Both of them looked at Michelle, their eyes opening further. Tif said,"You're taking us to...."
"Splash Lagoon, in Erie," said Michelle. "It's an indoor water park. We'll be going overnight, leaving on a Sunday and coming back on a Monday. We have a hotel right in the place."
"This is great!" said Biz. She glanced at me. "Are you coming? I know you're not much for waterparks."
"There's always some sort of side quest," I said. "I looked into it. Up in Erie, there's a cemetery that's said to have a vampire buried in it."
"Cool!"
"There's a crypt in the Erie Cemetery. It once had a name carved in it, but that seems to have been destroyed. All that remains is a stylized V out of carved leaves. According to some of the local legends, there was a rich guy who came home from a trip to Romania...."
"Of course, Romania," said Tif. Tif is the more down-to-earth daughter; the one who's not as interested in the local legends. Biz is more imaginative, and gets more excited when I talk about this stuff.
"...And he died soon after. He's buried in the crypt, but soon after, there were unexplained deaths in the neighborhood. The story is that he's a vampire. There's a legend of a boy who broke in on a dare, and stole a ring from the corpse. He was later found dead, with his ring finger missing."
"Oooh," said Biz.
"There's also a water monster in Lake Erie. South Bay Bessie. If I get the chance, I can look into that, too."
"Cool."
"So, I figure I can stay busy," I said. "Who wants to help me find a vampire?"
"Oh, I do," said Biz.
And that's what I do.
I investigate the paranormal. I look into old legends. Usually I do it locally, in Lock Haven. But when I'm traveling, I like to dig into the legends where I'm going. I'm a terrible parent. But I am really, really good at hunting old legends.
"Which way to this cemetery?" Michelle asked. "We'll go up there before we check into the hotel."
"Stay on Nineteen," I said. "Take it into Erie, and then bear left onto Cherry Street." Michelle was driving. Because Tif is handicapped, she gets the front seat on these trips. I was crammed into the back with Biz and Paul---With the baby seat in the middle, there was just enough room for us.
"Take Cherry to Twenty. Turn right on Chestnut. There it is---The Erie Cemetery. Entrance should be along Chestnut."
Michelle cruised down Chestnut Street until we found the entrance. Michelle asked,"Which way now?"
"When we get to the middle, take a left. Down all the way to the south end." Michelle drove down the path, and I pointed out the window. "There. That's it."
We got out and walked to the crypt, Paul running ahead. It was a big concrete thing, built into the hillside. I looked it over. The names had been weathered off, but there was one symbol remaining: A carved V, with dogwood-like leaves.
"Wow," said Biz.
I walked around it, examining it.
"Guys. Look what I found."
I picked up a ring. It was metal, black and shiny, with an etched V on it that looked the same as the one on the crypt. Biz looked at it.
"You gonna keep it?" she asked.
"I suppose. Though, considering what happened to the last person to find a ring here...."
"Yeah, but he broke into the thing, though."
"You ready to go to the hotel?' Michelle asked me.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."
We climbed back into the car and worked our way back onto onto the street. As we headed back down the highway, I said,"So we've checked out the vampire grave. There's a circle of witches somewhere in there, too---"
Michelle whipped around to look at me. I thought she was going to slam on the brakes right then. "Wait, what? Witches? You know I like that! We spent our tenth anniversary in Salem! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought the vampire thing was more interesting. Besides, I couldn't narrow down the location like I did with the vampire crypt. I hear it's in there someplace, but I'm not sure where."
"It would be neat to see," said Michelle. "Let's get to the hotel, so we can go swimming."
Our hotel was interesting, for a hotel. Actually, my son likes just about any hotel. He gets all excited; they're his playground. He darted around the room, immediately found some lost toys behind the drawer from a previous tenant, and kissed his reflection in the mirror.
The hotel was a Comfort Inn, set in essentially a plaza of hotels near Splash Lagoon. All of them were connected to Splash Lagoon by a lengthy corridor that went through a long walkway, several sets of stairs, the lobby of a different hotel, and a bar. I scouted it out for my family; that much I can do. I got lost twice. I'm gonna stop making fun of people who get lost in the library.
The others went to go swimming in Splash Lagoon. I sling my cryptozoology bag over my shoulder and walked out to the lobby. The clerk on duty was a tall black woman with glasses.
"Got a minute?" I said. "Every time I travel, I wind up asking someone questions like this, and it looks like you're it. You know anything about the monster in Lake Erie?"
She raised her eyebrows. "Nope, haven't heard of that. Is there one?"
"Said to be. How about vampires or witches in Erie Cemetery?"
"Not that either. I'm gonna have to start learning some stuff." She laughed. "I have heard of coyotes up there, though."
"Coyotes? In, what, downtown Erie?"
"In Erie Cemetery. Heard they had problems there for a while, with a pack of coyotes running around."
"That's interesting, too. I'll have to check into that. Thanks."
I walked out, along Highway Nineteen. There was no way I was going to get up to Lake Erie, not on foot. If I'd had my bike, I might have tried it. I needed to come up with some more efficient transportation for when I was traveling. But I'd checked the maps, and I'd found the closest tributary to where I was. I hiked down and found the spot where it ran down into a pond.
Same water, presumably, as the lake. I crouched down and dug in my pack to get a sample container. The water was frozen over. Further out, it wasn't, but I couldn't reach that. I briefly considered trying to use a cord to fish a sample out of the pond, and then remembered the thirty feet of paracord I'd decided not to pack. God is my co-pilot. I picked up a rock and whacked at the ice until I could get through to get a sample.
Back at the hotel, I tested it. The water came in somewhat alkaline, which surprised me---Within the range that would support life, but only just barely.
I sat down at the hotel computer. For a moment, I considered checking my e-mail, and then abandoned the idea on the basis that it'd be easier to just send all my passwords to the hackers directly. The Pennsylvania Wilds could wait. I brought up the webpage for the Erie Cemetery, and checked the information for the vampire crypt. It was owned by a Gertrude Brown, who wasn't listed as buried in there. With a little digging, I found that the one who was said to have come back from Romania was George W. Goodrich.
I slipped the black ring onto my finger for a moment, examining it.
Vampire can't hurt me now. I know his name, which gives me power over him.
I did a search for the witch's circle. I couldn't find anything that exactly gave directions to it, though there were plenty of photos online. I looked at one, and realized that it was really close to Chestnut Street---I could see the street with a very distinctive house in the background.
I brought up Google Maps and went to street view, searching for a tan house with lattice and a long fence. After a few minutes, I found it. Along Chestnut, south of the cemetery entrance. I could find this.
So I'd tested for lake monsters, defeated a vampire, interviewed a local, and found a paranormal site, all in about the past hour. You learn to work in quite a lot of activity when you have to sneak away from your family to investigate.
I got up and went back to the catacombs to find my family.
They were sitting at a refreshment table in Splash Lagoon, dripping. I'd felt the humidity as soon as I exited the tunnel; the whole place was like a rainforest. I located them after a few minutes of searching. Paul was working on a piece of pizza.
"Hi, Daddy!" he called out.
"Hi, little man. Having fun?"
"Yeah!"
I leaned over the table.
"I know where to find the witch's circle now."
Michelle smiled. "Really?"
"I did a little more digging. If we stop by on our way out tomorrow, I can locate it."
"We'll do that, then, before we go. Have you eaten?"
"I grabbed about $3.50 worth of beef jerky earlier. Oh, and there's a small shop near here selling Erie T-shirts for five bucks, if you're into that."
"As soon as we're done here, we'll find somewhere to eat," Michelle said.
I nodded. "Take your time. I got plenty of stuff I can do."
The bar was a sports bar, with all the neon and TVs going. I'd found it on the far end of the series of walkways and tunnels. I sat on the stool and had a Blue Moon. The girl behind the bar was washing glasses.
"So, weird question," I said. "You hear any strange stories about the Erie Cemetery?"
She grinned. "Oh, yes. There's a vampire grave and a witch's circle."
"Yeah. heard about that. Do you know where to find the witches?"
She shook her head. "I know it's in the oldest part of the cemetery, but I'm not sure where. At least the city removed the coyotes."
"Wait....You mean that's real? Not just a rumor?"
"Oh, no, that really happened. There were three coyotes and a deer living in there; people used to see them all the time. The city relocated them a few years ago."
"Hunh. That's cool." You know it's a good vacation when the locals assure you that the coyote problem is under control. "I'm a writer, and I do a lot of columns like this for newspapers and the occasional magazine."
She looked me over. I was glad I was wearing the green sweatshirt with the UFO that said Please take me. I'd initially been going to wear it to the library for book club, but we were discussing a book by Elizabeth Smart, and I'm not stupid.
"Oh, that's neat. Writing about vampires now?"
"You know, I might be."
There was a guy behind the bar, listening in. He said,"We also have a sea monster up here."
I grinned. "South Bay Bessie. Oh, yes."
"My mom swears she saw it," he said. "Just off Presque Isle a couple of summers ago."
"No kidding? The interesting thing about water monsters is how plausible they are. Could be five feet away, and you'd never know it."
"Yeah, we have a lot of good stuff around here. You know the book Weird Pennsylvania?"
"I know it well. Great book."
"Yeah, we're in there a couple of times. Another one?"
"Nah, I'm gonna get back to my family." I tipped five dollars, and left two of my business cards on the bar. "If you're interested, look up my name. You'll find some of my stuff."
He grinned. "We'll do that."
I came out of the hotel bathroom. "Hey, Tif? Remember how you were so impressed with my chupacabra pajamas last month?"
Tif looked up. "Yeah?"
"I wore my Lake Erie monster pajamas for this one." The shirt had a bright orange Lake Erie monster on it. "It seemed like to fitting thing to do."
Paul was in the closet, spreading out his sleeping bag with the intent to sleep in there. I sat down at the desk with Biz. We looked over the ring. "It's big," said Biz, trying to slip it on her finger. "I wonder who left it there."
"Don't know. Check it out, the V on it has the same dogwood pattern as the crypt."
"Is that dogwood?"
"I believe so. In the Victorian flower code, that means immortality or durability."
"That crypt looked pretty durable."
That's quality family time. Sitting with my daughter, discussing death and vampires. "I talked to a couple of people in the bar who tell me the coyotes are gone these days."
"There were really coyotes?"
"Apparently there were. Depending on how long they were around, it could account for some of the stories of vampire deaths and attacks around the cemetery."
Biz nodded. "Yeah, I can see how that might start some stories."
"Well, tomorrow before we head home, we'll stop again and see the witch's circle this time. And if we take Route Six and stop at the Kinzua Bridge, I can get an article out of it for the PA Wilds."
"Take the first left," I said. "Keep going. The circle is near Chestnut Street."
"So I keep to the left," said Michelle.
"Yeah. I'm basing this on a distinctive house across the street, so I'll have some idea when we're in the neighborhood. It's one of those thing I'm gonna need to get out and search first, though."
Michelle drove along the path, me looking out the back window. I said,"Here. Stop here."
I got out of the car and walked around in a circle, looking at the trees and the gravestones. I saw the house, and tried to judge in relation to it. And then I spotted the ring of stones branching out from a large tree.
I stopped, faced the car, and pointed downward. This was it.
Michelle and Biz got out. We all walked around, and took photos. I said,"See the discoloration on this stone? It's said to be the result of these witches summoning something that burned the stones. Well, some people say it's acid rain."
"But then why aren't all of them like this?" Biz asked.
"Exactly."
Biz looked around the circle, and took a few more photos. "You ready?" she asked.
I nodded, and put my lanyard with my PA Wilds ID card on. It hung over my new Erie T-shirt.
"Let's go home."
