Still Waters

3.41am every morning for the last 40 years. Johanna wakes. At least now it is just from the tears on her cheeks & the remaining heaviness in her heart, no longer the deafening screams. Never sure if they were hers or the memories of her sisters who are now long gone.

Laying there, knowing today is one of those days she will not be able to return to sleep, she sits up, gently swings her legs over the side of her high antique bed & drops to the ground. A small woman in stature but grand in presence. It is a wonder her tiny frame is big enough to contain the enormous heart she has. Quietly walking towards the door she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror & recalls the day her hair went pure white. With all she has endured, witnessed & experienced it is truly a wonder she can hold so much love & gratitude. She smiles knowingly to herself, places her hand on her heart & says a quiet prayer of thanks to the creator.

Making her way to her kitchen, Atticus her faithful cat, weaves around her legs & begs to be picked up. “oh my love, what would I do without you, Soleil & Ame?”

As she scoops him up & turns on the light, she lets out small scream. Not unaccustomed to seeing spirits or experiencing unusual events, this one catches her by surprise, and she feels a fear she hasn’t felt for a very long time.

It is unmistakeably her. Her evil glare piercing right through Johanna & causing her to grip Atticus so tightly, he lets out a pained cry.

“Xanthe” as Johanna whispers the name she hasn’t dared say in decades, the apparition disappears from the kitchen window.

Shaking, she places Atticus on the bench and places both hands in front of her trying to steady herself. Taking deep breaths to slow her racing heart she looks up, praying aloud

“Dear Lord, what now? Why now? Sisters, please give me strength”

Turning and sliding her back down the cupboard, she sits on the kitchen floor. She has no idea how long she stays here for or when Atticus climbed into her lap, but as the sun begins to shine through the window, she begins to exit the trance like state she had entered. She trusts the messages she received from her sisters & her peace has returned. She cannot shake the knowing that something is coming, but she no longer fears it.

Making herself the cup of tea she had meant to make hours ago; she picks up her journal & heads out the back door to her favourite place. Making her way down the path, Soleil comes ambling up beside her, the trusty Golden Retriever is not the energetic pup she once was, but she is so grateful to still have her, no one would believe her if she ever told them how old she really is. The magic that exists in this land has protected them from many dangers, given them many gifts but has also broken their hearts and taken so much from them. The only other human who understands this now is Mason. The retired police detective from Lismore who now lives in Mullumbimby & is the only person who knows Johanna even still lives here. After the horrific events of 2021, they bonded and have forged a deep and intimate friendship. Tragedy & trauma will do that – connect unlikely people in an unbreakable bond.

Johanna sinks down into her favourite chair beneath the willow tree, Soleil lays her head at her feet & she hears the comforting nicker of Ame as he wanders up from the river to join them. What a strange family this must look like, the tiny grey-haired woman, the black cat, the golden dog & the chestnut horse.

The hours pass just as they do every other day here on the edge of Mount Jerusalem National Park, reading, writing, gardening and bathing in nature, as Johanna walks up the stairs to go inside to make lunch, Soleil begins to growl, and the hair stands up on her back. A cold shiver runs through Johanna, and she knows whatever was coming is now here.

She steadies herself on the handrail & turns to look down the secluded & mostly concealed driveway leading to her home, to her surprise she sees 4 young people walking towards her. She wonders how they found her considering the spell she cast has kept her secret & safe for 20 years. Suddenly she realises why. Today marks 40 years since her world was ripped apart & 20 years since the event that destroyed so many lives and rocked a small community. How could she have not been more prepared? She curses herself under her breath for not increasing the invocations, deeply harnessing the power held in this land to keep this place, its history & its shame hidden.

“This is private property, what are you doing here? Turn around and go back the way you came, before I call the police”

The four of them stop in their tracks. The pretty blonde speaks first.

“Ummm, where the hell did you come from? Before you spoke – you weren’t there!”

SHIT! Again Johanna curses herself. Great, if I hadn’t said anything maybe they just would have gone away, she thinks to herself as these kids just stand there, unable to move, obviously frightened but also intrigued.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about I was always here. Now go away.” She hated sounding like the cranky old hermit woman, but she feared what could happen to these kids if they stayed, especially after seeing Xanthe this morning. She knew this might not end well.

Drawing a deep breath, she sees a light behind them. And it shines directly on the boy with the curly hair, she immediately recognises something in him. Not him, but a connection to someone important. She hears her mother’s voice in her ear, “it’s different this time my dear, now it ends, this is your calling, and they are here for that reason”

The boy speaks up “I’m really sorry to bother you, but maybe you can help me, my mum told me she once lived out this way, with my Dad. But she won’t tell me anything about what happened here, except that she blames it, for why my dad ended up in a Mental Hospital & eventually taking his own life”

Johanna feels all the air being sucked out of her lungs and she sees who he is. His mother was the only person she was able to save on that dreadful night, she had no idea she was pregnant.

“oh” she says when she is finally able to draw breath again “you should maybe come inside”

Settling them all into the loungeroom she brings out a jug of her homemade lemonade, and some biscuits – because she never has guests, she only has just enough glasses for them, so she pours herself a drink into the old coffee cup that was her mothers.

“Let’s start with some introductions. I am Johanna Quinn. I have lived here for a very long time, but we can get to all that, tell me about you”

The curly haired boy has puzzled look on his face as he lifts his head, and shyly says “I am Quinn. My mum said she named me after the person who saved her life.” Tears well up in both Johanna’s and Quinn’s eyes, and she begins to understand. “This is my girlfriend Lyla, my best friend Brax & his girlfriend Eve”

As they all exchange pleasantries and compliments on the lemonade, Johanna realises they aren’t ‘kids’ as she had thought, they are young adults & all are here for the right reason. Not like previous times where teenagers or thrill seekers have come looking for the “legend” of Still Waters and what happened here 20 years ago.

Johanna breathes in, looks Quinn in the eyes and asks “are you sure you want to know?”

“I am” he says, Lyla reaches over, holds his hand and they all settle in for the harrowing tale of the ‘Still Waters’ Massacre.

“So, to tell you the whole story means I need to go back 40 years, to when this was the most tranquil & love filled community. My family had moved here after my father had passed away, we needed to get away from the violence and noise of the big city. Living here felt magical & it wasn’t long before we realised it truly was. The river that runs through our land here, starts at the top of Mount Jerusalem & is powerful in its healing and transformative properties. I have seen many miracles performed here. We lived in peace from when I was 10 til the year I turned 16, and our community grew starting as just my mother, my sisters and I, to a thriving tribe of 12. Other women had found us and began to make a home here, the people in town referred to us as either the “hippies” or the “witches” on the mountain. We didn’t care what they thought, what they called us or what they said. We knew the truth. It was a family built on love, trust, respect & nature’s magic. Until one day a new woman joined our community, I wasn’t sure about her, but we were determined to never turn away a woman in need. Xanthe was her name, and she was mesmerising & captivating. She literally had us all under her spell, we believed she was wholesome & genuine. This night in April, 40 years ago, I woke just after midnight and had a terrible foreboding feeling. I ventured out into the night & followed the sound of chanting. As I drew closer, I felt fear like I had never experienced before, as I walked down the mountain I reached a clearing in the forest and here I saw Xanthe standing on a podium in the centre of a circle, surrounded by younger members of our community, both boys and girls none of them older than me. Xanthe was covered in blood and I looked to the ground beside her, seeing one of our beautiful goats, slaughtered. I did not recognise the chant, but I knew it was steeped in evil. Before Xanthe saw me, I ran back to this house & woke my mother & older sisters. Through burning lungs and sobbing I tried to explain to my family what was happening, and while I’m sure I made little sense, they knew whatever it was, I needed their help.

We ran back into the night & they followed me to the clearing. What I saw in front of me will haunt me forever. Xanthe was standing over the youngest boy, his body was covered in satanic symbols carved into his flesh, and as his soul left his body the children & Xanthe surrounding him began chanting again. A dense thick fog began to roll in from the tree line, and myself & my sisters could hear whispering within it - ominous, evil & cruel. These voices were telling us to commit acts that were unthinkable, violent, & depraved. Suddenly I heard my mother’s voice over it all commanding the evil to be gone, then Xanthe’s shrill laughter. I could no longer see, but I could hear screams & awful thudding noises, sounds I will never forget. Suddenly everything grew quiet & I saw a bright white light shining through the fog. As it began to lift, I heard my eldest sister, Beth, scream out in agony & saw her standing above my other sister’s lifeless body. Xanthe was kneeling over her with a blood covered knife. Beth lunged forward at Xanthe and grabbed for the knife. Xanthe plunged it in to her chest, & as she feel to her knees, she pulled it out. I ran forward desperate to save her, but with one last effort, Beth drove the knife into Xanthe’s heart, & fell back into my arms.

The fog had now lifted & I saw the light was coming from my mother. As she looked around us & saw the carnage that Xanthe had unleashed upon us, I watched the light both around her & in her die.

All of the children who had been tempted & corrupted by Xanthe were dead, I have no idea who killed them, but I guessed it was each other, encouraged by the evil in the fog & succumbing to the power of its suggestions.

My mother & I made our way back to our home in a daze. At 3.41am we woke all of the women who had once found comfort & safety in our sanctuary, to tell them their children were dead.”

Johanna looks up, her body wracked with grief all over again, to look into the eyes of these 4 young people. She expected to see the hatred & blame she saw all those years ago from the mothers, but what she saw was empathy & kindness.

“My mother & I buried our sisters here, the other mothers left immediately & we turned Xanthe’s body over to the police. For almost 20 years my mother & I lived here in peace. My mother was never the same, she was a shell, she rarely spoke but cried often. In 2020, the local government sold off part of the National Park that backed on to our land here to a developer, & that is when the second part of this nightmare began.”

Just as Johanna was about to begin telling the next part of the story, her dear friend Mason arrived.

“Hello, Johanna? It’s Mason, where are you?”

“In the loungeroom, I have guests” As Mason entered the loungeroom, the look of shock evident on his face, Johanna began to explain immediately who they were & why they were here.

“I think perhaps we should head down to ‘Still Waters’ before it gets dark, I need to show you where your mum & dad lived, Quinn”

As the group walked down the long-abandoned road, the sign for the cursed housing development still hung clearly above the gates. A chill ran through them all as they stepped through them.

“So, in 2020, Mackie Developments began work on clearing the land for this exclusive & very expensive housing estate, boasting luxury homes, a man-made lake & purpose built parklands. It was going to be the most sort after place to live. Families began moving in early 2021. I tried to warn them, I knew the land held the memories of the atrocities carried out here, & I sensed the unsettled spirits everywhere. It turns out the lake was built directly on the site of the murders. By April it was ready to be used by the residents, & didn’t they use it – swimming, fishing, boating - soon all of the residents spent all their free time at the lake, & why wouldn’t they, it was beautiful. It wasn’t long before things began to change. People started to argue & fight with their neighbours, discord & disease began to infiltrate every home.

On the night of the 21st April a fog rolled in off the lake & I knew what was coming. The lake was tainted by the blood shed there 20 years before.

Mother & I sensed the danger & made our way down to the estate. We heard the whispers in the fog once again. The screaming was deafening, there were gunshots & loud noises, there was fire & chanting. A woman came running towards us screaming about the spiders that were all over her. She was ripping at her own skin, she beat her head numerous times against a tree, then threw herself into the lake. I then saw a man start up his chainsaw & return into his house, I heard a woman scream so loudly over the sound, then silence. He emerged from the house covered in blood, muttering something about the boy in the lake told him to.”

Mason wraps his arms around Johanna & continues telling the story, for her.

“When I arrived there was so much carnage – I had no idea what to do or where to go. Suddenly I saw a bright white light coming from this home over here. I knew I needed to go to it. Everywhere I turned there was unspeakable horror & bodies. Men, women & children.”

Leading them to the house Mason opens the front door to the abandoned mansion.

“This is where I saw Johanna’s Mother bathed in the brightest white light, speaking in a language I didn’t know, facing down something I can only describe as pure evil, it was a man, but his body kept changing into that of a woman. He stood above a child’s body; she was maybe 6. She was covered in satanic symbols, carved into her skin. Each time the apparition was the male he screamed in agony & begged for forgiveness, when he shape shifted back to the woman, she chanted & laughed the most shrill & evil laugh I ever heard. As I stepped forward, he turned to a woman cowering in the corner & lunged towards her – Johanna stepped in front of her covered her body with her own & suddenly they both vanished. If I hadn’t seen it, I would have never believed it. I tackled the man & cuffed him. He was incoherent. The evil spirit who had been controlling him stood in the corner of the room. Johanna’s mother rushed toward her & as her white light engulfed the spirit, it disappeared but Johanna’s mother fell to the ground. Johanna reappeared as the rest of my team arrived & took – who I now know was your mum, Quinn - to safety. Johanna’s mother took her last breaths in her arms. I have been the only person who knew Johanna was here & we took all the precautions we could to make sure no one ever came back here. I made this place disappear”

As Mason finishes speaking a fog begins to roll in & a shrill, laugh can be heard in the distance.

“Not today Xanthe. This ends with me.” Johanna runs from the house, the others follow behind her.

The fog clears & Xanthe appears. She looks lifelike, her power is so strong. As the whispers begin, Johanna begins to chant.

“HEI O NA, HEI O EI O NEYA”

Light swirls around her & suddenly she is joined by spirits, her sisters, her mother, & the children all lost to Xanthe’s evil. Suddenly Xanthe is enveloped in this light and Johanna shouts “We love you; we forgive you, please go, be in peace, leave this place”

If it’s at all possible the light becomes even stronger, even brighter & all at once all of the spirits evaporate.

Suddenly all the houses spontaneously catch on fire. The fog disappears & the moon shines out from the behind the clouds, illuminating the ‘Still Waters’ Lake.

At 3.41am 21st April 2041, peace settles over the land, and the water just vanishes into thin air. You can hear them all, including the forest let out a long-held sigh of relief.