A Debt Unpaid [A Short Story by Matthew Munsey]

Casey awoke from her uneasy sleep with a start. Had it all been just a dream? The thought shot through her troubled mind with the frantic speed of a murderous lunatic, fleeing the bloody scene of his latest crime. But as quickly as the thought had arrived, it was gone. Again the salty smell of the sea filled Casey’s nostrils, while simultaneously the calamitous roar of the ocean and it’s denizens came once again to fruition before her. The waves and gulls crashed and called in a relentless banter, crying endlessly to one another, in much the same way as Casey’s heart cried at every beat, back and forth from unprecedented sorrow to profound joy.

The last week had been the longest and most trying thus far of Casey Evergreen’s young life. The storm she had been forced to endure, brought in motion by nothing more than a cruel twist of fate and bolstered on by an inebriated driver, had been devastating to her. The tears Casey had cried could have been enough to have filled the entire ocean that now stood before her. It stretched as far as the eye could see. Yet she still must have cried more water than that.

Seven days ago was the worst day of Casey’s life. It was the day this all began. She was sitting at home alone, watching a new Disney Channel Movie. It was a good one. There were witches and werewolves and all sorts of devilish little creatures, and a frightened young girl trying to escape them all to return to her home. Casey was enthralled. Even though her older brother, Max, told her day in and day out that the programs on the Disney Channel were lame for little kids, Casey didn’t care. Even at fourteen she still got a kick out of most of the shows on here, and heck this one was pretty good anyways. Casey was actually a little scared.

As Casey watched, her sense of foreboding grew. Attributing this to only the movie she was watching, she ignored her feelings in favor of some popcorn. As she reached into the bowl, her stomach gave a tumultuous roar. Nothing but kernels. In a huff she threw her eyes to the clock on wall behind her, seeing seven thirty five read before here. Her parents and brother had gone out at least three hours ago now, hadn’t they? They were going down to China Blossom, the local Thai place. It used to be a Thai kitchen but someone bought it out years ago and never changed the name, I guess they wanted to keep the customer loyalty. The food was always good, but there were rumors in town of health code violations, the worst of which being the restaurant served customers cooked rats. Well hey, if they were rats Casey didn’t care, because they were damn good. What’s there now serves basically the same menu, but it’s not nearly as tasty. But hey, I guess they’re whole customer loyalty plan worked out, people still went in droves.

At this point, Casey didn’t even care if they cooked her up a shoe and gave it to her, as long as her family got back with that food soon she would be a happy girl. As soon as this thought had crossed her mind, a smart knock resounded off of the home's front door. The knock, though quite modest, rang throughout the arched entryway and into the great home behind it. Even in the movie room, under the regular house, casey could hear the knock. There was often a knock at the door, a man delivering a package to her shopaholic mother or an important message being brought in person to her father, who after all was a very important man. But for some reason, this knock sent shivers down Casey’s spine. With a feeling like she was in a dream Casey walked slowly to the stairs and began to climb. Again the knock came, louder this time. With each step Casey felt her own fear grow. This is silly of course, she had thought. She was just afraid of that damn witch. If only she hadn’t been so horribly hideous, it had scared her so much... But even then Casey knew that she was lying to herself. Something else was wrong. Terribly wrong. As Casey reached the kitchen the knock came again, and out of the door’s window panes she could see flashing lights, blue and red. As she saw this Casey’s heart sank. What could be so wrong, she thought, that they would need to come and talk to me? Casey finally reached the door after what had seemed like an eternity. She felt as though she had died and been born again, but given only a portion of the motor skills of a regular girl. She felt like a creature, ruined by something yet unknown.

Slowly, Casey’s hand reached out and grasped the large ornate door knob waited, her hand pressed firmly upon its cool metal flesh. For a second she had almost decided to let go, to allow all of this to just go away, if even for a moment, to let all of this reasonless dread simply disappear. But she couldn’t. Casey slowly creaked the large red door open, a door that had so often reminded her of the color of freshly spilled blood, and met the man before her. He was large man, and not fat at that, simply rotund with power, with a brief shock of brownish gray hair sitting atop his head. But there was a kind look to his eyes, and his cheeks were rosy with the cold. For some reason Casey trusted him. As he saw her he spoke.

“Casey, I’m so sorry but I have some terrible news. My name is Officer Danielson, and I was a good friend of your grandfather, and I’ve been a friend of your parents for as long as i can remember. At this it seemed a tear broke out upon the corner of this hulking man’s eye but Casey dismissed it as a side effect of the cold. Why would he be crying? The officer continued kindly, with not a falter in his voice. “Can you and me go inside and have a seat somewhere sweetheart. This isn’t going to be easy.” This last part wasn’t directed towards Casey, but rather to a man shadowed behind Danielson, almost unseeable in the gloomy dusk.

Feeling terrified and alone, Casey allowed Danielson and his companion inside. The next two hours were where the brunt of that ocean of tears were spilled. Danielson informed Casey, with as much tenderness as he could muster of what had happened. Coming home from dinner, Casey’s family had been in an accident. There was a man driving who should not have been, Danielson explained, and he had swerved out of his lane and had collided with Casey’s families car. The man who had hit them was ok said Danielson, but Casey’s family had not survived. As Danielson spoke these last words Casey had begun to scream. Her wails and her moans echoed through the spacious abode her family had always called their home, and whose walls now only had her to keep safe and dry. She screamed for a long time. At times Danielson held her, and at others he stroked her back and consoled her in the most compassionate way he could. It seemed even at times that he had cried with her. A truly compassionate man, was Officer Danielson. His guest however, was not.

Having been sitting quietly through what he most assuredly had seen as something no more troubling than a the woes of an insect, Officer Danielson’s guest finally spoke. He addressed Casey with a tone resembling what a grown woman might have seen a contempt, but for what she had seen as nothing less than heartlessness. This man was not like Officer Danielson, this man was not a good man. He spoke with a dry, sly, and bitter tone, resembling that of the darkest of fiends.

“Now my dear” He whispered heavily, “I believe the appropriate amount of time has elapsed in your grieving process” At this he gave a small nod. Casey thought she saw the flicker of a smile. “For my to inform you of what my duty is here today in your home. Albeit from being here to futher, console you.” Again that whisper of a smile shadowed the man's lips. “I am here to inform you that prior to his death your father had signed your family's estates rights over to me. For it was collateral you see, in a deal we had struck not long ago. Power was what he was wanted, but power always comes with a price.” At this last part the stranger’s eyes had glowed with a brilliant fire deep inside of them, illuminated the darkness that was there before. It was gone as quickly as it had come. Now only the darkness remained.

At this Officer Danielson interjected. “Come on now, man! She’s been through it, can’t you spare her all of her woes for just a night? Can’t you at least give her that?”

“But of course I can” Replied this jagged, twisted man. “She does, after all, have the night to vacate.” And with a twinkle in his eye, reminiscent of what an ember of the fire that had consumed it before could have been, this dark and strange man walked plainly to the door, grasped it’s nob and exited, never to be seen by Casey again.

Officer Danielson helped Casey to her feat, for at the news of her loss she had fallen to her knees in sorrow.

“Officer Dan” Whimpered Casey, “Am I really going to have to leave here? Is this really happening to me? Why is this happening to me? Help me officer Dan, please, help me!” At this Danielson began to cry in earnest. He couldn’t keep it bottled up anymore.

“I can’t darling, I can’t. I’m sorry Casey I wish I could. They’re coming to take everything in the morning. Do you want me to stay with you Casey? I don’t know what else there is I can do. A social worker would be here already Casey but I asked them to let me see you first. I just want to make sure you’re going to be ok.” Danielson said all of this with such a genuine way to him that Casey could do nothing but cry more, and throw her arms around his humongous form.

Casey didn’t say another word all night, she only wept, but Danielson stayed with her. He owed her family that, at least.

Casey slept longer than she would have thought possible, had she outside herself looking in, but still awoke after only a few hours of dreadful sleep. Officer Danielson was snoring quietly on the sitting chair her father had always sat in when they had their family talks. She had hated those family talks, they had always been about her and something wrong she had done. What she wouldn’t do for one right now. Without making a noise Casey slipped from the couch she was lying on her feet, and tiptoed to the sitting room. Her favorite room in the house. In front of Casey was a vast window, fifteen feet wide and ten feet high. It took up the entire wall, almost. Outside of it was the ocean, her home away from home. About a hundred yards away the Evergreen Family Boat, The White Knight, lay drifting sulkily in the shallows. It would never be crewed again by the family. That evil man had made sure of that, along with Mr. Evergreen of course, and his unfortunate deal. This made Casey cry as hard as she had since this had all began. It had been some of the best times her family had ever shared, being out on the water together. At home they were all always fighting, bickering with one another over some stupid thing or other. At home there was always tension in the air. But when they went out to the sea, it all just seemed to slowly drip away. Below the melted wax of their home life was the shining nugget of treasure that had existed as their life on the sea. On the sea there was never an argument, never a bad word said. Only love. Casey already missed those days. To think she would never spend another moment on the deck of that boat ever again made her heart weak with sorrow, and her eyes brim with tears ever more voracious than before.

And suddenly she knew what she would do. Without making a sound, and with mind as clear as any day and far clearer than it had been since this news had been given to her, she rushed into her bedroom to prepare a bag. She needed clothes, she needed food, she needed… Everything. Once she left she knew that she would not be coming back. Silently Casey dashed about the house her family had once called home, and which she would never see again, to prepare herself for her journey. She had packed in less than an hour, and was prepared to go. Before stepping out the door into that cool sea air, she approached Officer Danielson. Bending down, she placed a small kiss on his forehead. He was a good man, and she appreciated what he had done for her. All of the sudden she felt like she even loved him. He was the only one she had left, after all, even if they had just met last night. But with a tear in her eye and a few down her cheeks Casey resolved to continue on her way. She had to do it. As much for her as for her family.

It wasn’t long before Casey had prepared for her voyage. She knew what she was doing almost by instinct now, after all her and her family had done it so many times before. And before she knew it she was away. She had a map out before her with a large red circle printed around a small set of neighboring islands about fifty miles away. Her father had always talked about those islands. He said they would all go there one day, and that he used to go there as a child himself along with his father. He said his father had had to do business there, and that one day he would have to too. He said he loved those Islands. Casey sure hoped she loved them too.

It had been seven days now. Seven days on the open sea. Casey had awoke to a pitch of the water. It alerted her to her surroundings once again and all of it came rushing back. Her family was gone, stolen from her by what seemed to be the Devil himself, but she still remained. They had wanted to take away everything, well, Casey wouldn’t let them. She had to keep something for herself, if not just to keep the memories alive. The White Knight sailed smoothly across the open ocean. There had been no problems in the journey for this damsel, and it seemed the Knight would live up to it’s name. Casey, for the first time in the past seven days allowed herself to breath. That man may have my home, but at least she doesn’t have this, Casey thought to herself. As her heart began to beat normally again a calm came over Casey, and she saw in the distance what looked like land. The White Knight drew closer and closer and soon Casey was sure. She had made it. There were trees and rocks, and a beach so white and lovely the Devil himself would have a hard time calling it anything but magnificent. There was even in inlet to lay anchor. This place might just be exactly what she needed, it could be a new place to call home. Casey disembarked her vessel with haste, excited to see what was before her, and excited to have an excuse to release the dread that had followed her since her family's demise. Hard work always took one's mind off of things, Casey thought, and there seemed to be plenty of work to be done if she were to survive her all alone. These thoughts energized Casey. They allowed to her once again feel alive. Suddenly there was a voice from behind her.

“You’re late.”

She could almost hear the sly smirk concealed within it, poorly now, wanting to burst forth and to be seen. Casey’s blood went cold. But how could he be here? How could he find me? These two thoughts raced one another behind her eyes for a time that felt like an eternity, until finally she turned around.

To nothing. To nothing at all, Casey was perfectly alone, as she knew she must have been. No evil man to be heard or seen of. But was that a fire behind the trees, it’s smoke pouring out from above the branches? She thought it might be. It even must be. And with a sinking feeling of dread, thinking she ought to turn and run, to flee from this place and to never look back, Casey began to slowly walk into the woods, towards the fire. She wanted to turn and run, but somehow her feet would not listen to her mind or her heart, both of which were screaming for her escape. She thought now she could hear her father's voice, and her mother's, and her brother’s too. Tears were in Casey's eyes again now. Finally she burst into the clearing, the great fire she had known she would see roaring before in an immense tempest of spark and flames, the voices of her family louder in her ears than they had even been during their lives, now screaming her name, over and over and over. Casey clasped her hands over her ears and screamed…

Silence.

For a time Casey sat alone, in a ball on forest floor. Sobbing and refusing to look up, to see what she knew she would have to. To see that man, to see her parents. She could feel them surrounding her. She knew if she looked she would die. Her eyes cast up around he… To nothing.

No fire, no parents, just Casey alone in the woods. Somehow she was disappointed, she had been so sure. But there was nothing. And where had that fire gone? Had she imagined that too? Casey held her head in her hands and wept. What was happening to her, she thought? She figured she must have been cracking up. Yea that that was it, she was just going insane. Heck maybe it was all a dream after all? A girl can hope, I suppose. Suddenly there was a hand on Casey’s shoulder, with fingers as cold as ice and as sharp as jagged lime stone. The hand of a skeleton, she thought, here from that Disney Movie to finally take me away from all of this. She looked up into the eyes of her father, distant and hollow. A roaring fire burning deep within his pupils, the rest cold and dim. He spoke softly.

“You weren’t supposed to run, you should have stayed with Dan, baby. You should have never come here, but I can’t say I’m sorry that you did. At least now we can be together again. I love you, I’m sorry Casey, I’m sorry, this is all my fault.”

At this Casey’s vision began to fade away, but before it did she saw the shape of a man. Not the same shaped man as she had in her home those seven days ago, the one with the sly tone and cruel expression, but the same man none the less. She could feel that it was. He was looking right at her, flashing an awful, toothless grin, and laughing. He looked at her with those brilliant flaming eyes and a hunger could have been seen within them, had anyone been there to look for it. But Casey had already passed out.

Casey awoke the next morning to the sound and smell of breakfast cooking. She felt at home. The small fire was being kept up by her brother, and her mother and father were off to the side of their hut, speaking to another couple about the weather. An ember lived within each of their eyes, dancing along with one another as each of their hosts spoke and went about their day. This didn’t scare Casey, she felt like for some reason, nothing would ever scare her again. It was nice. A few men were ambling up the pathway to their campsite, their eyes glistening from deep within. They joked and laughed, and it made Casey feel wonderful. There was a bucket of water besides Casey now, brought to her by another young girl, and Casey looked within it’s depths. There were her eyes, sparkling and waving with that burning glow, just like they always had, for as long as she could remember. She thought they looked so lovely. At once there was a tapping on her shoulder and before her stood her friend. The man with the sly tone, and gentle, burning eyes. He spoke without hesitation, a hunger in his voice there for anyone to hear but those who were able to listen.

“You still haven't signed my dear, you know we all have to sign.” And before him he brandished a quill and long sheet of gaunt and torn material, what Casey took to be bark but what have most assuredly been human skin. With a smile Casey accepted her friends gifts, and signed with vigor. With a gleam in his eye and a jaunt in his step her friend skipped off, whistling a tune. Casey wasn’t sure what she did to make him to happy, but she was sure glad she did it, whatever it might have been. Against a great solitary Oak the sly man now stood, and holding a great hooked blade he drove its metal into the the trees flesh, carving out another notch in a long list of marks. If you looked you would not be able to even count them all the notches were so many, and went so high among the branches of the tree. As this final notch was completed the man looked directly again at Casey and smiled, and slipping his demented parchment out from his sleeve took another long look at her name scrawled their, written unknowingly in her own blood. He smiled. She was his now, as were all of them. And their debt would never be paid.