Inky and Gracie

something happened last month that brought the worst memories of my life to come flooding back. For 3 generations my family has owned land in Central California. My great grandfather made a life there and raised a family. It can be a miserable place, its hot and dusty during the summer and damp and freezing during the winter but the view was rather nice during the sun rise/sun set. The land was fairly close to the small airport outside of town, the only source of light outside of the property. My sister and I were the first two in the family to not grow up there. We lived a short 15 minute drive into town. Everyone besides my parents and grandmother (on my fathers side) had lived or passed away there so needless to say we have a lot of history on this land.

The property had 2 houses and a trailer and a large field where the family once raised cattle. Down into the field there is a small pond that is usually covered over with some kind of brown film growing on top during the summer , its June now so by July it should be covered but I digress. The houses where both 1 bed 1 bath with a garage and the trailer was a 2 bed, 1 huge bathroom with a large living space. My grandparents lived in the house at the back of the property next to the field and the other house where my aunt and uncle lived. The trailer was mainly used for gatherings and such and was located near the road.

My grandfather passed away in 97 and it was the start of a downward trend for the family. My aunt suffered 2 miscarriages from 96 to 2000, they moved out soon after. My grandmother with her 2 dogs moved her things into the trailer so she could try to rent out the houses.

No one has lived in either of the rentals for more than a year.

As I had mentioned earlier our family was in a state of decline. My grandmother had gone into an understandable depression so I tried to spend as much time with her as possible. I would do chores and keep the other houses clean with seasonal cleaning. My grandmother, with old was still capable of cleaning and gardening but refused to go into the other houses alone. Not that she ever said it out loud but several times she would cal me in from outside just to accompany her to go inside. I remember distinctly, when I was younger how my grandma would casually reference all the family that had passed away out there, it was kind of comforting I think for her to know where their final days would be spent. That changed one day. I could hear her prey at night asking God to not let her die there. At first I thought it was because of all the hurt we had suffered recently. I should have paid more attention to the clergy men that kept coming over to the other houses on the property. My grandma told me they were just doing some light work and I believed her, totally ignoring the fact that they were not dressed for work. This is something I would only realize later much to my horror.

It was the summer of 2001 and I was in high school and I enjoyed spending time out in the open with my grandmas dogs. Now I say grandma but those 2 dogs most definitely belonged to my grandfather. Inky was a spotted toy poodle and Gracie was some kind miniature pincer mix. My grandfather had trained them well to do several tricks including weaving around his legs and a bit of dancing. As kids my sister and I loved these little shows. I never could get the dogs to do any of those tricks, they would just run around and look at me like "why are you not throwing a ball or feeding me?"

That summer my grandmother was going back to Arkansas to visit relatives and with the rest of my family busy with college/work I was the natural choice to take care of things while she was away. I had just started dating so the thought of having a house to myself was very, very appealing. The first few days were the perfect start to my summer vacation, no responsibility, total freedom and of course my girlfriend. Things didn't build up, suddenly shit just went downhill.

Fast...

It had been about a week out there, I liked keeping people around because it was so quiet at night it always unnerved me. Running checks on the other two houses was always better to do during that day than at night because hey, its creepy. So the dogs and I finish our rounds while the sun is up and we kick back and watch the sun set on the dusty horizon. My girlfriend was in trouble for staying out too late with me and my friends were all busy so this night it was just he dogs and I. (deep breath... here we go)

I was laying in my grandmas bed casually playing fetch with Inky and watching tv, Gracie had snuggled up next to me. (side note I had to rewrite this sentence several times because my hands are shaking) Inky's toy was a squeeky news paper chewy thing. IT DOES NOT ROLL OR MOVE. I threw it down the hall when it landed next to the open door of the spare bedroom. Inky chased it down the hallway when she stopped, just stopped. I craned my head over to see what she was doing when I see the tip of her toy slide into the dark room. Instantly my hair stands on end. As I get out of bed wondering what I had seen the toy squeaks. Inky is now by my feet and Gracie is in bed and I freeze. Total. F**king. Silence. I back pedal into the wall and reach under the mattress where I know my grandmother kept a gun. "Inky . . .fetch your toy girl" I stammered. Reluctantly Inky went into the dark room. Suddenly I hear that squeak but now its going like crazy. I literally start crying and Gracing starts barking. Inky comes out of the room with tail wagging like crazy with the toy in her mouth. "ARE YOU F**KING KINDDING ME?" I laugh out loud feeling dumb. Thats when Inky suddenly starts swerving down the hallway making sharp turns coming towards me.

Thats when I realize she is doing the leg weave my grandfather taught her.

Gracy starts rolling around on the ground then looking up as if expecting a reward.

My jaw has dropped, I'm in the corner shaking pointing my grandmothers gun at the entry way begging them to stop when both dogs run to the doggie door and bolt outside. I start screaming for them to come back as my body enters what feels like a state of shock. like being frozen and electrocuted at the same time. I can see my reflection in the full length mirror against the wall. My face has sunken I my eyes practically are bulging from their sockets, it looks as if all the color has drained from my skin. Suddenly my reflection puts the gun to its head and pulls the trigger. I remain motionless as my reflection silently commits suicide, falls out of the frame, and is replaced by my face, full of color and weeping. From the squeak toy to the mirror it had been less than 5 minutes.

I find my phone on the bed and try calling my girlfriend. No answer, no message prompt, nothing. Same for my parents and friends, same when using the land line My hands shake uncontrollably as I send several terribly misspelled text to them.

Silence, except for the faint sound of something outside. I stare down the hallway, nothing. In a mad dash for the front door I make it outside which is completely dark expect for our porch light and the airport which has one small rotating light on a tower. Gracy and Inky coming running from around the corner only to ignore me and continue running. They are circling the house and a feverish pace. I have to literally tackle Inky to get her to stop. Gracy escape my reach and round the corner of the house. I pick up Inky to chase down Gracy when I see her run to the house my grandparent used to live in. She runs around back and that was the last I ever saw of her. Too afraid to go back inside and way too terrified to try to go into the other houses I stand out in the road, clutching Inky, slowly turning in circles because it feels at all times that something is right behind me. I do this until dawn.

We never found Gracy, no one believed me, except for my grandma. She told me how she had tried to have evil spirits dispelled from the property a while back and she thought it had worked. It hadn't. She passed away last month out in that trailer all alone, she was not sick. She told me over the years before her sudden death that she was going to make some kind of record of the things that she saw. I will report back when I find it.