Gossamer Falls

by European P. Douglas

  “What is it?” she asked, her face screwing up in revulsion at the as yet unknown answer.

  “The dogs!” Maggie said, “They burst and the spiders came out and... Doc and Selma are dead.” Maggie said this in a halting voice as though she was trying to connect all the dots in her head but didn’t quite believe the picture it created.

  Tammy heard every word, but she knew what she’d heard wasn’t right.

  “Maggie, can you slow down and say again, please?” she said, trying to calm her own panic at the same time.

  “The dogs who licked the clouds,” Maggie said through controlled breaths. “They died and lots of tiny white spiders came out.” Tammy could hear Maggie’s voice wavering and knew she was started to cry again, so she finished the story for her.

  “And these spiders killed Doc and Selma?” she asked.

  “Yes, it was so horrible,” Maggie wailed. “They swept right over them and they were dead in seconds.”

  “Where are the spiders now?” Tammy asked, taking up a pen and paper, “Still in the surgery?”

  “No, they’re out on the lawn and heading off in all directions; we need to warn everyone and get the hell out of here!” Tammy felt her blood run cold, and she instinctively looked around the floor, half expecting to see some white spiders coming for her feet.

  “I’ll let the Sheriff know,” she said. “Where are you now?”

  “I’m at the Tipping house on Birch Street,” Maggie replied.

  “Are you safe there?” Tammy asked, hoping for a positive answer.

  “I sure don’t feel safe,” Maggie said, “but I think we left the spiders behind for now.”

  “Being scared is the new normal in town,” Tammy said nervously. “You sit tight for now and I’ll let the Sheriff know what’s happened.”

  When she hung up, Tammy looked at the sheet of paper in front of her, a jumble of individual words that wouldn’t make sense to anyone else who ever saw it. Hell, it didn’t even make sense to her, but apparently it was happening. She picked up the radio and tried to raise Garrick.

  The airway static hissed and no answer came back.

  “Sheriff Garrick, this is Tammy at the station, this is urgent. Are you there? Over.” Still no reply. He mustn’t be in the car right now. She’d just have to try again in a couple of minutes. She looked around the floor again, worried that the arachnids would be seeping in somewhere unseen. There were so many hiding places for something so small and she did a quick circuit of the office, looking out windows and doors and then going back to the cells to make sure Lawrence wasn’t being crawled over too. It was a horrible feeling being so scared like this and all she wanted was to be out of town, just like Maggie had said.

  Lawrence was still fast asleep and, though she knew he needed it, Tammy felt he should be awake while this craziness was going on. What would it be like to wake up and have to start running for your life straight away? Tammy ran without another thought to get the keys. She came back, unlocked the door and pushed it open. This was how it was going to stay for now she decided. Hopefully he would wake up soon. She needed him around right now.

  Standing over him, Tammy put a gentle hand on his forehead. It was still warm and clammy but nothing like it had been earlier. He was getting better and she was glad for this at least. An image of their ‘first date’ came to her, seeing him sitting in the driver’s seat smiling. How surreal everything was, how maddening that it was most beautiful thing she’d ever seen happen at the moment they’d first come together, and how evil that beauty had become.

  Leaving the door open, Tammy went back to the radio to try to raise Garrick again. She tried and tried to no avail. She guessed he must have caught up with Allgood by now and was tearing him a new asshole instead of sitting in his car waiting for her to call on the radio. Walking to the door, she looked out on the bright sunny morning.

  It looked like any normal day in any small town in America, but so far as she knew there could be up to ten people dead in the last few hours to add to those who died the first night the clouds came. It was all like some terrible dream, but she knew it couldn’t be. No nightmare could go on this long.

  Screaming rose in the distance; Tammy wasn’t sure where, and she knew the death toll was starting to rise one more. Tears streamed down her eyes as she rushed back to the radio; she had to get Garrick this time.

  Chapter 41

  Diane and Phil Gaughren were sitting over a late breakfast while listening to the radio and flicking through this morning's newspaper. They had been up late last night, a habit formed after not getting any sleep the night of the clouds, and with no work to go to for the moment, there was no real need for an early start. Phil was enjoying the time off, but he didn’t expect it was going to last for much longer. The paper told of the scientists from the State Capital due today, but Diane had already heard from neighbours they were in town and checking out one of the clouds on Main Street. There was optimism the end of the problem was close, and everyone could get on with their lives as before.

  “If we’d been up earlier, we could have gone down to see them,” she remarked to Phil. He snorted and rustled the paper without looking up to her.

  “See what?” he asked, “They’re scientists; how entertaining do you think it could be?” Diane shrugged,

  “I didn’t say it would be a spectacle, but at least we’d know what was going on right away.” Phil looked over the paper at her.

  “They’ll look at the cloud on Main Street, suggest a way to get rid of them, we’ll do what they say, and we’ll all be back to work by the end of the week,” he said. This was firmly what he believed would be the case and he was a little resentful of it already. It had been nice spending all this time with Diane too; it had been a long time since they were together so much. Diane popped the last of her toast into her mouth and chewing said,

  “I guess so.” She didn’t sound too enthralled by the idea either.

  The shrill ring of the phone interrupted them, and both looked at it and then back to each other as if to ask, ‘are you expecting a call?’ Neither of them was. Diane slipped off the high stool from the counter and strolled across the room to answer. Phil watched her as she went.

  “Hello?” Diane said, putting the receiver to her ear.

  “Diane, it’s me!” a voice so loud Phil heard it and Diane had to pull the phone away from her ear.

  “Maggie?” she said, holding it at a half an arm's length. Phil looked at her curiously. Why would Maggie be calling from across the street?

  “Diane, you got to get out of town right now! This second! Just get Phil, get in the car and go!” Maggie was more erratic than Diane had ever heard her.

  “Maggie, take it easy, what’s going on. Are there more clouds falling?” Diane asked.

  “No, not clouds. The dogs who licked the clouds died a while ago. When they did, hundreds of spiders came out and they are as dangerous as the clouds were. I’ve called the Sheriff's office and I’m sure there will be a general evacuation soon, but I wanted to let you know first so you could get a head start!”

  This sounded crazy to Diane and she almost whispered into the phone so Phil wouldn’t hear,

  “Maggie, have you been drinking?”

  “No, I haven’t been drinking!” Maggie’s voice roared back down the phone and Phil heard this clearly too. He got off his seat and came over.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Maggie says there is going to be an evacuation because spiders came out of the dogs in the doc’s place and they are dangerous like the clouds,” Diane said.

  “Phil, Phil!” Maggie screamed form the phone, “Get in your car and get out of town right now!” Phil and Diane exchanged a glance and Phil said,

  “We better do what she says. This is no time to be taking chances.” Diane was surprised but happy to go along with this.

  “Okay, Maggie,” she said softly into the phone, “We’re leaving now. Are you at home, do you want to com
e with us?”

  “I’m not home, but I’ll be fine, just go!” Maggie hung up before Diane could say anything more.

  “Are we really going?” Diane asked Phil.

  “I don’t like the feeling around here right now,” he said. “Something’s wrong. I’ve never heard Maggie like that before and she’s not what I’d call a worrier.” Diane agreed with this, and she too was starting to feel the fear in the air.

  “Go get dressed,” she said to him. “I’ll gather some food and water and we’ll get on the road in a few minutes.”

  “Aren’t you going to get dressed too?” he asked.

  “I’ll just throw on something on the way out,” she waved him away.

  They rushed around the house in a few minutes of panic like it was the end of the world, both feeling better that they were doing something. Diane began to think they should have left when the clouds came. Why didn’t they go to some hotel or something until they knew the town was safe again? Funny the things people can get used to and how fast.

  Phil carried the bags out to the car, made sure he had his wallet, and locked the door when Diane came out. They were still standing on the porch when the first of the screams some streets away started. Gooseflesh rose on both their skins at the sound, and the horror of the cloud night struck back into their hearts with sudden fury.

  “Come on,” Phil said, taking her by the arm. They had only stepped down when a strange sound came from above. They looked up and both thought about the cloud on the roof. A sound like rolling thunder came and then a flood of white spiders came tumbling down over the ledge of the roof. It was too late for Diane and Phil to do anything but scream and bat their arms wildly as the killer rain came down on them. Why hadn’t they just left right away, like Maggie had said?

  More and more screams came from all over town.

  Chapter 42

  Pa Shaker was alone in his bar, drinking coffee and listening to the lowered jukebox. It was way too early to open, but he liked to be in the place all the same. He was still willing to have people in here just to be somewhere and not worrying alone at home.

  He took his coffee mug and went to the door. It would be nice to drink it while looking over the lake; something he’d always liked to do before this week. Now every time he looked at the lake, he saw the clouds drift down towards town. He was sure it was the same for everyone in Gossamer Falls now.

  As he walked across the gravel, he saw that Danny’s car was still here. Danny had left the bar with Clinton Scarrow the night before, looking fearful of his drunken friend, and neither had come back inside. They must have left in Scarrow’s car.

  “I hope Danny was doing the drivin,’” Pa muttered, shaking his head.

  For just a moment, sitting there on the bench and looking out over the still water of Lake Clear, everything seemed like it should be. But it was for just a moment. Pa knew this place had changed forever. No one would ever talk about the clouds without mentioning it was here at Shaker’s where the first person was killed.

  It wasn't even just that. No one would ever sit here again without worrying that something was going to float down from the mountains and cause mayhem. Even if the source was found and eradicated, the fear wouldn't go away, not for a long time. It would be worse than the haunted reputation the bar had. That was the kind of fright people liked to give themselves, knowing they don’t believe in ghosts. But those clouds? No one had any choice but to believe in them. Everyone had seen them and seen what they could do. No one wanted to be really scared, just pretend scared.

  With this thought, Pa looked over to the hardened cloud that still sat on his roof. The cloud that had killed Simon Denver. Poor kid. His parents had been up early one morning and had laid flowers about the place. Pa had watched from inside, hoping they wouldn’t see him and want to talk to him about it. He wasn’t fearful of their blame, but he was terrified of what they would want to know. How could he tell then what he’d seen, and if he lied they’d know. Everyone knew what happened when the cloud touched you.

  A loud crack sang in the air, and Pa Shaker left his thoughts of bereaved parents behind as he looked over the bar for the origin of the sound. Surely it couldn't be one of his boards snapping? He stood and approached the bar, looking over the exterior for some obvious flaw.

  It was what looked like a white flow of water that drew his eye to the cloud. It was cracked open and spraying white stuff onto the roof. Fear gripped him and he felt this stuff was the killer ingredient that had been on the cloud in the first place. He looked around, unsure what to do. Was this liquid going to destroy his bar?

  As scared as he was, his own financial survival kicked in and he ran to get the hose at the side of the building. Turning the faucet on full, he rushed back and started to aim the hose up at the cloud. Even if he could water on whatever bile was coming out, it might make the difference between having a damaged doorway or losing the bar altogether.

  No sooner had Pa started spraying the hose, then he saw it was no liquid coming out of the cloud but a marauding cluster of thousands of tiny white spiders. It was the most gut-wrenching thing he’d ever seen, and at once he knew this had been what happened up in Mercy. It had to be.

  This was followed by the logical thought of how they’d stopped the spiders. They’d set the whole mountain on fire! Pa dropped the hose feeling it was doing nothing but gathering the spiders down on the ground around him. He took a few steps back and looked at the bar. Thousands more spiders were coming out of the crack and they were spreading all over the ceiling, and he could see them dip down between the shingles and knew they’d be filling the place inside soon enough too. What could he do?

  In a moment of civic bravery he wouldn’t have long to regret, Pa Shaker rushed inside his bar and went to the stove where burgers often fried up for the customers. He turned on the burners with spiders falling to the ground all around him and grabbed his old frying apron and let it down over half the flame, making sure not to smother it. He kicked and stomped on the creatures as he moved back to the bar with the now flaming apron, and he smashed bottles of whiskey and then swiped the cloth through them.

  At first it wasn’t working, and it looked like the apron was only getting wet and the fire would go out. In a moment of desperation, Pa took a handful of napkins and threw them to the fire, watching as they caught and fell on the ground beyond. They might start a fire there or they might not, and he didn’t have the time to wait to find out. Carefully he touched the apron to the wet bar and was glad to see the fire spreading. He sprayed more whisky finely around and lit this too, and soon it was going well, and he knew there would be no stopping it.

  He turned back, with the idea of getting out and letting the spiders pop and burst to death in the fire, but he had gone behind the bar and cornered himself. Spiders were piling up before him and more falling down around his head from the roof.

  Pa Shaker leaned back against the wall and looked at his bar for the last time. He could only hope he was going to take them all with him.

  “Ugly little shits,” he cursed as the first wave came up over his feet.

  Chapter 43

  Kerry’s Diner was enjoying a midweek morning rush for the first time since the clouds a few nights ago. Things had been so quiet, Kerry herself had been doing the waitressing instead of standing behind the counter gabbing all day. When the veteran waitress saw the ragged hotel group coming in, she knew at once something bad had happened up there. Her natural first assumption was more clouds had landed up there.

  Landy could read her mind through her eyes and he knew she was going to ask. He looked to her and waited a moment.

  “Jeez, what happened?” Kerry said, “More clouds land up at the hotel?” Most of the group looked at her, and Landy held up a staying hand to her.

  “Can you bring us over some coffee for everyone?” he said and led his team to the window seats. Kerry watched them file by, each looking a little worse for wear as they went - save the girl, Emil
y - she looked the worst by far. Whatever had happened up there, it was clear she was the one who saw it.

  They sat in the large corner booth that could accommodate them all. Landy held Emily’s hand and eyed the phone behind the counter. Garrick might have asked Emily to stick around for a while, but he didn’t say anything about calling her folks to come to her here in the diner.

  “How long do you think we’ll be here?” one of the guests asked. Landy shrugged,

  “Shouldn’t be too long. I’m sure the Sheriff will be arranging a place for us to hold up more comfortably.”

  “I just want to get out of this town,” the man replied. He looked on the verge of tears, but there was a lot of anger in his eyes too. Once he got out of Gossamer Falls he would never be back, and he’d do his best to deter anyone else who might ever think of coming. Landy supposed he couldn’t blame him for that. Landy loved this town, but right now he didn’t see a way back for the town from all that happened. In a couple of years it could be a ghost town or as close to it as you can get.

  Kerry arrived over with a tray of cups and then leaned back over and took up the large coffee pot from the counter where she’d put it for easy reach from their table. Landy met her eyes and tried to dissuade her from asking anything more of them. With an almost imperceptible nod, she moved the pot over the table, filling the cups one by one.

  “Give a holler if you want something from the menu or when you’re ready for a refill,” she said and then shuffled off. Landy was thankful to her, but she hadn’t looked at him again so didn’t see his gratitude.

  As they drank their coffee, no one saying much at all, Landy was looking out the window when he saw Garrick come rushing out. The Sheriff jumped into his cruiser and reversed out of his space at breakneck speed and then tore off towards the centre of town. It couldn’t be anything good to get a policeman to move that fast, he thought.