Where the Sun don’t Shine

Anna Caruthers lived with her parents, Fay and Ted Caruthers. They lived on a big plot of land, far removed from any of their neighbors. Despite this Ted, sought to protect not only his land but his family. Unfortunately their separation from civilization served as a weakness, not a strength. In town, almost half a day's ride from the Caruthers house, the Sherrif could respond within a reasonable time. And God willing can collect enough evidence to guide his hunch in a good direction. However, in the brush and briars miles away from any prying eyes, the Sheriff would only arrive after whatever or whoever had come and gone. In the way of home security, Ted did well enough. Apart from his several rifles, pistols, shotgun, and an entire childhood of informal firearm training, he had a dog. Well, the dog was Ted's until he brought the pup home, it soon became Anna's, there was no confusion about it.

The dog had an immediate affinity toward her. She quickly named it, soon after Anna and Ricky were fast friends. One was seldom seen without the other, it became a common sight to see the small red-headed Anna and her shaggy hunk of a hound trailing behind her. When Anna wasn't in school or church, she and Ricky would either be fishing at a watering hole or napping under a tree somewhere. Always close enough to hear mama holler, 'Anna! Ricky! It's gettin' dark!' Anna's mother quickly let her know that Ricky was to be an outside dog. Ricky constantly shed massive amounts of thick black fur despite being groomed religiously by both Anna and her parents. Ricky seemed fine with remaining outdoors. "A dog like that needs its space," Ted would say. Anna was fine with the arrangement and was sure to spend plenty of time with her furry friend before going inside for the evening. Aside from his incessant nighttime barking Ricky only gave the Caruthers one reason to complain. A few times a week Ricky would leave bones lying on the back porch. About as long and thick around as the handle of Ted's favorite hammer. The bones were not from Anna or anyone else in the Caruthers house, yet still at least three times a week a bone of significant size was left lying near the back porch. Anna was sick at the sight of the bone. Not because of the object itself, but because of the remaining bits of red meat clinging to it. Anna pointed this out to her father, he seemed to know something about everything.

Ted eyed the bone, "The dog 'prolly found this himself. A big dog like that can manage to find himself somethin' to eat." Ted, instead of being confused like his daughter, was quite proud of Ricky. Anna was a free spirit and wandered constantly, so both Ted and Fay felt much more comfortable about her adventures with the imposing Ricky alongside.

Things went on like this for a while. Ted and Fay would work in town all day and when Anna was not in the schoolhouse she was out in the wild with Ricky. The two of them hadn't a single care in the world. Childhood gives everything a glamorous tint, everything's a little more fascinating and wonderful in those years. So much so that some things go unnoticed. With Anna's schoolwork, constant wandering, and the encroaching farm season she had no time to notice the dramas of the adult world. Things like the recent disappearing of children and adults alike. In a small town when people went missing it was noticed almost immediately. Questions are raised and when they cannot be answered panic spreads.  Ted and Fay did their best to keep this from their daughter. To preserve her innocence they avoided all topics of her missing classmates or the fact that she could no longer wander as far or for nearly as long.

Time passed and seasons changed. The Caruthers family had neither the time nor the luxury to worry about unidentified assailants. When you are poor and hungry little else occupies your mind. The farming season was only a few weeks away. Ted was usually full of anxiety at this point, allocating money for seed and tool repair while praying that the crop would be fruitful is enough to drive any man insane.  Annually Ted left with his wife for a fair held not two days ride from the Caruthers house. There he could buy seed for almost half of the normal price. When Anna was an infant she would have been forced to accompany them, but now that she was a bit older she could stay and watch the home front. And now that the imposing Ricky was there Ted felt much more at ease. Ricky no longer barked nearly as much, but when he did it would cause anyone to believe that a hellhound was nearby instead of a loving companion. However, Ricky only seemed to bark at other dogs in passing, he no longer filled the night with loud exclamations.

"Now Anna, God willing, we'll be back for Church on Sunday. We should only be gone for two nights."

Anna gave her mom and pop a hug and a kiss then bid them farewell. Usually, Anna felt a sense of wicked freedom whenever she was left alone. She would parade around the house yelling obscenities and even prop her feet onto the coffee table. But on this occasion, she felt, off.  When something isn't right it's unmistakable. Maybe some are born with innate psychic ability or maybe the subconscious can pick up cues the conscious mind cannot. Either way, Anna felt as if something in her world was out of place, something was not how it should be.  Being young and carefree she decided to ignore these feelings of underlying anxiety. However on that day, for the first day since his adoption, Anna did not play with Ricky. On that quiet Friday night, Anna remained indoors and as the sun retreated beneath the tree line she retreated further into her room.

Anna laid in her bed on the second floor, her nightgown underneath her blankets. Her room had a large window beside the bed that faced the large fields that had yet to be plowed. When Anna's father got back the next few weeks would be full of hard labor, even young Anna would do her part. She sighed at the thought of the future work and rolled over onto her side, facing the window. The moonlight fell onto her face, causing her, for only an instant, to open her eyes. What she saw only took an instant to recognize, less even. It was the silhouette of a man. Someone was standing in the field, facing Anna's window. Anna hadn't realized it but her anxiety had slowly ebbed away over the course of the day, now it all came crashing back tenfold. Anna laid very still, afraid to move and let the stranger know she was aware of his presence. However the longer she laid there, the more she realized that the man was immobile. He hadn't moved an inch for the several minutes Anna had been watching him. Then she began laughing as she realized her foolishness.

"There's no man in the field, it's father's scarecrow! He must've set em' up before he left. Besides Ricky would be barking up a storm if so much as a raccoon was in our yard." With this Anna's anxiety, almost all at once bled away and she was able to fall asleep.

The next morning Anna ate something her mother prepared the previous day and was quickly outside apologizing to her friend Ricky for ignoring him for so long. To her surprise, Ricky was also enjoying a meal that morning. Anna walked closer to examine what her friend was eating, though she already had her hunch. As she approached the dog she extended her hand, eager to greet her furry friend. But to her dismay, Ricky began growling. The growl was deep, a warning. Anna knew enough about animals to know if she proceeded she might get bit. Ricky had never shown anyone but the rodents in the grass aggression, this change of attitude shocked and hurt Anna. She let the dog continue its grim meal, but as she turned away her eyes shot across the horizon. What she saw, or didn't see sent chills up her spine. The scarecrow was gone. Anna hurried inside. "The wind was quite strong last night, maybe it got knocked over." Anna wasn't inventing possibilities, this was something that happened fairly often if the scarecrow wasn't placed deep enough into the ground. Anna could have gone to see if the scarecrow's body was laying somewhere nearby but she stayed shut in her home like the day before, scared of what answer lie out in the tall grass.

The day passed slowly, Anna never liked to stay indoors, especially when the sun shone so brightly. However the trees were no longer inviting, now they held secrets. Now the brush seemed to be hiding dangers instead of mysteries. The fields of tall grass waved back and forth in the gentle wind. Like fingers on hands waving toward Anna, asking her to come out and play. The breeze whistled to her and the crows beckoned for her. Anna passed her day by knitting and reading, both things she hated but her mother insisted she learns. Anything was preferable to the dread she felt in her stomach when she peered out of her window and into that empty field. As night fell, as did her enthusiasm to be anywhere but the safety of her room. As she lay in bed she did her best to avoid looking out of that big window. She didn't want the trepidation she knew peering into the night would bring her. But like in many cases, when you try incredibly hard to avoid doing something, it seems as if you cannot help yourself but to do it. Anna without meaning to, took a glance out of her window. Her eyes fluttered open as she adjusted her sleeping position and she drank in the view. To her horror, the scarecrow was back. Anna could no longer deny the fact that someone was standing outside facing her window.

Not just facing her window but peering directly into it, watching her every move. Anna began to panic as she realized this wasn't a coincidence. Whoever it was, knew Anna was alone and quite defenseless. She then shot out of bed and raced to the front door, on the opposite side of the house. She opened the door and peeked her head out and began in a sort of whispery yell "Ricky!" She got no response. Again she tried in a whispery shout "Ricky!" Finally full of fear and frustration, she whistled. She soon regretted this decision greatly as the sound cut through the night air easily, like an arrow flung from a bow. However Ricky could now be seen bounding towards the front door, tongue out, and tail wagging. As soon as the dog was inside she raced back up her stairs down the hallway and into her room, and on pure instinct Ricky chased Anna. When they were both in her room she closed that door as well. She now felt infinitely safer with Ricky by her side, his mere presence gave her comfort. However, this comfort was quickly robbed when she again peered out of that same window to find an empty field.

The night now seemed to last an eternity. The silence was now deafening. Now every shadow seemed ink-black like the sky. Every corner and unlit corridor was as daunting as a cavern. This would have been fine because Anna had no designs on leaving the room. But as she stood beside her dog patting his head slowly a horrible realization fell over her like rainfall. She left the front door unlocked.

Anna cursed herself, a curse her mother would have popped her for using. Anna knew that leaving the door unlocked could have been the last bad decision she would ever make. She had to act fast, faster than she ever had before. Anna knew the location of two guns on her floor. She would have to run to her parent's bedroom which unfortunately was on the other end of the hall. Anna knew that staying in her room wasn't an option, if she laid in wait she would be dead before morning. Even at her young age, she had no delusions about her situation. With Ricky close behind her, she finally opened her room door. The hall was dark, darker than it had ever seemed before. The only light in the hall was coming from Anna's room, moonlight spilling onto the hardwood floors. It seemed that even the hall's natural light was being ebbed away. Anna knew not to step any further, God could have commanded her himself, and her feet would've remained planted. Almost as if in response, a silhouette stepped from the shadows. Not a man, a silhouette. 

Anna stood frozen in terror. Have you ever felt a wolf growl on the back of your neck? Or teetered on the edge of an expanse so deep you can't even imagine the bottom? Anna had never felt such immense terror in her life, none like she did in that hall on that not-so-lonely Saturday night. She scanned the walls for the man casting the shadow, but there was no one to be seen. Just Anna, Ricky, and the silhouette. Anna stepped behind Ricky, the dog sensing his master's fear began growling and snarling. Foam began dripping from his mouth as he slowly pawed forward. Then, so noiselessly that Anna would have missed it had she not locked her eyes on the shadow man, he raised an arm. His arm, or the shadow of an arm, had something in the hand. Something long, about as long and thick as the handle of Ted's favorite hammer. The silhouette then tossed it and before it hit the ground it became solid. It hit the ground with a sickening thud and a sort of slap, landing in the middle of the hallway. Had the hallway been well lit Anna would have seen the object and recognized it, but tonight she had to lean forward to eye it. As she inched forward Ricky bound passed her, no longer growling. Ricky stopped at the shadow man's projectile and stooped heartily. Anna then heard cruel ripping and crunching noises. Leaning over her dog she saw, in the grips of his blood-red canines, a human arm. One smaller than Anna's own.

Poor Anna was never seen in the land of the living after that night. Her parents returned home to a satiated but perplexed dog and nothing else. Anna also never found out who that shadow man was, mainly because she never bothered to ask. If she had I doubt she would have heard a reply. But if Anna had asked her pap when her mom wasn't around or one of her uncles, maybe even one of the boys from school, they would tell her a tale. A tale, unfounded by facts, yet told nonetheless. A story that was older than either of Anna's parents or their parent for that matter. A story that no one knows for where it started or why. They would have told the late Anna a story that goes like this:

All that light cannot touch he sees,

He was born where the shadows breed.

The man who hides beneath the sun,

He hath no heart, but bleeds for fun.

Where darkness is, he has always been.

If you spy him now, then you’ve been seen

When you rest he surrounds your bed,

And he becomes your world when you are dead.

He is The Corpseman.