by Victor Cruz
Maxson continued his way across the second floor towards the fabric and maneuvered around a couch to get there. At the end of his trip he noticed that the fabric that was hanging wasn’t a blanket, but a tarp. He barely had to pull it down before another beam of light lit up the entire sunroom. The growing distance between him and the rest of the group made their reaction to the added light muffled.
However, Maxson’s ears were drowned out momentarily when he laid eyes on fall trees and a large field of blue lake waters. The light reflected off the calm waves giving it a stunning sparkling sapphire appearance.
Maxson guessed that he was standing at least thirty-forty feet above the water from the second story of the building. High enough for him to spot a flock of ducks floating in the tranquil lake. The feathered creatures went on about their business seemingly unaffected by the current tribulations that were plaguing man. Maxson briefly thought of times of him and Mason fishing and even duck hunting.
A gust of wind could be seen scattering leaves down the tall hills that surrounded the lake and the ducks began to ascend into the sky. They flew over the big rolling mounds that were the only mountains the Midwest had ever known. Easy enough to hike up, but tall enough to obstruct Maxson’s view of the surrounding area, even from the height he stood. It was uncertain if he could even see the entire lake as it was possible that it bent around a coastline off in the distance.
The view was surreal to Maxson and for a moment he had forgotten where he was and what he was doing. He heard muffle cheering and hooting from the group that sounded like they were becoming familiar with the new place quickly. Chaos, which just previously filled Maxson’s mind from the loss of control was gone and had been replaced with something unfamiliar. Maxson wasn’t sure what the feeling was exactly, but unexpectedly expressed loudly behind himself to his comrades in an abnormal way, “I think we’re really going to like it here!”
It was odd to him that he couldn’t even recognize his own voice and assumed it was just as odd to the rest of the group. Normally, something he would have been embarrassed by, but he didn’t care right now. They had found their new home and that’s what was really important. He had to mentally take control of his mind and pull himself away from the window so he could get back to the group. Turning on the heel of the boot he raised the axe in reaction.
“Fucking Colton!” Maxson yelled at his buddy.
Colton stood there silently.
“What?” Maxson said before Colton slowly raised his hands in the air and Maxson finally realized that somebody else was standing behind him. The person somehow concealed in the shadows and holding something, possibly a gun, pointing at Colton.
“Put the axe down… and be quiet about it,” The voice said from behind Colton. It was a man’s voice, but a young man’s voice.
“¡Tranquilo! ¡Tranquilo!” Maxson said softly and slowly. He had heard Mason use before and liked the way it sounded when he said it. “We took care of your problem outside.”
“What problem?” He anxiously inquired over the sound of Colton choking and coughing. Maxson was unable to see it clearly, but it looked like the younger stranger had a strangle around Colton’s neck.
“The dead in the courtyard,” Maxson responded.
He nearly gasped with fear before turning to anger, “They weren’t a problem. They were our security!”
“Security?” Maxson didn’t quite understand. “From what?”
“From what else lurks out there,”, A second stranger voice now appeared from the dark, standing to the side of Maxson. The emphasis on the word referring to the unknown had fear instilled in it.
What else is out there lurking? Do I even want to know?
Blinded by his own bewilderment, Maxson realized that there was now a second figure standing next to him. The second shadow had silently ambushed Maxson while he talked to the younger man. A hammer clicking on a revolver came with the second stranger’s arrival.
“You heard him, stud. Put the axe down.”, The second voice said calmly.
Even though it was impossible for Maxson to see the second person standing next to him, he was certain about one thing.
The voice belonged to a woman.
Maxson, Colton or the two strangers would not get another word out before the deafening howling noise from outside caused them all to shutter. A noise that Maxson had never heard before and a noise that surely wasn’t coming from the dead.
Instead, the noise came from a beast. The beast’s howl, became a duet and the duet quickly became a trio. More howling followed the trio and now the noise of the beast, because the noises from the beasts.
Hearing the chilling noise from outside made Maxson think of what was most important. It wasn’t himself, as usual, but instead, it was of others.
Henry, Mabel, Suzie… oh god, Belle! They’re all still outside!
To be continued…
( Thanks for reading! )
