by David Sharp
“I don’t think it is Adam.” Jason felt the useless keys and the hope they had brought die between his fingers.
“Enough of this, I say we go back to the club where the police are,” Tanya said.
“Like those cops are going to help us.” Jason was glum over the prospect of going back with no car to take.
“I don’t want to get in trouble.” Kelly tightly held onto Tanya’s arm and her bag.
“We already are in trouble,” Tanya said.
The windows of the tan 1968 Mustang were dark and shape filled. There was no telling how many people were inside the car. The headlights were clicked on, flooding the street with light. The car moved forward, towards them.
“Oh my God,” Kelly said squeezing tighter.
“No way.” Tanya gasped.
“Run,” Jason said.
No one listened.
“I said, run!” Jason led on, straight at the car.
Tanya panted. “Where are you going?”
“Follow me.” Abruptly, Jason bolted to the left, across an overgrown yard, to a small opening between some thick hedges.
“I don’t like this,” Kelly said while she and Tanya were doing their best to keep up.
Jason tore into the brush of the hedges, fighting the coarse branches that clawed at his skin. One snagged his shirt causing panic, until it ripped a side out freeing him. The hedge clutched a piece of cloth in its gnarled hand like branch. Jason plunged on to the other side.
My bag, it is stuck.” Tanya pulled the strap.
Leave it!” Jason turned and grabbed Tanya’s hand pulling her the rest of the way out of the foliage, against her complaints of the scratching, without the bag.
Kelly was last and her hair got snagged. “Ow! It hurts. Get me out.” She fought with her neck and hands making matters worse.
Frantically, both Jason and Tanya helped free her tangled hair. Kelly screamed as she lost a red lock. Free of the hedges, Jason looked right then left. A long fenced in alleyway spanned each side. There was no time to think of which way, so Jason went right. Gravel crunched underfoot as he fled with Tanya and Kelly. They cut down the alley at a full run. Jason scanned each gate they passed for one without a lock. It was to no avail, as a padlock was clamped on every one. The end of the alley was in sight.
If I can get us out, we can hide.
“Come on, we have to run faster.” Jason was almost out of breath when he skidded to a halt.
The ‘68 Mustang pulled up blocking the end of the alleyway. Tanya tripped and fell bringing Kelly to a crashing stop. Jason panted, eyes wide with fear, he turned to run the opposite way when he saw them. In silhouette, four raggedy familiar punks stood waiting at the other end. Jason looked to each side for a way out and found none. The alley was a dead end.
Liev took a step forward and said, “Hey, little piggies. Come out and play?” Lightning tore across the sky illuminating Liev and those behind him: Knappy, Hex, and Syd.
The animal noises sounded off from the punks. Whispered to spoken, they become more perverse and indecipherable as the pitch rose.
“No.” Kelly trembled.
Tanya pleaded, “Why are you doing this?”
“Because we can,” Syd said.
Knappy played with the trigger of his stun gun, a malicious smile spread across his frumpy, ringed face. The others laughed at Kelly’s fear making more animal sounds to enflame it.
Jason stepped back away from the din. He was on the edge of running straight at them or the car. If only I could get all of us by untouched, I would do it.
“Let’s take them,” Hex said with glee.
“Yes, let us take them.” Liev smirked leading the pack of street punks assuredly.
Kelly quivered in terror. “What are we going to do?”
“Run!” Jason grabbed Kelly’s wrist and pawed at Tanya’s. He lost his fleeting grip on her skin when she stumbled on a rock.
The door to the Mustang that blocked the alley opened letting out the tall, hulking, mute, figure of Hound.
Liev yelled from behind them, “No, he is mine!”
Hound paused. Jason took the moment and pulled Kelly to the side hoping Tanya would have sense enough to follow. The gravel scuttled under their feet as the punks gave chase.
“Go!” Jason yanked hard hurting Kelly’s wrist.
Tanya was perplexed by the fence and shrubbery and asked, “Where?”
Jason pointed the way and said, “Up!”
Kelly followed his point almost hitting the fence.
“We have to go over the dumpster!” Jason was out of breath, yet his adrenaline surged through his veins giving him daring and strength. He climbed up pulling Kelly halfway with him.
“I can’t… I can’t.” Kelly struggled with the height of the metal trash container. She dropped her well clutched bag and looked lost.
“Get, ugh, up!” Tanya was right behind her shoving as hard as she could to knock Kelly out of her daze.
Jason yelled from the top of the dumpster, “Now!”
The punks were almost upon them with their chaotic din of animal noises ringing all about. Kelly lifted herself with Jason’s help. Balancing on the rim of the garbage bin, she pulled herself up the rest of the way, but not completely over the fence. Tanya was instantly past her. A heel momentarily got stuck in a crack between the weak boards of the fence. She pulled it free and tumbled over to the yard beyond with a dull thud. Jason did not wait to see how she landed and jumped ahead. Across the dumpster, he steadied himself with one hand on a picket preparing for the last step. Kelly, straddling the wooden fence, reached back and grabbed his free hand to help. Jason was almost over when another, unexpected, dirty, hand burst forth from the trash latching onto his ankle.
Kelly screamed and swung a leg over and over at the filthy appendage. “No, no, no, no, no!”
The derelict hand let go of Jason, the trash falling back to reveal a bum wallowing in the filth of the dumpster. Tanya squealed from the other side. Her brief sound was followed by the low rumble of a dog. Jason grabbed Kelly and took the final step. Pulling her a little too hard, they both toppled over the fence landing in a heap. Jason roughly pushed Kelly aside when he saw a snarling black and tan Doberman Pincher ready to attack. From the black maw of the beast, white sharp teeth were bared dripping saliva. Jason looked into the dogs eyes crazily and it lunged at him. Jason kicked it making inconsequential contact with its head. The Doberman bit into the fabric of his jeans. Kelly and Tanya screamed and ran for the next fence when Liev popped his head over the first one and laughed. Jason knew there was not much time, so he kicked hard and freed his leg. Running, he was at the mercy of the snapping jaws as they grazed his legs. The girls jumped the fence yelling and screaming all the way not stopping once to look back. Halfway over, Jason’s torn pant leg got caught in the chain-link. Viciously, the dog barked and snapped as it lunged, its body smashing against the fence.
“Fuck! Ugh, ugh… Aargh!” Jason’s frustration turned into a yell of rage. He yanked his leg back and tore his jeans up to the knee.
The dog snapped at the links and managed to grab a hold of the frayed material, shredding it to ribbons between its teeth. Jason broke into a full run passing the girls to regain the lead. The unseen snarling dog continued to attack the fence. Haphazard, Jason led a frazzled Kelly and Tanya out of a random backyard into another neighborhood street. The yards of that block were extremely overgrown and the once mansions dilapidated beyond repair.
I made it, this is Dolphin Street.
Jason slowed, chose a potentially vacant house, and ran towards it. The forgotten storm thundered and the first heavy drops of rain splattered onto the pavement. Kelly and Tanya, out of breath and terrified, stayed close trying to keep up to his pace.
“Are they still behind us?” Tanya panted.
“I don’t know,” Kelly said trying to look back the way they had come.
“Don’t stop! Keep going, faster!” Jason was winded and trip
ped mid-stride. Finding what he was looking for, he slowed and the three of them came to a skidding halt on the wet ground in front of the chosen destination.
The house was old and dark, raised off the ground with bricks. An uncomfortable air surrounded the place. Thunder roared and the clouds opened up pouring a deluge from the heavens upon the threesome. Regardless of the vibe of the house, Jason, Tanya and Kelly ran to the porch for shelter. Finding the front door unlocked they rushed inside. Jason tried to lock the door, but the latch was broken. He crawled on his haunches to peek out a window into the rainy night. Huddled down in the center of the open drawing room, his friends seemed afraid of everything around them. Kelly broke down into tears as Tanya tried to comfort her. Rain pounded harder on the roof sounding as if it was breaching it somewhere above.
Kelly hyperventilated, her whole body shaking with each struggled breath. “This is not happening, not happening.”
“Shush, it’s okay. We’re safe here.” Tanya petted her like a stray dog. The fear was large in her eyes too.
“Not touching me – putting….” Kelly broke off seeing something horrible in her mind’s eye.
Tanya gently rocked Kelly back in forth, half holding her in her lap. “I’m here.”
“Keep her quiet,” Jason said a little too sternly. Softly, he continued, “Please.”
“Okay,” Tanya said. She had the strangest look Jason had ever seen on her face. It was something close to remorse. “I’m so s….”
Jason cut her off, “Don’t say it.” He gave her a weak smile. “I’ve got to check this place out.”
Tanya nodded and took Kelly in her arms lowering both of them back down to the floor. Kelly was mumbling nonsense softly into Tanya’s ear.
Lightning flashed setting the interior aglow from the windows that were not boarded up. The rain steadily beat down on the roof above. Water leaked and flowed up there too. Jason felt stupid for not leaving when he could. Adam warned me. It was too late for thoughts like that. He had to go on. Reluctantly and silent, Jason walked away leaving his friends cradled together in the empty den. Jason dug in his pockets, ignoring the keys and picture. He hoped he still had a lighter. He had not used it since the park and that seemed so long ago. The floor boards creaked underfoot. The dark threatened to engulf him in its dread. His fingers found the hard, cold, metal at the bottom of his left side pocket. Jason flicked the lighter illuminating the dark passage of a hallway. The walls felt tainted. The smell of rot and decay overpowered his nose. All the doors in the hallway were shut.
It is like a maze or a sick mind game.
Jason chose a door. He turned its cracked glass doorknob nicking the skin of his palm. Putting the wound to his mouth, he tasted coppery blood as he opened it. The room had all of its windows boarded up and was barren aside from some yellowed newspapers on the floor, books piled high to the ceiling along one wall, and a small lopsided reading lamp with a moth eaten shade, in the far corner, casting a sickly glow. Adam had said some of the places had power, but it did seem weird and out of place for a vacant house. Jason thought of his clippings back home.
I was looking for the wrong thing in the stories. Now I might become the subject of a clipping of my own.
His eyes searched and found the one potential hiding place. Jason silently crept to a closet with slatted, wooden, folding doors. He pulled the knob. The doors slid open easily. The inner space was roomy, yet dangerous as the floor had rotted away in the corner. The sound and smell of the rain came in from the outside. The hole seemed to go to a crawlspace under the house. Jason backed away and burned his fingers on the hot metal of the lighter. He had forgotten it was lit. Exiting, he rubbed his thumb and pointer finger together to relieve the pain. The dim yellow light of the lamp was enough to get him to the door.
The hallway was black as pitch. The faint glow could not penetrate the gloom. Cautiously, he struck on the lighter’s flame again. The next door caused him to involuntarily shudder. He reached for the glass knob, checking to see if it was chipped that time, and a hand grabbed his shoulder. Heart in his throat, he turned. “Fuck! You scared me.”
Tanya rambled, “There are too many windows. Kelly doesn’t feel safe out there. And I don’t want to be in there if they come looking for us.”
“Take her in there.” Jason pointed to the room he had checked.
“Need to sleep,” Kelly muttered. “Yeah, sleep – to more….”
Tanya guided Kelly into the yellow lit room. Lightly she kissed Jason’s cheek as she passed. “Thanks.”
“Okay,” Jason said at a loss for the kindness. “Go in the closet and shut the door, nobody will find you there if you are quiet.
“What about that light?”
“Leave it.” Jason watched Tanya and Kelly get settled in the closet. The light did not illuminate the inside of it. Kelly rocked back and forth praying with her eyes closed. Tanya petted her wet hair looking at Jason through a veil of fear. Jason nodded as he shut the folding closet doors. He was slightly relieved that he could not see them or hear them inside. The rain drowned out any other possible noise in the house.
Jason backtracked, shutting the door to the room with a loud click. He decided the dark hallway was not the best idea with his overheated lighter, so he went back to the front. The den they had originally entered looking for shelter from the storm, a storm that showed no sign of relenting, was barren of furniture. There were telltale signs of candle wax on the floor. Jason leaned down and touched one relieved to find it dry and hardened. His commonsense kept him away from the windows. Again, he wished he could lock the door. Lightning flashed. Jason turned his head from the brightness and noticed a shadowed staircase rising to the second story in the back of the room. The stairs were rickety and felt unsafe even for his light one hundred and sixty pounds. Jason’s heart pounded harder as he ascended. The upstairs had a similar hallway to the one below, but it was smaller and cramped with unseen furniture lying in wait.
It even seems darker.
The darkness messed with his head. Jason imagined Hound lurking unseen just out of reach. He froze for a moment until his lighter’s flint stuck flame again. He opened a door into a gulf of deeper darkness that the light barely touched upon. The fading flame did not help him decipher much, yet it seemed that the door had opened into another darkened hall. Jason found it best to close that door again rather than to explore. The next door he tried, careful of the glass knob, was eerily locked and cold to the touch. A third door clicked loudly in the stillness as the latch popped out and it eased open. The moment felt unreal. Before Jason, light poured through layers of clear plastic that bisected the room forming a curtain. A chill ran up his spine at the sameness of the plastic in the other house, the one Adam took him to under different circumstances.
Will I find Adam again?
Jason had a strong desire to just leave. Instead, he moved aside some plastic and went forward. There was a sudden sharp tangent odor that caused him to wince. Bubbling and popping noises softly echoed off the bare walls. He saw a window. There were no boards nailed to its frame. It had been carefully coated with tin foil to not let a hint of the outside in. The rain had slowed its assault and he could hear other sounds. A loud cracking noise jolted him, it distinctly sounded like a door downstairs and the commotion of a group. Jason quietly edged back out to the hallway. Stealthily, he made his way through the darkness to the railing on the edge of the second story. Below, he could see the punks making themselves at home, their home apparently.
Of all the houses I could have picked, it had to be this one.
Peering between the slats of a rickety bannister, he saw Hex and Syd flop down wet from the rain. Syd lit candles along the floor bringing an eerie glow to the front den. Jason backed up, a little, out of fear of being seen. He strained to see if Knappy and Hound were downstairs and shuddered when they were not in sight. Jason’s eyes found Liev through the bars of the railing and watched him run a hand through his short damp hair. Liev lo
oked about with a hard, icy stare. Jason found the punk attractive, yet frightening, and could not look away from the wet see through muscle shirt that clung tightly outlining every muscle. Liev turned as Hound made his presence known by walking into the half-light. Jason edged back even farther. Hound disturbed him more than the others. He watched in horror as the shadows played across the monster’s face that was half covered by long stringy hair.
Liev looked directly at the upper bannister his eyes unfocused. “Go check on things upstairs, will you?”
Hound nodded submissively slowly moving his hulking frame back into the shadows.
Jason’s heart felt like it had stopped. There was no way Liev could have seen him, although it felt like the punk had been staring directly at him. Jason had to move soon. Once Hound was up the stairs there would be nowhere to hide. He wanted to see what the other punks were doing first, so he stole another glance.
Liev lit a glass pipe and inhaled deeply of its thick smoke closing his eyes as he exhaled.
Hex watched with hungry eyes. “I wanna play with the dolphins. They will be so much fun.”
Syd playfully kissed Hex and said, “As long as I get to go first.”
Jason moved back to shadow. There was a creak on the stairs as Hound ascended. The voices below muted. Jason carefully slid forward for one last peek and saw Liev, Hex and Syd conversing beside a vent in the wall. He could not hear them clearly, but feared he had stayed in place too long. Hound has to be close. Quietly as possible, he made his way away from the rail into the darkness of the hallway. It was the last door he wanted to go back through. In the dark, he had to be patient not to panic. Luckily, he had left the door ajar and found it from the soft glow muted by the hanging plastic. His eyes were better adjusted to the murk and he could see more clearly than before. Inside the room, he carefully shut the door and made his way to the other side of the plastic barrier. Voices, familiar and almost decipherable strangely echoed through an air vent by his side. Jason leaned down and listened, straining to make sense of the conversation.
