NaNoWriMo, Part 24: Grindstone's Grindstone

Today's word count: 1,428 words
Running total: 39,890 words
Summary: The gang beats up Grindstone and heads back home for exposition.

Also, there is mention of "Grindstone's ghastly gullet," which is undoubtedly the best string of words in the novel so far.

    They back away just as a ghastly glowy hand emerges from the floorboards of the shack’s center.  Slowly, the form pulls itself all the way up.  It’s very slow, as if it is even aging badly as a ghost.  I get my first good look at a spectre.
    It isn’t pretty.  It looks a lot like a zombie, really, only a single glowy color instead of flesh and blood.  Some of its “bones” and “muscles” are exposed.  It looks like he’s wearing some sort of ratty clothing that’s disintegrated to a few scraps of cloth.  The best thing I can say about him is that he at least isn’t fantastically mutated, like some of the glimpses I’ve caught of other spectres have shown.
    He speaks again in a booming bass tone.  “My chair…”  Damn, he sounds so sad I almost want to cry myself.  It looks like he’s having difficulty saying anymore than that, though, and proceeds directly to the tool shelf and rummages around with rotten hands, looking for the right one.
    Kenny growls low.  I had almost forgot about him in the commotion surrounding Grindstone.  When I look over now, I see he’s fully changed and on all fours, just waiting for the right moment to aim for Grindstone’s ghastly gullet and strike.  I didn’t realize how feral he looked before; now that the room is better lit, I see just how far it goes.  It’s almost unnerving, really, seeing a human act like this.
    Grindstone finally selects a tool from the shelf: a hoe, mostly rusted over but with a partially sharpened edge.  He then picks out four more just like it.  I run a quick head count in the room.  There’s me, Kenny, Chase, Scarlett, Ashley, Jake, Mr. Williams and Kenny’s mom.  That’s a total of eight people and Grindstone has five weapons prepared.  I wonder how this is going to work out.
    I don’t have to wonder too long, though.  After Grindstone ambles over to his grindstone and sets the weapons down, he scoops up some of his own ectoplasm (which is pretty disgusting, I’m not gonna lie) and starts molding it or something.  Eventually he makes a sort of chain out of it (I think.  That’s kind of what it looked like but I can’t be sure).  Then he mumbles some stuff and makes more hand-motions.  As I’m starting to become a little un-scared of this guy, Kenny strikes.
    And in mid jump he suddenly loses all his momentum and hits the floor with a thunk.  He has a portion of the ectoplasm chain wrapped around him, and he can’t move.  We have on our hands a devious ghost.
    I re-survey the room.  For whatever reason, no one’s left screaming their heads off yet.  Oh, and Jake seems to have an ectoplasm chain of his own.  Golly gee, tonight is going to end well.
    “Three to live,” the ghost says, “three to stay.”
    I translate to the best of my abilities to the rest of the group.  “He wants us to pick three people here who will survive, and three more to stay here.”  Wait, that math doesn’t add up.  I work it all out in my head, then conclude, “Jake and Kenny are staying.  We pick three more.”
    “Who is ‘he,’ Brian?”  Ashley’s suddenly behind me, arms around my neck protectively.
    But Williams has already figured it out.  “It’s Grindstone, Ashley.  ‘He’ is Grindstone.  That’s why it’s so cold in here.”
    I nod, then realize that no one can see me nodding in this dark space.  “He’s right,” I say.  “It’s Grindstone.”
    “I’m staying here,”  Kenny’s mom says in a fearful but steady voice.  “I’m not leaving my son to any monster.”  Kind of ironic, when you think about it deeply, that she say something like that.  A lot of people would consider her son a monster in his current state.
    Chase says, “Guys, I’m going to go.  Is that all right with everyone?”
    Scarlett immediately spits at him.  “You coward!  Fine, go ahead and run.  See if it solves anything!”
    I look back at Chase.  He’s definitely hurt by her comment, but I see something else in his face:  a look of determination.  Not a trace of fear on his countenance.  He’s planning something that can only be done if he runs now.
    “I understand,” I say.  Then I yell back, “And Scarlett, you should too!  Have a sense of self-preservation!  You get out too.”
    “I’m staying here!  I wouldn’t leave Kenneth for—“
    “Go, Scarlett,” I order.  I almost have an out-of-body experience.  I’ve never really been the kind to push people around in serious situations; usually I’m the first to cave in.  But I feel as if this is the only way it can be done.
    “Brian… who do you—“
    “Scarlett, let’s get out of here.”  It’s Mr. Williams now.  “Trust Brian.  I think he knows what he’s doing.”
    That shuts her up.  After a few seconds of shock, she finally swallows her pride and slowly stands up.  “All right.”  Together she and Mr. Williams leave the sugar shack.
    I suddenly feel a cold sensation enveloping my body and preventing me from moving.  He must have chained the rest of us up too so we can’t move as he finishes with the tools.  Ashley is still right next to me.  She manages to move enough to rest her cheek against mine.  There’s a wet line on her cheek—she’s crying.
    “Don’t move too much,” I whisper to her.  “It will hurt you.”
    “But I want to be closer to you,” she whines.  I don’t have an answer to that.
    “Your cheek is all scratchy,” she says.  “You need to shave.”
    “A little late for that,” I say, and I chuckle.
    “Maybe when we get to heaven,” she says.
    I wonder if there is a heaven, but I guess now’s not the time to bring it up.  I close my eyes.  “Maybe.”
    “I love you, Brian,” she says.
    “I love you too, Ashley.  But—not romantically—“
    “Shhh,” she coos.  “That’s the way I feel about you.”
    Oh.  Good.  I thought that “I love you but not that way” conversation was going to be awkward as hell.  But now we’ve already had it, just as we’re about to die here.  Or maybe we won’t die.  But I already feel like I’ve left this world, like it’s my time.  I’m happy right now.  I don’t feel cold grip of the ectoplasm anymore, don’t hear the grindstone sharpening our deaths in the background.  All I know for certain is that Ashley is here beside me and that she’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a little sister.  Maybe even the closest thing to family.
    Life is good.
    “Brian?”
    “Yeah, baby?”
    “It’s over.”
    …Wait, what?

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Scene XIV
Another Resolution, Thankfully Not as Bloody

Scarlett

    As we walked back to the cabin, Chase announced that he had something important to say to us.  Yeah, that you were a complete coward and pansy the way you tried to run out on us all like that, and I hope you die in a fire?  That probably wasn’t it, but it should have been.  Or maybe it was actually about whatever he was chanting or whatever when I saw him outside the cabin.
    “But first,” he said, “Ah… Jake?”
    “Yes?”  The man said weakly.  Poor fellow.  He’s so cute and amiable; he doesn’t deserve to have any of this thrust upon him.
    “I’m sorry about the whole ordeal,” he said.  “We should have all been upfront about this.  Isn’t that right, Brian?”
    “Yeah, yeah… I’m sorry, dude.  I just—I thought you wouldn’t do it if you knew what you were getting into entirely and stuff.”
    “It’s all right,” he said, taking it so well, laughing and rubbing the back of his head.  “I probably wouldn’t have gone if I knew I was getting into that, but I’m glad I did.  We’ll never have to deal with Grindstone again, right?”
    “That’s right,”  Kenneth says sleepily.  Oh, he’s so cute when he’s all like that, clinging to his mom’s arm.  I wish I was Ms. White right now.
    “See?  So it’s all fine with me,”  Jake assures us.  “Although… if it’s all right with you, can you please let me into your cabin and explain the whole operation to me?  I’m curious about how it works…”
    Before I can answer, Chase grins at him.  “It would be a pleasure, Mr. Waters!”
    Wow, he’s good with names.  I had totally forgotten Jake’s last name in the past few minutes.  It’s a weakness of mine; if I ever want to date cute guys like Jake or Kenneth, this is something I really need to work on.  I catalogue this thought in the back of my mind for future reference.

~~~

    The rest of the walk back isn’t terribly interesting so I’ll spare you the details.  Know that when we got back we explained the entire situation to Jake, from Ashley’s original idea to do the auditorium ghost show to