In a few seconds, it was nearly upon her, throwing its monstrous bulk atop her struggling form. Both crashed down to the ground; the human lay winded, the gun having flown from her grasp lay feet away. Zac ran after them, emptying the last four bullets into the plump, segmented body. “Shit!” He cried, depressing the trigger, the barrel clicked dry even as the beast swung to face him. Zac backpedaled, fumbling to withdraw a handful of gold-tipped slugs from the Velcro pouch. The honeycombed six-chamber gaped empty, three flew from his flying fingers, skittering across the hardwood floor, far out of reach.
- I’m just an ordinary guy -
The creature’s hideously swaying body advanced; he jumped back.
- Why is this happening to me? -
Blackwood lunged for her handgun, bringing it up sharply in a dangerous arc. Her trigger hand was steadier than before, her aim true. “Concentrated fire!” she shouted, peppering the backside of the spider with a hail of gunfire. Zac understood, taking advantage of the moment afforded by her diversion.
Together -
Before his eyes, flesh peeled from bone, matted hair shed from a bleeding scalp and divots of puce blood became murky red pools. The figure screamed gutturally, lunging with small fingers hooked into claws, flayed flesh gummy with burns. Blackwood stopped; the last casing bounced somewhere near her feet. Zac had reloaded automatically, two bullets in the chamber. He jerked the muzzle upward mirroring her, gun smoke pricked his nostrils. It was over, everything was over.
***
“The cavalry’s here a bit late.”
“Better late than never.” She nodded to the central officer, a portly man with a graying mustache, whom was vaguely familiar. “Parkin, how many dead?”
“Jes’ the kids. Got word a few minutes ago that they died en route to the hospital. Far as preliminaries go, they used to live here.”
“I see.”
Zac had meant to disappear into the background, evaporate into obscurity. He had helped someone this night, he’d gotten most of if not all the answers he’d been seeking, yet his legs were still propelling him forward at an easy pace, falling into step with Blackwood. Through the police barricade, they walked under the shadow beneath overhanging trees rife with blood red winter berries.
“They were scot-free, why did he return?”
“Unfinished business, you could say. He knew they’d be hunted, they’d never have peace if the family lived. If he didn’t erase the witnesses.”
“Myself and you.”
She smiled in the darkness, “there was another reason. When the great-grandmother was convicted, she was also found to be teaching the same black arts to her daughter. After the witch’s destruction, her daughter grew up an outcast of the Navajo community. When she came of age, she married an outsider and moved cross-country.” Blackwood shook her head slightly, “why would she pass on the dark arts to her grandchildren? Why now?”
It was a question without answers, one that could only be answered by the distant witch’s own mouth. Zac leaned against the near tree, jamming his hands into his hoodie pockets, chilled by the sudden wind gusting up the sidewalk. Crumpled newspaper skittered by in company with fallen autumn leaves. Attention snared by the sound, he quickly bent low, swiping at a section of the New York Times, unfurling the colored print against his thigh.
“Maybe she had a reason.” He looked down at the picture beneath the blazing headline of falling stock prices. “Maybe she was reminded of an old grudge and couldn’t let it go.” He handed it to her, expressionless. Their hands met briefly, she glanced at her own face and let the newsprint blow away.
They stayed sheltered from the lights of the street, intermittent police radio calls crackled and broke, muffled by doors closing and opening. Zac liked to imagine his life was that way. One door closed and another opened, laying out a far different path than his orthodox father would’ve wanted and for some reason, it felt good.
“So, what happens next?”
A real smile broke out over her face. “We’ll see.”
-TBC
Dancing in Darkness Book Two: Witch, out now
All Similarity to Persons, Places and Situations is purely coincidental.
Connect with the author: https://yumechanproductions.blogspot.com/
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