Many a person in the fishing town of Haleysville would often happily offer their time and kindest conversation to stranger and friend alike. The people were a simple lot and were known throughout the parish for their hospitality, humility, and selflessness. However that hospitality is no longer known to this world. There are few alive now who remember it but on September 9th, 1899, the town of Haleysville, Louisiana disappeared forever. Being of the age I am now, I feel the need to record the events that led up to this horrific event before the account goes with me. Though I struggle with the thoughts, as they are still clear to me as if they just happened, I must share the events that transpired on that bizarre and terrible morning.
In the year 1899 I was a restless young man, many years before meeting my wife, and I set out to travel and get to know the country. I was determined to see the world unlike my sheltered parents who, despite their love and affection for me, could not satiate my desire for adventure. Being immigrants from the island of the Philippines, they had escaped oppressive Spanish rule and chose to live a simple life in the Americas. I arrived at my first destination, Haleysville, quickly, being that it was only a few miles away from my native Mandeville. Haleysville was a small town not far north of Lake Pontchartrain, just east of the Tchefuncte River. In the year of 1800, it was founded as the village of Cocquille but was later renamed. Upon arriving, I made my way to the square to inquire about housing overnight, but had stopped in the Postal Office to write my first letter home. While I was only a handful of miles away, I thought that sending a brief letter was symbolic of the beginning of my journey. While there, I met, and briefly spoke with, a wonderful couple named Martin and Allison Gamboa. They were middle-aged and just recently married. They were also of Filipino descent, which we agreed was unusual in the southern states. Their two families had come over on the same sailing vessel from our native land and they hand grown up together here. We talked about our homeland, and of other non-important things, and quickly established a friendly rapport. When I inquired about when they planned for children, they immediately became bashful and reserved, waving the question away. Martin gave Allison a look that I could not read, she nodded, and he offered me rest at their home just off the river. Being that I had not yet begun to acquire a bed for the night, I was glad to have a secure place to rest before conveying myself overland once more. We spent hours on their porch which sat upon the bank of the Tchefuncte River, not far from the Pontchartrain delta, sipping whiskey and talking about the hugeness of the world. During our talks, Martin and Allison revealed a reservoir of local knowledge and history between them--much of which was rooted in the natural occurrences of the land surrounding the delta, the lake, and the brief history of the Halleysville. Martin claimed that his grandfather was a member of a local army who forced the savage Natives from this region and brought safety to the first Haleysville settlers. He even had trinkets that his grandfather kept to pass down through the generations, which he showed to me while in his study. There were tomahawks, pottery, feathers, and even a headdress that were saved, although, for what original purpose they were meant I could not say. The Native culture of the Americas was far different than that of my ancestors of the Pacific. However, all the trinkets were interesting and were things I'd not seen before. While on the subject of leaving memoirs for future generations, I asked again with curiosity why Martin and Allison had no children. While it was not unusual to not have children, I did think it was out of the ordinary with a couple at their age and newly married. Martin replied that they did want to have a child, admitting to having quite a bit of fun while attempting. He also admitted, much to my confusion, that sometimes, rather deviously, he would take a “last minute precaution” to avoid conception. At first I found this admittance rather odd; being that they were not young, it would seem they would be more than eager for their first child. My own religious and moral judgments did not appreciate his attempt at mischief, but I kept my judgments to myself. I was confused at why he would not conceive with his wife if they wanted children as they said they did. I also kept my own future plans to myself, as I did not want to offer them without invitation. As it was, I felt too young and wild to see my country than to be settled with a wife and child. Martin and I returned to our discussion about the folklore and legends of the Natives and this land they had lived in. He shared with me stories about a wild people that formed deadly war parties, where men would paint their faces in the images of their spirits to scare and intimidate their enemies. They would raid other Native and American settler villages, stealing the women and removing the scalps from whatever men were left alive. He spoke of them with as much reverence as he did with thickening disdain. He said that the Natives worshiped ancient Gods of the Earth and, while brutal and savage to those they didn't know, they took great care to preserve their land and traditions for future generations. This he learned from Natives who had been “civilized” by trade and whiskey. Martin told me of a time where he met a Native many years ago. He yielded that the savage was one of the most intimidating men he had ever met, who had a way of looking through people and “speaking with his eyes”. This fact was an uncomfortable admission by Martin, as he did not appear to be one who believed in supernatural occurrences. Martin said that the brute he met was named Awenasa. He said that Awenasa was like a guardian of the savages and spent his life teaching them honorable values and lessons, although he followed that these stories of Awenasa were overheard by him and not a first-hand account. Martin said that Awenasa was a tall, sinewy man who looked to be over 30 years old, with a gait that was as much menacing as it was welcoming. When he met Awenasa, Martin said that he had long black hair and was dressed in a loincloth. He carried a small water skin and a tomahawk at his hip and walked with an aura that either commanded attention or immediate egress. Aside from the things he carried, and his moccasins, he was naked to the world. Martin said that when Awenasa came through their village, he left an invisible wake behind him. A most perplexing picture came to my mind and I struggled to interpret its meaning. However, when I pressed him for more details, Martin was unable to comply. Martin said that even though his encounter was amicable, he felt an undercurrent of something very dark. This experience he felt in a matter of moments. He said that, looking back, he could never understand what about this man was so ominous. Martin said that his grandfather told him some of the more stirring accounts he had heard. While I understand that Martin and I had indulged liberally in his whiskey, I wasn’t ready to hear the stories he recanted. He told me that when his grandfather was working to save this area from the Natives, he saw that these savages were disappearing into the woods without a trace. Not a sound could be heard from the woods even in the dead of night. When they would send scouts and dogs to follow, those that did not disappear would come back bewildered and empty-handed. His grandfather also told him that he witnessed these savages moving across the Earth at speeds that would embarrass his finest hunting dogs. "Tatay said it was because they lived as the children of the Earth." said Martin. "The Earth yields to their passing like the coast yields to the rising tide." he followed. This was a troubling proposition to me. It was the most peculiar thing I had heard in my young life. We had also discussed the religion of these savages and Martin provided some insight into what was best described as “Earth Magic”. "There's not a thing that's right about what they do for those Gods they worship." Martin said. "Those drums they use....the dances....have you ever heard how young Natives become men? It's downright wrong, son. "It ain't right." Martin said that his grandfather believed that the Natives cursed the Haleysville settlers when they were driven from this land and told him of hideous events during the 1850's and 60's. During that time, there were many babies born with their legs fused and with skin between their fingers, like flippers. The infants would have rough or scaly skin along their backs and necks. His grandfather said that the babies looked like mermaids. Martin's own father was lucky since he was born in the Philippines, just before coming to America, so he wasn't afflicted. But many babies were lost during this time—almost an entire generation. "You'll see this if you stay in town for long. There's a good lot of older folks and younger folks, but there ain't that many of 'em in between." he said. "That generation was lost to the curse." This conversation ran late into the night of September 8th. My head was full of Natives and Gods, magic and the supernatural. I decided to retire to their guest room, feeling a horrible knot in my stomach and a spinning in my head. I did not know if it was from over-indulgence of whiskey or the heavy conversation through the night. I was woken by a strong wind that caused the nearby tree limbs to scrape the roof of the Gamboa’s house. I sat up in my bed and looked out the window to assure myself that there was no sudden storm approaching that would necessitate taking cover. I peered into the blackness, out towards the Pontchartrain and saw nothing except a gibbous light upon the lake and surrounding land. I was about to return to my rest, and was beginning to turn away, when I observed with immediate disbelief a large shadowy mass rise up out of the Pontchartrain and return below the water. At that moment, my mind could not conceive what my eyes beheld. I was almost overcome with a shock to my stomach and a foul taste in my mouth. I shivered violently and succumbed to the immediate need to avert my eyes, almost convulsing into involuntary prayer. The thing had disappeared but I recalled, in my mind's eye, a glistening mass that appeared to be a large fin. How large, I could not – and still cannot – say, but it was immense. I took a hard swallow and returned my gaze to the window; struggling against my instincts. When I looked upon the field that led up to the lake, the gibbous light offered an eerie glow and I saw a person that looked like Martin gazing out towards the river. I couldn't be sure since his back was to me but it looked like him. He wore a long cloak which was buffeted against his body in the stiff wind. I immediately dressed and ran out to meet him. He needed to know of the thing that came out of the water. As I trotted up behind, I called out to him but he did not respond. I knew that the wind was not a factor because it was not nearly a gale nor tempest but stiff, nonetheless. When I was at arm’s length, I begged his attention once more. What sight I saw during the moments after must have been recorded in my mind by a miracle...or a chastisement from God. The being turned slowly to me and the first I saw of its face were two horns protruding out and up from its forehead, like those of a farm goat. I use the word "face" merely to convey the place where the horns came, as there was only a skull perched upon the hideous body that stood in front of me. Its teeth were sharply pointed and of all shapes and sizes, nonconforming to the usual teeth of man or beast. Despite the absence of flesh, the thing had the full beard of a man that was unkempt and full of leaves and twigs. What other disgusting collections that might be discovered therein, I dared not to think. Every frightened hair on my body stood on end and vibrated with adrenaline. My youthful knees begged me to either escape or fall to be devoured by this creature--but I could not move. I was paralyzed yet clamoring for my mind to give my body leave, but my mind and its density were encompassed by the horror that struck me. I recalled the story of Job, hearing a portion from a verse, saying "Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning". I was sure that either my life was at an end or I was trapped in a nightmare caused by fever. When I felt I could no longer bear to look upon this monster, it spoke to me in a voice that seemed rise up from the depths of the lake beyond: "The Anaye come to claim their dead. Yeitso comes to claim his flesh. Ye-Tsan, Al-Tah-Je-Jay, Tah-Bahn, Naz-Tsaid". The beast then turned around, walked into the river and disappeared beneath the black stillness of the Pontchartrain. Reviving the courage in my legs, I ran back into the house and roused Martin and Allison immediately. After waking convincing them that I very well may be crazy, I relayed what I had experienced on the grass outside their home. Martin raised himself to a seated position in his bed, troubled in a sense that I did not expect. "Charles, this thing that you describe is of ancient Native folklore - a demon that brings ill tidings.” Martin stared at his bed sheets for a few moments and swallowed hard. “Charles...Allison...there is something you should know. Something that I think you may find important.” Martin began talking about his grandfather. His grandfather was responsible for ridding this land of savage Native. But the way he chose to ensure they would never come back was more horrible than anything I could have imagined. His grandfather was not a member of any local army or militia, although he had been at one time. His grandfather had hired men to clear this land at all costs so he could have access to the river and lakefront. He wanted to claim the free land and gain control of the shipping and fishing industry that was growing and spreading to the west. Martin's grandfather, and his hired militia, were responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful people - men, women, and children. When they had finished slaughtering or driving out all the Natives in the area, they disposed of the bodies by burying them in mass graves, burning them, or tossing them into the Tchefuncte and Pontchartrain. When neighboring Natives heard of this and demanded justice, they were either bought off with whiskey and horses or overwhelmed by force. "My new friend..." Martin said slowly, "...I fear that we are doomed.” I leaned back, sharply, as if he had tried to slap me and Allison gasped as she drew the bedding to her breasts. Then there came a swift pounding upon the door of the Gamboa house. Martin looked at me with pale-faced concern. The hour was late and Martin’s home was not a short walk from town. He dressed and walked to the door, demanding the identity of the person on the other side. I followed with Allison, who fought to keep herself composed, but we paused in the sitting room, trepidation oozing from all our pores. A voice answered Martin's request through the door. The hollow, muffled voice said: "You know who I am." As his hand approached the handle, it turned on its own and the door opened inward without permission. Martin turned to face us, trembling with fear. Martin started to back away, almost stumbling, with his eyes fixed to the sentient door. It eased opened fully and yielded a ghostly image of a tall Native man. He was dressed with a loincloth and bead dressings upon his chest. His hip was decorated with a tomahawk and water skin. From the stories Martin told me, I feared that it was Awenasa returned, for this man carried an ominous energy and matched Martin's descriptions. However, my reason would not permit me to believe, as the figure in the door frame appeared barely older than I was. It was not possible that this was truly the Awenasa that Martin spoke of. My mind was in a fierce conflict, with my logical faculties battling the instincts of my superstitious and reptilian brain. I blinked my eyes, hoping they would correct when re-focused, but there he stood as he must have when Martin was a child: tall, sinewy, and full of an inexplicable energy. He gave a hard stare at Martin that caused him to fall to his knees, raise clasped hands, and bleat out all sorts of prayers from the Holy Bible. Awenasa ordered him to stand and said: "You know why I have come?" Awenasa's voice was ethereal, like the sound of a breeze blowing through dead leaves on rotting trees. Martin shook his head quickly as he rose and stood. Awenasa continued to stare at him as the eerie darkness of his eyes seemed to reach out and push Martin. Martin trembled and yelped like an animal caught in a bear trap. He lumbered to his study and gathered up all the Native relics his hands could carry. While Martin was in the study, Awenasa looked at Allison and me. We were both shocked to stillness. Awenasa looked at me and his voice filled the corners of my brain: "Ye-Tsan, Al-Tah-Je-Jay, Tah-Bahn, Naz-Tsaid". I tried to block the sound with my hands, but still heard it ringing between my ears. Poor Allison collapsed to the floor--I am sure from the same affliction. I lurched to ease her fall and tried, without success, to revive her as I carefully laid her on the floor and placed her head upon a couch pillow. Martin returned from the study with a small cache of artifacts. As he ran across the sitting room, items escaped from his grip and either bounced or broke as they struck the wooden slats. He approached Awenasa and quivered while struggling to prevent further items from falling. Awenasa picked out a headdress and seated it on his head, adjusting it. When it was seated properly, Awenasa began to glow eerily with a faint blue aura. His back straightened and the faint outline of a skeleton could be seen beneath his flesh. Martin’s hands fell to his sides, dropping the treasures to the floor. Awenasa spoke aloud in a raspy, hollow voice: "Yeitso comes to bring justice for my people. Your people wanted this land and you shall have it forever more." He then turned from us and walked out of the house, towards the river. Martin heaved an exhale and doubled over, as if released from a vice grip, and followed Awenasa through the door. I followed immediately after. Drums could be heard in the distance in a rhythmic drone that sounded like a giant heart beating over the lake: "THOOM-thoom, THOOM-thoom, THOOM-thoom, THOOM-thoom!”. As Martin reached the grassy field in front of the house, he halted his pursuit of Awenasa and turned to look at me. We were standing on the field that extended toward the Tchefuncte and Pontchartrain. Martin was looking to his left, past me, toward the black water. I was about to insist that we return to Allison and leave this place at once. That was his gaze fixed upon something in the distance behind me and his jaw slackened as it fell open. I had never before seen a human being express the palpable terror that I saw on his face. My empathy for him made it simple to feel the horror within him, but it also added to the depth of my own. It was then that his eyes opened so wide, I could see not only my reflection in them, but a giant black shadow behind me. I turned to look at what had shocked him and was soon struggling to control my own mind as well. There, at the lake shore, rose a thing that I still struggle to recall and describe with modern language. The thing I saw earlier in the night had risen out of the water once more, but this time it refused to sink! It continued to rise up out of the depths of the Pontchartrain, casting a gloom over the shore as it stood. It grew to be the size of a small mountain and its presence demanded nothing short of fear-stricken awe. It was a dark, green, perversion of nature, pushing black slime and soggy decay over the shore as its ascent displaced the formerly serene waters. It was almost humanoid in shape, with fins along what could be considered its arms and legs. Its hands were equally gigantic with fingers armed with huge claws. Its entire body was covered with large, black scales that reflected unique prisms of murky moonlight that were tainted with glistening sea-green shades. While I did see the monster's head and face, it is almost beyond my constitution to describe it. It is enough for me to say that I will not communicate this supreme horror to any living person so long as I live. The depths of the inky waters had born a monstrous hell-spawn of Pluto's worst nightmare. I had started into its maw and am grateful that I can live to keep the thing from invading the minds of humanity. It was when I struggled to retain my sanity that the most unholy and sickening sound erupted from the belly of this aquatic evil. The sluggish and deafening bellow that issued forth from the inside of that abomination was nearly of mythical stature. The Israelites and their horns would have been soothing songs for babes compared to the awesome power the lungs of this beast issued forth. I clapped my hands over my ears but was soon nearly incapacitated from the awful smell that followed the roar. The stench was worse than the decay of all the Earth's living things combined, had they rotted together under the water. Somehow, I survived this assault to my senses and turned to yell at Martin. Escape was beyond dire, but when I looked to Martin I saw that he was beyond reach: His eyes were stuck, frozen in fright, while beholding this thing. His skin rivaled the moonlight in its alabaster shimmer. His arms were flaccid, loose at the sides of his body, trembled uncontrollably. He did not acknowledge my summons, only repeated the following phrase: "Abandon, Shore, Attack, Beach, Kill". I went to him, shook him violently, and pleaded for sanity to take over his actions but he would not respond. Martin only repeated this phrase louder...and louder...and louder! The Earth shook beneath my feet and I could hear the creaking of wood and shattering of glass. I looked behind me to see the behemoth had taken a full upright step towards us, though still in the grasp of the Pontchartrain. It started toward the Tchefuncte, avoiding land. When it stepped forth, a wave of inky water splashed over the river banks. In my panic, I instinctively left Martin to his devices and ran inside the Gamboa house to retrieve Allison. She did not deserve the fate that lurched itself up the river. I stopped short at the doorstep when I saw two decaying skeletons, dirt and rotted flesh gripping their bones, wearing tattered loincloths and head dresses hovering over her motionless bodies. I screamed out for Allison but only roused the attention of the undead beings, which reminded me of vultures. They stood to full height and began making their way to me. They glowed with a light blue aura that had the most intensity in the hollow eye sockets. Each carried bloody skin and knives in their hands. I looked to see Allison and saw that her face and neck were dark, glistening and oozing all over. I took no time to guess her fate and I darted from the door. I had no part in the horrors that tainted this land and was unwilling to become an undead minion myself. As I ran around the house, I could hear the monster shambling up the river as it roared. The deafening roar was accented by its stride, the sound of water splashing, and the house twisting after each monstrous step. I ran around the house and was making my way to the stables in back when I saw sections of the Earth, in several places, buckle as mounds formed and writhed. Rotting, skeletal hands darted out from the fresh Earth and started to scrape away the surface to allow the rest of the body to follow. Several more re-animated dead were pulling themselves out of the Earth and lurching towards me and the house. There was also a multitude of undead shadows rising from the water, rotted clothing and gore hanging from them. They moaned as they moved toward the house and their utterances, accentuated by gurgling, only intensified the adrenaline that pushed through my veins. As I made it to the stable and saddled a horse, I knew the great beast was very near. I bade the horse to flee with all possible haste and began to make my escape, no, to scurry with great force away from the Gamboa house. I traveled east a quarter-mile, away from the Tchefuncte, when I saw that the Earth was no longer vomiting its dead and I slowed the horse. I was able to look at what was behind and, in the moonlight, I could see a sickening mob of shadows converging on the Gamboa house, with a mountain looming over the entire property. With a maddening roar, the thing brought down one of its massive arms and flattened the house with one strike. The Gamboa house exploded and splintered wood in all directions. The sound of the destruction arrived shortly after my eyes beheld the scene. It was if the Earth snapped into two pieces as Zeus unleashed all his thunderbolts in a single stroke. The sound shook us with such violence that the horse fell over. I narrowly escaped the weight of the beast upon my person. I scrambled to recover, but before I could remount the animal, I heard what sounded like more thunder approaching. It was still a clear, gibbous night which made the sound an anomaly in the midst of so many others. As the horse stood and I mounted, I was able to see what was making the noise. The great monster struck the Earth with such amazing force that it ground began to split from the impact like ice buckling from too much weight! As I watched, the cracks in the ground were shooting away from the river, and towards me, like bolts of lightning. I turned the horse around and made it run as fast as it would go, barreling away from the river. This land was still attempting to ensnare me in its fury. By the Grace of God, the horse and I returned to Mandeville that morning and I made my way to the Sheriff’s office. I alerted the authorities to the calamity I witnessed, trying to convey my story with the least amount of insane zeal possible. Despite our familiarity, they did not believe my accounts. I begged them to follow me to Halleysville, that I might demonstrate the proof of my claims. Two Marshalls were visiting Mandeville that day and offered to take the short ride and investigate on the town's behalf. We left for Halleysville just after noon, for it was insisted that I give myself and my horse the necessary respite after the ordeal I described. When we finally returned to the outskirts of Haleysville, we were struck by bewilderment and confusion. The first Marshall turned the other and asked "Isn't this where it ought to be, Jonah?" Jonah looked around with squinted eyes and said "Yep. Where the devil is the town at? The town markers should be right here!" We made our way down the dirt road that should have lead us through the square and saw nothing except bare Earth. There were no buildings or homes anywhere. Not a trace of any human existence to be seen. We then made our way to the Gamboa property and were forced to stop. Immense fissures snaked their way in every direction, preventing our passage. It was an artificial boundary erected by Nature. This must have been near the distance where I saw the Earth reaching out with its crooked fingers, to pull me into its depths. In the light of early afternoon, we could see where the Gamboa property should have been. We could see the Pontchartrain in the distance, as well. There was no house in the distance. No stable. Not even the trees that dotted the once pristine property. Everything was wiped clean except an inlet of water; a cove. It was difficult to understand, but we all were certain that body of water never existed before. From the edge of the cove, crooked rivulets and streams radiated from it like the rays of the sun. I was certain that these creeks were the fissures created by the destruction of the house; those that I nearly did not escape. The most disarming feature of all was the Tchefuncte River. One of the Marshalls told me that in the bright light of day it was always a greenish brown color. On the late afternoon of September 9th, 1899, however, it ran red like a canal of blood. |
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