This story is a work of FICTION. The events described are my own invention. Any similarities to actual events or persons are strictly coincidental. The author retains the copyright, and any other rights, to this original story. You may not publish it or any part of it without my explicit authorization.
Comments are welcome but please, be gentle. Please send your comments to: HailCaesar2011@hotmail.com
The Patriot's Tomb
You haven't experienced Halloween until you've experienced it in New England. By the time October 31st rolls around, the leaves have all changed to brilliant orange, the night air has a chill to it and the smell of hot apple cider fills your nostrils. Every town has some sort of ghost story, a haunted house cloaked in mystery, places where school children fear to tread. Easton, in western Connecticut, is no different. In Easton, most legends are shared for entertainment but some, some are meant to serve as a cautionary tale, a warning to those who would trespass where the dead rest.
Easton is home to Union Cemetery, supposedly one of the most haunted places in the state. Located next to the local Baptist church, Union cemetery is over 400 years old and has been the site of countless paranormal investigations. The big draw for ghost hunters is The White Lady. Legend has it that the White Lady is the spirit of a woman killed in 1940, after murdering her husband. Other stories say that the White Lady is the unrequited love of a young soldier in the Continental Army; she walks among the rows of graves waiting for him to return from battle. She can be seen, on some nights, wafting through the gravestones. On other nights, she's been known to stand in the middle of Route 59 and wait to be "hit," only for the terrified driver to get out of his car and find there's nobody there.
The White Lady may be Union Cemetery's most famous resident but she wasn't the reason for the expedition my friends and I were about to undertake. Union is an old cemetery, its seen death for over 4 centuries. It's the burial site of native Indians, puritan settlers, patriots, redcoats, and countless others. One of Union's lesser known legends is that of The Patriots Tomb.
It all started out innocently enough. I live in New Haven, about 30 miles from Easton, and was enjoying a typical teenage Halloween. My names Braden, my boyfriend Chad and I were hanging out in my basement with our friends, Whitney and her boyfriend Jeremy. Even though I hate the term, you could call Whitney our fag hag. Jeremy usually hung out with us just to hang out with her but, over time, he's become a good friend too. We were sitting on the couch, watching horror movies and pulling lame pranks on each other, when Whitney turned the conversation to Union Cemetery.
"Another boring Halloween in Braden's basement," sighed Whitney as the last movie ended.
"Gee, I'm so sorry I failed to entertain your majesty," I said as I rolled my eyes.
"No its not you, it's just that we always end up doing the same thing," said Whitney.
"What do you want us to do," asked Jeremy, "go trick or treating?"
"Funny, but no. I was thinking we might try something a little more adventurous," Whitney explained.
"What did you have in mind," asked Chad as he became curious.
"Do you guys know where Easton is?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's about 30 miles west of here, I think," I replied.
"Did you know that it's supposed to be the most haunted place in Connecticut," she stated.
"Other than where it is, I really don't know much about it," I confessed.
"On the edge of Easton is Union Cemetery," said Whitney, "I was looking it up online and, apparently, there have been all kinds of ghost sightings there."
"That sounds cool," said Jeremy.
"I was reading about one particular legend called The Patriots Tomb," Whitney explained, "evidently at the center of the cemetery there is this old mausoleum with a bunch of Revolutionary War soldiers buried in it."
"So," said Chad nervously.
My sweetheart spooks a little easily.
"So, according to the legend, if you go and sit on it, a ghost will push you off," said Whitney.
"Sounds kind of like bullshit to me," I stated.
"That's because you're a pussy, even if you wouldn't know what to do with one," Whitney teased.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot that your balls are bigger than mine," I retorted.
"So come on, why don't we go check it out," asked Whitney.
"I'm not driving all the way out to Easton so that we can sit in some dank graveyard all night," I stated.
"Yeah, that might not be a great idea," Jeremy added.
"Come on, I'm the only girl here and I have more balls then all of you, it will be an adventure," said Whitney.
We argued back and forth for a few minutes but as usual, Whitney got her way.
"Braden, do we have to go," Chad whispered as we walked out of the house.
"Come on Chad, it could be kinda cool," I replied.
"But, I'm scared," said Chad.
"Don't worry baby, there is no such thing as ghosts, and besides, I'll protect you," I said with a smile as I moved in for a kiss on the cheek.
I got a nervous smile from Chad as Whitney chimed in.
"Come on, you guys can make out later, we haven't got all night," she bellowed.
Chad resigned himself to his fate and climbed into the backseat of Jeremy's Volvo station wagon. He sat close to me and held my hand, it was dark, well after 9:00pm and there was a slight fog forming on the ground. I think Chad was a little spooked. We sat in Jeremy's soccer mom-mobile, as he drove, Whitney told us more ghost stories and before long we were parking in front of the iron gates leading into the cemetery.
"I don't know about this," said Chad apprehensively, "don't you think we'd be better off spending our night among the living."
"Come on Chad, don't be such a baby," said Whitney, "We already drove all the way here."
"It'll be alright," I comforted," let's go and watch Whitney not sit on this thing."
"Whatever, I'm totally doing it," said Whitney.
"Believe it when I see it," I shot back.
As we made our way through the gravestones, searching for the mausoleum, Whitney told us more about the legend.
"Supposedly this soldier was only 15 when he died," she began, "He was in love with this girl and he went off to fight so he could impress her or something."
"That sounds pretty stupid," said Jeremy.
"You wouldn't fight for me?" asked Whitney.
"For you, yes, to impress you, no," Jeremy replied.
"Ohhh, I like that answer," said Whitney as they stopped to kiss.
"Can you just go on with the story," Chad whined.
"Oh, you mean I'm not scaring you," Whitney mocked.
"It's less scary than watching you two make out," said Chad.
"Good one baby," I complimented as I put my arm around his shoulder.
"Well there really isn't that much more to tell," said Whitney, "he died, she went off and married some other guy but his restless spirit still roams the Earth..."
"And pushes people off of tombs when he gets bored," I laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll see whose laughing when we get there," said Whitney.
It was getting darker, we were no longer close to the entrance and the light provided by the streetlamps, so Whitney produced a couple of flashlights from her bag and handed them out.
"Who died and made you Dora the Explorer," I teased.
"I'm always prepared," said Whitney, "I knew I could talk you guys into this."
As we walked through the cemetery, I couldn't help but feel like everything was watching us. Every little sound caused Chad to jump and squeeze my hand and the fog really seemed to be rolling in now. The entire place seemed to be worn by the sands of time. We passed headstones marked as far back as 1680, headstones marking the graves of entire families who'd been killed by some unnamed plague and the often unmarked headstones of Indians.
"Jesus," shrieked Chad as he jumped nearly out of his skin.
"What the hell Chad, you almost gave me a heart attack," I exclaimed. "Something touched my shoulder," said Chad.
"I don't see anything," said Whitney, as she searched around us with her flashlight.
"I felt it, I swear," said Chad.
"It's probably just your mind playing tricks on you," I comforted.
"Come on guys, while we're young," said Jeremy who had walked a little further ahead, after Chad's scare.
It took a little coaxing, but Chad agreed to continue and we resumed our search for the tomb. It took us nearly an hour of searching through countless graves, in the fog, but finally we were standing in front of the Patriots Tomb. Whitney immediately set about trying to annoy the ghost but only succeeded in annoying us.
"Wake up, rise and shine," said Whitney, as she slapped her hands on the roof of the mausoleum.
"Are you sure you should be doing that," said Chad, "what if you piss it off."
"I'm just trying to let it know we're here," said Whitney.
Of course there was no reply from the ghost, just the low hooting of an owl sitting in a tree nearby. It was dead quiet as Jeremy snuck up behind Chad and grabbed him by the waist as he shouted a loud BOO!
Chad jumped and bumped his knee on a nearby headstone. He hopped around cursing and holding his throbbing knee.
"Real fucking funny," shouted Chad.
The rest of us couldn't help but laugh. I could see Chad was pissed but his reaction was hysterical, he looked as white as a sheet.
"I'm sorry bud, I was just playing," said Jeremy.
"Yeah babe, it was just a joke," I added.
"No, screw this, I'm going back to the car," Chad pouted.
"Good going," I said as I smacked Jeremy in the back of the head.
I took off after Chad but quickly lost sight of him in the fog. Fortunately I had one of Whitney's flashlights and was able to track him down after a moment's search. He was already scared and Jeremy's prank had only succeeded in making him angry.
"Chad wait up," I called after him.
"No, this is bullshit, I want to go home," said Chad.
"Look, I know you're nervous out here and I'm sorry I laughed at you," I apologized.
"Whatever," said Chad, "I said I didn't want to come out here but you made me and now everyone wants to laugh at me when I get scared and hurt myself; not cool!"
"I know, you're totally right," I agreed, "I shouldn't have made you come out here, I just thought it would be fun. If you come back with me now, we'll grab Whitney and Jer and we'll get out of here. I don't like this place either."
"Promise?" asked Chad.
"Cross my heart, hope to die," I smiled.
"Ok," Chad agreed as he took my hand, "but don't say that in here."
When we got back to the tomb, Whitney and Jeremy were sitting on top of it, their legs hanging over the side. I hoped up next to them, reached out to Chad and he reluctantly climbed up beside me.
"Chad and I think we should go home," I said.
"Just a little longer," whined Whitney, "we just climbed up here a minute ago and nothing's happened yet."
"I'm ready to go and so is Chad," I stated, "we've had enough for tonight."
"No, it's ok," said Chad to my surprise, "we're up here now, let's wait and show Whitney how stupid this is."
"Are you sure," I asked.
"Yeah, it's ok, just as long as there's no more funny business," said Chad.
I guess the walk back had calmed him down some.
"Hey, what's that," said Jeremy, pointing towards the top of the tomb. I looked down and there was a large crack on the roof, right under Whitney's leg.
"That wasn't there before we climbed up, was it?" asked Whitney.
"I don't think so," said Jeremy, "Maybe Braden's right, maybe we should go."
"Yeah, yeah this is stupid," Whitney agreed nervously.
We all jumped down and Chad was the last one left sitting on the tomb. His curiosity got the better of him and he inspected the crack. Before he could finish his inspection, he came flying off and tumbled to the ground.
"What the hell," shouted Chad, "something pushed me!"
"Oh not this again," said Whitney, "this was a lame idea, let's just go."
"I'm not kidding, something pushed me, I felt it," Chad exclaimed, "did one of you do it?"
"Chad, we were all down here, in front of you," I reminded him.
"Well then who the hell was it," he demanded.
"You don't think..." said Whitney.
"Come on, be serious, there is no such thing as ghosts," I said, shooting her down.
"Well something did it, I didn't push myself," said Chad.
"Maybe it worked, maybe the ghost did push him," said Jeremy.
"Regardless of what did or didn't happen," I began, "It's time to go, let's get out of here."
"Yeah Hon, I've had enough too, let's go," said Whitney.
"But this is the whole reason we came out here, to see if someone would get pushed off, don't you guys want to check it out," said Jeremy.
"No, I'm taking Chad back to the car," I stated.
"I think I'm going to go too," said Whitney.
"Ok, I'll be the brave one," said Jeremy as he tossed Whitney his keys, "I'm going to hang out a little longer."
We didn't really want to leave him but it was getting late, the fog was getting thicker and, let's face it, we were scared. Chad, Whitney and I headed for the car but the fog made our progress slow and with each labored step we began to feel guilty for leaving our friend behind.
"Guy's we shouldn't have left Jeremy back there," said Whitney, "what if something happens to him."
"There's nothing there, he'll be fine," I grumbled, "let's keep going." "Braden wait," said Chad as he grabbed my arm, "I know I wasn't day dreaming, something did push me."
"Ok, fine," I exclaimed, "You two go back to the car, I'll go get Jeremy."
"Are you sure," said Chad, "shouldn't we all go back together?"
"No, I don't want him jumping out and scaring you again," I explained, "you guys head back and we'll meet you there."
Whitney already had the keys, I handed her my flashlight and assured them that I'd be fine without it. Yes, it was dark and foggy, but I knew exactly the direction we had come and I was sure I'd be able to spot the light from Jeremy's flashlight in no time.
The further I got from Chad and Whitney, the darker it became and that old feeling, the feeling that someone was watching me, came back. I started to see movement in every shadow and then there was the creepy sound of laughter. For a moment I thought someone else was in the cemetery and was responsible for all the weird things we'd experienced. I figured another group of teenagers had followed us in and we'd made their Halloween by being their unwitting victims. The only problem was it sounded like the laughter of small children.
I quickened my pace. You haven't been afraid until you've stood alone in a cemetery on a dark, foggy night and the laughter of dead children hangs over you like a burial shroud. I had been the skeptic all night long; I thought that this was a dumb idea from the start but that it would be fun to watch Whitney make a fool of herself. I thought that Chad had to be taken in by our surroundings and imagined being pushed off of that tomb but the laughter wouldn't stop.
I soldiered on, determined to find my friend and get out of here, when my eyes started to play tricks on me. At least I hoped they were tricks. I looked at the headstones and the letters on the granite faces seemed to jumble and then reorganize to form two words: GET OUT!
I started to back away; unable to believe what my eyes were seeing, when I bumped into Jeremy. We both screamed and jumped several feet in the air. We took one look at each other and said in unison:
"Let's get out of here!"
We moved as fast as we could in the thickening fog.
"Did you see those headstones," I panted.
"I saw them," said Jeremy.
"And the laughing," I asked.
"Heard that too, we gotta get out of here," said Jeremy, a hint of panic in his voice.
"Whatever the hell was making all that happen, I think it's clear it wants us to leave," he continued.
I looked back and blinked hard, I couldn't have just seen a boy in a tri-cornered hat, could I?
"No need to tell me twice, we're out of here," I said as I grabbed Jeremy's jacket and started to run.
It's a miracle that we didn't break our necks. We were running flat out through the fog. Each time I looked over my shoulder I could have sworn I saw the boy in the tri-corner hat, always following, always in the shadows.
We ran harder and faster. I felt like my lungs were on fire and might burst out of my chest at any moment. The fog seemed to swallow us, the laughter grew louder and always there was the presence of the boy, lurking behind us. Just when I felt like I couldn't run another step, we burst through the gates and found Chad and Whitney leaning against the car.
"What took you guys so long?" asked Whitney.
There was no time to explain, Jeremy and I grabbed our partners and dragged them into the car. The Volvo's engine roared to life and Jeremy speed away from the cemetery. I expected Chad to be afraid, after our abrupt appearance, but he was eerily calm.
"You saw something to, didn't you?" he whispered.
I looked into his eyes for a moment then turned and looked out the rear window. There, in front of the gates, stood the boy in the tri-corner hat, a young lady in white holding his hand. They watched us flee and as we rounded the corner my final glimpse was of the two ghostly figures turning towards the cemetery and vanishing into the vapor, their night's mischief complete.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!