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Back Gallows Hill Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
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Kant lowered his head in a gentle nod. “In truth, we don’t have all the answers. We have rules to keep us safe, but we don’t know why. Witchety’s ritual helps, but again, we don’t know why.”

A quiet, simmering panic was rising through Margot’s stomach. The cool light felt too bright in the dim, dusty room. “Tell me what you do know. Last night there were…”

She didn’t know what to call them. Names ran through her head, none seeming quite right: Monsters. Corpses, having crawled from their graves. The damned.

“I saw…things last night,” she said. “People. Or…something like it.”

“Those hung from the tree,” Kant said. “And buried in the ground. Back from before the Hulls bought the land.”

“Why are they like that? Why are they coming back?”

“We don’t know. They just do. Only at night, though.”

Margot’s chest was too tight. It hurt to breathe. “Their lips were stitched shut.”

“That’s something they did back then.” Ray rubbed his thumb into the corner of his eye, clearing moisture. “There was a myth that the dead would plead for mercy even after hanging, so they sewed their mouths shut to keep their damned words inside.”

“And…”

“They’ll hurt you if they can get to you.” His eyes dropped to the floor, and Margot wondered what he’d seen. “So…we try to keep away from them.”

“It’s not always like this,” Kant said. His gaze was steady, the gray, bloodshot eyes asking her to trust him. “Most of the time, the land is peaceful.”

Nora nodded. “It comes and goes. I’ve never seen it quite as bad as it’s gotten right now, mind. But…it should ebb soon. You just have to wait it out. And once it’s passed, this place feels no different from any other hill.”

“Okay. Sure.” A strange, twitchy smile rose in time with a quiet hysteria. “I’m not doing that. I’m not staying here. Thank you…for helping me and for calling the vet. But I’m going to go now. The land is yours. Sell it or let it rot, whatever you want. I’m done here.”

“Oh,” Nora whispered, glancing at Ray.

Andrew cleared his throat, running his fingers through his dark hair.

“Margot…” Kant clasped and unclasped his hands, running the calloused thumbs across one another. “You can’t leave. Not now that the hill has you.” He paused, fingernail picking at a scab on his knuckle. “None of us can.”

29

Margot closed her eyes. The words didn’t sound quite real. “What…”

“That’s part of the Gallows Hill curse,” Andrew said. “Stay too long on the property and you won’t be able to leave it. Ever.”