Stir Until Petrified

by Theda Vallee

  “Why aren’t you in bed? How the hell are you standing there? LUC! LUC! Shit. Oh. Shit.” I screamed as I searched around me. No one was here but me and the girl. I closed my eyes. I counted to ten. This was just a figment of my overactive imagination. First day jitters. Somehow, I’d let my imagination run wild with me. When I open my eyes again, I’ll find Luc standing over me with a disapproving look.

  I opened my eyes and Kayleigh was still there. The hospital room was gone. I was in a place that was gray, and empty. The girl still screamed, sounding like the fog horns that echoed through the bay early in the morning at home. She had a set of lungs on her.

  “Kayleigh, you need to stop screaming. It’s not going to help the situation, whatever that is.” I tried to keep the alarm from seeping into my voice. I needed this kid to stop screaming so I could think. I was the voice of reason here. We were so screwed.

  “How do you know my name? Who are you? Are you going to hurt me again?” She moved back from me ready to run like prey in the Serengeti.

  “My name’s Etta. I won’t hurt you. I promise. I know that’s probably hard to believe, but it’s true. Do you know where you are?” Looking around it appeared we were nowhere. Everything around us was gray. We were surrounded by never-ending walls in every direction. The floor was gray, the ceiling was gray, even the lighting that floated above us was a sickly gray.

  “No. I just woke up here. I want to go home. Can you get me home?” Her bottom lip quivered as she fought back tears.

  “I want to. Your body’s in a hospital in Palermo Bay. I was visiting you and when I grabbed your hand I somehow ended up here with you.”

  “What do you mean my body? Am I dead? I knew it. I’m in hell. I knew it. I told Becca we’d end up in hell for what we did to Candice Newman,” she wailed, the fountain of tears breaking loose.

  “Stop it! Calm down. Please. I need you to stay calm. You’re alive. You’re just in a type of coma.” I reached out awkwardly grasping her shoulder to comfort her.

  “I’m not dead?” she sniffled.

  “You’re very much alive.”

  “Why were you visiting my body? I don’t know you, do I?” she asked searching my face for some hint of familiarity.

  “No. We’ve never met. I’m an Osservatori. Do you know what that is?”

  “Yeah. My mom’s half elf. So that means you can help me, right?”

  “I’m going to try. Have you seen anyone else here aside from me?” Since I was here, I should try to get as much information as possible about what was happening in their dream state. I had no idea what information might be useful. Two months ago, I’d binge-watched Law and Order for three days. There had to be some detective type skills I could channel from that. I’d hate to think that all those hours had been wasted.

  “There’s a voice sometimes. I never see a person. When the voice comes terrible things come out of the walls and the floor. They chase me. I run until I feel like I’m gonna to die. They’re always right behind me. They have teeth the size of my hand, and they always come so close to me. Then they just disappear.” She started sobbing again as she described the hell she’d been living in. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her as she let the weeks of emotion cascade out. Whoever was doing this needed to be stopped. I had no idea how, but once I got out of here I’d give Luc as much information as I could.

  “What are we gonna do? You're gonna come up with a plan, right? I mean you're an Osservatori, so you should be pretty badass.” The tears subsided as she latched on to that kernel of hope. From the gleam in her eye, I could see she thought I had an epic skill set that I was going to tap into at any moment. Bursting her bubble was going to suck.

  “Not to freak you out, but this is kind of my first day. It might take me a little bit to come up with a plan.” I nodded at her with a bright smile plastered to my face. I tried to stand like someone who could handle any situation.

  “Are you serious? Do you know I probably missed the spring fling? Brian Grant asked me to go with him. Do you know how many girls wanted Brian Grant to ask them to the spring fling?” She paused stepping closer to me. “All the girls on the cheer squad. That’s fourteen girls who wanted to go with him, but he asked me. Now he probably thinks I hate him. Then I think I’m saved, and it's your first freaking day on the job! I’m going to be stuck in this gray tomb forever! I’m going to miss cheer camp and prom. I’m going to die a virgin. Well, mostly a virgin. Oral doesn't count, right?”

  I was so not going to weigh in on that one instead I need to try to reassure her. “Look, this is my first day on the “job” but I'm a pretty powerful strega. We’ll figure this out.” I tried to sound confident. I’d made sure not to add that I was a powerful strega who had no idea how to use her power. What could I possibly do to get us both out of here? Since I had no clue how I got here in the first place, it wasn't like I could reverse it. Maybe I could I retrace my thoughts leading up to the electrical current that had liquified my organs. I’d been sad. I had grabbed her hand. There was pain. Then poof I was in this gray dungeon. Maybe I could try holding her hand while thinking about home? It had worked in the Wizard of Oz.

  “Hey, can I see your hand? Since I ended up here when I made contact, I’m hoping that I can get my magic to send us back with another touch,” I asked holding my hand out to her.

  “I guess. But can’t you just make your magic work? It seems like you don’t know what you’re doing,” she huffed.

  What an ungrateful brat! I’d have to ask Nonna later if I was this bad when I was Kayleigh’s age. If so, I owed her an apology. I took her hand in my mine and closed my eyes. I concentrated on the hospital room I’d just left. I wanted to be back there with Kayleigh. Come on magic. We can do this.

  I stood that way for a small eternity. Our palms becoming sweaty from prolonged contact. Kayleigh had taken to letting out a melodramatic sigh every few minutes just to show how dissatisfied she was with my lack of progress. I dropped her hand admitting defeat against my will. There was no plan B yet.

  “Are you out of ideas already?” She rolled her eyes at me.

  “No. This is just going to be a little trickier than I thought,” I said rubbing my temples.

  “Gee, ya think?” Kayleigh rubbed her arms while jumping from foot to foot trying to warm herself. The temperature had dramatically dropped over the last few minutes. “It’s freezing in here right now. Let me guess, you don’t know how to start a fire with your magic either?”

  “Maybe my magic doesn't work in here the same way it does out there. Obviously if it did, we’d have a fire already.” I wasn’t about to admit to her I was a failure on that front as well.

  She stuck her tongue out at me and continued her hopping. I had to figure something out because I didn't know how long I was going to be able to keep from smacking her upside her little blonde head. I wish I knew how to meditate. I might be able to find my magic inside me, or at the very least tune her out.

  The slight chill in the room slowly rolled into a bone-shattering cold as I tried to figure out how to dig out my magic. My breath condensing in front me as I breathed in and out. A low rumble from the floor vibrated in my chest. I looked around the room but couldn’t see anything but the cold gray walls. As my eyes settled on Kayleigh, a deep dread formed in the depths of my belly. She was pale, her eyes darting all around us in wild panic, and I could see beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Since the temperature was currently in the range of subarctic this could not be good.

  “What’s’ wrong?” I whispered inching closer to her.

  “Shh.” Her voice was thin and wispy. “It’s coming. This is always what happens right before it comes.”

  “What’s coming? What do we need to do?”

  She stood there, her eyes flashing white like a cow going to slaughter. This girl had seen some shit and it was coming back for her. I moved as close to her as possible, grabbing her hand to show her I was there. I wanted to comfort her, tell her that everythi
ng would be ok, but the truth was I was one heartbeat away from a heart attack myself.

  “Dear sweet Kayleigh, you’ve found a friend. She won’t be of much use to you here.” A voice thick with menace resonated around us. It echoed in the empty room coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. The voice was distorted and full of vibrato, not wholly male or female.

  “Who are you?” I demanded with much more courage than I possessed.

  “You’re as dumb as they say. Why on earth would I tell you who I am? You’d just come and ruin my fun. Speaking of fun, you’re going to want to run girls. Something wicked this way comes.” The voice chuckled at its attempted wit.

  As I stood there desperately trying to come up with a sassy retort, a low guttural growl echoed from behind us. I turned to watch a creature rise from the ground taking shape from the mist that pooled along the gray floor. Its body shuddered to life it’s bones falling into place as it rose. The creature was the size of a wolf on steroids. If it stood on its hind legs it would have been over six feet tall. Its skin was grey, with patches of flaky skin and festering wounds all along its body. No hair could be found until you reached its broad head where small patches of grew in defiance of what was clearly a hostile environment. Yellow eyes focused on us, the glow from them casting a light across my face. It opened its mouth letting out a piercing wail, giving me a front-row view to the rows of sharp teeth lining its mouth. Whatever the hell it was, it meant business.

  Kayleigh tugged on my sleeve silently getting my attention. She nodded her head a fraction of an inch to let me know that something even worse was waiting behind me. I turned to find an army of slavering beasts each one somehow uglier than the original one I’d watched form. I’d been horrified at the idea of facing one beast. There were at least twenty snorting hell pups shifting anxiously behind me. Forty glowing eyes followed every shuddering breath I tried to take in.

  The room rumbled with the sound of three ear bursting chimes. The beasts wailed in unison responding to the sound, stomping their feet impatiently. We needed to get the hell away from Cujo’s family reunion. I took off running, holding onto Kayleigh’s hand for dear life.

  This place had no beginning and no end. The flat gray of the walls rushed past us, smooth with not outlets, no windows, and no doors. There was no place to hide, no place to try to lose them. It was a matter of who would tire first. Our only option was to keep running.

  A higher pitched chime filled the air, the decibel so intense I almost couldn't hear it but my eardrums sure as hell could feel it. The monsters bayed together like bloodhounds on the hunt. Then they were after us. The thunder of their enormous paws echoing down the hall. I chanced a glance behind us as the whole pack moved in perfect unison intent on their pursuit. Their size didn’t seem to impair their ability to pick up speed.

  Kayleigh was in excellent shape. She ran effortlessly, barely becoming winded as we barreled into the grayness. I felt a burning in my lungs within thirty seconds. My loathing of the gym was coming back to bite me on the ass with a vengeance. If I survived this I would start working out regularly.

  The monstrous army chasing us began to close the gap. Every time one of them would get close the whole pack would howl in unison egging each other on. I wasn’t going to be able to keep this up. If I had any idea how to engage my magic at will, we might be able to fend them off but since I was a screw up in that department, we could only hope to keep running until they disappeared back into the mist they were birthed from. Another round of wailing echoed behind us. It was a sound that wiggled into your subconscious, invoking panic with every note.

  A pain shot through the right side of my abdomen causing me to falter. It was the moment the creatures had been waiting for. I felt the hot mist of stank monster breath hover over my skin for just a moment before it sunk its teeth into the meat of my thigh. My vision streaked white as the beast applied the full force of its jaw ensuring it had a tight gripAs the pain rocketed through my nervous system I felt the familiar tingle of magic peeking up its head. It’s about damn time! All it took was me getting chomped on by some devil dog. The magic built like a dam racing through my body before pushing down through my hands. A fireball shot into the creature. It yelped in pain and I was loose from its tortuous jaws.

  I scrambled to my feet looking around for Kayleigh. She was a few feet from me, surrounded by a portion of the pack. I was going to need another burst of magic to part the sea of deadly mutts surrounding her. My leg wasn’t going to make it easy. I took two steps towards her and almost collapsed. The beasts had lost interest in me for a few moments after focusing all their energy on Kayleigh. Fuck. I couldn't let her die. How would I be able to look her mother in the eye knowing I didn't do everything I could to save her baby?

  “Kayleigh. Listen. I’m going to try to get them to come over to me. When I do that, I need you to start running. Don't stop. Don't wait for me. Just go. Do you understand?”

  She nodded in agreement. Now to think of a distraction. They seemed a little nervous around me after the fireball, I’d need to get their attention by force. The only thing my brain could think of was to hit a few of them. If I started attacking them, they’d have to defend themselves and their pack, right? It was insane, but desperate times called for batshit crazy measures.

  I hobbled towards the wall of pulsating gray flesh that surrounded her. Before I lost my nerve, I punched the first beast I came across in the side of its head, right in its eye socket. Holy mother of Jackie O! their skulls were made of concrete. My body shook with the impact. The zombie wolf turned its head slowly baring its teeth at me as we made eye contact. A long string of saliva fell from its mouth onto my shoe. If I wasn't so terrified of what was about to happen, I would have gagged. The beast lunged, just as I began to feel the sucking sensation that had brought me here.

  I was being pulled out. No! Not right now. I had to save Kayleigh! All I could do was scream as the creatures engulfed her, tearing into her body in a frenzy. The sounds of crunching bones, and a teenage girl begging me to stay slowly faded into the background.

  My eyes fluttered open to find Luc, Vellamo, and Leander gaping at me. I was on the cold tile floor next to Kayleigh's bed. A torrent of blood flowed down on me from above like a shower. I dragged myself up as quickly as possible. I had to get back to her. I’d left her behind to be mauled to death by those things. The wound on my leg screamed in protest with the weight. The stark white sheets she’d been resting on were drenched crimson. Wounds spontaneously opened on her body, pouring more blood out. This was my fault. I’d slowed us down. I reached for her hand. I was going back in even if it meant my death.

  ‘Etta, you can’t go back.” Arms tightened around my body in a vice grip, stopping me from reaching her. I struggled against Luc’s chest. Pounding on his hands at my waist trying to free myself.

  “Let me go! I have to help her. Please, you don't know what’s in there.” My screaming became hysterical cries. “Kayleigh. Oh, no please, Kayleigh!”

  Luc dragged me away from her bed as staff swarmed into the room. There was so much blood. It seemed almost impossible for a person to lose that much blood and live.

  Luc held me against him refusing to budge in his restraint. Fighting him was only causing more blood to flow from my leg. I could feel the energy seeping from my body as I realized there was nothing I could do. I leaned my head back into Luc and let loose shuddering sobs. She was just a girl and she’d needed my help. Instead, I had slowed her down and allowed those beasts to rip her to pieces.

  “Etta, you need to calm down. We have to look at your leg. You’re bleeding out,” Luc said his voice gentle and soothing. That couldn't be good, Luc wasn’t the gentle type. I looked down at my leg. Carnage is the only word I could use to describe it. The skin was obliterated. A large chunk of my upper thigh was missing. Meat and fatty tissue gaped from the wound. If you’ve ever seen one of the shark bite victim, that was my leg.

  Luc lifted me onto a gurney,
while Leander began tending my wound. He prodded at it with his finger, triggering a howl of pain from me. I hadn’t realized until this moment that the wound was throbbing with violent pain. Blood gushed out in waves as hands began furiously working to close the hole.

  “I could use a drink. Or some fucking painkillers,” I yelped squeezing Luc’s hand until it turned colors.

  “I’ll get you some water as soon as the doctor says it’s OK,” Luc said keeping his hand in mine despite the pain I was inflicting on him.

  “I was thinking more like a shot of tequila with a beer chaser.” I hissed in pain as a nurse jostled my leg. “This has really been a horrible night.”

  Luc chuckled halfheartedly. “I promise when we get you patched up and you’ve rested for a few years, we’ll go get you a drink. Until then you're going to have to settle for water.”

  Vellamo floated over to us. She doesn't really float but her gait was so fluid that she appeared as if she was gliding on air. It was mesmerizing to watch.

  “They have stabilized Kayleigh. There are no more wounds occurring. She needs an immense amount of blood to survive. How are you, Etta?” Vee leaned in over me her face hovering above mine.

  “Umm, really crappy.” Tears poured down my face. Poor Kayleigh. She was already suffering so much and now she had to go through this. Whoever did this needed to be stopped. It stood to reason that all the victims were enduring some semblance of this. “Can I please get some damn drugs? I’m missing a chunk of my freaking leg.”

  “We need to get the bleeding stopped, Etta. As soon as a nurse can get over here to get in the IV we’ll get you some pain medicine. Just hang in there,” Leander said.