Poisonberries

“Terrence Courtney McCauley, get your ass up here right this second!”

Terrence, though he prefers the name “Terry”, sighs from exasperation. What ever his parents were pissed about, he immediately knew that his sister, Lillian, was likely the culprit. He shuffled to the room his parents called him to. Unsurprisingly, their eyes were shooting daggers at him.

“Young man, please explain why you thought prank-calling our landlord was a good idea.” his mother ordered. “Mom, you know I think prank calls are a waste of time. It was Lily.” Terry explained. “We asked Lily about it, and she said it was you. You know Lily doesn’t lie, right?” his mother retaliated. Terry scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Terry was always a snarker. He had a tendency to roll his eyes, sigh, make snappy comments, and tell people off. But he was never one to tell a lie. His younger sister, Lillian June McCauley, was the liar between them. But only Terry ever noticed.

Lillian was a typical “golden child”. She had good grades, popularity, and her parents spoiled her rotten. But when it came to Terry, his grades were failing, everyone thought he was a freak, so he had virtually no friends, and his parents tended to forget about his existence. It’s been like this since Lily was 5.

“Don’t you get snappy with me, boy!” his mother shouted. “Evie, ease up on the boy. You know his condition.” his father said, serenely. Terry was diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, better known as O.D.D. He had a tendency to question everything, and he would often bicker with adults.

As he walked down the street, he soon arrived at the main street which connected his home to the rest of the world. He considered texting his mom to ask if he could go onto the main street, which was titled Prospect Road. However, he decided against texting anyone, a simple thought crossing his mind.

During his brief walk, he checked the time. 5:37. His parents ran a strict schedule, so he knew that dinner would not be served for another 45 minutes. Despite this long time gap, he made his way back home. “I’m not letting the neighbors call the police on me again.” he muttered to himself as he walked. He was suddenly struck with the realization that he walked a path he’d never walked before. He found himself in a dark, foggy, and wooded area. Looking up, he saw a thick blanket of leaves blocking out the sunlight. He looked at the trees surrounding him, and noticed a strange piece of paper attached to one of the trees. Slowly, he approached the tree, and saw a haunting note.

“Don’t look… or it takes you.”

Terry read the note over and over again. He believed that his eyes were making up the words, and that the note was blank. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it, Terry bolted away from the note, refusing to turn back to make sure he wasn’t being followed.

Once he made it out of the woods, he attempted to turn on his phone, but discovered it was dead. He groaned, and headed back towards home. To his annoyance, it was past 6:15, so the doors were locked. He walked over to a porch chair, and slumped himself down in it. He couldn’t take his mind off of the haunting note he read in the forest, so he decided to check it out further. But he needed supplies. He took his emergency charger out from under the porch, and used the outlet on the porch light to charge his phone, so he could have it in the event of an emergency while he was out in the forest.

Late into the night, Terry approached one of the windows. The one he selected lead into the kitchen, which was closest to his room. He removed the screen from the window frame, and began work on opening the window. I learned from last time. Stay low, stay quiet. He thought. The window creaked open, and Terry pushed it up enough that he could fit, and climbed through it.

Terry entered the stairwell leading to the basement, and made his way downstairs. He arrived at his room, and immediately went towards a giant duffel bag, which had a flashlight, a camera, water bottles, electrical tape, a portable charger, and spare batteries for his camera. He picked it up, and took the flashlight out of it. He quickly stuffed some of his clothing into the bag, zipped it shut, and slung it over his shoulder.

He soon made his way back to the kitchen, to grab food. He took a box of crackers, some peanut butter and a spoon, a few fruits, which his family had grown, and some sweets, which his parents were attempting to hide from him. He then exited the way he had entered, and replaced the screen, so no one would be suspicious. Retrieving his phone from the porch, he made his way in the same direction he went in on his walk hours earlier.

Terry thought about the note he had read earlier, and the haunting message inscribed on it. As he thought more and more about it, he soon found himself in the forest blanketed by leaves above and fog below. He set the bag on the ground, unzipped it, and dug around for his camera. As soon as he found it, he pulled it out, and activated it, so he could catch any abnormalities that might occur. He zipped up his bag, picked it up, and went on his search for the mysterious note he discovered, and for others similar to it.

His search went on for 5 hours. He was exhausted, and he began to miss his family, which surprised him. He began making his way back outside of the forest, but as he looked up at the blanket of leaves above him, his vision began to blur. However, he believed it to be exhaustion. He continued making his way out of the forest, but his head began to feel as if it was filled with rocks, and his body felt heavy. Overcome by the throbbing pain in his head and the increasing weight of his body, he collapsed. He soon reawoke, to be faced with a young grey-skinned male, similar to himself. He started to panic and back up. The man looked at him. Unblinking. Unmoving. Unnerving. Terry regained feeling in his legs, picked up his duffel bag, stood up, and ran as fast as he could away from the grey-skinned man who was staring at him. He heard footsteps behind him, and knew he was being pursued, but he did not stop running. Not until he made it out of the forest.

He continued running all the way back home, and entered through the back door. He headed straight to his room, and threw his duffel bag on the ground. Picking up his pencil and sketchbook, he began to draw the man he saw in the woods. Once he finished, he heard his parents walking around, getting Lily ready for school. He checked his phone, and realized he was running late. He groaned, picked up his phone, and called his school.

He was always good at impressions.

“Hello, this is Prospect High School. How may I help you?” the secretary responded. “Hello. My son, Terrence McCauley, is sick today. He won’t be attending.” Terry said, perfectly imitating his father’s voice. “Alright.” the secretary responded. Terry hung up. He decided to sleep, and he swore to continue his investigation once he woke up. Removing his glasses and shoes, he slumped onto his bed, and fell asleep.

After about 7 hours, Terry woke up. He heard his parents arguing, and went to investigate. His mother suddenly punched a wall. His father was trying to calm her down. “Evie, please calm down!” his father cried out. “Quit fucking telling me what to do all the time!” she screamed. “God, you’re a psychopath. Evelynn, I’m sorry, but I can’t continue living like this, and I won’t let Lily or Terry continue living like this either. I’m taking them to my mom’s house when they get home, and I’ll be filing for divorce.” Terry’s father told his mother. Evelynn was distraught. “You can’t divorce me! I’m the glue holding this family together!” she screamed. Terry then was forced to witness the worst thing a teenager could ever witness.

His mother suddenly picked up a large kitchen knife, and shoved it into his father’s chest. His father gasped, and collapsed. “Sorry, James. If I can’t have you, I won’t let anything risk someone else getting you.” she hissed. James laid on the ground, and his body went limp. Evelynn picked it up, and went to the back, inciting Terry to run back downstairs.

Terry sat in his room, hyperventilating from what he had witnessed. He knew about his mother’s rejection issues. His father told him about it all the time.

''“In high school,” James started, “your mother had it all. She was dating the star of the basketball team, Rodney Gray, she had a lot of friends, and she had perfect grades. One day, though, she claimed to see a mysterious man following her. Because of this, she began to flip out, and she was eventually dumped, because she was “batshit insane”, as ol’ Gray put it. Her grades went into the gutter, and her life fell apart. She hasn’t been the same since.”''

Terry snapped back from his flashback, and checked his phone. It was about an hour before he was supposed to arrive home. He picked up his backpack, and grabbed a grocery bag from his bed, which he had from the last time he did his own shopping. He headed out, and went to a tree that was around the corner, which had unidentified purple and red berries on it. He spent the next hour picking them, and stuffing them into the plastic bag. She’s gonna pay, he thought, They’re both gonna pay.

About 45 minutes later, Terry made his way to the front door, and entered like he had no idea what had occurred. “Mom, Dad, I’m home.” he called out. Evelynn walked over to him, happy. “Hey, sweetie! How was school?” she asked. Terry knew what had occurred, and he knew that Evelynn was acting, but he didn’t show that he knew. He smiled happily. “It went well.” he responded. He had a large plastic bag of berries he had found outside, which was stuffed into his backpack. He had no idea what they were, but he hoped they’d do what he needed them to.

During dinner, Lily was confused. “Mama? Where’s Dad?” she asked. “Your dad, he… he told me he doesn’t like being a parent. He left.” Evelynn answered. Terry was trying as hard as he could to keep a straight face. Fortunately, he had Resting Bitch Face, so he could glare at his mother the entire time, and she’d have no idea.

As Lily cleared off the table after dinner, Terry went through the fridge, and found the pie crust that his father had purchased, with the intent to bake a mixed berry pie that night. Terry grinned, and prepped the crust. He baked it, and prepared the “mixed berries”, which were the mysterious berries he had picked earlier. Soon, the pie was completed. Terry went to his room, and awaited the results. As he lay in bed, he saw a figure from his window, which blurred his vision, and caused him to black out.

In the morning, both Evelynn and Lily were very sick. Terry took it upon himself to get to school, so that he would not be there at the time. Terry made his way to school, wearing his favorite grey scarf, a black hoodie, jeans, and his usual shoes.

When Terry arrived home, he called out to his family. “Mom! Lily! I’m home!”

There was no answer, which made a smile appear on his face. He quickly shed the smile, to a face of concern. He walked to the bathroom, and saw his mother on the ground. Dead. He faked a gasp, and ran to find Lily. “Lily??” he called out. He entered Lily’s room, and saw her on her bed. Dead. His grin grew wider. He went to the living room and sat down.

After 15 minutes, he heard police sirens. He was confused and nervous. In a state of panic, he ran to his room, grabbed his duffel bag from his investigation, and ran out through the back. He did not stop running until he entered the blanketed forest again. He looked up, and his vision blurred again. He soon collapsed once again, unconscious.

“Family of 4 separated. Evelynn and Lillian McCauley found dead in their house. James and Terry McCauley have vanished. What caused this to happen to an innocent family? Where is the perpetrator now? Where will he strike next? More at 7 on this grim story.”