Tyranny of Coins (The Judas Chronicles) (Volume 5) Paperback (24 page)

“Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed, while taking a closer look at the crude inscription and comparing it to the bag. “Of course, we both know a lot of things these days can be made to look a certain way with the right props and equipment. But, who in the hell would go to such trouble?”

She sighed, and looked toward the tree’s carved image.

“I guess seeing how lonely the name looks on the tree, along with the letter from the bag, pulled on my heart a little bit,” she admitted. “It’s made me feel really sad. I hope this girl’s heart wasn’t broken too badly.”

“I’m sure it’s just some prankster trying to yank our chain,” said David. He moved over and wrapped his arms around her. “Who better to pull one over on than a pair of unsuspecting tourists like us?”

He looked around the ravine again, scanning for clues as to where a hoax perpetrator could have come and gone from. Only the broken grass and weeds from when he and Miriam had moved through the area earlier met his gaze. He thought about the unseen force that pushed him against the tree.

“We probably should be on our way, darlin’,” he said.
Definitely
time to go. Time to get far, far away from this frigging creepy place.

“Yeah…. Is there anything else near where you found this?”

He glanced at her, ready to say no. But, an imploring look flickered in her eyes. He knelt and groped through the grass. The cool blades brushed against the scratches on his palms, eliciting a brief tingle. He patted around and touched something—a small nut or pebble? Ready to leave the object in the depths of the grass roots, it turned over in his grasp, and a sharp, jagged edge lashed at his fingers. Grasping the item, he lifted it out of the grass. 

“Holy shit!”
he whispered in surprise.

A broken bicuspid lay in his palm. Dried, crusted blood covered one side.

Miriam walked over and looked at the tooth. “There’s something really wrong here. We need to take this stuff to the visitors’ center and have someone look at it. We’d better tell them about the tree, too.”

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Cades Cove
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~~~~~~~~

Abo
ut the Author

Aiden James resides in a small historic town in Tennessee with his wife, Fiona, and their two sons, Christopher and Tyler. An avid researcher of all things paranormal, he still spends time visiting haunted locales throughout the Deep South. Please visit his website at:
www.aidenjamesfiction.com
, or look for him on Facebook (Aiden James, Paranormal Author) and Twitter (@AidenJames3).