Cataloosa Island

By Alden Bauers

After losing his job as the editor of a weekly newspaper on Long Island, Jerry Campbell accepts a job on remote Cataloosa Island in South Carolina. At first, he finds it to be the idyllic beach community. But Jerry soon discovers the island’s south end and its lighthouse have been abandoned for years.

His curiosity piqued, Jerry begins researching the island’s tragic past and writing a book using an antique typewriter he discovers in his house. Unaware of the typwriter's evil abilities, Jerry sets in motion a chain of horrifying events that will forever change his life and the lives of those around him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alden Bauers
• Release date: Apr 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463284872

Alden Bauers

Alden Bauers was born and raised on Long Island. He currently resides in Spartanburg, South Carolina where he works as a computer technician. He's married and has two young children. When he's not writing or spending time with his family, Alden enjoys modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.

Book preview

Cataloosa Island

Copyright 2018 Alden Bauers

Published by Alden Bauers at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter One, Where Life’s a Beach

Chapter Two, Date Night

Chapter Three, Lazy Lobster Cafe

Chapter Four, The Night Visitor

Chapter Five, The South End of the Island

Chapter Six, Lowcountry Boil

Chapter Seven, Lines That Should Not Be Crossed

Chapter Eight, The Aftermath

Epilogue

About The Author

Acknowledgements

I’m quite well aware I’ve played a bit fast and loose with geography of Beaufort County, South Carolina. I’ve vacationed there many times and even had the privilege living there for a time. I love the Lowcountry and couldn’t think of a more perfect setting for my story.

I’d like to thank my amazing wife Stephanie for encouraging me to write. I’d also like to thank the members of the Middle Tyger Writers for sharing their knowledge of not just writing but also e-publishing. Without their help you wouldn’t be reading this.

Prologue

At a Super 8 Motel in Smithfield, North Carolina, a young man lies awake in his bed. He listens to the roar of the traffic on I-95 as he stares at the popcorn ceiling. He’s headed south and he’s not sure he’s not sure he’s made the right decision.

He’s come too far to turn back now. Ahead of him lays another 250 miles of interstate and the promise of a clean slate. He’d left New York at nearly three that morning, before the bridges connecting Long Island to the rest of the world became parking lots.

Unable to sleep, he rolls out of bed, walks to the window and pulls the curtain back. Outside, his blue Acura sport coup is sitting safe and sound. He goes to the sink and gets a drink of water.

Sleep continues to elude him. Fuck it, he says at five in the morning, throwing on some clothes, tossing his bag in the car and leaving the room key in the night slot.

At this hour, I-95 is empty except for a few long-haul trucks. It’s another four hours to Cataloosa Island.

Chapter 1, Where Life’s a Beach

Jerome Jerry Campbell sat behind the wheel of his Acura RSX waiting for the swing bridge carrying South Carolina Route 539 across the creek to Cataloosa Island to close. Slowly, a shrimp boat chortled its way towards the Atlantic. Once it passed, the blue truss span began to pivot back into position. Despite being only mid-March, the sun was already strong enough to push the mercury into the 70s.

Finally, the gates opened and Jerry piloted his sports coupe across the narrow span. The room between the double line and the guardrail barely seemed wide enough for a kid’s Power Wheels toy, let alone a full-sized car! Hate to have a truck coming the other way.

Welcome to Cataloosa Island! A big wooden sign on the far side of the bridge proclaimed. Where life’s a beach!

The road curved south and Jerry took another look at his Google directions. He made the turn onto Sandpiper Drive. The narrow street curved through a forest of palmetto trees and tall pines. When the road straightened, He saw the house, number 12, looking just like the picture in the e-mail.

Number 12 Sandpiper Drive sat high upon pilings like a typical beach house and was surrounded by a wooden deck. It was a single story clad in texture 111 plywood painted a shade of yellow that would look right at home on Union Pacific locomotive. It sat towards the north end of the roughly comma-shaped island. Jerry pulled up beside the house that would be his new home for the foreseeable future.

As he got out of the car, he noticed a thin man with a grey mustache sitting in a golf cart. He wore a golf shirt and chinos, his hair hidden beneath a trucker cap.

You must be Jerry, he said, extending a hand. Bill Strauss.

So you’re the one who’s giving me the 50-cent tour, Jerry replied. And my new boss.

I ‘spose so.

Jerry followed Bill up the front stairs. Bill opened the door and gestured for Jerry to enter. He crossed the threshold and flicked a light switch. The house was warm as the air conditioning hadn’t yet been turned on. The house had a dank, musty smell common to so many beach houses. The walls were clad in wood paneling last in fashion when Saturday Night Fever was in theatres. Of course, the switch covers were brass and the ceiling of the popcorn variety.

Jerry was standing in a combined living and dining area. In front of him was a small galley kitchen separated from the room by a bar counter. To the right was a short hallway leading to the bedrooms. Directly behind the living room, was a screened-in Florida Room. Jerry walked to the back