Bubba noticed Conrad’s dead face pressed against a window. It stared at them like a grounded child that wanted to come out and join in the game. It mouthed Bubba’s name.
Cecil made a liquid trail from the house to Conrad’s van and soaked the inside of the van as well.
“You’re burning the van too?” Bubba said, following Cecil and keeping his eye on the door, fully expecting Hattie Mae to come crashing out through it at any moment.
Cecil motioned to the computer monitor inside. “Evidence,” he pointed out, pitching the gas can into the van.
They walked back toward the front porch.
“Give me your lighter,” Cecil told Bubba.
Bubba handed it over. Conrad continued to watch, his slanted and gray lips kissing the window pane.
His fondness for the demon totally out of his system now, Cecil started the porch to burning. A trail of fire ran to the rental van, igniting the interior. They walked back to Cecil’s ride. Cecil took his time but Bubba scooted along quickly, eyes over his shoulder every few feet. He made sure hell wasn’t rushing up behind them. As they got back into the truck, Bubba swore he could hear the faint, angry cries of Hattie Mae on the night wind. They drove away.
“What do you think is going to happen to her?” Bubba asked, watching the fire grow through the back window of the truck.
Cecil didn’t look back at all.
“Hopefully she’ll stay in hell where she belongs, now that she doesn’t have a house to haunt,” Cecil said.
The van exploded behind them.
Bubba cringed when it happened, but Cecil merely smirked. The entire front of the house was engulfed in flames. Bubba watched until the heavy brush on the road hid the inferno. He turned back toward the road in front of him.
“That was for you, Conrad,” Cecil muttered. He looked over at Bubba, who sat there silently. “You want to eat, Bubba? How about a chicken fried steak? I could go for a chicken fried steak.”
For once, Bubba wasn’t hungry. “Cecil?”
“Yeah,” Cecil replied, filling his mouth with a fresh piece of chaw.
“We’re cursed,” Bubba said. His eyes were downcast. The reality of it sank in.
You will be plagued by the strange and evil until the end of your days.
A combination of anxiety and resignation came over Bubba.
“We’re cursed,” Bubba repeated quietly.
“Well remind me to buy Rosalita a puppy,” Cecil said, noting the positive. There was irony to be found here. Even a dumbass like Bubba had to see it. “If it weren’t for that curse, we’d be cleaning windows, right about now. And that place had a fuck load of them, too.”
Bubba just stared quietly at the glove compartment, and Cecil knew his friend wasn’t thinking about that jerky anymore.
He decided to let Bubba be. Cecil himself regarded it as one of those things you simply had no control over. Like the weather. He wasn’t in the mood to spend anymore worry on it tonight. He was hungry and tired and there was fresh money heating up his pocket.
He took the Styrofoam cup from the cup holder and spit tobacco juice into it. There was a huge clap of thunder. Rain started spotting the windshield.
“This is only the beginning, ain’t it?” Bubba finally said.
Cecil picked at his teeth and kept his eyes on the road.
“It is gonna be hell on earth for us both from now on,” Bubba figured gravely.
The rain came harder. Cecil turned on the wipers and regarded Bubba. “How about that chicken fried steak?”
Bubba stared at Cecil. At that moment, Bubba had no idea what his best friend was put together with.
Cecil steered his truck down the hazardous road through the storm. He hummed to himself and smiled like he had just thought of something funny.
“Yeah,” Bubba finally gave in. “I could eat.”
After a spell, the rain stopped and the storm passed. They could finally see the starry night sky which had been hidden there, under the chaos, all along.
About the Author
Terry M. West is an American horror author. His best known works: What Price Gory, Car Nex, Dreg and his Night Things series. He is also the managing editor of the Halloween/horror website, Halloween Forevermore. He was a finalist for 2 International Horror Guild Awards and he was featured on the TV Guide Sci-Fi hot list for his YA graphic novel series, Confessions of a Teenage Vampire. Terry was born in Texas, lived in New York for two decades and he currently hangs his hat in California. www.terrymwest.com
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