Series 3: The Ghosts of Fort Huachuca, Part 2

It happened again last night, a different type of ghosts that’s been visiting at night, it was a dark mass, a shadow.

At first, all I saw was a dark outline of what looked like a shadow of a man. Not much of a form, I couldn’t see a face or shape of a body, just a dark shadow.

This dark shadow moved from the bedroom door over to my sisters bed, disappearing as if it was under the blanket with her. No scream or sound came from her side of the room, so I went back to sleep as I thought It went away. Then I felt something move on my bed causing me to pull the blankets over my head, not wanting to see it up close.

Not even the ‘tent’ was to save me this night. I could feel something crawling up the bed, moving itself under the blankets from my feet, up and over my entire body. I began to shiver; I had never felt so much fear. I tried to scream out but had no voice. I tried to move my arms and legs but I was paralyzed. I was being held down by this dark massive shadow.

My mind was racing with horrible images; bloody bodies, arms and legs thrown around like garbage. Men, women and children alike were all blow to pieces. I was frozen in fear! I could hear myself screaming in my head, why isn’t the sound coming out?

“This must be a dream,” as my mind tried to rationalize this violation of my body, mind and soul. I started screaming at myself, wake up, wake up, wake up, repeating it, thinking, this has to be a dream, please just wake up!

Just as I thought, “I can’t take this anymore. Wake Up! Wake Up!” The images left my mind, but the shadow mass was still holding me down. Free of those images, I tried to break loose. Feeling movement in my legs, the shadowy figure released its grip and then flung up off of me, up onto the ceiling above my bed.

It then slithered towards the window. I could see the dark figure better now, bloated, looking like a tic that just had it’s fill of blood. Its body was flat and up against the ceiling, but wider than when the shadow first appeared, with what looked like a tail, whipping from left-to-right as it disappeared into the darkness and out of sight.

“What the heck was that all about?” I said out loud, but then as if nothing had just happened, I fell right back to sleep. The next morning, I asked my sister if she had seen anything, “Did you wake up during the night last night?” “No.” She said, looking at me as if I were crazy. “Oh, okay. I was just wondering, geeze.” Thinking to myself, it must have been a dream. No need in pushing the issue, so I turned my attention back to my breakfast. It was almost time to leave for school.

Living on the Army base meant we walked to school, all the kids walked as it was just a few streets over and no buses were available.  We always walked to school with the twin boys, Richard (Richie) and Randall (Randy), that lived next door. They were in the same grade as me, identical twins, both had blue eyes and blond hair.  They were really nice to me and my sisters.

I had an issue with dyslexia and my speech. I couldn’t pronounce the letter R, so I went to a different class room, but they acted like my big brothers and always walked me to my class.

Crossing the main road to the school, Richey whispers to me, “Hey, let’s skip class today.” “What do you mean, skip class?” A term I had never heard before. “You know, ditch school and I dunno, go into town or something.” I was really confused but Richey assured me it would be fine, “They won’t even miss us. We can go into town, look around and be back before recess.”

Overhearing our conversation, Randy expressed his concerns, “I’m not going with you, you’re going to get caught before you even get off the base. You better not go Sher, he is going to get you in trouble. Better get her to class on time Richard.”

This master plan was coming from an 8-year-old boy, using words and expressions I had never even considered before, so of course I said, “Ok, sounds like it could be fun. But how do we get past the guards at the gate?” I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth.  I was worried we would get in trouble, but for some reason, instead of turning into the school yard and listening to Randy, we waited for him and my sisters to enter the school building, telling them to go ahead of us, we will catch up.  Then we turned and walked away.

I was so scared but naive, thinking he wouldn’t steer me wrong or hurt me.  “How are we going to get past the guards?” I asked again as we made our way behind the Commander’s house. “Follow me,” Richey says with ease, as he walked beyond the pool and onto a path leading up the hill side.

“Have you done this before? How do you know about this way?” Now I’m asking questions, thinking I might have made a mistake by coming back here with him. “Yeah, me and Randy come this way all the time. We can stash our school bags over here, behind these bushes.”

We hide our bags and started to walk up the path. As Richey walked ahead of me, he started telling me about the path that leads all the way to town. It goes beyond the guards view from the gate. It was a way the enlisted men would get around after curfew. He overheard his father telling his mother that the enlisted men needed a way to release some tension, without any problems from the base MP’s.

“Isn’t that against the rules? Doesn’t your father worry about the Commander finding out that they are using his house for cover? I mean, it is happening right under his nose.” Now I’m chatty all the sudden, as I needed to know more about these late night acts of treason.

“My father said the Commander knows, he lets it happen, as some rules do not apply to all service men. Look, this path goes all the way into town, so if we see anyone else walking on it, we have to duck and hide.” Richey says as he swung around as if to warn me to scout out a place to run and hide.

“Where are we going to hide? There’s nothing but small trees and cactus?” Looking around to scan the area, “I guess I can be the tree,” I said as I laughed, joking around with Richey. I moved behind one of the little branches of the juniper tree, placing my arms along the swirling branches, I yelled out, “Bet you can’t see me!” Just then, I heard a voice in my ear say, “I can see you.” Turning slowly in the direction of the voice, a man came into view, covered in blood, dressed in tattered, dirty clothing, standing right next to me.

Trying not to alert Richey, I gasped as I took it all in, he was very thin, he was missing half his face, it looked as though he had been shot and it blew off the left side of his head. I called over to Richey, “Hey do you see anyone else on the path?” Looking my way and then up ahead on the path, Richey called back to me, “No, nothing, why, did you hear or see someone?”

Realizing Richey was not seeing the bloody man standing near me, I yelled back, “No, nothing over here.” I then backed slowly away from the juniper tree and the scrawny man, back to the path with Richey. I looked back and the man was gone.

Sounding very knowledgeable about this pathway, Richey looks at me and says, “Let’s get moving, don’t want to stay in one place too long, better chance of getting caught that way.”  “Well then, lead the way, Mr. Richey!”

Walking just behind Richey, I started to see an outline around him.   At first, it looked like a smoky cream color but changed into a grey with black lining the outer rim that formed his body. “What are you thinking about?” Having never seen these colors before, I had no idea why I asked him that question but his answer was even more shocking. “I was just thinking about this fire truck I saw at the store, it’s a

Matchbox Merryweather Fire Engine that’s colored Metalflake Red! We should make that our first stop, I can show you the whole collection.”  “Oh that sounds cool, you really know your matchbox’s, don’t you?” I tried to keep him talking, the colors started flickering around him as he talked about this fire truck. The more he talked about it, the more I wanted to see it.  I needed to understand why he wanted it so badly.

The path we were walking on started to bend towards the main road as we got closer to town. “We are going to have to cross this road and run to the other side before we get into Sierra Vista.  Once the boulders start, there isn’t any way around them.” Just as the words came out of his mouth, we heard the sound of a car coming up the road. “Quick, hide behind the cactus.” It was an MP Jeep, full of MP’s, 2 in the front, 2 in the back. We appeared to have gone unnoticed, as they were talking amongst themselves as they drove by.

“That was close, come on, let’s cross over now,” Richey said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me across the road. Safely on the other side of the road, we continued our trek into town.  With the tiny town in sight, I started to feel sweat roll down my cheeks.  “It’s getting hot and I’m thirsty.” Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I could see the Texaco sign, meaning the gas station/store was right ahead. “Race ya to the water fountain.” I yelled back to Richey as I took off running. “You’re on! I’m so thirsty I could drink a river!” Richey’s voice trailed off, as I ran ahead of him. I got to the water fountain first and began filling my mouth with the cold water.

As I stood there, bent over, I looked up sideways to see Richey running up behind me, it looked as though there were two of him. Like his shadow was running just behind him. I blinked my eyes in disbelief, not sure what I was seeing. I released the lever on the water fountain and said, “Your turn, oh and I won!” Trying to laugh and forget what I had just seen, but then as Richey was leaning over to take his drink, his shadow stayed straight up!

Shaking my head, I looked again and there it was, standing as if it were separate from him. I must have had a strange look on my face, as Richey stood up and asked, “What’s wrong, do you need some more water?” “No, I, I mean, no I’m okay.  Are you done, umm are you okay?”  I didn’t know what to say to him, I certainly didn’t feel right telling him I see a shadow that doesn’t act like a shadow. “Yeah, I’m alright. Let’s go inside the store, see if they have that fire engine yet.”  Following Richey into the little store/gas station, I started feeling sick to my stomach. What was that? It sure did look like the shadow in my room last night.

The store attendant was outside helping an older woman at the gas pump. Richey walked right over to the display of Matchbox cars. “There it is, a Merryweather Fire Engine, colored Metalflake Red! I can’t believe they have it already! This is so cool; I wonder if they have the matching ambulance?” I just smiled as he began going through the small display. I stood there watching him, waiting for some sign of why he was turning different shades of grey. His colors intensified as he held the little truck, giving off impressions of selfishness. Like he just had to have that truck! I didn’t understand it at all. Feeling the need to move away from him, I said, “I think I will see what else they have.”  “Ok!” Richey said without looking up.

They had a few new dolls resting in one of the shiny bins. I picked one up and was looking at it when Richey walked over. I noticed he was pulling his pant leg down. “See anything you like?” He asked as I put the doll back down. “Na, nothing I would buy. Besides I don’t have any money.” “Who needs money when you have pants and socks?” He smiled as he took the Malibu Barbie that I had been looking at from the bin. He bent over, pulled up his other pant leg and shoved the box under his sock! “What are you doing? You can’t take that; you have to pay for it!” Right as I said, ‘put it back,’ the store attendant walked back into the store.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Leading me from behind the shelves and around the opposite side of the cashier’s counter, we slipped out without being seen. As soon as we left the store, I turned back towards the base. “Where are you going Sher? Don’t you want your doll? Come back! We haven’t seen the rest of the town.” He began to yell as I was walking away. Without looking back at him, I yelled “I’ve seen enough! I am ready to go back to school.”

This time, I led the way, Rickey had to keep up with me. I could hear him all the way back to the trail, “Sher, wait up, I don’t understand, why are you so mad?” I couldn’t even look at him, I didn’t want to see any more colors or shadows around him.  Again, without looking back, I started telling him that I was mad because he stole something and could have got me in big trouble.  “Oh come on, we didn’t get caught. You were safe with me. Slow down, just talk to me,” he begged as I stopped in my tracks, turned around and yelled at him, with my fists in a tight ball, “No! For the first time since I met you, I didn’t feel safe!”

He didn’t say another word the rest of the way back down the path towards the commander’s house. We made our way to the bushes that concealed our school bags. “At least take the doll, I can’t take it home,” Richey said as he pulled the Barbie box from his sock and put in inside my bag.  Not knowing what to do, I said, “Fine I’ll take it home, but I’m not gonna play with it. You need to come over after school and get it, you need to get rid of it.” Without another word spoken, we walked back to the school and went inside. We had only missed the first hour, so nothing was said other than, we were running late. School went by much too quickly that day.

I was hoping my mother wasn’t home, but we walked in and there she was. She asked how our day was and did we have any homework. Not thinking of how bulky the Barbie box was, I opened my bag and the Barbie was exposed.  I quickly closed the bag but mom had seen it. My mother asked, “What was that? Where did that come from?” Humiliated by what I had done, I immediately started to confess, “Richey made me skip school and then stole this from the store and made me take it” I blurted out as the tears began rolling down my face. “What do you mean Richey made you skip school? What store? The one in town? How did you get there? How did you get off the base?”  I was horrified but didn’t want to get into trouble, so I just kept saying, “I’m sorry, I knew it was bad, it won’t happen again, I swear!”

Accepting my remorse, my mother told me, “We are taking you right back up to the store and you’re going to tell ‘them’ you’re sorry when you give the doll back and you are grounded to your room for the next 2 days!” Ashamed, I agreed. We went back to the scene of the crime and I confessed to stealing the doll as I handed it back to the store manager.  Even though I didn’t steal it, I felt as though I had by allowing Richey to walk out with it. “I am very sorry; it won’t happen again.” I repeated to the store manager.

I didn’t tell them about Richey and that he also took the Matchbox car. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing around him that day, but I started to think it had something to do with the shadow guys and how they made me feel. So, I just accepted the punishment and vowed to never steal again.

Being confined to the indoors was torture for me, even if only for a few days. It was the worst punishment of them all. I preferred being outside in nature, I felt more at home among the birds and trees. Besides, shadows were lurking indoors.

I had seen so many ghosts walking around my room that I began to long for them rather than see these shadows appearing from behind the walls. Smothering me, paralyzing me, only to wake up acting like nothing had happened; only memories that would come from nowhere during the day, like a dream.

On the second day of my imprisonment, I was sitting on the bed reading a book. My sister, Angie, was in the room with me. I began telling her about this dream I had the night before. “I was laying in my bed when something called me over to the window. A voice saying my name, Sheri, Sheri, Sheri, over and over. I got up from my bed and walked over to the window. Before I knew it, I was in a room with these tall white people, they had to be at least 8 feet tall.  I could see eyes and a mouth but no nose or ears. I saw they are people because they had the same body, but they weren’t wearing any cloths, just their skin, which was so white. They were talking to me without moving their lips, I could hear them in my head.  The room had white walls, but they were rounded, not squared like our rooms. On one of the walls a huge T.V. screen just appeared. They showed me these pictures that started moving, like a movie.

Pictures of big explosions, people blowing up, while buildings and trees were destroyed. I was so scared. I asked them why they were showing me this. I could hear them tell me, these things have happened before but they were avoidable. They could happen again if people don’t stop hurting the planet and each other. Then I was back in the ditch outside thinking, how did I get here, I need to go home. The next thing I know, it’s morning.”

I looked up at my sister when I was done with my story and she looked so surprised and shocked by my dream, she started telling me about her own experience, “After hearing about your dream, I’m not sure it was a dream or if it really happened, but last night, I saw you being pulled through the window!” Stammering in disbelief, I said, “Whatttt? What do you mean, pulled through the window?”  “Yeah, in my dream, I woke up when I heard you get out of bed. I watched as you walked over to the window. So then, I got up and walked up behind you and asked, “What you were looking at?” You pointed up into the sky and the next thing I know, you turned around towards me, like you were going to say something, and then you were pulled backwards out the window! You were trying to scream but no sound came out of your mouth.”

“What did you do next? What happened to me?” Shrugging her shoulders, she said, “I don’t know, the next thing I remember is waking up, that’s why I thought it had to be a dream. Because I woke up like nothing had happened and you were in your bed, so I didn’t think about it again, until now.” Trying to make since of the experience, I asked, “Was the window open when I was pulled through it?” “No, it looked just like it looks now, closed and locked! I reached out and tried to grab you but you went out pretty fast. In my dream I was crying out, stop, no, don’t take my sister! The last thing I remembered was standing there in front of the window, with my arms stretched out, crying that I couldn’t grab you in time. I’m so sorry.” Angie began to cry and say how sorry she was. Just recalling the event was upsetting for her.  I put my arms around my little sister and hugged her tight, “It’s not your fault, even if it was just a dream or really happened. I do know, that I am glad I’m not going crazy. I can’t be if both of us are seeing these things. This place is really strange, everything is backwards but we will be ok, we just have to stick together.” With a very serious look on her face, Angie looked up at me with tears in her big brown eyes and said, “You’re not crazy, Sher, you’re my big sister and I will always be here to tell you you’re not!”  “I know I will always have you by my side!” Again hugging her tight and reassuring her, even though I was now more scared for her than myself.

The next few weeks were spent trying to avoid Richey, which wasn’t easy, as he lived next door. I just couldn’t look at him the same way anymore, it really scared me when I saw that shadow man standing up inside of him. We would run off into the ditch every time he and his brother Randy would come around.

Being in the ditch made me feel uneasy, I didn’t understand it but then my sister Angie made a comment, “Do you remember being in the ditch last night?” “Yes, but no, I thought I was dreaming again. I was running away, sneaking out the window and running towards the ditch, but that’s all I can remember, so I just forgot about it, I guess.” Confused now, I kept thinking, why would I want to run away so much but then want to go back home? “I don’t know. Let’s go over to the air strip and watch the planes take off.” I was done thinking about it. With the ghosts, the shadow guys and the tall white men, seeing colors coming from people, I couldn’t take any more. It was too much for my 8-year-old brain.

Watching the airplanes, helicopters and jets taking off and landing was a great distraction for me. While we were laying in the dirt at the end of the gated air strip, my attention was pulled to the hanger closest to the runway. It held several planes, jets and helicopters. It was one of the larger of the 5 warehouses, with 6 bay doors that could open and close independently. Each door was about 10 feet wide and came from the roof of the building. All 6 bay doors were opening; a shiny grey metallic colored craft was being pulled out. I didn’t think much of it at first, there are many craft this color but the thing that really got my attention, was the shape of this airplane.

It wasn’t the shape of any airplane or jet I had ever seen before. It was shaped in a circle, with a dome appearance. It taxied itself out of the hanger isle, onto the edge of the runway but instead of speeding down the asphalt and taking off, it simply went straight up into the sky! It was out of sight before I could blink an eye!  My sister and I looked at each other in disbelief. “Did you just see that?!” Speaking at the same time, as we often do.  “I have never seen anything like that before, must be some top secret airplane!”

Both looking up into the blue sky I asked, “Did you see where it went?” “Nope, it went up so fast….” her words drifted off, as once again the craft came into sight, “There it is!” She said, pointing in the direction of the craft. It flew over our heads and behind the mountain faster than any jet and moved in such a way we had never seen. Moving back and forth, up and down, until it flew back towards the base and did a fly by before ascending back into the sky and disappearing again.

This time it didn’t come back, so we never saw it return to the base. “That was the strangest thing I have ever seen! If I had to explain everything we are going through here to someone, anyone, they would think I am crazy!” “I know, If I didn’t see it, I would think you’re crazy too!” “Thanks kid! Glad you got my back!” I teased Angie, because I know I would feel the same way.

It was getting late and we had to get home. With sunset being our curfew, we headed home as the sun started making the sky turn pink, meaning it would soon be setting.

Night time seemed to have more ghost activity, so I was ok with being home before it got dark. I started sleeping with the lights on but my mother didn’t understand and would always come in and turn it off, before going to bed herself.

After seeing that round airplane disappear, I couldn’t fall asleep, so when Mom came in to turn the light off, I asked her, “Mom, have you ever seen a round airplane before that could fly faster than a jet?” “No, I can’t say that I have, why do you ask?” “We saw one today, it was flying around the base.” Waiting for her to reply, I added, “It came out of one of the hangers.” “Really, well you know the base has all kinds of different test planes, you might have seen one of those. Now go to sleep, you have school tomorrow.” She turned off the light and closed the door.

To be continued…