Mandy's Mist
by Mark Marhon
Mandy's Mist
Freeland Pennsylvania is a town that is on it's way down and is old and has a history. It was founded in the late 1800's and was a resort for coal miners to take their families to settle. Freeland lies on top of a mountain and is basically surrounded by forest which mines run over just about the whole area. When the area was in it's "booming'' years families would have to travel through forest and up the mountain. Lots of homes were practically in the forest.
January 1857. Stockton Mts. 5 miles east of Freeland.
A young lady by the name of Amanda Cerrsol and her soon to be husband David Wellings, who at the time was a young rich tycoon which noone could understand why such a rich man would live in an area like that. But he said he like to be around an upcoming business ,like coal mining, so he can get a hand on the profits. On a frigid winter night Amanda and David got into an argument which soon elevated beyond words. She left the house and ran into the woods as David chased her. As she ran parts of her night dress ripped off on branches and twigs. David saw this and followed her by the strands of clothing she left behind or the sounds of branches breaking he heard in the distance. As Amanda was running the ground got softer and the number of trees grew less. She then came to a rather large stream. David was behind and not really gaining any ground. He then came to the same stream and she had already been gone. He stood there at the bank and tried to figure out where she could've gone. He took the engagement ring off his finger and said "If your watching me and i know you are", and threw the ring into the stream where it followed the current. David went back home expecting her to come back to the house that night. She never did. The next morning David was beginning to worry about where she had gone and the fact the it was below freezing the night before and she was in the woods all night.He notified the police and pronounced her missing and a search party was sent out into the woods behind their house to find her. They searched the woods inside and out and still had no trace of Amanda. They came to the conclusion that she had drowned but they still found no body. So then they said that she probably washed away with the tide. But citizens of the town thought that the search party would've found her down stream if that was the case. However they stayed with the conclusion that she had drowned and that she had washed downstream.
June 2000
Mark is a man who just a month earlier graduated high school in Florida and is up visiting Freeland where he grew up. He brought three of his friends with him. Chaz, Derick and John. Mark knew the town was a drag and he hated being there. His friends especially dislike being there because they had never been to a small township like that.
The four are in Mark's mom's house in the kitchen. It's afternoon and its a beautiful day outside. Chaz was sitting on the stairway that led to the dining room, John was at the table along with Mark and Derick was standing leaning on the sink.
"Yo Mark what's in those woods" said Derick
" What down by the junior high school?'' asked Mark
"Yeah like across the street i saw like a dirt hill going into woods." said Derick
"Uh, i dunno, nothing really, i think that's all it is, is woods, this area is a lot of mines dude,'' said Mark '' i wouldnt be surprised if some of them were scattered along the woods.''
''We should check it out.'' said Derick
"Nah dude those are way out in the fucking boonies, there deep into the woods."
''Is there any close" said Derick
'' I doubt it, i mean the only reason people came to this town was to get out of a town that people were afraid was going to cave in with a mine. so i dont think they would put another town on top of a mine or anywhere close to one" said Mark
"Shit, that sucks"said Derick "that would've been something to do"
"yeah this place sucks dude" said chaz
"We could go take a walk into there if ya want just for something to do. i dont think we'll find anything though." said Mark
"okay" said Derick " is that cool yall"
They all agreed.
"Well go later on it's to fucking hot to go prancing in the woods" said Mark.
"yeah let's go after supper" said John
They wasted the day away. After supper they put some jeans on and took a flashlight being that it would be dark before the got back. They were walking up the road toward the junior high school. It was about 7:30.
"Mark do you know where that path goes" asked Derick
"Yeah, over the hill it stays a path for like 100 feet then the path dies and it's woods." said Mark
"Ah hell yeah this is gonna be some scary shit" said Derick
"It's gonna dark in like an hour" said John
"This better be good dude."
They walked up the hill. And saw bike tire marks in the dirt but made nothing of it.
"here we are guys" said Mark as they got to the hill.
They climed over it and started walking the path. It was starting to get dark. And the path was getting darker being that it was surrounded by trees.
"Jesus Christ dude this is getting creepy" said Mark
"This is fuckin fat dude,'' said Derick who seemed enthused
"Dude were gonna like die and then we'll become like legends of these woods or somthing" said Chaz
"Here's the end" said John
"We gonna keep walkin" asked derick
" why not" said Chaz
They went into the woods. It was now dark.
"dude bust out the fucking flash light man" said mark to derick
"Dude do you know where were going?" said Chaz
"yes" said mark '' in like five minutes we should come up to a stream, i used to hike these woods like crazy"
"Okay cuz were in the fucking boonies right now" said Chaz
Sure enough five minutes later they came to a stream.
"shit how deep is this" asked derick as he flashed the light over the water.
"not to deep you could probably walk across, you'd get water up to about your chin but it's not that deep" said Mark
"Dude this is fucking spooky" said Mark
"Hell yeah dude this is phat yo" said derick quit loudly
"Derik calm down'' said john
"yeah dude quiet down" said mark
"why dude no ones gonna hear us" said chaz'
"i know what are ya freaking out about Mark" said Derick "who'd be around here to bother"
"i dont know just dont yell" said mark
"what are you afraid or something mark" said derick
"no dude i just dont wanna hear you yell, what the fuck do you have to yell for were right here"
"aight bitch chill out" said derick
"Mark" said john as derick and chaz walked left up the stream
"yeah dude"
"what is that" said john pointing to the right
he saw something moving about 150 feet away. He couldnt tell if it was a person or animal only that it was solid and moving. It was dark to so it was just a siloette.
''i dunno dude, is that a person" said mark
"i dont know i cant tell" said john
"Where they go" said mark as he turned around looking for them. He couldnt see them but he saw the light moving so he knew where they were.
"guys" said mark not to loud but loud enough for them to hear
'' what" said chaz
"c'mer, but shut the light off" said mark
"What is it" said Derick
"Shut the light off dude" said mark
"why''
"just do it dude"
"fine dude chill out what the fuck do ya want"
"what is that" said john pointing to the figure which was still moving a close to the ground
"what the fuck" said derick and then put on the light
"shut the light off dude'' said mark
" i wanna see what it is'' said derick
"it's probably an animal or something, i dont want to attract attention" said mark
"fine bitch'' said derick as he shut the light off
It was close to being pitch black out.
"dude what is that'' said chaz
"it's a fuckin person i think dog" said derick
"no way, who would come out here alone at this time" asked john
"how the fuck should i know" said derick
then the figure started to move.
"shit'' said mark as he squatted down
the figure stood up.
"shit'' said derick as they all joined mark and squatted
"That's a fucking person" said mark
"do you think they can see us" asked chaz
"of course we were loud and had a light" said mark
"how long was that bitch there" asked derick
"i dunno john just saw there where he is now, they coulda been there the whole time. " said Mark
The figure stood and it seemed like it was just staring into space. then the boys all looked at eachother.
"let's get outta here" said chaz
"it'll see us" said mark
"just wait until it goes away'' said derick
then all of a sudden they heard a noise branch breaking in the direction of the figure and they turned and looked and it was gone, but yet they could here it run through the woods.
"shit dude, we have to walk back that way" said Mark
''let's go" said chaz "dont use the flashlight"
"let's run like hell" said Mark
"which way are we fucking going" said derick
" just keep going straight and off to the right" said Mark " we'll come across to that path and then go right and follow that until we get to the hill.''
"GO" said derick as they all took off
They ran as fast as they could, they had it in their minds that the thing was chasing them. They didnt look back once. They finally got to the hill and climbed over it as fast as they could. They walked back to mark's mom's house scared shitless.
Mark and John were sitting on the long couch and derick and chaz were by the little one by the window.
"dude who do think that was" said John
"i dont know, who would be out there alone at that time of night and then just take off into the woods" said mark
'' well did yall see those bike marks on that hill" said derick
"yeah maybe it was someone on a bike" said chaz
"where the hell was the bike then." said mark
"nah it looked like an adult" said john
"well sometimes people go to streams and shit with jugs and fill up with spring water.'' said mark
"yeah but dude, jugs of spring water cost like a dollar, who would walk all the way out there at night to save a dollar." said chaz
"yeah" said john
"it's probably nothing,'' said derick "it was probably just someone riding there bike and stopped to get a drink. i mean they didnt bother us or do anything unbelievable, they crouched down by the stream and stood up and left."
"true i just dont know why they'd be out there that late at that time of night alone" said Mark
"they probably werent alone, they probably had some friends with them" said derick
"yeah"
"who cares" said derick "were making a big deal about something that's not a big deal"
"yeah i dont know why but i cant stop thinking a out it.'' said Mark
"well i mean still, that doesnt happen every day, someonedrinking from a stream by themselves and then taking off in the woods at night" said john laughing
"yeah who gives a fuck" said derick
They all blew it off and went to sleep. The next day they walked back into the woods just to see where they were and of course it was something to do. It was about noon and they were walking up the hill. they walked to the stream.
"dude this is nice clean little stream.'' said derick
"yeah know you can go swimming in it" said mark like he was joking but was in fact serious. It was hot as balls and they all thought it was a good idea. They all stripped down to just shorts and jumped in.
"dude this feels good" said derick
"water is perfect" said Mark
"dude noone like pollutes this water like dumping trash and taking dumps and pees in here or anything" asked chaz
"nah dude, not many people even know this is back here, its runs from those mountians" said mark pointing to his left away from the town "and it runs around the town"
"The water is clear" said john
" it's all natural spring shit" said mark
They all goofed around a little bit and cooled off. Then chaz stepped on something.
"uhhhh" said Chaz
"Whats your problem'' said mark
"I stepped on something dude" said chaz
"probably a rock dude" said mark
"nah i dont think it is dude" said chaz as he picked the thing up with his foot.
"get it dude" said derick
" i am'' said chaz
"what is it" said mark
"does it look i have it yet" said chaz as he reached and took the object out of his foot
"what the hell" said mark
"it's a ring" said chaz
"pretty expensive little bitch" said mark
"dude that's a fucking diamond" said Derick
"nah cant be, how would that end up at the bottom of a stream" said mark
"dude that is you can tell" said derick '' you know how much that bitch is worth, hold on to it"
"i am" said chaz
"that cant be real" said john "how would it end up here"
"the fuck should i know it is though" said derick
"you should pawn that bitch" said mark
"you should see if it's real first though" said john
"how" said derick
"that is true" said mark "whoever you show it to will think you stole it being that you dont even know if it's real or not"
"true' said derick
"you cant go up to someone and say that you found this on a bottom of a stream" said john
Chaz took the ring and put it in his shirt pocket.
"Yeah i'll get rid of it when we get back to florida"
"maybe someone went swimming and it fell off" said john
"that thing is old though, did you see how big it was, i never saw one that looked like that, it's like an antique" said mark
They got out dried off a little bit. Then they got dressed.
"hey" said chaz looking in his pocket
"what" said derick
"the ring isnt in my pocket anymore" said chaz
''It probably fell out" said john
"look around" said mark
They looked around the area and couldnt find the ring.
"fuck it dude, i'm hungry" said chaz "let's just come back"
They left and went to mark's nana's house for lunch. She was sitting on her porch as they were walking up. They started talking about what they did since they came up. They told her about what happened the night before.
"oh jeez" said nana "make sure you be careful"
Mark's great aunt margie came walking out onto the porch. They told her what happened. After a while of throwing ideas of who it was margie jokingly said
''maybe it was mandy" said margie
"who" said mark laughing
"it's an old story around here, it's a bunch of bs though" said margie "ya know it's just one of those rumors that goes around one person tells another and it gets fabricated on the way with fake info"
"I never heard it" said mark
"well here's how i heard the story, i havent heard it in a while but when i was a little girl my father told it to me" said margie as she had everyone's full attention "but sometime in the 1850's there was a younger women ya know like in her 20's, she was about to get married. and sometime in the winter she got into an argument with her fiancee. well it got kind of bad and she ran away into the woods, and this is january remember. Well that night she never came back and the fiancee who's name i think was david wellings or something like that got worried because she ran off and stayed the night in the freezing woods. cuz there was no where else to go, ya know, there werent any other houses around at that time. but after the police went looking for her and they couldnt find her they said that she drowned in that stream right behind about half a mile behind where citerio is now"
the boys looked at eachother because that was the same stream that they were at.
"but they never found a body in the stream or in the woods" said margie "she just dissapeared"
"Well that did happen" said nana "i remember my mother telling me about that"
"yeah that's true" said margie "but the rumors about her ghost is what i'm saying the BS is"
"Ghost?" said Mark
"yeah" said margie "a little after that happened, after she was said to be dead, for the next couple of years there were supposidly lots of sightings of her, either in those woods or walking along the road which was a dirt one there, but there was a lot of people who thought she was still alive. and even now you hear an occasional story about someone driving down that road at late night and seeing someone walking in those woods and if they heard that story they immediatly think it's a ghost ya know. could be a guy just walking his dog"
"I havent heard any of those but i'll tell ya what though" said nana as she turn to the group and had a very serious look "after that my mother said that he went on to be a rich business man because he took over the coal mines and he was probably the richest in the town and no one liked him because they thought he was the one behind her dissappearance"
"well yeah" said margie "he ran this town for about forty years and then sold the mines to a local company and he left Freeland"
"where'd he go" said mark
"no one know's" said margie "some say he went to upper new york, some say he went to his hometown somewhere in virginia noone really knows because noone really paid attention to it those days you know. everyone just knew that he was selling the mines and they assumed that he would move out being that there is nothing else here, and he did but no one cared"
"god dude" said mark
"and noone to this day knows what happened with her" said derick
"no" said margie "after he sold the mines and he left noone cared about them anymore but the story circulates still because there is people who think they see something out there"
"Maybe that's what we saw" said mark
"i doubt it because that's a mostly made up story with the ghost i mean that didnt happen" said margie
Later the night at mark's mom's house. it was about 11:30 at night.
"yo mark'' said derick
"yeah" said mark
"wanna go for a ride" said derick "by those woods"
"okay" said mark "as long as we dont have to get out and walk around"
"how bout you guys'' said derick " wanna go for a ride"
''yeah just as long as were in a car" said john
They got into mark's mom's dodge ram. they drove down the road which was empty and there wasnt a soul in sight. They drove by very slowly. It was pitch black.
"do you see anything" said mark
"i dont see shit" said derick '' keep going and turn around up there"
"i am let's just follow the woods a little bit" said mark
"this is fucking creepy" said derick
"well supposidly like a half a mile behind that stream, like on the other side, there's like two or three house that caved in with a mine. but noone gives a fuck enough to go out there and look." said mark
They turned around and drove by again. Still they saw nothing. Meanwhile chaz was still thinking about the ring.
"dude let me out" said chaz as they drove by the hill
"what" said mark
"i wanna get that ring dude its pissing me off'' said chaz
''dude i'm not walking out there now" said mark
"i'll go by myself i'll be back in a half hour" said chaz "that's a bunch of crap about that lady there's no ghost"
"dude i'll go with you" said derick
"have fun i'm staying" said mark
"okay dude," said derick "what about you john"
"i'm gonna stay man"said john
"okay that's cool" said derick
"where are you guys going to be" said chaz
"i'm gonna go park behind citerios right by where the woods start" said mark
"aight peace" said derick as he and chaz started climbing the hill
Mark pulled up the dirt lot behind citerio and parked in the pitch black area where the woods start.
"dude they're fucking crazy" said mark "i aint going out there after hearing that"
"i know" said john "like i know it aint true but still it's scary man''
"i dunno dude" said mark "like i would think it's not true but you never know"
"i know like anythings possible" said john
"for all we know that could've been her there last night." said mark
Meanwhile chaz and derick were in the woods about 40 feet from the stream. The stream was not yet visible becuase it was pitch black but they heard the water flowing. Then they heard something that sounded like footsteps in the water.
"dude do you hear that" said chaz
"what" said derick
"listen'' said chaz" it's coming from up there" pointing towards the stream
"shit whos up there" asked derick
"i dunno let's go see" said chaz "just be quiet"
They took about ten steps then they heard footsteps coming toward them.
"shit dude" said chaz after he heard it
"their coming this way" said derick
"HELLO?" said chaz very loudly
The footsteps got louder and quicker.
"go!!!" said derick as he began to ran.
They took off and follow the trail out over the hill and on to the road.
"Where the fuck is he" said derick as they got down the hill
"up here" said chaz as he took off up the street to where the truck was
They ran up to the truck scaring the shit out of mark and john.
"What the fuck" said mark as chaz opened the back door as derick and chaz piled in the back
"just go" said chaz
Mark pulled out and drove home.
"What the fuck happened" said mark
"something is out there" said chaz
"we heard someone walking in the stream and then they came toward us" said derick
"who" said Mark'
"How the fuck should i know" said derick " it was pitch fucking black"
"Are you fucking serious or are you just pulling a joke dude" said mark as he pulled up to the house
"We're serious dude," said derick ''someone is out there"
"Go out there and see dude" said chaz
"that's okay i'll take your word for it" said mark
They were laying around in the living with the light on and watching tv.
"dude i think that's true" said derick
"what" said mark
"that mandy shit or whatever" said derick '' i think she's out there"
"i think that was her what we heard " said chaz
"and what we saw the other day" said mark
"yeah" said chaz
"jesus christ dude" said derick
"I'm not going back there'' said john
"tommorow we should go find the house you were taking about " said derick "during the day of course"
"dude i'm not even sure if that's true, that's just something i heard" said mark
"well let's go see if it's true" said derick "dude it'll be in the day it's not like anything is going to happen"
"i dont care dude" said mark " but it is a long walk though"
"what about you guys" said derick
"i dont care'' said chaz '' i'm not going there at night but i'm curious now and i''d like to see what's back there"
"i'll go" said john "it's kind of interest
John was very afraid of going back there because he didnt beleive that derick and chaz heard anything that night. He thought they were just joking. The next morning Mark was the first to wake up. He made some breakfast and then woke the rest up.
"Hurry up and get ready guys i wanna leave so we can get there before it starts getting hot" said mark
They all ate and threw some shitty clothes on.
'' Alright let's go walk to the hill" said derick
"Actually we could drive to a town called eckley and walk from there" said mark
"what the fuck would we go there for" said derick
"well that's closer to where the houses are supposed to be and if we go there we dont have to cross that stream." said mark
"yeah let's do that" said chaz
They drove to the small coal mining town of eckley. They drove down this dirt road that which first led by the old stippens but shortly went into the woods. He parked off to the side of the dirt road which was pretty well into the woods and was covered by woods. They stepped out of the truck.
"alright fellas" said mark "ready"
"let's go' said derick " which way marcos"
"we have to go down this hill and if i remember right there should be a path around here" said mark
They slid down the hill with was full of tree and twigs. The got to the bottom and started walking straight ahead to find a path.
"dude are sure there is path here" said chaz "cuz this look like were in the middle of nowhere here"
"i thought there was maybe it's a little further'' said mark
"i dunno mark we should've been getting to the house by now." said derick
"if there is a house" said mark "you cant yell at me for not finding something that's not there to begin with"
"okay dude" said chaz "calm down"
"well'' said mark and then taking a long pause "i dunno"
"let's keep going something will come up" said derick
"okay" said mark
About a 10 minutes later they were walking and they came across a dirt road.
"Well if this aint a path i dont know what the fuck is" said derick
"well this certainly supports the theory of having houses around" said mark
"what do you mean" said john
'' well back then the got around by horses on dirt roads just like this. and the homes were right on the road" said mark
"so your saying that it should be on this road if it's here" said john
"yeah" said mark "which way though, i dont know"
"you wanna split up" said derick
"okay, but only for ten minutes" said mark '' if you find anything run down here yelling"
"okay" said derick " me and john and you and chaz"
"okay well take the right you take the left" said Mark "remember ten minutes we come back here and we think of what to do from then"
" okay let's go" said derick
They separated and started walking.
"i really hope we find something' said mark ''otherwise im gonna feel like a dick because we didnt"
"dont worry about it dude, were all interested in this like crazy, it's our curiosity that has us out here" said chaz
"did you really here something last night, or were you and derick fuckin around" said mark
"no dude, something or someone was out there" said chaz
Meanwhile
"derick" said john '' do you really believe all that about mandy or whoever"
'' i cant say i did at first" said derick but i sure a shit do now after last night, that was the scariest shit dude"
Then as john and derick were walking the saw a old run down home the was torn apart, falling apart. it was a dark brown and even black in some place, it was hard to see some of it because it was covered by bushes and trees.
"holy shit" said derick
"is that it'' said john
"i guess " said derick "dude this fucking insane look at this place"
They walk through the heavy bushes and up to the house.
"how old do u think this place is" said john
"it had to be abandoned for atleast 100 years let alone how long ago it was built is fuckin over my head" said derick
"where are you going derick let's get mark and chaz then we'll check this out" said john
"we will hold on though" said derick as he walked on the porch. He looked in the windo and saw nothing so he then went to the side of the house and looked in. John followed him. He looked through the window. Then all of a sudden the heard a thump from the upstairs.
"oh shit" said derick
Then they heard the front upstairs window creeking open. Fearing what it was they kept quiet and ran through the thick bushes and weeds in the back and into the woods.
"Okay has it been ten minutes yet" said mark
"yeah it will be by the time we get back" said chaz
they turned around and started walking back. They got back from where they started and they noticed that john and derick werent back.
"Where the fuck are they" said Mark
"DERICK" yelled chaz
Meanwhile Derick heard chaz's yell but were to afraid to answer because they didnt want whatever was in the house to know where they were.
"Let's go get them" said mark as him and chaz started walking down the path.
"Maybe they found something" said chaz
"they would've come back" said mark
Then they approached the house.
"oh shit" said Mark
"what the hell is that" said chaz
"lets go check it out maybe they are in there" said mark
They went to the front porch and peeked through the dirty misty window.
"i cant see anything" said Mark "DERICK, JOHN"
"I dont think they're in there" said chaz
"me neither" said mark
'' let's check" said chaz
"What are you crazy" said mark " i'm not going in there"
"Dude theres nothing in there look at it" said chaz
They opened the front door and walked in slowly. Mark and chaz just kind of looked at each other like they wanted to call for derick and john but werent sure if they should.
"Derick" said chaz
"john'' said mark loudly
Then they heard footsteps from the upstairs and it was making the wood creek.
"do you hear that" said mark
"someone's up there" said chaz "JOHN"
They walked to the staircase.
"JOHN,DERICK" said CHaz "answer me you fuckin assholes"
The footsteps continued. Then all of a sudden the Mark and chaz heard this from outside.
"Mark, Chaz, where the fuck are you"
Mark and chaz looked at eachother and took off through the front door and saw john and derick standing on the dirt road in front of the house.
"Dude get away from that house" said derick
"let's go" said mark as he ran up the road
They started running back to through the woods.
"Someone is in that house" said mark
"i know" said derick "me and john found it and we went to the side to look around and someone opened the upstairs window"
"well me and chaz saw that you guys were back so we went looking for you" said mark " we went into that house because we thought you were in there. when we got in we heard someone walking around inside and we still thought it was you. but then we heard you guys yelling from outside so we fuckin took off"
"who the fuck was it" said derick
"who'd be in that house" said chaz
"maybe some other kids" said john
"it wasnt no other kids'' said derick "who the fuck would come all the way out here and hide out in a house"
''besides us" said mark
''Mark no one else would go all the way to that house" said derick "how would they do it, if they drove where we did we would've seen there car or atleast tracks. and if they didnt drive who the fuck would walk that far"
"What the fuck was that then" said john
"maybe what my aunt said was true" said mark
"maybe that's the house she was talking about" said derick
''maybe" said mark
"maybe it's her ghost" said derick
"i dont know" said john "it seemed so unbeleivable at first but it's getting more beleivable every day."
"I dont know john" said mark "what else"
"is it somewhat feesable that someone could still be living there" said chaz
"no way" said mark "those have been condemned for 100 years, no one is there, at least i think" "maybe" said derick
"i mean i thought it was just a rumor that there was a house there" said mark
"well that's not a rumor now" said derick
They found the truck and went home. They were sitting in the kitchen. Mark, Derick, and john at the table and chaz sitting on the the three steps.
'' This is crazy" said mark
"It's killing me to know who was in that house" said john
'' call me what you want but i think it's that girl your aunt was talking about" said derick
"well i think, honestly" said mark " i think it was her, i mean it all works out, like that sounds more reasonable than someone walking around these woods at all times"
"yeah it sounds stupid but" said john
"to tell you the truth i'm fascinated with this whole thing" said mark
"me too'' said derick
"i know i wanna find out more about that lady" said john
"me too, she's got my attention" said derick
"how though" said chaz
"i have no idea" said mark
"what about a library or something" said derick
''nah we dont have one of those high tech computer jobs just a old piece of shit thing" said mark
"What about hazleton" (hazelton was the town next to freeland, many people from freeland actually considered that they were from hazleton because freeland was so small)
"there library might have something we could use" said mark "like a newspaper archive or something"
"they should have something on it," said derick " she was missing for christ's sake"
The next day they woke up early and went to the hazleton library. The place was empty. Noone was in a library in the summer. They all huddled up by one computer with mark at the mouse.
"okay what was the girls name" said mark
''amanda uh, oh shit" said derick " i dont know dude"
"fuck" said mark "i guess i have to do this by scratch"
"just type in a time frame" said chaz
"go idea" said mark "it was like the 1800's all this happened"
"yeah type in 1800 to 1899 and put missing persons or something" said chaz
"okay" said mark "here ya go"
"dude there's like 100 fucking matches bro" said derick
They tried a bunch of different stories that they went through and none of them had anything to do with what they were looking for. Then an hour later.
''what's this one" said mark
"EXTENDED SEARCH FOR MISSING FIANCE" said derick
"Maybe that's it, she was supposed to get married" said john
"this is it dude look it, amanda cersoll, disappeared monday night after taking a walk in the woods. freeland police have extended there search past the stockton mountains to hazleton and eckley. after two days of extensive searching and no results authorities will search those areas for atleast two more days." said mark
"shit dude that's her" said derick
"christ" said john "that has to be her"
"her name is amanda cersoll" said mark "let's see if there is anything under her name"
"yeah' said derick
"there's a bunch but all the headlines are about wellings so let's just check this one out that should have something on her" said mark
"SEARCH CALLED AS WELLINGS FIANCE PRESUMED DEAD" said john
"the search for missing amanda cersol, fiance to local tycoon david wellings, was called after four days. due to the extreme low temperatures and storms which dropped temperatures well below zero, officials say it's physically impossible to survive under those conditions in the woods'' said derick
"ya see i dont understand this" said mark "they never found a body so how the fuck would they know"
"well you gotta think that was 1857" said john " they searched the woods by foot, they didnt have helicopters or anything like that, so they might have missed alot of land."
"probably i mean those are alot of woods and she probably tried finding somewhere to hide cuz of the cold. "said mark
"christ" said derick '' i know where she is now, in that fucking house"
"that's it, the rest is just about wellings" said mark
''lets get outta here" said john
They went back to mark's mom's house.
"what do ya say we just walk the woods" said derick
"for what there's nothing else to see" said mark
"we dont know that" said derick " there might be something laying around out there''
"i dont know dude" said john "i mean i seriously think that is her out there and i dont know why we should bother her anymore"
"thats true" said mark "cuz i mean me and chaz were fucking in her house for christ sake"
"i think we found out what we wanted and we should just leave her alone" said john
"she's never bothered anybody'' said mark "no one even knows about her"
"let's just end it" said chaz
"dude let's just go out there again, i'm so caught up in this i'm not gonna just forget about it" said derick "lets go see it before we go back to florida"
"okay let's just take a walk to the stream and we'll see whats around" said mark " i was curious just to see what's back there"
The next day they took a walk to the dirt hill. The climbed over it and they began walking down the path. Then they finally got to the stream.
"Let's go across" said derick
''why" said mark
"see whats back there" said derick "we already know what the stream looks like''
"okay" said john "why not mark"
"okay let's do it" said mark "we have to swim across"
They swam across and started walking the other side. The house was a little ways from the stream but the boys were walking in the other way so they would of course miss it.
After about an hour of walking.
"what the hell is that" said derick
"i dont know" said mark
They walked closer to what they saw. There were huge piece of coal laying around with a huge hole in the ground that was about 50 feet deep but it was more of an inclined and looked like a bowl because erosion and dirt was filling it.
"Christ" said john
"what the hell is it" said mark
"it's like a fucking giant bowl" said derick
"look it runs all the way throught the woods" said john
"you can practically walk down there" said derick as he began to walk down
"derick be careful dude" said mark
"it's solid bro" said derick "it's like normal ground"
"What the hell happened" said mark
They left and walked around it. They walked around for a while but found nothing. So they decided to turn around and walk back.
That night they were sitting on the deck. It was pitch black. The only light around was the street light which was across the street.
"What the hell was that" said john
'' i dont something had to happend like a mine collapse or it could 've used to been strippens" said mark
"well were going back the day after tommorow" said derick
"i know" said john "it wasnt that bad though, i mean i wont forget it anytime soon"
"What do ya wanna do tommorow" said chaz
"chill" said derick
"yeah" said mark "i didnt do much of that and i need to"
They sat and bullshit for a while then decided to go in and go to sleep. The next day Derick woke up and saw john sitting on the opposite couch eating cerial.
"Where's mark and chaz" said derick groggy
"upstairs" said john
''what time is it" said derick
"about three" said john
"shit" said derick "the day is already fucking over"
"i know i just woke up too'' said john
mark and chaz came walking down the stairs.
"thought you were fucking dead" said mark "thought mandy got ya'
"where yall going" said derick
''wal mart" said chaz
"we have to get some shit before we go back and then were gonna hit the mall" said mark
"wanna go" said chaz
"nah i'm just gonna chill" said derick
''we'll only be a few hours" said mark "we're leaving at like five so"
Then two hours later they left. Derick and john just layed around and started packing.
It then was about nine oclock.
"where the fuck are they" said derick
"i dont know" said john '' they said they be back by eight"
An hour later
"shit dude" said derick "it's fuckin ten o'clock"
Derick and john went outside on the deck and just sat around. Then at about 10:30 mark and chaz pulled up. They walked up onto the deck.
"Where they fuck were you guys" said derick
"hey you guys have to hear this" said chaz
"chaz i'm gonna get a fucking flashlight" said mark "none of the fucking porchlight work"
Mark came out with a flashlight and they all sat in a circle on the pitch black deck.
"were late because i got curious about what had happened out in those woods so me and chaz went back to the library" said mark
"what'd you find" said derick
"here we printed all these out" said chaz
"first this one" said mark "here look at this"
"ECKLEY MINES EXPLOSION KILLS 38" said derick
"Now this date is the day after amanda ran off" said mark "yesterday morning a small portion of the eckley mines exploded from an unknown reason but the explosion was said to take place deep inside the mine causing the ground to cave in. 38 were killed. about twice as much missing and about 18 of the dead were burned beyond recongnition and could not be identified. That's what happened where we were yesterday, it was where the ground caved in from the mine explosion."
"christ" said john
"so think about this'' said mark "after she ran off she probably looked for somewhere to hide so she can get out of the cold she probably went to the mine to hide and get out of the cold as if it did any good. Then the mine exploded and the part where she was caved in and she was killed. And the reason they never found her was because where she was there was no miners so they didnt have a reason to look."
"read the next one" said chaz
"yeah here" said mark "this is like an interview sorta, it's an article about the aniversary of her disapearance and they have yet to solve anything. here the reporter asks how are doing a year after this has all happened. David wellings quotes "well it's hard, i find myself pacing back and forth in my bedroom which would of been ours. and when i hear something outside i quickly go over to the bedroom window and open it and look out to see if it's her but i know it's not. it's hard. sometimes i even go down to the stream where i last saw her and i kneel down and stare into the water. i dont even have my engagment ring because i lost it in that stream and i have nothing from her. in the past year things have gotten twice as worse"
"oh shit'' said derick "its him"
"all this time i thought it was her in those woods" said john
"so he must've heard me and john out there by the house that other day and thought we were her so that's when we heard the window open" said derick
"i dont believe this " said john
"it makes sense now" said chaz
"that's why noone knew where he went he didnt go anywhere" said mark
"and the ring" said derick "that was the only thing he had and he'd lost it for all those years and chaz found it" said derick
"he took it" said john "whoa shit"
"all this time'' said derick
"he sure fooled alot of people" said mark
"unbelievable" said mark
"everything is true" said derick
"yeah" said chaz "and anyone who here's it would think it's bullshit"
"i'm not gonna even tell my aunt" said mark "let it be a myth and keep people wondering. if they really wanna know about they can go find out"
"christ" said chaz
"well what do ya say we lay this to rest guys'' said mark
"yeah, i'm tired and i'm gonna go to sleep we have to catch an early flight" said derick
"yeah" said john "i'm not gonna stop thinking about this though, that's just to much"
"yeah i'm beat so i'm gonna let this go " said chaz
"yeah, just think he's out there right now" said derick "what do you think he's doing, is he in the house, in the woods, at the stream"
"or is someone staring in his face and they dont know it" said mark
by Mark Marhon
