Find part 1 here.
We meet Susan in part 2 here.
We made progress in part 3
After my earlier adrenaline overdose, I couldn’t imagine getting any rest. Somehow though, sleep found me with Tommy wrapped safely in my arms.
After what must have been several hours, I awoke to hushed voices coming from my kitchen. I gently slid Tommy onto the couch to investigate.
“This is the last of it. I can’t be any more involved than this, Susan. I could be defrocked. I wish I could do more,” a man’s voice whispered.
“Well,” Susan whispered back, “it isn’t as if I plan to write the pope and let him know we’re blessing more than water here in Riverbend. And there is one more thing you could do, Father. You could take the boy to the church. Keep him there with you until it’s done.”
“And what if it doesn’t work? What if you don’t come back? What would happen to the boy then?”
Furious, I stormed into the kitchen. The nerve of this crazy woman to try to make plans for my son without me! My anger took a sharp turn as I entered. Susan stood on one side of the counter and a man who couldn’t have been much older than myself stood on the other side. He was dressed like a priest, collar and all. But that isn’t what stole my fury. It was the 6 Molotov cocktails sitting on my counter. “What the hell is happening?! I shrieked.
“Shush!” Susan spat sharply. “You’ll wake Tommy and now isn’t the time. I told you before it’s rude to snoop!”
“And what about my son! You really think I’d let you ship him off with a stranger? What is the matter with you?” I was angrier than I’d ever been, but worse, I was terrified. I was to the point of waking Tommy, getting in my car, and driving until the wheels fell off, if only we’d had somewhere to go.
“This is Father Tanner. He’s no stranger, at least not to me. And you don’t have much choice left but to trust me, Myra. We’re going to end this once and for all, but we can’t do that with Tommy underfoot. It’s too dangerous for him to be here.”
I was angry, but she was right. With nowhere to go and no one else to trust, I had to keep Tommy safe. “I want to know what’s going on. No more half stories, Susan. I have to know that what we’re doing is going to save my son.” Internally, I cursed the tears leaking from my eyes. I didn’t feel like a monster slayer, or even a good mother. I felt weak. Powerless. Hopeless.
“Tommy needs to be out of the house. Father Tanner blessed these,” she gestured towards the cocktails on the counter, “and we’re going to use them to kill Rowler. With Holy Fire, we’re going to purify the lake of that bastard Rowler once and for all. I have a small boat, not too small, big enough for two. We’re going to row out to the lake, right where they threw his body. It’s where Rowler is the most whole, but also where he’s strongest. And we’re going to light him up. I don’t know what he is, Myra, not really. I don’t think there’s any bones left to burn. But I know what he is mostly is that nasty, smelly, oily crap that floats on the lake. This is our only shot.”
In that moment, I hated myself. I’d entrusted my son’s safety, and ultimately his life with a crazy and possibly senile old woman. I’d failed my son. He was going to be dragged into that lake by Rowler and it was my fault. All my fault.
The priest must have seen the disbelief on my face, because slowly and gently, he took my hand. Our eyes met, and in his eyes, I saw lucidity and kindness, but mostly pain.
“I’m not from here either Myra. I was sent to replace Father Tom. He’d served this town well for a long time, but he was old. Time comes for us all.” A sad smile touched the priest’s mouth. “My sister was a drug addict and had become pregnant. When her son was 2 I took over custody and just a few short years later, I brought him here with me. His name was Anthony and he was only 4 years old when we moved here. The church prefers to move quietly when replacing priests, especially ones as well liked as Father Tom. There was no one to warn me about the lake.”
“It took him. It took Anthony, didn’t it?” I whispered.
“It did,” a tear slid down the priest’s face, “It was fall when we moved in. We hadn’t had a chance to even meet the neighbors yet. We were just getting settled. I left the windows open one night when we slept. The breeze felt amazing. His cries woke me. I followed them to the lake with just enough time left to see what that monster did to him.” Father Tanner was sobbing now and I was breaking down right along with him. “This thing has to be stopped.”
I hugged Father Tanner and whispered, “We’re going to stop it. I promise.” I let go of Father Tanner and turned to Susan. “Let’s kill this son of a bitch.”
Susan didn’t speak, she only nodded.
Things moved quickly after our moment in the kitchen. I woke Tommy up and introduced him to our new friend Father Tanner. They would be going into town for ice cream, a movie, and then to the church. Tommy was hesitant at first, but once he found out he’d be getting a kids popcorn pack at the theater, he was sold. Meanwhile, Susan brought her rowboat out to the edge of the lake and began loading supplies. For the first time since all of this had begun, my heart lifted a little thinking we may have found a way out.
As I kissed Tommy’s cheek and hugged him goodbye, the sun had begun to set. Susan put the crate of holy fire in the wooden boat with purpose. She’d kept a brave face through the day in front of me, but as the time for us to set out came closer, her face looked weary and worried.
As I leaned over to peek into the fully loaded boat, my stomach dropped. There were more fireworks, the crate of holy fire cocktails, multiple lighters - bics, Zippos, and the torch kind; a few boxes of matches, a couple flashlights, a rifle, and a handgun. The longer I stood there, the more sure I was that there was no way we’d be making it back. This rickety wooden boat was a death trap. When I finally looked up, Susan was staring at me.
“You could stay here on the shore,” she said softly, “a boy needs his mother.”
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t go. I have to try. For Tommy. And Sara, Anthony, and Danny. And for you. Even if this doesn’t work, thank you Susan. For giving me more time with my son and for trying.” My voice waved, but this time I didn’t cry.
Susan nodded gently, “It’s time.”
We climbed into the boat and silently began to row.
At first, I thought it was suspicious that the creature hadn’t tried to stop us. I mulled the thought around in my brain. Was it afraid? Was it so sure we were going to fail it hadn’t bothered? Or maybe it had concerned itself with another child and was completely unaware of what we were up to? Or maybe it was letting us come out to the lake intentionally to kill us far from shore. To wear our faces to take Tommy back from the priest and bring him back into the lake. The thought made me nauseous. I was so lost in my head, I hadn’t noticed how far we’d come from the shore, nor the speckled light from the sunset reflecting off the ever-thickening oil shining on the water.
A light splash a few yards from the boat and something moving out of the corner of my eye pulled me from my thoughts. My body tensed as I looked towards Susan for a sign of what to do. Susan had put down the rows and was quietly picking up a firework and a lighter.
“He’s here,” she whispered. “We aren’t far enough out yet for the holy fire. You row. Keep your eyes open.”
Tension weighed on my chest, nearly suffocating me. I tried to row smoothly, but my arms were shaking. Closer now than before, a child’s small giggle came from the left side of the boat. Something round slowly began to sink back into the water. As Susan swung her flashlight towards it, a child’s face from the nose up was visible. Dark hair, dark eyes - Danny. As he sunk down, the eyes turned up as if he was smiling under the waves.
I froze. I couldn’t row, couldn’t scream. The reality that we came out here to die was slowly sinking in. My grip loosened on the rows. Had I not felt one starting to slide from the hand, being pulled gently by the waves, I may have been stuck there in fear forever. I rearranged my grip and began to row faster, smoother. There wasn’t much further to go now.
“See the red float bobbing up ahead?” Susan whispered, “That’s the center. That’s where we need to be. I have a feeling things are about to-” Susan’s warning was cut off by a loud thump against the boat. The old thing tottered against the bump. The holy fire jars clanked against each other, but nothing had broken - yet.
I rowed faster now, powered by fear. Susan must have seen something behind us; she flicked on a lighter a lit up one of the fireworks. I hardly heard the thing scream behind us over my heartbeat echoing in my ears. The monster, Rowler, slammed against the boat again. Somehow, the boat held. We tottered hard to the left. Susan leaned hard towards the right, trying to level the boat. The red float was just a couple feet in front of us. For the first time, I looked over the side. The water we were floating on was completely black.
One last hard slam from Rowler and Susan flew back against the side. Fear flashed in her eyes; we were going to capsize. She gave me a hard, terrified look and pushed herself over.
“Susan!!” I grabbed a flashlight and searched the waters from the side she’d gone under, but there was nothing. Rowler had her. The only thing I could do now was finish this.
The black from the water moved and gathered in front of me. The tip of the boat gently nudged the float. The black tar climbed itself until it was a giant mound. It melted back into place until it formed a man. As it transformed, I took the opportunity to slide two holy fire jars between my feet and a zippo hidden in my hand.
When the tar finally took shape, a man stood on the water in front of me. His wild dark hair fell in front of his face. Light blue eyes peeked out curiously. His lips were black.
“Hello, Myra.” His voice sounded like a not so distant cousin of a garbage disposal.
“Rowler,” I whispered.
“I seem to remember being called that a long time ago,” his head tilted to the side, examining me, “but they call me different names now. Monster. Abomination. It doesn’t matter though, really.” The man in front of me sighed and looked over his shoulder. Susan finally popped up from under the water, gasping for air. Rowler looked back towards me, unconcerned.
“I won’t spare your son, Myra. I’ll eat him. Just like I’ve eaten the rest. You don’t understand, can’t understand, this hunger.”
“Eating children doesn’t purify you Rowler. There’s no salvation for something like you!” I screamed. My heart was beating so fast I wasn’t sure whether it or Rowler would kill me first.
Rowler stared at me for a moment and let out an ear-splitting laugh, “I said that so long ago I’d nearly forgotten. I never believed any of that, Myra. I was just hungry, and I don’t like to eat alone.” The amusement left his eyes. “Myra?” His voice became childlike. He waited patiently for me to answer.
“Yes?” What else was I supposed to say, faced with a monster?
“I’m hungry,” he whispered as he smiled. At first the smile of a lunatic, his grin quickly spread wider and wider, showing an unnatural number of teeth.
“Rowler!” Susan screamed from behind him. As he swung his head around, I lit the holy fire and threw it as hard as I could.
The glass shattered against the back of his head, and the lake lit up. Rowler screamed and turned back towards me as I rowed franticly backwards. As he moved forward, I gave up on rowing and lit my second jar. This time I hit him in the face.
As he squealed and melted into the lake, his face cycled through all the children he’d eaten through the years. First Danny, then Sara, then a small child I could only imagine was Anthony. So many faces, so many children. His fiery outstretched hand touched the front of the boat as he sank. Somehow, I knew, he was dying. Even if this boat went up in flames and I burned or drowned, I’d saved my son. I’d won. I smiled, even as the flames gently danced on the tip of the boat. The fire on the lake had gone out.
A wet hand slammed against the flames and with it, my smugness left me. I stood and raised one of the guns and pointed it towards the edge of the boat. What the holy fire hadn’t finished, maybe a rifle could. I took aim and waited for my head shot. Slowly, a mat of white, curly hair rose. I threw the gun down and screamed, “Susan!”
I rushed to help pull her back into the boat, but it threatened to topple. “Just row, I’ll hold on,” she grunted.
We made the long trip back the way we’d taken it out, in silence.
Once my feet hit the edge, I sobbed and embraced Susan’s wet, soft body. Aside from a bit of swallowed stinky water and a bit still sloshing in her ears, Susan was unharmed.
In the morning, Father Tanner brought back Tommy and we all had breakfast together. As I stared at all of the faces at the table in front of me eating happily, it almost felt like I had a family again. Tommy talked excitedly with a mouth full of eggs about the action movie he and Father Tanner had seen. Susan remarked about how rude it was to speak with your mouth full. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Myra dear, can you pass the pancakes please?” Susan asked, eyes settling on me, “I’m just so hungry.”