Blood Magik- A Cold Day In Hell

by Corwyn Matthew

  Kitty’s pupils finally showed signs of focus, her eyelids fluttering as she came to. Terry waited at the breakroom’s exit while Jimmy stood next to Tara, hoping they wouldn’t have to leave his potential new girlfriend behind. When Kitty realized she was back inside the store, she looked down to see if her guts were still inside her. She saw Tara in front of her and followed her outstretched arms to waist-level and choked on her fear when the sight of her intestines dangling out of her stomach, slipping through Tara’s fingers, pushed her into panic…

  She started backing away, gasping for air to scream, too stunned by her blood covering the floor to vent. She looked up at her friends’ face as if to plead for mercy with her eyes, but when she met their stare…no mercy waited…

  Tara’s eyes glowed blood-red, her sneer violent and cruel. The nice boy, Jimmy, grinned disdainfully while reaching with crooked fingers to clutch her neck, vile lenses burning with brutality. She couldn’t bring herself to do anything but pinch her eyes shut and hope it would all just go away…

  “Kitty! Kitty, you’re okay, sweetie, you’re with us! Everything’s okay. …Kitty!!” Tara tried getting through to her, griping her hands tightly while speaking in a stern voice. “Kitty, open your eyes, honey, you’re okay. Open your eyes.”

  She didn’t know what to think. Tara’s voice didn’t sound like the evil menace she’d seen toying with her guts in her hands… She sounded worried, and afraid, but she almost didn’t want to take the risk of seeing what she had all over again.

  “You were daydreaming, Kitty, it wasn’t real. You’re okay…look.”

  She wanted to believe her. She hoped to God it was all just a dream. She didn’t know if she could handle it if it wasn’t. She felt like she might just lose herself completely and flat out die of terror…

  “Open your eyes, sweetie, you’re okay. You’re okay, but you have to open your eyes.”

  She just wanted it all to go away. She didn’t want to be there anymore.

  She decided she had to at least try, so she loosened her clamped brow and opened a teary right eye. Tara’s face in front of her was the caring, gentle face she remembered, her eyes a delicate shade of brown…

  “See? You’re okay, just like I said.”

  She opened her other eye to see Jimmy’s worried expression weighing on his face as he stood beside her. That vile smile she thought she saw replaced with a fragile gaze, and the strength in the big hearts of the two of them gave her the courage to look down…

  Her stomach was in one piece and her shirt and kakis without a drop of blood. Tara let go of one of her hands and Kitty touched her stomach to make sure what she was seeing was real.

  “You’re okay, right? You’re with us now?”

  She looked up slowly. She had to take an extra second to process Tara’s question, then nodded uncertainly.

  “Okay, good…because it’s time to go. We’re gonna get you out of here, okay?”

  Her stare shifted to Jimmy who still wore his worry on his brow but his eyes were full of hope. He seemed so nice – she wanted to go with them. She didn’t want to be alone again… She nodded to respond when she felt she was focused enough to move and Tara nodded back.

  Terry stood teetering at the top of the stairs, not willing to wait for Kitty if she didn’t get it together, but was glad she was responding to Tara’s efforts. “Are we all on the same page?”

  Tara nodded. “Yeah, were good. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  2

  The sight of the giant, wormlike creatures infesting the sky had driven Terry and his friends into a euphoric state of angst, but they held fast to their objectives. They ran downstairs from the breakroom when Kitty was coherent enough to join them and collected their supplies. Terry and Tara held only their weapons so they could cover their friends’ escape. Jimmy grabbed a large box full of the five extra handguns they found, three rifles, and two shotguns. Kitty grabbed the smaller box that housed the first aid supplies and a handful of other things they decided on taking with them.

  They scurried back the way they came, slowing before reaching the back exit – eerily, the scene rang bells in Kitty’s mind, resembling her prior delusion’s setting too closely. She tried not to dwell, but their “backdoor escape route” nauseated her after what she’d envisioned moments before.

  Terry checked the peephole of the busted door to be sure they weren’t running headfirst into an alley filled with giant man-eating cockroaches or some other revolting atrocity. Their car was parked in the loading dock with its trunk toward them and front-end where the main alley began. The blood-fog was thick behind the building, but he could see clearly enough to be pretty sure it was safe to leave the store.

  Terry glanced back at his friends and nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

  He started opening the door when Kitty’s voice called out in a loud whisper, “Wait! Wait!”

  They all stopped and looked back as she lowered the box and bent down to tie her shoe. She tightened the first bow without even a thought, but going through the motions raised the hairs on the back of her neck…

  This was how it all started going wrong in her delusion… But…that was just a dream…

  Terry noticed she’d froze in the middle of tightening her second lace so he called to her.

  “Kitty… Are you with us?”

  She heard him, but couldn’t respond right away. She took a second to consider what she was going through, then reached the conclusion that this was a very different situation than what she thought she remembered. Jake wasn’t anywhere around, and she had new friends now, armed and ready for anything.

  She responded finally with a nod and Terry nodded back.

  “Okay, let’s do it.”

  She wearily picked up the supply box and he pushed open the door.

  He and Tara were the first to step out, shotguns loaded and raised. Tara’s eyes wandered toward her partner and noticed something she thought she should mention while they still had the chance.

  “…Safety.”

  Terry responded with a befuddled gaze and she directed his confusion down to his weapon. He glanced in the direction of her stare and spotted the little switch on the left side of the gun.

  “Right.” He switched it off before getting his eyes back on their surroundings.

  He covered her while she opened the hatchback on the SUV, then she turned back to Jimmy and Kitty waiting at the store’s exit. When Jimmy received Tara’s go-ahead, he looked to his new friend for confirmation.

  “You okay?” She nodded unconvincingly, and he blew out a deep breath. “That makes one of us…” She forced a tiny smile to break through her unease.

  He gestured for her to go first.

  Terry patrolled the front of the truck, venturing ahead to survey the main alley, and Kitty froze when seeing him near the corner. He stepped into the backstreet, looking both ways, and she waited, as if expecting things to go all-to-hell at any minute…but let out the breath she hadn’t realize she’d been holding when he wasn’t pulled from his feet to meet his doom. She eventually shifted her eyes back to Tara who was gesturing for her to keep moving.

  Jimmy trailed a few steps behind. He glanced into the clouds above although he really didn’t want to and knew he probably shouldn’t. Lucky for him, the fog was too dense to see whatever morbid evil swam above. The phrase “out of sight and out of mind” rattled around in his head, and he realized how entirely inaccurate it was. He knew those things were up there and not being able to see them made him feel even more vulnerable. He felt like if he relaxed even for a second, that was when some giant, slithering serpent from an upside-down Hell would reach down and suckle the skin from off his tender bones.

  “Jimmy, keep it movin’!” Terry called out when he saw his buddy getting distracted.

  Tara took the box from Kitty, efficiently progressing
their line, then focused on Jimmy getting his shit in gear, as did Terry, so neither noticed Kitty wandering toward the front of the car. It was as if she had to see the alley for herself to know what she envisioned before was just in her imagination. She wouldn’t feel safe until she knew there wasn’t some detestable thing lurking around that corner.

  Jimmy finally stayed focused long enough to give Tara the box of guns before realizing Kitty wasn’t beside him. He looked through the open trunk and out the inside of the car at their troubled friend tiptoeing toward the corner of the building. Tara caught his glance while adjusting the cargo and looked back. He knew she meant for him to go after her, so he gathered his courage and peeked around the truck.

  “Kitty…” He whispered in a strenuous tone, quietly wondering why the hell he felt the need to keep his voice down. Terry had his eyes up front and they appeared to be in the clear. He convinced himself it was safe to walk around the car and go after her. “Kitty! Wait up!”

  His brave march skidded to a stop at the sight of her violently flying off the ground and into the alley… It was as if some invisible force tore her from off her feet and dragged her into the open. She tumbled into the alleyway then rolled to her backside, staring up at something that no one else could see. Something horrifying. Something abhorrent…

  Terry caught the blurred image of her lunge and spun around to spot what grabbed her… But nothing was there but fog and an empty alley.

  “What the fuck?” He watched as Kitty rolled onto her seat, crab-crawling back in a panic.

  Jimmy, absorbing the fear in her eyes, froze where he stood…

  …He couldn’t bring himself to do anything but watch.

  “What the fuck just happened?!” Terry’s concern turned to confusion and urgency, approaching while she looked ready to get up and run. “Kitty, what—?”

  When she got to her feet her body jolted as if harpooned, her jaw dropping in her stunned agony. Jimmy, from where he stood, watched as Kitty’s All-Mart shirt soaked with blood while a wetness coursed the inside of her leg. He wanted to run to her…but was too confused and frightened to budge.

  A blood-colored handprint suddenly stamped Kitty’s face, spinning her around so quickly that Terry jumped when she was abruptly turned to face him. The look of fear and terror in her eyes was the most demoralizing thing he’d ever seen, but it paled in comparison to the sight of her being dragged backward through the alley, kicking and clawing with nothing behind her to accuse but air…

  Jimmy finally found the strength to run after her while she was dragged from his line-of-sight. He turned the corner just in time to watch her disappear into nothing but a memory at the opposite edge of the building.

  The two of them stood sullen, in shock as Tara finally caught up. Terry was the first to snap out of his surprise and yelled out in desperate confusion.

  “What the FUCK just happened?!!”

  “Where is she?” Tara didn’t know what was going on. She saw Kitty being dragged away by nothing, but didn’t see her disappear. “What…what happened? Where’d she go?” Her voice was soft; so frightened she couldn’t find it in herself to speak at full volume.

  Terry still stood gaping at the empty alley – an angry and confused glare burned across his face – but Jimmy’s stare just seemed completely emptied of hope. He spoke up to answer Tara’s question and could only manage half a whisper.

  “She’s gone…”

  Tara didn’t understand. “What…?” She couldn’t find the words…

  But Terry had seen enough.

  It was time to leave.

  “Let’s go.”

  Tara looked over at him, dead in his eyes, but he refused to return her stare. Jimmy followed his friend’s retreat and Tara eventually fell in line. Terry decided not to think about what it was they just saw, but Jimmy was still trying to make sense of it. He backtracked in his mind, going over all their steps…searching for the missing piece to a puzzle that may never be whole…then suddenly realized they’d left something in the store.

  “Shit…the ammo…”

  Terry’s eyes carried the weight of Jimmy’s words. With all the commotion, he completely forgot they’d left the bullets behind. Without the ammo, their guns wouldn’t be worth their weight in shit.

  “Fuck…” He almost didn’t want to bother, but decided “not bothering” would’ve made their little side trip a complete waste. “…I’ll get it…”

  “No.” Jimmy spoke up with a certainty Terry hadn’t heard in his voice before. “Stay here. Watch Tara. I’ll go.”

  Terry nodded, a little taken by Jimmy’s tone. It would seem that after the heaping puss-storm of recent turmoil, there just might be hope for his piss-scared little buddy after all.

  He looked over at the lady in his group and gave her the go-ahead to get in the truck. She slipped reservedly into the front seat while Jimmy headed back into the store.

  Jimmy couldn’t help but relive the moment over and over in his mind. He saw Kitty violently lunge into the alley all on her own, look terrified toward something as if scared for her life, then get punctured at the stomach and ripped from reality like a page torn from a book right in front of his eyes…

  Were these zombie-super-soldiers able to blend into their surroundings like chameleons along with their ability to leap in tall bounds? He figured he shouldn’t put it past them. If it were possible for giant, leviathan larvae to swim through the clouds, it might not be such a stretch to think zombies could have the same powers as the Invisible Woman…

  He let the thought go to be sure he stayed focused.

  Navigating through the store, he aimed his haste for the Sporting Goods department. The whole place felt so empty without his friends or Kitty, and the thought of her sent a chill up his spine. He reached into his waistline where he’d stashed a handgun, pulled it out and switched off the safety. He’d hate to have to use the damn thing and be in too much of a panic to figure out how to fire.

  The gun counter was a few yards in front of him and he zeroed in on the cardboard box resting on the glass display. He put the loaded weapon back in his pants and reached out with both arms to hug the big box of bullets like it was a small child in need of rescue. He made sure he had a firm grip on the goods but dropped the box and spun around startled when he heard a soft voice behind him…

  “…H-Hello…?”

  What the fuck…?

  “Kitty?”

  There she was…as plain as day, wide-eyed and peeking around the aisle just as she had before.

  She looked confused when he spoke her name so she stepped out to face him. There wasn’t a drop of blood on her shirt or her kakis… She appeared just as she had an hour earlier…

  “How…how do you know my name?”

  Jimmy’s heart pounded in his chest, gaining speed with the oddness of the moment. …What the hell was going on?

  “Kitty…it’s…it’s me. …Jimmy.”

  She inspected him with her adorable sad eyes and didn’t appear to have a clue who he was.

  “… I…don’t know you… Do… Do you know me?”

  This didn’t make any sense… What was she doing back inside the store? How did she get there, why wasn’t she hurt, and what the fuck was going on?!!

  He couldn’t find any more words to use to even make an attempt at figuring out what was happening, so he just stood there, staring, trying to decide if what he was seeing was real. He looked to be caught in the moment, struggling to string together a single sentence, so she spoke up in his silence.

  “I’m… I’m waiting…for my dad… He… He said he was coming to get me…”

  Was this really happening? Was she really there or ever even there in the first place? Did he just imagine her this whole time or was there something else going on he couldn’t begin to understand?

  He didn’t know what
to do…or what to say, but figured he’d better play it as naturally as he could and try not to give away how frightened or confused he was. Expressing his fear and disorientation might only make a mixed-up situation even more confounding.

  “We – me and my friends – we have a truck.” He tried washing away his emotional uproar and speaking as casually as he could. “It’s… It’s out back. …We’re gonna get out of here… You can come too…if you want.”

  Kitty looked like she was considering his offer but wasn’t sure if she could trust this strange young man who popped out of nowhere claiming to know her.

  “N-no… It’s… It’s okay. …I’m waiting for my dad… He said he’d come get me after work.”

  Jimmy tried nodding casually as if he didn’t already know what she was going to say, then walked slowly past.

  “Okay… I’m…gonna go then…”

  All of this was too much… At this point he just wanted to leave All-Mart behind him for good…with or without her.

  She watched him walk by and almost felt as though she’d miss him even though she had no memory of who he was.

  He peeked at her through the corner of his eyes as he passed, reluctantly heading for the exit. He could feel her watching him as he got further away and deep inside felt a kind of remorse, or guilt for leaving her behind… But he didn’t understand what he was dealing with. She must have been trapped in the store somehow…reliving her own death… Caught in the hope of her father coming to rescue her… But he didn’t even know if that made any sense. After all, she was more than just an apparition. She helped them load the weapons. He felt the warmth of her body when he brushed by her on the way out of the building. He could smell her shampoo for God’s sake. She wasn’t a ghost or a spirit… Or at least not like any spirit he’s ever heard of, so…what the hell was she?

  He turned back to take in the sight of her one last time before decidedly letting her go; her eyes so helplessly delicate… He was ready to melt at the sight of her, but she had no idea of who he was and that left a gaping hole hollowing out his chest.