No Way Out: Haunted Coal Ridge, #20

By Chuck Sperati

A series of intertwined supernatural stories that will make you wonder where the darkness ends and the light begins. All small towns keep secrets, but in Coal Ridge when the secret gets out, it begins to feed…again.

Story 20: "No Way Out"

In a small town secrets get out. Bill and Mila have been doing their best to keep their activities quiet while searching for a way to bring Emily home, but its growing apparent that more people know what's going on in Coal Ridge and that's complicating things.

For now, Bill is playing it safe, but that means keeping secrets from his teenage partner. The problem is that Mila has her own secrets and as it all begins to unravel, things between them start to get complicated.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Writing Distracted
• Release date: Dec 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781646390427

Chuck Sperati

Among other things, I'm a writer--with some published experience--whose been mostly quiet for the past few decades, mostly because I let life get in the way. I've long had a creative outlet at the gaming table and recently found another when I started building a website. With this new outlet also came inspiration. Right now I'm working primarily on a series of short stories that has received some very positive feedback, so I'm sharing. If you enjoy anything I've written, check out my website at https://www.chucksperati.com, where you can find more things that have crawled out of my imagination.

Book preview

Dedication

Coal Ridge is based on Ohio's Finest Village. It was a great place to grow up and continues to be a remarkable community to which I enjoy returning to see friends and family. For those who live there, take a moment, look around, and be wary of the shadows.

Preface

A series of intertwined short stories that will make you wonder where the darkness ends and the light begins. All small towns keep secrets, but in Coal Ridge when the secret gets out, it begins to feed...again.

Set in a small, somewhat geographically secluded town in the Midwest, the blue-collar people of Coal Ridge are friendly and laid back, enjoying block parties, gossip, and the simple joys that come with being a close-knit community. Because everyone knows everyone else, secrets are hard to keep, but some are so well hidden that they've been forgotten.

These short stories explore a supernatural awakening that will test the bonds of family and community.

No Way Out

Mila!

She’d wandered too close to the pavilion.

I didn’t have any more pouches.

The creature was too close.

It recovered from the salt too fast.

Bill!

Her scream ripped through me as it engulfed her, going straight for my heart and tearing it out. Mila had gone in by herself to save Becca Deerborne while I was checking out all the commotion by the old Methodist church.

She should have waited.

We could be heroes; Me and you—

It was music. That song, Mila had programmed into my phone without telling me and I wasn’t entirely sure how to change it. This pocket of purgatory was an unnaturally quiet place where technology was next to useless, yet that song played nearby. It even sounded like my phone playing it, but that made no sense. I kept my phone in my blazer pocket.

A wet pop echoed in that silence as the creature tore off one of Mila’s arms.

No!

I froze.

Gooseflesh broke out across my skin.

Pain radiated up my groin and into my stomach as another wet pop echoed through me.

My mouth opened, but my throat had closed up.

Feeling helpless, I stared with my mouth hanging open as that ridiculous song kept playing.

Anybody’s got the power; They don’t see it; Cause they don’t understand—

A last scream faded across the park as parts of Mila rained down to the ground.

I was jerked backwards.

This is your fault!

Emily? Looking into her face, I somehow found my voice, speaking through quivering lips. Shadows cut her soft features into harsh lines with deep black rings under her eyes.

She’s dead because of you. I’ve lost everything!

We are a different kind; We can do anything—

I tried to look left towards the sound of the music, but she grabbed my chin. Her blonde hair was lost in shadow as she leaned in close.

Now I’m going to take everything from you!

Reaching around to the base of my skull, I felt her fingers sink into me, tearing at my soul—"

We could be heroes; Me and you—

Jerking up into a seated position, I reached around to the back of my neck. The