THE HOLLOW PLACE

by Rick Mofina

Copyright © 2022 Rick Mofina

ISBN 978-1-77242-148-4

Carrick Publishing

Cover design by James T. Egan, bookflydesign

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Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the creation of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Contents

Also by Rick Mofina

Book 2: The Hollow Place, Begin Reading

Author’s Note

About the Author

Book 3: Requiem, Chapter 1

Also by Rick Mofina

Ray Wyatt Trilogy

#1 INTO THE FIRE

#2 THE HOLLOW PLACE

#3 REQUIEM

**************

EVERYTHING SHE FEARED

HER LAST GOODBYE

SEARCH FOR HER

THEIR LAST SECRET

THE LYING HOUSE

MISSING DAUGHTER

LAST SEEN

FREE FALL

EVERY SECOND

FULL TILT

WHIRLWIND

INTO THE DARK

THEY DISAPPEARED

THE BURNING EDGE

IN DESPERATION

THE PANIC ZONE

VENGEANCE ROAD

SIX SECONDS

A PERFECT GRAVE

EVERY FEAR

THE DYING HOUR

BE MINE

NO WAY BACK

BLOOD OF OTHERS

COLD FEAR

IF ANGELS FALL

BEFORE SUNRISE

THE ONLY HUMAN

Book 2: The Hollow Place, Begin Reading

This book is for

Barbara

Thou art my hope in the day of evil

~ Jeremiah 17:17

CHAPTER 1

Near the Cold Hollow Mountains, Vermont

The forest rose on both sides of the narrow gravel road like it was swallowing them, Sam Moore thought.

“We’re lost,” she said.

“We’re not lost.” Kevin gripped the wheel of the pickup.

“We need to go back to the interstate.”

“We’re not going back, Samantha.”

She shot him a look. Sam didn’t like being called by her actual name. Kevin did it when he was angry, or to annoy her. Disheartened, she shook her head as stones popped against the truck’s undercarriage. Spruce and fir towered over them, dimming the sunlight.

Then, as if to underscore that they were traveling deeper into a remote section of the state, their GPS stopped working. Sam glanced at her phone and showed it to Kevin.

“Look, we can’t even get service out here. Go back.”

Kevin held up a small folded page with notations in his neat script.

“I’ve got Leo’s directions, and I sketched a map. This will take us to the Canadian border.”

“Why’re we going this way? I thought you were just taking a short detour, and that we’d get back on the interstate.”

“I told you. This way’s better.”

“Better? There are about a dozen other better ways to go. I don’t like this one. There are no signs of civilization, not since that creepy-looking gas station we passed a few miles back. We should’ve stopped for gas.”

“We’re good.”

She leaned over and looked at the dashboard.

“What’re you doing?” Kevin asked.

“Checking. When Leo loaned you his truck, he said the gas gauge sometimes didn’t work.”

The needle indicated the fuel tank was three-quarters full.

“See?” Kevin said. “So, take it easy. Enjoy the scenery.”

Sam turned to the window, biting her bottom lip.

They had been northbound on Interstate 91, and all was fine until Kevin mentioned something about a little-known scenic back road to the border. But Sam wasn’t paying attention. She had been half-asleep, trying to read a Margaret Atwood novel on her phone, when somewhere between West Glover and Orleans, Kevin exited the freeway.

They had headed west on Route 58. Sam saw few cars and only a sprinkling of buildings as the ribbon of paved highway took them into darkened forests. The route began to climb. Then, at a fork, it transformed into a gravel road, dotted with brooks and bogs. A hand-painted sign called one area Lucifer’s Notch.

Now they’d gone far enough on this back road for Sam’s liking.

“I want you to turn around and get back on the interstate.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Seriously, why are we going this way?”

Kevin glanced at her, hesitant to answer.

“Tell me. Why are we going this way?”

“All right. Leo dared me.”

“Leo dared you?”

“You know how he is with his conspiracy blogs and stuff. Well, he’d read online that this part of New England was supposedly haunted, cursed or something. And he wanted the video.” Kevin nodded to the dashcam.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I figured you’d think it was lame and not want to go.”

Sam stared at him.

“So, it’s because Leo dared you? Are you ten years old? I can’t believe it.”

“Look, the other reason is that Leo said if we went this way and got video for him, we wouldn’t have to pay him the five hundred for using his truck.”

Sam shook her head.

“Come on,” Kevin said. “This is just a little side route. Look around. This way’s pretty, and it’ll bring us to the border crossing into Canada at Richford, which isn’t busy, and we’ll save five hundred bucks.”

“I don’t care about that. I should’ve had my uncle and aunt move me. Instead, you pull this time-wasting, adolescent prank!”

“Would you just take a breath and calm down?”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. This is beyond stupid to pull this idiotic ghost crap for Leo. And given what you know I’m planning, and what I’m going through, frankly, it’s thoughtless and insulting, Kevin.”

Thoughtless and insulting.

The accusation hung in the air as if Kevin could see the words. His face reddened, and his grip tightened on the wheel. Seconds passed as he searched the horizon for his response.

“Sam, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I never meant to upset you. I thought I could surprise you with a way to save some money, but I messed up.”

She shook her head, watching the forest roll by her window.

“I get that this trip is an epic deal for you,” Kevin said. “It is for me, too.” He looked at her. “You were up all night packing; you haven’t slept. Why don’t you get some sleep? Look, we’ve gone too far on this road. To backtrack now would be pointless. We should keep going. Try and get some rest, okay?”

She allowed him to take her hand, signaling a truce, before she pulled it away.

“Whatever,” she said before grabbing her pillow and punching it into position against her door. She curled up in her seat and looked down at the floor. Swaddled in a towel was a bronze urn. Leaves and doves were engraved in a fine band around its middle.

She blinked away tears.

Kevin was right. She hadn’t slept, she was exhausted, and, yes, short-tempered, because she was at a turning point in her life. Samantha Victoria Moore was 20 years old and leaving her lifelong home in New York City for Canada to study medicine at the University of Toronto.

Sam was born an only child in Queens. Her father, a hospital equipment salesman, was killed when the taxi he was in crashed on the Major Deegan Expressway. Sam was not quite three at the time. When she thought of him, she struggled to see his face. No matter how many times she watched the videos her mom had recorded of her squealing with joy as her dad, laughing, tossed her over his head and caught her, she barely remembered him.

Sam’s mom, Elizabeth, a clerk who’d managed medical records, never remarried, and had raised Sam alone. Sam was in high school when her mom was diagnosed with cancer. It was on visits to see her in the hospital that Sam decided to become a doctor. She’d worked part-time jobs, and did well in school. She earned scholarships and was accepted at several universities.

But after Sam graduated from high school, her mom’s condition worsened. She delayed going to college to comfort her in her final days. When her mother passed, Sam had no family, except for an aunt and uncle in Toronto, where Sam’s mother was born.

The estate lawyer helped settle the insurance money, the sale of their small house in Corona, and debts. With some of the funds, Sam enrolled at the University of Toronto. The school had a stellar international reputation for cancer research, Sam’s desired field, and tuition was a fraction of what it was at U.S. colleges. Sam was drawn to Toronto because of her mom’s connection to the city.

It was her way to honor her mother while dedicating her life to fighting cancer, a killer that we must kill, was how Sam saw it.

Preparing for her move, Sam got all the paperwork completed to live as a foreign student in Canada, even the documentation for transporting her mother’s remains across the border—repatriation, they called it. Sam’s aunt and uncle had helped her find an apartment downtown near the campus. They had wanted to come to New York and help her, but Kevin had insisted that he would handle Sam’s move. In her heart, Sam wanted to make the move alone with Kevin.

Sam and Kevin Tatum were high school sweethearts, even though he was a few years older. Her mom had loved him. “He’s a good-hearted boy, a keeper, Sam,” her mother had said. And it was true. Kevin had been Sam’s rock throughout all her pain with her mother’s sickness. And he was a pretty smart guy, studying business admin at Queens College in Flushing, majoring in finance, while working part-time at a brokerage firm on data analysis and spreadsheet modeling.

So, the day before she turned in the keys to the house, Kevin and his friend, Leo Barzi, helped her load Leo’s pickup truck with her belongings. She remembered Leo telling them about the documents he’d put in the glove compartment with the vehicle registration, in case there were questions about ownership at the border. He reminded them to keep an eye on the gas gauge and keep the portable gas can full. Then he checked the dashcam, hugged them, and wished them a safe trip before his brother picked him up.

Looking at all her stuff tied down under a tarp, Sam had told Kevin, “I feel like a latter-day member of the Joad family.” The next morning, they’d set out to drive to Canada through New England, planning to visit a school friend in Montreal before heading for Toronto.

But so far, not once during the entire drive had either of them raised the underlying, unspoken fear that they each held. With Sam living in Toronto and Kevin staying in New York, would they survive a long-distance relationship?

The future terrified Sam.

Because you never know what’s waiting for you, she thought as they traveled deeper into the darkening forests and she fell into much-needed sleep.

***

The pickup’s engine sputtered for an instant, then resumed.

Alarmed, Kevin scanned the instrument-panel lights and the fuel gauge.

What the —?

The gas needle had plunged and was now resting below the Empty level. The engine stalled and died. Out of gas, the pickup rolled to a silent stop.

No, no, no!

Kevin swallowed hard, telling himself to relax and think.

He turned to Sam, who was snoring softly. Out cold.

His mind raced. That gas station they’d passed couldn’t be more than three or four miles back. Or was it more? He wasn’t sure.

Then another thought stabbed him. I forgot to fill the emergency gas can in the back the last time we stopped! Dammit!

He was struck by another fact—they hadn’t encountered a single vehicle the entire time they’d been on this road.

Kevin noticed the AAA decal on the lower corner of the windshield. Leo, or his dad, whoever, was a member. He reached for his phone to call the number for emergency roadside assistance.

His heart sank. His display told him he was in a no-service area.

He cursed again, then looked at Sam.

She’s going to kill me.

He put his phone in his pocket and dragged his hands over his face.

Okay, the solution is simple. Walk to the gas station. It couldn’t take more than an hour. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get a ride.

He looked at Sam, still sound asleep.

She needed sleep.

If he woke her to their situation, she’d freak out. She’d walk with him, but she’d be upset about leaving her stuff—her mother’s ashes. She’d carry the urn and likely scream at him all the way. He was already in hot water with her for coming this way.

This is shaping up to be a disaster. I’m screwed no matter what I do.

Okay, he had no choice. He’d walk to the gas station alone. If he left now and got a ride he could—if all went well—be back before she woke.

Who am I kidding? She’ll wake before I get back.

He’d leave her a note.

Searching around, he found a pad and pen with logos from a comic book store in the driver’s door storage compartment. When he’d finished writing, he folded the note so it protruded from one of the air vents in front of Sam. He was grateful that she always traveled with her door locked. Then as quietly as possible, he slipped from the driver’s seat, locked his door, and closed it without making a sound.

He got the empty gas can from the bed of the truck and walked fast.

It was well into the afternoon, still light, but the dense woods made everything darker. The air was heavy with a sharp, sweet, piney smell. A series of loud caws echoed from the treetops as a crow patrolled overhead. Kevin crested a hill and turned for one last glance of the distant pickup.

Is this the right thing to do?

He stared at the truck. A wisp of guilt coiled in his conscience as he turned away from the pickup and continued walking to the gas station. For a fleeting moment, he imagined Sam pleading, Don’t leave me alone here. Please don’t leave me.

CHAPTER 2

Near the Cold Hollow Mountains, Vermont

Sam’s eyelids fluttered.

Passing from a deadened, sluggish state through to the first seconds of torpidity, she awoke, not knowing where she was.

Then she knew.

She had been in the pickup truck with Kevin. In the far reaches of the Vermont woods, because he took the stupid back road.

But why are we stopped?

Sam sat up, eyes blinking open until she was alert. The cab was empty.

Where’s Kevin? What’s going on?

She tossed her pillow aside, opened her door, stepped out and looked around the thick forest on her side of the road, thinking maybe he’d gone in there to relieve himself.

“Kevin!”

Her voice echoed. Then silence.

She searched the trees for a flash of color of his T-shirt or jeans, but saw nothing. She went to the driver’s side of the road.

“Kevin?”

She scanned the woods for any sign of him and saw nothing.

“Kevin? Where are you?”

Nothing but the distant cawing of a crow.

This ticks me off. What the hell’s going on?

Sam strode back to the truck, seized her phone and was well into composing a text to him when she groaned at the realization that she had no signal, no service. Lowering her phone, she spotted the folded paper wedged into the dashboard vent. Snatching it, she unfolded it to Kevin’s neat printing.

I’m stupid, and I was wrong. We ran out of gas, and I forgot to fill the can. Didn’t want to wake you. Walking to the station we passed. Do not leave the truck. Be back ASAP. Yes, I’m a megaidiot and deserve your wrath. I’m sorry. Kevin

“Oh, my freaking God!”

Sam tossed his note, looked off at nothing, grappling with her anger and disbelief.

How could he leave me alone like this?

They should’ve stayed on the interstate, but no. Kevin had to pull this crap for Leo. She was grateful for Leo’s truck, but at what cost, really? Look at what’s happened. And to make it worse, she had to pee.

Leo kept toilet paper in the truck. Somewhere.

Sam looked under the seat, then behind it, found the roll, and headed into the woods. Branches and scrubs slapped and tugged at her as she went deep enough to be unseen from the road. The air smelled of evergreen and was cool on her skin when she lowered her pants. A gentle breeze rustled the treetops, making them creak as she finished her business and returned.

Sam tossed her phone into the console between the seats, then thrust her hands through her hair. She wanted to scream at Kevin because this incident had forced her to revisit an unspoken concern about him, about her, about where they were really headed.

Would he be able to handle a long-distance relationship?

Will I be able to handle it?

Sam wondered if her moving to Canada actually signaled the beginning of the end for them. Neither of them wanted to admit it out loud. In the years ahead, Sam was going to get a degree in medicine. There was no doubt about it. Where she would practice and live afterward, she didn’t know. And she didn’t know if Kevin would still be part of her life, or if she would still be a part of his.

Maybe we should end things when we get to Toronto?

Sam picked up her phone and began writing a text to send later. She was well into it when she bit her lip, stopped to think, unsure of what to do. She looked at the urn near her feet, which held her mother’s ashes.

I wish you were here so we could talk. You wouldn’t tell me what to do, but you’d say, “Let’s look at the pros and cons.” You’d help me figure things out for myself.

Sam picked up the urn, traced her fingers over the engraved leaves and doves. Her mother had picked it out in her final days. One of her last wishes was for Sam to disperse some of her ashes in the beloved Toronto neighborhood where she’d lived as a little girl, before her parents moved to the United States when her father was transferred back to New York.

I miss you so much, Mom.

Tenderly, she replaced the urn, taking care to wrap the thick towel around it. It was then that she’d noticed how her phone seemed to be glowing. The sun was sinking fast, and it was colder. She reached for the U of T sweatshirt she’d bought online. Unrolling it to pull on, she was delighted to find a banana and a Milky Way bar in the pocket. She peeled the banana, then took a bite.

As she chewed, she watched the sun disappear. The fading light painted the sky with blue and pink coral. That’s when she first saw the fog, coming in low to the ground, floating in thick tentacles, creeping slowly like a timid intruder. Maybe it was the elevation, but Sam thought fog occurred in the morning, not at dusk.

It was weird.

It didn’t take long for the fog to thicken as night fell, enshrouding her and the truck in darkness.

But she wasn’t afraid.

Sam was no princess. She’d grown up in Queens. There was nothing out here, nothing but nothing. The isolation was calming, not frightening, Sam told herself. Nothing out here compared with the things she’d witnessed and smelled on the streets of New York City, or the freaks, creeps, nut cases and weirdos she’d seen on the subway.

The light of her phone filled the cab when she checked the battery level. It was at 55%. She put it on the charger. She was thankful Kevin had left the keys, but she couldn’t run the truck for heat. And to save the battery, she didn’t put on the lights or radio. Tiny red and green pinpoint lights blinked and glowed on the charger, as well as the truck’s alarm system and other things that ran directly off the battery.

A flash caught her attention.

Headlights in the side mirror cutting through the fog.

Sam’s heart lifted.

That must be Kevin.

But the headlights stopped some distance away.

Why? That’s strange.

The lights were several car lengths away. Why’s it hanging back there? Sam could hear the engine idling. She turned the key in the pickup’s ignition and lowered her power window. She stuck out her arm, seeing it illuminated in the intense light beam as she waved.

Nothing happened.

No one got out of the vehicle.

Was it a police car? Checking the license plate?

Sam thought of approaching but reconsidered.

I don’t know who that is, or what’s up with them just sitting there.

It was strange.

If this was another prank of Kevin’s, she was going to kill him.

The engine revved. Gravel churned as the vehicle accelerated and drove at the pickup in a stone-filled cloud of dust and fog. It veered around the truck so fast that Sam was unable to see what color the vehicle was, or even whether it was a car or truck. Red taillights appeared in the soupy gloom in front of the pickup, then submerged into the fog and darkness until they were gone.

Sam’s heart was beating faster.

What the hell was that?

Probably some local fools with nothing better to do.

She shook her head at the darkness, cursing Kevin.

What’s taking him so long?

Sam searched her side mirror, willing Kevin to appear with gas so they could get out of here, return to the interstate and civilization.

She turned and froze.

Light filled the pickup’s cab.

Through the windshield, Sam saw headlights shooting through the fog as a vehicle approached. Maybe it’s a Good Samaritan? But that hope died when the headlights stopped several car lengths away.

Has to be the same jackass.

The vehicle sat there.

Sam checked to ensure her doors were locked.

She swallowed, glancing at the silver chain bracelet with a love knot on her wrist. It was the last gift her mother had given her. Sam slipped it into her shoe as the strange vehicle’s engine revved, its thrumming filling the night air.

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