve my heat.

“Hello?” I called out. “Is…Is there anyone there?”

I swore I heard someone say something, and as I began to shiver, I checked the battery power of my phone again and saw it had depleted to just twenty percent. Starting to panic, I decided that it wasn’t worth the trouble of finding anything significant in these mines if that meant getting lost in the darkness with possible spirits wandering about. So, shining my light, I began walking back to the entrance at a fast pace, not looking back.

The temperature was continuing to drop, and I could see my own breath as I continued to walk that soon turned into a light jog. I didn’t remember this tunnel being this long to traverse, and the fear of the light on my phone dying out caused me to move even faster. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the light of the entrance, and as my phone’s battery percentage lowered to single digits, I came across something devastating.

“No…NO!”

Before me was two paths that led to two different parts of the mines and not the entrance I first entered. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing; all this time I was moving in the wrong direction of the tunnel, but I swore that I was going the right way. Then that same voice-like sound was heard, closer this time, and I wondered what kind of spirits resided in these tunnels, if any. I didn’t want to find out as I turned around and started running the other direction.

Then the worst of my fears happened; the light of my phone died, and I was left completely blind with darkness as my only companion. I reached my hands out until I could feel the wall of the tunnel, and I tried to continue walking, but when I heard that same voice calling out, I went still. The voice, and footsteps, were heard, and I dared myself to call out as well, hoping that whoever was in these same tunnels was friendly and not malevolent.

Then I couldn’t hear anything other than my own breathing, and I wondered if I was hallucinating the whole thing…but when screaming was heard, I bolted. I didn’t know where I was going or if I was being chased, but I had to get out of there since just standing there wasn’t an option. I couldn’t see anything; my hands on the wall as my only guide as I ran…then I tripped on rock and fell face first onto the ground.

I groaned as I slowly got back up and reached for the wall, and that was when I touched something. It felt strange with its smooth texture, and as I continued to feel it, I knew that it was the shape of a rod or stick, and it was stuck in the wall. I didn’t know exactly what it was, and when I pulled it, the object was easily dislodged. I felt the sleekness of the item in my hand, like it was some type of wand. Whatever it was, it didn’t feel like anything I ever held before, like it had energy literally emanating from it, but that wasn’t the only thing that I was feeling.

Turning around, the wand-like object then shined a light, and looking forward I saw at least a dozen spirits screaming at me. I fell backwards and dropped the wand that continued to shine its bright light at the spirits who were wearing mining helmets and were slowly backing away from the light. I was stunned by what I was seeing, spirits, actual spirits of the men who died from the mine collapse, their mouth stretched wide as they covered their faces with their hands as they soon vanished from the field of light. Then everything became quiet, and I looked at the wand that was shined the area around me like it was the Sun itself.

I then scurried back to the wand and held it in hands. White in color and sleek in design, I wondered what this object was. The wand then rotated on the palm of my hand, like it was the hand of a compass as it pointed to an unknown direction. I didn’t where the direction it pointed to led, but I knew I couldn’t just stay here where the souls of the dead miners resided. So, standing up, I followed the direction of the wand, and when I saw sunlight at a distance, I knew I found my way back to the surface.

When I finally made it back, I took a deep inhale of the woody air, a great contrast to the air I was breathing back in the mines, mines that held untold horrors that I narrowly escaped from. I then looked back at the wand that was now lying motionless on my hand, but I still felt some type of energy or aura coming from the rod-shaped object. I wondered what this wand was, was it an alien artifact or part of the occult? And what was it doing in the mines below the small town of Sweetheart, West Virginia? Regardless, I was so fortunate to stumble upon it since the spirits of those miners could’ve done anything to me as I was wandering around blind in those tunnels.

Feeling the smooth texture of the rounded object, I wondered what else this wand could do. I already knew it could repel spirits and guide me through the tunnel like a compass. The possibilities seemed limitless, and I then questioned whether I was truly back in reality. But as I walked back to car, which was at the same place where I parked it, I knew that I was back in the world of the living. After taking another deep breath, I turned on the ignition and started driving away from the woods with the wand lying on the passenger seat.

I wanted to go home immediately, so I could test out what else this object could potentially do, but I then remembered that my tita wanted me to get her some mangoes from the grocery store since that was the place where I was supposed to be. So, I drove to the grocery store with the plan to buy a sandwich at the deli section since I felt completely famished after that ordeal in the mines. It would give me another purpose to head to the grocery store since I wasn’t in the mood to eat just mangoes.

I first stopped at a gas station, and as I refueled the gas tank of my car, an ambulance sped through the road, its sirens blaring and its lights flashing as it performed at drastic turn into another street. It must’ve been a serious emergency for the ambulance to blaring its siren the whole way to its destination, and I wondered who exactly was in trouble. I then wondered what Cash was up to right then, and as I looked at the wand through the side window, thinking what I would tell him. Telling him straight up that I went into an abandoned mine and encountered spirits of miners before they were repelled by the light that came from the wand wasn’t going to cut it, I thought.

However, that could wait since just seeing Cash again would brighten my day, especially after my harrowing journey in the darkness of the mines. I could still feel the sensation of the kiss I gave him before I drove away on my lips, and I hoped he was okay after what happened last night with Travis, God knows who that person in Travis’s body really was.