Whispering Hollers

By Dez Tovar

Jessie and Sarah's road trip has proven to be one that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. They have been terrorized beyond belief. However, the escapade does not stop there. Now, a year later, they get dragged into the chaotic evil once again. This time it comes for them! Joan, Jessie's mother, has been missing ever since she helped Jessie and Sarah escape from the horrors of Bellowing Hollers. Their cohort, JR, shows back up in their lives and gives them information as to Joan's whereabouts. Before they realize, here they go on another horrific adventure, one far away from where they were just one short year ago but just as sinister. This time they end up in Whispering Hollers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644629963

Book preview

Chapter 1

Crashed

Jessie heard somebody scream out Oh my god! at that same moment she heard a loud crash. She was in the back room of the pet store where she worked. She ran toward the front, where the excitement was happening. The crowd was surrounding the pickup truck that had run into the light pole. Jessie was shoving her way through the people. As she did so, she noticed fuzzy little black balls scattered sporadically. For a split second, she thought, Quaydent. As quickly as the thought entered her mind, it left.

Where is the driver? she heard a man ask as she was approaching the passenger’s side front door. Jessie looked inside at the front and back seats. She turned around.

There is nobody in here! Where did the driver go? Did anybody see what happened? She did notice a few more of the fuzzy black balls inside the pickup.

A woman answered, I was walking up when I saw the truck run into this pole. The guy jumped out and took off running that way. She pointed in the direction the guy ran off in. Oh yeah, there was also a cat that jumped from the truck when he opened the door. It ran off down that alley, following him.

That is so weird. Why would he leave? Jessie questioned. People were standing around, sharing stories of what each had seen. Nobody answered her.

The sound of the siren was getting louder. Suddenly she heard the sound of a train whistle. Every time she heard the sound of a train, she got a sick feeling in her stomach. It brought back memories of what had happened a short year ago in that small evil town she was trapped in. When the train whistle sounded in that eerie place, something horrifying would happen shortly afterward. Jessie went back into the store and returned to the back room. She gathered her things and clocked out. She was exiting through the side door when she passed her manager on the way out and said, I’ve got to go home. I’m not feeling well, at all. She didn’t wait for an answer. She shoved through the door, letting it slam behind her.

Jessie’s VW bug was parked down the alley, a little way from the store’s side door. She spotted a brownish lump on top of her bug. As she got closer, she said loudly, Hey! Get off my car! Just then a cat got up and stretched, staring at her. Frawas, is that you? Jessie had recognized the cat’s big ears. The cat ran down the bug and up to Jessie. She clawed her way up to Jessie’s neck like she had done when she was a little kitten. Jessie took her from her neck and hugged and stroked her. How did you get here? How did you find me? She was holding the cat tightly. She was looking around the alley, down toward the accident, stroking Frawas.

Jessie unlocked the door and slid into the driver’s seat. She tossed her stuff into the back seat and set Frawas in the passenger seat. She started her Volkswagen.

What is going on, Frawas? She thought, How did you find me?

As they rolled forward, she was still looking down at the cat, petting her head. Suddenly a man slammed into the car. He hit the windshield and the top of the VW bug with his hands. Jessie stopped instantly, pulling the emergency brake up and turning the key off at the same time. She opened the door and jumped out.

JR? she excitedly exclaimed. What is going on here?

JR said, Bah-we got to…go-bah-ha before they…know-bah-ha-ha. He quickly ran to the other side.

Jessie slid into the seat and unlocked the passenger door. She started the VW, put it in first gear, released the emergency brake, and started to go. She saw the fire truck and an ambulance in her rearview mirror. She turned left onto Turlock, the main street. She drove a few blocks and pulled into the parking lot of a drugstore. She pulled into a parking space.

JR, tell me what is going on. Please!

Bah…

How did you find me?

Bah-I always…dream-bah-ha before the…scream-bah-ha-ha.

Just then a car pulled up behind them. Sarah got out of the driver’s seat. She ran to Jessie’s door. Jessie got out and hugged her, saying, Is everything all right? She glanced inside Jessie’s car. JR, I saw you crash! What in the heck were you thinking?

Bah-I fell…asleep-bah-ha, but then the…creep-bah. Thank God the…cat-bah-ha went to bat-bah-ha-ha bah-ha.

Frawas jumped out of Jessie’s car and started rubbing against Sarah’s pant legs.

JR got out and walked over to Jessie and Sarah. He put his arms around each of the girls’ neck as to huddle. He mumbled, I found Joan.

Jessie, in shock, pulling away, said, Where is she? JR! Is she okay?

JR, pulling them together, said, Sh… We must-bah-ha not bust. Mumbling again, he said, Texas. He paused. They’re-bah…listening-bah-ha-ha, he continued.

Sarah interrupted JR, I’ve been getting these weird feelings, and that is why I am here. I don’t know what it all means, but there is something really strange going on. Have you had any strange feelings or anything like that, Jessie? I normally don’t feel things like this.

Jessie answered, I’ve been having paranoid feelings since we left that hellhole Bellowing Hollers!

Sarah interjected, It’s not just paranoid for me, Jessie. I’ve felt that too, and that is why I really haven’t kept in touch too much.

What else is it then?

Sarah responded, Lately it is like… I’m being called by some force… I cannot really explain it. I’ve been so worried about you, Jessie, but I couldn’t call you in case someone is listening in. That is the reason I am here.

Bah-we really must…depart bah-ha before they make the…bust-bah-ha-ha.

If my mom is alive and in Texas, we have to go there! Let’s go now! Jessie demanded.

Jessie, Sarah said quietly, we need to make a plan but not out here in the open. Let’s go somewhere private.

Let’s take my VW back to my apartment. I’ll get some clothes, and we can take off. We can take your car, Sarah.

I don’t want to take my car, Jessie. I think they have it bugged or something.

Well, we can’t take mine. It’ll be too small for us three. Wait, I do have my mom’s bus in storage. Let’s take that! Jessie looked back and forth between Sarah and JR.

Bah-I can finally…sleep-bah without a…peep bah-ha-ha.

Jessie said, JR, you and Frawas ride in the back seat of Sarah’s car and stay down if my sister is home. I’ll tell Frankie I am going with you to your house, Sarah. We’ll go to storage to get Mom’s bus and make the plan.

JR picked up Frawas and walked over to Sarah’s car. He crawled in the back seat and lay down. Sarah gave Jessie a hug and said, I’ll follow you.

They drove.

Chapter 2

Joan’s Bus

Jessie pulled her bug directly in front of her apartment door. Sarah parked a couple of car lengths behind her. Jessie went inside to gather the things she wanted to take. When she walked outside, she spotted Sarah talking to Frankie.

Hey, Frankie! Jessie said. Did Sarah tell you we’re going down to her house?

Yeah, she did. So you are able to take the time off work to go down there?

I have vacation time. It’ll just be for a few days. I’ll call you to let you know for sure how long, all right? Jessie said and then hugged her sister.

You girls stay out of trouble. I don’t want to have to rescue you again, Frankie said as she released Jessie.

Sarah and Jessie walked to Sarah’s car. Sarah popped the trunk. Jessie tossed her stuff back there and got into the passenger’s seat. Sarah started the car and put it in drive. They waved to Frankie as they left.

Driving a few miles, they arrived at the storage where her mother’s VW bus was kept.

JR! Wake up. Jessie said, looking in the back seat. I guess he is out like a light. It looks like Frawas is too. They must have had a long trip. He looks kind of bad, don’t you think?

He looks pretty rough. I wonder what happened, Sarah questioned. I have a feeling he followed me up here from down south. I thought I was just being paranoid, but when I saw him crash and saw that it was JR…

We’ll find out later, Jessie said as she opened the door and stepped out. She walked to the garage door, unlocked it, and slid the door up to open it. I’ll check the oil. You get the bags, Sarah. Let’s hurry. It’s getting dark.

Sarah went to get their bags from the trunk of her car. She looked in at JR and Frawas; they were sound asleep. JR was scrunched up in her back seat. Frawas was lying on JR’s chest. She took the bags to the bus and put them in the side door. She told Jessie, They’re sleeping so soundly. So what’s the plan, Jessie?

All I know is that JR said my mom is alive and in Texas. She saved us, Sarah! She’s my mom. She can’t help her mental weirdness, man. We must go and help her. Let’s wake JR up and find out exactly where she is. He needs to tell us everything he knows. Dude, it’s so hard to understand him sometimes.

The girls were inside, getting things ready with the bus. JR was dreaming.

Chapter 3

Dark Dreams/Dreams Dark

JR was having the same dream he had been having for a while. He was sleeping in an A-frame cabin on the second floor in a bed that was facing the top of the stairway. Something would wake him. He would open his eyes as wide as he could open them, but he could still not see; it was so dark. He would try to sit up, but he could not move. He would strain his ears to listen to what he thought he heard.

Was that the sliding door? He listened.

He heard the door slowly sliding open. He was still trying to move, he was trying to scream, but he could not make a sound. He could not move a muscle; he was frozen.

He thought he heard, I’m coming for you, a loud taunting whisper.

His eyes were wide open, still unable to see, still unable to move. He would hear someone downstairs, muddling slowly around through the living room, into the kitchen, down the hallway. It was at the bottom of the stairs now.

I’m coming for you, it said slowly in that evil, strained voice.

JR tried to yell out the scream in his mind; it was echoing, but the sound was only in his head. He was helpless; he was hopeless.

He listened; it sounded like someone crawling up the stairs—one, two, three steps. On the fourth stair, in a slow pace, he heard, I’m coming for you.

JR’s heartbeat was pounding so loud, it felt like a drumbeat in his chest.

Why can’t I move! Doing everything in his power to move, he was paralyzed! His heart was pounding so loud, so hard, it felt like it could explode.

Scuffling up a few more steps, the voice was now at the top of the first set of stairs. He heard it shuffle to continue going up.

I’m coming for you.

Terrorized because of his situation, he closed his eyes tight, still trying everything in his power to scream out, trying to move his arms, trying to move any part of his body—nothing, no movement, no sound, not even a whimper. It said again, I’m coming for you, in a scratchy heckle.

Up, up, up, up—it was at the top of the stairs now.

I’m coming for you.

Suddenly JR opened his eyes! He saw Sarah and Jessie lying there in bed, looking scared to death, wide-eyed, mouth agape. It was him. JR was the beast crawling up the stairs!

Meow! Frawas shrieked.

Ouch! JR yelled out. He grabbed his neck; he felt a warm, sticky liquid on his hand. He looked at his hand; it was blood—again.

There Frawas was slapping at the fuzzy ball that is known as the quaydent.

This was the first time he was able to open his eyes in his dream since he left that small town in Washington.

So this is how the dream ends. JR exhaled out loud. Or is it? he thought.

Chapter 4

Quaydents: The Liaison that Takes Control for the Masters

Sarah and Jessie finished checking out Joan’s bus.

It’s ready to go, Jessie said. Let’s go get JR.

They walked out to Sarah’s cars and saw JR sitting up. He was as pale as a corpse. Jessie opened the door.

What’s wrong, JR?

JR couldn’t speak. He just sat there with his mouth open, sweating profusely. Frawas jumped up in the back window with the quaydent in her mouth. She dropped it and batted it around. It didn’t move. It just lay there like a fuzzy ball, like one would buy at a craft store.

Sarah said, JR, your neck is bleeding!

He pulled his turtleneck up to cover the blood. He turned around to face the girls. He had no emotions.

Jessie questioned, What is that fuzz ball next to Frawas? She reached inside the car to get Frawas. I’ve seen these before! There were some at JR’s crash site.

Sarah questioned, What is it, JR?

JR was still just sitting there, staring into space. Jessie waved her hand in front of his face. He sat there, zoning out for a few seconds. He said in a drab voice, Yes, they are quaydents.

What is it doing here? Where are they coming from? Jessie asked.

JR was blotting the blood from his neck with his shirt. He said, Do you remember when we were in Bellowing Hollers, and I wore all those crosses?

Yes, Sarah answered, Wait! JR, you’re talking normally!

JR! What’s up with you? Jessie demanded to know.

JR answered, I feel kind of strange. I’m not exactly sure what happened. When I escaped from Piney Ridge with Frawas, I tried to sleep. I would have nightmares. They would always end the same—a beast crawling up the stairs toward me, and I am paralyzed. Not only can I not move, but I cannot cry out either. I would wake up with Frawas meowing frantically and a deep scratch somewhere on my body. Most of the time, it would be on my neck or face. That is why I wear turtlenecks, and I have scars all over the place. But without a doubt, there would be a quaydent somewhere around, just lying there, waiting to intrude inside its next victim. He did not dare tell them the new ending of that nightmare. But why not? he thought.

What are you saying? JR, the cat has something to do with…all this? Sarah questioned.

I just thought you were a cutter, Jessie said, sounding sad.

Yes, Frawas does have something to do with it. Actually, all animals have that ability. She can get those things out of me, but it also has to do with sleeping when it gets dark outside, JR answered. Jessie started to say something; JR interrupted, "I am trying to wrap my brain around it. When the terror first started in Bellowing Hollers, I remember when there used to be kids. They would have this thing they would sing. It is like a nursery rhyme or something. The kids would stand in a circle with their arms draped over the shoulder of the child standing next to them. Shifting around in a circle, they would chant,‘Crosses, crosses, silver and gold, wear them with pridewherever you go. They will protect you. The quaydents, they know.’

Then they would throw their arms straight out with their hands bent down and walk around like zombies. They would run into each other and fall down like they were dead.

That’s weird! Jessie said. You said that there used to be kids. What happened to all of them?

Yeah, and there used to be animals too.

Jessie asked, Well, I remember what happened to Frawas’s mother and the other kittens. Did Featus do that to all the other animals?

It wasn’t just that freak! JR said.

There are others like Featus? asked Sarah.

That’s not everything. There is just so much more, but my head is spinning. JR was drifting off.

"Are you suggesting that there are zombies, JR?" Jessie asked.

JR, rubbing his head, said, I just need to sleep. I’m so exhausted. Can we just leave? I need to sleep. I can tell you more after, after I wake up. I haven’t slept since I left Texas. I have been on the run for over a year now, you know.

Sarah held her hand out to help JR up.

What about the fuzzy ball? What do we do with it? Sarah picked up a stick and was hitting the ball around, trying to get it to do something.

JR took her hand and said, I think they die if they don’t get inside a new host.

Wait, are you saying that this quaydent came out of your body? questioned Jessie.

I am finally freed of all of them once more, JR was saying. I don’t want them inside me ever again!

Jessie asked, Is that why you wore all the crosses in Bellowing Hollers? Because they would stay away?

JR answered, That was the thought. It seemed to work.

Jessie continued, I do remember why you quit wearing them, because of what that freaky Fetus did to Daniel. But are you saying at night if you fall asleep, if you don’t wear crosses, the things will get you or will get inside you? This is all so, so strange! I thought they kill you, like they did to Steve.

Can I just sleep? I can try to explain as much as I know later. Right now I can’t think straight.

Jessie asked, Do the quaydent control you if you only have a few inside?

Something does for sure, answered JR.

I cannot believe you are talking normally, Jessie said.

Standing now, leaning against the car, JR said, I think I’m freed now. The last time Frawas got them all out of me, I spoke properly as well. I feel so tired but different. It happened like this a month or so after we escaped from Piney Ridge. Thanks to Frawas, I got quaydent-free.

Do we need crosses? Sarah asked.

JR started walking toward the VW.

"I think when we get to that town in Texas, we will. They are definitely there. So are…they. The quaydents got back inside me because I went inside that encompassment without protection. JR took Frawas from Jessie and stepped inside the side door of the bus. He went to the bed in the back and lay down with the cat on his chest. It’s bad there. The animals, they’re mostly gone. I didn’t even see one kid. The evil ones took this town over much faster than the last one. Also, it’s slightly different. You’ll see when we get there."

Sarah, move your car in here after I pull out. We’ve got to go! Jessie said as she got into the driver’s seat. JR, where in Texas are we heading? She pulled the bus out.

Sarah closed the back door and got inside the front. Keeping an eye on the quaydent, she pulled her car inside the storage garage. She made sure all the windows were up and locked her door; she did not want the quaydent to get out of her car. She turned the light out, closed the door, and locked the lock on the outside door. She went back over to the VW, got inside, and closed the door.

Let’s do this, Sarah added.

Go back and ask JR where we’re going, Sarah. Please. I think he passed out before his head hit the pillow.

"He said go toward Dallas. Before we leave, Jessie, we need to find a bank. I need to pull some cash out. I don’t want to use my credit card. They will track us if I do. I really hate feeling so overly suspicious. I believe there is just cause."

I have some cash too. That’s what I will use as well, Jessie answered.

They found a bank and got the cash.

They started to roll.

Chapter 5

Texas Bound

They set out, Dallas bound. Sarah sat up with Jessie; they talked for a while, while JR slept. Frawas had come up to the front within an hour from the time they had left. She curled up on the dashboard and slept. Jessie stopped for gas in Bakersfield. That was when Sarah went to the back to stretch out. Sarah slept.

Being in Bakersfield brought back memories of her mother for Jessie. She had made amends with her mother when she was trapped in Bellowing Hollers, and she was grateful for that. She was more determined than ever to go rescue her mother. She finished fueling up the bus and set out again.

Jessie stopped again in Barstow for gas and snacks. She looked in the back at the two; they were still crashed out.

Well, it’s me and you, Frawas, she said to the cat. Frawas stretched, jumped on the passenger seat, and curled up to sleep. Well, it’s just me, she said under her breath.

They made it to Arizona before Jessie’s eyes started slamming shut. Sarah was still lying down, sleeping on the back seat. Jessie pulled into a truck stop and parked in the back. She put the top of the camper up and pulled out the cot. She crawled up there and passed out.

This night not one of the trio had a dream.

Chapter 6

Portal via Dallas

Sarah woke up at 9:00 a.m. She looked up above where Jessie was sleeping.

Hi, Frawas. She reached up to pet Frawas. She asked Jessie, Are you asleep, Jessie?

I was. Jessie sat up and threw her legs over the edge. I just went to sleep a couple hours ago. Is JR awake yet?

No. Let’s go pee and get out of here, Sarah said as she slid the door open.

Jessie put the top down and exited through the side door. They took care of business and returned to the bus. Sarah took the cat out to the back of the property where there was something that looked like a cat box.

Jessie pulled around and over to the gas pumps. JR got up as they approached them.

I’ve got to pee! JR said as he jumped up.

Will you get oil, JR? Jessie asked as he was exiting through the side door.

Sure.

Thirty weight, JR! Jessie yelled as he was running into the building.

Jessie was washing the windshield when JR got back with the oil.

I’ll put it in, Jessie, JR said as he walked back toward the bus.

Thanks, Jessie responded.

Sarah got back with Frawas; they loaded up and pulled out on the freeway, heading east.

I figure it’s at least twenty hours to Dallas, Jessie said.

I can help you drive, Jessie. Just show me how to do the shifting thing.

No way, Sarah!

JR said, I can drive, Jessie.

Jessie said sarcastically, No, thank you, crash! But you can tell us everything from the beginning. First, you need to tell me about my mom. Where did you see her? Did you talk to her?

JR said, "About a month ago, I finally found where they landed. I was heading toward Louisiana because I heard the overseer and the master talk about Louisiana before when I