Shadow Falls - Again

Ashley, sexy as ever, was at her desk when I entered the Palavian offices. She was professional, but also had that knowing sexy smile on her face when I asked for Mr. Bannister.

"Roberta will be right out to meet you." Ashley professionally told me. And under her breath, nearly a whisper. "Mark, are you feeling okay?"

I guess my appearance was still a little off.

I hadn't spoken to Ashley since Friday night, well I guess technically it has been Saturday morning when I had taken her home. She didn't seem unhappy or upset by this. She was normal.

Roberta, Bannister's EA, came out to meet me and usher me back to the offices. For a half hour we reviewed my proposal for Palavian. And for the first time in days my mind was off my anxiety and the strange happenings at my house.

Bannister seemed interested and we continued to talk about business as we exited the Palavian offices. At street level we walked to the parking lot. We were going to dine at the prestigious Portland Club where Julian was a member.

As we walked I noticed Ashley fifty feet or so ahead of us on the sidewalk in front of the building. I enjoyed watching her. Just then a black BMW pulled up and she got in the passenger seat. I had the briefest of glimpses of a smiling dark haired man wearing sunglasses in the driver's seat.

It looked like the same BMW I had seen her get in last week. Huh?

The meeting with Julian Bannister actually went quite well. He had pledged to give us some of their business and depending on how we performed, it could be much more. This could develop into some great new business for Eastside.

We departed on the street in front of the office so I was not able to see Ashley again in this business environment. I thought that I needed to call her later.

That evening, I actually felt better than I had in quite a few days. I summoned the energy to go for a run after work. I rewarded myself with a couple of beers. Later that night, physically tired, but with a feeling of accomplishment I slept in my own bed.

Was I dreaming? I think I was. In the dream Carol is sitting in our room on the green chair. She was asking me about the day we hiked to Shadow Falls. She asked me why I let go. Her voice was etched with sadness.

"Carol," I told her, in the dream. "My hand slipped."

"Mark," she answered. "Please don't lie to me. I know you let go on purpose. I saw it in your eyes. You need to tell me why." She said to me.

"I'm sorry." I told her. "I miss you. I'm sorry." I was now softly weeping in my dream.

With that, the dream faded away. In the dream, when I told her I missed her, she didn't accuse me of lying about that statement. I realized I really did miss her.

I woke early, the dream vivid in my memory. It did not evaporate the way most dreams do. The content stayed strong. And the odor was back. Strong in the bedroom. I went to examine the chair, there was the same dampness on the chair that I had found once before. This was all so weird.

I was startled, jumpy, anxious again as I prepared for the day. When I saw my face in the mirror, I did not look good. I needed to do something to try to find a normal existence. Things could not continue like this.

I powered through the day and forced myself to run again after work. I was exhausted, but anxious. What would happen tonight I wondered?

What was strange was that now that Carol was gone I began to see how much I truly missed her. In an odd way, as frightening as it was, I hoped her spirit would be back tonight so I could try to communicate with her.

Things did not go well that night. I drifted off to sleep physically and emotionally exhausted, but anxious and fearful too.

This time a loud thump in my room startled me awake.

"Huh, what?" I half screamed.

Something was in the room but I could tell it wasn't Carol. The odor was mostly the rotting smell and the image was large and dark, much larger than Carol. Darker than the gray normal shapes within the bedroom. I sensed something evil about this apparition. It moved closer to me, the stench getting stronger. I was petrified, I wanted to turn on the light but I couldn't move. I closed my eyes and wished this evil entity was gone.

I don't know how long I lay there unable to move. Many minutes, possibly more than an hour later, I was able to make my hand go to the table lamp and turn it on. Nothing in the room. The smell was bad, but not as bad as when I was first awakened.

Slowly and nervously, my blanket around my shoulder, I crept down the stairs. I retrieved the bat and checked the doors. I turned on all the lights. Everything seemed normal. Walking through the kitchen I almost passed right over it. It seemed so normal sitting there. I'd seen it a hundred times. But there was no explanation for what I saw. This was impossible.

This one I could not blame on a dream, a hallucination, or something I forgot. Someone or something had been in my home. On the kitchen counter sat Carol's Wedgewood tea cup and saucer. The typical ounce or so of tea, still in the bottom of the cup. I dipped my finger in and touched it. Not hot, but warmer than room temperature for sure.

Whatever had made the tea, had made it fairly recently.

Suddenly I was unbelievably tired. My brain had tried to somehow find logic in what I had seen. It was not logical. There was no logic to be found. Finally, my mind exhausted, fatigue crashed over me. I stumbled to the living room and lay down on the couch. Lights ablaze throughout the entire house, I fell dead asleep.

It wasn't quite a dream, but more like someone was talking to me, whispering instructions, as I slept. I couldn't tell who it was, but I knew it wasn't Carol. It was something else. I received a message through the experience. This message had a clear direction for me. I felt I would never be released from this haunting unless I followed the path that had been communicated to me. I now had a plan.

When I woke, much of the anxiety that plagued me these last few weeks was gone. My fear was also greatly diminished. I still felt the guilt, but I was going to make that right too. I needed to show my remorse, and through the message in my dream, I now knew how.

I called Ashley that morning and asked for her to accompany me on Saturday.

"Mark." She said, "That's really not my thing, I'm more of a city girl." She told me.

"Ashley, you'll be fine. The weather will be cool, but it should be dry." I said to her. "It's important that you are with me." I added.

She protested a bit more.

"Ashley, I need you to be with me and we need to do this." I told her with a finality.

"Okay, fine." She agreed. "What time, and what do I need to bring?" She asked.

Ashley was not ready when I got to her place. It was nearly noon by the time we were heading east on highway 84 towards the Columbia Gorge. I was quiet and determined to follow through on the instructions I had received as I slept that night. I needed to show my remorse. And I needed to go to the spot where I had made the biggest mistake of my life.

It was early afternoon by the time we parked at the trailhead. Oddly, there were few cars on this brisk, but dry day. Ashley seemed reluctant. I explained the beauty of Shadow Falls and that I needed her with me to get closure.

I'm pretty sure she had no idea what I was talking about.

"Mark, my shoes are getting dirty," she complained.

I just patiently nodded.

"I'm tired." She whined.

We hadn't gone a quarter of a mile and we were nowhere near the steeper parts of the trail. Ashley was turning into a pain in the ass. She continued to bitch. Now she thought that she was getting a blister.

It was slow going with Ashley. She needed a break to rest. She wanted to stop for a drink. A pebble had gotten in her shoe and she needed to sit down to take it out. And on and on.

Carol and I normally completed the switchbacks in about an hour on a good day. With Ashley it would take more than two hours until we got to the high trail.

If my instructions had not been so definite I would have left Ashley to wait at the top of the switchback trail, but I needed to bring her. That was part of the whispered message. She was reluctant, complaining the entire time and completely unappreciative of the beauty of nature that surrounded her.

One thing I had to warn her about were the roots. The towering evergreens had a surface root system that protruded from the ground. You had to continually and carefully watch where you were going so you would not trip on the exposed roots. I explained to Ashley it's best to step on the roots to avoid stumbling. When Carol and I had hiked, it was like second nature, navigating these familiar obstacles along the trail.

With Ashley, it didn't help. She moved slowly with her constant complaints about the entire experience.

So far we had seen few people on the trail, and everyone we had passed was heading back down the trail towards the trailhead. The weather had turned funny too. It wasn't raining but the sky was changing color. The temperature was dropping.

I thought about the whispered message from that night. As I say, it wasn't like a dream, because there was no activity. Nothing happened. There was just this message quietly but firmly delivered. It was very succinct and direct. And unlike a dream the words I heard did not fade away. I had no doubt of what I was supposed to do.

My mission was to go to the place where I had last been with Carol. Alive. The scene of the accident. I needed to go there with Ashley, the source of my ultimate betrayal. I had to beg forgiveness from Carol. I had to tell her why I did what I had done. And I needed to do that with Ashley as my witness.

I understood that this may likely end my relationship with Ashley, but my hope was I would be forgiven by Carol. I did not know if I would get that forgiveness, but I had to try. I needed to repent my errors, my mistakes, my sins. And I had to do it in the place where, if anywhere, I may find a communion with Carol.

These had been my whispered instructions.

It wasn't near sunset but the sky had taken on a hazy yellowish glow. The forest was dark with little sunlight penetrating the canopy. The amber tone of the sky glowed muted across the horizon. Shadows were long and deep. And as we continued along the trail throughout the afternoon the gloom seemed to increase.

We heard the waterfall first, it seemed to be the only sound in the forest that late afternoon. For some reason I began to get anxious, nervous. I was replaying the experience when I dropped Carol. Even though the air temperature was cool, I felt a cold sweat on my face. I may soon be facing Carol.

As we moved ever closer to that terrible spot I began to think of Carol. Carol was so kind and loyal, she was the perfect wife, I reflected. What had drawn me to Ashley? Well obviously the sex, but I was beginning to see what a shallow person she was, particularly as she compared to Carol. Carol always tried to do the right thing. She had so much honesty and good will.

I began to think of the good times Carol and I had together. The great long talks. Our discussions on life, our goals for our lives. Some of the funny moments we shared together. If only I could turn back the hands of time. With tears silently streaming down my cheeks I realized how deeply I missed Carol.

We came around the final bend and there at an angle off to the right was Shadow Falls.

There was sunlight on the water, that strange muted light we had been experiencing all afternoon. I stared at the waterfall and noticed the odd movement of shadows behind that curtain of water. Just like in the legend there seemed to be the shadow of bodies behind the falls. I stared, transfixed.

As I watched the curious interplay of light up ahead further on the trail, beyond where Carol had slipped I saw something. I was unclear what it was at first, but as I watched it seemed like the faint image of Carol began to appear dressed in the same clothes I had last seen her in. This image was standing ahead of me on the trail, arms open, silently beckoning me.

In a daze I moved forward, my eyes completely focused on the image. At this point any thoughts of Ashley were completely gone. It was Carol, and I needed to apologize and tell her how sorry I was.

I began to move quickly. I needed to be near her. Staring at her image and moving fast on the trail was a mistake. The last thing I remembered was the toe of my boot catching a large tree root and launching forward. And then blackness.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Ashley looked over the edge and saw Mark unmoving on the flat shelf of rock about five feet below the level of the trail. She had seen him trip and stumble.

'What the fuck am I supposed to do about him now' she thought. She called out his name several times. He wasn't moving. 'I hope he's not dead' she thought off handedly.' She glanced around hoping for some kind of assistance.

Ashley stood there for a few minutes staring down. She had absolutely no experience or skill in this type of situation whatsoever. She checked her phone. No service bars at all.

It was no more than five minutes before Ashley thought, 'I'm getting out of here and I'm never coming back. I just hope I can find the way back down'.

Partway down the trail she found that she had cell service. She made a single phone call.

The going was rough for Ashley in the darkening forest. She was cold, hungry and felt dirty. Worst of all she may have ruined a nearly new pair of exercise shoes. They had cost almost a hundred dollars and now after this day in the woods they were trashed. More than anything, the loss of the shoes bothered Ashley.

Finally, she made the trailhead. 'Well at least something went right today' Ashley thought.

Just as she set foot on the gravel parking lot a shiny black BMW pulled up next to her.

"Thank god you're here". She said to the driver as she climbed in.

The BMW quickly exited the parking area, hit the on-ramp, and was soon heading west on interstate 84.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Huh? Ouch, I was in pain in multiple places. I was confused. I wondered what was going on? My head hurt, my left knee hurt and I was cold. Where was I? How did I get here? Slowly, after several minutes my memory started to return. The last thing I saw was.... Carol?

I tried to sit up. I was dizzy and the movement created a sharp pain on my forehead. I felt sticky damp blood on my face. There was a dark stain on the rocks. Must be more blood. My entire body was sore but the main areas were my head and my knee.

As I moved my head throbbed, my ears were ringing, my balance was off, and my vision would not quite focus.

And what had happened to Ashley I suddenly asked myself. She seemed to have abandoned me when it was obvious I needed help. I decided this was a subject I would think about later. I had more important concerns at this particular moment.

With great effort I climbed up to the trail from the small slab of rock where I had ended up after tripping and falling. When I finally made it to the trail I needed to rest for several minutes. My head was throbbing and I was dizzy. My vision was still off.

It was getting close to nightfall. I could see the dark shapes of trees and rocks, but beyond it was the darkening blue of the sky. My vision blurred at times. I could also sense the temperature dropping, I began to shiver. I had to get out of here.

Walking was difficult. With the shape my knee was in, the darkness, and the blood that was dripping into my eyes, the going was slow. At one point I found myself crawling over the large protruding roots. This proved to be a bad strategy, my knee hurt too badly for this. My pace back down the trail was painfully slow.

I focused on the ground as I limped back. At one point I stopped to rest. There was a dull throb on my forehead and this injury made me woozy. I looked around and despite all the times I had been on this trail I didn't quite recognize where I was. Perhaps this area at night looked different I thought. But certainly I should have seen the pathway to the switchbacks by now.

And where was the large lighter colored rock? The one that we would always mark with an X? Surely it had to be around here somewhere. I didn't see it. In fact I could not figure out where I was at all. Nothing was familiar.

Had I walked past the switchbacks? I hobbled back a little to try to get my bearings. Looking around, confused, head aching, I could not figure out where I was. I decided to continue to move forward and hope to find a known landmark. Ten minutes later I was still confused. I was cold and tired but for a moment I stopped, sat on a log, and looked around.

The forest had opened up a little. I looked at the dark outline of the fir trees black against the dark blue sky. That sky was darkening, turning from blue to purple. I was pretty sure I had not been in this spot before. As the wind whistled through the trees I began to realize something, and it frightened me.

I was lost.

I sat on the log and wept. I had screwed up my life so badly. I was hurt, tired, cold, dizzy, but worse than all that I was an emotional wreck. All the stupid things I had done.

I had a good life, then I fucked it up.

I was frustrated, angry, sad and alone.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!" I shouted up to the sky, no clear plan of what I was to do next.

At first I was greeted with silence. Just the sound of the wind in the trees and the normal small forest noises. But then I saw something far off, something moving toward me.

"Help!" I shouted. I stood, waving my arms.

Was it another hiker or a forest ranger? Suddenly I had a flicker of hope.

"Help, help me!" I shouted.

But as the movement came closer I saw the familiar image. I was frightened but hopeful. Could this be the help I needed I wondered? Was this real?

"Carol?" I cried. "I'm hurt, and I'm lost, and I'm cold." I said. "Can you help me?" I asked.

And when I saw her face I saw that same kind face that I had known so well. I always knew that Carol would put my needs before her own. She was always the one to make sacrifices and never complain.

"I see you're hurt Mark." She said, "Your head looks bad, you look like you've lost blood." She continued, a concerned tone to her voice.

"Carol, where are we? I can't find my way back to the car. Can you help me, please?" I begged.

"Of course Mark," Carol told me. "I've always helped you. I will help you now." She told me with that same kind look on her face.

"Before we go home," she said. "I think you need to explain to me what happened." She added, with the same sincere expression.

"I know," I said. "I am so sorry my hand slipped Carol. I felt so sad. I have felt guilty ever since." I told her. I had almost convinced myself all this was true.

"Mark," She said, with a more serious look on her face. "You know that's not true. You need to tell me the truth." She said with a more stern expression.

"Carol!" I cried. " It was an accident, I love you...."

"LIAR!" She bellowed, pointing a finger at me. Now the expression on Carol's face was one I had never seen before. Furious, demonic, it was as if her bone structure shifted, her cheekbones raised, her eyes, angry downward slits, and her mouth snarled the single word. She frightened me.

I stood in shock looking at this demon Carol. Slowly her face changed back to the kind, normal Carol. I was speechless, and throughout all the haunting experiences I had experienced since Carol's death I had never been more frightened.

"Please Mark, I will take you home soon." She said in her calm normal tone. "But you need to tell me what happened."

I was afraid to say anything, but I was more afraid of the bad Carol. I decided I needed to tell her what had happened. All the events that led up to our fateful hiking trip that day to Shadow Falls.