Amy Cross - The Purchase

Morning light continued to spread across the clearing as Chandler worked. Her progress was slow, and – by the time she was even halfway done – the sun had risen above the distant forest.

Glancing briefly at the figure, she saw that it was still struggling.

“Nearly there,” she muttered under her breath. “Just hold on.”

Finally, exhausted and in agony, she tossed the shovel aside and stared down into the shallow grave she’d dug. Sure, it wasn’t six feet deep, it was barely even three, and muddy water was already starting to pool at the bottom. Still, she figured that the pit would do for now.

Turning, she limped over to the cart and looked for a moment at the two dead bodies, and then she began to carefully maneuver the female to the edge. She could barely manage to think straight as her pain became stronger, but eventually she managed to send the woman thudding down into the mud. The whole process was ungainly, and the woman landed in an awkward position, but Chandler had no time to climb down and arrange her properly.

“Sorry,” she whispered, before grabbing the woman’s foot and starting to slide her toward the pit. It took only a few minutes for her to get the body in place, and then she went back and did the same for the man.

As she pulled the man into the grave, she glanced again at the figure and saw that it was still trying to get the chain free from the cart.

Once the two bodies were in place, Chandler immediately tossed the coins down to join them.

“Is that to pay the ferryman?” she whispered, unable to keep from trying to figure out the puzzle. “You’ve been dead for a while, so why didn’t you do that already? What were you waiting for?”

She paused for a moment.

“Maybe losing the coins meant that your journey was undone,” she continued. “I’m sorry, but now you won’t be disturbed again. I won’t mark the grave, I won’t let anyone ever know that it’s here. You’ll finally be able to rest in peace.”

She began filling the grave. Her arms were burning with pain now, but she knew she had to keep going. Finally she slipped, falling down hard on her hands and knees, and this time she wasn’t sure she could get back up. So she started using her hands to push the dirt into the grave. Even this process was difficult and took a long time, and she had to make her way around the grave’s edges in order to cover the bodies, but at least she was managing to get the job done. In the back of her mind, she told herself she could lead a proper team back some time, to investigate properly. For now, though, she just needed to survive.

And then, suddenly, she heard a loud bumping sound coming from the cart.

She turned, and to her horror she saw that the figure had finally managed to get free.

“No!” she screamed, frantically getting back to work. “I’m doing it! See? I’m doing it for them!”

As the figure stumbled closer, Chandler finished filling the grave, using her bare hands to push as much dirt and mud as possible into the hole. There were still a few patches where the dead bodies were showing through, but she worked to cover those too. Finally, as the figure loomed behind her and let out an angry snarl, Chandler pushed mud onto the final protruding body-part, and then she turned just as the figure’s snarl cut short.

For a moment, the figure merely stood unsteadily against the early morning sky. For the first time, however, something seemed to have checked its fury.

“I ended it,” Chandler said, her voice trembling with fear. “See? It’s over. They’re at peace now. I’ll make sure no-one ever disturbs them again.”

She waited. The figure remained on its feet, although it looked set to collapse at any moment. Its right shoulder dipped slightly, as if the cosmic strings were loosening.

Finally, slowly, Chandler turned and looked once more at the hastily-filled grave, and she couldn’t help but think about the two bodies she’d just buried. She had no idea who they’d been when they were alive, and she realized now that it might be best to not research this site too much. Instead of risking a fresh disturbance, she’d make sure that the site remained untouched.

“It’s over,” she said, slumping down exhausted against the cold ground. “There’s no—”

Suddenly the figure snarled and grabbed her once again by the throat.

“No!” Chandler screamed, as she felt the tight grip starting to block her airway. “I did it! I buried them!”

Unable to get free, she watched as the figure leaned past her and plunged its left hand into the mud. It seemed to be searching for something, and finally it pulled out one of the gold coins.

“What are you doing?” Chandler gasped, struggling to breathe. “What are—”

Before she could finish, the figure moved the coin closer, letting mud from its hand drip down onto her face. Chandler struggled, but now the figure grabbed her jaw and forcing her mouth open, and then it began to slip its fingers inside. No matter how hard she tried to get away, Chandler was unable to fight back – unable even to scream – as the dead man fed his muddied hand deeper into her mouth and finally forced the cold gold coin down her throat.

Three hours later

“Okay,” Chad Clark said as his car bounced along the dirt track that led to the site, “I’m there now so I’ll talk to her, and we can meet up back at the campus in a few days. I just thought I should come and help out some more, that’s all.”

“And you’re sure this isn’t because you’ve got a slight crush on her?” Muriel replied teasingly over the phone. “Don’t deny it, Chad. Everyone sees the way you look at her.”

“You’re so immature,” Clark said, and now he could see the cabin ahead. “Speak to you later.”

He tapped to cut the call, and then he steered the car past the tree-line and over toward the cabin. He glanced around, keen to see what Chandler was working on, but so far there was no sign of her. As he finally pulled the car to a stop next to the pile of equipment, he figured she must be doing something inside the cabin, so he unfastened his safety belt and climbed out of the car, before slamming the door shut and then leaning down to check his hair in the rear-view mirror.

Once he was satisfied that he looked good, he made his way past the car and over toward the cabin, although he stopped when he noticed that there was another car already parked nearby.

“Great,” he said with a sigh as he realized that this car belong to Doctor Levant. “Just my luck.”

Feeling a little annoyed that he wouldn’t be alone with Chandler, he nevertheless tried to look on the bright side. He hurried toward the cabin, but he stopped again when he saw to his surprise that the two bodies had been moved from the cart.

He turned and looked around again, but there was still no sign of Chandler. Something felt different, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong. Hesitating for a moment, he tried to figure out what was gnawing at the back of his mind, but he quickly forced himself to stop being so paranoid. He told himself that Chandler would only have moved the bodies if she’d had a good reason, so he walked around to the side of the cabin and pulled open the door.

“Hey,” he said as he leaned inside, “I just thought I’d—”

He stopped as soon as he saw the cabin’s empty interior. There was no sign of Chandler at all, and no sign of Doctor Levant, although the dead old man remained in place on his chair, looking toward the broken window.

“Chandler?” Clark said after a moment, as he began to notice that the cabin was in disarray. The table had been overturned, and the battery-operated light had fallen to the ground and lay smashed. “Doctor Levant?”