Interstate Blues

Chapter Thirteen: Into Thin Air

December 10th, 2019
Johnston, South Dakota

"Stop." Sophia mimed for them to stay quiet and crouch down as they came upon an animal stall that stunk of rotting souls. Jack wrinkled his nose in disgust, the same way she did, while Marley sniffed the air and shrugged.

"You smell that too?" Jack pulled his shirt up over his nose, even though he knew it wouldn't help. The stench had been pretty rank right from the second they'd entered the barn, but at that very moment it was worse than anything he'd experienced before.

"Unfortunately." Sophia brushed her hair out of her face and accidentally smeared dirt across her bronze skin.

"Why's it so terrible?" He kept his voice to a very quiet whisper, not wanting to draw any attention to them.

The woman rolled her eyes and shook her head irately. "This is what I get for ignoring Stix. I'm pretty sure this is where their grave is."

"Their grave? They all have one?" Marley asked, sounding appalled at the thought. Jack seriously considered throwing up everything in his stomach.

Sophia nodded grimly, her keen eyes focused on their surroundings as she spoke. "I talked to one of the Johnston librarians, and she told me that when they shut down the asylum in the forties and started to move the cemetery, the administrator decided it would be too costly, and instead dug up the bodies, threw them into a giant pit and dumped a truckload of dirt on top. He had someone forge the transfer paperwork. All to keep a few extra bucks in his pocket."

"That's so fucked up," Marley rebuked, revulsion dripping from her voice.

"Jacky, behind you!" Dick shouted in his ear. Jack jumped, whirling around just in time to see a man with obsidian black eyes and a toothless smile, close enough to touch, and he tripped backwards, just barely managing to avoid getting his throat slashed by the frenzied movements of the possessed mailman.

"Whoa!" In a fumbled motion, Jack ripped his knife from his pocket and stabbed the man through the heart. It was the only thing he knew of that would kill something like that. The man was still grinning as he slumped to the ground, eyes wide and bloodshot. Jack stared down at him for a long moment, before he retrieved his knife stoically.

"Nice," Sophia approved grimly, while Marley stood behind her brother, gripping his shirt with one hand frightfully. Jack felt anger coming off her in waves, and her irises glittered with the glowing red flakes hidden in their depths.

"It's alright, Mars," he whispered, gently unraveling her fingers from his clothes.

Marley jumped away from him and scowled defensively. "I know that."

Jack only smiled softly at her in return while Sophia scrutinized his blade. "Where'd ya come across a gem like that?" she asked admiringly, only looking at it for a few seconds, before her attention was back on their surroundings, watching everything.

"My best friend's grandfather gave it to me." There were a lot of grisly memories attached to the blade, but he'd made it a habit to keep it with him always.

"It's solid." Sophia dusted her legs off and regarded the corpse with an exasperated sigh. A lengthy, piercing, two-note whistle echoed throughout the barn and she cocked her head softly. "Your brothers found Stix. He's good. Let's go." She held her gun close to her chest as she looked around aware of everything around them.

"How do you know?"

"Code sounds," Sophia answered Marley's question simply, deftly leading the others through the barn and toward the main entrance.