Escape Plan: Haunted Coal Ridge, #27

By Chuck Sperati

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.

Story 27: "Escape Plan"

It's been over a year since Emily went missing. Although Bill and Mila have found her, they don't know how to bring her home. With darkness rising and hope fading, there might be a way, but the cost is steep, and so much could go wrong.

In this thrilling conclusion to the Haunted Coal Ridge saga, desperation battles morality in a bid to bring a lost teen home and put an end to a dire threat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Writing Distracted
• Release date: Oct 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781646390601

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 Midwestern town, the blue-collar people of Coal Ridge are friendly and laid back. They enjoy block parties, gossip, and the simple joys that come with being a close-knit community. Since 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.

Escape Plan

Bill, she did it. Mila figured out how to get me out.

I tried to concentrate on her words as my eyes roamed over the printed pages in front of me, but hearing Emily's voice spill from Mila's mouth bothered me.

A lot.

I can't say why exactly. Maybe because I grew up with the satanic craze of the 80s. Or because I enjoyed a cheesy horror movie now and again. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t get myself past that distraction.

Mila? The teen sitting across from me had her hands folded together. Working with her for almost a year, I knew her mannerisms, and she never sat like that.

Yeah? Her hands unfolded and dropped into her lap.

I'm going to need you to explain this to me.

Meeting her eyes, the grin I saw spread across her face felt familiar—a small comfort in an uncomfortable situation. When Emily took control, Mila’s face looked the same, but she smiled differently.

It felt more...mischievous.

I didn’t like it.

Do you remember when we freed Marjorie?

Vividly.

Okay. I’m going to explain this without all the mumbo-jumbo you hate. Ready?

I nodded.

Those instructions in Hank’s book were to draw the death energy out of Marjorie and put her back in a transition state. That allowed her life energy to leave her physical form and cross over.

Transition state sounds so...clinical, I interrupted, crossing my arms over my chest. Growing up with a God-fearing mother, I still believed in heaven and hell. You live. You die. And you get what you deserve. As a child, I just accepted it as something that couldn't be known. Yet here I sat at a dining room table in a suburban home with a teen explaining the mechanics of the afterlife to me.

Mom would have argued every point to oblivion.

I needed to find a way to be more open-minded.

Mila reached over to pat my shoulder. It's just a word, Bill. Let it go.

Opening my mouth to tell her why I had so much trouble with this part, words failed me. I could barely admit to myself the preference to remain ignorant to protect my beliefs.