The Senesbaugh Tale

Rendition by Micheal Larson

As Landon drove slowly through the darkness, he glanced over at his girlfriend, Madeline. She looked over at him, and smiled shyly, as this was only their second date in the rural town of Kingsport Tennessee. He looked back toward the road, and peered out the window at the thick fog that seemed to hug the area around the creek that ran along the left side of the road. He was fairly new to Kingsport, he had only lived there a year, and only known Madeline for a few months, since he switched schools, and he had never traveled this far from home, and Madeline knew it. The road curved and twisted this way and that, and he flicked on the high beams in his 1994 Cutlass Supreme Oldsmobile, as it hugged the road. The radio played faintly in the distance, an old country tune that neither one could hear the words to, and the hum of the engine played slightly louder than the song. He looked out the drivers side window, and spotted a small pond not far from the road, over a short embankment that dropped into it. The fog was denser than before as he passed the water, and as he came out, he spotted a long, dark tunnel ahead of him. Landon grinned to himself, knowing his plan for the night, and he slowed as he approached the opening. He saw Madeline squirm a little in her seat, perhaps from nervousness, but perhaps from fear of the dark and foreboding tunnel. The front of the long opening was in the middle of a large hill, and to the far, far right he could see the stars above the tall treeline. The ground was went, and his lights beamed off of puddles and reflected back into the car, shimmering about on every surface. Madeline looked at him with a nervous smile, and he winked reassuringly at her. He had slowed nearly to a stop before entering the tunnel, and he pressed the gas until he was past the mouth of the opening. He drove, but the tunnel seemed to be unending, so when he could no longer see the opening, he slowed to a stop, and shifted into park. He left the lights on, cut the engine, and looked over at Madeline, who adjusted herself awkwardly in her seat. There was complete silence, and no words needed to be said when Landon looked at her, and she back at him, and he casually put his arm around her shoulder. She allowed him, and looked up at his face, and kissed him on the lips. He kissed her back, and leaned into her as he did. Suddenly there was a defining wail that rang through the tunnel and sounded like it should have shattered glass. The two of them shot up from their strong embrace, and looked out the front window. There was nothing to be seen, not a single human being in sight.

“What the heck was that?” Madeline asked in fright, looking to Landon for an answer.

“I have no idea,” said Landon, gulping and staring into the foreboding darkness.

“Go check what it was...” She said, looking up at him. Landon opened his mouth to argue the point, but there was not one to be argued. He looked at her, and then grabbed the handle to the door, and stepped out of the vehicle. He stood a moment before moving, and then closed the door, and walked slowly with the aid of the light from the car. He could hear his feet stepping on the moist ground. Step, splash! Simultaneous sounds of great suspense and fear. He still could not see the end of the tunnel, and when he reached the spot where the light dimmed into darkness, he pondered the length of the structure. He had stopped, but the steps did not. Step, splash! Step, splash! He stood dead in his place, and the steps stopped. He was relieved in a way, and thought of the paranoia of the dark and secluded area, and shrugged it off as such. There was nothing in front of him, and a glance behind him proved the same. He decided that there was nothing in the tunnel, and when he turned to shrug at Madeline, there was a man, wearing a flannel shirt, blue jeans, with dark hair, standing face to face with him. Landon stumbled backwards, tripped over his own feet, and fell to the ground, and watched as the man heaved a large axe at him. He dodged it, and it lodged between a crack in the concrete wall behind him. He scrambled to his feet, as the man struggled with the axe, and ran back to the car. He got in, slammed the door, and pressed the automatic lock button, but when he looked back at the tunnel ahead, there was no one.

“Who was that?” Asked Madeline, now more frightened than ever.

“How should I know? He tried to kill me!”

“Where did he go anyway?” Madeline asked.

“I don’t know, I didn’t see him run off,” Landon replied, and when he looked ahead again, he could see the head of the axe, gleaming in the headlights, still wedged in the wall of the tunnel. He sat back in his seat, and breathed. The goosebumps on his skin were as large as mountains, and his heart was beating faster that a horse in a race. All was silent again, and he looked at Madeline, who was now genuinely scared.

“Can we leave now? I’m really scared,” said Madeline, but she was cut short by a quiet wail of a baby sobbing. Time seemed to slow down as they both looked at each other in pure terror, and when they both glanced back at the tunnel ahead, the axe was gone. The wailing ended, and was overtaken by the sound of Landon slamming the keys into the ignition, and turning them. The car cranked and sputtered, but didn’t turn over. He tried again, but nothing happened, and then there were footsteps. Step, splash! Step, splash! Step, splash! He tried the engine again, and it sputtered and coughed, but nothing happened, the car wouldn’t start. Step, splash! Step, splash, getting faster as he kept trying to start the car, and VROOM! The car started and was met with the sound of mental piercing metal as the man with the axe sunk his blade deep into the hood of Landon’s car. Madeline screamed, and he hit the gas, and zoomed ahead. The wailing of the baby was louder than the roar of his racing engine and beating heart, and when he went flying out of the tunnel, he could see the lights from a nearby mansion ahead. He drove faster now than before as he approached the open gate. The lights in the living room were lit, and he could see two faint shadows through the wide window. He went up the drive, and the shadows moved to the door. He began to wonder if he had imagined everything, as there was no longer an axe in the hood of his car, but when he got out, and the couple from inside the mansion came running down the steps, he could see the large angular depression that the blade had left on his hood.

“Why whats the matter?” Asked the older woman as she approached Landon and Madeline.

“Yes, I do wonder too, Norma,” said the older man, “What are you two doing out here this late at night?” When Landon and Madeline had finished telling them what had happened, the couple looked at each other, and the man said gravely,

“You’ve never heard of the Senesbaugh Tunnel?”

“What do you mean?” Asked Landon.

“Long ago, a man, named Mr. Senesbaugh, and his wife and only child were driving late at night when their car stalled in the pouring rain. He pushed the car into that tunnel, and when he couldn’t get the car to start, he killed his wife and child in a fit of maniacal rage, then drowned himself in the lake,”

“The tunnel is said to be haunted by his child and himself in their final moments of life,” said the man.

“What did he use to kill them?” Madeline asked.

“Oh, that one everyone knows,” said the man, “He used an axe...”

The End.