Episode 8: Homecoming

Blurb
We return for a visit with the good Pastor of the Tabernacle of the Elder Covenant, as he and his family prepare to relocate.

Plot Synopsis
Cletus Garvin drives his mule cart to his daughter Lily Ruth’s house to tell her they need to leave Barlo, Kentucky immediately, and plans to go and tell his son’s family the same. He continues to assure himself he has time to fetch them.

At Lily Ruth’s cabin, where she lives with her husband and family, he finds her cart packed and ready to move. He finds it eerily quiet and the cabin dark even though it is supper time. He calls out for Lily Ruth and her husband Daniel, but receives no answer. Inside the cabin, things are bare and in disarray. He hears mocking laughter inside his head and runs for the cart, setting off for Cletus Jr.’s house.

Cletus reflects on his service to the Voices and the way he has done as they have said over the years, and fears whatever is coming to him is his punishment. He knows he deserves it, but still hopes to save his family. Cletus Jr.’s house is as silent and dark as Lily Ruth’s, their cart ready for moving, as well. There is no answer when he calls out, only more laughter from the Voices. He commands the Voices to be silent, and they fade away, leaving him with a bloody nose.

He takes Junior’s horse and sets out for home. Once again, he feels watched and followed as he makes his way, seeing shapes flicker in and out of existence in the woods.

In the night, his house is dark and quiet. The shadows shift strangely, and things are too still.

Inside, he finds his family around the kitchen table. Lily Ruth lights a lamp for him to see by.

She holds her baby son, and Cletus slowly realizes the baby is dead and Lily Ruth has become a mutilated, changed thing with glowing eyes. The rest of his family have transformed, all his children and grandchildren, as well. Finally, he notices Ruby behind him and turns to see her, now another transformed thing. He sinks to his knees, and in some unknown way, dies.