Ruby 10

Ruby’s breath caught in her throat. She had heard Gran’s whispered invitation…muttered in some dream perhaps but an invitation none-the-less. The air around her took on a chill as she heard the creak of the hinges of the old door in Gran’s basement. The thing was in the house. What in the world was she going to do now?

Something touched her arm, and she jumped, screaming. She quickly checked herself. Turning the flashlight on, she saw that it was the little boy. He was standing there, still and pale. Oh God! What was she going to do with the boy? That thing in the basement was in the house….and she had no idea what she was going to do. To make matters worse, Gran had just woken up. And she knew what she had done it seemed.

“Oh Ruby,” Gran’s voice wavered with emotion, “I think I’ve done something bad.”

“Hush now,” Ruby whispered, “Let’s try to stay quiet.”

“That won’t help,” the boy said, his voice cold and strangely calm. He really gave Ruby the creeps. She looked at him in the harsh beam of the flashlight. His eyes seemed far away…almost vacant.

Gran started to cry a little bit louder. Ruby suddenly felt like she should just make a run for it. The thing wanted the boy. It would take him first. And Gran was old…she couldn’t run that fast. That would surely give her time to get the hell out of here and to somewhere safe…somewhere far away from the horror that was slowly creeping closer and closer to them. She could feel it coming closer…toying with them. The air around them was getting colder….colder….and it began to take on an acrid smell. Like an old diaper.

What was she thinking? Of course she couldn’t…wouldn’t…leave the boy or Gran behind. She would stay…and fight…to the end if need be. She still had Gran’s pistol. She reached for it. It felt heavy and reassuring in her hand.

“That won’t do you any good,” the boy said again, slowly and dreamily….like he was walking in his sleep.

It was all Ruby could do to keep from snapping at the boy….slapping him across the face. Anything to get a reaction other than that dazed, hypnotized look would be better!

“Here…take this,” he reached out his hand. He was holding something small and pointed. It flashed a bright blue in the light-beam.

“What?” Ruby asked, taking the object. It flashed blue again….surely it was just the light. But it almost looked as though the light was coming from inside the object itself. Now she could see….it was a bullet!

“Where did you get this?” Ruby asked, holding it in her palm. It looked cold….flashing blue in the darkness. But it felt warm. It was almost as though it was pulsing in her hand.

Like it’s alive! she thought.

“Mommy gave it to me,” the boy said, walking back toward the recliner where he had been sleeping only moments before, “She is with the little white man….the one from the TV. She said to give that to you. You have to kill the monster.”

“WHAT?!?” Ruby asked, jumping up. Downstairs, she could hear the shuffling of feet across the laminate flooring that Gran had put down a few years ago. It sounded like nails….claws…skittering across. What in the world was that thing?

“Goodnight,” the boy whispered, falling down onto the recliner. He was fast asleep again before his head hit the back of the chair.

Had he even been awake? Ruby stared back down at her palm. The bullet glowed again…flashing a bright blue that sent a shock of heat up her arm. She looked over at Gran…but the old woman was a mess. She was shaking and crying.

“All my fault,” Gran was muttering, “I let it in. I let it in.”

“Gran….for God’s sake,” Ruby suddenly shouted, “Just please….please don’t. I don’t know what to do…..what should I do?”

Gran looked at her….her face a mask of fear and tears. Ruby’s heart skipped a beat. She had always known Gran to be her rock…the one person on whom she could always count. Now…Gran looked like some wild animal caught in a trap. It hurt Ruby’s eyes to see Gran in this way.

Without even thinking about it, she opened the pistol and slid the bullet into one of the chambers. It fit…perfectly. Just like it was made for it, she thought. Somehow, she knew that it would have fit any gun…any weapon that she had. Suddenly the entire pistol felt alive…it was vibrating in her hand. A strange calmness came over her.

She must have shown it on her face because Gran suddenly seemed to calm down a little. She snuffed….looking at Ruby in the dim light of the flashlight.

“Ruby…what are you doing?” Gran whispered, as Ruby walked slowly toward the door which led to the basement, “Where are you going?”

“I think you know that already Gran,” Ruby said, “Lock the door behind me. And if you hear me…screaming…get out of the house. Take the boy with you. Just run.”

“RUBY NO!” Gran was off the couch and running toward her, “DON”T GO DOWN THERE!”

“I have to Gran!” Ruby looked at Gran, “I have to! But don’t worry….I think….I think that maybe I have a chance now.”

“Why?” Gran was pulling on her arm, trying to make her stay, “Because of some shiny piece of metal that the boy had. He could have found that anywhere. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“NO GRAN!” Ruby pulled her arm away, “If I don’t go…we are all going to die.”

And Gran knew. She must have sensed it. Ruby could tell. Ruby saw her slowly lower her arms and nod…just once.

Slowly, Ruby opened the basement door, expecting the thing to jump out…and leap toward her throat. But it didn’t. The flashlight in her hand shook slightly. The stairs were empty. Taking a step forward, Ruby walked through the door and shut it behind her. She heard the click as Gran locked it behind her.

She was alone…in the basement…at the top of the stairs….with that thing down below somewhere. Suddenly she didn’t feel quite so courageous. And then….the flashlight went out. She was alone…in the dark. And she could hear something breathing right in front of her.

Until next week….class dismissed.

Ruby 9

Ruby sat, dazed in the darkness of Gran’s house. Mostly for comfort, she had wrapped her arms around herself and had started rocking back and forth. She quickly stopped.

“There’s no use in going completely crazy,” she muttered to herself. She had a vision of herself in the looney bin, screaming and sitting in a puddle of her own urine. Maybe she was there already…and just didn’t know it. Maybe that would be better. She smirked.

With that….thing….outside, they all needed their wits. She shuddered as she thought about how close she had come to letting the creature into the house. But it had sounded just like Joe. God…she wished that he were here right now! How had the monster even known what she was thinking? Could it read her thoughts?

“Well, read this!” she gritted her teeth together while thinking some of the most horrible thoughts that she could. But then she quickly ceased. What if the thing fed on bad thoughts? God! She was so confused.

Gran was lying down on her couch, trying to get some sleep. The boy was asleep in Gran’s old blue recliner. Usually, Ruby would have been stretched out in it herself, but she couldn’t think of anything but that dark shadow. She hadn’t heard anything from it in over an hour…none of them had. But she knew that it was still out there. She could feel it.

She heard Gran shift on the couch, the sound of rustling cloth filling the darkness. She felt so sorry for the old woman. What if the stress of all this got to her? What if she had a heart attack? She prayed for strength…not knowing if God was even listening. But it was just too much for her. Whenever she tried to think about what was going on, her head would start to ache.

But the good thing was that the creature had not tried to break into the house. According to the boy, it couldn’t come in…unless it was invited. Maybe they could just wait until the morning. Would daylight drive it away? She prayed that it would. But how long would it be before the dawn?

***

Asleep in the recliner, Andrew Jones was unaware of what was going on around him. In his dreams, he was walking in a brightly lit meadow. Mommy was walking beside him. She was talking to him. He knew that Mommy was dead…that he would never see her again…and he started to cry.

“Hush now baby,” Mommy said, rubbing his tears away with her hand. She was much prettier in his dream than she had ever been in real life. She looked at him with eyes that seemed to be happy and sad at the same time.

“Now listen to me Andrew,” Mommy was saying again, “I don’t have much time. That thing outside the house won’t stop until you are dead. It won’t wait much longer. It has been searching all over the house to find a way in. And it is going to find a way in very soon.”

“But the little white man said that it couldn’t come in unless it was invited,” Andrew said crossly. He didn’t want to hear what Mommy was saying. Why didn’t she just tell him that everything was going to be okay? Isn’t that what she was supposed to do?

“I know honey,” Mommy said, “And usually it couldn’t. It can’t come in through windows or doors or anything like that unless it is invited. But it is sneaky…it will find a way. And it is strong!”

And then the Pillsbury Dough Boy was with him again, standing beside Mommy in the field. The day wasn’t as sunny as it had been. Dark clouds had started to roll overhead. Mommy was whispering in his ear….telling him what he had to do. He looked over at the Pillsbury Dough Boy. The little white man had started to cry….and his tears were red…like blood. Andrew kept listening….but he was crying also. He was a good boy….and he didn’t want to do what Mommy was telling him that he had to do. She was telling him something very important….and it was about the woman that he had run into.

“Her name is Ruby,” Mommy said. And then she told him what he needed to do.

***

She was young again. Looking in a mirror, she gave a little yelp of pleasure to see that the wrinkles were gone…the gray in her hair had vanished. Instead, there was the visage of youth staring back at her. She reached up to feel the smoothness of her skin….the fullness of her lips….her bosom.

“Grace?” came a voice that she hadn’t heard in years…a strong, young, masculine voice.

Twirling around on legs that felt as light as air (and why shouldn’t they….they were young, strong legs), she saw Tom….her darling husband. Only…he wasn’t her husband yet. That wouldn’t be married for at least 6 more months. He was staring at her through the open window….grinning in that mischievous way that made her heart flutter and her knees shake.

“Tom!” she mock scolded, “What are you doing out there? If my daddy catches you sneaking around here….”

“You’re home all alone,” Tom grinned, a summer breeze blowing in the intoxicating scent of him toward her. God….she loved how he smelled.

“So?” Tom asked.

“What?” she replied, knowing what he was going to ask before he asked it.

“Can I come in?” Tom was leaning toward her. And she wanted him to come in. She wanted him to take her in his arms and kiss her...to make love to her. She felt warm all over. It was delicious. She hadn't felt this way in years! And before she could even think about it, she invited him.

“Come on in big boy,” she smiled.

But as the door knob started to turn, she knew that something was wrong. Tom had been dead now for 7 years. And she wasn’t young anymore. She looked in the mirror…and saw that old age had once again settled onto her face.

And still the door knob turned.

***

Ruby sat in the darkness, waiting for the light of dawn. Surely they would be safe then…they could escape from this living hell and get to town. Maybe things would turn out alright.

From across the room, she heard the low moan of the boy as he slept. It sounded like he was having a bad dream…but then again, who could blame him. And then…she heard Gran sigh out in her sleep.

And her heart froze as she heard Gran’s voice whisper in the darkness, “Come on in big boy.”

What had Gran just done? Who…or what…had she invited into the house? But she knew the answer. Downstairs, in the basement, she heard the creak of the hinges. A door was being opened….slowly. Something was in the house!

Until next week….class dismissed!

Ruby 8

Sometimes in the most desperate of times, even the soul of the most cold-hearted person will cry out to God in a thin hope of salvation. Ruby hadn’t always been the most devout church-going woman, but she wasn’t a complete skank either. Working at a bar, she saw some pretty horrible lowlifes. She saw the ugliness in mankind. But then again, she saw some wonderful people as well. She knew that there was always hope. Except now…she wasn’t so sure.

The house enveloped all three people in a shroud of heat, stink, and darkness. Ruby was still clutching the boy to her, trying to keep him from running out the door and into the clutches of whatever was prowling in the night. The boy whimpered in her arms, his cries silenced but not completely stopped. Ruby was thankful that he had stopped clawing and pinching at her though. She was going to be bruised like hell in the morning…if she was still alive. Beside her, she could hear Gran’s labored breathing. She hoped that the old woman was doing okay. Fear can do a lot to a person…and Gran wasn’t in the best of health to begin with.

For a second, Ruby thought about pouring them all a shot of the corn liquor that she had brought to Gran earlier. God! That seemed like such a long time ago! Instead, she closed her eyes and prayed for spiritual alcohol to calm her nerves. She wasn’t sure if God would even bother to listen to her…but she needed to talk.

“That’s right child,” Gran whispered beside her, “Pray…pray like you’ve never prayed before. Whatever that thing was out there was pure evil. I could feel it.”

Ruby could feel it even now. The air had turned from the haze and heat of summer into the cold chill of winter as the creature had bore down on them. They had all turned and ran into Gran’s house, slamming the door behind them. Ruby didn’t want to think about what would have happened if it had caught them…but she suspected that they would all be dead by now.

“Why doesn’t it come in?” she questioned out loud.

“I don’t know child,” Gran’s hand found her shoulder in the darkness, “I honestly don’t know.”

Ruby sat and listened some more. When they had first run into the house, she could still hear the creature snuffling around at the doors and windows. She had known that it would just burst through with a snarling tangle of claws and fangs…but it hadn’t. And then, the sounds had quieted…and vanished.

“Do you think that it’s gone child?” Gran asked beside her, “I don’t hear it anymore.”

“I don’t hear it either Gran,” Ruby whispered back, “But I don’t think that it is gone. Can’t you feel that?”

The air still held some of the unnatural chill. It felt cold and clammy against Ruby’s skin…like the touch of the dead.

Just then, she heard a voice call out from outside. It was a voice that she instantly recognized. It was a voice that she had been dying to hear for a few days now….it was Joe Neace.

“Ruby?” Joe called out, “You all in there? Are you all right?”

Ruby’s heart started beating wildly. How had Joe found them here?

“Joe?” she cried out, “Is that you?”

“Yeah,” he called back, “I was out this way and I saw your car. The power lines are down and I thought that I would check on you. This dang power is out all the way to town!”

“JOE!” Ruby screamed, running toward the door, “There is something out there! Do you see anything?”

“Bless that boy’s heart for coming all the way out here,” Gran’s voice shook with emotion from behind her.

“No,” Joe’s voice rang out, “I don’t see a thing. Of course, it’s so dark out here that I can’t see much of anything. Can I come inside?”

Ruby was just about to invite Joe to come on in when Ruby felt the boy run up behind her. She reached out to grab him, thinking that he was going to run out the door. Instead, he ran into her arms and grabbed hold of her head.

“NO!” the boy shouted, “Don’t invite it in! It can’t come in unless you invite it in! If you do….we’ll all die!!!”

Ruby was shocked. What was the kid saying? He sounded like a crazy person. At first, she thought about just telling him to hush up and inviting Joe in anyway. She knew that it sounded awful, but she wanted to have a man around. It was some sort of primal thing.

“Ruby honey,” Joe’s voice called out again, “Is everything okay? Can I come on in?”

And then she could feel it. The coldness had returned. She could sense it….standing and trembling right outside the door. She had been so excited about hearing Joe’s voice that she had been ignoring it. But now….she could feel it. And she knew…..what she had been talking to wasn’t Joe.

And then the voice changed. It was no longer Joe’s reassuring voice speaking to them now. It was something much darker…full of pain and anger.

“You’re all going to die,” it screamed out in agony, “And your death will be painful and long. And I’m going to start with you Ruby. I’ll save the boy for desert.”

Screams rang out in the darkness. It took Ruby a second to realize that the screaming was her own.

Until next week….class dismissed.

The Best Week EVER!

Hey there everybody! I know that I promised to write more about Ruby this week but that was before I had the BEST WEEK EVER! I just have to tell you all about it! Last Saturday, on our way to the Loretta Lynn concert in Pikeville, Lisa and I stopped in at Clutts Auto Sales in Hazard (right across the street from Wal-Mart) because we were looking for a little car that is good on gas. Well, as chance would have it, we saw a cool little Toyota Corolla just sitting there…beckoning us in the warm spring sunshine. Somehow, deep down inside, I knew that we would be taking it home with us that very day.

We were walking around the Clutts Auto lot, making our way toward the Corolla, when a friendly looking face approached. It turned out that his name was Joe Howard. At first, I was a little apprehensive. After all, aren’t used-car salesmen supposed to slick and fast? I braced myself for a high-pressure sales pitch.

I was quite surprised when just the opposite occurred. Joe asked us about the car in which we were interested. We told him that we were interested in the Toyota Corolla. In a matter of minutes, we were out on Hwy. 80, speeding along and enjoying the smooth ride of the car. Joe was friendly and did not try to give us a “sales pitch.” He let us ask questions and answered them in detail. He also just chatted with us and made us feel at ease. It turns out that we share the same birthday…July 19th! How cool is that?

When we got back to the office, he left us alone to discuss the car. Well….you know what we had decided. Lisa just loved it…and so did I. Lisa and I have always been Ford people. Our friends, Rod and Corrinna Middleton of Morehead, have always been Toyota people. We knew that if we bought the Toyota Corolla that they would never let us live it down…but we didn’t care. The car was just 1 year old, it had LOW miles, and looked brand new. It had great power….lots of pick up and what I like to call “zoom factor.” We had to have it!

We told Joe that we wanted the car. We went inside their comfortable office and Joe offered us a soda while we were getting our financing taken care of. And then….it was over. Just like that…snap, bang…the car was ours. We were tickled pink. Everything went so smoothly and we felt like we were treated very well. Clutts Auto Sales even threw in brand new tires and offered to fix up a few paint chips on the back bumper (which were the only ones on it….and even they were very MINOR)! We were so tickled that we had our picture made in front of our new car with Joe Howard himself. I am including it with this article. I hope that if you are in the market for a car that you choose to go to Clutts Auto Sales. They are great! Be sure to mention that you read about it in this article! Let Joe know that we are very, very pleased with our car. We have driven it for a week….and still haven’t had to put any gas in it!

Well, we didn’t think that the evening could get any better, but then Lisa and I remembered that we had tickets to see Loretta Lynn! We parked our big, ole’ gas guzzling Explorer at Wal-Mart and took off toward Pikeville in our new car. Arriving at the East Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville, we saw the huge crowd that had already gathered. Everyone was excited about getting to see a country music icon, but there was also a buzz about her opening act, Halfway to Hazard.

Now, I had heard about Halfway to Hazard before, but I wasn’t too familiar with them. If you don’t know about this duo, they are a couple of locals who have made it big! Halfway to Hazard is made up of Chad Warrix and David Tolliver, who were raised about 50 miles apart in an area near Hazard, Ky. Tolliver attended college in Kentucky, but Warrix moved to Nashville to study the music business at Belmont University. However, when Tolliver decided to pursue a music career, he moved to Nashville and eventually connected with Warrix. The phrase that became the name of the band is the opening lyric of "Cold," the first song they wrote together.

After their own bands dissolved, they started performing together in Nashville clubs and attracted label attention, eventually signing with Mercury Nashville. Tim McGraw and Byron Gallimore co-produced their first album, which was released in 2007. Warrix, by the way, is the son of Breathitt County’s own Lewis Henry Warrix.

Lisa and I took our seats and waited for the opening act to make their way on stage. I didn’t really know what to expect, so I was completely blown away when these two young men put on one of the best shows that I have ever heard. They didn’t use most of their band. It was just them…and their guitars. Their vocals were strong, and they really knew how to work the crowd. They sang some fantastic songs such as “Daisy” and “Devil and the Cross.” I was very impressed. I’m not a fan of country music…but that isn’t really their style. They are more of a rock-country hybrid. They play what I like to call “feel-good music” because you just can’t help but feel good when they play and sing.

After they ended their act, I was able to snag a backstage pass from Lewis Henry Warrix himself (thanks)! I knew that I had to get a picture of these guys and write about them in my article. I went back with some other lucky fans and had my picture made with them. They were very friendly and accommodating…even though they didn’t know me from Adam. I told them that I was very impressed with their music and that I would be writing about them. If you haven’t had a chance to hear them in action yet, you really need to get a copy of their CD. I saw it at Wal-Mart. Of course, you can get it just about anywhere. But face it…we all love Wal-Mart.

After talking with these guys about their success and how they were nominated for top vocal duo by the Academy of Country Music (ACM), I made my way back out front. I had almost forgotten about Loretta Lynn! I made a joke to Lisa that I had met Loretta Lynn backstage and had had my picture made with her. Lisa was about to get all jealous when I told her that I was just kidding. In all honesty, I had asked one of the security guards if I could meet Loretta Lynn, but he told me that her people were being very protective of her and were not allowing any individual photos or meeting. I understood though. After all, as I stated before, she is a country music ICON!

When Loretta Lynn took the stage, everyone went WILD! People were screaming and yelling. They were standing and clapping. Thousands of flashes were going off as people kept taking pictures of her. I’m amazed that she could even see! Of course, she is probably used to all that. She was a real pro! She just kept whipping out one song right after another.

Her concert was everything that I thought it would be. She sang all of her old hits such as “You’re Looking at Country,” “Don’t Come Home Drinking (with Loving on Your Mind),” and “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man.” It was a great concert! I think that just about every member of her family was up there! Her son and two daughters sang some songs. Her brother Herman came up and played the guitar and sang a song. Even her granddaughter sang! They all did a great job. You can tell that musical talent runs in the family. Lisa and I were very impressed.

All too soon, she sang her closing song. Of course, as you knew it would be, it was “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Everyone went crazy with excitement. She really knew how to end her show! I am so glad that I got to see her (and Halfway to Hazard) in concert.

Well, as you can see, it was truly one of the BEST WEEKS EVER for Lisa and me. We got a great car and we met some really cool people. We heard a great duo, Halfway to Hazard, and we got to see a true living legend, Loretta Lynn. So, please forgive me for not writing about Ruby again this week. I promise that I will truly try to have a boring week this week so that I can continue the story next week.

Until then…class dismissed!