The Graveyard Feeder by Jack Keaton

Author:Jack Keaton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Decayed Films, Ltd.
Published: 2021-07-01T19:36:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Deep inside the tunnels under Juniper Falls Cemetery, Burke worms his way through the path of destruction made by the graveyard feeder. The beam to his flashlight shows the tunnel is infinite and separates into multiple passageways all around him. Jagged roots and red clay make up the subterranean burrows.

“What are you?” he says to himself.

The beam to his flashlight dims as the batteries die. He tosses it over his shoulder and fishes deep inside his pocket for a book of matches. He strikes one, and the soft glow burns down quickly, singeing his fingers. He drops it, nurses his thumb, and lights another match, this time revealing two additional tunnels going in different directions. Pieces of a broken casket block one of them.

Something large moves behind him, crossing to another passage, startling the groundskeeper. He crawls toward where the sound came from and realizes he’s at the edge of a slope that slides deep below. He looks down and locates the shredded remnants of the burlap sack Delores was buried in. It’s completely destroyed.

“You must’ve torn through it like some crazed raccoon,” he mumbles.

He hears the same something scurry into an adjacent passage.

“Hello? Mrs. Necromancer?”

The match burns out, and he quickly lights another one. He spins around the underground dwellings and decides which tunnel to crawl through. Lodged into the broken casket blocking one of the tunnels is his shovel.

“My shovel!”

He goes to crawl toward it but stops. He holds his breath and listens closely. Deep within the darkness, Burke can hear the sounds of crunching and chewing. The match burns his fingers, and he’s forced to drop it. The lit match lands on the torn piece of the burlap sack, causing it to catch fire, illuminating his surroundings.

At the end of the tunnel, where his shovel is stuck, is a pair of violet-colored eyes glowing in the darkness and staring straight at him. He scoots backward a few feet, startled. He can barely make out the rest of her. The lack of lighting plays tricks on his eyes.

Burke leans in and, with the help of the fire from the burlap sack, recognizes who the graveyard feeder is. “Is that you, Miss Delores?”

Delores appears to still be wearing a tattered nightgown covered in bile, earth, and goo. She growls and in a guttural, raspy voice says, “You don’t know me!”

“I swear you make the best damned lemon squares this side of Juniper Falls. They’re always a county fair favorite.”

She snarls but this time is much closer. “Do you know what he did? He thought he could take me out like snuffing out a candle,” she cackles. “A little more complicated than that.” She ducks and crawls out of sight.

“I don’t care what he did! Whoever he is. You can’t eat on the dead folks down here. It’s causin’ quite the unrest!” Burke calls out.

He quickly reaches for his shovel and yanks it free. He rests on his knees and grips it tightly; ready to strike at any moment.

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