Fall

The flames grew as the orange glow radiated among the snow covered trees. The little cabin nestled snug between the rocky cliffs and a lake of black, burned in the dark cold winter night.

Morning dawned, melting the sheets of ice across the lake. Smoke filled the air as firefighters put out the hotspots.

"Captain! I got something!" The firefighter shouted as he removed some rubble from the scorched floor.

"Call it in!" The captain said, peering down at the unearthly scene. "We need to get the area taped off."

Detective Holland Monroe sat at her desk going through multiple stacks of files. Her and her partner, Detective Aaron Hunter, had been partners since they were promoted 5 years earlier.

"We just got ourselves a new case!" Aaron announced with excitement, as he walked over to her desk and handed her the folder.

"Great, another one!" She spoke with sarcasm, taking it from his hand.

"The coroner called. There's something she wants us to see. We need to go before it rains."

Aaron took his keys from his desk drawer and grabbed their coats. Holland grabbed her bag, and they hurried to the car.

Holland read the file as her partner drove. Her stomach churned as she read the details. There was a bit of familiarity, and it reminded her of a bad experience. One she never told anybody about. She thought nobody would believe her, because it was something herself couldn't explain.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." She answered with uncertainty in her voice.

The car pulled up the driveway. Climbing out of the car, they felt the mist in the air, and they knew they had to hurry.

"Over here!" Yelled Dr. Pierce, the county coroner. She placed her camera in her bag and walked over.

"I just finished photographing everything. Come take a look at this. I've never seen anything like it. " The coroner said with curiosity.

"I won't know what it is until we get back to my lab. Hopefully we can get some answers."

Holland looked where Dr. Pierce was pointing and quickly became nauseous. She turned and ran back to the car to throw up. She was filled with a multitude of emotions.

After Aaron finished talking with Dr. Pierce, he walked back to check on her. He found her leaning against the mud and slush covered car.

"Doc and her crew are loading everything. Looks like it's just in time too. She said she will call with any answers."

With those words, the rain began to fall. Their clothes were sopping wet as they climbed into the car.

"Could you drop me off at my place? I need to change."

"Yeah. No problem." Aaron answered.

The car pulled up to the house and he walked her to the door.

"Do you want to come in and dry off? I can fix us something warm to eat."

"Yeah. That sounds good." Aaron replied.

"Let me get changed. Then I'll fix something. Towels are in the closet."

Aaron grabbed a towel and dried himself. He removed his shoes and placed them in front of the fireplace, and started a fire.

Holland walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out some food.

"I hope you like roast and potatoes!"

"I'll eat anything you make, you know that."

Holland grabbed a blanket and sat in front of the fire, next to him.

"So are you going to tell me what happened earlier?" He asked concerned.

Reluctantly, she answered.

"When I was eleven years old, I was walking home from a friends house. It was dark outside, so I decided to take a short cut. My parents always warned me not to, but I just wanted to get home. While I was walking, I heard what sounded like footsteps coming up behind me. I got scared and started running. I tripped over a limb that had fallen across the path. I felt something grab me from behind. I turned to find a man holding my jacket. I tried to scream, but he covered my mouth with his other hand. He picked me up and carried me down by the lake, and threw me down on the ground. He climbed on top of me. All I could do was cry, because I knew nobody was going to come and save me. The man pulled a knife from his belt and placed it against my throat. Before he could say or do anything, a pale young girl with no distinguishable facial features, emerged from the lake. She stood behind the man. Then moved closer until she was right against him. The man didn't seem to know she was there. She slowly placed her hands over his face, like she was suffocating him. Suddenly his body just burst into what can only be described as a slimy black liquid. I was in shock, laying there with this slime covering me. It took me a few seconds to process what was happening. Then I got up and ran."

"Holly, I've known you for a long time. I know you wouldn't make up a story like this. After today, seeing what we saw, I believe you."

The next day, Holland and Aaron went to the coroner's office.

"I hear you have some information, Doc?"

Dr. Pierce pushed the cart with her medical instruments out of her way and walked to her desk to grab a folder.

"I'm not sure how helpful this is, but here you go." She said reaching the folder to Aaron. "I was doing research, looking for similarities in other cases. I came across this case from over 60 years ago. There are definitely some similarities."

"Thanks Dr. Pierce!" We appreciate it!" Aaron exclaimed.

Holland sat at her desk going through some archives.

"This guy looks familiar." Holland said holding a picture from one of the folders. "I can't quite place him though."

That night Holland drove to her grandmother's house to take her dinner. While her grandmother warmed the food, Holland sat on the couch in the living room.

Her grandmother kept photo albums from their childhood, and occasionally when Holland would go visit her house, she would sit and look at them. She was too tired on this visit to do just that. So she decided to turn on the tv.

Holland reached over to grab the remote, but accidentally knocked over something. She turned to see what it was. She found an old victorian picture frame. She stood it up and quickly recognized the man in the picture.

Holland walked into the kitchen with the picture.

"Grandma, who are these people?"

"Well that girl was my sister Eliza. She was six years older than me. That young man was my brother Benjamin. He was taken in by our family after his parents died." She answered with sadness in her voice.

"How come I've never seen any pictures of them before?"

"That is the only picture I have of them after our family cabin on the lake burned down. I just found it in my trunk in the garage."

"How come you never talk about them?"

"Painful memories from the accident." She said as she walked out of the room. She returned with a small box.

"Here are some articles and photos. There are lots of theories, but we never got any answers." She handed her the box with shaking hands.

Holland called Aaron and told him to pick her up in the morning. Aaron agreed.

First thing in the morning, Aaron picked her up.

When they arrived at the location of the old cabin, Aaron asked, "Why are we here?"

"This is where my grandma grew up."

Holland added, "The cabin burned down after her brother and sister disappeared."

"The young man from the picture, that I thought looked familiar. He was adopted by my grandma's family after his parents died in a house fire. He had three brothers, Martin, Kyle and James. They survived the fire, but nobody knew what happened to them. According to an article that my family saved, the cabin where Benjamin lived in, was located straight across the lake from my family's cabin."

They both looked across the lake to see the burned down cabin. The same location of the cabin that the fire had just burned down days before. The same cabin they were investigating the mysterious death.

Aaron went down to the public records building t look up land records, before heading back to the office.

"According to records, after the fire at Benjamin's house, the land was left to sit for ten years before being auctioned off. It was purchased, and after only three months, it was then sold to a Robert and Anita Russell. Robert disappeared and their son Marty inherited the place. Something weird though. There are no records of a Robert Russell before the land purchase."

"That's because he had his name changed!" Holland said while clicking keys on the computer. "At the age of 29, Robert Russell legally changed his name from James Hale."

"Why would someone that young need to change his name?"

"There were rumors that their home had been burned down because of arson. Some newspaper articles claim that it may have been one of the Hale boys." Holland responded. "How old would James, aka Robert, be?"

"Probably around 79 years old. Here is a picture."

Holland's heart almost jumped out of her chest. She recognized him almost immediately.

"I know what happened to him. This is the man that grabbed me."

"Well that is one mystery down."

"I found Marty Russell's location. Let's go talk to him."

"How can I help you today detectives?" Marty Russell asked.

"We are here about an incident at your cabin."

"With all due respect, I'm not sure how helpful I can be. I have nothing to do with that cabin. I left that place when I was a young teenager, and never looked back."

"May I ask why you left?"

"My dad was abusive. So I went to live in another state with my uncle Ben in another state."

"Is that a Ben Russell?"

"No, Benjamin Casey. He was adopted."

"Did he ever mention an Eliza?"

"Yeah. A sister named Eliza. He was adopted by her family as a young teenager. He said they were the nicest people."

"Did he ever talk about her?"

"All he said was that something had happened between his brother Kyle and Eliza, and he ran away because he was scared of what his brother would do to him."

"Where is Ben now?"

"He died of cancer, 6 years ago."

"Do you know who was living there after your father disappeared?"

"Last I knew, Martin. My father's brother. He had moved in shortly before I moved out."

"There was a body found in the cabin. There is a possibility it's his."

"If it is, there is no loss here. He was a sick man."

"How so?"

"I found some journals of Ben's in the attic. I think they will be helpful to you guys. You can take them if you want."

"Yeah, we will take a look at them. I that is all the questions we have for now. Here is my card, if you think of anything else or have any questions." Aaron said as he handed Marty his card.

"He wrote down everything. Ben describes how Eliza was wearing her favorite white party dress with a little rose on the collar when he saw Kyle and one of his buddies grab Eliza. Her and Ben were playing on his parents property. It says they took her down to the lake and held her under the water until she drowned. Then they did things to her body before throwing her back in the water."

"Does it say why they did it?" Aaron inquired.

"No, but the description of the girl...sounds familiar."

"Wait? That is what the girl was wearing! The one that saved me from Robert! Oh my god! That girl was my great aunt Eliza!" Holland felt some comfort move through her.

"So Kyle drowned Eliza. Then him and his buddy mutilated her body. Ben watched it happen, got scared and ran. All of the brothers moved on, but James and Martin came back after James changed his name. Then James tried to hurt you, but Eliza needed to protect you and killed him. Marty said that Martin was living in his cabin. Why would Eliza have killed him?"

"Let's talk to Marty again tomorrow. Maybe he forgot something."

"Welcome back Detectives."

"Hey Marty, we just have a few more questions for you."

"Your uncle Martin...Did he have any enemies?" Did he ever hurt anybody that you know of? Possibly any children?"

"Why do you ask?"

"There were rumors that things were happening in their home growing up. If he was abused or molested as a child, it sometimes gets carried on by the people it happens to."

"That is why I moved out. It wasn't bad enough that my father was abusive, but then he moved in. He came into my room one night and was acting weird, and tried to touch me. I hit him in the head with my alarm clock, and ran out. Never went back and never talked to my family again."

"Ok. Do you know where your uncle Kyle is or if he is alive?"

"I've never met him. But my dad said that he worked at the Hydro power plant. I couldn't tell you if he is alive or not."

"Thanks. You have been a big help today.

"No problem. You guys have a good day."

"Yeah, you too."

"So the power plant's employee roster has a Matthew Hale, and according to records, that is Kyle's middle name. I looked into him. He moved here shortly after the other brothers. It says that he is on the night shift. Let's go talk to him!"

Matthew sat at his desk watching the multitude of monitors. Spotting two people walking to the main entrance, he zoomed in on the camera. He saw them flip their badges to one of the security guards. He wondered, were they here for him?"

"He should be right this way." The security guard said as he led them through a long dark hallway, with a flashlight.

As the end of the hallway began to light up, it led to a flight of metal stairs. They climbed the stairs up to a large office full of monitors and gauges. The guard looked around and shined his light into the dark corners.

"I don't get it. He should be here. This area has to be manned. No one is supposed to leave this post empty. It is very critical to maintain sight of the pumps in case something goes wrong. Maybe he got sick. I'll go check the restroom." The guard spoke with bewilderment, and walked down another hall towards the bathroom.

"Wait right here in case he comes back. I'll go check outside on the upper deck."

Aaron waited in the office.

The guard returned.

"he wasn't there. I'm going to have to go call my supervisor."

"ok. I'm going to go check on my partner."

Outside, Holland walking the walkway, heard a thud behind her. It sounded like someone had jumped down behind her. Before she could turn around to look, she felt something hit the back of her head and she fell to the ground and blacked out.

"Holly!" Aaron shouted as he saw her lying on the ground.

He ran toward her. All of a sudden, a man with a gun stepped out of the shadows. He took two shots, both hitting Aaron. He fell to the ground.

Holland heard the shots and came to. She tried to stand up, but Kyle pushed her back against the railing. He used all his strength and knocked her over the railing. She caught the rail with her hands and was left hanging over the edge of the dam.

Aaron, still alive, rolled over and saw her hanging on to the railing. He tried crawling toward her, but he was losing a lot of blood and struggling to stay conscious. He saw something. No, someone at the end of the walkway, walking toward Holland and Kyle.

Kyle reached down toward Holland and started to peel her fingers away from the rail, trying to make her fall.

"Please don't!" Holland pleaded.

Aaron, trying to stay conscious, watched what appeared to be a girl in a white dress get closer and closer to them.

Kyle got Holland's right hand peeled from the rail, and it fell to her side.

Still hanging on for dear life, she sees Eliza out of the corner of her eye.

Kyle got her finger loose enough that she started to slip, she knew that she was about to die and there was nothing she or anyone else co do.

With the blink of an eye, Kyle had turned into the same unearthly scene that had become of Robert and the others.

As her hand released from the railing, her life began to flash before her eyes. She quickly flashed back to reality when she realized that Aaron had a hold of her hand.

With all his strength, he crawled to her and grabbed hold, just before she was out of reach.

She was able to puller herself up. She grabbed Aaron and applied pressure to his wounds hoping to keep him alive until the first responders could get there.

Three years later...

Holland knelt down in front the headstone. She gently touched it with her fingertips.

"I just wanted to say thanks for being there for me." Then she placed some flowers on the grave.

"Are you ready to go?" Aaron shouted, as he turned to place the baby into her car seat. "I think Eliza's getting hungry!"

"I'm coming!" She shouted back to him. "Goodbye Eliza."

She walked back to the car, climbed in and they drove off.