The Poltergeist of Harmony Pastures

Somewhere on the Saskatchewan prairies…

The sun was setting behind a blanket of orange and violet clouds, and darkness began to cover the wilderness. Eric took out a cigarette and his Zippo. He gave the smoke life and took a deep, satisfying puff. Nothing better.

He stood bored beside his car with the gas pump in hand, feeding precious fuel into his prized new Mercedes. He gazed out across the darkening prairie landscape. It was a cool summer night with only a hint of a gentle breeze.

One of the clerks emerged angrily from the nearby roadside convenience store.

“Hey dumbass!” he shouted at Eric while waving his hand. “Put that smoke out. You trying to start a fire?”

Eric gave the clerk a sarcastic salute and dropped his cigarette on the asphalt and stepped on it.

The pump beeped, indicated that the Mercedes was full. Eric holstered the pump and climbed back into the drivers seat and fired the engine to life.

“Come on Jacob,” he muttered while he checked the dashboard clock. He looked through the windows of the store to see his pudgy friend Jacob browsing a rack of newspapers and magazines.

Eric rolled his eyes. “God damnit…”

He climbed out of his car and walked into the store, advancing on Jacob.

“Dude, what the hell?” he said impatiently. “I thought you were going to grab some smokes and pay for the gas. What’s taking so long?”

“No man check this out…” Jacob indicated one of the newspapers. The headline read: Top Secret Science Facility Uncovered. Questionable Research?

“Yeah?” Eric asked, not impressed nor interested.

“Yeah man this is dope,” Jacob continued. “I was checkin’ it out. The government just located some sort of secret underground science facility. Apparently they were caught doing some messed up experiments with electromagnetism or some shit like that.”

“Yeah, yeah, cool, cool,” Eric said, only half-listening. He pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. “Come on man let’s bounce. The party started like two hours ago. I’ve got to get pissed.”

“You’re such a boozehound,” Jacob said as Eric ushered him towards the counter to pay for the gas.

The same clerk who had shouted at Eric stared them down with daggers. Eric paid him no heed and made the transaction without a care.

Five minutes later Eric and Jacob were back in the Mercedes on their way down the highway. The sun had set completely now and the sky had blackened, engulfing the prairies in the shadows of the nighttime. Eric, eager to start drinking, sent a few texts on his phone to confirm the location of the bush party.

One of the texts he received in return made him frown.

“Son of a bitch…” Eric said to his phone.

“What’s up?” Jacob asked.

“It’s the girlfriend.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow. “Amy? What does she want? Is she not coming to the party?”

“No,” Eric replied. “She told me earlier that she has to baby-sit her sister tonight at her parents cabin. Now she’s telling me to come over.”

“Just say no,” Jacob said. “And explain that imminent partying demands our undivided attention.”

Eric shook his head. “Sorry dude. We might have to delay. I should stop by and see what the problem is.”

Jacob sighed. “Fine. But if this is a booty call then you can find a new designated driver.”

“Fair enough.”

Eric turned the car around his next opportunity, changing his course for Amy’s cabin which, luckily, was only about twenty minutes away from where they were.

However, about five minutes away from their destination, the Mercedes suddenly died. The engine came to an abrupt silence and all the lights on the dashboard simply disappeared.

Eric was bewildered “What the hell...?”

“What did you do?” Jacob asked.

“Nothing!” Eric twisted ignition key backwards and forwards, but the engine refused to respond. “Oh you son of a bitch come on! This cannot be happening!”

“Call Amy,” Jacob suggested.

Seeing no other option, Eric took out his phone. It was powerless, though he did not recall turning it off. Pressing the power button numerous times, Eric soon discovered that his phone had also died.

“My phone is dead…” Eric said. “I charged the battery just this morning!”

Jacob pulled out his own cell. “So is mine. Weird. How far away in Amy’s cabin?”

“Fifteen minute walk, maybe?”

Shortly thereafter the two found themselves walking down the roadside without light. Eric was less then thrilled to have left his new car alone, but he knew the area was not well-traveled and if he could get to Amy’s they might be able to boost the Mercedes with one of Amy’s parents’ cars.

A roar.

At least, what sounded like a roar. A massive, ear-splitting boom shattered the sky. Eric and Jacob both spun about, looking for the source of the noise. The sky was void of storm clouds, allowing for no possibility of thunder.

“What in the fuck was that?” Jacob breathed.

“I got nothin’…” Eric replied. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here!”

They quickened their pace, rushing down the road. The sound they had just heard was unlike anything Eric had ever heard before. He imagined it was what thunder would sound like if the sky was screaming in agony. It was unnatural.

On the way they passed by that which did not settle their uneasiness. Only then was Eric reminded that Amy’s cabin was located only several acres away from a massive cemetery known as Harmony Pastures. It had always been rumored to be occupied by restless spirits, as there had been dozens of reports of supernatural phenomenon in the region over the last century.

After a long few minutes they finally arrived at the lone cabin. There were no lights in any of the windows. The cabin was shrouded by darkness.

Jacob, who was in less then superior physical shape, stopped to take a breather, panting heavily.

“Jesus…” he gasped. “That was further then I thought it was going to be.”

They approached the front door of the house and knocked. It took a good minute or two before they received any sort of response.

The voice of a teenage girl sounded from the other side of the door.

“Eric?” she sounded frightened.

“It’s me,” Eric replied. “And Jacob.”

The door opened a crack, and inside Eric and Jacob could see the face of Eric’s girlfriend Amy in the dim orange light of a candle.

“What’s going on?” Eric asked. “Are you okay?”

Seeming convinced that her visitors were who they claimed, Amy opened the door and let Eric and Jacob inside. She led them into the living room where a small girl, who Eric knew as Amy’s kid sister Melanie, was lying with her eyes closed on the couch. The room was illuminated by the soft light of candles. It made for a very unsettling atmosphere.

Amy was a very pretty girl, albeit the fact that she was several years younger then her boyfriend. People talked, but neither of them paid heed of their peers whispers.

“Some really weird things were happening around the time I sent you my text,” Amy explained. “Then right after I got your reply the power went out, as well as every other piece of electronic equipment. The phones are out, and all the batteries seem dead. I couldn’t even get a flashlight to work.”

“Did you try any of your vehicles?” Eric inquired. “My car died right before we arrived.

Amy shook her head. “They are all dead.”

“Fu…” Eric stopped as he peered at the little girl resting on the couch. “Damn.”

“Did you hear that roaring outside?” Jacob asked. “Just a few minutes ago?”

“Yeah, I heard it,” Amy said darkly. “I kept trying to get a hold of people. But all the phones, computers. Everything is down. I got scared… I felt like someone was watching me. I’m sorry… I know you wanted to go to the party.”

Eric shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. There will be other parties.” He looked at Jacob. “If our car isn’t going anywhere, I guess we might as well just wait here until the power comes back online.”

Jacob shrugged. “I guess so.”

“There are some cans of coke in the fridge,” Amy said. “You guys can have some if you want. Might as well drink it before it all goes warm.”

“Sweet deal,” Jacob headed for the kitchen.

Amy sat down at the her sister’s side, and Eric rested himself on the nearby lazy-boy.

“My parents wanted me to be around for her,” Amy said, looking down at Melanie. “She recently had surgery, eh?”

“What kind of surgery?” Eric asked.

“They gave her a pacemaker,” Amy explained. “She has an irregular heartbeat.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“I feel so bad for her, you know? A month ago she got braces put in, and now she’s had to go through surgery.”

“Got dealt the short straw if you ask me.”

Amy nodded. “Yep.” She sighed. “I’m sorry to have to drag you all the way out here. With the cemetery being so close and all the ghost stories I’ve heard, I guess I just got spooked and needed someone else around.”

Suddenly they Jacob scream from the kitchen. “Holy shit!”

Eric and Amy immediately jumped out of their seats and rushed to see what was wrong. They arrived to see Jacob crouched on the floor with his face half ripped open. The wall adjacent had been stuck many times over with over a dozen knives and forks, like push-tacks in a corkboard.

“What happened?” Eric asked.

And then the roar returned.

Even louder then when they had first heard it, the horrifying roar echoed across the sky and deep into the depths of their ears, penetrating their very souls. So loud was the roaring that the entire house began to shake. The kitchen windows shattered into a thousand glass shards.

Amy screamed.

And then all became quiet. The roaring stopped, and the house ceased to move. All was silent, save for the sounds of heavy breathing that floated about the room.

And then echoing back from the living room came a single desperate word…

“Help!”

Returning to the living room, Eric and Amy found Melanie rolling around on the floor, grasping her chest.

“Amy…” she choked, her voice echoing with the pleading of innocence. “I can’t… can’t breath!”

Eric and Amy rushed to her side, trying to stabilize her.

“What’s happening to her?” Eric asked frantically.

“I don’t know!” Amy replied, panicked. “She’s having a seizer of some sort!”

And then Melanie started to scream. Her mouth flung open as her shrill cry filled the entire household. Eric recoiled, his heart in his throat. Amy continued to try and stabilize her younger sister as frightened tears filled her eyes.

Then there was a gruesome crack, and the volume of Melanie’s scream increased exponentially. Eric watched in horror as Melanie’s mouth filled with blood, and in disbelief he witnessed her braces and teeth being ripped from her very gums by the hand of some invisible force. The entirety of Melanie’s mouth shot forth from her skull and collided with the far wall, showering the room in blood.

Jacob ran into the room with his hand over his facial wound, and stared down at the horrific scene taking place in the middle of the living room.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Eric said, scrambling to his feet.

“Wait!” Amy cried, still glued to her screaming sister.

And then with a final gasp, Melanie fell limp. With eyes wide and pale, she lay motionless in the center of the living room.

The roaring returned. Determined to get as far away from the cabin as possible, Eric went to grab his girlfriend, prepared to drag her out if he had to.

As the room began to shake, candles began to topple and within a few short moments a mini inferno had been born. Amy was attached to the body of her fallen sister, and try as he might, Eric could not manage to separate her.

“Amy,” he tried to shout over the loudness of the roaring. “We have to get out of here!”

Jacob had already fled. The flames had evolved and spread, and the living room was quickly being transformed into a pocket of hell. The room became flooded with thick smoke. As Eric continued his futile attempt to save his girlfriend, he inhaled a deadly breath of smog and began to cough relentlessly.

Feeling shortness in his breath, and with his ears ringing with the sound of the monstrous roaring, Eric quickly began to grow light-headed and dizzy. He tried to stand up and escape the inferno, but his world was becoming black.

And then he disappeared into himself.




Pain. He felt nothing but pain. His body was impossibly heavy, feeling as though he weighed a thousand pounds. He tried to open his eyes, but managed only to get a distorted view of the world around him.

It was daylight, and he could sense people all around him. A flashing blue and red light. He was lying on something soft and comfortable.

A stretcher.

He heard voices.

“We found him in the middle of the house trying to save the two girls. By the time we had gotten them all out the girls were already dead. The older of the two had suffered fatal burns. The second we found with her jaw ripped open. Forensics found out she had a pacemaker which had short-circuited, causing a heart attack.”

“There were a dozen people who had died the same way last night. All wearing pacemakers that had died out.”

“You know that research facility that the government found the other day?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Apparently they were fucking around with electromagnetism, and one of their experiments went awry. This whole area suffered from extreme electromagnetic disturbance. Everyone lost their power, and all electronic and magnetic devices started going haywire.”

He tried to move, to respond, to get answers… But his body was failing him, and the truth began to sink in.

He was dying.

“This is going to make for one hell of a news flash.”