"Beyond Dark" excerpt of the month (March 2025)
A killer who lives in shadows, a hint of paranormal paranoia, and an old farmer with family secrets on the property
In February’s excerpt, Alyssa and Thayer had just arrived in Stancombe, Alberta, for a case regarding a serial killer burying her victims alive. As they dig deeper, they find some locals who suspect each other, are themselves suspicious, and others who are spooked by both ghosts and revelations that not every shadow is a paranormal one.
“Whew,” Thayer said when he and Randy reached the parked truck and SUV. He put his hands in his pockets and raised an eyebrow at the older farmer. “I figured it may be easier to speak over here, where we won’t get… interrupted.”
Randy sighed. “Appreciated. I apologize for my wife. I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”
“No need, sir. Her actions are not your responsibility. We just had some extra questions for you both, given recent events,” Thayer said.
“Shoot away,” Randy replied.
Thayer could feel Marie’s intent and burning gaze on his back. Man, he thought Alyssa to be abrasive. Marie radiated jealousy as though it could eat its way through skin and bone. It sent a chill up his spine.
“We were curious as to whether you know Mrs. Jarroll or not. Or any of the missing women,” Thayer said, notepad and pen at the ready.
“Not closely, no,” Randy said, tucking his thumbs into the loops of his dusty jeans. “I think Kirsten went to school with at least one of my kids, but I don’t know the others.”
“Fair enough. Your wife implied that you are mostly out in the fields, and she is not. Yes?”
“That’s right.”
“What about this field in particular?”
Randy stared out at the team pulling human remains from his property, bewilderment filling his eyes. He shook his head. “I don’t use it much. Crops wouldn’t grow there so I mostly let the horses graze out there. Though lately, even the horses haven’t wanted to be out there.”
“Is that so?” Thayer said, frowning.
“Animals, you know. They sense things. There were stories in my family that the old farmhouse was haunted. That someone was… well, buried out there,” Randy said, his words slowing.
“How long ago was this rumored to have happened?” Thayer asked. His pen paused when he looked up at Randy.
“Oh, before I was born. Grandpa apparently had a feud going on with his neighbor at the time. Over what, I have no idea. Well, that neighbor vanished when his house burned down. Never seen again,” Randy said, his head tilted out towards the field. “You think whoever did this, knew about that?”
“I couldn’t tell you, sir,” Thayer said. “But that’s… definitely a spooky coincidence, if it is that. You mentioned the old house was haunted. How so? Any recent… ghostly activity?”
“It’s always groaned and creaked. I never lived in it, but my dad grew up in it before he and my mom built the house I now live in. He always said he could hear loud voices, people walking around, furniture moving. Said he saw a lamp levitate right off the fireplace mantle one night. He swore off living there. It’s why he built the new place,” Randy mused.
“Creepy,” Thayer said with a nod. “How about in the last few years? I know no one lives there now, but have you witnessed anything out of sorts or heard anything?”
Realization took its time crawling into Randy’s expression. It filled his dismal blue eyes, sinking into the lines forming on his skin, his mouth opening to speak but choking on a revelation.
“I’d see shadows out here,” Randy said. He stared at the team in the field, as though imagining the pitch black wall of night between it and his own home, where he felt safe from the ghosts of this old farm that had plagued his family.
“What sort of… shadows?” Thayer asked in surprise. He glanced quickly at Alyssa, who had lit another cigarette and watched the men intently. She tilted her head at the change in Randy’s expression. Thayer gave her a nod and looked back at Randy. His eyes hadn’t left the field.
“A humanoid type shadow lurking out by the old house. Couldn’t tell you anything else. Shorter. Skinny. I… aw, hell. I assumed it was a ghost. It moved so smoothly. I hardly saw it…”
“Any vehicles, any other people?”
“Not that I saw.”
“Did you ever investigate? Ever see any disturbed ground after those instances?”
“I didn’t go out there. The more I saw it, the more I avoided it. I’m a tough old farmer, son, but I am not about to mess about with ghosts. Though… that was no ghost, was it?” Randy said. His voice lowered almost to a whisper. “That was her. The one who buried Kirsten. The one… the one who did all this.”
Thayer felt a shiver over his skin there in the sweltering heat. “It could have been. Tell me, was Mrs. O’ Sherrin in the house when you’d see this? I am not accusing her of anything but we must eliminate all possibilities.”
“She was,” Randy said. “She says I’m crazy. A paranoid old man jumping at spooks, just like my dad. I’m not crazy. There’s something out there. More than this killer.”
Well, this certainly wasn’t going to help Randy’s already heightened paranoia at the paranormal. Thayer jotted some notes down before speaking again.
“On the note of eliminating possibilities… what of your ex-wife and daughters?” Thayer said.
“Janelle?” Randy asked. He frowned, then finally looked at Thayer. “Nah. She was angry when she left me. For the right reasons. But she… no. Janelle isn’t like this. She’s a good woman. Good mother. She was a great wife. I messed up.”
Thayer made note of this, mostly out of curiosity. “Ah. Mrs. O’ Sherrin told us that you no longer liked Janelle and it was why you had the affair.”
“She’d have anyone believe that,” Randy said. “Nah. I loved Janelle. Still do. Always will. Marie… got into my head. We met in the hotel bar one night and she gave me the pity story of how awful her marriage was. Then, I was going over to her house and helping her fix things her husband wouldn’t. I felt sorry for her. Pathetic excuse to end up in bed with someone other than your wife, and I knew it. I regret it every damn day.”
“Ah. Forgive me, this is irrelevant,” Thayer said. “But then why did you marry her after Janelle left?”
“Marie’s husband kicked her to the curb. I was here alone after it all came out. Lonely. I let her move in. Soon, we were both divorced and living together. I don’t know,” Randy said with a sigh. “She needed someone. I was lonely and desperate. Janelle wasn’t coming back. I kick myself every damn day. I don’t know why she’d tell you that I hated Janelle. That’s just not true.”
“I believe they call it projection, sir. Someone who is manipulative, or toxic, may take the truth and spin it to blame the other person so it makes themselves look better,” Thayer explained.
“Manipulative, she is,” Randy said quietly, shaking his head. “But I’m too old to start over again.”
Thayer’s eyes followed Randy’s gaze back to the field. “Well, Mr. O’ Sherrin, if there is anything I have learned in my relatively short life… it is that we don’t need to stay where we are. We don’t need to stay on haunted grounds and we don’t need to remain in unhappy relationships. I hope you do not give up on yourself merely because of your age or your previous failures. Sometimes spending time alone does the spirit good.”
Randy chuckled. “A wise young man.”
“I have my moments,” Thayer quipped. “Now, so we can get out of your hair, is there anything else you can tell me about what’s been going on here? Or anything you may know of the victims? Rumors? Anything of the sort.”
“You could talk to my daughters. They’d know a lot more than I would. I know Kirsten and her girls hung around in the hotel bar lots. I saw them there myself. Don’t know their names, though. I have my old friends I have a few drinks with, play some pool, but otherwise I keep to myself. And even those nights are less frequent unless I want neverending fights,” Randy said.
“Fair. Thank you for your time, Mr. O’ Sherrin. It is much appreciated.”
“You have yourself a good day, son. Be careful out there.”
Thayer walked back to Alyssa. He paused to watch Randy climb the steps while Marie whispered furiously to him, gesturing towards Alyssa once more. Randy waved her off, looked back at Thayer with an exasperated grimace, then went inside. Marie crushed out her cigarette and followed him, slamming the door.
“Ah. Marriage. What bliss,” Thayer said, letting out a sigh.
“That’s gotta be one of the most harmonious ones I’ve ever seen,” Alyssa replied sarcastically. “So, what’d he have to say?”
They got into the SUV so Alyssa could turn it on and get the air conditioning running, a brief escape from the heat. She ran a hand through her hair, scrunching up her nose at the sweat on her forehead when she looked in the mirror on the sun block.
Thayer released a long breath and reviewed his notepad. “Do you believe in ghosts?”
She scoffed. “No.”
“Nor do you believe in coincidences. Well, you’re going to love this.”
Find out more about the “Beyond Dark” series here.
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