100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2018 #39

HULI HULI

It took Clark's death to realize that she and her husband and everyone else were the ones at fault.
They were arrogant because of their money and how they always got what they wanted. They had seen nearly everything there was to be seen on the island of Kauai except for the falls. They'd come across it on a website where it was stated that the falls were closed to the public as the result of several fatalities. However, for Amy and her husband Donald who viewed online photographs of the falls, it was a place that was too lush and too beautiful to pass up. The following morning when the tour van pulled up, the first thing they did was ask the guide Kory about Kipu falls. He was adamant that the falls were closed off and that hiking down there was off-limits and that he could get his PUC license revoked even though he didn't have one. One beating from the local thugs was enough and besides, he had to show his appreciation to Jose' Rizal for saving his ass.

"We'll pay you $300 each in cash, that's $4,200 you get to keep and take home," Amy removed the large wad of money from her bag and handed it to Kory. The guide hesitated for a second before he took the money and stuffed it into his fanny pack.

"We're just gonna hike down and look at the falls and you guys can take some pictures okay? Just...it's...I'm sorry but there can't be any swimming its too dangerous!" Kory gave all fourteen people a serious look so they knew he meant business. They agreed to abide by the rules but unknown to Kory they were all wearing swim trunks and bathing suits under their clothing. They'd planned to swim in the falls no matter what the guide said. So what if he complained? Amy knew that all she had to do was hand Kory another wad of cash and no more would be said. That's what her money did, it opened doors and closed others. It could buy integrity and change morals in a New York second. 

The drive was nice and quiet except for the fact that little Clark was fussy. He didn't want to go to the falls. He so much as said so to his mother, "I don't like it....bad place...bad place."

"You'll like it, honey, we'll have fun," Amy half assured him. Kory assumed it was a rich mother's way of saying shut up.

The group was within the same age range as Kory, early to mid-thirties. The men were lithe and athletic and the women were tall and gorgeous. Amy looked like a calendar model and Donald was your typical ivy leaguer with dark hair, ivory skin, and piercing gray eyes. Kory was careful to not let his gaze rest too long on Amy or the other women in the group. He couldn't afford to get slapped with a lawsuit for harassment. Those things drag out too long for Kory's taste and from his own experience, it wasn't worth the effort. 

.............

IHO I LALO

The illegal hike down to the falls was filled with idle conversations or comments about someone's hair or matching clothes. The men rattled on about Penn State or Dallas, Donald was an Annapolis man and he assured his friends that neither Penn State nor Dallas could hold a candle to the Naval Academy football team. "They'll clean the astroturf with your asses!"

Before they knew it they were standing at the edge of Kipu Falls and looking down into the water. It was an unbelievable sight and it took their breath away. Clark managed to squirm his way out of his mother's arms so that she was forced to put him down. The second his feet touched the ground he walked straight to the edge of the falls and went right over. Kory was the first to scream in a panic, Amy followed after. Donald dropped everything and removed his shirt and went diving over the falls before anyone else could think about it. For Kory, the sound went out of the environment and it was replaced with a high ringing tone that came out of nowhere until it got louder and louder. It was so loud that it brought him to his knees. When the sound finally returned the high pitch ringing was replaced by screams of terror. By the time Kory managed to orient himself he witnessed something that he would never recover from. It was the one thing that caused him to flee Kauai.

.............

'ĀHEWA

Amy couldn't comprehend that a year had passed since the creature took Clark into the depths of Kipu Falls. Time became one big jumble of days and nights interspersed with crowds of people in her home and lawyers frothing at the mouth over a possible big payday. "Suing the city and county of the island of Kauai is gonna set us up high on the hog!"

That's what Amy thought as well, sue the entire island of Kauai, sue the tour guide and his company and get rich. However, as time went on she realized that with all the money she was promised on top of the money she already had, it wasn't going to bring Clark back. Really, that's all she wanted more than anything else. She wanted Clark her son.

Now standing at the precipice of the falls in Kipu like she'd been doing for she couldn't tell how long, she begged again. Her voice was hoarse from all the screaming she'd done over the phone with Donald trying to convince her to go back to Atlanta. She refused, she wasn't leaving Kauai without Clark.

"Please," Amy croaked. "please if you're down there. Please give me my son back, I'm sorry. We were wrong.....we were greedy.....and we were disrespectful. I know that now, I do. All I'm asking for is my son.....give him back to me please."

The only reply was the rushing sounds of the falls cascading into the pool below and the winds coming down the trail from behind her. Nothing broke the surface of the water, nothing seemed to be moving along in the green depths of the pond. It was the same answer she received from the day before and the day before that and the month and year before that one. As she turned to leave yet again, defeated as she was the day before, she looked at the people behind her and said, "C'mon everybody, no luck today."

Every time Amy asked, the Mo'o wahine would give her everyone else who ever perished in Kipu Falls. Everyone but Clark.