The Night Lulu Cried

AIIIIYYYYEEE!!! – the shrill shriek pierced the stormy fall night over the crack of lightning, booming thunder, howling winds, and the crashing Lake Talula waves. The soundwave silenced the Northern Vermont wooded terrain. Visiting fishermen and campers paused their revelry only to dismiss the whimpering cry of some misfortunate animal.

“Mel, what was that?”

“Girl, I don’t know. In this storm, it coulda been anything – something caught in a trap, or uh . . . And, you know we got them prize-chasin fishermen all around camping and drinking. Who knows what kinda stuff they into? Uhh hum, I bet it was one of those city boys doing something real stupid we’ll hear bout tomorrow.”

Melvin Houston tried hard to cover the uneasiness he felt as the screech rattled through their family cabin. The last thing he wanted was to give their kids a reason to be afraid. And, he did not want to worry his wife Melina. He managed to calm the kids and was starting to ease Lina’s mind – until his phone vibrated and lit up with an incoming call at the exact moment Lina’s ringtone started to sing.

“Hey Cal! What’s up?”, Mel’s baritone voice boomed as his eyes darted over to the phone in Lina’s hand, that she clearly was not trying to answer.

Lina must have sensed something was up, because she was trying to determine what direction Mel’s call was going. Although she couldn’t hear what Cal was saying, Lina could tell he was excited.

“Girl!!! Did ya’ll hear that? What in God’s green earth was that? I ain’t neva heard no sound like that and we been hunting and fishing these woods our whole lives. Whatever it was, it’s done got my kids all riled up and scared, my dogs still outside howling and barking, and Kyle’s bird flapping round like craz . . .”

Lina couldn’t focus on Roz’s words. She could see the look in Mel’s eyes that something was wrong; really wrong.

“Roz? Roz, Roz, Roz!?! Let me call you back.”

“You got to get over here right now, Mel! You ain’t gon believe it! Get over here NOW! And, bring that 40 ought and a box of shells with you!”

“Dammit, Cal! Okay, okay, okay! I’m on the way!”

And with that, Mel was racing to his gun cabinet barking out orders over the questions in Lina’s gaze.

“Lina, take the kids and get a hotel somewhere as far away from here and nowhere close to any water!”

“Wha, what?!? Where are you going in this storm? What’s Cal got going on? Why ain’t you –“

“DAMMIT LINA! IT’S LULU!”

In that moment, Mel knew he was loud enough for the kids to hear his words and the fear in his voice . . . In a lower and calmer tone, Mel continued to share.

“Cal is pretty sure it’s Lulu! A couple of them city fishermen set up some booby trap with a bowshot rig around their camp site for the bears, coyotes, and bobcats. Nobody knows for sure, but they think one of those bowshots must have scared Lulu pretty bad or hit her some kind of way. By the time they found the camp site, all twelve men were dead. Twelve men with sixteen rifles and handguns! Ain’t nobody even get a shot off??? And . . .”

Mel’s voice lowered to a whisper as he leaned in closer to Lina. Before he could start again tears filled his eyes.

“Melvin Houston, you are scaring the hell out of me! What else?”

“All of their heads were gone – not just severed from the neck, but completely gone! Neck and shoulders shredded like they were bit off or clawed off. Cal said those men were scattered all around their camp site. It couldn’t have been a bear or somebody woulda had time to fire at least one shot.”

Lina couldn’t hold her tears back, couldn’t hold her fears back! She didn’t even have the will to argue with her husband. All Melina Houston could feel was paralyzing fear and regret.

“Mel, I told you we shoulda left this year! When those people started showing up even after they cancelled the fishing tournament! I knew it! I told you she was coming back! Every 50 years like clockwork! She’ll turn Lake Talula red with blood. She –“

“Melina Barabara Houston! You lower your voice and get yourself together! I need you to get yourself and our kids as far away from here as possible! I need yall in the car in 10 minutes! You go as far as you can before you stop for gas. And, when you do, only stop somewhere lit up like Christmas! Do you hear me?”

Lina answered the plea in Mel’s eyes, but she had no audible words. She could barely manage a nod. Until, the gravity of their situation snatched her into action. Mel’s words fell into her mind like ice into an empty glass. The fear in his voice gave her a chill that shook her whole body. Lina came back to herself just in time to hear Mel’s heart melt into her ears,

“I love you Melina Barbara Houston! I will call you tomorrow morning to see where I should meet you and the kids!”

With a bear hug squeeze and a kiss to Lina and all four of his babies, Mel was dashing out the door with two long guns and his grandfather’s 357 hand cannon. Just as quickly as he was out the door, Mel was back in the house to grab the box of 357 hand-poured rounds and give last instructions to Lina and the kids.

“Everybody grab your weapon and all the rounds you can carry! I know I’ve told you never to ride in the car with your weapon in your hand! But, kids you follow mama’s orders word for word! I love you! I’ll see yall tomorrow.”

Mel’s voice trailed off as he was jumping into the truck. Gravel and dirt spit against the house as Mel sped out of the yard down the long driveway to the main road. For years, Mel and Lina loved their house with the beautiful Lake Talula washing up right in the front yard. But tonight, Mel could barely keep the car on the road for keeping both eyes on the lake for signs of Lulu.

“Mama, who’s loo loo?”, asked 7-year Tristan as he checked the chamber on his Henry Mini-Bolt rifle. As if on cue or in a movie, all four of Lina’s babys – 14-old twins Taylor and Saylor and 7-year old twins Tristan and Santana – were cocking their rifles back like they were preparing for a war. Lina sidestepped Tristan’s question by barking out marching orders to her little quad squad of troops. While the older girls may have heard some of the Lulu stories from their friends, Lina wasn’t going to add to the horror of this night with more Lulu frights.

Cal was practically running up the road toward Mel’s truck. He was waving his hands like a madman and screaming at the top of his lungs,

“It’s HER! It’s HER! It’s HER! It’s definitely Lulu and she is mad as hell! She came back! She came back! Right out of the water, like them old people said she would. We was all standing over by the fire and she just came straight up outta Talula about 50 yards back from the shore like she was out there standing on something! Hell, ion know if she floated, walked, or ran to land cause she was all over us in a second. In no time flat, she done already took out most er’body else before she was coming straight for me! All I saw was teeth like razors and I could smell that Talula water. She woulda had me if Chester hadn’t got that one shot off. He lit her ass up with that bear rifle and those Lulu rounds your granddaddy taught us how to pack. That round hit her and then went BOOM! But, guess what brother! She bleeds! She bleeds! And, if she bleeds, she can die!”

“I thought she was already dead, though?” Chester’s question seemed to fall on deaf ears.

“Well get in the truck man, in case she comes back!” – Mel was motioning to Cal and Chester, but he was already thinking about Lina and the kids.

“Where did she go? Did she go back in the water? We gotta get everybody away from the lake! Call the Sheriff and tell him to call for help!”

The look on Cal and Chester’s faces told Mel what he didn’t want to know. Sheriff Andrews, four deputies, and 5 other volunteers were victims in Lulu’s second gruesome visit to the bloody camp site. Twenty-two men dead in a couple of hours, with just 2 survivors. Twenty-eight guns and only 1 round fired . . . Mel’s mind raced to put it all together. As much as he wanted to figure it out right now, he couldn’t stop thinking about Lina and the kids. Were they already on the interstate? How far away are they?

“Okay, one last check and then everybody in the car”, Lina yelled over the four-way chaos of dueling sets of twins.

“Everybody out?” Lina screamed on her way out of the door. Hi Point 380 in one arm and a sig sauer tucked in her back, Lina locked the door of the family home and wondered how long it would be before she came back.

“Shit! Roz!” Lina remembered Roz’s call from earlier. If Lina didn’t call her back, Roz would absolutely be on her way to the Houston house.

“Roz, girl have you –“

AIIIIYYYYEEE!!!!

The screeching wail was back louder than earlier. Lina turned to see a shadow emerging from the lake about 100 yards away from the house. It was Lulu! And, between Lina and Lulu, stood baby girl Santana who had just gotten out of the car to see what was taking mama so long.

“Santana! Come to mama, baby! Hurry! Hurry!”

Though Santana was only 4 steps away from Lina, Lulu had already gotten so close they could feel the Lake Talula water spraying against their faces. Lina had barely enough time to wrap her baby in her arms before the BOOM, BOOM, BOOM of three shots rang out from the car. Taylor, Saylor, and Tristan were already loading up to fire a second salvo as Lina pulled Santana back to the car.

Lulu immediate fell to the ground with a muddy splash as all three shots found their target. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM rang out three more shots into Lulu’s lifeless mass as Lina’s tires sprayed rocks and dirt while she sped away down the family driveway. But, before she could pass the normally beautiful and serene Lake Talula, there on the driveway ahead of them stood Lulu’s bloody frame. Lina attempted to run Lulu down with the car but she swerved too close to the driveway’s edge. With the rear wheel off the edge of the driveway, the car could not get enough traction to move. They were stuck!

Lulu’s shrill cry was deafening and seemed to get louder with each exclamation. When Lina thought to call Mel, she couldn’t find her phone. One look back toward the house was all Lina needed to see her phone lying on the ground in the very spot where she lay helpless with her baby girl expecting their lives to end that very moment.

For whatever reason, Lulu never attacked. She floated along the window peering into the car with solid milky white eyes that seemed to mask sadness, anger, confusion, and pain. Lulu examined their faces while they watched in fear, their weapons at the ready. Lulu circled the car slowly, and again even slower before she let out a shriek so loud it shattered the glass. The shriek caused Lina and her kids’ ears to ring.

And, without warning, the car shook violently as something collided heavily onto the roof. The impact of Lulu smashing the car roof caused the glass to explode, leaving the family vulnerable to Lulu’s attack.

“Weapons up!”, Lina screamed through her tears.

All Lina’s crisis response training, gun classes, and hunting lessons flooded into her mind in an instant!

“Tristan and Santana you cover the back. Taylor and Saylor you cover each other’s backs. If you see anything, you shoot it clean!”

But, before Lina or the kids could locate the target or fire a shot, they heard the FFFFHHHH whistle of a round and the THWUCK-BOOM of the bullet meeting its target. Two more rounds were already seeking a target before Lulu could even register the impact of the first round. Lina looked up to see her Mel running through the woods on the other side of the lake with his rifle still trained on Lulu.

“Thank you Gramps!” was all Mel could think as he watched Lulu fall motionless into the driveway.

“Light her ass up!”, screamed Lina.

Lina, Taylor, Saylor, and Tristan fired round after round into Lulu’s still mass. When Mel finally made his way around the lake, he fired every round he had. What was left of Lulu lay in a muddy mess beside the placid Lake Talula. Knowing what had to be done next, Mel sent Lina and the kids away on the original plan – find someplace to stay as far away from here as possible and away from any water. Mel wanted his family as far away as possible so they would not be at risk if his plan went awry. Once alone, Mel secured as much of the Lulu remains as possible. He divided and sealed the remains in multiple containers; and waited - from a distance with his rifle at the ready. Would this be enough to keep Lulu from becoming Lulu again? How long will it take for Cal and Chester to come back with help? Mel’s mind was in overdrive as he forced himself to stay focused on the target before him.

“Mama? Maamaa? MAAAMAAA?!?” screamed Santana, who by now had the whole truck’s attention.

“Yes, baby? What? What? What? What is it?”, Lina implored.

“Why did we kill Auntie Louisa?” Santana asked with the innocence that only a child could bring in such a question.

“Baby, what are you talking about? Who is Auntie Louisa? Where did you get that from?”

“Back there! Just now! When everybody was justa shooting away. That was Auntie Louisa that yall was shooting at! Why did we kill her?”

“Santana baby, who told you her name was Louisa? And, what makes you think that’s your aunt? How do you know who that is?”

Lina, Taylor, Saylor, and Tristan all stared anxiously at Santana waiting on her next words. She clearly had information that no one else in the family could even conceive imaginable.

“I saw her picture in Granny Sawyer’s picture book. And –“

“In my momma’s photo album? You saw of picture of that?”, Lina asked incredulously.

“Uh huh, yes ma’am. I saw her picture in that same dress and the book said ‘Louisa Lucas Lake Memafrog Boat Show Queen one eight seven one’. Granny Sawyer said the man in the picture was her great grindiddy Luther Lucas and the pretty lady was his daughter – his prident joy.”

“Maybe she said, ‘Pride and Joy’ and that may have been Lake Memphremagog?”

“Uh huh. An, at the big boat show, grindiddy Luther and Auntie Louisa died because somebody did something to their boat and made it sink. And, every since the boat sank Auntie Louisa has been keeping people safe on the river to make sure nobody do nothing that can make the boats sink again.”

Lina’s head turned sharply, “Wait! How do you know that’s what Lulu – I mean Louisa has been doing on the water? Who told you that?”

“Yeah, goofball! Who told you all that stuff about crazy Loo?”, Tristan chimed in.

“She told me that! And, she’s not crazy! She’s our auntie! She’s on our lake every time there’s a big storm an every time the people are running around in the woods with all the guns shooting at Bambi an when all the boats are in the water. She said she is keeping a watch on our house aspecial because we’re her family and family looks out for family!”

The whole car grew quiet at the possibility that the words little Santana had just spoken could be true. In Lina’s mind, random conversations and distant memories from her childhood started to connect. Lina remembered her and Roz’s 6-year old “boat ride” to catch frogs. When their boat tipped over and she and Roz both fell into the icy lake, Lina could never remember how they both ended up in the boat back at the family doc. In her teen years when a cute little bear cub crashed Lina’s fishing trip, Lina told herself she got away safely because the mama bear stayed with her little cub instead of chasing Lina. Even with her own “Houston 4”, the story of legend lives on how 4-year old Tristan saved all four of the kids from a big black bear by shooting it in the eye with his little BB gun. Even though that story never sat right with Mel and Lina, it was the consistent story from all four kids. Lulu’s help would make sense why Melvin Kyle Houston, 4th generation fisherman, was the only Houston man to find success in the family business. Lina’s mind raced as she made a sharp u-turn to get back to her husband.

“I gotta tell him! And, I gotta get to my mom’s old photo albums!”, Lina whispered to herself.

“My God! What have we just done?!?”