Cemetery 1 “The Sinkhole”
For a long time, the only reason why outsiders visited Wellington Street was the fact that a large cemetery was located near the end of the road. However, this is not the case today, as the site of the cemetery is now more or less unused due to the majority of it being fifty feet below the ground. One day back in the late 1900's, the cemetery inexplicably collapsed into the ground, creating a hole fifty feet in diameter. Piercing the water table, the hole quickly filled up with water, trapping many graves under it. Unable to salvage them, to this day it remains full of water, the bodies of the locals buried there settled deep below where none can manage to visit.
Although the area is considered stable, officially the cemetery remains off limits to all persons, and efforts had been made to move some of the graves to other locations through the aid of wealthy locals and families of the deceased. However, graves in this area come from wide variety of families, and it is often difficult determining the location of the relatives. This has left the graveyard as a patchwork of excavated and relocated graves, along with those poor souls who remain on the grounds.
This does not prevent people from visiting their loved ones, and although entering the grounds is discouraged it is not uncommon to pass by and see some of the older residents visiting graves and placing flowers. However, as the years pass and the older residents begin to pass away themselves, the number of visitors continues to dwindle. The only time the cemetery is likely to have visitors is at night, when local kids follow the goading of their peers, entering the grounds to visit the location of what they call “The Hole.”
“The Hole” is surrounded by a chain link fence, but this has done little to prevent the visits. Every day you can go to the fence and find legions of ropes hanging off the edge and into the waters five feet below. During the summer months it is not uncommon for some of the kids to go swimming in the waters, while in the winter ice skating becomes the preferred activity. Most people only make it to the water’s edge though, the thought of swimming above graves and the threat of being caught being enough to make them wary. However, this is not always enough, and sometimes things get out of hand.
Some years ago, a local girl and her friends went to “The Hole” during the middle of winter to skate on the ice. Unknown to them was the fact that a recent heat surge had caused the ice to become brittle despite the temperature. When the girl hit the ice, the ice gave way under her, plunging her into the waters underneath. She managed to pull herself out of the ice, but was unable to pull herself out of the pit.
Her friends told her that they were going to go and get help. They did not return that night.
As the temperature began to drop, the girl called out, hoping that someone would notice. But as the night wore on and she continued to grow colder, it became harder and harder for her to speak, till she could manage little sound at all. Snow began to fall as night watchmen passed by, but the kids had used a rope left there weeks before, and so they did not raise suspicion. Eventually she passed out, the cold and the exhaustion overcoming her.
Later, police arrived on the scene, after an anonymous tip brought them to the location of the girl. Thankfully they found that the girl was still alive. After a careful evacuation she was transported to the local hospital. While in the ambulance, the paramedics were shocked to find that her temperature was stable at 96.7, well above what would be expected after a night in soaking wet clothes. Once at the hospital, the doctors were further surprised to find that she had suffered no ill effects from the night, save for a very deep need for sleep.
After waking up in the hospital, the girl described how she had opened her eyes during her night on the ice, and saw a black shape crawling towards her. Her vision blurry, she could not give an accurate description, only being able to state that she felt the presence wrap around her, keeping her warm. Several of the officers involved refused to comment. However, one of the officers said they had found it strange when they found a path through the snow, from where the girl had broken through the water.
It has been years since then, and the girl no longer associates with the people involved that night, save for the one who provided the anonymous tip. The other kids were not able to comment on what happened, as many of them have since passed away or moved. The few that were able to be found to comment, stated that they left the town long ago after a series of attacks by large black animal made them doubt the safety of the neighborhood.
The girl herself is now around forty, and has since married and had a family. When asked about that night and what she saw, she told me that she still visits the cemetery, to thank the thing that kept her alive. Her husband rolled his eyes, but admits that despite his doubts he cannot come up with an explanation of his own.
To this day, ropes still hang into the dark below, the movement of the water table keeping the water clear and clean. On a bright day, around noon, if you were to look into the water, you can see all the way to the bottom. And if your vision is good, and you wait for the water to settle, you can see the tops of toppled tombstones, the names having long eroded away.
