MOON FALL Read online

  “Tamara Thorne has become one of those must-read horror writers.”

  -Horror World

  Moonfall

  Moonfall, the picturesque community nestled in the mountains of Southern California, is a quaint hamlet of antique stores and craft shops run by the dedicated nuns of St. Gertrude’s Home for girls. As autumn fills the air, the townspeople prepare for the festive Halloween Haunt, Moonfall’s most popular tourist attraction. Even a series of unsolved deaths over the years hasn’t dimmed Moonfall’s renown. Maybe because anyone who knew anything about them has disappeared.

  Now, Sara Hawthorne returns to her hometown…and enters the hallowed halls of St. Gertrude’s where, twelve years before, another woman died a horrible death. In Sara’s old room, distant voices echo in the dark and the tormented cries of children shatter the moon—kissed night.

  But that’s just the beginning. For Sara Hawthorne is about to uncover St. Gertrude’s hellish secret…a secret she’ll carry with her to the grave…

  MOONFALL

  Copyright © 1996 Tamara Thorne

  All Rights Reserved

  First e-book edition September 2012

  No part of this ebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the author, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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

  This one’s for Douglas Clegg and Raul Silva

  Still crazy about you after all these years

  Table of Contents

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Part 2

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Part 3

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Part 4

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  Chapter 87

  Part 5

  Chapter 88

  Chapter 89

  Chapter 90

  Chapter 91

  Chapter 92

  Chapter 93

  Chapter 94

  Chapter 95

  Chapter 96

  Chapter 97

  Chapter 98

  Chapter 99

  Chapter 100

  Chapter 101

  Chapter 102

  Chapter 103

  Chapter 104

  Chapter 105

  Chapter 106

  Chapter 107

  Chapter 108

  Chapter 109

  Chapter 110

  Chapter 111

  Chapter 112

  Chapter 113

  Chapter 114

  Chapter 115

  Chapter 116

  Epilogue

  PART ONE

  HALLOWEEN, 1972

  One

  Beano Franklin poked John Lawson in the ribs. ''Come on, pull my finger!"

  "Cut it out," John muttered, his gaze never wavering from the dark apple orchard that lay beyond the orange and yellow lights strung around the picnic area of Parker's Cider Mill. Beano had been after him for five minutes now, even though John's parents were standing right behind them, along with just about everybody else in town and God knew how many tourists.

  "Come on, Lawson!"

  He sounded pretty desperate and John smiled to himself, thinking that his friend must be about ready to burst. If it had been anyone but Mom and Dad and Grandpa Gus in Beano's direct line of fire, he might've been tempted to comply. ''Ask Winky," John murmured, ignoring the digit wagging under his nose.

  ''He took off with Paul and Doug, remember, Bonehead? To get our supplies for later?"

  ''Oh, yeah." John had managed to put their plans out of his head for the last couple hours, but Beano's words made his stomach squiggle with fear and excitement about what would come later tonight.

  Standing on John's left was Greg, his ten-year-old brother. Dressed true to his character as a little red devil complete with pitchfork, he was tugging on John's sleeve. He turned. "What, Squirt?"

  "What're you doing later?" he demanded loudly. "I wanna do it, too! And don't call me Squirt!"

  Behind them, John felt his mother lean closer, listening, so instead of strangling Greg, he smiled at him. "We're camping out at Winky's, Squirt. Only high school freshmen. Sorry."

  The boy's freckled face slipped into a frown, and just as he opened his mouth to complain, Beano saved the day, sticking his finger in Greg's face. "Quick! Pull it!"

  The frown instantly inverted and Greg yanked for all he was worth. Nothing happened. Greg opened his mouth to protest

  "Silent but deadly," Beano reassured him.

  An instant later, Mom said, "Oh, dear," Dad cleared his throat, and they, along with everyone else in the immediate vicinity, edged away. "Christ," John sputtered, trying not to inhale any more stink molecules than he had to, ''what crawled up your ass and died?"

  ''Two chili dogs with double sauerkraut, dill pickles, and jalapenos. Look! Here comes Caspar!"

  Old Caspar Parker, the man behind Moonfall's annual Halloween Haunt, stepped out in front of the crowd, dressed in denim overalls, a blue and white checked shirt, and a yellow Parker's Cider Mill baseball cap, all liberally spattered with fake blood. His wrinkled face was expertly made up in corpse colors-grayish-white with blue mottling around his eyes and cheeks and a trail of blood drizzling from one comer of his blue-black lips. The bloody gash painted on his neck was even wider tha
n the grin on his face.

  "Have you folks had a good time tonight?" he called in his booming voice. The cheers and applause threatened to rip his widening grin in two. "Anybody sighted any gargoyles in the sky?" Hoots and whistles and more cheers answered him, and John felt Greg move closer to him; the squirt still believed the gargoyles decorating St Gertrude's School for Girls could fly and might get him some dark night. John hadn't been intrigued by the gargoyle stories for a long time, but Greg was a sort of nervous kid. He turned his attention back to Caspar and his shenanigans.

  Every Halloween, Parker's Mill hosted a costume parade, pumpkin-carving contest, apple-bobbing, a dance, and a hayride, but the best part was the Haunted Bam, which Caspar enlarged and changed every year. This time, he'd outdone himself with the addition of a hologram ghost swaying from a noose in the rafters.

  At the ripe old age of fourteen, John knew Caspar's haunted bam was a little lame, a trifle hokey, but he didn't care. His buddies-Beano Franklin, Winky Addams, Doug Buckman, and Paul Pricket-all liked to make fun of it, and John went right along with them, knowing full well that they secretly loved it as much as he did. Even John's dad, who was also the sheriff of Moonfall, admitted that Caspar's not-too-friendly ghosts could sometimes get a rise out of him.

  ''Quiet, please!" Caspar called out, setting the stage for the night's final event. He cupped his hand around his ear. ''I believe I hear hoofbeats."

  The hushed crowd looked to the orchard as the faint sound of a horse's hooves came from the loudspeakers, distant at first, then louder and louder, closer and closer, until the sound stampeded around them. A spotlight went on deep in the orchard just as a savage whinny ripped the air. Deep maniacal laughter followed. All around John, people caught their breath. Greg grabbed his hand and held tight.

  There was shadowy movement in the orchard and John Lawson shivered in anticipation. An instant later, the Headless Horseman, on his midnight stallion, galloped out of the apple grove, an ominous black silhouette brandishing a fiery-eyed jack-o'-lantern. Steam blew from the animal's nostrils as it halted before the crowd and reared up on its hind legs.

  The horse came down and the Horseman, his cape blowing in the wind, his white shirt covered with blood from neck stump to waist, held the pumpkin-head higher. ''It's All Hallows' Eve and the night belongs to the spirits now! Go to your homes and lock your doors, or you" - he pointed at a man at the far edge of the crowd- "or perhaps you"- he pointed at a little girl ten feet away- "or you," he pointed at John, or maybe Greg- "will be doomed to die and join us in our ghostly revelries forever!" Lunatic laughter rippled through the air; then the Horseman spurred the stallion. John watched horse and rider until they melded with the night.

  "Wow!" Greg let go of John's hand, fearless once more."He pointed at us! Isn't that great?"

  John ruffled his brother's hair. "Great, Squirt!"

  "Don't call me that!"

  Beano nudged John. "Here come the guys. Let's go!"

  "Mom? Dad?" John turned to his parents. "We're going to Winky's now, okay?" He hoped he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

  ''Are you boys still planning to sleep outside?" his mother asked. ''It's awfully cold."

  "No, ma'am," Winky said, as he and the others joined the group. "My dad said we can camp out in the family room." The other boys groaned; then Winky added, "He says we can watch the all-night horror movie marathon. The Black Widow's hosting."

  "The Black Widow!" Doug Buckman breathed. "Boy, I'd like to get my hands on those- "

  Beano elbowed him into silence.

  Mom turned to John. ''Did you remember your toothbrush, honey?"

  Oh, God, I'll never live this down. "Yeah, I remembered."

  ''Be polite to Mr. and Mrs. Addams, John." With that, she kissed his cheek and he wanted to sink right into the ground as the guys snickered behind him.

  "Ben," Dad drawled He looked big and imposing in his sheriff's uniform.

  "Yes, Sheriff Lawson?" Beano asked, his plump cheeks coloring.

  "Your brother and his friends used to stir things up on Halloween night."

  "Huh?" Beano was all innocence. "Brian's in college back east. And his friends, well, Raul's in college, too, and Martin's in Vietnam, and Cal, he's in Canada-"

  ''The thing is," Dad said, moonlight glinting off his badge, "I know they aren't here to t.p. Jeremiah Moonfall's statue this year."

  "How'd you know- " Beano blurted.

  Dad smiled tightly. "I'm the sheriff, that's how. I also know that these things sometimes become traditions, kind of like the Halloween Haunt. The point is," he continued, looking from boy to boy, "this is not to become one of Moonfall's traditions." He gave them a genuine smile. "So, boys, if you see anyone hanging around the town square on your way to the Addams place, make sure and let me know."

  "Sure," Beano said, and the others echoed assent.

  Two

  "Are we still gonna do the statue?" Paul Pricket whispered, as he stepped through the sliding glass door of Winky Addams's family room into the moonlit night. "I got us a dozen rolls of pink toilet paper! Pink!" He pushed his wire-rimmed glasses back up his ski-slope nose.

  "Shit, man, I dunno." Beano looked at John. "Think your dad's watching the square tonight?"

  John shrugged. ''He's got the night off, but one of his deputies will be on duty."

  ''Which one?" Doug asked, digging in his ear. ''Man, I think I got a piece of candy com stuck in here."

  "You're just saying that because you like to eat your own ear jam," Beano observed

  "Eat me, Franklin," Doug said, still digging. "So who's on, Lawson?"

  ''Cohtek, probably." John rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Knowing him, he'll stay at the station and watch the Black Widow unless a call comes in, so we're safe."

  "Cohtek's favorite place is between a chick's legs," Beano said, right on cue.

  ''Between her tits," Paul said, craning his neck for a last look at the horror hostess's amazing cleavage.

  “God, you're dense, Pricket." Beano underscored his disgust with a belch that made his Adam's apple waggle.

  "It's ten-thirty already." Doug Buckman tapped his watch. "If it gets much later, all the girls'll be in bed and we won't get to see anything."

  "He's got a point," Winky agreed.

  "We gotta go- "

  "Shhh, Buckman, not so loud. You wanna wake up my parents?" Winky glared at him, then looked to John, one eyelid beginning a nervous dance. '·'What do you think we should do first?"

  "Let's go to St. Gruesome's. We can stash the toilet paper in the bushes by the statue and do it on our way back."

  Silently they nodded agreement; then Winky led the way around the perimeter of his darkened house. Then, with soldierly stealth, they moved along the edge of the orchard until they reached the apple shed, where they'd stashed their bikes.

  ''This is gonna be so great," Doug gloated, as he pulled open the door and flicked on a dim flashlight. The sweet smell of apples filled the air and he smacked his lips loudly. ''Naked girls everywhere, getting in bed, showering, washing their panties-hey!" be squawked suddenly. "What the hell are you doing here? Lawson!" be hissed, "get your ass in here!"

  "Now what?" John muttered as be pushed past Doug and saw Greg, still wearing his devil costume, perched on an apple crate, arms crossed, a shit-eating grin spreading across his freckled face. "Shit! What the hell do you think you're doing here?''

  "I'm going with you guys," he said, nodding toward his red stingray bike. He gave his brother a coy look. "If you don't let me, I'll tell Mom you cussed."

  "We're not going anywhere," John said, as calmly as he could.

  "Yeah, right. That's why you all got flashlights and there's a pair of binoculars in Doug's bike basket."

  "You're full of it, Squirt." John forced a smile. "We just came out for some apples."

  "If you don't let me go with you, I'll tell Dad you guys are gonna t.p. the statue." He pointed at Paul's bulging backpack waiting near the door. Two p
ink rolls of tissue poked out of its open top.