The Dead Man in the Ravine
By: Melissa R. Mendelson
Tags: Short Story, Betrayal, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Supernatural Horror

The Dead Man in the Ravine

An Action Adventure Tale

Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash

The flow of water moving downward filled my ears. The wind rustled through the trees and over my skin. The grass underneath me turned red from the bullet hole in my shoulder. Sunlight opened my eyes, and rocks cradled my head.

I had falling over the edge hard. It was amazing that my body wasn’t broken, but moving my ankle had me cry out in pain. I slowly raised my head. My eyes moved over the trees, but I could not see through the green. Where was he?

Suddenly, a bullet struck the ground not far from me. I glanced at the hole and then over at the water. I could not touch the water, especially because I was bleeding, so I remained lying on the small bank. And he emerged from his hiding spot. I realized that he had been there all this time, waiting to see if I was dead.

“You could have put the bullet in my head.” I watched him shrug with the gun in his hand.

“I need you to answer something first, and then I’ll kill you.”

He leaned over me. His sadistic grin stretched across his face. He was always a bastard, and I hated him. And he hated me.

“Ask then. I have better things to do with my time.” I watched him smile at that.

“You have no time left, my friend.”

“I’m no longer your friend.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Ask,” I demanded.

“Why did you call me out? I thought we parted ways neutrally.”

“You call the bomb under my car parting ways neutrally?” I watched him shrug with the gun still in his hand. “Maybe, I missed you,” and he pressed the gun against my right temple. “We used to be good friends. That was until you nearly killed me. All for money.”

“It always comes down to money, especially a lot of money. Why did you call me out?” His gun dug deeper into my skin.

“I found my grandfather’s journal.”

“And?” His finger wrapped around the trigger.

“It was about this ravine. The Dead Man in the Ravine.” I watched the gun go limp in his hand. “The gold in his heart.”

“Your grandfather disappeared along with his partner. They were never found. How could he write about the legend, about the gold in the Dead Man’s heart?”

“He was an archeologist,” I said.

“So, what if you found his journal? What does that have to do with us? Like you said, we’re no longer friends.”

“You left me for dead. I would never have betrayed you, and people like us are the only ones that can call the Dead Man out.”

“So, call him out.”

“I can’t because you shot me.”

“I will shoot you again.”

“He won’t come, if there’s blood in the water. It has to be you.”

“You want me to step in the water?”

“You go in the water, and I’ll say the incantation.”

“You don’t have the journal anymore.”

“I don’t need it,” I said. “I have a photographic memory.”

“I forgot about that.” He continued to lean over me. His finger itched across the trigger. “Okay. I’ll do it,” and he stepped into the water. “Say this works. He appears, and I kill him. What makes you think that I won’t finish you off? You can barely stand anyway.”

“I’m sure that you will kill me.”

“As long as you know that. Now, let’s do this.” He stood in the water.

I pulled myself up into a sitting position. I winced at the pain in my shoulder, and moving my ankle really hurt. I took in a jagged breath and closed my eyes. I cleared my mind until I remembered the page with the incantation, and I slowly exhaled. I said the words.

I opened my eyes. Nothing happened. It was just me and him, and he was still standing in the water. Did I really think that the Dead Man was going to show himself?

Suddenly, the water behind him shot upward. Droplets of water fell down, but they did not return back to the stream. Instead, they formed a human skeleton, and before he could react, the Dead Man ripped out his heart. As he ate it, I watched my old friend burst into a bloody red wave that washed away downstream. I was almost sorry that he was gone, and his gun fell beside my leg.

The Dead Man focused on me. He was still hungry, listening to my heartbeat. I had to move fast, despite the pain that seared through my ankle. I grabbed the gun just as I felt a strong pull toward the water. I flipped onto my back, and my feet touched the water. I was almost out of time, and I fired the gun into the watery frame that pulled me closer. I had to get him out of the water, and I used the last of my strength to hurl myself back onto the ground. And he stepped onto the small bank. As he did, he solidified into human form, and the last bullet plunged through him, sending him down onto the ground. He looked at me one last time with bits of my enemy’s heart still stuck in his teeth.

I struggled to my feet, but it took me a long minute. I brushed away some blood on my face, and I stumbled over to the Dead Man. I leaned over his body, staring at his grotesque face. Nobody knew who he was. The only bits of information that I found was that he was like me, betrayed by his best friend, and it was only people like us that could call him out. I felt sorry for the Dead Man, but I still plunged my hand into his chest. I ripped out his heart of gold.