The Return parts 11 - 15

part 11~The Discovery...."You must've been mistaken, carter," Doc insisted. They were gathered inside the church. Doc was pacing as he spoke. "Harris must've been unconscious. Then he revived after you left.

"But that doesn't explain Harris's behavior," Elli said. She was seated on the floor holding May in her lap."And you saw how his fingernails grew. They looked like claws."

The doctor continued to pace. He walked back an forth. Finally he stopped pacing and opened his mouth to speak. At that moment someone screamed. For a second Elli thought it was Doc who had screamed, then she realized it was a woman.

"Harris"Carter muttered, hurrying toward the door. Doc, Elli and May followed but the girls did not leave the churchyard. Manna, on her way to the townsaquare, had found Harris's corpse. Anna, Sasha and Stu were also walking over.

"Sasha!" Elli yelled."Don't let Stu see!" Sasha quickly grabbed Stu and hid his face in her skirts.

"What on earth?" Anna exclaimed. The doctor rushed over and pretended to examine the body.

"I can't be sure until I do an autopsy, but it looks like Harris was killed by a large animal." he said. Manna's dark eyes flicker dto the wound on Harris's head and she started to speak. Doc caught her eye and shook his head, and, for once, Manna held her tongue.

to be continued interesting fact one:manna & carter have appeared in every one of my fanatics; interesting fact two: this is the first time anna(my least favorite character) has appeared in one of my stories

The Return: part 12 -Making Plans-..."This is ridiculous," said Doc."We can talk here in the clinic."

"No, we can't," Carter insisted."The church is the only safe place." The two men had moved Harris's body into the clinic after sending the three women into the town square. The doctor hoped Manna would not mention the wound on Harris's head, inflicted by Carter, to the other women.Stu was playing with May and Elli at the church.

"Fine, whatever. Let's go," Doc sighed. Both men hurried to the church.

"We have to keep Joanna away from May," Carter said.

"Yes," agreed Doc."I'll tell Barley that May is spending the night with Stu and Ellen."

"May would be safer in the church,"Carter protested. Doc glared at him."I suppose you're right."Carter said.

"I;m going to tell Barley now," said Doc and he turned towards the town square. carter entered the church.

Inside Elli was playing jacks with the two children. Cater smiled at the sight. Just then someone tapped his shoulder. Carter yelped and spun around. A woman with dark hair was standing behind him.To be continued

Part 13- Barley-...Yodel Farm was still. There was no sound, no movement, the air was unnaturally cold. A sudden instinct told Doc to turn and run, but he squelched the urge and entered. barley's sheep was lying on the ground, it's stomach was ripped open. Doc was used to such sights, in his job he encountered them on a regular basis, still he felt a wave of nausea sweep over him. It passed and he entered Barley's house.

Barley was sitting in a rocking chair, smoking a pipe. Barley was wrong. The doctor sensed this. He could practically taste the waves of wrongness emanating from Barley.

Carter was right, he thought. Barley turned his head and looked at Doc. He smiled and Barley's smile was cold and dark and wrong to be continued

part 14-Manna's Tale-....Manna settled herself into a pew.

"Goodness, Carter!" she exclaimed. "You're as white as a sheet!"

"You're startled me," Carter replied."For a moment I thought you were someone else."

"You're so funny,"Manna giggled. Cater glanced around the church. Elli was still kneeling on the floor with May and Stu.

"Where's the doctor?" Manna asked.

"Uh, he went to find, um, to see..."

"To tell the Mayor?" Manna suggested. Carter hesitated.

"No," he finally said. "Doc's going to see Barley."

"But why Barley?"Manna asked."The Mayor will want to know that his son is dead." Carter winced at her words, but Manna didn't seem to notice.

"Joanna returned last night," Carter said."She's behaving very strangely--"

"What are you talking about? Back? Carter, Joanna is dead!" Manna clapped her hand over her mouth. Carter looked over at the kids, but they didn't seem to have overheard anything. He took Manna by the shoulder and ushered her into a corner.

"What do you mean 'Joanna's dead'?"he whispered. Manna wrung her hands, but she dearly loved to tell gossip.

"Joanna died almost a year ago. I was visiting Barley when he got the letter telling him of Joanna's death. He refused to believe it, wouldn't even pay for a funeral. I guess he started to believe his own lies. I held my tongue--I can keep quiet, you know--because I didn't want May to hear the news like that, you know, from overhearing gossip or something."

"But, if Joanna is dead then who or what is after May?" Carter wondered aloud. To be continued

part 15: Barley's Deal....Barley pulled himself out of his rocking chair and lurched to wards Doc.

"You won't interfere," Barley hissed."Joanna has come back for us and we'll all be together!"

When Barley moved Doc could see a gaping hole in the old man's chest, a hole right where his heart should've been.

"No..." Doc backed away."This isn't possible!"

Barley cackled. The sound made Doc's skin crawl.

"Joanna is dead," Barley said"She died, but I wouldn't let her!" The old man seized the edge of the table, breathing heavily."So, I made a sacrifice to the Shadow Goddess--"

"Shadow Goddess?"

"The goddess of death and darkness"Barley wheezed."She is the sister of the Harvest Goddess. She brought Joanna back."

"She really is a zombie!" Doc said. He felt a
little faint. Barley smiled again.

"Yes, she is! She is! And so am I! And you too, very soon! To be continued!

zombie isn't exactly the right word...not that it really matters. unfortunately, the shadow goddess doesn't actually appear in this story. if you're wondering, she looks like the h.g., only with black hair and a black dress. her eyes are red. you can feel free to put her in your own fanfics!