Disappearance at Devil's Rock (33 page)

Murtagh: It's okay, Luis. You can continue when you're ready.

Luis: And then he was screaming. Full on screaming. And he called out to me and Josh. We were yelling at him to come back and I tried to get my phone out, turn on the flashlight so he could see me better but my phone was already dead. I stayed on the path and shouted for Tommy and the sounds came toward me, and Josh was somewhere behind me, I think. Then Tommy came stumbling out of the woods and fell onto his knees. He was looking all around and he said, “Did you see it? It came through here, didn't it? You had to see it.” But I didn't see anything.

Josh: I saw it. Right before Tommy came crashing out of the woods I saw someone else come out first and go down the path, running away from us and the rock, toward our right.

Murtagh: So you saw Arnold come out of the woods first and then Tommy came out after him? Are you saying that Tommy was chasing Arnold?

Josh: No, no. I didn't see Arnold. I told you I never saw him. Not in the park that night, anyway. I know it's weird and confusing, but right before Tommy fell out onto the path, I thought I saw Tommy come out. So I'm saying that first person I saw come out of the woods, or thought I saw, was Tommy.

Murtagh: Why did you think it was Tommy and not Arnold?

Josh: It looked like Tommy, running away. It was so dark and I didn't see a face or features or anything like that, but it had Tommy's shape. Tall, skinny, and it moved like him. It's hard to describe how Tommy moves, but I know him when I see him. So when Tommy fell out
onto the path after, I was expecting Arnold because I'd already seen Tommy running away. I figured Tommy was running away because Arnold was chasing him. I'd even picked up a rock and was ready to throw it at Arnold. But it was Tommy, and I didn't know what happened, how it could be him right there in front of me when I already saw him running away. When I looked back down the path what I saw was gone.

Murtagh: Did you tell Tommy what you saw?

Josh: Yeah. Tommy wanted to know what we saw and Luis was yelling that he didn't see anything. I ran over and helped Tommy get up. Then I told him that I saw something and I thought it was him. I actually said that. Tommy made like a groaning sound and started shaking his head no and talking real fast to himself, under his breath. Couldn't really make anything out at first.

Luis: I asked him over and over what he saw, was it Arnold? He said it wasn't Arnold, that it definitely wasn't Arnold, but Tommy was sure that he was there, in the park. He said, “I know he's here,” more than a couple times. That's exactly what he said, I swear. Swear to God that's what he said. He said it wasn't Arnold but he's here. And then he was saying oh my God a lot and looking around everywhere.

Josh: Tommy looked at Luis and then at me. Luis went to pick up his walking stick, I think, and then Tommy stood and got real close, his face right in my face, and he whispered to me, “You saw me come out?” And
I said, “I saw you,” because that's what I thought I saw. And then he said real fast, so fast, “I saw me too. It was me, it was me. God, it was me it was me” and he stopped. I remember him stopping there and then saying, “You saw it, too? It looked dead. Did you see the eyes? There was something over its fucking eyes.” I was getting upset and whispering back that he couldn't have seen himself, and then Tommy started groaning and crying.

Luis: Josh was helping Tommy up and I went to find my walking stick, just in case I needed to use it like, I don't know, a bat or something, if Arnold came by. So I don't know. I didn't hear Tommy say, like words. Why, did Josh say he heard Tommy say something?

Rooney: There was a whole bunch of yelling echoing through the park, like the woods was alive and dangerous, ready to attack, then it stopped. I have to tell you it was kind of scary, being out there all alone with those three somewhere waiting for me, or more than those three, maybe, I didn't know, sounded like more than three kids yelling, like an army, but I didn't stop and didn't go away. I had to keep going. I knew what they were going to try to do to me. I knew it but I didn't want to believe it. I thought I could get to them, convince them what was right, you know. So I kept going, kept walking, and I was on the main trail. When the yelling stopped I turned onto, what is it, the Northwest Trail, I think, and got up over the first hill, it was hard to see, just outlines, and darks that
got darker, and that's when Tommy came running at me. He was by himself. I could see him. And he had a knife in his hand.

Luis: I was trying to calm Tommy down and tell him that it was okay and he only thought he saw something and scared himself. Tommy did calm down and stopped crying and yelling, and he said, “Don't follow me.” He said it real quiet.

Josh: “Don't follow me. No matter what. I don't want you guys to get hurt.”

Luis: I don't know what Tommy saw or what he thought he saw in the woods. And I don't know how or why he knew Arnold was there, if Arnold was even there at all, right, because I never saw Arnold that night. I didn't. I know Josh never saw him either. When we're done, done talking, will you tell me if Arnold was actually there and what happened to Tommy?

Murtagh: Tommy had told you not to follow him, is that correct?

Luis: Yes, ma'am. I was totally freaked out and kept saying, “Let's go, let's go home, come on, let's go.” We tried to stop him. I swear we did. We were ready to drag him out of there. We were telling him to come home with us. He told us, and he was like so calm now, to stay at the rock or we could go back and wait for him at Josh's house and he promised us that he would come back. He did. He promised us he'd be back but only after taking care
of everything. Then he laughed a little. I swear he did, and then he said something really crazy about him being a real seer now and that it had to happen this way. I told him to shut up and stop it and swore at him, called him a hardo and everything, trying to get him to listen and leave with us.

Murtagh: Did he say anything else?

Josh: He kept backing up. Told us not to tell anyone anything until after he came back, and then he said something quiet like he was embarrassed. I couldn't hear what he said. I'm sorry I didn't hear him. I'm so sorry.

Luis: No, ma'am. He did not have his knife out. He turned and sprinted down the path away from us and I tried to grab him but I knocked into Josh and he fell and I tripped over him, on top of him. We got up and ran after but he was way too fast for us, even if he didn't have that head start, Tommy's too fast. We weren't going to catch him. We lost him.

Rooney: Once he saw me, Tommy came charging right down the path with that knife raised over his head like he was a warrior or something. Never seen anyone look like that, totally possessed. It wasn't Tommy. It was and it wasn't. Not the Tommy I knew or thought I knew. And after what he and his friends did to the Rev I was scared so I turned and ran away. There was nothing I could do, no talking to him. And I could hear Luis and Josh somewhere behind him yelling too, so I ran. Just put my head down and ran.

Murtagh: Josh?

Josh: I said me and Luis stayed together. We didn't split up. We went down the path a little bit. We called for Tommy. It was so dark away from the rock and under the trees. I used my phone as a flashlight until the battery died. Luis's was already dead. Couldn't see much more than the path. We couldn't see Tommy. Couldn't even hear him or anything. We kept calling out to him.

Murtagh: You mean the Pond Walk?

Luis: Yes, ma'am. We didn't get very far. We didn't know what to do. We called out to Tommy and we stood there and listened, heard nothing.

Rooney: Like I said, seeing what they did to the Rev and everything else had my head all a mess. But it was like we ran all night, all night, and we were in this great and terrible story or legend, a really old one, you know? We kept running. We were, like what, like a stream or a river through the woods, carving out our own path, and it was epic. We would always be running. We would never stop and that was the story, and it's so hard to remember how it happened but it flipped, you know, it flipped, me and Tommy switching spots. Tommy wasn't chasing me anymore. I was chasing him. We never said anything. No names. We were both seers. We knew it had to be how it had to be. Just the running and it was beautiful, you know, and then we were off the trails and he ran into one of the ponds.

Murtagh: Which one?

Rooney: Doesn't matter. We were deep in the park. He ran into one of them, he ran into all of them. I followed him in. The muck grabbed my shoes and lily pads wrapped around my legs and arms like they were alive, and I thought that was part of his plan, to suck me into a trap. None of the weeds seemed to bother Tommy, he weaved through all that shit into deeper water. It was so easy for him I thought he was a ghost, and it all passed through him. And he swam out and away. The kid's a great swimmer, swimming in the moonlight, and I thought it was going to be the last thing I'd ever see, but the muck and weeds let me go, and you know, it was a test, a goddamn test, and I passed. I'd done nothing wrong, I wasn't wrong. I was a good person, and I was allowed to keep going.

Josh: After waiting for a long time on that stupid path we walked back to Devil's Rock. We thought we heard someone walking in the woods around us and hoped that maybe Tommy calmed down and doubled back to the rock. I ran ahead of Luis and got there first. I looked inside the split. I looked inside.

Murtagh: Josh? What did you see?

Josh: Tommy wasn't there. I know he wasn't. I looked too quick. I thought I saw him sitting there all hunched up, like he was hiding. But he wasn't there. I went inside the split to make sure.

Luis: Josh was kind of freaking out crying and talking out loud to Tommy, like he was there and he kept asking
why would you leave us, then don't leave, don't leave and we're still here. I made Josh climb up the rock with me so maybe, I don't know, we could see him or see whatever from up there. Josh sat up against the tree still saying that stuff over and over and I told him to be quiet because I couldn't hear anything but it didn't matter. There was nothing we could do there anymore. Our phones were dead and we'd been there for hours, it had to be hours.

Rooney: Tommy swam all the way to this island and I don't know if it was there when we first started swimming, and I mean that like I didn't see it there when we hit the water and then boom it was huge, fucking looming, you know, but even though I didn't see it there at first I knew it would be there so it was there. You get me? Tommy climbed up onto the shore, wormed through bushes, and I climbed up after him, got all scratched up and out of breath but it didn't matter, I knew this was the end. I was going to tell Tommy that I knew it was the end and that I knew that he knew it too. It's why we led each other there. Away from the shore there was a clearing and some paths, paths that have always been there, they were there for us, to lead us where we needed to go, and I couldn't see Tommy but I started following the path, believing in it, and he jumped out at me with his knife and I twisted away at the last second, but he got me good on my arm, quick little slash, and I rolled away from him and I was trying to protect myself. I never wanted to ever hurt anyone, even my bastard uncle. That's not me, never been me. I don't hurt people. I don't, but I could
hear him behind me and Tommy was laughing like they were all laughing when they killed the Rev, and laughing at me like they always did. I had a rock in my head and then I had a rock in my hand. I'd fallen right next to it. There was no plan. I picked up the rock, and I only wanted to stop him, get him to listen, and I hit him in the head with it. I swung wild, not aiming for a spot, not even seeing where I would hit, more just trying to get him to back off, trying to protect myself, and I hit him in the head and he dropped his knife and stumbled backward and fell, landed sitting up. He looked at me. I told him I was sorry and I was sorry. Tommy's like a brother, a real brother to me, the only one who understands me and what I could see, and I would never do anything on purpose to hurt him. I told him too, right there, and it was true. I said you're my brother. We were alone on an island and I told him that. I was crying it felt so good to say it to him. But Tommy, I think Tommy was real mad at me because he wouldn't talk to me. Didn't say anything.

Luis: We were there awhile, ma'am. I'm not sure how long but I told Josh that we should go back to his house and maybe Tommy would be there. Tommy had told us to go home and he promised he would meet us there. So that's what we did. We went back to the house and, you know, he wasn't there. Josh's mom was out on the porch waiting for us.

Rooney: Tommy got up, holding his head, and I told him I was sorry again and again. He got up and slowly walked away. I reached out and grabbed his shoulder. He shook me off, didn't try to do anything to me again, and I
begged him to say something to me but he didn't, didn't even look at me. He kept walking and followed the paths to the middle of the island. There was this tiny clearing and there's a small boulder formation there, three boulders almost pushed together, and he sat between them and closed his eyes. I kept trying to talk and he wouldn't say anything back. He wasn't being fair to me. I got mad, I'm sorry, I did, even though he's my brother, brothers get mad and fight sometimes, I said stuff I wish I didn't say and I left him. I left him there and I swam back to shore and started walking again thinking I would never stop walking, walk the earth, right, we were those brothers in the Bible the Rev made me read all the time and memorize when I was little and I walked and would always walk, and I ended up on those granite trails toward the quarry and the rocks opened up for me because I was in the right place and I crawled inside a deep cave, down in the dark, and at first I thought it was a terrible place like all the other terrible places people make me live in and that I belonged there. But you know what? It wasn't terrible. It was quiet and so dark I couldn't see myself and that was okay and I stayed there for days and days and days and that's how it was supposed to be.