by Jerry Hart
Curtis shuddered at the thought as they trotted up the hill, back to the Matthews house. The plastic skeletons and scarecrows and pumpkins in everyone’s yards were adding to the creep factor. As they went, Doug saw an old lady sitting in her rocking chair. Her gray hair was tied back in a ponytail and she had a black shawl draped over her shoulders. She was staring straight ahead.
“Ma’am, you should get back inside,” he said. “It’s not safe out here.”
That’s when the old woman’s head fell clean off. Doug screamed bloody murder.
* * *
Collin finally came to a decision. He was going to get up from under this bed and attack the creatures while his wife saved their baby. When he became a father, he had accepted that he would have to make sacrifices for his family, but he never imagined anything like this.
He watched as both creatures walked over to the closet. It was now or never. He pulled himself from under the bed quickly and stood at the bedroom door.
“Hey!” he screamed.
The monsters turned around to face him, and when they did, Collin lost his breath. Neither of them were the long, sinewy horrors that had walked into his house. One had the face of an Asian boy (little Donny Tran from down the street) and the other Ms. Summers. They still had long arms and legs, though, and were still bald. It was as if they were in the middle of transforming, or whatever it was they did.
“Come and get me,” he screamed at them. “Get the baby, Vanessa!”
He hoped these things didn’t understand what he was talking about, or that they weren’t smart enough to realize that he was creating a diversion.
Suddenly the creatures were at the door in quick, jittery motions, like dogs going from still to running. The pitter-patter sounds they made on the floor as they chased Collin out of the room were horrifying.
Collin ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. Then he saw Owen still sitting at the table, blank-faced.
“Owen, wake the hell up!”
The monsters were right behind Collin. He slashed at them with the knife, cutting one of their arms. It shrieked as Collin ran around the table. The other monster was blocking his way back to the hallway, though.
Without thinking, he dove under the table and immediately regretted it. One of monsters jumped on the table while the other started pulling chairs away. Collin jumped from under the table and started running for the hallway when something heavy landed on his back. He screamed, but not from pain. He screamed for his wife and their baby to get out.
* * *
Curtis heard Doug scream like a girl and turned back. Doug was standing in front of one of the houses, looking at something with wide eyes. He ran up to Doug and saw what his friend saw: a headless old woman in a rocking chair. Curtis felt a wrenching in his stomach and was afraid he was going to throw up again, but he held it back. He’d thrown up enough. As tough as he liked to think he was, he just wasn’t used to seeing dead bodies, and, deep down, he hoped he never would grow accustomed to it.
“Why are they doing this?” Doug asked quietly.
“It’s gotta be the orb,” Curtis answered. “I just know it is.”
“But why are they mutilating these people?”
Curtis didn’t know. He remembered seeing the little boy in the kitchen a few minutes ago. His face had been completely ripped to shreds and his chest had been torn open with furious slashes.
Further search of the house found the bodies of the boy’s parents in their bedroom, also torn to ribbons. There hadn’t been much blood on the bed where they lay. Why were these creatures doing this? The one they had encountered in Birch Plaza hadn’t done anything like this to those two shoe-store employees. It had to be the orb. Before they left, Owen had been doing something to it in the kitchen. Whatever he was doing, it had to be affecting the bloodsuckers somehow, driving them crazy maybe.
Curtis thought of high-frequency sounds and how they affected dogs. Maybe the orb was sending out some kind of unbearable noise that only the monsters could hear, and they were lashing out at whoever they came across.
“Dude, we have to get back to the house,” Curtis said. “The baby....” He said no more, and they were off, up the hill.
* * *
Collin was being dragged down the hall by one of the creatures. The other followed them. It was the one disguised as Ms. Summers. Her old, wrinkled face smiled down on him.
“Vanessa, run!” Collin screamed, hoping that his wife had taken their baby and escaped. Since he was being dragged backward down the hall, he had to crane his neck to see behind him. Sidney’s bedroom door was still closed. Was Vanessa in there now, or was she still hiding in the closet?
Ms. Summers walked ahead and stood at Sidney’s door. “Get the baby, Vanessa!” she teased in her old-lady voice.
The things started to make a noise, and Collin guessed it was laughter. They had understood what he was doing, and they were going to make him pay for trying to fool them. Collin knew it in his heart.
Ms. Summers tried to turn the knob, but the door wouldn’t open. It was locked. Vanessa was in there. Ms. Summers knocked on the door lightly. “Vanessa, dear,” she said, “open up. I want to see that precious angel.”
The real Ms. Summers used to call Sidney “precious angel” all the time when she would come to visit, or when Vanessa took her over there. What were these things? What had Owen brought into his house?
Collin had no doubt that Owen was somehow responsible for these things being here. They didn’t attack him in the kitchen; it had something to do with that orb. They didn’t attack Owen because he had the orb with him. They wouldn’t dare attack the orb wielder.
If they got out of this alive, Collin would make Owen leave immediately. He loved him, sure, but he loved his family more. They were his priority. Just thinking of the danger they were in now made him sick.
Suddenly Ms. Summers slammed against the door, causing it to break open. Vanessa stood near the window, holding a fussy Sidney in her arms. Vanessa had the window open and was about to climb through when Ms. Summers leapt over to her. Vanessa screamed. Collin punched the boy-monster as hard as he could in the chest, causing it to drop him.
Before Collin could get to his feet to run to his wife, long pale fingers wrapped completely around his neck and held him down on his knees. Ms. Summers grabbed the baby from Vanessa’s arms and threw Vanessa to the floor next to the crib.
Collin held his breath, too scared at that moment to do anything. The monster was holding his baby in front of it, sniffing her. Sidney wasn’t crying, only staring at the flesh-colored demon holding her.
“Please don’t hurt my baby,” Collin said.
“Please don’t hurt my baby,” it mocked, still staring at Sidney.
And then it opened its mouth wide, preparing to devour little Sidney. Vanessa screamed at the top of her lungs and Collin fought with his captor. Vanessa got to her feet and was about to charge the monster holding her baby, but something green and ropey shot through the window and wrapped around the creature’s open mouth. There was a hard yank, and the demon was pulled back to the window. Vanessa ran forward and retrieved her baby.
Collin kicked the boy-monster’s feet from under it. After it fell to the floor, he started pounded its face in.
“Run,” said a familiar voice from outside the window. Collin saw Curtis holding Ms. Summers at the window with a garden hose. The creature was snarling and gagging, trying to pry the hose from its open mouth, but Curtis was holding it tight.
Collin grabbed Vanessa and they ran from the room just as Doug was running in with something in his hand. There were a few shrieks from the monsters, then large, wet popping sounds (Collin was reminded of water balloons bursting), then silence.
A moment later, Doug came out of the room and was covered with black sludge. He smelled like rotten cabbage. Collin saw that he had a sharp piece of wood in his hand. It too was covered in the sludge.
“What happened?” Vanessa asked Doug.
“I killed them. It’s okay.”
“The hell it is,” said a voice from the front door. Everyone looked and saw Curtis standing there. And he looked mad. His arms were wet, but not covered in sludge.
“How come I got covered in the stuff again and you got nothing?” Doug asked.
“I did,” said Curtis. “I washed my arms off outside.”
Curtis immediately walked into the kitchen. The others followed. When they got there, they saw him carefully taking Owen’s backpack from his lap.
“I’m going to fix this, all of this,” Curtis said, then left the house.
“What are you going to do?” Doug asked.
Curtis turned in the yard and faced the others standing in the doorway. “I’m going to do what should have been done a long time ago.” He looked at Collin and Vanessa. “I’m so sorry about what has happened here. Can I borrow your truck?”
Collin nodded, gave Curtis the keys and placed his arm around Vanessa. The baby was surprisingly calm now. Curtis ran over to the truck parked in the driveway. Doug pushed gently past the Matthews.
“Wait up. I’m coming with—”
Before Doug could finish his sentence, Curtis was speeding down the street and out of sight.
* * *
Owen jerked awake and immediately noticed what was missing. He looked around the dark kitchen and saw some of the chairs lying on the floor. He then saw Collin and Vanessa standing at the front door, looking out.
He stood and nearly fell back to his seat. How long had he been sitting here? He stood again and waited to make sure he wouldn’t fall, then walked over to the Matthews.
“What’s going on? Why is it so dark?” he asked Collin.
Collin looked at him and said nothing. The look on his face was hard, though. Owen looked outside and saw Doug standing in the yard, staring at something in the distance. When Doug turned around, Owen gasped. He was covered in a familiar black sludge.
No, they can’t be here. They can’t!
Doug walked back to the house and looked at Owen. The Matthews parted to let him in.
“They came and attacked your friends,” Doug said, indicating the Matthews. “Curtis and I killed them.”
When Owen found his voice, he said, “Where are they?”
“Sidney’s bedroom.”
Owen ran down the hall and into the baby’s room. There was a large, reeking puddle in the middle of the room and another by the window. Owen nearly collapsed; he’d brought those things here by activating the orb somehow. He just knew it.
The orb.
He ran back to the foyer. “Where is it?” He knew Doug was fully aware of what he was referring to.
“He took it. He’s returning it to them.”
“No!”
“Enough, Owen!” Collin screamed, startling Sidney. Vanessa took her to the kitchen. “This is enough. My family almost died tonight. I don’t want you in my house anymore. If giving these aliens that orb will end this, then let it be done. I’m tired of this!”
“They want to destroy the planet with it,” Owen said hopelessly, remembering what the voice had told him.
“They’re already trying to do that,” Collin said. “What do you think those scepters are for? They’re bombs or something. Your friend did the smartest thing by taking it to them. Trust your friend, Owen.”
Owen was out the door before Collin could think to say anything else.
* * *
Curtis spun the truck in the opposite direction, preparing to flee if he had to. Then he got out and started walking in the direction of the giant that made the earth shake. Silver was right down the street, a few yards away.
Curtis roughly grabbed the backpack and strolled along the street with the orb in his hand. If this went badly, he planned to hop in the truck and just drive. Not back to the Matthews, though. He didn’t want to put that poor family in any more danger. He would drive until Silver caught up with him and killed him.
He held the orb high over his head. He couldn’t tell if the giant even saw him, so he continued down the street toward the back road where it was standing. He shook the orb and even rapped it with his knuckles. It was vibrating, probably from whatever Owen had been doing with it, but the glow it had been emitting earlier was nearly gone.
Suddenly Silver took a step forward. It was coming toward Curtis. He held the orb up high again, shaking it. And then something tackled him from behind. The orb slid out of his hands and rolled down the street. The backpack dropped to the ground like it was weighed down with lead.
Curtis spun around and saw Owen getting to his feet. He jumped up and took Owen down. The ground shook furiously beneath them as Silver approached. Curtis chanced a quick glance up and saw a giant foot crash down very close by.
Owen picked up the orb and the backpack, but it didn’t matter to Curtis; Silver was here. Owen was unlikely to escape the giant very easily now that it knew what awaited it.
A giant foot crashed down in front of them, causing them to nearly collapse from the force. Owen was looking up at the behemoth that stood before them. Curtis merely stood there, too frightened to run. Owen was closest to the giant, though, and he was frozen too.
For a moment, there was absolute silence; Curtis’s and Owen’s shadows stretched before them from their respective vehicles’ headlights. And then a loud pop pierced the air. The head of the giant began to open.
The two young men continued to watch this, not knowing what was happening. Owen reached into his pocket and pulled something out. Curtis only got a glimpse of it: something small and red.
And then Owen threw the thing into the air, toward Silver’s head. An explosion lit up the sky. Silver swayed before them like a drunken man, its footsteps shaking the ground and causing the headlights to wobble from side to side.
Owen ran past Curtis, the orb resting in his arm like a football. Curtis reached out to grab it, but Owen spun around, causing Curtis to fall to the ground again. While this was going on, Silver was still stumbling around behind them. Owen had thrown one of those little bombs at the giant, Curtis realized. And now he was getting away with the orb.
* * *
Owen grabbed the backpack Curtis had dropped on the road, jumped behind the wheel of the little silver car and sped around Curtis, heading for Silver’s dancing frame. Since the road was very narrow, the giant’s feet were taking up the whole space Owen needed to get by.
He had to time it just right. Silver’s left foot went up, and Owen floored the gas pedal. He felt the bottom of Silver’s foot scrape the roof of the car as it came back down. The ground shook again. Owen nearly lost control of the steering wheel, but managed to keep the car on the road. He drove carefully through the strategically placed scepters in the ground and was gone from that place.
Looking into the rearview mirror, he could see Curtis still standing in front of Collin’s truck. Why wasn’t he driving back to the safety of the house? Why couldn’t he understand that Owen was right, and that giving the orb to the invaders would be a mistake? Why couldn’t he just trust that Owen knew what he was doing?
Owen knew in his heart that he had done the right thing by taking the orb back. He was going to figure everything out. The voice had told him so. All he had to do was get home. The answers were at home.
He looked over to D, and wasn’t surprised to see the robot looking back at him.
“We’ll put a stop to this, right?” Owen asked. D gave a curt nod.
Chapter 38. The Reunion
The more Owen drove, the faster his heart pounded. He was getting closer to his childhood home. He had been driving down a hilly country road for twenty minutes. On one side of the road was a dense forest. On the other, an open field. He recognized the field as his own.
And there, perfectly visible now that he was reaching the top of the hill, was his house. It was two stories, the walls painted in a faint white with a wrap-around porch. It suddenly felt like no time had passed at all since the last tim
e he’d seen it. His heart raced even more. He almost wanted to turn around and go back to Collin’s, but it was much too late for that now. He was close to finding out the truth about everything.
He drove past the white picket fence that surrounded the farmhouse and parked on the gravelly yard. He turned to D and said, “Wanna see where I grew up?”
The robot nodded and the two of them got out of the car. Owen had returned the orb to the backpack, which he was wearing as they walked up to the front porch. They stood on the porch just before the front door when Owen suddenly looked to the field where he thought he had seen his father die. There was a small crater there; dead grass surrounded it, and the crater itself was nothing but dirt.
He resisted the urge to go anywhere near the hole. Instead he tried the doorknob. It wouldn’t turn. Since Collin said that no one lived here, Owen figured he could do anything he wanted to the place and not worry about getting into trouble. He turned the locked knob hard and slow until he heard a sharp cracking noise. He’d broken the lock and now the door was opening.
He and D stepped into the foyer and looked around. Everything was dark, except for the few areas where the moonlight struck through the windows. The house smelled old and neglected. Owen’s eyes immediately darted to the staircase where Collin said police had found him the night of the incident two years ago. Why couldn’t he remember what really happened here?
And then he remembered the orb. He had mastered accessing his memories by simply holding the orb and concentrating on what he wanted to remember. He could even wander around in the memories to notice other things. Why not try it now? If it brought any more shape-shifters, so be it. There was no one here to get hurt.
