Stopping the Hook Man

“You know, this is kinda thrilling”, the brunette admitted as they walked past the headstones carrying shovels, keeping their eyes out for one marked with MD. 

“Yeah it is”, Dawn agreed. This would be her first ever salt n burn. Her half-brothers and father never allowed her to tag along when they had to do stuff like this. She was able to do the research and of course cast spells if anything needed to be located or a creature needed to be found. Plus she had to put up wards in their motel rooms so that they were protected. So, yes, she was quite excited to be able to do this herself.

“Maybe we should split up, cover more ground”, Lena suggested.

“Good idea”, Dawn agreed “holler if you find it”.

“Will do”, Lena promised and headed off in a different direction. She strolled through the graveyard, glancing from stone to stone, searching for MD. The young witch stopped when she saw a gravestone with a name of McKenzie. It wasn’t her parents one but it was enough to bring back painful memories.

Her mother and father screaming…the flames that consumed her house…Lena let out a sob, tears rolling down her face.

“I found it!” Dawn called which effectively broke her out of her sad thoughts. Lena hastily wiped her face with her sleeves and she made her way over to where her friend was standing. A tarp was slung across the grass, covering the section in front of the headstone. A few candles were behind it.

“Looks like someone had raised him from the grave”, Lena remarked. Dawn pulled the tarp away revealing more candles and an open coffin.

“Well, the Hook Man has taken his last victim”, Dawn stated firmly, setting down her bag and shovel. Lena put down her own tool as they didn’t need them since someone had already dug the grave. The blackette, opened up the bag to take out what they needed to destroy the remains. That was when Lena noticed that there was something wrong.

“Uh, Dawn? Did those papers you read tell you if he was supposed to be buried with his hook?” Lena asked staring into the open casket.

“Should be”, Dawn replied, taking out lighter fluid, matches and a tub of salt “why?”

“Cos it’s not here”, Lena replied.

Dawn looked at her with a frown “what?” she questioned and moved over to the hole to get a closer look “but…it should be here”.

“Well, as you can see, it’s not”, Lena said.

Dawn grumbled under her breath “that’s going to complicate things”, she remarked. They had to burn both the body and the hook so that there was no chance that the Hook Man would kill anyone else.

“You’re right. It will”, a voice agreed. The two females looked up to see Tyler Greer standing over the grave, holding the hook.

“You summoned the Hook Man?” Lena asked, surprised. The guy didn’t seem like the type to kill anyone. He always seemed so…nice. He also had a major crush on Casey. The brunette’s eyes widened in realisation. Now it all made sense. Shawna was trying to make Casey into a party girl and Bryce either came onto her too strong or he simply wasn’t good enough for her. Or, the more likely answer, Tyler was jealous.

“I did”, Tyler confirmed “it was for Casey. To protect her”.

“You raised a murderous ghost to protect her?” Dawn scoffed “you know there are many, many other ways to do that instead of picking a nuclear option”.

“Perhaps but I felt this was a much more effective way”, Tyler admitted “I was going to let you live Lena. After all, Casey likes you and you’re nothing like those other girls. You protected her too but now…now you want to ruin it. So I’m afraid you have to die. Both of you”. 

“Sorry, I’m not looking to die any time soon”, Lena said.

“Me neither”, Dawn agreed. She rushed at Tyler, tackling him to the floor, knocking the hook out of his hands “burn it!” she shouted at Lena as she pinned the squirming twenty one year old to the grass. It shouldn’t be so easy to keep him there since he had a few years on her. However, she had magic on her side.

The brunette snatched up the hook and tossed it into the coffin. “No!” Tyler shouted as Lena dumped salt and lighter fluid onto the body and hook. The twenty two year old’s eyes flared brilliant blue but before she could say the words to burn the remains, the Hook Man appeared!

Lena cried out as she was flung away from the hole, crashing into a nearby headstone. “Lena!” Dawn shouted. Tyler took advantage of the blackette’s distraction and swiftly turned the tables, pinning her to the ground.

The white witch groaned as she eased herself from the grass, quickly driving to the side to avoid a swipe from the Hook Man’s weapon. Lena scrambled to her feet, darting towards Mathew’s grave. The ghost knocked her off her feet again but this time it brought her closer to the hole. Lena crawled the rest of the way while the Hook Man slowly approached, raising his hook.

Dawn struggled with Tyler, the young man wrapping her hands around her throat, cutting off her air supply. Lena finally managed reach the hole, sticking her hand into it. Her eyes flared blue once more and she said the word to set the remains alight just as the Hook Man brought his hook down on her.

The ghost burst into flames and vanished, a bloody hook being all that was left in his place. Now it was Tyler’s turn to be distracted which allowed Dawn to shove him off of her and punch him several times in the face until he was knocked out, his nose bleeding. She seriously hoped that she’d broken his nose.

The eighteen year old joined Lena at the hole, watching the flames burn Mathew Drummond’s remains. “You ok?” she asked.

“Bruised but fine”, Lena replied “how about you?”

“Still alive and kicking”, Dawn answered, slinging an arm around the brunette’s shoulders “that’s all that matters” they watched the fire burn in silence for a few moments

“Fancy roasting marshmallows?” she asked making the brunette laugh.

“While it’s tempting, it’s probably not the most appropriate thing to do”, Lena replied “however…” she took out her phone and dialled 911 “I think this is something that the Sherriff will want to know” she waited patiently while her phone rang “hi there I wanted to some suspicious activity of Ravenhill Cemetery. Think its linked to the murders of Shawna and Bryce. My name?” Lena looked at Dawn “I’d prefer to remain anonymous”. She then hung up, tucking her phone away.

“Now we wait”, Dawn said. They stood there watching the fire burn until they heard the sirens. The pair retreated to a safe distance and looked on with smiles on their faces as the Sherriff arrested Tyler. “He’ll get blamed for the murders and no one need know that the cause was supernatural”, the eighteen year old stated “if he tried to say otherwise, they’ll probably ship him off to the funny farm”. Lena hummed in agreement. They turned and walked away. “You know, we made a pretty good team”, Dawn remarked “fancy doing it again sometime?”

“Oh, no”, Lena answered “I’m one and done. I just want to focus on graduating this summer”.

“Well, the offer will always be open to you if you ever change your mind”, Dawn said. She would much rather have Lena by her side then her half-brothers any day of the week.

“You know what I do fancy?” Lena asked “a pizza. I’m starving”.

“You know, what? Me too!” Dawn grinned at her “and I’m buying”.

“Fine with me”, Lena agreed. 

~0~

After an enjoyable afternoon of eating pizza, followed by an evening of binge watching movies, Lena decided to write about what had taken place earlier that day. So while Dawn dozed away on her bed, the brunette jotted down a summary of what went down in the graveyard.

And so the Hook Man was vanquished. The one responsible for his raising got what he deserved, a lifetime in prison. Now that it’s over, I wonder how long it’ll take before things start to go back to normal. 

~0~

Lena walked with Casey and Dawn to where a small stage had been set up on a patch of grass near the dorms. Principle Grant was holding a candlelight vigil to honour both Bryce and Shawna and to mark the end of a dark chapter in Cranmoore’s history.

She watched as a middle aged man got up onto the stage. The teachers then went around, lighting everyone’s white candles. “Students, members of staff. This has been a very difficult time for all of us. Bryce Martin and Shawna Davis were taken from this world far too soon” Lena took hold of Casey’s hand, gripping it tightly “but they can rest in peace knowing the person responsible was caught. For the rest of us, we have closure. This vigil is to honour those we’ve lost and to mark the end of a dark time” the Principle took a sip of water “from this moment on we will be moving forward toward a better and brighter future. A future in which all of you can achieve your goals and your dreams. Thank you”.

The man got a round of applause for his speech and then the Reverend took his place to lead them all in a very short prayer. Once it was over, the crowd dispersed. Lena looked down at the candle in her hands , staring at the flame that was flickering away. “To moving forward”, she said quietly and gently blew the candle out.

In the days that followed, many students did what the Principle said and moved forward. Those closest to Bryce and Shawna still mourned them which everyone understood. Several of the girls who lived in the Sorority House prior to Shawna’s murder, had moved out while a few of them decided to stay on in honour of their fallen sister. The room that was once occupied by the former party girl and Casey was converted into a shrine with people leaving flowers, gifts and messages.

Lena was one of those who’d stayed behind, though she ended up moving to a room that had two beds as Dawn was pretty insistent in being roommates. Even though the Hook Man was gone or at least Mathew Drummond’s version, the blackette didn’t feel right about having Lena stay in a room at the house all by herself.

“Still reading that book?” Dawn remarked when she wandered into the room one day after class to see the first Harry Potter book in the brunette’s hands.

“Hadn’t had time to finish it”, Lena said. She set her book aside and picked up Goblet of Fire “I’ve marked the page you were on”, she told Dawn as she held it out to her. The teen smiled, took the book from Lena and relaxed onto her bed to start reading. Lena picked up where she left off in the novel.

~0~

Tyler paced in his cell, fuming like had done for the past few days. He tried to tell people about the Hook Man about how he was made to raise him from the grave by Yasmin. Everyone just laughed at him. “They won’t be laughing when I get out of here”, he said to himself angrily “when I’m finally free, I’ll make them see…make them pay”, he vowed.

“You know, you’re really cute when you’re angry”, Yasmin remarked from where she sat on the cot.

“Yaz”, Tyler breathed, relieved to see her “you have to get me out of here”.

“Oh, I’m afraid I can’t do that”, Yasmin said, inspecting her blood red fingernails “you got yourself into this mess”.

“No, it was you! You made me do it!” Tyler argued making Yasmin slowly stand up.

“I didn’t make you do anything, you pathetic excuse for a human”, she said very calmly that made the young man feel like he had just said the wrong thing “I only offered to help you get what you wanted. YOU are the one who decided to go through with your revenge. You got yourself caught, not me. All magic comes with a price Ty, and it’s time for you to pay it”, Yasmin smirked, her eyes turning red.

Tyler stumbled back into the bars. “Help! Somebody help me!” he shouted.

“No one can hear you Tyler and nobody is coming to help”, Yasmin said moving closer to him. Tyler whimpered as she raised a hand to his cheek, stroking it with her now sharpened nails, drawing a little blood.

“Please…have mercy”, he pleaded.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, not even for someone as cute as you”, Yasmin whispered in his ear. She stepped back slightly and plunged her hand into his chest. Her eyes blazed bright red and she ripped out his soul. Tyler slumped against the bars as Yasmin considered the glowing orb in her hands. It was half covered in darkness. Not the most corrupted soul she’d held but it would suffice none the less. She placed the soul into the box she’d brought with her. “Thank you Tyler”, she said giving him a searing kiss “now, be a good boy and kill yourself”. The red head patted his cheek and vanished.

Soulless Tyler ripped the sheets from the cot, tying them into a rope long enough to hang himself with. He climbed up onto the toilet, stretched up onto his tiptoes in order to reach the pipe running across the ceiling of his cell. Tyler tied one end securely to the pipe and created a loop at the other end. He stuck his head through it and stepped off the toilet, killing himself.