What Lies Underneath

When you have lived in a town, like the one I live in, for so many years, you begin to find out and figure out about all the many reasons why others have skeletons in their closets. Of course, it's better to leave the dead exactly where they were buried at.

When you are walking down the street, and the eyes of the neighborhood are following you every step of the way, as though they wonder where you have been and where you are going. They are worried that you have been talking to others about them, as though you have been sharing their secrets because they have something to hide.

It can become very annoying and very out of sorts, when you feel as though you are guilty of something sinister, yet you are not sure what you are guilty of in the first place.

My how quickly they forget, my how quickly they are ready to point fingers at you and though they claim they trust you, it's not by their sly words that they say it, but more by their actions, by the expressions on their faces.

The careless whispers spoken in hushed tones, the hand gestures and the odd looks and glares and glances you get as you pass by those who once claimed to be your friends, now eye you as though they don't know you. It gets ridiculous and suspect when you feel as though you are either the criminal suspect or are to blame for all the troubles that have taken place in the past and are still happening today, now.

You feel the town will become a huge mob of haters, will find a way to put your pretty neck in the noose or hang you from the largest tree outside of town. They will find you guilty of something long since removed from the town's charter, once on the books that has a list of laws since made invalid by the previous mayor. Funny how this mayor disappeared without a trace too.

Yes, that brings me to my present situation. I am bound over for trial on trumped up charges. I am awaiting sentencing, for who knows what the townspeople will decide on as my crime and then will be led away to face my final destination, the gallows.

To be placed in the receiving area of where my head will be placed and the place it will fall into. They had only decided when this would happen, how this would happen and what course of action they needed to take to put this into action.

Talk about being on the receiving end of raw deal. It was never my plan to visit here, nor was it my decision to go snooping around and see what secrets I could uncover. I was only supposed to be passing through on my way to Disneyland. That seems only a few weeks ago, then we now have this.

The jail cell I was presently in was a makeshift one, and was not in the greatest condition, it was hurriedly assembled, as were the gallows. These people are being obnoxious about how they are handling this, and "what that might be, you may ask?". "It is I who is being charged with not only the death of the present mayor, but also the last several mayors too".

"Imagine that I am being charged with their deaths, and I have never passed through or lived here before in this town". "It's a pure conspiracy". "It's blatant way to show how stupid one can be to try and take the law into one's own hands, with conscience of no kind and wanting to shift blame on someone who is innocent to say the least".

While awaiting my pending doom, the skies became dark and gloomy, then it started to rain. It was not a gentle rain either, more like it had been raining for a few days, as the wind howled and the rain was pelting down, most of those outside started heading for shelter.

The rain began flooding the streets, and the jail cell was beginning to fill up with water, I yelled out for help and only heard my voice instead. I was beginning to panic and worry no one would choose to rescue me.

Then the floor caved in and down I went into an underwater grave, where bodies of those buried there, floating and bobbing. I was not sure, but there were a few bodies that looked as though they had only been placed there in a recent time.

I began to swim towards the way I thought would take to an outside light source. I then accepted my fate and floated out and down into a lake. I was now out in the open air and was trying to hold my breath. I was about to go under once more, when a hand, then two reached out to grab hold of me and pull me upward.

It was the town sheriff, several deputies, and several state troopers. They asked me who I was, I then identified myself as Dr. Jeffery Wantoo, and they placed me in a raincoat and sat me down in the front seat of a warm vehicle.

Someone had called or contacted the state police about the recent discovery of bodies, especially those of the mayors and others who had gone missing. It was the disappearance of these individuals which had been the cause of them being contacted.

The mayors were each working with the government, concerning some moonshine stills, being used as a front for drug running, which involved most of the people in this town. When I started snooping around, people were afraid I would stumble upon their activities and would alert the authorities.

As the troopers noticed, the mayors' bodies all had several bullet holes in the chest and right side of their faces. The only people who had that good of an aim were the Moonshining Boys, a rogue group of assassins, which disguised themselves as local folk and blending in, were able to infiltrate all levels of local government, finally keeping most people hostage until they had instilled their plans and overran the town.

This caused concern for most, but they were not able to handle it as they wanted to because they were elderly folk, so they figured out a way to contact the law. And there is where we leave you hanging at.