Cover: Echoing Whispers

EDIT: Video Process www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Izhwr…

Summary: Amber is born in the sleepy little town of Winstonville, NC. Not far from the cities, but not too far from the country. She has gone through black outs and has walked on her own without a conscious. Staggering through her journey, she learns of the dark history of Winstonville. And armed with her father's baseball bat, a vintage bat from Gregory Rutten. Nightmares slowly unfold... "This ain't a sleepy town anymore. I liked it better when it was dead."
…………
The fact that I'm like a train with no driver, and I'm not able to make the turns or control myself puts everyone in danger. "Amber! Amber...! Look out!" A woman shrieks out, and I vaguely hear horns in the distance.

Truck horns.

I'm pulled back and lost in my mental whirlwind. I lose what strength I have to stand, and I feel my knees collapse. I'm limp. But I find myself soon stirring to the smell of perfume. A sweet jasmine and vanilla, mixed in with roses. My body feels warm, and the softness of the pillow on my head envelopes me. "Amber...? Amber?" Sarah is looking down at me from the chair next to the couch I'm sleeping on; knowing she's here brings comfort, but then I noticed the bloody baseball bat on the coffee table. How can I explain it to her?

"You should be glad there were no cops around," she says.

I feel as though there's a lump in my throat. Even if I was lucky and there were no cops around...I kinda expect an unsavory welcome from them. No one expects a girl next door to carry a bat with frog blood.

"I hope you realize, you can't go on like this," Sarah reprimanded, "First a few road animals, then my pet dog, and now this?"

"I don't remember all of those," I try to explain, "I might've killed a frog today but that's it."

"Then can you explain how Peachy, a fucking bulldog--my bulldog--ended up buried in your backyard with his body beaten and neck twisted?!" Sarah snaps.

Peachy was normally known around the neighborhood as Sarah Caultry's pride and joy. The closest thing to a child. A little round with brown spots but had a black one around his eye. I remember someone telling me, that Peachy dug out of the yard and underneath the fence and ran off. A few days later I woke up with my night robe bloodied, and that bat in my hand. Even worse, there was a lump of dirt in my yard.

Peachy was buried. And killed. I don't blame Sarah for getting angry at me, but I don't remember at all what had happened.

"Sarah, I swear. I didn't kill him!"

"Please Amber, I'm not antagonizing you..." She says softly, "I might've gotten emotional. But sweetie, let's be honest. Isn't this your fifth blackout and sleepwalk episode with you walking with your bat? Does Basil know?"

Basil Brettman. We haven't talked in years since we became together. Neighbor boy is his little bother. And Neighbor Boy always said, Basil wasn't affected by his little brother's behavior. With their family fractured, Basil took head of house but hired a nanny named Judson to mostly take care of him. But who takes care of Basil?

I heard rumors, his therapist looks after him or his doctor. But he's mostly in his room, smoking a lot. He drowns himself in a cloud of nicotine. I know one of these days he really is gonna drown if he keeps it up. But there's more to that...

"He, um, stopped answering my calls."

Sarah shakes her head, "And you're supposed to be his girlfriend. His behavior has gotten weird as yours. If not more violent. If you don't do something to help your behavior or break up. He might do you in like goddamn Peachy."

"He's not a killer..." I sigh and lay back, "At least, I don't think he is. I don't understand what happened to him."

She sighs as well. I can tell from her eyes, she looks exhausted. "Am...you really need the help. I'm saying this as a friend." We both wince when we hear a knock at the door and Sarah unlocks it with her key before she opens it.

"Heard she went through another blackout again?"

Sarah's trying to keep her composure, "Oh hey...Romeo. How did you know she was here?" She asks in a mild confusion. Basil is glaring her from the front door. He looks like he just returned from work at the bookstore. His shirt slightly ruffled, pants  dirty with dust and his shoes slightly scratched, "Please, don't give me that look. I'm only asking."

"My brother told me..." He replies apathetically, "He said Amber suddenly started running off but I had a feeling you took care of her."

"Had a hard day?"

Basil stares and rubs his head. Sarah's eyes widen when blood smears on his forehead, "Son of a bitch, boy! Did you cut yourself while working again?" She nearly shouts in disbelief, "Dang it, didn't your parents tell to watch how you handle equipment. Be grateful it's not a deep cut! You'd need fucking A stitching!"

Basil is like me... He goes through amnesia of his blackouts too. Judson told me, it's gotten worse. Sarah cleans and wraps up his wound, but he doesn't look any better than he did when he came in. I want to say something but nothing escapes my lips, not even a manner of concern. It's like I numbed up myself since I'm going through something similar. I don't know myself so well anymore. "She's not hurt, is she?" He asks. Sarah shakes her head, placing the first aid kit aside, and places her hand to her hips.

"Are you two even together?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"I'm just asking since she told me you stopped answering her calls," Sarah pointed.

Basil groans, "It's nothing like that. I just...the store extended my shifts--"

"Have you been smoking again?" Silence envelopes the living room as Basil stands there. "Oh, so you say!" Sarah snaps, "Look here lover boy, you have an addiction problem. And you're leaving a bad example for your little brother. He's only ten and you're smoking where he can see you! By the time he reaches fourteen, he'll be smoking a cig because he wants to be like his brother. Is that what you want?" Basil glares, with an intent to hurt her. There's a fierceness on his eyes that burns through.

"You leave. Him. Out of this!" He yells.

"Stop it! Just stop it!"

My yell makes it in time, Basil was close to grasping Sarah's neck. Sarah notices and shoves him aside, "Fuck you. I have goddamn pepper spray, put those filthy fingers around my neck and I'll-"

"Sarah, don't...don't provoke him...all right?" I manage weakly.

Sarah's eyes widen in surprise, "Did you even see where his goddamn hands were going?!" Basil rubs his temples.

"I don't even know why we're friends," Basil sighs.

"I was never friends with you. I'm friends with Amber. You might've been with her since childhood but...but...oh just forget it," Sarah waves her arms, tired of the argument, "I need to go to the bathroom. You just relax, okay?" She looks over at Basil who just shoves his hands in his pockets, "And don't pull anything." He scoffs.

"Like I would."

"You would," she adds and leaves down the hallway.

My lips curl as I hear her walk and the closing of the door, seeing Basil after months of no communication has brought me to realize my skin is crawling. I don't know what happens behind those doors of the Brettman household, but now that we're alone like this. I'm afraid to ask. I'm afraid to speak. I feel this heaviness around us, and his body...why do I smell blood? Not from my bat. But a piercing stench from his arms. It's getting stronger and I have to clasp my nose and sit down. I'm trying not to puke. I can almost taste the sour and ugliness coming up my throat. We both yell in surprise when the bat slams the wall near Basil, and it drops to the ground and rolls to the side.

"This is from your household, isn't it?" He asks picking it up by the hilt.

"Really? I thought it was from yours..."

"My brother is only interested in football," he explains, "You had this bat since we met."

My head is starting to hurt. "Basil, what's on your arms?" I ask.

He looks at me in surprise,  "Wh...what?"

"Um, I smell something from your arms," I stammer and feel my legs shake, "What's on them?"

"D-dust?"

Dust doesn't smell that strong, it doesn't even smell like crap or urine. I recognize that smell as decomposition. No wonder I want to puke. I find myself pulling at his sleeves despite his protests and unravel them, but there's nothing underneath. But it reeks. It reeks of dying flesh. Why can I still smell it?! Basil winced and slaps my cheek, "The nerve of you! What are you hoping to accomplish?" My cheek is stinging. I don't know what I was doing. I notice now at the corner of the eye, the bat is moving again. Basil sighs, taking my silence as consideration, "I'm sorry I yelled, but this bat is yours. Your father's autographed, Gregory Rutten bat."

Gregory Rutten was a famous around here in the 1940's, Winstonville Spark Cats was his baseball team and he was a respected hitter. The Spark Cats is now kept hush hush after an event that happened in 1945. Any documents regarding Gregory and his team is long gone and buried. But his bat is his memo, along with the blood upon it. Everyone says it came from an injury or bloody nose. But one thing never changed...the blood got bigger and harder to clean off. It stains through the wood and the dry blood resembles dry paint. Was this relic really my dad's?

Basil winces when the bat falls on his foot. The impact makes him curl over in pain.

"Forget it! Just forget it!" He shouts.

"Basil, you think maybe we can go out? Um, old times sakes?"

"Sure...ugh...sure-!"

I don't have a say once he goes out that door. He slams it in anger and rushes down the street. I sigh gently, and pick up the bat by the hilt. I stop when I notice a wriggling on the wood flooring, something small and curly. I notice two more aside from each other. I come to the realization that these are maggots. The stench. That stench. With this heart going rapid as my head can only ring in alarm that this came from Basil. Sarah walks back in and notices my wide eyes expression, "What-?"

"C-call an ambulance!" I shriek, "Basil has maggots!"

Something is eating him on the inside. Or worse, his arms.

"He has what!?" Sarah exclaims in horror.

"Sarah-! Sarah-! Check the floor! For God sakes, check the floor...!" I'm blubbering like an idiot. Three little worms reduced me to this. But maggots don't just come out nowhere! Sarah examines the floor, and I'm pointing them as I bend over, "These came from him! How did...?"

She looks at me, "Amber...? There's nothing there..."

.........................


Just a little preview of 's next fic: "Echoing Whispers", which will be a sort of alternate universe type of thing of my own Echoes series. She even designed this cover, I just drew out her idea ^^

_{sorry for the super long artist's comment...} I am just seriously so excited about this I can't even  

EDIT (6-12-14):
Read the fic here cherlnida.deviantart.com/art/E…

Alternate Cover: