Larwock Read online

  Copyright © Sam Zadgan 2017

  ISBN: 978-0-6480674-0-5

  eISBN: 978-0-646-97023-3

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Contents

  I. A town called Larwock

  II. Calling for help

  III. Birth of a town

  IV. A book is found

  V. The way back

  A town called

  Larwock

  ~

  1. A strange night

  Some places exist and don’t exist all at the same time; the people wonder in and out of our realms freely. But what would it take for normal folk, from normal cities, living normal lives to somehow stumble into these opaque worlds? A wrong turn down a road that exists only for the alluring purpose of drawing innocence, a bait to tempt unforgiving fate, could be such a way.

  A newly married couple driving cross-country to a holiday destination could be the beginning. Before modern technology and GPS systems existed, a simpler time of maps, the couple stumbles upon such a T-junction.

  Tamara couldn’t find this particular spot on the map, and shrugged, but this surely was her mistake—as was the last time they lost their way, over two hours ago. James brought the car to a standstill and retrieved the map. He followed the path they had taken with an eagle-eyed focus, but after a short moment lifted his head and looked around, peering through each window of their sedan.

  He stepped outside the car with the map. It was a sunny day, approximately four in the afternoon, and the sun was making its way to the west where the amber glow was still above the mountains. The road was nestled between dense trees and bush with the eastern side dropping down into a valley below—not steep or threatening, but a vista of natural beauty of rivers and fauna. The junction ahead had no signs and James referred back to his map, unravelling it in its entirety on the hood of the car. He inspected it from the last check point. There was only one road they could have taken: the road they were on. This should have led them to the next town for a night’s rest before their next day of driving to Melbourne. They planned a week of honeymooning in the city before they had to come back and resume life as a wedded couple.

  The map was not providing any assistance. He looked to his left at the sun, setting to the west, so he walked towards the junction to peer down each path. He noticed that to the left, the road seemed to turn in a southern direction, whereas the road on the right continued straight for as far as he could see.

  James went back in the car, folded the map and handed it back to Tamara, his hunch was to turn left. The plan was, if within thirty minutes they were not in the town, they would turn back and try the other direction. The map would suggest that they were very close to their town of Bowral anyway. Driving down the road they noticed a few pedestrians walking on the side of the road, bearing backpacks and dressed for a day of hiking—this gave the young couple confidence that they were heading in the right direction. Shortly, the trees disappeared and gave way to the view up ahead. There was a small stream with a single lane bridge, from which they could see a few houses and shops in the distance. The bridge was narrow and they had to wait while an oncoming car crossed before them.

  The town was quiet and the stores were closing, but they were yet to see the hotel they would be staying at for the night. They did, however, see a small and well maintained motel, which James drove towards. Parking, James left Tamara in the car as he enquired about the hotel and town. He came back to the car sheepishly.

  “We’re not in Bowral, it was the other direction.” James spoke apologetically as Tamara sighed and rolled her eyes. “But he said that the road into town turns back onto the main road after Bowral and we’re no worse off.”

  Tamara didn’t seem to see the positive side.

  “He’s offering us a room, but there’s no one staying tonight, so he’ll give us the deluxe suite for the price of a normal room. What do you think?” James waited for an answer.

  Tamara thought for a moment “But what about the other hotel we booked?” she shot back.

  “It’s okay, we didn’t pay anything. I’ll call them to tell them what’s happened. To be honest, I’d prefer to just stay the night here and go tomorrow morning rather than driving another hour to Bowral.”

  Tamara finally nodded in agreement.

  The logic was fair and the town looked nice and quaint—in addition, the deluxe suite sounded like an appealing offer. James started to unload the car as Tamara walked into the motel and completed the dated paper work, which involved a name, address and a $15 deposit for the night. She collected the key and with James they walked up the stairs to the first floor, which evidently was the top floor with two rooms.

  The Elder Inn was the second building to be erected in the town of Larwock. It had been standing for a hundred years, per the plaque next to the room door. By the sounds of the creaking floor boards under their feet it was easy to fathom the age of the building. Upon entering the room they were hit with a stale and musky odour and James was quick to open the windows.

  Later that night, James and Tamara settled into a deep sleep after a day of driving with little rest, but it was short lived as an inhumane scream echoed throughout the streets and into their room. The couple sobered from sleep instantly and James rushed to the window. Below he witnessed a scene that only appeared in nightmares. There was a small crowd of fifty or so people, walking in double line formation through the street, being led by one red-haired woman dressed in a white robe.

  Halfway down the line he noticed a naked woman being held up above the participants’ heads. She screamed again, but there was no sign of struggle. The sound was enough to prompt Tamara to the window, just as James noticed the red-haired woman staring right into his eyes.

  For a moment her deathly stare instilled fear into his very bones, but then she smiled at him and turned back as the line continued to walk through the town. James shut the window and closed the curtains, and they both sat nervously in their bed.

  A moment passed and it was quiet again, but the silence broke with a creaking in the floor boards and footsteps from the stairs. The footsteps became lighter as they approached the landing and only the creaking floorboards under foot could be heard, getting closer to the deluxe suite door. James looked around the bed, and then at the fireplace. He leaped across the bed and retrieved the fire log poker; it was heavy, sharp and reassuringly well built. He stood by the door as the footsteps ceased. James and Tamara exchanged a look—were they overreacting?

  Then the blind noises they heard affirmed their reactions. First, a rolling of keys on a keyring, shuffling to find the right one. James raised the poker, taking a deep breath. Next, the key was inserted, clicking each rivet into place, and the door knob slowly turned as Tamara curled in fear.

  The door knob turned clockwise and hit the end of the turn, but to no avail; it turned faster this time anti-clockwise and hit the end of the turn, but again the door did not open. Then the doorknob violently shook from one direction to the other. There was another haunting scream from the demonic parade outside. Altogether it pushed Tamara over the edge, the fear too much to contain, and she shook uncontrollably and then screamed!

  At that instant, everything stopped, there was silence again and Tamara was in tears and shivering involuntarily.

  James stepped closer to the door and motioned to Tamara to remain calm as he opened the door, poker in hand
and ready to swing at whatever stood outside. But he was met by a low-lit barren corridor, with no signs of anyone or anything being present. James was ready to leave the inn that night, until he heard the most comforting sound of the night. From next door, the sound of the key turning the lock, and footsteps walking deeper into the room and disappearing.

  James put down the poker and comforted Tamara on the bed. This was a strange night, and they would leave, but it seemed less sinister than a moment ago. Holding each other close and safe, they reluctantly turned in for a light sleep till the morning.

  2. A plausible explanation

  Usually the morning call of a rooster, for better or worse, woke those within hearing distance and signalled the start to the day. For James and Tamara, however, it was a call that was welcomed, not for ending a sombre sleep, but a signal that they could leave this place and forget the horrid night before.

  The young couple was already packed and ready to leave as they opened their door to head down the stairs. But upon reaching the front desk, James was stunned to see the old man with the red-haired woman from the parade the night before talking quietly in the foyer. His hopes of leaving unnoticed were dashed as the red-haired woman turned to him with a sweet smile and apologetic eyes.

  “Oh my, we are so sorry. I’ve just been talking to Harold here and he told me he heard a scream from your room last night. Did we scare you with our little parade?”

  James was surprised with the tone and nature of the red-haired woman and he was ushered into a state of calm. He put the bags down for a moment.

  “It wasn’t just that, there was someone at our door trying to get in. We are leaving anyway, so…” James said as he reached down to his bags, but Harold interrupted him.

  “That was your bloody neighbour. Steve does that all the time—he gets blind drunk and doesn’t know his arse from his elbow.” He apologetically continued, “Like the good lady says, we are sorry, mate, and I’m not going to charge you any money for your night’s stay.”

  James for a moment questioned his reaction and wild thoughts from the previous night. He started to feel a little guilty as Tamara walked past him towards the car. But she had no time for guilt or explanations, she wanted to leave and forget the events of the night. After a few steps out of the inn, Tamara was frozen in her tracks. She was met with a horrid sight.

  “JAMES!” she screamed. All three turned to her in slight shock. “They’ve slit our tyres! What the hell is going on here?”

  Tamara was overcome with feelings of helplessness, and the coincidental sequences of occurrences so far were too heavy for her shoulders. James, dismayed, walked past Tamara and rushed outside to inspect for himself. She was right. James stood for a moment looking around the town, which was already buzzing with a small number of people going into the shops and going about their daily errands.

  Harold and the red-haired woman left the inn and stood at the door with Tamara, inspecting the car, while James was beyond words.

  “Bloody hell, mate, that’s shit. You wait ‘ere, I’ll give Johnny a call and see if he can fix it up for ya… Bloody hell.” Harold’s tone and concern seemed genuine enough.

  With that, Harold walked back into the inn, leaving the three staring at the car. James turned to the red-haired woman with anger and frustration.

  “What are you people playing at?” James shot the words out like daggers. She glanced at Tamara for any support against her partner, but there was no remorse in Tamara either.

  “What on earth do you mean?” she defended, before James stepped menacingly closer.

  “I mean, that shit last night and now this… If this is not fixed I’m going to phone the police and…” Before he had a chance to finish that threat, Harold exited the inn with good news.

  Harold had spoken to Johnny, the local mechanic, and he was bringing his truck to tow the car back to his workshop and replace the tyres. This welcoming news seemed to take James and Tamara off the knife’s edge and the mood settled slightly. The red-haired woman took the opportunity to talk with a less hostile audience.

  “I’m sorry if our ways are somewhat backwards for city folk like you, but last night was our hundred-year celebrations. It was a harmless re-enactment of our founders’ escape and discovery of Larwock. Every twenty-five years we have a three-day celebration and last night was the first night.” She stepped past James and got a closer look at the tyres. “As for your car, I can only hazard a guess to say that a bunch of overzealous teenage boys vandalised it. I can assure you, there is nothing more sinister or cerebral than that.”

  The explanation, both plausible and logical, fell together in a coherent account of exactly what took place the night before, and the young couple began feeling embarrassed and ashamed of the conclusions they had drawn from the events. Defeated and humbled, James and Tamara apologised, to which they received an equally genuine forgiveness and were directed to the local café to have breakfast whilst their car was repaired.

  Across the road, three shops south, stood Sammy’s Milkbar, the local diner and coffee shop. Upon entry they were greeted by the owner, Sammy, wearing a white apron, white shirt and black tie, all freshly clean and pressed. James instantly recognised Sammy from the parade the night before; his distinctly shaped black beard was short and outlined his jawbone with no moustache and his balding head covering only the sides and back. He welcomed them warmly and showed them over to a booth by the window, with a clear view of the Elder Inn. After a few minutes Sammy returned with fresh coffee and two breakfast plates of eggs, bacon, sausages and toast.

  “It’s on the house. I heard what you people went through last night. I can imagine that would have been quite harrowing for tourists to witness.”

  Tamara couldn’t contain her curiosity, however; especially now that she had been met with such hospitality since the events.

  “What was that last night? Why was the girl screaming like that?” Tamara was genuinely interested as she took a sip of her coffee.

  Sammy smiled, and then pulled out a chair from a nearby table and sat down next to the couple’s booth.

  “You see, that was our first night of celebrations. This town was founded a hundred years ago this week, and we do this parade every twenty-five years and re-enact our founders’ escape from Bowral to Larwock. It’s a lot of abracadabra…a lot of mumbo jumbo, but it’s all good fun. The story goes…there was a coven of witches led by a wealthy man who were causing all types of havoc in Bowral. Some say they were getting ready to open the gates of hell or some rubbish like that. If you want my opinion, they were just a bunch of rich folk with too much cannabis!

  “But anyway, the people of Bowral wanted no part of it, so one night the villagers put a stop to it. They ambushed the group and the group ran through the forest to this place. The villagers didn’t follow them because they thought the forest was haunted and this group of witches had some power over it, or some such stuff… You want my opinion, they just wanted to get a bunch of drug addicts out of their town. I’m not even sure if I believe the whole story.”

  Sammy sensed that they were both taken by the story, so he continued with the tale as James and Tamara began eating their food.

  “Anyway, this group ends up deciding to stay in the forest, so they start to cut down some trees and start building houses. The head of the coven’s house is that there Elder Inn. The other building was the church. The whole group stayed in his house for a year and over that year they safe-guarded the town from outsiders.

  “They supposedly raised all types of demons and spirits to take ownership of the forest and protect them… If you ask me, they just wanted to have orgies all the time in that house, but at some point they ran out of drugs and realised they needed their own places!”

  “So, if they were devil worshippers, why did they build a church?” James looked a little puzzled as he posed the question.

  “Well, they can still build a church…they just worship their own gods, and they weren’t de
vil worshippers, they worshipped other gods, the Ancient Ones as they called it…something to do with old Persian sorcery or some rubbish, but very different, mate. In the end, like I said, all mumbo jumbo. I like the second and third night of celebrations anyway.” He stopped as he looked out the window and noticed a person across the road.

  “Oh…looks like Johnny’s got some news for you.” Sammy pointed to the man, Johnny, dressed in greasy blue overalls, heading to the café.

  Johnny stepped inside the café nodding at Sammy, and then over to the couple’s booth. With a sombre tone he apologetically told the couple the bad news.

  “Sorry folks, I don’t have those tyres in stock. I’ve just ordered a few from Sydney, and they’ll be here tomorrow.”

  “Wait!” James shot back. “It’s not that far to Sydney. One of us could be there and back within half a day, and anyway, Wollongong is like a half-hour drive.”

  “I tried Wollongong too,” John dejectedly responded. “They are all out of stock. The guys in Sydney have to wait to get it from their distributors. If they order it now, they’ll get it tomorrow morning and then they’ll deliver it here by midday tomorrow. I’m sorry, that’s the best I can do.”

  Johnny left the café as James and Tamara sat in their booth eating their breakfast and drinking their coffee, defeated and considering all the options left for them. But the lack of options was the most depressing thought of all. The idea of staying one more night in the town was not welcoming, but the hospitality of the residents had allayed some of their fears. Still there was a weird and uncommonness to this town that was unsettling to the couple; with hesitation, they agreed to stay another night.

  Sammy approached the table, noticing the empty coffee cup.

  “Let me fill that up for you…sorry, I overheard Johnny…so you guys staying the night?” James nodded in response. “Well, you should, it’s going to be great. The celebrations tonight will be at the Elder Inn anyway, so you can join in.”