Henry Gray

Mark Schultz and Bud Black were two young thugs that even the criminal element, including drug pushers, avoided like the plague itself. It wasn't that they could be mean at times. It was that they were evil all the time and viscously evil when they wanted to have what they called "fun". These two boys parents were not super outstanding members of the community. They had grown up in the hippie generation when "doing your own thing" and "in your face" rebellion was at its height. They had let their sons grow up doing whatever they wanted. Both families had money, the source of which was open to question. Because of this Mark and Bud had any "toy" they wanted, when they wanted it.

At the moment they were none too happy. Mark's father had bailed them both out of jail, again. This time they had been locked up for picking on old Henry Gray. Gray was an old recluse who lived outside of town. He tended to pay attention to his own business and tried to avoid anyone else's business. This wasn't hard to do because he lived in a Revolutionary War vintage house on a hundred acres of hills, woods, and swamp. He had no good farming land. His ancestors were all buried in the family crypt, on the top of one of the hills on his property. The family had, according to some, a lot of money; but they didn't seem to spend any of it. For example, the old Gray house had no power lines to it, but it did have a phone line.

In general, the Gray family seemed to be loners. Although Henry had a daughter who lived about ten miles from his house, the only person living with Henry was his granddaughter, Val. She was very pretty, in a gothic sort of way.

A week before Mark and Bud had been bailed out of jail they had decided to give old man Gray some trouble, just for the fun of it. He was a feeble old man who looked like a skeleton in pale white skin. They broke out several of his ground level windows and were trying to start a grass fire when they suddenly found themselves on the business end of a double barreled 10ga shotgun. Henry held them at gun point until the sheriff could send someone out to take them into custody.

One of the conditions for bail to be Grayed was that the windows had to be repaired to Mr. Gray's satisfaction. Reluctantly Bud Black's father had seen to the repairs. As a local building contractor he had reasonable contacts for getting the job done right and a relatively low cost.

Mark and Bud had been truly taken aback when they were put in jail and had to stay there until the damage had been fixed. They both agreed that they had to teach old Mr. Gray a lesson.

Two weeks after Bud and Mark had been bailed out, old Mr. Gray died. As per family custom, the body was not embalmed but put into a wooden coffin and placed in the family crypt, on the hill. Once the coffin had been placed in the crypt, Val, and her aunt, returned to the family home.

Two months passed and Halloween was approaching. Mark and Bud had an idea how to get back at the Gray family. They planned on opening Henry Gray's coffin and stealing his body. Then they would soak it in gasoline, hang it in a nearby tree, and set it on fire. Then they planned on visiting Val Gray and having some "fun" with her before they set her house on fire. They didn't plan on leaving Val alive to act as a witness.

It was after dark on Halloween night when they went to the front door of the Gray house. They had no trouble seeing things since there was a wonderfully bright full moon and clear sky. They walked up to the door and knocked.

From inside a female voice called out: "Who's there?"

"Just a couple of old friends of your grandfather."

Val opened the door a crack, holding a kerosene lamp in her hand. As the door opened, Bud and Mark pushed the door wide open and stepped in.

"You fell for it, you slut. Didn't anybody ever tell you to beware of strangers and be afraid of the dark?"

"No, there is no fear of the dark in our family. We happen to like the night. Now, what do you two troublemakers want?"

"Well, we're going to take you to where your grandpa is buried, dig him up, douse him with gasoline, hoist him up into a tree and let you watch him burn. How will you like that?"

"It won't work."

"Listen to her, Bud. She thinks we can't do it."

"I guarantee you can't do it. Take my word for it. For your own sakes I suggest that you forget all about this stupid plan. The further away from this area you are the safer it will be for you."

"And just what do you think makes this place unsafe for us, sweetie?"

"Me, for one, and at least one other that you don't expect to meet."

"I wonder what drugs she's on, Mark. Did you get that, we should be worried about her? What a joke. Now, you dumb slut, you are going with us while we do this. Then, we're going to have a nice little party with you as the toy. When we get done, you and the house will be burned up. How do you like that idea?"

Val, said nothing. Her face made both of the thugs uneasy. She looked almost happy. "Let's go. I want to see you try to do what you said you were going to do. How are you going to open the crypt?"

"What do you mean, crypt?"

"His coffin is in the family crypt. It is a limestone and marble building with a locked door that is protected by a heavy locked metal gate, and other things."

"Who has the key?"

"It isn't here! It is in safe keeping at my Aunt's house."

"Where does she live?"

"About ten miles from here."

"Call her. Tell her you need the key."

"You don't want to open that crypt. I won't warn you again, don't even think of opening it; especially tonight."

"There she goes again Mark, maybe she thinks we're afraid of ghosts and goblins."

"Yeah. Get on the phone, bitch, tell your aunt that you need the key."

Val did as she was directed.

Two minutes later there was a loud sound like a clap of thunder, followed by the front door opening and a very old woman stepping into the room.

"How did you get here so fast?" asked Bud.

"Maybe I used my broom to fly over here. What do you think?" Her aunt then turned to Val and said; "Val, dear, to ask for this key told me you needed someone here right away so I came over the fast way. Who are these two......people?"

"They want to open the crypt, take out grandfather's body, and burn it up. I've warned them that it wasn't a good idea. I've decided to just let them try to do what they want."

The aunt suddenly had a very strange smile on her face. "You two . .uhh. .'gentlemen'.. . want the key, do you? Well, here it is." She took out a large very old and ornate key. It was obviously a very strange key since it had different teeth cut into its two thin edges.

Bud took it, with trepidation showing in his face. "Are you sure you want to do this, Mark?"

"Don't tell me their mumbo jumbo is getting to you. These two are probably both just crazy. Let's go."

It took them twenty minutes to get up to the crypt. Neither of the punks liked the look of the building. It didn't have pretty scroll work, angles, cherubs, or any such things cut into the rock. Instead it had strange symbols cut into the stone door step and around the walls. The symbols included pentagrams, and old Nordic runes. Nothing seemed to grow next to the building. It was devoid of grass or any other observable life form. The gate wasn't a simple wrought iron gate, it was made of two inch thick steel bars.

"Why is this gate so heavy? Are you hiding valuables inside?" asked Bud.

"No, there is nothing inside that needs guarding."

Bud took the key and inserted it into the ancient lock. He turned the key and could hear something mechanical move, but the gate wouldn't open.

"What's wrong with this stupid gate?"

"You see that funny five sided handle in the middle of the gate? You have to turn it six times to the left to pull all the pins that go into the rock."

Bud looked at Mike, shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to turn the funny knob in the door. They could all hear the sounds of metal scraping along stone. At the sixth turn, the gate could be pulled open. It wasn't easy to pull it since the gate was much heavier than they expected.

Once the gate was open they looked at the door. It appeared to be made of a solid slab of steel. Since it wasn't rusty they assumed it was stainless steel. The key fit into the keyhole on this door, but didn't want to turn in the lock.

"Ok, bitch, what do we have to do this time?"

"Push the key in, against a spring and then turn it to the right."

Bud did as he was told and the door swung inward. Along the walls were wooden coffins, resting on stone shelves.

"Which one has the old man in it?" demanded Mike.

"Do you see the coffin in the far rear? The one that is on a sort of base all by itself? That's his coffin."

The two thugs, eager to get the body moved over to the coffin on its base. Both of them noticed how much colder the far end of the crypt was. They tried to slide the coffin off the base and found that they couldn't move it.

"What's the problem with this thing? We can't move it."

"It's fastened to the base with a large wooden peg. You need to pull the wooden peg out to allow the coffin to be moved."

"These Gray folks are crazy! Ok. where is this peg?"

"Do you see the steel ring set in the wide end of the coffin's top? Take hold of it and pull it straight up."

Mike grabbed the ring and started to pull up on it. As he did he found that it removed a wooden pin that was at lest an inch in diameter and at least two feet long. The pin was sharpened to a point on its lower end. The middle part of the pin seemed to be wet.

"Eww, what is this stuff?" Bud shined a light on the peg. He and Mike could see that it looked like blood.

"Ok you two. What's going on here?"

"You'll see. You wanted the body. All you need to do is open the clasps that hold down the lid on the coffin and the body will be right there."

As Mike and Bud set to the task of opening the latches on the steel bands that surrounded the wooden coffin Val and her aunt edged slowly back to the door. The door was swinging shut before Mike and Bud realized what was happening.

"Ka-chunk" went the lock mechanism. Moments later they heard the sound of the pins in the gate as they slid into the solid rock.

Both thugs looked at the inside of the door. There were no cracks, or panels in the door. The only way to open the door was on the outside. Both men started to yell to the women, "let us out!" There was no answer.

It was then that they heard the creaking of wood and steel hinges. Moments later they saw the old man. They saw the hole over his heart, where the wooden pin had gone through him. They also saw his very large canine teeth, three inch claws on hands and feet, and a look of hunger on his face. They only had a few moments to appreciate his evil smile.