The Legend of The Great Pump-Kin

Author's Note: Welcome to my entry in the Halloween Story Contest 2023. Have you heard of the Legend of The Great Pump-Kin? No? Well gather round my friends and get close to that campfire and far from the ominous fall shadows as I regale you with a story of prophecy, incest, love, lust and revenge!

Chapter One

On this day of October 31st, in the year of our lord 1871, the town of Burrillville, acting upon the sentence of honorable Judge Jeremiah Mason, executed by public hanging, Jonathan Winchester. Winchester was found guilty of the heinous crime of having sexual relations with not only his sister, but his niece as well as both of his daughters.

In court, and acting as his own defense, Mr. Winchester claimed to be under the influence of an evil spirit he encountered when exploring the forbidden woods beyond Spring Lake Road.

By his account, this spirit dwelt in a pumpkin patch behind the tainted ground where the Nipmuc buried the dead who shamed them or broke the laws of both man and the Manitou they sent their heathen prayers to.

Mr. Winchester insisted it was this demonic entity that instilled in him the desire to lay in sin with the women of his family. When asked the name of this demon, Mr. Winchester referred to it as the same name used in an old wives tale, stating it was indeed the....

"Great Pumpkin?" Nathan snorted as he sat down on a moss covered stump and pulled off his shoe. "Seriously sis?"

"Seriously, and its two words Pump-Kin" Zoey waved the tattered leather journal in her hand while leaning against a tree several feet in front of him. "It's all right here."

"Christ, that thing?" He rolled his light blue eyes, "A bunch of shit written by a superstitious woman back in the damn 1800's?"

"That superstitious woman was our grandmother five times removed!" Zoey declared indignantly. "She's the matriarch of our family. Not just anyone."

"Was, not is, so why should I care about her?"

"Whatever, thing is it's true and you shouldn't make fun of it. There's a lot of lore in this book. Myths, legends, haunted places and..." she stopped when she noticed her younger brother shaking his head.

"Lore? C'mon, Zoe, you really buy all that ghost buster crap?"

"You know I do, and Mom does too."

"Insanity is hereditary," he smirked.

"So is being a loser. I guess there's no hope for your kids," she gave her head a toss, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "Assuming you ever make any."

"Wow!" Nathan exclaimed, shaking the rock out of his shoe. "That was bitchy!"

"Sorry," Zoey looked back down at the journal and closed it around her finger to hold her place, careful not to further rip the tattered pages. "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay, I guess," Nathan put his shoe back on and shrugged. "I shouldn't make fun of you either. I just think you and Mom put a little too much stock in old stories."

"This isn't just any old story; this is our history." Zoey explained.

"Only because our family was originally from this shithole state." Nathan rolled his baby blue eyes.

"Rhode Island's not a shithole, it has beautiful foliage, great beaches, cool old mansions and a lot of history," Zoey smiled. "Especially when it comes to the supernatural. H.P. Lovecraft was born and lived here. Edgar Allen Poe met his love here."

"Lovecraft died Po' didn't he?" Nathan chuckled.

"You're so clever," It was her turn to roll her similar blue eyes. "But know what's only about fifteen minutes from here?"

"A swamp from the smell of it."

"The house they based the Conjuring on, they let people stay overnight and almost everyone says they hear and see ghosts."

"They charge for them to stay," he pointed out. "The ghosts are recorded sounds and video," he sighed. "You and Mom probably still believe in the frigging tooth fairy."

"Our family has always believed; this book has been passed down since Mabel Winchester wrote it."

"Winchester?" Nathan remained sitting as he distastefully eyed the dense trees and bushes around them. It was warm for the end of October, at least for the East Coast, more like the weather in Ft. Lauderdale where they were supposed to be. Instead, and for a reason she still hadn't given him, Mom had dragged them up here for a week.

"Yup," Zoey made a rolling motion with her hand. "Let's go dunce, put two and two together."

"You telling me that Winchester guy you just read about is related to us?"

"We're his direct descendants." Zoey stated with an air of pride Nathan found odd considering what the book said about him.

"Dear old great however many times gramps was boning his daughters," he scowled. "Bet they don't tell people shit like that on Ancestry dot com."

"Probably not," she agreed. "But that's what we're doing here, looking for his grave."

"Up here? I thought the cemetery was down by..." he frowned, trying to remember the name of the road. "I forget that, but that big ass church is next to it."

"Mabel wrote that seeing what he did was seen as a disgrace they buried him near the Nipmuc burial ground out of spite and to further shame him and his name."

"Seen as? Banging your sister, niece, and kids is pretty fucked up."

"To self-righteous judgmental Puritans I'm sure it was, but those narrow minded idiots don't understand that."

"I don't think anyone understands that" Nathan scrunched his face up in disgust. "Just sick and gross."

"Think so?" Zoey asked, nonchalantly setting him up.

"Damn straight I do."

"Then how come All in the Family is on your porn hub favorites list?" She smiled at the way his face turned red and he looked away from her.

"And Family is for fun, My sister's hot, why not?" She tapped her chin. "I like 'My Sister Sucks', really clever, you think sucks like she's a pain, but they mean suck like..." Zoey pushed her tongue into her cheek, puffing it out while working her hand next to her mouth, simulating a blow job.

"Okay, okay!" Nathan looked even more flustered than he had before, and Zoey knew exactly why. "I get it."

"No, you've never gotten it," she teased with what she knew was a much more sensitive topic than his favorite porn sites. "Maybe that's part of the problem."

"Sorry I'm not easy like you," he countered. "Maybe I'm waiting for someone special and not just looking for fun."

"Mad props for saying that with a straight face, you'd stick it in the crack of dawn if you could."

"Sis has jokes," he muttered. "You know that really bothers me."

"I do, and I'd say I'm sorry, but you're being a dink about helping me today."

"Helping you do what?" he spread his arms out. "Slogging through the woods looking for a place that's probably made up?"

"It's not made up, and you're helping me because I'm your sister, and your best friend, and we always help each other."

"Never helped me with girls," he pointed out for the hundredth time. "How come you never set me up with your friends or their sisters?"

"Maybe because I think you should be able to get your own girl." Zoey retorted. "Besides, my friends are two years older than you and into college guys, their sisters go to school with you and know you're a loser."

"Real nice," he pushed his glasses up on his sweaty nose. "I'm not a loser, I'm just kind of shy with girls."

"You don't try. You're not going to find them hanging around with your dork friends and playing world of shitcraft all night."

Nathan frowned, and looked away again, but this time with a look of hurt on his face. Zoey slumped back against the tree, annoyed with herself. Between being both nervous and excited, she was all kinds of amped up and getting snippy with him for no reason.

She eyed her 18 year old brother as he took off his other shoe, shaking it out as he had the other. She doubted there was anything in it or he'd have done it right away, he was doing it as an excuse to remain quiet and mask his hurt feelings.

Nathan was decent looking guy but didn't help himself. The big nerdy glasses he wore were his choice, he could wear contacts, but seemed to think the glasses were 'cool'.

Maybe they could be but seeing he was the stereotyped geek in every way and so paralyzed with irrational fear around girls he stammered, and worse, said awkward stupid things to them, he was a 100% lost cause nerd.

He tried to dress like a cool kid as exemplified by his white Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt, banana republic shorts, and the insanely expensive Black Vessi sneakers mom had bought him for his birthday two months ago.

Her brother had the wardrobe of the yuppie Starbucks crowd, but with the social skills of a complete dork, and it wasn't a good combination, the clothes were a desperate cry to not be what he was, and even girls his age noticed that.

But beneath the glasses, he had the beautiful baby blue eyes they'd inherited from Mom, and his features were smooth, bordering on pretty with high cheek bones and a cute cleft in his chin.

He had a good build, still a little thin, but he'd been filling out lately, mostly due to buying a weight bench and working out in the basement in another effort to improve himself physically.

That wasn't the issue, Zoey had seen girls look at him, and been interested, it was when he opened his mouth that things went to hell. She felt bad for him, Nate was a sweet kid and she knew he'd be amazing to any girl who could get through his awkwardness to get to know the real him.

Nate would help anyone, give you the shirt off his back, and when around just her or some of his friends had a great sense of humor and a great aww shucks smile that she'd always loved, and was another point in his favor with girls.

It went well with his usually unkempt sandy brown hair, and overall air of boy next door cute. His argument that she never helped him with his issues with girls was valid. Zoey could set him up for a date.

For that matter she knew a few girls who were easy enough she could just get them to fuck him, but there was a reason she hadn't. Nathan was only meant to be with one woman, and only when the time was right.

Luckily for him, both were closer than he dared hope.

"I'm sorry, Nate," she said quietly. "Low blow."

"It was," he agreed. "But, whatever, it's okay."

"No, it's not," she walked slowly over and as he'd been doing all day, at least when he knew she was looking his way, he seemed to struggle to keep his eyes averted from her.

Zoey didn't share her brothers' issues with the opposite sex. Armed with her wide blue eyes, long honey blonde here, soft pretty features, and a pair of full sensual made for cock sucking lips, she had never wanted for attention from boys.

The neck down didn't hurt either. Zoey was currently working her way through school as a waitress at Hooters and well qualified for the job. On the taller side, her legs 'went on forever' as some old perv had once told her.

Years of dance classes had kept them toned and looking good, and her deep tan added an additional appeal to them. She had a slim athletic build with a small, but tight, heart shaped ass that earned her a lot of tips in the painted on orange shorts she wore as part of her 'uniform'

The top part of that ensemble, a white tank top, a size too small, as required, made her breasts, which unlike the rest of her body, were quite large, look even more prominent. Zoey wasn't stuck on herself, but knew she was both pretty and possessed a killer body.

As Nate was quick to call out when she mocked his virginity, Zoey was a good time girl. She enjoyed sex, and if a guy caught her eye and wasn't a jerk, she was more than happy to have some fun with him.

But only once or twice. Since her first time four years ago, right up until now, she'd never had a serious boyfriend. She wasn't constantly sleeping around, but whenever the urge arose, she had no issue finding what she needed.

Because just as Nate was meant to be with one person, so was she, except to be able to seduce that person she had to be both experienced and confident, so Mom had told her it was okay to have lovers, but only for sex, her heart was to only be given to her predestined partner.

As she approached she continued to watch Nate look at her legs, which were on full display in the absurdly short denim cut offs she wore. His eyes would then quickly shift upwards to her breasts, hugged tightly by one of her Hooters tank tops, but this one, a half shirt which left her flat tanned midriff bare as well as displaying the inch long silver chain dangling from her pierced naval.

"It's not okay," she stopped directly in front of him, her bare stomach at eye level. "But, in a way, it is okay, know why?"

"Because it's true, I am a loser." He lowered his head and now confronted by her legs, he tried to turn his head, but she caught his chin in her hand and tilted his head to look up at her.

"You're not, and never say that about yourself."

"You just said it."

"And I said I was sorry, but go ahead and ask me why it's okay?"

"Fine, why is it okay?"

"What if I told you," she smiled down at him through her red coated lips. "That your little virginity problem will be a thing of the past after today?"

"Huh?" he blinked. "How the hell is that going to happen? I don't even know anyone up here," he waved his hand. "I was supposed to go to that big party at the beach, was hoping I'd find a girl drunk enough to feel bad for me. Now we're here and..."

She stopped him with a slender finger to his lips, then ran her long ebony painted nails lightly down his cheek.

"There's a party here tonight."

"That stupid town festival thing? Bunch of old people? Thing sounds like it will be straight of fucking Mayberry."

"It will be wilder than you think," she flashed a sly smile. "But that's not where it will happen."

"Stop fucking with me, nothing's going to happen tonight," he sighed. "Nothing ever happens for me."

"Little brother?" Zoey leaned down so their faces were only inches apart. "I want you to look me in the eye." When his gaze met hers, she continued. "I promise I am not punking you. Today is your day, I am going to make it happen for you. All you have to do is two things. The first is to trust me."

"What's the second?" Nathan asked with a slight tremor in his voice she knew was from her being so close to him.

"You need to help me find that grave and do what I ask once we do."

"And that's somehow going to get me laid?"

"Not just laid," she whispered. "But with a hot girl who'll make your wildest fantasies come true."

"Seriously?"

"She's pretty, she's sexy, and she's nasty as fuck when it comes to sex."

"And like, she's here? You know her?"

"Yes to both," she straightened and turned away.

Zoey walked over to the backpack she'd put down and could feel his eyes on her ass in the painted on shorts, especially when she bent over to pick up the bag, slinging it over her shoulder she looked back at him.

"You coming?"

"If it means I'll be coming, lead the way, sis!"

Chapter Two

"Damn, this place stinks!" Nathan complained from just in front of her.

"It's the bog," she, pointed between two large trees. "It's like the swamps down in Florida."

"A little taste of home," he grunted. "Still don't know why the hell Mom dragged us up here for a few days."

"For today and tonight." Zoey told him as she stopped and opened he journal to the crudely drawn map in the middle of the book. "First couple of days here were to just get used to the city, the next couple will be to enjoy the fallout."

"Fallout?"

"You'll see," she needed to stop making cryptic statements and her brother proved her right with his next words.

"You sound like a reject from a bad ghost story with all your weird comments." He paused. "No service up here, we better not really get lost, we could wander into fucking Connecticut."

"We'll be fine, once we find what we're looking for the way back will be easy."

"How do you figure that?"

"We'll have different kind of GPS," she smiled when he scowled at her, then put her hands up and waved them "Oh, spoooookeeyyyyyyy" she moaned in a ghostly voice.

"You're nuts," Nathan said, but laughed. "Now yell 'you're all dooooomed!"

"Nah, no one's doomed, but some people are going to have some awkward explaining to do and some serious drama ahead of them."

"Zoey, can you drop the crap and tell me what's up? Mom's been acting all kind of weird since she told us we were coming up here."

"Easier to show you," she stopped and looked around. "Shit, which is east? I think I was looking at this upside down."

Nathan looked up at the sun and pointed. "That way, let's hear it for being a boy scout."

"Man, its warm," he wiped at his face. "Can I get some water?"

Zoey removed one of the bottles from the backpack and gave it to him.

"Thought it was supposed to be cool up here around now?" He said after chugging half the bottle and handing it back to her.

"It is, but that's part of everything. Every thirty years, roughly once a generation, it heats up, part of knowing it's the right time."

"Here we go again," he looked around and pointed. "That smell isn't just that dirty water, look at these trees, there's fungus all over them, and they look kind of..." he searched for the word. "Unhealthy."

"Because we're close. That burial ground is spoiled ground. Everything that grows around it is sick, just like the things they buried here."

"They buried people here, not things."

"If you knew some of the legends of what they did you might change your mind." She shuddered. "Cannibalism, human sacrifice, sex with animals."

"Ugh, makes banging your daughter sound okay," Nathan whistled.

"There you go, bro, perspective!" she laughed, then her eyes widened. "Holy shit! I see a cairn!"

"A what?"

"A pile of stones, that's what they used to mark graves!"

Zoey hurried forward, stepping between the twisted branches of two gnarled trees that she'd gotten a glimpse of the cairn through. She took two steps past them, then yelped when her footing gave way in the mud and she pitched forward.

She gasped when Nathan grabbed her arm and yanked her back into him.

"Thanks," she paused to catch her breath as she stared down at the black mud that was sprinkled with nasty looking multicolored growths.

"We're at the very edge of the bog," Nathan snapped a long thin branch from a tree and stepping in front of her poked the ground.

In two places the tip sank several inches down, in the third it found solid ground.

"Here, stay right behind me."

They carefully treaded their way between several more trees, each more deformed and fungus covered than the next. The smell was getting bad, and Zoey made the mistake of trying to breathe through her mouth and retched, almost losing her lunch.

"Take this," Nathan pressed a bandana into her hand, he'd had in his pocket, and had used to wipe his face several times.

"Thanks," even though it was damp and sweaty, pressing it to her face kept the stink manageable. Next to her, Nathan had pulled his baggy t-shirt up over his mouth, holding it with one hand while using the stick.

They reached a stretch of water several feet across and after Nathan probed it with the branch they were sure it was only a few inches deep. Zoey removed her sneakers and socks, as Nathan did the same.

"Take my hand in case there's a deeper spot or your foot gets sucked into the muck."

Zoey took his hand and squeezed it. She hadn't expected it to be this creepy up here, and she was grateful for his touch. More than that, he'd gone from bitching and giving her a hard time, to basically taking charge and watching out for her.

"A good young man takes care of his own."